Today in Music History: 'Yellow Submarine' film debuts in U.S.

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November 13, 2015

Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' film press review — Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison (1943 - 2001) pose with a cartoon cut-out of fellow Beatle John Lennon (1940 - 1980), at a press review of the group's 1968 animated film 'Yellow Submarine'.
Photo by Wesley/Keystone/Getty Images

History Highlight:

Today in 1968, the animated Beatles film Yellow Submarine was released in the United States. Initial press reports stated that the Beatles themselves would provide their own character voices; however, aside from composing and performing the songs, the real Beatles participated only in the closing scene of the film, while their cartoon counterparts were voiced by other actors. Paul McCartney's voice, for example, was performed by actor Geoffrey Hughes — who would later become well-known to BBC and PBS audiences for his role as Onslow on the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances.

Also, Today In:

1964 - Decca Records released the Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster." Written by Willie Dixon (as The Red Rooster), and previously recorded by Howlin' Wolf and Sam Cooke, the single was recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago.

1968 - Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones purchased Cotchford Farms in Sussex, England, where A.A. Milne had written Winnie The Pooh. Statues of various Pooh characters decorate the estate.

1976 - Rod Stewart started an eight-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Tonight's The Night," his second U.S. No. 1. The track features whispers from actress Britt Ekland, who was Stewart's girlfriend at the time.

1982 - Australian band Men At Work started a 15-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with their debut album Business As Usual, which went on to sell more than five million copies in the United States.

1992 - Elton John performed his first concert in Mexico at the Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City in front of an audience of 90,000.

2000 - The Beatles launched their first official website, www.thebeatles.com. The site went live on the same day as the release of their retrospective Compilation 1 album.

Birthdays:

Huey Lewis and the News drummer Bill Gibson is 64.

Aldo Nova is 59.

Bassist Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes is 37.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Wikipedia and the Internet Movie Database.