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Today in Rock History – October 21

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beatles-studio-19651965, Wanting to improve on a previous recording session The Beatles started from scratch on a new song called “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown,”) finishing recordings in three takes. They also begin working on a new John Lennon song “Nowhere Man.”

1965, The Kingsmen perform “Louie Louie” on the ABC television variety show Shindig!  Also guesting were the Dave Clark Five.

1965, The Spencer Davis Group recorded “Keep On Running” at Pye Studios in London, England. The track went on to top the UK chart the following January.

1966, Pink Floyd appeared at the London Free School, held at the All Saints Church Hall, Powis Gardens, London.

1967, Scottish singer Lulu started a five-week run at number one on the US singles chart with the theme from the film To Sir With Love.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Willamette University, in Salem, Oregon.

1970, Pink Floyd’s show at the Fillmore West in San Francisco included a brass and choir for the performance of “Atom Heart Mother.” The choir came back on for an encore of “Ave Maria.” Tickets were $3.

1971, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger became a father when his wife Bianca gave birth to daughter Jade in a Paris hospital.

1972, Pink Floyd performed at a benefit show for War on Want, The Albany Trust Deptford, and Save The Children Fund. The show was held at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London.

1972, Chuck Berry started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “My Ding-A- Ling,” his first and only US and UK chart topper, 17 years after his first chart hit.

1972, Pete Townshend’s solo album Who Came First hits the British charts. Although it has Pete on the cover and is marketed as a solo album, it is more a compilation of the privately released Meher Baba albums. For instance, the single released from the album, “Forever’s No Time At All” (backed with “This Song Is Green,”) features a lead vocal by Billy Nicholls. The album reaches #30 in the British charts. The single does not chart.

1972, Curtis Mayfield started a four-week run at No.1 on the album chart with soundtrack to Superfly.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Omaha Civic Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

1973, Elton John, Sutherland Brothers, and Quiver performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida.

1974, Roxy Music appeared at the Odeon in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1975, The soundtrack to the film Lisztomania is released. The movie stars Roger Daltrey and was helmed by Tommy director Ken Russell. Rick Wakeman’s planned “concept album” version of the soundtrack is turned down for a simple collection of songs and performances. The result does not chart in the U.K. and peaks at number 145 in the US. Wakeman’s version of the soundtrack is not released until 2002.

1975, Elton John is the latest addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1975, The Doobie Brothers played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Los Angeles’ Fox Wilshire Theatre hosts the west coast premiere of Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same.” It was attended by the band. Jimmy Page said, “(The premieres were) held apart by a few days so we could check the cinemas out. It’s not as easy a job as you’d think getting the sound right for cinemas. The first time in New York was great, the first time one had sat in an audience. Every time I had seen the film before was with technicians, people with a really critical eye. Then the film  really lived for the first time and you could see people getting off on things, applauding and laughing at the right time, generally vibing. Other charity premieres are held in various major cities including: Toronto, Boston and Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago, but not attended by the band.

keith-moon21976, Keith Moon played his last show with The Who at the end of a North American tour at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto. On September 7, 1978, Moon died of an overdose of a sedative Heminevrin, that had been prescribed to prevent seizures induced by alcohol withdrawal.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the Stadthalle, Erlangen,Germany.

1977, Rush performed at Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas.

1978, The Clash sacked manager Bernie Rhodes, saying the band and record company “found him hard to deal with.” Melody Maker journalist Caroline Coon took his place.

1980, Van Halen played at the Hulman Center, Terre Haute, Indiana.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas.

1983, The Grateful Dead appeared at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.

1989, Jive Bunny And The Mastermixes had their second UK number one single with “That’s What I Like.” The Theme from Hawaii Five-O was the recurring hook in the record which also included “Lets Twist Again,” “Lets Dance,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “The Twist.”

1992, George Michael took Sony Records to court in a fight over his contract with the company. He lost the case in 1994. Michael worked with Sony again less than 10 years later.

1995, Shannon Hoon, lead singer for Blind Mellon dies of a suspected cocaine overdose after an all-night drug binge following a “disappointing performance” the night before in Houston, Texas. The band is best known for the song “No Rain.”

1997, Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 97” was declared by the Guinness Book Of Records as the biggest selling single record of all time, with 31.8 million sales in less than 40 days and raising more than £20 ($32)million for charity.

2001, Concerts at Madison Square Garden and the RFK stadium in Washington were expected to raise millions in funds for the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Stars who appeared included Michael Jackson, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, *NSYNC, P-Diddy, James Brown, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, The Who, and Elton John.

