A calendar of rock history including birthdays, deaths, milestones, chart toppers, concerts, record releases, and other important events in music history.
Our sources include: Wikipedia, This Day in Music, This Day in Rock, Led Zeppelin.com, Classic Rock Concerts, The Concert Database, Live Music Archive, The Allman Brothers Band, Janis Joplin.net, The Who This Month, Setlist.fm, All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon & Phillipe Margotin (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers,) Echoes – The Complete History of Pink Floyd by Glen Povey (Mind Head Publishing)
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1966, At Abbey Road, the Beatles record “Paperback Writer.”
1966, During a four month world tour, Bob Dylan appeared at Sydney Stadium in Sydney Australia, the first of seven shows in Australia.
1967, Nancy and Frank Sinatra were at number one on the singles chart with “Somethin’ Stupid,” making them the only father and daughter to have a chart topping single as a team.
1967, Pink Floyd appeared at … (read more…)
1968, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention play the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences dinner in New York. Zappa tells the audience, “All year long you people have manufactured this crap, now for one night you’re gonna have to listen to it!”
1969, The 5th Dimension started a six week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In’.
1969, … (read more…)
1964, The Beatles set a new chart record when they had 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. The songs ranged from “Can’t Buy Me Love” at number one to “Love Me Do” at number 81.
1965, Performing at the New Musical Express poll winners concert, at London’s Wembley Empire Pool, England, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Animals, The Kinks, Herman’s Hermits, Moody Blues, Them, Cilla Black, The Seekers and Donovan. … (read more…)
1967, Marvin Gaye recorded his version of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.
1967, Paul McCartney visits a Beach Boys recording session and is said to have loaned his production assistant to the track “Vegetables” for the Smile album. … (read more…)
1967, The Doors and The Jefferson Airplane appeared at Cheetah, Santa Monica Pier, Venice, California. This was the largest show The Doors had played to date with a crowd of over 3,000.
1967, The Who appeared at Thalia Theater, Wuppertal, Germany.
1968, Jimi Hendrix and B. B. King performed at the Generation Club, New York.
1969, Yes played at the Marquee Club, London.
1970, Pink Floyd kicked off their … (read more…)
1964, The Supremes record “Where Did Our Love Go” at Motown Studios in Detroit. The song would become the first of their five number one singles.
1965, Unit Four Plus Two were at number one on the singles chart with “Concrete And Clay,” the English group’s only chart topping hit.
1966, The Who played at Queens Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
1967, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Arthur Conley … (read more…)
1966,The Beatles were at Abbey Road studios in London, recording overdubs on the new John Lennon song “Tomorrow Never Knows” and the new Paul McCartney song “Got to Get You Into My Life” for the forthcoming Revolver album.
1967, Pink Floyd played at the Floral Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at the ABC Theatre in Carlisle, Cumbria, England.
1968, At the end of a … (read more…)
1968, Pink Floyd announced founder Syd Barrett had officially left the group. Barrett was suffering from psychiatric disorders compounded by drug use.
1968, Simon and Garfunkel went to number one on the US album chart with the soundtrack of Mike Nichols’ movie The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. The film boosted the profile of the folk-rock … (read more…)
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 & The Big Sound, and Don Partridge kicked off at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London.
1968, … (read more…)
1964, The Beatles held the top five places on the US singles chart, with the fifth place – “Please Please Me,” at number four, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” while at third was “Roll Over Beethoven.” In the second position, “Love Me Do,” and at the top spot, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” They also had another nine singles on the chart, bringing their total to fourteen singles on the Hot 100.
1966, The Who performed at Top … (read more…)
1964, Bob Dylan made his first entry on the UK charts with “The Times They Are A-Changin.”
1965, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs release their garage classic “Wooly Bully.”
1966, Peter Tork opened a solo stint in Hollywood at The Troubadour. Tork had already auditioned for The Monkees, who he will join later in the year.
1967, Working on The Beatles Sgt Pepper album at Abbey Road studios in London, … (read more…)
1964, The Beach Boys recorded their next single “I Get Around,” which became their first US number one in the summer of ’64.
1965, The Who made their first radio appearance on the UK BBC’s Joe Loss Pop Show.
1966, a charity concert at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California, took place featuring, Jan and Dean, Sonny & Cher, The … (read more…)