InternetFM.com

Hand Curated Radio

You are here: Home / Archives for Canned Heat

Canned Heat

Today in Rock History – August 3

by

1966, The Rolling Stones spend nine days recording for their next album at Los Angeles, RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA. Tracks recorded included: “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “My Obsession,” “Yesterday’s Papers,” and “Back Street Girl.”

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of five nights at the Salvation Club in New York City.

1967, To promote Ravi Shankar’s Hollywood Bowl concert on August 4, George Harrison joins the sitar player at his news conference.

1967, The Who appeared at Dane County Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

1968, The Doors started a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Hello I Love You.” The song replaced “Grazing in the Grass”by Hugh Masakela at the top spot.  The Doors had eight top 40 hits from 1967-71.

1968, The two day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California with Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, Chambers Brothers, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Country Joe and the Fish, Electric Flag, James Cotton Blues Band, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf, and Tiny Tim. Over 100,000 fans attended the festival.

1969, Janis Joplin sings with Little Richard at the Atlantic City Pop Festival.

1969, The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson is busted. He had agreed to serve civilian duty instead of being drafted into the Army, but when he arrived at Los Angeles County Hospital to do his bit, he taught music classes instead of acting as an institutional helper.

1971, Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new group Wings, with his wife Linda and former Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine.

1971, The Who play The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Stevie Wonder released his sixteenth studio album Innervisions. Wonder played all or virtually all instruments on six of the album’s nine tracks.

1973, ABC’s In Concert, broadcast an Eagles show from UCLA.

1974, Anne Murray appeared at The Schaefer Festival in New York as the headlining act. The opening act was Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

1974, Bad Company went to number one on the US album chart with their self-titled debut album. The supergroup was formed in Westminster, London in 1973 by two former members of Free, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirk, as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell.

1974, KISS performed at the Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1975, Black Sabbath appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1976, Eric Clapton played at the ABC Theatre, Plymouth, England.

1977, The Steve Miller Band headlined at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1979, The Knack album Get the Knack and the single “My Sharona” both go to number one.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Starlight Bowl, San Diego, California.

1985, Madonna scored her first UK number one single with “Into The Groove.” The track was taken from the movie Desperately Seeking Susan which featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.

1985, Tears For Fears started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Shout,” the duo’s second US chart topper.

1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album Hysteria which became their best selling album to date, selling over 20 million copies worldwide. The album is the follow-up to the band’s 1983 breakthrough Pyromania. Hysteria’s creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of the December 1984 car accident that cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm.

1996, Los Del Rio started a fourteen-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Macarena.” The song which has sold 11 million copies world-wide was ranked the topGreatest One Hit Wonder of all Time by VH1 in 2002.

2001, Co-founder of the American group 5th Dimension, Ron Townson died of kidney failure aged 68.

2006, Arthur Lee, singer and guitarist of the influential 1960’s band Love died in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He called himself the “first black hippie” and formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965.

2007, Queen guitarist Brian May handed in his astronomy PhD thesis, 36 years after abandoning it to join the band. May had recently carried out observational work in Tenerife, where he studied the formation of “zodiacal dust clouds.”

2008, Kid Rock was at number one on the UK singles chart with “All Summer Long.” The song is based on Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” It reached number 23 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Born on August 3: Tony Bennett (1926); Beverly Lee, The Shirelles (1941);  John York,  bass player, songwriter, and producer, The Byrds, Sir Douglas Quintet (1943); B. B. Dickerson,  bass, War (1949); John Graham, Earth Wind & Fire (1951); Ian Bairnson,  sax, keyboards, The Alan Parsons Project, Pilot (1953); James Hetfield, guitar, vocals, Metallica (1963); Ed Roland,  singer, guitarist, Collective Soul (1963)

Get more Today in Rock History

 

Today in Rock History – July 21

by

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of three nights at the Cafe-a-Go-Go in New York City.

1968, The Who appeared at Virginia Beach Dome in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

1969,  The Beatles started work on the John Lennon song “Come Together” at Abbey Road studios in London. The track became the opening song on The Beatles Abbey Road album and was later released as a double A-sided single with “Something,” their twenty-first single in the UK and twenty-sixth in the US where it reached the top of the charts.

1969, Led Zeppelin played the Schaefer Music Festival held at the 5000-seat Wollman Skating Rink Theater in Central Park, New York City.

