1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the British Consulate Office in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for an international “Bed-In” for peace. They planned another “Bed-in” in the United States, but were denied entry. The couple then went to Montréal, and during a “Bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel recorded ‘Give […]
Song Of The Day– “Lumpy Gravy” by The Persuasions
From Gospel to The Grateful Dead, The Persuasions are an a capella group whose musical tastes know no boundaries. The group’s five original members, Jerry Lawson, Jesse “Sweet Joe” Russell, Jayotis Washington, Herbert “Toubo” Rhoad, and bass vocalist Jimmy “Bro” Hayes began singing on the street corners of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn during the early 1960s. […]
Song Of The Day – “Midnight Moonlight” by Old & In The Way
When not playing with The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia liked to dabble in side projects including stints with his own Jerry Garcia Band, The New Riders Of The Purple Sage, gigging with Merle Saunders, recording with John Wales and guesting on albums by the likes of Ornette Coleman, David Bromberg, Brewer And Shipley, Bob Dylan, […]
Today in Rock History – February 10
1967, The Beatles recorded the orchestral build-up for the middle and end of “A Day in the Life.” At the Beatles’ request, the orchestra members arrived in full evening dress along with novelty items. One violinist wore a red clowns nose, while another a fake gorilla’s paw on his bow hand. Others were wearing funny […]
Today in Rock History – January 26
1965, “Downtown” by Petula Clark was at number one on the US singles chart. A young Jimmy Page had played as a session guitarist on the track, giving him his first US number one hit, as well as a number two hit in the UK. 1965, during a Rolling Stones tour of Australia and New […]
Today in Rock History – January 21
1965, The Byrds record “Mr. Tambourine Man.” The only actual member of the band who performs on the record is lead guitarist/singer Jim McGuinn. Musicians from the fabled “Wrecking Crew,” including Larry Knetchel on bass, Leon Russell on piano, Hal Blaine on drums, Jerry Cole and Bill Pittman on guitar, replace the rest of the […]
Today in Rock History – November 8
1965, The Beatles worked on a new George Harrison song “Think For Yourself” at Abbey Road for their forthcoming Rubber Soul album. After rehearsing the song, they recorded the basic instrumental track in one take. 1966, The Who go into CBS Studios in London and record at least two takes of the backing track for […]
Song Of The Day – “Catfish John” by Jerry Garcia Band
It was a tale of two Jerries. By 1980 Jerry Garcia had his day job with the Grateful Dead. During that year, the band released the somewhat weak studio album, Go To Heaven, and took to the road to promote it. While the 1979-1980 shows generally found the band in excellent form, in order to […]
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, […]
Song Of the Day – “If I Had My Way” by Peter, Paul and Mary
They were the original prefab group, put together by their manager much in the same way that The Monkees were. But instead of a casting call, Albert Grossman knew exactly what he was looking for to form his folk group…two bearded guys (one on stand-up bass, one on guitar) and one woman, preferably a blonde, […]