2006, American musician, singer, songwriter, and drummer Sandy West died from lung cancer. She was a founding member, with Joan Jett, of the all-girl group The Runaways. Cherie Currie, the initial lead singer of The Runaways, said, “Sandy West was by far, the greatest female drummer in the history of rock and roll. No one could compete or even come close to her, but the most important was her heart.”

2006, Evanescence were at number one on the US album chart with their second album The Open Door. It became the 700th top album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956.

2007, Stereophonics went to number one on the UK album chart with Pull The Pin, the bands sixth studio album.

2013, Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter who staged early US shows by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, died at age 95. Bernstein booked The Beatles for their legendary show at Shea Stadium in New York in 1965, which was the first concert to be staged in a large stadium. Bernstein also promoted The Beatles’ performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on their first US tour in 1964. He also arranged the first five American dates for the Rolling Stones, as well as shows for Judy Garland, Ray Charles and Tony Bennett.

Born on October 21: Manfred Mann (1940); Steve Cropper, Booker T & the MG’s (1941); Elvin Bishop (1942); Ron Elliott, The Beau Brummels (1943);Lee Loughnane, trumpet, Chicago (1946); Lux Interior, singer-songwriter, The Cramps (1946); Brent Mydland, keyboards, The Grateful Dead (1952); Charlotte Caffey, The Go- Go’s (1953); Eric Faulkner, singer, Bay City Rollers, (1954) Julian Cope, Teardrop Explodes (1957);  and Steve Lukather, Toto (1957); Nick Oliveri, bass, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age (1971)

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Today in Rock History – September 7

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1968, The Doors played the first of two nights at The Roundhouse, London, playing twice nightly on their first UK visit. Granada TV filmed the sold out gigs, later shown as “The Doors Are Open,” which were attended by members of The Rolling Stones and Traffic.

1968, The Beach Boys played at at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.

1968, Pink Floyd performed at Le Blboquet, St. Germain des Pres, in Paris, where they played “Let There Be More Light” live as part of a four-hour TV special entitled Surprise Partie. The music program also featured The Who, Joe Cocker, The Troggs, Fleetwood Mac, Small Faces, PP Arnold, The Equals, and others. It was broadcast in color on ORTF2 on December 31st.

1968, The American magazine Eye contains lyrics for three Pete Townshend songs, “Party Piece from Rael,” a song from the unfinished rock opera that led to “Rael” from The Who Sell Out, “Joker James”, which would ultimately be recorded for the Quadrophenia Soundtrack, and “Join My Gang”  which had been recorded by Oscar

1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham made their live debut as Led Zeppelin but billed as Yard Birds at Teen Club Box 45 in Gladsaxe, a suburb in the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Around 1,200 youngsters attended the show at Egegard School. Teen Club President Lars Abel presenting “The New Yardbirds” on stage, introduced Robert Plant as Robert Plat. A local review stated, “Their performance and their music were absolutely flawless, and the music continued to ring nicely in the ears for some time after the curtains were drawn after their show. We can therefore conclude that the new Yardbirds are at least as good as the old ones were.”

1968,  The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown LP and the single “Fire” backed with “Rest Cure” are released in the US. The single peaks at number two in both the Billboard and Cash Box charts. Pete Townshend gets an associate production credit on both, and plays rhythm guitar on the B-side.

1969, King Crimson appeared at the Victoria Ballroom, Chesterfield, England.

1971, Led Zeppelin performed at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The set list: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Celebration Day, That’s the Way, Going To California, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley), Communication Breakdown, Organ solo / Thank You, Rock and Roll.

1972, David Bowie appeared at The Top Rank, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, England.

1973, The Rolling Stones kicked off a nine-date UK tour at the Empire Pool London. Tickets £2.20.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1974, The 101ers made their performing debut at the Telegraph pub in Brixton. The pub rock band featured singer, guitarist Joe Strummer who would later join The Clash.

1974, Aerosmith performed at the Wollman Skating Rink Theater in New York.

1976, Abba were at number one on the singles chart with “Dancing Queen,” the group’s only chart topper. The song was a a number one smash hit in over a dozen countries and stayed at the top of the Swedish charts for 14 weeks.

1977, Rush appeared at Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1978, Yes played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Keith-Moon1978, Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, died of a overdose of heminevrin prescribed to combat alcoholism. A post-mortem confirmed there were 32 tablets in his system, 26 of which were undissolved. Moon had attended a party the night before organized by Paul McCartney for the launch of the The Buddy Holly Story movie. He played on all The Who albums from their debut, 1965’s My Generation, to 1978’s Who Are You, which was released two weeks before his death.

