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Today in Rock History – May 28

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1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to number one on the album chart with What Now My Love, setting a new American record with four albums in the Top Ten. The other three were; South of the Border, Going Places and Whipped Cream and Other Delights.

1966, The Who appear at South Pier in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

1966, Percy Sledge started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “When A Man Loves A Woman.”

1966, Love appeared at the Whisky A Go-Go West Hollywood, California, supported by The Doors.

1966, Ike & Tina Turner release their epic “River Deep, Mountain High,” but it climbs only to number 88 on the American chart.

1966, All four Beatles spent the day with Bob Dylan in his room at the Mayfair hotel in London, England.

1967, The Who go to CBS Studios, London and record backing tracks for “I Can See For Miles,” “Armenia City In The Sky” and “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand.” However, further recording is cancelled after Keith ruptures his stomach wall and has to be carted off by ambulance.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed at Boston Tea Party in Boston, Massachusetts.

1969, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were arrested at their London home and charged with possession of cannabis, they were released on £50 ($85) bail.

1971, Pink Floyd completes four days of recording sessions for Meddle at EMI Studios in London.

1971, King Crimson performed at Greens Playhouse, Glasgow, Scotland.

1971, Studio engineer Glyn Johns gives The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” its final mix before mastering.

1972, Dave Mason, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Linda Ronstadt played at the YMCA downtown center lawn in Peoria, Illinois.

1973, Bassist and songwriter Ronnie Lane leaves the Faces.

1974, Ten Years After played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1975, AC/DC appeared at the Sundowner, Geelong, Australia.

1976, Yes headlined at the Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia.

1976, Aerosmith performed at Colt Park, Hartford, Connecticut.

1976, The Allman Brothers Band break up in disgust for the first time after Gregg Allman testifies against a road manager accused of drug trafficking.

1977, Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers played together for the first time when they performed as part of Mike Howlett’s band, Strontium 90 in Paris France.

1977, Heart, Steve Miller, The Eagles and Foreigner all appeared at the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium in California.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

1977, Bruce Springsteen is free to enter a studio again after settling out of court with his former manager, Mike Appel. Their legal entanglements had prevented Springsteen from recording.

1978, Rush played at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1979, Rush appeared at Stadhalle, Offenbach, Germany.

1982, Frank Zappa performed at the Palais des Sports, St Etienne, France.

1982, Promoter Bill Graham staged a special Vietnam Veterans benefit concert at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco starring The Jefferson Starship, The Grateful Dead, and Country Joe.

1983, The four day US Festival ’83 took place in California, featuring The Clash, U2, David Bowie, The Pretenders, Van Halen, Stray Cats, Men At Work, Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson. INXS, Joe Walsh, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne. Over 750,000 fans attended the festival.

1988, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler married his second wife clothing designer Teresa Barrick. The couple announced they were separating due to personal problems in February 2005.

1995, Hootie & the Blowfish started a four-week run at number one on the US album charts with Cracked Rear View. The album went on to sell over 15 million copies.

1996, Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles after an apparent drug overdose. The singer was later arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin.

2000, Britney Spears was at number one on the US album chart with Oops!… I Did It Again. The singer’s second album also reached the top spot in thirteen other countries and has now sold over twenty million copies.

2007, The Police kicked off their 152-show Reunion Tour at General Motors Place in Vancouver, Canada in front of 22,000 fans.

Born on May 28:  T-Bone Walker, blues guitarist (1910); Papa John Creech, violinist, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna (1917); Gladys Knight (1944); John Fogerty (1945); Ray Laidlan, Lindisfarne (1948); Wendy O. Williams, The Plasmatics (1949); Roland Gift, vocals, Fine Young Cannibals (1962); Kylie Minogue, Australian singer, actress (1968); Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter (1985)

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Today in Rock History – May 24

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1966, Captain Beefheart appeared at the Whisky a Go Go. West Hollywood, California. Supported by Buffalo Springfield and The Doors.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at Gröna Lund in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1968, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull are arrested on charges of marijuana possession. The same day the Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” generally seen as a comeback record following the flop of Their Satanic Majesties Request. It goes to number three in the US, and the top spot in the UK.  Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards’ country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.” The rest of the lyrics evolved from there.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at The Punchbowl Hotel, Lapworth, England.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1969, Bob Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline peaked at number three in the US charts. The singer’s ninth album, it also scored Dylan his fourth UK chart topper. The album featured “Lay Lady Lay,” which became one of Dylan’s biggest pop hits, reaching the seventh position in the US, his biggest single in three years.

1969, The Beatles started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Get Back,” the group’s 17th chart topper.  The song was credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston,”  the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

1970, Peter Green played his last gig with Fleetwood Mac when they appeared at the Bath Festival, Somerset, England.

1971, Bob Dylan’s 30th birthday is commemorated with a Peanuts cartoon commenting on the event. Dylan himself spends the day visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

1973, David Bowie played at the Odeon Theatre (Lewisham), in London.

1972, Grateful Dead Europe ’72 tour plays at the Lyceum in London, England.

1974, American composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington, died of lung cancer and pneumonia aged 75. He worked with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday.  He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. In 2009 the United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington on the reverse side of the coin.

