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Today in Rock History – April 4

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beatles-cant_buy_me_love1964, The Beatles held the top five places on the US singles chart, with the fifth place – “Please Please Me,” at number four, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” while at third was “Roll Over Beethoven.” In the second position, “Love Me Do,” and at the top spot, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” They also had another nine singles on the chart, bringing their total to fourteen singles on the Hot 100.

1966, The Who performed at Top Rank Suite in Reading, Berkshire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix was the special guest on the first edition of the UK BBC-TV’s Dee Time, along with Kiki Dee and Cat Stevens.

1968, The Temptations played at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1968, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Al Kooper and Ted Nugent met up for an all night blues, folk and rock session at The New Generation Club in New York after hearing the news of Martin Luther King’s assassination.

1969, Jethro Tull  appeared at The 13th Hour in Evansville, Indiana.

1970, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to number one on the UK album chart with Deja Vu. They would be number one in America on May 16th.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Ludlow Garage, a venue which began life as an automobile shop, and later became a music club located in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

1970, Janis Joplin plays a reunion concert in San Francisco with her old outfit Big Brother & the Holding Company.

1970, Pink Floyd were at EMI Studios in London holding recording sessions for Atom Heart Mother.

1970, Led Zeppelin played at the Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ticket prices ranged from $4 to $6 (£2.67 – £4.)

1971, The Grateful Dead perform at the Manhattan Center in New York.

1971, Black Sabbath appeared at the Alexandria Roller Rink, Alexandria, Virginia.

1972, Don McLean’s American Pie enters its seventh and final week atop the US album charts.

1973, The Supremes appeared at the Granada, Tooting, the last date on a 20-date UK tour. The group played two shows at every venue.

1973, In a press release, Atlantic Records announced that shipments of Led Zeppelin’s album Houses of the Holy, released on March 28, were large enough to qualify for gold status. The label also revealed plans for a thirty city tour commencing May 4th.

1974, KISS played at the Nordic Arena, Hartland, Michigan.

1975, Genesis appeared at the Circus Kröne, Munich, Germany during Peter Gabriel’s last tour with the band.

1976, The Sex Pistols played the first night of a residency at the El Paradiso club in Soho, London, England.

1978,  David Bowie performed at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1980, ZZ Top appeared at the New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, Connecticut.

1981, Styx went to number one on the album chart with Paradise Theatre.

1982, “Layla” was on the UK singles chart. The re-released track originally featured on the Derek and the Dominos, album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs  was released in November 1970. Inspired by Clapton’s then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, “Layla” is considered one of rock music’s definitive love songs, and features an unmistakable guitar figure played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman.

1987, U2 entered the US album chart at number seven with The Joshua Tree, making it the highest chart new entry in America for seven years.

1999, The Corrs album Talk On Corners went to number one on the UK album chart for the 10th time. They also had the second position with Forgiven, Not Forgotten. Both albums had spent over a year on the chart. Talk on Corners was the UK’s biggest selling album of 1998 and the ninth best selling album of 1999.

2008, Beyonce Knowles married Jay-Z at his New York apartment. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and his then wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, along with Beyonce’s former bandmates in Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, all attended the private ceremony.

2008, Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker won back full royalty rights to the band’s worldwide hit, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” at London’s Court of Appeal. The decision overturned a 2006 ruling that organist Matthew Fisher was entitled to a 40% portion of royalties on the 1967 hit after he argued he had written the song’s organ melody. The court ruled there was an “excessive delay” in the claim being made, nearly 40 years after the song was recorded.

Born on April 4: Muddy Waters (1913); Clive Davis, producer, founder Arista Records (1932); Hugh Masekela (1939); Berry Oakley, Allman Brothers (1948); Pick Withers, English drummer, Dire Straits, Magna Carta (1948); Dave Hill, Slade; Gary Moore, Skid Row, Thin Lizzy (1952); Graeme Kelling, Scottish guitarist, Deacon Blue (1957); Craig Adams, English bass player, songwriter, The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, The Alarm (1962); Mike Starr, American bass player, Alice in Chains, Sun Red Sun, and Days of the New (1966)

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Today in Rock History – April 3

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1964, Bob Dylan made his first entry on the UK charts with “The Times They Are A-Changin.”