1969, The Doors release their fourth album, The Soft Parade.

1970 The Allman Brothers appeared at the Wolman Skating Rink in Central Park, New York. They would return exactly a year later.

1971, Creedence Clearwater Revival played the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1972, The Rolling Stones performed at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973,  Jim Croce started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”  Croce was killed in a plane crash three months later.

1973,  Canned Heat, Chuck Berry, Nazareth, Edgar Broughton Band, Groundhogs, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Medicine Head, all appeared at the Buxton Festival in Derbyshire, England. Hell’s Angels arrived in force and proceeded to drink the site dry. Initially they paid for the booze, but when the money ran out a deputation was sent into the audience to collect donations of 10p per person. About 20 minutes into his set Chuck Berry was showing one of the Angels how to do his duck-walk properly. He did a magnificent one from one end of the stage to the other and disappeared into the wings. The band played on, the Angels bopped, and Chuck bolted to his car and drove off at high speed, never to return.

1973, Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin crack the album top 20 charts with Love, Devotion, Surrender.

1974, The Grateful Dead played at the Hollywood Bowl, in Hollywood, California.

1975, Yes played at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1976, AC/DC appeared at the Glädjehuset, Stockholm, Sweden.

1977, Despite protests, The Sex Pistols made their first appearance on the UK music show Top Of The Pops, where they lip-synched to their third single, “Pretty Vacant.”

1977, In Tucson, Arizona Linda Ronstadt joins the Rolling Stones onstage to perform “Tumbling Dice.”

1978, Aerosmith appeared at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon.

1980, Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux’s car collides with a flatbed truck in Marin County, Calif. He died two days later.

1987, Guns N’ Roses released their debut album on Geffen Records, Appetite for Destruction. It featured the singles “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” and “Paradise City.” The album has exceeded worldwide sales of 28 million, 18 million of which are in the US, making it the best-selling debut album of all time there.

1990, Roger Waters’ held a performance The Wall  at the Berlin Wall in Potzdamer Platz, Berlin. Over 350,000 people attended and the event was broadcast live throughout the world. Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Sinead O’Connor and others took part.

1994 Oasis played their first ever American show as part of the New Music Seminar at Wetlands in New York City.

1996, Alanis Morissette started a second run at number one on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill, which stayed at the top for eight weeks. Overall, the album has sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

2001, Madonna kicked off the North American leg of her 47-date Drowned World Tour at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the singers first world tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show in 1993.

2002, Producer Gus Dudgeon, who worked with artists including Elton John, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Kiki Dee, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Strawbs, XTC, and Joan Armatrading, was killed in a car accident near Reading, England, together with his wife Sheila. He was 59 years old.

2004, Composer Jerry Goldsmith died after a long battle with cancer aged 75. Created the music for scores of classic movies and television shows Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Dr. Kildare.

2005, British singer Long John Baldry died of a chest infection. He was one of the founding fathers of British Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1960s performing with Blues Incorporated, and Cyril Davies’ R&B All Stars. He later fronted the Hoochie Coochie Men, with Rod Stewart and then Steam Packet with Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll. Also a member of Bluesology with Elton John. He also narrated on Winnie The Pooh recordings for Disney and was the voice for Robotnik on the Sonic The Hedgehog computer game.

2007, Sharon Osbourne’s music mogul father Don Arden died in a Los Angeles nursing home at the age of 81. Dubbed the “Al Capone of Pop” for his uncompromising business practices, he steered The Small Faces, Black Sabbath, and ELO to stardom.

2008, The Police played the first of two nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado during the final leg of their 152-date world Reunion tour. The tour became the third highest grossing tour of all time, with revenues reaching over $340 million.

Born on July 21: Northern Ireland guitarist, Henry McCullough, Wings (1943); Barry Whitwam, drums, Herman’s Hermits (1946); Cat Stevens (1947); Howie Epstein, bass, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1955); Jim Martin, guitar, Faith No More (1961)

Get more Today in Rock history

Today in Rock History – July 15

by

1967, The Doors and The Jefferson Airplane both played an afternoon and evening show to over 8,000 fans at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Stowmarket Carnival, held at The Cricket Meadow, in Stowmarket, England.  Feel for Soul, The Ketas, and other bands were also on the bill.