1974, David Bowie released his eighth studio album Diamond Dogs. Thematically, it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and Bowie’s own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell’s book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the author’s estate denied the rights. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia

1975, Earth Wind and Fire went to number one on the singles chart with”Shining Star,” the group’s first and only chart topper.

1976, AC/DC performed at The Nashville, London.

1978, Neil Young appeared at The Boarding House in San Francisco.

1979, Yes played at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1980, Genesis fans turning up at the Roxy Club box office in Los Angeles to buy tickets for a forthcoming gig were surprised to find the band members Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford selling the tickets themselves.

1981, Van Halen played at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1991, Founding member of The Byrds, Gene Clark, died of a heart attack aged 49. He penned group’s hits “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Eight Miles High.” He was also a member of McGuinn, Clark and Hillman.

1991, Guns n’ Roses played the first show on their 192-date Use Your Illusion world Tour at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

2003, Paul McCartney made his first ever live performance in Russia when he appeared in-front of 20,000 fans in Red Square

2007, Amy Winehouse, Madonna and Arctic Monkeys were among the winners at the Ivor Novello Awards. Winehouse won best contemporary song for her hit “Rehab,” while Madonna collected the international hit of the year for “Sorry.” Sheffield-based band Arctic Monkeys collected the best album award for Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not.

2010, Paul Gray, the bassist with US metal band Slipknot, was found dead in a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. The body of the 38-year-old musician was found by an employee at the hotel in a suburb of the city. Police said foul play was not suspected, but an autopsy would be carried out. The nine members of Slipknot wore masks in public and referred to other bandmates by numbers; Gray was number two.

Born on May 24: Bob Dylan (1941); Derek Quinn, Freddie and the Dreamers (1942); Patti Labelle, singer (1944); Steve Upton, Wishbone Ash (1946); Albert Bouchard, drums, Blue Oyster Cult (1947); Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, producer, Dire Straits, The Notting Hillbillies (1960); Dwight Errington Myers, aka Heavy D, rapper (1967); Rich Robinson, The Black Crowes (1969); Alessandro Cortini, keyboards, Nine Inch Nails (1976)

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Today in Rock History – May 20

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1965, The Who performed at Town Hall in Kidderminster, West Midlands, England.

1966, Bob Dylan and The Band played at the ABC Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Some members of the audience were unhappy with Dylan “going electric,” and attempted to overpower the band by playing their own harmonicas.

1966, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of the Who grew tired of waiting for John Entwistle and Keith Moon to arrive for their gig at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England. Moon had taken Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys to a taping of Ready Steady Go! and had also been popping pills. Pete and Roger took to the stage with the rhythm section of the local band that opened the show. When Moon and Entwistle finally arrived in the middle of the set. During the finale of “My Generation,” as Keith kicked over his drum set, Pete already in a foul mood, swung his guitar into the amp stack and accidentally (or on purpose) hit Moon on the head with his guitar. A brawl ensued. Moon suffered a cut on his leg and possibly a broken ankle. Moon and Entwistle quit the band, only to rejoin a week later.

1967, The Beatles new album Sgt Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band had a special preview on the Kenny Everett BBC Light program, Where It’s At. They played every track from the album, except “A Day In The Life,” which the BBC had banned saying it could promote drug taking.

1967, The Young Rascals started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Groovin.”

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Floral Hall in Southport, Lancashire, England. The support act was Big Sleep.

1967, Jimi Hendrix signs a US record deal with Reprise Records.

1967, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” was the number one R&B single in America.  It had returned to the top of the charts after being dislodged by Martha & the Vandellas.

1968, Pete Townshend marries Karen Astley.

1968, The Beatles, armed with a bunch of new songs after their visit to India, met at George Harrison’s home in Esher, Surrey. They taped 23 new songs on George’s 4-track recorder, many of which would end up on The Beatles’ next two albums, the White Album and Abbey Road. The demos included “Cry Baby Cry,” “Revolution,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Blackbird,” and “Child of Nature,” a Lennon song that became “Jealous Guy.”

1969, Peter Cetera, from the band Chicago, was beaten up by four men at a Chicago Cubs-Dodgers baseball game at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. The men objected to the length of Cetera’s hair. In the liner notes to a Chicago box set, he recalled, “four Marines didn’t like a long-haired rock ‘n’ roller in a baseball park,  and of course I was a Cub fan, and I was in Dodger Stadium, and that didn’t do so well. I got in a fight and got a broken jaw in three places, and I was in intensive care for a couple of days.”  Cetera underwent four hours of emergency surgery.

1969, Led Zeppelin started three days of recording and mixing sessions at A&R Studios in New York City, which included the recording of “Heartbreaker” and various other parts for new tracks for the group’s  second album.

1970, Mountain played at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The final feature film involving The Beatles Let It Be was premiered simultaneously in London and Liverpool a week after the film’s US release.

1972, Fleetwood Mac  and McKendree Spring appeared at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee.

1972, T Rex were at number one on the UK singles chart “Metal Guru,” the band’s fourth and final chart topper. They also had the UK number one album with Bolan Boogie.

1972, Uriah Heep played at Liverpool Stadium in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the Civic Theatre, Ottawa, Canada.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Stadium on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

1974, KISS played at Foothills Arena, Calgary, Alberta.

1975, AC/DC headlined at Croxton Park Hotel, Thornbury, Australia.

1976, Aerosmith played at  Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, Alabama.

1977, Rush performed at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago.

