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Today in Rock History – September 23

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rolling-stones-19661966, The Rolling Stones 66 12-date UK tour kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall London. Supported by The Yardbirds, Ike and Tina Turner, and Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers. Both Keith Moon and John Entwistle from The Who were in the audience.

1967,  The Mothers Of Invention appeared at the Royal Albert Hall London making their UK live debut

1967, The Box Tops started a four week run at No.1 on the singles chart with “The Letter.” The record went on to sell over four million copies and receive two Grammy nominations. It was also a Top Ten hit for Joe Cocker in 1970.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Corn Exchange in Chelmsford, Essex, England.

1968, Working on new songs for their forthcoming White Album, The Beatles recorded a new John Lennon song “Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand”,  theworking title of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” The title came from the cover of a gun magazine that producer George Martin showed Lennon. Jim Morrison from The Doors came to visit The Beatles in the studio and watched them recording.

1969, The Northern Star newspaper of Northern Illinois University ran a story claiming that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash in 1966 and had been replaced by a look-a-like. Russell Gibb of WKNR-FM in Detroit picked up on the claim and the story went worldwide. By late October 1969 the hoax was so well entrenched, that McCartney came out of seclusion at his Scottish farm to deny the story. When McCartney was asked to comment by a reporter, he replied, “Do I look dead? I’m as fit as a fiddle.”

1970, Mick Jagger met Bianca Macias for the first time after a Stones concert at the Paris Olympia. The couple later married.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Fillmore East, New York.

Led-Zeppelin-19711971, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at The Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

1972, Mott the Hoople performed at Liverpool Stadium in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1973, Genesis played at Stadttheater, Osnabrück, Germany.

1974, Robbie McIntosh, a founding member of the Average White Band, died of a heroin overdose at a Hollywood party. He inhaled a white powder thought to be cocaine but was actually pure heroin. AWB scored the No.1 single “Pick up the Pieces,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.

1975, Hawkwind appeared at the Opera, Reims, France.

1976, AC/DC played at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany.

1976, The Grateful Dead performed at Cameron Indoor Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, a gym better known for the basketball played there, than as a music venue.

1977, Yes played at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1978, 10cc had their third and final UK No.1 single with “Dreadlock Holiday.” The lyrics, about a white man lost in Jamaica, were based on a true event that happened to Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward and Eric Stewart from 10cc in Barbados.

1978, AC/DC played at the Uptown Theater, Kansas City, Missouri.

1978, Black Sabbath appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, Anaheim, California.

1979, Van Halen performed at the Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1980, Bob Marley collapsed on stage during a concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marley had collapsed in New York’s Central Park while jogging, two days before and was told to immediately cancel the US leg, but flew to Pittsburgh to perform one final performance. This was the last time Marley ever appeared on stage performing, Marley died of cancer in May of 1981.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York.

1982, Roxy Music appeared at Wembley Arena, London.

1983, Rush performed Radio City Music Hall, New York

1997, The Rolling Stones kicked off the North American leg of their Bridges To Babylon tour playing the first of two nights at Soldier Field in Chicago.

2006, Neil Young was named artist of the year at the Americana Honors and Awards at the fifth annual event in Nashville, Tennessee. The 60-year-old singer-songwriter released the protest album Living With War that year.

Born on September 23: John Coltrane (1926); Mighty Joe Young (1927); Ray Charles (1930); Hilly Cristal, owner CBGB’s (1931); Roy Buchanan (1939); Julio Iglesias (1943); John Banks, The Merseybeats, (1943); and Steve Boone, The Lovin’ Spoonful (1943); Ron Bushy, drums, Iron Butterfly (1945); Dan Toler, Great Southern, Allman Brothers (1948); and Bruce Springsteen (1949)

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Today in Rock History – September 22

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great-society
The Great Society

1965, San Francisco band The Great Society, featuring Grace Slick, make their live debut at The Coffee Gallery, North Beach, California. The lineup featured Grace, her then-husband Jerry Slick on drums, his brother Darby Slick on guitar, David Miner on vocals and guitar, Bard DuPont on bass, and Peter van Gelder on flute, bass, and saxophone.

1967, The Doors appeared on the Murray the K show on WPIX-TV in New York City performing “People Are Strange” and “Light My Fire.”

1968  Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum gives its Beatles statues their fifth hair and clothes makeover in four years, in keeping with the lads’ taste for hippie fashions.