1967, This week’s Top 5 UK albums – number 5, Fiddler On The Roof, Original Soundtrack, number 4, Are You Experienced?, Jimi Hendrix, number 3, Sound Of Music, Soundtrack, number two, Headquarters, The Monkees and number one, The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1969, Singer Judy Collins appears in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt.

 

1971, Yoko Ono appears at the London department store Selfridges, where she signs copies of her book Grapefruit. John Lennon turns up to lend a wrist.

1971, King Crimson played at Town Hall in Watford, England.

Elton-john HonkyChateau1972, Elton John started a five week run at No.1 on the album chart with Honky Chateau, his first US chart topper.

1972, Black Sabbath appeared at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

1973, The Edgar Winter Group, Sly & The Family Stone, Canned Heat, Lindisfarne and The Kinks all appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. With his wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquilizers.

1973, Led Zeppelin played at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. Tickets were $4.50.

1975, Yes performed at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, Bob Dylan with special guest Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, and Graham Parker all appeared at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Surrey, England.

1978, The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at No.1 on the album chart with Some Girls, the group’s seventh No.1 album. The cover designed by Peter Corriston, featured The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe who all threatened legal action.

1989, Pink Floyd appeared in Canal di San Marco, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy on a floating stage. Over 200,000 people attended the gig (almost double the number authorities had planned for) causing damage to buildings and bridges. The concert was broadcast live on TV to over 20 countries with an estimated audience of almost 100 million. Two Venice councilors were later ordered to stand trial for the costs incurred by the concert.

2000, Sad Cafe singer Paul Young died of a heart attack at his Manchester home aged 53. “Run Home Girl” was a hit for Sad Cafe in the US, “Everyday Hurts” was a UK No.3 hit in 1979. Joined Mike Rutherford and Paul Carrack in Mike and the Mechanics and had the hits “The Living Years” and “Silent Running.”

Born on this day: singer Millie Jackson (1944); Peter Lewis, Moby Grape (1945); Linda Ronstadt (1946); Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); and Artimus Pyle, drums, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1948)

Get more rock history at Yeah Baby Tunes

Today in Rock History – April 23

by

1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off their third North American tour at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Canada.

1966, The Who played at the Odeon Theatre in Rochester, Kent, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Gaumont Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

1969, The Beatles were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Get Back,” the group’s 16th British chart topper. Writing credits included “The Beatles with Billy Preston,” the only Beatles single that included another artist credit.

1969, The Ash Grove club in Los Angeles, where Canned Heat cut their teeth, burns down.

1969, The Grateful Dead play the last of three shows at The Ark in Boston. The ill-fated club near Fenway Park didn’t last very long, and was subsequently taken over by the more famous venue the Boston Tea Party.

1970, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Matthews Southern Comfort all appeared at The Roundhouse, London,

1971, Emerson, Lake and Palmer performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1971, The Rolling Stones released  Sticky Fingers in the UK. The album reached the top spot in the UK and the US.  It was the band’s first release on Atlantic Records. The cover design featured a pair of jeans with a working zipper that was designed by Andy Warhol, who was paid £15,000 for the art work.

1972, Pink Floyd’s North American tour stops at Cincinnati’s Music Hall for a performance of Dark Side of the Moon.

1972, Procol Harum played at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan.

1973, King Crimson played at Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita, Kansas.

1974, Yes performed Palazzo Di Palaeur Dello Sport, Rome, Italy.

1975, During a North American tour Pink Floyd played the first of five sold out nights at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.

1976, The Ramones released their self-titled debut album. On the same day, The Sex Pistols played The Nashville Rooms in London supporting The 101’ers, who featured Clash vocalist Joe Strummer.

Marley in 1976 – photo by D. Burnett

1976, Bob Marley and The Wailers kicked off their Rastaman Vibration North American and European 42-date tour at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

1976, Genesis appeared at the Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri.

1977, A Siouxsie & the Banshees performance at London’s Roxy Club inspires audience member Stuart Goddard to form the Ants. He later becomes international pop star Adam Ant.

1977, Thelma Houston went to number one on the US singles chart with “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” It was a number 13 hit in the UK.

1977, Joan Jett supported by Blondie appeared at the Whisky A Go-Go, Los Angeles.

1978, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious filmed his version of “My Way” for the Sex Pistols film The Great Rock n Roll Swindle.

1979, David Bowie premiered his new single “Boy’s Keep Swinging” on the BBC’s TV’s Kenny Everett Video Show.