1978, The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack entered the 18th week of its amazing run of 24 weeks at number one on the US album charts.

1978, Paul McCartney went to number one on the US singles chart with “With A Little Luck,” his sixth solo US chart topper. It was taken from the London Town album.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1980, Bob Dylan performed at the Franklin County Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio.

1983, David Bowie played at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany.

1989, Ferry “Cross The Mersey” by Ferry Aid started a three week run at number one on the UK singles chart. The song was recorded to raise funds for the Hillsborough Football victims. Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson and The Christians all featured on the recording

1997, U2 caused traffic chaos in Kansas City, Missouri after they paid for traffic control to close down five lanes so they could shoot the video for “Last Night On Earth.” Apart from major traffic jams, a passing Cadillac crashed into a plate glass window trying to avoid a cameraman.

1997, Foo Fighters released their second album The Colour And The Shape. The album was a Grammy nominee for Best Rock Album in 1998. Even though Foo Fighters are an American band, the word “Colour” in the album title is always spelled with the British spelling. This was a nod to producer Gil Norton, who is British. It reached the third spot on the UK charts, and was a top ten album in the US.

2001, R.E.M. started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with “Reveal.”

2007, Linkin Park went to number one on the UK album chart with Minutes To Midnight the bands fifth Top 20 UK album. Also a US chart topper.

2012, Robin Gibb, a member of the Bee Gees, and a singer-songwriter who helped to turn disco into a global phenomenon by providing the core of the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, died from cancer aged 62.

2013, Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and founder member of the The Doors died aged 74. Manzarek, who had suffered from bile duct cancer for many years, died in a clinic in Rosenheim, Germany. He formed The Doors with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1965 after a chance meeting with his old film school classmate at Venice Beach, Los Angeles.

2014, Prince Rupert Loewenstein, the Bavarian banker credited with turning The Rolling Stones into the world’s richest rock band, died at the age of 80. It was on Loewenstein’s advice that the Stones became tax exiles, decamping to the south of France in the 1970s.

Born on this day: Joe Cocker (1944); Cher (1946); Steve Currie, T Rex (1947); Jimmy Hendrson, Black Oak Arkansas (1954); Jane Wieldin,  The Go-Go”s (1958); Dan Wilson, Semisonic (1961);  Busta Rhymes (1972)

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Today in Rock History – May 11

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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 townhouse formerly owned by the Messiah’s composer George Frederick Handel. The guitarist tells the Daily Mirror that he will “not let the tradition down.”

1969, Yes played at Frank Freeman’s Club, Kidderminster, England.

1969, The Rolling Stones go to number five in the American album charts with their new release Beggars Banquet. It peaked at number three in the UK charts the previous year.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed the first of two nights at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta.

1969, Jethro Tull release their debut album This Was.

1970, The triple soundtrack album Woodstock was released, going gold within two weeks.

1971, King Crimson appeared at Guild Hall, Plymouth, England.

1972, John Lennon appeared on the US television Dick Cavett Show, claiming he was under surveillance from the FBI.

1972, David Bowie played at Assembly Hall, Worthing, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead’s fabled European tour stops at Rotterdam, Netherlands for a show at the Civic Hall.

1973, Wings kicked off their first official tour at the Bristol Hippodrome, playing 15 UK shows.

1973, Alice Cooper appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Led Zeppelin attended an Elvis Presley show at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles, California. After a shaky start to the show, Elvis stopped the band and jokingly said: “Wait a minute…if we can start together fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there, lets try to look like we know what were doing.” All four members of Zeppelin met with Elvis after the show, spending over two hours backstage. Elvis asked for all the group’s autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie.

1975, Led Zeppelin play “Kashmir” live for the first time during a gig at the Ahoy in Rotterdam.

1976, AC/DC performed at the Marquee Club, London.

1978, Rush appeared at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, at the end of their News Of The World 46-date tour, Queen played three sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, London, England.

1979, Rod Stewart appeared at Cobo Arena, Detroit, on his Blondes Have More Fun tour, tickets $12.50.

1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died of lung cancer and a brain tumor aged 36. Had the 1981 single “No Woman No Cry,” plus over ten other UK Top 40 singles. In 1990, February 6 was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica to commemorate his birth. The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

1985, UK producer and keyboard player Paul Hardcastle was at number one on the UK singles chart with “19.”The title referred to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and features dialogue by television narrator Peter Thomas, and a strong anti-war message.

1987, The UK indie chart had The Smiths at number one on with “Sheila Take A Bow,” number two, The Cult, “Lil’ Devil” number three, The Pogues, “The Irish Rover.” The CD chart, David Bowie a the top spot with Never Let Me Down, Raindancing by Alison Moyet stood at number two and Genesis Invisible Touch rounded out the top three.

1996, Bill Graham the Irish journalist from Hot Press magazine, credited with discovering U2, died of a heart attack aged 44. Graham brought the fledgling band to the attention of Paul McGuiness, who became their manager. Members from Clannad, U2, Hothouse Flowers and Gavin Friday all attended his funeral.

2001, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog kicked off The Tour of Brotherly Love, a North American tour at The Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Nevada. (The three bands featuring pairs of brothers, (Noel and Liam Gallagher, Chris and Rich Robinson, Royston and Antony Langdon, respectively).

