Rock History February 13
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 hit. This is enough to propel the single onto the Billboard charts where it reaches number 93. Cash Box has the single rising all the way to the 57th spot. Detroit becomes the home of The Who’s first fan base in the US and a frequent stopping place for the band in years to come.
1966, The Who play the Community Centre in Southall, west London.
1967, The Monkees announced that from now on they would be playing on their own recordings instead of session musicians.
1967, The Beatles released the double A-sided single “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane” on Capitol Records in the US. The single spent ten weeks on the chart peaking at number one.
1968, members of Pink Floyd were entrenched at EMI studios in London recording the Saucerful of Secrets album
1969, A launch party was held for the release of Mary Hopkin’s album Postcard at the Post Office Tower in London. Guests included Jimi Hendrix, Donovan and Paul McCartney, with his new girlfriend Linda Eastman.
1969, Bob Dylan recorded versions of “Lay, Lady, Lay,” at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The song was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn’t submitted in time to be included in the finished film. The song has gone on to become a standard and has been covered by numerous bands and artists over the years, including The Byrds, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, The Everly Brothers, Neil Diamond, Melanie, The Isley Brothers, Duran Duran, Hoyt Axton, and Isaac Hayes.
1970, The Byrds, Steppenwolf, and Soul Messengers played at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1970, On this day, a Friday the 13th, Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album on Vertigo records. Peaking at number eight on the charts, the album is one of the first to be considered part of the heavy metal genre.
1971, The Osmonds started a five week run at number one on the singles chart with “One Bad Apple.” The group had been appearing on TV in the US since 1962, on the Andy Williams Show, and then the Jerry Lewis Show.
1971, Pink Floyd played at show at Student Union Bar, Farnborough Technical College, Fanbororough, Hampshire, England.
1972, King Crimson performed at the Providence Coliseum, Providence, Rhode Island.
1972, Led Zeppelin fans in Singapore are disappointed when the group is forced to cancel a concert there. The reason? The conservative country’s officials wouldn’t let the band members off the plane because of their long hair.
1972, Black Oak Arkansas and JJ Cale performed at The Warehouse in New Orleans.
1973, After becoming ill during a concert in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley presented Doctor Sidney Bowers with a Lincoln Continental, to show his appreciation for all his work.
1974, David Bowie turned down an offer from the Gay Liberation group to compose “the world’s first Gay National Anthem.”
1975, Led Zeppelin appeared at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.
1976, The 101’ers featuring Joe Strummer played at The Town Hall, Hampstead, London.
1976, Elvis Costello, appearing as DP Costello, played at The Half Moon, Putney, London supporting Vivian Stanshall.
1977, Rush performed at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri.
1978, Dire Straits began recording their first album at Basing Street Studios, London. The whole project cost £12,500 to produce. The album which featured the group’s breakthrough single “Sultans of Swing” went on to enjoy a 132-week run on the UK chart. The inspiration for “Sultans of Swing” came from Mark Knopfler witnessing a mediocre jazz band playing in the corner of a practically deserted pub. At the end of their performance, the lead singer came up to the microphone and announced that they were the “Sultans of Swing.”
1978, Bruce Springsteen played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.
1979, Dire Straits appeared at Philipshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany.
1981, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon becomes the longest-running rock album on the Billboard albums chart. It’s been there for 402 weeks. But it still has a few years to go before it beats Johnny Mathis, whose Greatest Hits was on the chart for 490 weeks.
1982, Nick Lowe performed at the Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois.
1982, The Jam became the first band since The Beatles to play two numbers on the same edition of Top Of The Pops, when they performed “A Town Called Malice,” and “Precious,” their latest double A-sided number one single.
1983, Aerosmith appeared at the Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey.
1988, The Grateful Dead performed at the Henry J. Kiser Auditorium in Oakland, California.
1993, Patrick Waite, a founding member of Musical Youth, died at the age of 24, of natural causes, a hereditary heart condition, while awaiting a court appearance on drug charges. They scored the 1982 UK number one and Grammy-nominated single “Pass the Dutchie.”
2000, Oasis scored their fifth UK number one single with “Go Let It Out.” The first release on the band’s Big Brother label and the first single from their fourth studio album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.
2002, American country singer, songwriter Waylon Jennings died in his sleep after a lengthy fight with diabetes. He was the bassist for Buddy Holly following the break-up of The Crickets. Jennings released a series of duet albums with Willie Nelson in the late 1970s. He notched the 1980 US number 21 single “Theme From The Dukes Of Hazzard,” and he was also the narrator on the aforementioned television series. He was also a member of The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson.
2012, Adele won all six categories she was nominated for at the Grammy Awards. The British singer won song of the year for “Rolling In the Deep,” and also received Grammys for best pop solo performance for “Someone Like You,” best pop vocal album and album of the year for 21, and record of the year and best short form music video for “Rolling In the Deep.”
Born on February 13: Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919); Boudleaux Bryant, songwriter, Everly Brothers (192o); Peter Tork (1944); Rebop Kwaku Baah, Nigerian percussionist, Traffic, Can, Zahara (1944); Roy Dyke, Ashton Gardner & Dyke (1945); Judy Dyble, English singer-songwriter, pianist, Fairport Convention, Giles, Giles and Fripp (1949); Peter Gabriel (1950); Bob Daisley, bass, songwriter Rainbow, Uriah Heep (1950); Ed Gagliardi, bass, Foreigner (1952); Paul Jeffreys, bass, Be-Bop Deluxe (1952); Peter Hook, bass, vocals, Joy Division (1956); Tony Butler, bass, Big Country (1957); Adam Clayton, bass, U2 (1960); Henry Rollins (1961); Matt Berninger, singer-songwriter, The National (1971); Robert Harrell, bass, 3 Doors Down (1972); Robbie Williams, Take That (1974); Leslie Feist, singer-songwriter, guitarist, By Divine Right, Broken Social Scene (1976)
Link to Today in Rock History main page.
Aerosmith, Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Waylon Jennings.
