Pick a Day

Music History Events: Debut Albums

November 1, 1971 Olivia Newton-John releases her first solo album, If Not For You.

May 28, 1971 Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (and before that, The Hollies), releases his first solo album, Songs For Beginners. The first single is "Chicago (We Can Change The World)," which he wrote about protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

April 30, 1971 The Doobie Brothers release their self-titled debut album. Despite a hardy promotional push from their label, Warner Bros., it goes nowhere, but their next effort, Toulouse Street, connects.

November 20, 1970 Tom Waits gets his first-ever paid gig, appearing as "Thomas Waits" and receiving $25.00 by opening for Michael Milner and Claire Hart.

August 11, 1970 Jimmy Buffett releases his debut album, Down To Earth, a folk-rock collection that includes "The Captain and the Kid" - a song written in honor of his late grandfather. The album sells just 374 copies.

June 13, 1970 Uriah Heep release their debut album, ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble, in the UK. Critic Melissa Mills of Rolling Stone says she'll commit suicide if the group "makes it," but the negative critical reaction doesn't stop Heep from appealing to fans and moving on to have a long, successful career as a trailblazing heavy metal band.

July 25, 1969 Yes release their self-titled debut album, one of the first in the progressive rock genre.

June 3, 1969 Elton John's first album, Empty Sky, is released in the UK and initially sells 4,000 copies. It isn't released in America until 1975.

April 28, 1969 The self-titled, debut album by Chicago Transit Authority is released. For their next album, the group shortens their name to Chicago.More

January 16, 1968 Blue Cheer release their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum. Considered a high-water mark of psychedelic music, it's also a formative influence on the heavy metal genre.

August 7, 1967 Following two albums recorded as a member of the Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa releases his debut solo album, Lumpy Gravy, in which he conducts an orchestra but doesn't actually play any instruments himself in order to get around some contractual issues that cause the album to be withdrawn a few days later. It's released with numerous changes on May 13, 1968.

July 6, 1967 Pink Floyd appear on the British TV show Top Of The Pops for the first time, performing "See Emily Play."

November 25, 1966 The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays their first UK show at the Bag O'Nails in London.

June 27, 1966 Led by Frank Zappa, the Mothers of Invention release their debut album Freak Out! Critics and music fans alike are baffled by what they hear.

October 10, 1964 The Olympic Games open in Tokyo, inspiring the song "Tokyo Melody."

November 3, 1956 The Wizard of Oz airs on television for the first time when it is broadcast by CBS.

April 6, 1956 The Capitol Tower, new home of Capitol Records, opens on the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles. The 13-story building, which resembles a stack of records, houses three new recording studios where Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Linda Ronstadt, and many other stars will lay down tracks. The building becomes an LA landmark, with the red light at the top flashing "HOLLYWOOD" in Morse Code.

November 12, 1951 The musical Paint Your Wagon opens at the Shubert Theater, New York City. In 1969, it's turned into a movie musical starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin.

December 15, 1949 The Birdland jazz club, named after Charlie Parker, opens in New York City. It quickly becomes a hotspot, with Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and many other luminaries performing there until it closes in 1965.

March 4, 1946 Frank Sinatra releases his solo debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, through Columbia Records.

June 5, 1942 Capitol Records' first recording session takes place when "The General Jumped at Dawn" by Paul Whiteman's New Yorker Hotel Orchestra is recorded at Radio Recorders Studio in Los Angeles. The record flops, but Capitol soon becomes the most successful record company of the era.

June 5, 1942 The musical film Yankee Doodle Dandy is released. Starring James Cagney, the film features the song "The Yankee Doodle Boy," based upon "Yankee Doodle," a long-time standard American anthem.

June 1, 1931 Noël Coward's classic "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" is performed for the first time in public by Beatrice Lillie in The Third Little Show at the Music Box Theatre, New York.

November 22, 1928 Maurice Ravel's one-movement rhythmic orchestral work Boléro premieres at the Paris Opera.

April 30, 1925 The musical On With The Dance opens at the London Pavilion.

October 15, 1905 Claude Debussy's symphonic suite "La Mer" is premiered by the Lamoureux Orchestra under the baton of Camille Chevillard in Paris. The piece was initially not well received, but soon became one of the French composer's most admired and frequently performed orchestral works.

November 24, 1898 The first Maple Leaf Ball is held in Sedalia, Missouri.

June 26, 1870 At the National Theatre in Munich, Wagner's opera Die Walküre is performed for the first time, introducing the famous piece "The Ride Of The Valkyries."

April 3, 1869 Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor is premiered at Copenhagen's Casino Theater.

April 10, 1868 Johannes Brahms' German Requiem is premiered in Bremen Cathedral as part of the Good Friday remembrance.