2003, Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding died at his home in Ireland aged 57. Redding played on the classic Hendrix albums Are You Experienced, ‘Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. Right up until his death, Redding had been taking legal action against the Hendrix estate for payment estimated at £3.26 ($5.22) million for his part in recordings and for ongoing royalties. Had also been a member of Fat Mattress and formed The Noel Redding Band.

Born on this day: Irving Berlin (1888);  Eric Burdon (1941); Les Chadwick, Gerry And The Pacemakers (1943); and Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers (1947); Greg Dulli,  singer-songwriter and guitarist, The Twilight Singers, The Afghan Whigs (1965).

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Today in Rock History – April 1

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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 to producer Vicki Wickham, both groups run out of the studio and into the alley at the end of the show. The cameras chase them only to catch the bands urinating against a wall. The same night The Who perform at La Locomotive Club in Paris, compèred by Ronnie Bird who will soon release “Ne t’en fais pas pour Ronnie,” a French-language re-write of “A Legal Matter.” The show is broadcast on Radio Luxembourg.

1966, Pye Records released David Bowie’s first solo single, “Do Anything You Say.” Bowie had previously recorded as David Jones and The Lower Third.

1966, John Lennon bought a copy of Timothy Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience and The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, where he read near the beginning of the book’s introduction; “When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream,” which captured Lennon’s imagination and became the first line of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” which he recorded 5 days later.

1967, The Kinks appeared in concert at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland.

1967, Janis Joplin performed at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Birdcage Club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

1968, Dick Clark appears at a San Francisco concert headlined by the Siegel Schwall Band. He is shilling his new movie, Psych-Out, which features Jack Nicholson rocking at the Fillmore West.

1969, The Beach Boys announced they were suing their record label Capitol for $2 million in unpaid royalties.

1970, The Moody Blues appeared at the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1970, 50 musicians recorded the orchestral scores for The Beatles tracks “The Long And Winding Road” and “Across The Universe” for the Phil Spector produced sessions. The bill for the 50 musicians was £1,126 and 5 shillings, ($1914).

1970, Earls Court in London received over one million postal ticket applications for The Rolling Stones forthcoming six concerts as part of the group’s European tour.

1971, John Entwistle releases his and The Who’s first commercial solo record “I Believe In Everything” backed with “My Size.” To promote it he hires a stagecoach with livery to deliver the single to Harlequin Records in London. The stagecoach ends up getting a parking ticket.

1971, Led Zeppelin perform a concert for the BBC Radio program Rock Hour at London’s Paris Theater. Featuring a bevy of material from their forthcoming fourth album, the concert becomes one of their most-bootlegged performances.

1972, The three-day Mar Y Sol festival in Puerto Rico took place, featuring Rod Stewart, Dr John, The Allman Brothers, Osibisa, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Alice Cooper, The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Security was simple as the event took place on an island accessible by ticket only.

1973, Roxy Music performed at the Rainbow Theatre, London.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

1974, KISS played at The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio.

1975, Genesis appeared at Friedrich Ebert Halle, Ludwigshafen, Germany.

1976, The Who return to Boston Garden to make up for the show of March 9th they didn’t finish because of Keith Moon’s collapse. Keith runs around the stage to show he’s in fine shape and Roger Daltrey adds “thanks for waiting for the encore!” John Entwistle, however, has a rougher time. After numerous requests by Roger to “turn down,” John throws his bass onto the stage and tells Roger he can play it. This show is later bootlegged as Behind Blind Eyes.

1976, AC/DC made their live debut in the UK, playing at The Red Cow in Hammersmith, London.

1976, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour’s house was broken into with thieves taking guitars valued at over £7,000.

1976, Rush perform at the Civic Centre Arena, Ottawa, Canada.

1976, The Buzzcocks played their debut live gig when the appeared at Bolton Institute Of Technology. The power was turned off after three numbers.

1977, Elvis Presley is admitted to Memphis’ Baptist Memorial Hospital. He is found to be suffering from fatigue and intestinal flu.

1978, Elvis Costello and The Attractions appeared at The Bracknell Sports Centre, Berkshire, England.

1980, ZZ Top played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1984, Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his parent’s home in Los Angeles, California. The argument started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents, Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun he had given him four months before. Marvin Sr. was sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor.

1985, David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys’ “California Girls,” (which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals). He was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.

1999,  Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer and Rhythm & Blues Hall of Famer Jesse Stone dies in Altamonte Springs, Fla. He is 97. Stone, one of the founders of Atlantic Records, helped define the rock sound through his work as writer and arranger of such seminal hits as Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle & Roll.”

2004, Paul Atkinson guitarist with The Zombies died aged 58 due to liver and kidney disease. They scored the 1964 US number two and UK  number 12 single “She’s Not There.” He later became an artist and repertoire executive, working for Columbia and RCA discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn.

2013, A signed copy of The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions for $290,500 (£191,000). The selling price far exceeded the $30,000 (£19,700) originally estimated for the rare LP record. The UK Parlophone copy of the album included a high gloss cover and vinyl gatefold sleeve.