1980, The Who performed at McNichols Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1980, Rush played at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1980, Bob Dylan appeared at Le Theatre Saint-Denis, Montreal, Quebec.

1982, Black Sabbath performed at Seattle Arena, Seattle, Washington.

u2-chapel-hill-19831983, U2 kicked off their 48-date War North American tour at The Carolina Concert For Children benefit at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Also on the bill were Grand Master Flash, The Producers, and Todd Rundgren, although by most accounts U2 was the highlight of the concert. At one point during the show, Bono began climbing up the vertical rigging tower, while carrying a large white flag. He made his way up on top of the scaffolding, at least 20-25 feet above the stage, in the rain, waving the flag, a scene for the ages.  There were only about 4000 in attendance, well short of the 20,000 capacity.

1987, Carole King sued record company owner Lou Adler for breach of contract. King claimed that she was owed over $400,000 in royalties. She also asked for all rights to her old recordings.

1988, Iron Maiden went to number one on the UK album chart with Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, their second chat topping LP.

1991, Founder member of The New York Dolls Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr., died of a drug overdose. He renamed himself Johnny Thunders, after a comic book of the same name. The influential New York Dolls formed in 1972 and made just two albums. A teenage Morrissey acted as president of the UK branch of the New York Dolls fan club. He formed The Heartbreakers with Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, and Television bassist Richard Hell.

1994, Pink Floyd were at number one on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth chart topping album.

1995, Peter Hodgson from Liverpool found a tape in his attic containing 16 of The Beatles’ earliest recordings made in 1959. The tape included “Hello Little Girl,” a Lennon-McCartney composition that the Beatles never recorded, and Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah, I Love Her So.” The sessions had been made on a reel-to-reel recorder that Hodgson’s father had lent to Paul McCartney.

2008, Amy Winehouse went out on a drink and drug-fuelled spree and hit and head-butted two men. After drinking all day, Amy visited the Good Mixer pub in Camden, London with Babyshambles guitarist Mik Whitnall. Inside she allegedly punched Mustapha el Mounmi in the face after he refused to give way to her at the pool table. The singer then left to visit Bar Tok in the early hours and once at the bar shouted “I am a legend get these people out. I want to take drugs.” After leaving the bar a good Samaritan tried to get her a cab, but she reportedly thought he was trying to molest her and allegedly head-butted him in the face.

2012, Thomas “Tommy” Marth, the touring and studio saxophonist for the Killers, died after shooting himself in the head at his Las Vegas home. The 33-year-old musician joined the band in 2005 and played on the live tours with Brandon Flowers and the group between 2008 and 2010. Tommy also performed on the 2006 release Sam’s Town and 2008’s Day & Age.

Born on April 23: Roy Orbison (1936); Ray Peterson, singer (1937); John Miles, singer, songwriter, guitarist (1949); Ray Burns, (Captain Sensible), The Damned (1955); Steve Clark, Def Leppard (1960); Simon Matthews, drummer, Jesus Jones (1964)

Get more Today in Rock History

Check out more cool pictures of reggae artists from the ’70 including the one above.

Today in Rock History – April 5

by

1967, Monkees fans walked from London’s Marble Arch to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square to protest Davy Jones’ planned call-up to the army. Jones was exempted because he was deemed responsible for supporting his father.

1968, The first date of a twice-nightly UK tour featuring, Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Status Quo, Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, and Don Partridge kicked off at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London.

1968, Vanilla Fudge played at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Roundhouse in Dagenham in East London.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1971, Rolling Stones Leave England and become tax-exiles. In an interview with Mick Jagger and Roy Carter of the NME shortly before the release of Exile on Main Street, Mick said, “So after working for eight years I discovered at the end that nobody had ever paid my taxes and I owed a fortune. So then you have to leave the country. So I said fuck it, and left the country.”

1971, Keith Moon performs again as part of an All-Star Jam Session at the Bumpers Club in London.

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

1972, Elvis Presley kicked of a 15-date US tour at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.

1973, Yes appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Genesis performed at the Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1975, Minnie Riperton went to number one on the singles chart with the Stevie Wonder produced song “Loving You.” It was the singer’s only chart hit. Riperton died of cancer in July 1979.

1975, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1977, David Bowie plays keyboards and sings backing vocals on Iggy Pop’s US tour. This night’s stop is at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1977, Black Sabbath appeared at the Pavillion de Paris, Paris.