1979, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Jai Alai Fronton Hall, Miami, Florida.

1982, Van Halen appeared at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1985, David Bowie and Mick Jagger were at number one  on the UK singes chart with their version of the Martha Reeves and The Vandellas 1964 hit “Dancing In The Streets.” The song had been recorded as part of the Live Aid charity appeal. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realized that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.

1997, Fleetwood Mac went to number one on the US album chart with The Dance. The album went on sell over 5 million copies in the US alone.

2001, Michael Jackson was reunited onstage with the Jackson Five at his 30th Anniversary Celebration in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It ended Jackson’s 11-year hiatus from performing in the U.S. Jackson was joined by Eminem, Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his singing career.

Warren Zevon

2003, singer, songwriter, Warren Zevon died. He had worked as a session musician, was the piano player and band leader for the Everly Brothers. His 1969 song “She Quit Me” was included in the soundtrack for the film Midnight Cowboy. Jackson Browne, The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt all appeared on his albums. He recorded over 15 solo albums, had the 1978 US number 21 single “Werewolves Of London.” He made frequent appearances on the David Letterman Show, whose host was an early proponent of his music.

2003, Black Eyed Peas started a six-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Where Is The Love.” The best selling single of 2003, with an uncredited Justin Timberlake on the recording.

Born on September 7: Little Milton, blues singer (1934); Buddy Holly (1936); Gloria Gaynor (1949); Chrissie Hynde (1951); Benmont Tench, keyboards, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1954); and LeRoi Moore, saxophonist, Dave Matthews Band (1961)

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Today in Rock History – April 30

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1966, The Rolling Stones fourth album Aftermath went to number one on the UK charts.  It was the group’s third chart topping album.

1966, The Young Rascals went to number one on the American singles chart with “Good Lovin.” The song had been a hit for The Olympics the year before.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Plaza Teen Club in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix and Chas Chandler are interviewed at their shared flat in London, by Ray Jones for the May edition of Beat Instrumental magazine.

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first UK Tour comes to a close following two final performances at Granada theatre in Tooting, London. Once again the evening includes performances by The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Californians, The Quotations, and MC Nick Jones.

1968, Pink Floyd played for a recording of the music program Moef Ga Go at Nederland 1 TV Studios in Zaandam, The Netherlands. Two concerts scheduled for later the same day had to be cancelled due to a problem with work permits.

1968, BBC TV launched The Cilla Black Show making Cilla the first British female performer to have her own TV show. The theme song, “Step Inside Love” was written by Paul McCartney.

1968, Al Kooper announces he is leaving Blood, Sweat & Tears.

1970, Twiggs Lyndon, the road manager for the Allman Brothers Band, was arrested for murder after he stabbed a club manager during an argument over a contract. At the ensuing trial, Lyndon’s lawyers argued that he had been temporarily insane at the time of the incident and that touring with the Allman Brothers would drive anyone insane. Lyndon was acquitted.

1971, Three Dog Night performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

DavidBowieFiveYears1972, David Bowie played at Guildhall, Plymouth, England.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the State Fair Coliseum, Syracuse, New York.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1974, King Crimson played at the Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio.

1975, Genesis headlined at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1976, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon paid nine cab drivers to block-off both ends of a New York street so he could throw the contents of his hotel room out of the window.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Halle Münsterland, Muenster, Germany.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1977, The Grateful Dead perform at The Palladium in New York City.

1977, Glen Campbell went to number one on the US singles chart with “Southern Nights,” his second chart topper.

1977, Led Zeppelin broke a new world attendance record at a concert when they played to 76,229 people at a gig at the Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan. The Who held the previous record at the same venue with 75,962 people.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at Jeppesen Stadium, in Houston, Texas during their In The Flesh North American tour. The set list consisted of the albums Animals and Wish You Were Here, with an encore of “Money” and “Us and Them” from Dark Side of the Moon. General admission tickets cost $10 (£6.67.)

1978, Bob Seger appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1979, Rush played at the Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England.

1980, McVicar, starring Roger Daltrey, premieres.

1982, American music journalist, author and musician Lester Bangs died of a heart attack aged 33. Bangs worked for Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice.

