1965, The Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham and his partner Tony Calder launched Immediate records. Their first release was The McCoy’s “Hang On Sloopy.” Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Nico all attended the launch party. The label became the home of The Small Faces, The Nice, Amen Corner and Chris Farlowe and a young […]
Today in Rock History – August 17
1965, The Byrds were forced to cancel a concert during their UK tour at The Guildhall, Portsmouth when only 250 of the 4,000 tickets had been sold. 1966, During a North American tour The Beatles played two shows at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada. The attendance for each show was 18,000. 1967, The Who’s manager […]
Today in Rock History – August 16
1938, American blues musician Robert Johnson died, likely poisoned by a jealous husband, at the age of 27 at a country crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi. His recordings from 1936 -1937 have influenced generations of musicians including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. 1962, […]
Today in Rock History – August 12
1966, The Beatles performed two shows at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. This was the first stop on what would turn out to be The Beatles’ final US tour. Support acts were the Remains, Bobby Hebb, Cyrkle, and the Ronettes. 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at The Ambassador Theatre, Washington D.C. 1967, The […]
Today in Rock History – August 11
1966, At a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologized for his remarks that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Lennon told reporters “Look, I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said “Beatles” because it’s easy for me to talk about The Beatles. […]
Today in Rock History – August 10
1968, The lineup for day two of the National Jazz & Blues Festival was Alan Haven, Deep Purple, Ginger Baker, Jeff Beck Group, Joe Cocker, Mike Westbrook, Ronnie Scott, T. Rex, Ten Years After, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet, and The Nice. The festival was held at […]
Today in Rock History – August 8
1969, The photo session for the cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman held up the traffic. […]
Today in Rock History – August 4
1967, Pink Floyd released their debut album The Piper At the Gates of Dawn in the UK, on which most songs were penned by Syd Barrett. When reviewed by the two main UK music papers, Record Mirror and NME both gave the album four stars out of five. The album was recorded at Abbey Road studios, […]
Today in Rock History – July 11
1964, The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program Lucky Stars (Summer Spin,) performing “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Things We Said Today,” and “You Can’t Do That.” To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames. 1965, […]
Today in Rock History – June 17
1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles completed work on the new Paul McCartney song “Yesterday” with the overdubbing of an additional vocal track by McCartney and a string quartet. They also recorded “Act Naturally” for Ringo’s vocal contribution on the Help! album and the song “Wait” in four takes. “Wait” will […]
