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, Pink Floyd make their first ever appearance at the Royal Albert Hall. Their would play the RAH three more times, with the last performance there in 1970.
1966, Jimi Hendrix performs at the RamJam Club in London.
1967, Rolling Stone Brian Jones was given 3 years probation and a £1,000 ($1,600) fine for drug offenses. Three psychiatrists agreed that Jones was an extremely frightened young man with suicidal … (read more…)
1964, Soul singer Sam Cooke was shot dead at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. Bertha Franklin, manager of the motel, told police that she shot and killed Cooke in self-defense because he had attacked her. Police found Cooke’s body in Franklin’s apartment-office, clad only in a sports jacket and shoes, but no shirt, pants or underwear. The shooting was ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide.
1966, The Lovin’ Spoonful performed at … (read more…)
1965, A San Francisco band formerly known as The Warlocks performed for the first time under their new name, The Grateful Dead.
1966, The Beach Boys went to number one on the singles chart with “Good Vibrations,” the group’s third number one. As a child, Brian Wilson’s mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad … (read more…)
1966, Supergroup Cream released their debut studio album Fresh Cream in the UK. The power trio of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker also released their second single “I Feel Free” on the same day.
1967, The Doors appeared at the New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut. Before the show, a policeman found singer Jim Morrison making out with an 18 year-old girl in a … (read more…)
1966, Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for “When I’m Sixty-Four.” Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Royal College of Art in London.
1968, Singer and guitarist Graham Nash left The Hollies and started working with David Crosby and Stephen Stills who went on to form Crosby Stills and Nash. … (read more…)
1964, Beach Boy Brian Wilson married Marilyn Rovell in Los Angeles. The couple divorced in 1979. Marilyn and her sister and cousin were in a group, The Honeys, who were produced by Brian Wilson. Marilyn and Brian had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, who became members of Wilson Phillips.
1964, Jerry Lee Lewis, on his first tour of the UK, appeared at The Town Hall In Birmingham with The Yardbirds, Twinkle, and The Quite Five.
1962, During sessions for the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album, Dylan recorded “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” and versions of “Hero Blues,” “Whatcha Gonna Do,” “Oxford Town,” and “I Shall Be Free,” at Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios in New York City.
1964, The film Ferry Cross The Mersey premiered in London. Featuring Gerry And The Pacemakers, Cilla Black and other Liverpool acts. It was written by Tony … (read more…)
1965, The Beatles played their last ever show in their hometown of Liverpool when they appeared at The Liverpool Empire during the group’s final UK tour. Only 5,100 tickets were available, but there were 40,000 applications for tickets.
1965, The Rolling Stones played two shows at the Convention Hall in San Diego, California on the last night of a 37-date North American tour.
1967, This was the final night of … (read more…)
1964, The Beatles released their fourth album Beatles For Sale. The album featured, “No Reply,” “I’m a Loser,” “Baby’s in Black,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Eight Days a Week,” and “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby.”
1965, The Byrds started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Turn! Turn! Turn!” the group’s second number one. Unlike their first chart topper, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the entire … (read more…)
1964, The Rolling Stones had their second UK number one single with their version of “Little Red Rooster.” The Stones had recorded the song at Chess Studios in Chicago, the same studios where Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Little Walter had recorded their blues classics.
1965, Rolling Stone Keith Richards was knocked unconscious by an electric shock on stage at the Memorial Hall In Sacramento, California, when his guitar made contact … (read more…)
1967, The Monkees album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd went to number one on the album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following The Monkees, More Of The Monkees and Headquarters.
1967, Pink Floyd play at The Dome in Brighton, England
1969, George Harrison joins Delaney & Bonnie to … (read more…)
The Who, 1964 – from THE MARK AND COLLEEN HAYWARD COLLECTION (http://rockmusicprints.com/)
1964, The Who played the first of 22 consecutive Tuesday night gigs at The Marquee Club in London, the band were paid £50 ($80) for each gig.
1965, during a North America tour The Rolling Stones appeared at the Vancouver Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia.
1966, Tom … (read more…)