1983, Muddy Waters dies from a heart attack in Westmont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was 68. Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by age seventeen was playing the guitar at parties, emulating local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. Two years later, he moved to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician, eventually recording, in 1946, first for Columbia Records, and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

1983, Michael Jackson started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Beat It,” his fifth solo US chart topper. The third single from the singer’s Thriller album featured Eddie Van Halen on the song’s distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but Van Halen was prevented by his record label from appearing in the music video.

1990, Prince played a concert at Rupert’s Night-club, Minneapolis. The $100 a head ticket proceeds all went to the family of his former bodyguard Charles “Big Chick” Huntsberry, who had died from a heart attack.

1991, Nirvana signed a recording contract with Geffen’s DGC label for $290,000 (£193,333.)

1999, Nazareth drummer Darrell Sweet died aged 52, after suffering a fatal heart attack before a show in New Albany, Indiana. Nazareth had the 1973 UK number nine single “Broken Down Angel,” and the 1976 US top eight single “Love Hurts.”

2005, The Dave Matthews Band agreed to pay $200,000 (£105,000) after their tour bus dumped human waste on a boatload of tourists in Chicago in August 2004. Bus driver Stefan Wohl who was alone on board the bus at the time the sewage was dumped was fined $10,000 (£5,200.) The band had already donated $100,000 (£54,252) to two groups that protect the Chicago River and its surrounding area. The Dave Matthews Band offered their “deepest apologies” to more than 100 boat passengers who were on an architectural tour.

2008, Gail Renard, who was given the hand written lyrics to “Give Peace A Chance” by John Lennon in 1969, announced plans to sell the lyric sheet at a Christie’s auction. At the time, Lennon told Renard to hang on to the piece of paper, saying “It will be worth something someday.” The piece of music history was expected to fetch around $400,000 (£266,667.)  When it was actually sold in July later that year, it went for $790,000 (£400,000.)

2015, Ben E. King,  born Benjamin Earl Nelson, soul and R&B singer with The Drifters, died at the Hackensack University Medical Center at the age of 76. The Drifters had the 1960 US number one and UK number two single “Save The Last Dance For Me,” and King scored the the 1987 UK number one solo single “Stand By Me,”  which was first released in 1961.

Born on April 30: Percy Heath, American bassist, Heath Brothers, Modern Jazz Quartet (1923);  Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist (1925); Johnny Farina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Santo & Johnny (1941); Bobby Vee (1943);  Wayne Kramer, MC5 (1948); Merrill Osmond, American singer, bass player, actor,The Osmonds (1953); Chris Henderson, guitarist, 3 Doors Down (1971); J. R. Richards, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, Dishwalla (1972)

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Today in Rock History – April 24

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1966, The Who performed at Birmingham Hippodrome in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at Blue Opera Club, held at at The Feathers public house in London, England. A patron threw a penny a Roger Waters resulting in gash to his forehead.

1968,  Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool while enjoying a wild birthday party.

1968, The Beatles’ new record label, Apple Records turned down the offer to sign new artist David Bowie. Apple later signed Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston. Hopkin would go on to score a UK number one single, “Those Were The Days”.

1968, Louis Armstrong was at number one in the UK with the single “What A Wonderful World / Cabaret.” At 69 years of age, it made Armstrong the oldest act ever to score a UK chart topper.

1969, Paul McCartney publicly denies rumors that he is dead.

1969, Led Zeppelin played at Fillmore West in San Francisco. It is a popular bootleg concert.

1970, Grace Slick and Abbie Hoffman leave a White House party without having dosed young Tricia Nixon with LSD as planned. The Jefferson Airplane singer was invited to the bash by Tricia, and took along the outlaw Hoffman as her date. Hoffman was turned away at the gate. Slick went with him.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Woodrose Ballroom, Deerfield, Massachusetts.

1971, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to number one on the album chart with 4 Way Street.

1971, The Grateful Dead appeared at Wallace Wade Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio.

1972, John Lennon’s controversial single, “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” was released in the US. The song peaked at number 57, despite virtually every radio station in the country refusing to play it. Yoko Ono said the phrase during a magazine interview in 1967 and Lennon later explained that he was making a point that women deserved higher status in society.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1974, David Bowie releases Diamond Dogs.

1975, Peter Ham, British singer, songwriter with Badfinger committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage of his Surrey home, aged 27. Ham co-wrote “Without You,” with bandmate Tom Evans, who also later committed suicide. The song won an Ivor Novello award for Song Of The Year in 1973, and was a hit for Harry Nilson and Mariah Carey. Ham was a founding member of The Iveys, who later became Badfinger. They were signed to the Beatles’ Apple label. Their first hit “Come And Get It” was written by Paul McCartney.