1965, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs release their garage classic “Wooly Bully.”

1966, Peter Tork opened a solo stint in Hollywood at The Troubadour. Tork had already auditioned for The Monkees, who he will join later in the year.

1967, Working on The Beatles Sgt Pepper album at Abbey Road studios in London, George Harrison recorded his lead vocal on his song “Within You Without You.” as well as a sitar part, and some acoustic guitar parts.

1969, The Doors’ Jim Morrison turned himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles. He was charged on six charges of lewd behavior and public exposure at a concert in Miami on March 2nd, 1969. He was later released on $2000 bail.

1971, The Temptations scored their second number one with “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me.”)

1971, Tom Waits appeared at the Heritage Coffee House, San Diego, California.

1972, Puerto Rico’s Mar y Sol Festival ends, having run out of its already meager supply of food. Hundreds of Americans who flew to Puerto Rico to see Emerson, Lake & Palmer are stranded at the San Juan airport.

1975, Steve Miller was charged with setting fire to the clothes of a friend, Benita Diorio. When police arrived at Miller’s house, Diorio was putting out the flames, Miller then got into a fight with some of the policemen and was charged with resisting arrest.

1978, B.B. King and lawyer F. Lee Bailey, chairmen of the Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation, visit Boston’s Norfolk Prison. King performs for the cons.

1983, after completing a 29-date UK tour, U2 appeared on BBC TV Top Of The Pops performing their latest single “Two Hearts Beat As One.”

1990, American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan died of lung cancer. She had the 1954 US number six single “Make Yourself Comfortable,” and released over 50 albums. March 27, is “Sarah Lois Vaughan Day” in both San Francisco and Berkeley, California in honor of the singer.

1993, Depeche Mode went to number one on the UK album chart with Songs Of Faith And Devotion, their first UK chart topper and their tenth album release.

2003, Stax records songwriter Homer Banks died aged 61. He penned “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” recorded by Sam & Dave and a UK hit for Elvis Costello. Rod Stewart, The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, Millie Jackson and Johnny Taylor all covered his songs.

2015, Bob Burns, the American drummer who was in the original line-up of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a car crash in Georgia when his car struck a mailbox and a tree with the front of the vehicle. Burns was the only occupant of the car and was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash

Born on April 3: Jan Barry, Jan & Dean (1941); Richard Manuel, The Band (1943); Tony Orlando (1944); Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention (1949)

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Today in Rock History – August 24

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1966, The Doors started recording their self-titled first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios, West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney’s Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a collection of old commercial and residential buildings, some built more than 80 years ago. At the encouragement of Disney himself, Camarata began the project in 1958, starting with a former automotive repair garage whose sloping floor would tend to reduce unwanted sonic standing wave reflections

1967, 17-year old singer and guitarist Bruce Springsteen joined a group called Earth.

1967, The Doors performed at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio.

1968, The Incredible String Band, Traffic, Bonzo Dog Band, Family, Fairport Convention, Blossom Toes, Pretty things, Deviants, Blonde On Blonde and Free all appeared over two nights at The Roundhouse in London.

1968, Pink Floyd played the last date of a North American tour at The Bank, in Torrence, California.

1968, James Brown performed at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida.

1969, Yes played at Club Paradiso in Amsterdam.

1970, The Who are at the Civic Hall in Woverhampton, England. They are joined onstage by John Sebastian, of The Lovin’ Spoonful, who is a houseguest of the Townshends at the time.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas.

1972, The Who appeared at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1974, Traffic made their last live performance at the annual UK Reading Festival. Other acts appearing that day included Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Greenslade, the Heavy Metal Kids, G.T. Moore, Thin Lizzy, and Procol Harum.

1974, Paul Anka with Odia Coates started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “You’re Having My Baby,” Anka’s 24th US top 40 hit. It made it to number six in the UK.

1975, Queen started recording “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales. The song was recorded over three weeks. Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

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

1977, Singer, songwriter Waylon Jennings was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. Jennings had recently been named an honorary police chief.

1979, Celebrating 30 years in show business, B.B. King played at the Roxy Club, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles.

