Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for November 2nd

Another 1950's rock 'n' roll riot! -- Guess which Beatle did this first! -- Keyboard wizard celebrates a birthday!

11/2/1956 (59 years ago today) - Too much of a good time: A bona-fide riot breaks out during a Fats Domino concert in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fats and three sidemen suffer minor injuries, but tension was in the air from the get-go with various Southern newspapers "crediting" Fats Domino for causing "America's first rock 'n' roll riot back on July 7th at the Palomar Gardens Ballroom in San Jose". Authorities are literally waiting in the wings for something to happen, giving them reason to put an end to these diabolical shows infecting the country's youth. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof...

11/2/1974 (41 years ago today) - If you guessed Paul, you were wrong: It's George Harrison who becomes the first ex-Beatle to embark on a solo world tour --  the 30-date undertaking begins on this night with a show in Vancouver, Canada, and, of course, tickets for the tour sold out fast. Unfortunately, George was promoting his most recent release, the weakly received "Dark Horse" LP and he let Ravi Shankar be the opening act -- unsurprisingly, the sitar master's introspective (and overly long) sets didn't do much to win the crowds over. In less than two months, George's voice is shredded beyond recognition (thanks to cocaine and laryngitis) and with the brief exception of a short round of 1991 gigs in Japan, he never toured again.

11/2/1944 - Happy Birthday keyboardist-extraordinaire Keith Emerson, 71 years old today. Keith was first noticed for his unbelievable musical prowess with critically acclaimed cult prog-rockers The Nice before scoring tremendous success with one of the first super-groups who actually lived up to that billing, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. ELP sold and made millions during most of the Seventies where Keith's flamboyant style and pioneering use of synthesizers were absolutely at a level that no one else could match. Allmusic has called him "perhaps the greatest, most technically accomplished keyboard player in rock history". So there!

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"You made me cry/When you said goodbye...", xoxo!