1976, Led Zeppelin scored their sixth number one album with Presence.

1976, Wings At The Speed Of Sound went to number one on the album chart. Paul McCartney’s fifth solo chart topper after the breakup of The Beatles.

1976, David Bowie performed at Nya Masshallen, Helsinki, Finland.

1976, Paul and Linda McCartney spent the evening with John Lennon at his New York Dakota apartment and watched Saturday Night Live on TV. Producer of the show Lorne Michaels made an offer on air asking The Beatles to turn up and play three songs live. Lennon and McCartney thought about taking a cab to the studio, but decided they were too tired. This was the last time Lennon and McCartney were together.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

1978, David Bowie appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1979, Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” was proclaimed the state song of Georgia. The music to the song was written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael who also recorded a version of the song in New York in the same year. Ray Charles, a native of Georgia, recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1981, New Order started work on their first album at Strawberry studios in Stockport, England.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1983, Bryan Adams, Sammy Hagar, Aerosmith, and Journey performed at the Miami Baseball Stadium.

1987, Deep Purple played at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1990, The road crew for Roger Waters discovered an unexploded World War II bomb while constructing the set for The Wall concert in Potsdamer Platz, Germany.

1992, David Bowie married Somali born supermodel and actress Iman in Switzerland. Iman first got married at the age of eighteen to a young Somali man. Then, in 1977, she wed American basketball player Spencer Haywood.

1995, Oasis released “Some Might Say” which went on to give the band their first UK number one single.

dixie-chicks-ew-cover2003, The Dixie Chicks launched a publicity campaign to explain their position after the controversy of Natalie Maines’ statement regading the Iraq war. During a prime-time interview with ABC TV personality Diane Sawyer, Maines said she remained proud of her original statement. The band also appeared naked, with private parts strategically covered, on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine, with slogans such as “Traitors”, “Saddam’s Angels”, “Dixie Sluts”, “Proud Americans”, “Hero”, “Free Speech”, and “Brave” printed on their bodies.

2007, The Arctic Monkeys sold 85,000 copies of their new album Favourite Worst Nightmare on its first day in UK shops, putting it on course to be the year’s fastest-selling new release.

2012, Sinead O’Connor cancelled the remaining dates of her world tour, saying she was still recovering from a “very serious breakdown”. In a statement on her official website, she said she had scrapped all concerts this year due to her bipolar disorder. Her website was also now being deleted along with her Twitter account.

Born on April 24: Barbra Streisand (1942); Richard Sterban, American singer, The Oak Ridge Boys (1943); St. Clair Lee, Hughes Corporation (1944); Doug Clifford, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1945);  Glen Cornick, Jethro Tull (1947); H. Ann Kelly, The Hues Corporation (1947); Nigel Harrison, British bass player, Blondie, Silverhead (1951); Jack Blades, American bass player, songwriter, Night Ranger, Rubicon, Damn Yankees (1954); Captain Sensible, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Damned, Dead Men Walking (1954);  David Jay, Bauhaus, Love & Rockets (1957); Boris Williams, drums, The Cure, Thompson Twins (1957);  Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, producer, Faith No More, Fear and the Nervous System, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine (1963); Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Tarnation, Faith No More, Frightwig (1963); Paul Ryder, bass, Happy Mondays (1964); Brian Marshall, bassist, Creed (1974); Tyson Ritter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor The All-American Rejects (1984)

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Today in Rock History – November 20

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1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock were at number one on the singles chart with “Incense And Peppermints.”

1967,  The Beach Boys release the Smiley Smile, the follow-up to Pet Sounds. This avant-garde album  fails was not warmly received by critics, and failed to chart, despite boasting the singles “Heroes and Villains” and “Good Vibrations.” It has subsequently achieved much more respect over time.

1968, Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites are approached by Albert Grossman to help the newly solo Janis Joplin put together her own band.

1968, The Monkees film Head opened in six cities. Reviews were harsh and the picture was a box office disaster.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Boston Tea Party, Boston.

1970, Pink Floyd made their first ever appearance in Cincinnati, Ohio, when they played at Taft Auditorium.

1970, Derek and the Dominoes performed at the Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California.

1971, Isaac Hayes started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Theme From Shaft” Hayes won a Grammy award for Best Original Film Score.

1971, Led Zeppelin play the first of two “Electric Magic” shows at London’s Wembley Empire Pool. The shows incorporate trapeze artists, performing pigs, and vaudeville performers with Bronco, Stone the Crows, and the headliners. Tickets for the shows sold out in four minutes.

