1965, Bob Dylan played the first night on a 36 date North American tour at Austin Municipal Auditorium in Austin, Texas. 1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London with manager Chas Chandler on a flight from New York City. With only the clothes he was wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to pay a hotel […]
Today in Rock History – September 23
1966, The Rolling Stones 66 12-date UK tour kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall London. Supported by The Yardbirds, Ike and Tina Turner, and Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers. Both Keith Moon and John Entwistle from The Who were in the audience. 1967, The Mothers Of Invention appeared at the Royal Albert Hall […]
Today in Rock History – September 20
1968, Led Zeppelin, still working under the name of The Yardbirds, started recording their debut album at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England. The album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of around £1,782 ($2851), with most of the tracks being recorded “live” in the studio with very few […]
Today in Rock History – September 17th
1967, The Doors were banned from The Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison broke his agreement with the show’s producers. Morrison said before the performance that he wouldn’t sing the words, “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher,” from “Light My Fire” but did anyway. The Doors also performed their new single “People Are Strange.” 1967, […]
Today in Rock History – September 16th
1967, Jimi Hendrix’s debut LP, Are You Experienced? entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, where it stayed for 106 weeks, including 77 weeks in the Top 40. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 15 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and two years later it was selected for permanent preservation […]
Today in Rock History – September 15
1965, The Ford Motor Company became the first automaker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option for their entire line of vehicles on sale in the US. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores. Home 8-track equipment was still a year away. 1966, The Who played at Gaumont Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, […]
Today in Rock History – September 10
1964, The Kinks third single “You Really Got Me,” was at number one on the singles chart. Future Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page played tambourine on the track. 1964, Rod Stewart recorded his first single, a version of Willie Dixon’s “Good Morning Little School Girl.” Future Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones […]
Today in Rock History – September 4
1968, The Beatles recorded promotional videos for “Hey Jude” and “Revolution” at Twickenham Film Studios. The vocals are recorded live over the pre-recorded instrumental tracks to get round the current British Musicians Union ban on lip-sync performances. For “Hey Jude,” The Beatles were accompanied by a 36-piece orchestra and 300 fans and other assorted extras […]
Today in Rock History – August 29
1966, The Beatles played their last concert before a paying audience, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California to a sold-out crowd of 25,000. John and Paul, knowing what the fans do not, bring cameras on stage and take pictures between songs. Songs performed at the show were “Rock and Roll Music”, “She’s a Woman”, […]
Today in Rock History – August 26
1965, The Byrds appeared at the Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, California. 1965, Sonny & Cher were at number one on the UK singles chart with “I Got You Babe,” the duo’s only British chart topper. Sonny Bono was inspired to write the song to capitalize on the popularity of the term “babe,” as heard in Bob […]