Born on April 1: Rudolph Isley, The Isley Brothers (1939); Phil Margo, The Tokens (1942); John Barbata, The Turtles, Jefferson Starship (1945); Ronnie Lane, The Small Faces (1946); Jimmy Cliff (1948); Simon Cowe, guitar, Lindisfarne (1948); Jeff Porcaro, Toto (1954); Stan Ridgeway, Wall of Voodoo (1955);  Leslie Langston, bass, Throwing Muses (1964)

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Today in Rock History – March 18

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who-1965-marquee-club-london1965, Excerpts from six numbers performed by The Who at The Marquee Club in February appear on a French Television programme called Seize Millions de Jeunes on ORTF TV 2. It is part of documentary about Mods shot by two French acquaintances of the band’s co-manager Chris Stamp. A scheduled appearance that day at the Civic Hall in Crawley is postponed until April 18th.

1966, that morning, The Who are filmed miming to “I Can’t Explain,” “Bald Headed Woman,” and “Substitute” at Tower Pier, London for Dick Clark’s ABC-TV U.S. program Where The Action Is. That evening they head out to Wembley’s Studio One to perform “Substitute” and “Barbara Ann” on Ready, Steady, GO!, then zip off to Basildon to play the Locarno Ballroom.

traffic-traffic1967, The UK music magazine New Musical Express announced that former Spencer Davis Group member Steve Winwood was planning to form a new group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. The ensemble would choose the name Traffic.

1967, Pink Floyd played at Enfield College of Technology, Enfield, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Star Club, Hamburg, Germany.

1967, The Beatles scored their 13th chart topping single with “Penny Lane.” The title refers to the name of a street near Lennon’s house, in Liverpool. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Mossley Hill area to catch a bus into the center of the city.

1969, Jimi Hendrix performed at Ellis Auditorium AmphiTheater, Memphis, Tennessee.

1970, Tommy: The Movie has its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City. A morning press conference is attended by all the movie’s stars except Oliver Reed, Jack Nicholson, Roger Daltrey, and director Ken Russell. Daltrey and Russell are back in England working on his next film, Lisztomania. The film receives a standing ovation despite occasional sound problems. Afterwards, The Who and celebrities attend a midnight party designed by new Hollywood hotshot Allan Carr in a sealed-off section of a New York subway station located under the IND Station at 57th Street and Sixth Avenue.

1971, Led Zeppelin played at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle, England during their “Back to the Clubs” tour.

1972, Yes appeared at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1972, Neil Young started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Heart Of Gold.” It was his only Top 20 hit as a solo artist.

1972, Paul Simon scored his first solo number one album when his self-titled debut went to the top of the charts. The album featured the singles “Mother And Child Reunion,” and “Me And Julio Down By The School Yard.”

1972, T Rex played the first of two sold out nights at Wembley’s Empire Pool. Ringo Starr filmed the shows for the Born To Boogie Apple documentary.

1973, Paul McCartney and Wings played a benefit gig for the drug charity, Release at The Hard Rock Cafe in England.

1973, King Crimson played at the Rainbow Theatre, London.

1974, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the first of eight shows over four nights at Gertie’s in Dallas, Texas.

bowie-man-who-fell-to-earth1976, The Film The Man Who Fell To Earth featuring David Bowie premiered in London.

1976, Bob Dylan played at theLakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1976, The Who perform at the Salt Palace Convention Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1977, The Clash released their debut single “White Riot.” It peaked at number 38 on the UK charts.

1977, The Grateful Dead played at Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California.

1977, AC/DC performed at Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, England.

1978, The brothers Gibb had a role in the top three songs on the singles charts, the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” at number one; “(Love is) Thicker Than Water” by Andy Gibb (the previous week’s chart topper) was at number two, co-written by Barry Gibb, and “Emotion” by Samantha Song, written and produced by The Bee Gees, sat at the third position.

1978, Aerosmith, Santana, Heart, Dave Mason, Ted Nugent and Mahogany Rush all appeared at the California Jam II festival, Ontario, California.

1978, Rush played at the Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina.

1979, Roxy Music performed at Eissporthalle, Berlin, Germany.

1981, Tom Waits appeared at the Victoria Apollo, London, England.

1984, Van Halen played at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1989, A radio station in California arranged to have all it’s Cat Stevens Records destroyed by having a steamroller run over them in protest of the singer’s support of Ayatollah Khomeni.

1996, The Sex Pistols announced their comeback at the 100 Club in London, 20 years after they had split.

1997, Rap artist Notorious B.I.G., aka Christopher George Latore Wallace, was cremated in New Jersey. The 24 year-old was gunned down and killed on March 9th as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

2001, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter John Phillips of the Mamas and The Papas died of heart failure aged 65. His first band, The Journeymen, were a folk trio. He also co-promoted the Monterrey Pop Festival with Lou Adler. Phillips was married to Michelle Gilliam, they had one child together, Chynna Phillips, vocalist of the 1990’s pop trio Wilson Phillips.

2002, The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam and close friend of the Ramones. The ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

2011, Jet Harris, bass guitarist for The Shadows, died from throat cancer at the age of 71. Jet played on the hit “Apache” and during their days as Cliff Richard’s backing band, performed on the number one hit “Living Doll.” In 1962, he left the group and had solo hits with “Besame Mucho” and “The Man With The Golden Arm.”

2013, David Bowie’s first album in a decade become the fastest-selling of the year, hitting the top spot in the UK charts in its first week of release. The Next Day was the 66-year-old’s first number one since 1993’s Black Tie White Noise and sold 94,000 copies in the first week.