1978, Duran Duran made their live debut at The Lecture Theatre, Birmingham Polytechnic.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1980, The Grateful Dead were the musical guests on Saturday Night Live. They performed “Alabama Getaway” and “Saint of Circumstance.”

1980, Genesis scored their first number one album when Duke went to the top of the charts.

R.E.M., circa 1980

1980, R.E.M. played their first ever gig when they appeared at St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia.

1981, Canned Heat singer Bob “The Bear” Hite died of a heart attack aged 36. He played at both the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival and the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

1983, Danny Rapp, leader of 50’s group Danny and the Juniors committed suicide in a hotel in Arizona by shooting himself.

1984, Marvin Gaye’s funeral took place at The Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, and other Motown singers, writers and producers, attended the service.

1985, At 3:50pm GMT, over 5,000 radio stations worldwide aired the charity single by USA for Africa ‘We Are The World’. The single went on to be a number one hit in the US and the UK, and most Western territories.

1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his home in Seattle. Cobain’s body wasn’t discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system, who initially believed that Cobain was asleep, until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now.” A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were found in Cobain’s body. His death was officially ruled as suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

1997, The Chemical Brothers went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Block Rockin Beats.” The song was taken from their second album Dig Your Own Hole, and won a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

1998, British drummer Cozy Powell (Colin Flooks) was killed when his car smashed into crash barriers on the M4 motorway near Bristol, England. Powell had worked with the Jeff Beck Group, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Brian May, Peter Green, and the ELP spin-off Emerson, Lake, and Powell.

2003, Paul McCartney kicked off the UK leg of his Back In The World Tour at Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England, a year after it began in America. The set included 22 Beatles songs.

2006, Gene Pitney was found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel. The American singer was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. Pitney helped the Rolling Stones break the American market with his endorsement of the band. Jagger and Richards wrote his hit “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday,” which became the Stones duo’s first composition to reach the American charts. He scored the 1962 US No.4 single “Only Love Can Break A Heart.” and 1967 solo UK No.5 & 1989 UK No.1 single with Marc Almond “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart,” plus over 15 other US & UK Top 40 hits.

2007, Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage at the age of 51. St. John was KISS’ third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984. He appeared on the album Animalize.

2011, A statue in tribute to Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain was unveiled in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, The unveiling marked the 17th anniversary of Cobain’s death. The statue designed by local artists Kim and Lora Malakoff was of his signature Fender Jag-Stang guitar. The concrete guitar was eight and a half feet tall and also featured a ribbon with lyrics written on it from Nirvana’s “On a Plain.” It reads: “One more special message to go and then I’m done and I can go home.”

Born on April 5: Tony Williams, The Platters (1928); Peter Grant, manager, Led Zeppelin (1935); Ronny White, The Miracles (1939); Dave Swarbick, Fairport Convention (1941); Alan Clarke, The Hollies (1942); – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter, Judas Priest, Lionheart, Tytan (1948); Dave Holland, Judas Priest (1948); Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter, producer ABBA (1950); Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Wall of Voodoo, Drywall (1952); Mike McCready, Pearl Jam (1966); Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter, pianist (1968); Pharrell Williams (1973)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – March 26

by

Rolling-Stones-19651965, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage during a Rolling Stones show in Denmark. Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes.

1966, The Who performed at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Tabernacle Club in Stockport, Manchester, England.

1968, Pink Floyd performed live for the program Late Night Line Up at BBC Lime Grove Studios in London. It was broadcast on September 10th by BBC2 TV.

1969, Marvin Gaye was at number one on the singles chart, with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips, reaching the number two spot. It has been covered by numerous artists, including the song has been covered by a range of musicians including Creedence Clearwater Revival, who recorded an eleven-minute version for their 1970 album, Cosmo’s Factory, that was released as a single, reaching 43 on Billboard‘s chart.

1970, Canned Heat and the MC5 played at the Varsity Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Alumni Hall in Atlanta, Georgia.

1970, Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary pleaded guilty to “taking immoral liberties” with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months in jail. Just days earlier, the trio had won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for their album, Peter, Paul and Mommy.

1971, Black Sabbath appeared at Memorial Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.

1972, Yes played at Lakeland Community College, Mentor, Ohio.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

1974, Queen appeared at Douglas Palace Lido, Isle Of Man, England.

