1965, Blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, Sonny Boy Williamson died in his sleep. Van Morrison, Aerosmith, The Who, The Animals, Yardbirds, and Moody Blues all covered his songs. According to the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, touring the UK in the 60’s, Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying […]
Today in Rock History – May 11
1967, Pink Floyd begin two days of recording with producer Joe Boyd, working on the tracks “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Arnold Layne,” “Let’s Roll Another One” and “Nick’s Boogie.” 1967, The Bee Gees made their Top Of The Pops debut performing “New York Mining Disaster” on the UK TV show. 1968, Jimi Hendrix moves into a London […]
Today in Rock History – May 5
1966, The Who performed at Town Hall in Kidderminster, West Midlands, England. 1967 At a performance at the Sporthallen in Eskilstuna, The Who are forced to perform on a small stage meters above the heads of the audience. Pete Townshend cuts the set to five songs in protest. 1968, Buffalo Springfield split up. Richie Fury […]
Today in Rock History – May 4
1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry, West Midlands, England. 1968, Steppenwolf make their first appearance on American Bandstand. 1968, The Yardbirds played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. 1968, Mary Hopkin won her heat on the ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks. She later signed with The Beatles owned Apple Records, Paul […]
Today in Rock History – May 1
1965, Herman’s Hermits started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Mrs Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter.” 1966, The Beatles played a 15-minute live set on stage for the last time in the UK when they appeared at the NME Poll Winners concert at Wembley Empire Pool. The […]
Today in Rock History – April 21
1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles completed the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The final recordings were a short section of gibberish and noise which would follow “A Day in the Life,” in the run-out groove. They recorded assorted noises and voices, which engineer Geoff Emerick then cut-up […]
Today in Rock History – April 17
1965, Bob Dylan”s debut album The Freewheelin” Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the album chart. 1965, Paul McCartney spent the day shopping for furniture in Portobello Road, London disguised in a cloth cap, moustache, glasses and overcoat. 1966, The Who performed at the Regal Cinema in London. 1967, Jimi Hendrix played in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. […]
Song Of The Day – “Power Of My Love” by Elvis Presley
I vividly remember the day Elvis died. My too hip for the world sixteen year old friends and I realized that it was a big deal for some, but the Elvis fans we knew were so old and out of touch, that his passing wouldn’t have registered at all on our radar had it not […]
Today in Rock History – April 5
1967, Monkees fans walked from London’s Marble Arch to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square to protest Davy Jones’ planned call-up to the army. Jones was exempted because he was deemed responsible for supporting his father. 1968, The first date of a twice-nightly UK tour featuring, Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Status Quo, Simon Dupree & […]
Today in Rock History – April 1
1966, The Troggs recorded “Wild Thing” at Regent Sound Studio in London. The song went on to be a chart topping US and number two UK hit in June the following year. 1966, The Who and The Yardbirds appear together in a live French edition of Ready, Steady GO! called, appropriately, Ready, Steady, Allez! According […]