1968, The Amboy Dukes played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, A new weekly TV show,  The Music Scene aired on ABC for the first time. Stevie Wonder Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Tom Jones, Cass Elliot, James Brown, Janis Joplin, and Sly and the Family Stone were all booked to appear on the show.

1969, The Band released their self-titled album, which peaked at number nine on the US chart, and included “Rag Mama Rag,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” In 2009, the album was preserved into the National Recording Registry because the album was “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and reflects life in the United States.”

1970, The Rolling Stones performed at the Palais des Sport in Paris.

1971, David Crosby and Graham Nash appear at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio.

Bowie-ziggy-stardust1972, David Bowie kicked of the North American leg of his Ziggy Stardust world tour at the Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.

1973, The Rolling Stones scored their eighth No.1 album when “Goats Head Soup” started a two-week run at the top of the charts.

1974, The Sonny Bono Comedy Revue was shown for the first time on ABC-TV.

1976, Rush perform at The Dome Arena, Rochester, New York.

1977, Yes appear at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1978, Jethro Tull released the live album Bursting Out. It was recorded at various locations during the European Heavy Horses tour in May and June 1978

1978, Black Sabbath plays at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1979, Gary Numan had his second and final UK number one single with “Cars.” Also on this day Gary Numan went to number one on the UK album chart with The Pleasure Principle.

1979, Jackson Browne, Chaka Khan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Tom Petty, appeared at Madison Square Garden, New York for two anti-nuclear benefit shows.

1979, Def Leppard had their first major live review when UK music weekly Melody Maker reviewed a gig the band had played in Wolverhampton.  The band had just released their debut 3-track single, and featured a 15 year-old drummer

1981, Composer Harry Warren died aged 88. He wrote over 800 songs including “I Only Have Eyes For You,” a hit for The Flamingos and Art Garfunkel, “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “That’s Amore,” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” Warren’s songs were featured in over 300 films.

1983, During a UK comeback tour The Everly Brothers appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In the audience, Paul and Linda McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and Mickey Dolenz.

1984, Echo And The Bunnymen, Spear Of Destiny, The Sisters Of Mercy, The Redskins, and The Chameleons all appeared at the first York Rock Festival, York, England.

1985, The first Farm Aid benefit concert was held before a crowd of 80,000 people at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, the event had been spurred on by Bob Dylan’s comments at Live Aid earlier in that year that he hoped some of the money would help American farmers. The star studded line-up of country stars included Alabama, Hoyt Axton, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels Band, John Denver, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Vince Gill, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Roger Miller, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Rogers.

1987, The Grateful Dead play at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1990, Nirvana played their biggest gig to date when they appeared at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle. Drummer Dave Grohl who would audition for the band in a few days time, was in the audience of 15,000 people.

1990, Garth Brooks album No Fences entered the US album chart. It went on to become the biggest selling country album of all time and sold over 13 million copies in the first five years of release.

1991, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Boston Garden in Boston.

2001, A Tribute to Heroes was aired commercial-free on most of the major US TV networks. The live program was organized to raise money following the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center. Neil Young, Tom Petty, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, U2, Limp Bizkit, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam all performed. Manning the telephones to take pledges were celebrities including Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Robin Williams, Meg Ryan, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kurt Russell, Adam Sandler and many more.

2004, Cat Stevens, who now goes by the name of Yusuf Islam, was escorted from a diverted transatlantic flight and refused entry into America by FBI agents. His name showed up on a US watch list after his United Airlines  had taken off from London. The flight landed in Maine where Islam, who was traveling with his 21-year-old daughter, was detained and questioned.

Born on September 22: David Coverdale, vocals, Whitesnake (1949); Richard Fairbrass, singer, Right Said Fred (1953); Debby Boone (1956); Nick Cave (1957); and Joan Jett (1960); Will Farquarson, guitar, Bastille (1983)

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Today in Rock History – September 21

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1968, Deep Purple reached the number four spot on the US singles chart with their debut single “Hush.”‘

1968, Jeannie C Riley went to number one on the singles chart with “Harper Valley PTA.” Jeannie won a Grammy for the best female country singer of 1968.

1968, Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks in London gave The Beatles their fifth image change of clothes and hair in four years.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Het Kolpinghuis, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

1969, The James Gang played at the Ingman Room, in the Student Union at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

1970, Freda Payne was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Band Of Gold.”

1970, The Who performed at Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark.