Born on March 18: Charlie Pride (1938); Wilson Pickett (1941); Dennis Linde, songwriter (1943); Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist,  producer The Alan Parsons Project (1945); B. J. Wilson, English drummer, Procol Harum (1947); John Hartman, Doobie Brothers (1950); Grant Hart, Husker Du (1961); Jeff LaBar, American guitarist, Cinderella and Naked Beggars (1963); Courtney Pine, jazz musician (1964); Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Alice in Chains (1966); Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, Lush (1967); Dana Elaine Owens, aka Queen Latifah (1970); Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, Maroon 5 (1979)

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Today in Rock History – March 10

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1965, Davie Jones (David Bowie) and the Manish Boys appeared at the Bromel Club, Bromley Hill, England.

1965, The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week” goes to number one. It’s the first single by a British act to top the American charts but not make the charts in Britain, where it was unreleased.

1966, The Who played at the Ram Jam Club in Brixton, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Club A Go Go in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England.

1967, The Monkees held the number one position on the album chart with More Of The Monkees.

1968, The Who play the Opera House in Aurora, Illinois. The show is filmed by a BBC camera crew for a Tony Palmer documentary, They also film that night’s performance at the Exposition Gardens in Peoria, Illinois.

1968, Jimi Hendrix performed at the International Ballroom in Washington, D.C.

1970, Genesis played at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London.

1971, Beatles manager Allen Klein is barred from involvement in the band’s affairs as the Fab Four’s career together winds down. According to legend, it is also on this night that John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr go to Paul McCartney’s London townhouse and throw a brick through one of the windows.

1972, America awarded gold disc for “Horse with No Name.”

1972, Black Sabbath and Yes appeared at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona.

1973, the Pink Floyd album Dark Side Of The Moon was released in America, it spent over 740 weeks on the chart over a 14-year period.

1973, This week’s UK Top 5 singles: number 5, Focus, “Sylvia,” number 4, Detroit Emeralds, “Feel The Need In Me,” number 3, The Strawbs, “Part Of The Union,” number 2, The Faces, “Cindy Incidentally,” number one, Slade, “Cum On Feel The Noize.”
1973, The Who played at the Sporthal de Vliegermolen, Voorburg, The Netherlands.

1974, David Bowie performs the Philadelphia concert that is later released as the album David Live.

1975, John Lennon releases his cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” as a single in the U.S.

1975, Led Zeppelin played at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1977, at 7am in the morning on a trestle table set up out-side Buckingham Palace, London, The Sex Pistols signed to A&M Records. The contract lasted for six days.

1977, AC/DC appeared at St. Andrews Hall, Norwich, England.

1978, The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” is the number one single in America. In a great turn of pop events, the record actually knocked the band’s own “Stayin’ Alive” out of the top spot.

1979, Rush appeared at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1981, The Who performed at Wembley Arena in London.

1982, King Crimson played at Dora Cohen Hall, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford, England.

1985, The Grateful Dead performed at the Community Theater in Berkeley, California.

1988, Younger brother of The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, died in hospital. His death from myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) followed a long battle with cocaine addiction, which had weakened his heart.

1997, LaVern Baker, a rhythm and blues singer died from complications of coronary artery disease at age 57. She had several hits on the pop charts including “Tweedlee Dee” (1955), “Jim Dandy” (1956), and “I Cried a Tear” (1958).

2002, Alanis Morissette went to number one on the US album chart and number two on the UK chart with Under Rug Swept.

2003, During a concert in London, England, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said that the band was “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas” (referring to Maines’ hometown of Lubbock and President Bush hailing from the same state). This was during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the comment sparked intense controversy and outrage among Americans, including a large share of country music fans.

2009, Tickets for a one-off gig by Sir Paul McCartney in Las Vegas sold out seven seconds after going on sale. The former Beatle was booked to perform at the opening of the New Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on April 19th to an audience of 4,000 fans. Tickets cost $750 (£468.75) each.

2010, Pink Floyd won a court battle with EMI that prevented the record company from selling single downloads and ringtones on the Internet from the group’s albums. Pink Floyd’s back catalog was second only in sales to the Beatles.

Born on this day: Dean Torrence, Jan & Dean (1940); Tom Scholz, Boston (1947); Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam (1963); Robin Thicke (1977); and Carrie Underwood (1983)

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Today in Rock History – March 5

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1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth UK tour at The Regal Theatre, Edmonton, London. A 14-date package tour with The Hollies, The Konrads and Dave Berry and the Cruisers.

1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to number one on the album chart with Going Places.

1966, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler started a five week run at number one on the singles chart with “Ballad Of The Green Berets,” it made number 24 in the UK.

1967, The Lovin’ Spoonful appeared at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1967, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, The Ryan Brothers and Lee Dorsey all appeared at the Saville Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, England. Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles leased the theatre in 1965, presenting both plays and music shows. The venue became notorious for its Sunday night concerts.

1969, Yes played at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono check into the London Clinic. Later in the month the couple begin a primal-scream course led by therapist Dr. Arthur Janov. Lennon starts writing songs, such as “Mother” and “Isolation” – that will appear on Plastic Ono Band.

1971, Led Zeppelin started a 12-date Thank You tour for British fans appearing at the clubs from their early days and charging the admission price from 1968. The first show was at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the first public performance of “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll,” “Going To California,” and “Stairway to Heaven” from the forthcoming Zoso album.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

1972, The Grateful Dead played at San Francisco’s Winterland Arena.