1971, The Grateful Dead played at Pauley Pavillion, on the UCLA campus, in Westwood, California.

1971, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy, released at the end of October, hits the US charts. The album, considered by many to be the best-ever Who compilation, is released just as The Who cross over the five-year mark during which five percent of The Who’s record royalties had to be paid to their first producer Shel Talmy as a result of his 1966 lawsuit. Many of the singles, so familiar to The Who’s British and European fans, are heard first here by most U.S. Who fans. The album peaks at number eleven.

1971, The Who open their second 1971 the tour at the Charlotte Coliseum, in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are the first rock act to sell out this venue. Keith greets the crowd, “It’s nice to see so many people in Charlotte. I didn’t know there WAS this many people in Charlotte!” The pre-recorded tapes mess up and Pete almost drags Bobby Pridden over the amplifiers.

1972, David Bowie appeared at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1972, Yes played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1973, American musician, parodist, satirist Allan Sherman died of emphysema ten days before his 49th birthday. He had the 1963 US number two and UK number 14 single “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.”

1973, Neil Young played at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago.

1974, Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, collapsed during a concert after his drink was spiked with horse tranquilizer. 19 year-old Scott Halpin who was in the audience, volunteered to replace him on drums for the remaining three numbers.

1975, Les McKeown of The Bay City Rollers was found not guilty of causing the death of a 76 year old woman that he had hit with his car the previous May. Witnesses said that Euphemia Clunie was walking across the road and had changed directions four times. McKeown was convicted of driving recklessly and fined £150 ($240) and banned from driving for a year.

1975, The Who kicked off a month-long North American tour at The Summit in Houston. At a party afterwards drummer Keith Moon was arrested for disorderly conduct and spent the night in jail.

1976, Paul Simon hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live where he performed live with George Harrison on “Here Comes The Sun” and “Homeward Bound.” Paul McCartney and John Lennon were both in New York City watching the show on TV.

1977, Aerosmith performed at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1978, Boston played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Rush performed at the Tucson Convention Center Arena, Tucson, Arizona.

1979, ZZ Top appeared at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

1980, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois.

1981, Prince played the first night on his 56-date North American Controversy tour at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1982, Van Halen appeared at the Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas.

1984, A large crowd of fans watched the unveiling of a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star for Michael Jackson in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson became star number 1,793 on the famed walk.

1985, The Grateful Dead performed at Henry J. Kiser Convention Center in Oakland, California.

1991, The Rolling Stones announced they’d signed a £20 ($32) million deal with Virgin Records, to make three albums over six years.

2005, Robbie Williams smashed a Guinness World Record by selling more than 1.6 million tickets for his 2006 World Tour in one day. The tickets, snapped up on the first day of sale, were valued at an estimated £80 ($128) million.

2007, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke admitted he was among the thousands of people who paid nothing to download the band’s latest album In Rainbows. Speaking to BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Yorke said, “There wasn’t any point. I just move some money from one pocket to the other.” According to one survey, three in five people paid nothing at all for it. Yorke added that no one was allowed to have copies of the master recording in case it was leaked beforehand.

Born on November 20: Norman Greenbaum (1942); Duane Allman (1946);  Joe Walsh (1947); Jim Brown, drums, UB40 (1957); Mike Diamond, The Beastie Boys (1965); Jared Followill, bassist, Kings Of Leon (1986)

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Here’s some classic Duane Allman…

 

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I’m The Face” by The High Numbers

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The Who formed out of the ashes of two bands. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle had a Dixieland Jazz band called The Confederates while Roger Daltry had a blues band called The Detours. One day, Daltry saw Entwistle walking down the street with his bass and asked him to join The Detours. Entwistle joined and brought Townshend along with him. By 1964, and the addition of Keith Moon on drums, the quartet began calling themselves The Who. But for a brief period in 1964, they changed their name to The High Numbers and released their first single aimed at the burgeoning British Mod scene featuring “Zoot Suit” as the A-side and “I’m The Face” on the B-side. “Face” was written by then-manager Peter Meaden and is a total rip of Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It.” Listening to it now, you can hear how the band’s sound that they termed “Maximum R’n’B” was already fully-formed and wholly their own. Shortly after the single bombed, the band changed their name back to The Who and began to write their own material at the insistence of their new manager, Kit Lambert, who wisely began molding them after The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. But with Keith Moon as their not-so-secret weapon, The Who stood tall amongst their peers, and far above all of the rest in the music scene of the early 1960s.