1979, Rush played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1980, Iron Maiden Whitesnake, Def Leppard, UFO, Gillan, Pat Travers Band and Rory Gallagher all appeared at the 20th National Rock Festival Reading Rock 80, England.

1981, Mark Chapman was given a 20 year jail sentence for the murder of John Lennon. The 25 year old had shot Lennon five times at close range on December 8th, 1980 in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Over the next few months, Chapman would claim many times to have been beaten by fellow inmates, some of whom allegedly tried to kill him.

1982, King Crimson and Roxy Music appeared at the Velodromo, San Sebastián, Spain.

1983, David Bowie performed at the Scope, in Norfolk, Virginia.

1985, The Grateful Dead played at Boreal Ski Resort at Donner’s Summit, California.

1989, The Who performed Tommy at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles with special guests Steve Winwood, Elton John, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle and Billy Idol.

1990, The three day UK Reading Festival kicked off, featuring, Faith No More, The Cramps, Inspiral Carpets, Pixies, The Fall, Jesus Jones, Ride, Dinosaur Junior, The Wedding Present, Billy Bragg and others. A three day ticket cost £35 ($56).

1998, Producer Gene Page died after a long illness. He worked with Barbra Streisand, Barry White, The Righteous Brothers, Dobie Gray, Bob and Earl. He produced Whitney Houston’s “‘Greatest Love of All,” and Roberta Flack’s “Tonight I Celebrate My Love.”

2001, Travis, Eminem, Eels, Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Supergrass, PJ Harvey, Manic Street Preachers, Weezer, Iggy Pop, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Cult, Frank Black, The Strokes, Supergrass, Ash, Stephen Malkmus and Mercury Rev all appeared at the Carling Weekend Reading / Leeds festival. A three day ticket cost £80 ($128).

2009, The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide caused by a mix of drugs meant to treat insomnia. On February 8, 2010, Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles. Dr. Murray pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $75,000 bail, but would be found guilty in November, 2011 and was sentenced to four years in a Los Angeles County jail.

Born on August 24: David Freiberg, bass, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane,  Jefferson Starship (1938); Ernest Wright, Little Anthony and the Imperials (1941); John Cipollina,  Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943); Jim Capaldi (1944); Ken Hensley, Uriah Heep (1945); Molly Duncan, sax, Average White Band (1945); Jean-Michel Jarre, instrumentalist (1948); John Cowan, bass,New Grass Revival, The Sky Kings, The Doobie Brothers (1951); Oteil Burbridge, bass, The Allman Brothers Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (1964)

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Today in Rock History – August 1

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beatles-hard-days-night-single1964, “A Hard Day’s Night” went to the top of the charts giving The Beatles their fifth US number one single in seven months.

1964, Billboard Magazine reported that the harmonica was making a comeback in a big way thanks to its use by Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

1965, During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones appeared at the London Palladium supported by The Walker Brothers, The Fourmost, Steampacket featuring Rod Stewart, and Sugar Pie Desanto with The Shevelles.

1967, The Who performed at the Mississippi State Coliseum, Jackson, Mississippi, opening for Herman’s Hermits. In honor of their location, they do a one-time-only cover of Nancy Sinatra’s hit song “Jackson.” After the show, Pete’s friend and now official band photographer, Tom Wright takes Pete to a local doctor who stitches up his finger that he had sliced to the bone doing windmills. The doctor says Pete won’t be able to play for a month. Pete replies that he’ll just glue his pick to the bandage.

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1968, The Who perform  at The Electric Theater in Chicago. While there The Who stay at a Holiday Inn in Rolling Meadows, Illinois and during a breat, Pete pens a new song,”Go To The Mirror!” for the forthcoming rock opera.

1969, Led Zeppelin, supported by Jethro Tull and Family of Man appeared at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, California.

1969, The three day US Atlantic City Pop Festival took place at the Atlantic City race track with BB King, Janis Joplin, Santana, Three Dog Night, Dr John, Procol Harum, Arthur Brown, Iron Butterfly, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Little Richard, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, The Mothers Of Invention and Canned Heat. Joni Mitchell, started to cry and ran off stage in the middle of her third song because the crowd was not paying attention to her performance.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth, England.

1970, The film Performance featuring Mick Jagger in his acting debut, had its UK premiere in London. The British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg also featured James Fox.