1973, the former US manager of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jeffrey was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France. Jeffery was en-route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.

1975, Rod Stewart met Swedish actress, Britt Ekland at a party in Los Angeles, the couple went on to have a high profile love affair.

1975, Rush played at the Electric Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia.

1976, David Bowie appeared at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri.

1977, AC/DC performed at the County Cricket Ground, Northampton, England.

1977, Barbra Streisand started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Love Theme From A Star Is Born,” her second chart topper. The Eagles were at number two with “New Kid In Town” and The Steve Miller Band was third with “Fly Like An Eagle.”

1981, The Grateful Dead played at Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

belushi-animal-house1982, actor and singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Belushi was one of the original cast members on Saturday Night Live, played “Joliet” Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House. His tombstone reads “I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on.”

1983, Aerosmith appeared at the Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

1985, Eric Clapton performed at the Wembley Arena, London.

1992, R.E.M. cleaned up in The Rolling Stone Music Awards winning Album of the year, for Out Of Time, Artist of the year, Best Single for “Losing My Religion,” Best Video for “Losing My Religion,” and Best Band, Best Guitarist and Best Songwriter awards.

1995, Viv Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band was killed in a house fire. The English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, and poet is best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.

2002, The first episode of The Osbournes TV show was aired on MTV in the US. Focusing on the madman and his wife Sharon, and two of their three children. Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.

2005, A commemorative plaque for the The Jimi Hendrix Experience was unveiled in Loisin-sous-Lens. Hendrix had appeared at The Twenty Club when it opened in 1967. It was his first European tour where he was totally unknown. Club owner Rikki Stein stated: “The place was packed and at the end of ’Wild Thing’, his first number, there was total silence. The entire audience just stood there, open-mouthed. They’d never seen or heard anything like it in their life.”

Born on March 5: Richard Bell, pianist, Full Tilt Boogie Band, The Band  (1948); Eddy Grant, The Equals (1948); Alan Clark, keyboards, Dire Straits (1952); Andy Gibb (1958); John Frusciante, guitarist, Red Hot Chili Peppers (1970)

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Today in Rock History – February 28

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The Yardbirds, circa 1964

1964, The Yardbirds played at the Rhythm and Blues Festival at The Town Hall, Birmingham, England.

1966, Liverpool’s Cavern Club, made famous by the Beatles’ residency there, closes and is later turned into a subway station.

1966, The Who appeared at Eltham Bath in London.

1968, Frankie Lymon was found dead at his mother’s house in New York of a suspected drug overdose, he was 25.

1969, Yes played at the Richmond Athletic Grounds, in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames.

1970, Pink Floyd performed at the Refectory Hall, Leeds University, Yorkshire, England.

1970, In an interview with the New Musical Express, Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green talked about his plans to give all his money away. The following year Green confronted his accountant with a gun after he sent him an unwanted royalty check. The guitarist went to jail briefly before being transferred to an asylum and was committed to a mental hospital in 1973. He relaunched his career in the 90’s.

1970, Led Zeppelin played a gig in Copenhagen as The Nobs after Eva Von Zeppelin a relative of the airship designer threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark.

1970, Simon and Garfunkel started a six week run at the top of the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

1970, Billed as “David Bowie’s New Electric Band” (so new they haven’t got a name yet,) David Bowie played at the Basildon Arts Lab experimental music club at the Basildon Arts Centre in Essex, England. Also on the bill were High Tide, Overson and Iron Butterfly.

1972, George and Patti Harrison were injured in a car crash. Patti was unconscious for several days.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1974, Singer songwriter Bobby Bloom shot himself dead in the head at his Hollywood apartment aged 28. Bloom had the 1970 single “Montego Bay.”

1975, Genesis played at the Parc Des Expositions, Colmar, France.

1976, Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years was named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon told the audience “I’d like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year.”

1977, AC/DC played at the Village Bowl, Bournemouth, England.

1982, King Crimson appeared at the Pritchard Gymnasium, Stony Brook, New York.

1984, Michael Jackson won a record seven Grammy awards including: Album of the year for Thriller, Record of the year and Best rock vocal performance for “Beat It,” Best pop vocal performance, Best R&B performance and Best R&B song for “Billie Jean,” and Best Recording For Children for E.T The Extra Terrestrial.

1985, David Byron, singer with Uriah Heep died from an epileptic fit and liver disease aged 38. Had a hit with “Easy Livin” from the 1972 album Demons and Wizards.

1989, Bob Dylan recorded the first sessions for the Oh Mercy album at The Studio, New Orleans, Louisiana. What became Dylan’s 26th studio album, released by Columbia Records in September 1989 was produced by Daniel Lanois.

2008, Drummer Buddy Miles, who played with Jimi Hendrix in his last regular group, Band of Gypsys, died aged 60 at his home in Austin, Texas after struggling with a long-term illness. Born George Allen Miles in Omaha, Nebraska, Buddy’s nickname was a tribute to his idol, jazz drummer Buddy Rich. Rich also played with The Delfonics, The Ink Spots, Wilson Pickett, Electric Flag, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Muddy Waters and Barry White. His signature song was “Them Changes,” a composition he had written and recorded with the Band of Gypsys.