1976, the final US show of David Bowie’s World Tour.was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.  Afterwards, a small party was held at the Penn Plaza Club for Bowie and the crew.

1976, One-man blues band Duster Bennett was killed in a car accident. 1970 album Smiling Like I’m Happy.  Heworked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B.B. King.

1976, Anita Pallenberg the girlfriend of Rolling Stone Keith Richards gave birth to a baby boy, Tara, (he died ten weeks later from pneumonia).

1977, Hall and Oates started a three week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Rich Girl’, the duo’s first number one.

1978, Aerosmith performed at the Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

police-19801980, The Police became the first Western pop group to play in Bombay, India for over ten years when they played a one-off gig in the city.

1985, Radio stations in South Africa banned all of Stevie Wonder’s records after he dedicated the Oscar he had won the night before at The Academy Awards to Nelson Mandela.

1988, Morrissey went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo LP Viva Hate.

2000, Santana started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Supernatural. The album went on to win eight Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year.

2004, Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, died at the age of 62, after being in poor health sustained in a 1966 car crash. Had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.26 single “Surf City,” (co written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson). At the height of their fame, Jan and Dean hosted and performed at The T.A.M.I. Show, the film also featured The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

Born on March 26: Diana Ross (1944);  Richard Tandy, ELO  and Steven Tyler, Aerosmith (1948); Teddy Pendergrass (1950); James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins (1968)

Link to Today in Rock History main page

Today in Rock History – February 17

by

1966, Nancy Sinatra was at number one on the singles chart with “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” her first chart topper.

1967, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” at Abbey Road studio’s, London. John’s lyrics for the song came almost entirely from an antique poster advertising a circus performance scheduled to take place in Rochdale, Lancashire, in February 1843. John had purchased the poster in Sevenoaks on January 31st while The Beatles were on location for the filming of the “Strawberry Fields Forever” promotional film.

1967, The Electric Prunes, The Left Banke, and The Beach Boys performed at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouseon the campus of Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois.

1968, Diana Ross And The Supremes’ Greatest Hits started a three-week run at number one on the album chart.

1968, Following their first New York performance at the Anderson Theatre, Big Brother & the Holding Company are signed by Columbia Records.

1968, Canned Heat appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded “Girl From The North Country” together in Nashville at CBS Studios. The track appeared on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album.

1970, Joni Mitchell announced she was retiring from live performances during a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Joni was on stage again by the end of the year.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1971, James Taylor made his TV debut on The Johnny Cash Show. Other guests included Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt and Tony Joe White.

1972, The (Perth) West Australian wrote about the previous night’s concert by Led Zeppelin, “Perth has probably never seen a concert quite like it. Certainly, a Festival of Perth attraction has never been so “heavy”. That Led Zeppelin rock group’s only concert at Subiaco Oval last night at the beginning of an Australian Tour was unique. The pelting rhythm and distinctive brackets of the group – consisting of electric guitarist Jimmy Page, organist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and lead vocalist Robert Plant – were different from any rock group that has appeared in Perth. And the 80000 people who went enjoyed every minute of the two and a half hour performance.”

1972, At the end of a 14 date UK tour, Pink Floyd started a four night run at London’s Rainbow Theatre.

1972, Los Angeles radio station KDAY played two new Rolling Stones tracks non-stop for a day after obtaining stolen tapes from a producer’s home.

1973, War started a two-week run at number one on the album chart with The World Is A Ghetto.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at St. Paul Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

1974, KISS appeared at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

john lennon- rock n' roll 19751975, John Lennon’s Rock ‘n’ Roll album was released in the US.

1975, AC/DC released their debut album High Voltage. The album featured a cover of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams and “She’s Got Balls” which was written about singer Bon Scott’s ex-wife Irene – the first AC/DC song for which he wrote lyrics.

1976, David Bowie performed at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1977, Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Sportpaleis Ahoy, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.  The set list for each show was: Sheep / Pigs on the Wing, Part 1/ Dogs / Pigs On the Wing Part 2 / Pigs (Three Different Ones) // second set: Shine On You Crazy Diamond , Parts 1-5 / Welcome to the Machine / Have A Cigar / Wish You Were Here / Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts 6-9 / encore: Money.

1978, Rush appeared at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1979, Blondie scored their first number one album when Parallel Lines started a four-week run at the top of the charts, featuring the singles “Heart Of Glass,” “Hanging On The Telephone” and “Sunday Girl.”