1971, The Concert For Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison to aid victims of famine and war in Bangladesh took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Featuring Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members from Badfinger. Harrison had to shell out his own money to maintain the fund after legal problems froze all proceeds. The triple album release, the second in a row by Harrison, hit number one in the UK and number two in the US and received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

1971, members of The Who attend the Bangladesh charity concert with George Harrison and friends at Madison Square Garden, and jam with them at the post-concert party held at Ungano’s.

1971, Black Sabbath release their album Master of Reality, which goes to number 8 on the UK charts and number 5 in the US.

1971, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour started on prime time American TV.

1971, Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye leaves the band to form Badger.

1972, A year after Tony Kaye jumped ship, drummer Bill Bruford leaves Yes to join King Crimson.

1973, The Grateful Dead celebrate Jerry Garcia’s birthday with a concert at Jersey City, N.J.’s Roosevelt Stadium. A nude woman pops out of a giant cake onstage.

1974, Pete Townshend decides to accompany Eric Clapton on his comeback concert tour of the United States to provide support for the still shaky musician. Keith Moon, also tags along. The two join Eric onstage at The Omni in Atlanta for performances of “Layla,” “Baby Don’t You Do It” and “Little Queenie.” After the show, Keith’s new girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax witnesses her first hotel room destruction as Keith remodels a room at the Omni Hotel.

1975, Hawkwind appeared at Town Hall, Torquay, England.

1976, The Who fly to Washington, DC, and check into the Watergate Hotel for the beginning of their four-date Whirlwind Tour.

1976, ZZ Top played at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1977, Yes performed at the Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia.

1978, Jimmy Buffett appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1978, an exhibition of Who memorabilia assembled by fans Steve Margo, Peter Johns and “Irish” Jack Lyons opens at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on the Mall in London. Pete Townshend and Keith Moon mingle with the fans looking at the exhibits.

1980, Def Leppard made their US live debut when they appeared at the New York City concert opening for AC/DC. It was also Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott’s 21st birthday.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California

1980, George Harrison forms Handmade Films, his own movie studio. Among its productions are Withnail & I  and Shanghai Surprise.

1981, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles is the first music video played on the brand new MTV Network.

1987, Bob Seger scored his first US number one single with the Harold Faltermeyer penned “Shakedown,”which was taken from the film Beverly Hills Cop II. The song was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but it lost both awards to Dirty Dancing’s “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

1987, Los Lobos were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of the Ritchie Valens song “La Bamba,” which was also a number one hit in the US. The song was the title track from the film based on Ritchie Valens who died in the same plane crash the killed Buddy Holly.

2000, AC/DC kicked off their 140 date Stiff Upper World Lip Tour at the Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

2001, the Who CD Quadrophenia 1996 is released in Japan featuring fourteen groups covering Who songs related to Quadrophenia.

2007, Prince kicked off a series of 21 sold out UK shows at London’s O2 arena. Tickets for the events cost £31.21 – the same figure used by the singer to name his album, website and perfume. After completing the 21 nights the Jehovah’s Witness was planning to take time out to study the Bible.

2007, The Police played the first of two sold out nights at Madison Square Garden, New York City on their Reunion Tour.

2015, English singer, actress and entertainer Cilla Black died at her holiday home near Marbella, Spain, aged 72. Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own eponymous variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976.

Born on August 1: Ramblin Jack Elliot (1931); Jerry Garcia (1943); Boz Burrell, Bad Company (1946);  Rick Coonce, American drummer, The Grass Roots (1946); Rick Anderson bass, The Tubes (1947); Tim Bachman, Canadian singer, guitarist, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Brave Belt (1951); Tommy Bolin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Deep Purple, Zephyr,  James Gang (1951); Robert Cray (1953);  Joe Elliott, vocals, Def Leppard (1959); Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, aka Chuck D, American rapper, producer, Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad, Confrontation Camp (1960); Richard Griffin, aka Professor Griff, American rapper, Public Enemy, Confrontation Camp (1960); Artis Leon Ivey Jr., aka Coolio, rapper (1963); Adam Duritz, American singer-songwriter, producer, Counting Crows and The Himalayans (1964);

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