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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1967, The Beatles record the piano chord used on “A Day in the Life.” David Crosby pops by Abbey Road studios for a visit.
1968, The Who appeared at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
1968, Genesis releases its first single, “The Silent Sun.” Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks later say they wrote the song in the style of the Bee Gees to impress producer and Bee Gees fan Jonathan King.
1969, Tyrannosaurus … (read more…)
1964, Three classic British singles were released, The Rolling Stones “Not Fade Away,” a UK number three, The Hollies “Just One Look,”a UK number two, and Billy J Kramer’s “Little Children,” a UK number one.
1964, New York band The Echoes recruited a new, young unknown piano player, named Billy Joel.
1967, Pink Floyd started their first sessions at the EMI Studios, St. … (read more…)
1963, The Beatles drove through the night from Liverpool to London to appear on the live lunchtime BBC radio program Parade of the Pops. The appearance lasted just over four minutes with the band performing “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me.” They then drove another 180 mile trip back north for their performance that night at the Swimming Baths, Doncaster, Yorkshire.
1965, Gary Lewis and the Playboys started a two week run at number … (read more…)
1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded the rhythm track “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” in two takes. On his new song, John Lennon sang, and accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, backed by Paul and George. The band lip-synched to the recording for the movie Help! The final album mix was made four days later.
1965, The Who learn by letter that J.E. Grant has given them the go-ahead to … (read more…)
The Kinks
1965, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Tired Of Waiting For You,” the group’s second chart topper.
1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded two new songs. John Lennon’s “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was recorded in nine takes, and a new Paul McCartney song “Tell Me What You See” was laid down in four takes. … (read more…)
1966, Nancy Sinatra was at number one on the singles chart with “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” her first chart topper.
1967, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” at Abbey Road studio’s, London. John’s lyrics for the song came almost entirely from an antique poster advertising a circus performance scheduled to take place in Rochdale, Lancashire, in February 1843. John had … (read more…)
1964, The Beatles made their second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, exactly one week after the first. Before an audience of 3,500 at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
1965, The Who perform at the Marquee Club where they are filmed for French television performing “Heatwave,” “Tell Me More,” “Shout and Shimmy,” and “Smokestack Lightning.” The footage is … (read more…)
1964, The Beatles scored their first number one album with Meet The Beatles! The album stayed at the top of the charts for eleven weeks.
1964, The Dave Clark Five appeared on the UK TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars.
1965, American singer and pianist Nat King Cole died of lung cancer. His first hit was the 1943 “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” Cole also had the 1955 US number two single “A … (read more…)
1967, Aretha Franklin records a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect”at Atlantic Studios in New York. It would become a number one US single in June.
1967, The Doors play the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.
1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Gray’s Club in Tilbury, Essex, England.
1968, Manfred Mann were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of the Bob Dylan song “The Mighty … (read more…)
1965, The Rolling Stones played the last night on a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Capital Theatre in Perth. Also appearing on the tour was Roy Orbison, The Newbeats and Ray Columbus and the Invaders.
1965, The Who make their US record debut with the release of “I Can’t Explain,” backed with “Bald Headed Woman.” It is ignored throughout most of the US, except in Detroit, Michigan where it becomes a big regional … (read more…)
1965, Pye Records announced signing of the “British Bob Dylan,” when they added Donovan to the label. The Scottish singer-songwriter produced a series of hit albums and singles between 1965 and 1970 and became a friend of leading pop musicians including Joan Baez, Brian Jones, and The Beatles. He influenced John Lennon when he taught him a finger-picking guitar style in 1968.
1965, The Who audition for BBC Radio’s Light Programme. As The … (read more…)
1963, In less than ten hours, The Beatles record ten new songs for their first album plus four other tracks which would be the next two singles. John Lennon’s vocal on The Isley Brothers “Twist & Shout” was recorded in one take to complete the album.
1964, The Beatles made their live concert debut in the US at the Washington Coliseum. Over 350 police surrounded the stage to keep the 8,000 plus screaming … (read more…)