Born February 28: Marty Sanders, Jay and the Americans (1941); Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones (1942); Donnie Iris (1943); Ronnie Rosman, Tommy James & The Shondells (1945); Geoff Nichols, Black Sabbath (1948); Cindy Wilson, The B-52’s (1957); Ian Brown, The Stone Roses (1966); Patrick Monahan, Train (1969); and Jake Bugg (1994)

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Today in Rock History – February 23

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1965, Filming began on The Beatles follow up to A Hard Days Night on location in the Bahamas with the working title of Eight Arms To Hold You.

1966, During an 11-date tour of Australia and New Zealand The Rolling Stones played the first of four nights at the Palais Theatre, St Kida, Melbourne.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Worthing Pier in Worthing, West Sussex, England.

1967, Janis Joplin Performs “Amazing Grace” at the Invisible Circus/Rite of Spring event for Glide Memorial Church. Michael McClure, among others, participates.

1968, The Who performed at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

1969, The Who take part in a charity event at the Roundhouse in London. Proceeds pay the legal fees of students who had staged a sit-in at the London School of Economics. Other performers include Feathers (David Bowie’s mime troupe), Cat Stevens, Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments, the Third Ear Band, and Occasional Word Ensemble.

1970, Led Zeppelin played at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, Finland.

1970, Appearing at The Roundhouse Spring Festival in Camden, London, David Bowie and the Hype. It was the first live performance of the new band, along with Bachdenkel, Groundhog and Caravan.

1971, Black Sabbath headlined at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

elvis-priscilla1972, After nearly five years of marriage, Priscilla Presley moved out of Elvis’ California home and into a two bedroom apartment near the Pacific Ocean. Their divorce would be finalized on October 9, 1973, with Priscilla being awarded an outright cash payment of $725,000 as well as spousal support, child support, 5% of Elvis’ new publishing companies and half the income from the sale of their Beverly Hills home.

1973, David Bowie performed at War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1974, Yes appeared at the Broome Country Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, New York.

1975, Scottish group The Average White Band went to number one on the US singles chart with “Pick Up The Pieces.” The band’s album AWB also went to number one on the US charts.

1975, Roxy Music played at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

1976, AC/DC shot the video clip for “It’s A Long Way To The Top, (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” for the Australian music television program Countdown. It featured the band’s then-current lineup, along with members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band, on the back of a flat-bed truck traveling on Swanston Street in Melbourne, Australia.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at the Pavillion de Paris, Paris.

1977, Genesis appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1978, Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols and Nancy Spungen were arrested in New York for possession of drugs.

1978, Winners at the Grammy Awards included Fleetwood Mac, Album of the year for Rumours, The Eagles, Record of the year for “Hotel California” and Best Pop Vocal performance, The Bee Gees for “How Deep Is Your Love.”

1980, U2 appeared at The Moonlight Club, at The Railway Hotel in London, tickets cost £2 ($3.20).

1981, Bruce Springsteen performed at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia.

1985, Stevie Wonder was arrested during an antiapartheid demonstration outside the South African Embassy in Washington; he was released after being questioned by police.

smiths-meat-is-murder1985, The Smiths scored their first UK number one album with Meat Is Murder.

1986, Pete Townshend plays with The Rolling Stones at a private party at the 100 Club in London. The party is held to commemorate the death of the Stones’ long-time keyboardist Ian Stewart. Together Pete and the Stones play “Barefootin” and “Harlem Shuffle.”

1988, Michael Jackson played the first of two nights at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The first shows on the second leg of his Bad World Tour.

1991, Whitney Houston achieved her ninth US number one single in just over five years with her version of the Sister Sledge song “All The Man I Need.”

1995, American singer Melvin Franklin of The Temptations died of a brain seizure aged 52. He had the 1971 US number one and UK number eight single “Just My Imagination” and re-issued “My Girl,” a UK number two in 1992. In 1978 Franklin was shot in the hand and the leg when trying to stop a man from stealing his car.

2003, Howie Epstein, bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers died of a suspected drug overdose in New Mexico. He had replaced The Heartbreakers original bassist Ron Blair. Epstein also worked with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Stevie Nicks, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Linda Ronstadt and Del Shannon.

2003, Norah Jones cleaned up at the 45th Grammy Awards, held at Madison Square Garden, New York. The singer-songwriter won, Album of the Year and Record of the Year, with Don’t Know Why. Plus, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best female pop vocal for “Don’t Know Why.” Other winners included Best male pop vocal, John Mayer, “Our Body Is A Wonderland.” Best male rock vocal, Bruce Springsteen, The Rising, Best female rock vocal, Sheryl Crow, Steve McQueen, Best rock performance by group, Coldplay, “In My Place,” Best rap album, Eminem, The Eminem Show.

2010, London’s Abbey Road studios was made a listed building, protecting it from plans to radically alter it. Culture Minister Margaret Hodge listed the studios on the advice of English Heritage saying it had “produced some of the very best music in the world.” The Beatles used Abbey Road for 90% of their recordings, naming an album after the studios in 1969.

Born on February 22: Johny Winter (1944);  Harvey Mason,  drums, Fourplay, The Headhunters (1947); Steve Priest, Sweet (1950); Brad Whitford, Aerosmith (1952); Howard Jones (1955); Michael Wilton, Queensrÿche, Soulbender (1962);  Rob Collins, The Charlatans (1963); Bradley Nowell, American singer-songwriter, guitar,  producer, Sublime (1968)

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