1979, The Clash opened the US leg of their ‘Pearl Harbour ’79’, North American tour at New York’s Palladium.

1989, R.E.M., Hoodoo Gurus, and The Go-Betweens all appeared at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia.

2000, John Lennon’s Steinway piano, on which he composed “Imagine,” went on display at the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool, England. The piano was set to be auctioned on the Internet later in the year and was expected to fetch more than £1 million ($1.7 million).

2005, A 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix sold for £100,000 ($150,000) at an auction in London. Other Hendrix items sold included a poem written two weeks after his appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival which went for £10,000 ($15,000,) and the first Jimi Hendrix Experience’s single “Hey Joe,” signed by all the band sold for £2,000 ($3000.)

Born on February 17: Orville “Hoppy” Jones, The Ink Spots (1905); Tommy Edwards, singer (1922); Gene Pitney (1941); Karl Jenkins, Soft Machine (1944); Rickey Medlocke, Blackfoot, Lynryd Skynyrd (1950); Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters; Billy Joe Armstrong, Green Day (1972); Ed Sheeran, British singer, songwriter (1991)

Get more Today in Rock History.

Today in Rock History – December 6

by

bob-dylan-freewheelin1962, 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 Warren, creator of the UK’s longest running TV soap Coronation Street.

1965, The Rolling Stones record “19th Nervous Breakdown” and “Mother’s Little Helper” at RCA’s Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles.

1966, The Beatles recorded Christmas and New Year’s greetings for pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. Both stations were broadcasting from ships anchored off the British coastline.

1968, Canned Heat played at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Led Zeppelin made their debut on the singles chart with “Whole Lotta Love.” It went on to reach number four on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group.

1969, One hit wonders Steam started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” The song was actually recorded by Gary De Carlo, who intended it to be the “B” side of his first single.

1969, The Rolling Stones played a free festival at Altamont in California, along with Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby Stills Nash & Young. While the group played, Stones fan Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by Hell’s Angels who’d been hired to police the event. It’s claimed Hunter was waving a revolver. One other man drowned, two men were killed by in a hit-and run accident and two babies were born.

1970, The Who appeared at Scene Two, Scarborough, York, England.

1971, King Crimson performed at the Ritz Theater, New York.

1972, While reading the morning newspaper in Nice, France, The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards was surprised to learn that arrest warrants had been issued for him and his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg for drug possession.

1973, Yes played at The Apollo, in Glasgow, Scotland.

1973, The Who play at The Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C. This show is also recorded by The King Biscuit Flower Hour and remains in their vaults although it is never broadcast. The photograph used for the poster insert in the Odds and Sods album is taken at this show.

1974, George Harrison performed at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

paul-simon-still-crazy1975, Paul Simon went to number one on the album chart with Still Crazy After All These Years, his first chart topping solo album.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared at Ford Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, Sex Pistol Sid Vicious smashed a glass in the face of Patti Smith’s brother Todd Smith during a fight at New York City club Hurrah.

1979, The Outlaws played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1981, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

1982, Aerosmith appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1988, American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack aged 52. Scored the 1964 number one single “Pretty Woman,”plus over twenty Top 40 singles including “Only the Lonely” and “Crying.” Formed his first band The Wink Westerners in 1949, was a member of The Traveling Wilburys (known as Lefty Wilbury) with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty, and had the single “Handle With Care.” Orbison endured a great deal of tragedy in his life. His first wife, Claudette died in a motorcycle accident in 1966 and two of his three sons, died in a house fire.

1994, Tower Records released The Beatles’ Live At The BBC, a 69 track, double album of tunes recorded for BBC shows such as Top Gear, Easy Beat, Saturday Club and Pop Go The Beatles. The LP rose straight to the top of the UK chart, selling over 600,000 copies by the end of the year and 2,000,000 in the US four weeks later.

2003, Elvis Costello married jazz artist Diana Krall in a ceremony at Elton John’s UK mansion. About 150 guests, including Sir Paul McCartney, attended the wedding. It was Costello’s third marriage.

Born on December 6: Dave Brubeck  (1920); Miroslav Vitous, Weather Report, (1947); Peter Buck, REM (1956); and David Lovering, drums, Pixies (1961)

Link to Today in Rock History archive