The real meaning of 'No play? No pay!' -- What songwriter was overdue for his own No. 1? -- An influential folk artist's b'day...

2014 Stagecoach California's Country Music Festival - Day 3
John Prine; California Country Music Festival, April 2014. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach)
loading...

10/10/1959 (57 years ago today) - The Quarry Men play at The Casbah Club in Liverpool, but without guitarist Ken Brown -- history cannot decide between the two reasons he was unable to perform: one story's got him with a heavy, heavy cold, the other's got him with a broken leg(!) -- Either way, he didn't play; after the show an argument started when Paul McCartney suggested Brown should not get a share of the performance fee since he didn't actually perform -- when John Lennon and George Harrison side with Paul, well doncha know ol' Kenny calls it quits and storms out, thus guaranteeing his immortal status as a Beatle footnote...

10/10/1970 (46 years ago today) - His first No. 1 song {technically, kinda picky, but true} was The Monkees' version of his composition "I'm A Believer" in 1966, but, after spending years as a songwriter in the legendary Brill Building, Neil Diamond would finally get his own No. 1 single four years later when "Cracklin' Rosie" goes to the top on this date. The song's title, by the way, is a type of wine {also technically-kinda-picky but also true!}...

10/10/1946 - Happy Birthday to one of America's real-bona-fide-all-time-greats and one-of-the-most-respected-songwriters ever, let's give it up for Mr. John Prine, 70 years old today. Although his work is best known for humorous lyrics about life and love, John's serious songs positively drip with scathing social commentary, often based on melancholy tales from his own life. The 1970's albums for the Atlantic label is where you should start, most notably "Common Sense" (1975) and "Bruised Orange" (1978). Like any great songwriter, Prine's tunes have been covered by an amazing variety of artists from all styles of music: Bonnie Raitt, My Morning Jacket, Carly Simon, The Everly Brothers, Miranda Lambert,  Evan Dando, Bob Geldof, Johnny Cash, R.E.M....you get the idea and by the way, this list just goes on and on and on and on...

Share your handwriting samples with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"It's a half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown...", xoxo!

More From 102.9 WBLM