1971, The first edition of the new BBC TV music show The Old Grey Whistle Test was aired. Presented by Richard Williams, the show included film clips of Jimi Hendrix from the Monterrey Pop Festival playing “Wild Thing,” Bob Dylan playing “Maggies Farm,” plus America and Lesley Duncan live in the studio.

1971  Peter Frampton quits Humble Pie to start his solo career. His debut album, Wind of Change, follows the next year.

1972, Yes performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1973, The Grateful Dead appeared at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Neil Young played at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles.

1974, Barry White went to number one on the singles chart with “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Baby,” the singers first and only solo chart topper

1974, Carl Douglas was at number one on the singles chart with “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song was recorded in 10 minutes, had started out as a B-side and went on to sell over 10 million copies and made Douglas a one-hit wonder.

1975, Kraftwerk performed at Fairfield Halls, Croyden, England.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.

1976, ZZ Top appeared at the Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1977, Rush played at the Paramount Theatre, Portland, Oregon.

1978, Yes performed at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan.

1979, Cheap Trick released Dream Police.  It was the group’s fourth studio album. Featured the hit title track, plus “The House Is Rocking (With Domestic Problem”, “Gonna Raise Hell”, and  “Need Your Love.”

1980, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bob Marley, courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com)

1980, Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in New York’s Central Park. After hospital tests, he was diagnosed as having cancer. Marley played his last ever concert two nights later at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1982, The Go-Go’s played at Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1983, Rush appeared at Radio City Music Hall, New York.

1984, Bruce Springsteen performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1985, With the help of heavy MTV exposure,  “Money For Nothing” gave Dire Straits their first number one single.

1987, American jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius died from injuries sustained in a fight. Pastorius was trying to enter the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida, where he’d been banned, and became involved in a fight with a bouncer, Pastorius fell into a coma, and was put on life support. In 2006, Pastorius was voted “The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived” by readers in Bass Guitar magazine. He was a member of Weather Report and worked with various acts including Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock.

1992, Parlophone Records released “Creep” by Radiohead. The single didn’t chart but featured in the majority of critics lists at the end of the year.

1996, The Fugees scored their second UK number one single with “Ready Or Not.” The chorus in the song is based on “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love”) by The Delfonics. The Fugees previous single “Killing Me Softly” was so successful that the track was deleted and no longer supplied to retailers while still in the Top 20 to make way for the new single.

2011, John Du Cann, guitarist for Atomic Rooster died after a heart attack. As he died without heirs, the bulk of his personal collection of 75 guitars, 30 amplifiers, records and CDs was auctioned in January 2012.

2011, A contract revealing that The Beatles refused to perform in front of a segregated audience at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California on August 31st, 1965, sold for $23,033 (£14,395) at an auction in Los Angeles. In addition to the desegregation clause, the contract guaranteed the band $40,000 (£25,000) and at least 150 police officers to provide security at the show.

2012, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones hold a press conference in London, to launch the Celebration Day concert film of the 2007 O2 Arena reunion show.

Born on September 21: Jimmy Young (1923); Leonard Cohen (1934) Don Felder, The Eagles (1942) David Hood, bassist  Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (1943); Bobby Tench, Jeff Beck Group, Ginger Baker, Freddie King (1944); GC Cameron, The Spiners (1945); Dave Gregory, XTC (1952); Tyler Stewart, drummer Barenaked Ladies (1967); Faith Hill (1967); David Silveria, Korn (1972); and Liam Gallagher, Oasis (1972)

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Today in Rock History – September 18th

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1968,  The Beatles recorded 20 takes of “Birthday” while working at Abbey Road studios on new songs for their forthcoming White Album Roadie Mal Evans added handclaps, and Yoko Ono and Pattie Harrison contributed backing vocals on the track.

1968,  The Doors film a six-song set for Danish Radio Television  at TV-Byen in Gladsaxe, near Copenhagen, Denmark. The program is simply called “The Doors” but it’s come to be known as the Danish Television Special. Curiously, rather than perform “Hello, I Love You” after “Texas Radio” as they had been doing in concert for much of the year, the band chooses instead to perform “Love Me Two Times.” The special was broadcast on October 30, 1968.

1969, King Crimson performed at Penthouse, Scarborough, England.

1970, Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbot’s Hospital in London at the age of 27 after choking on his own vomit. Hendrix left the message “I need help bad man,” on his managers answer phone earlier that night. Rumors and conspiracy theories grew up around Hendrix’s death. Eric Burdon claimed Jimi had committed suicide, but that’s contradicted by reports that he was in a good frame of mind. In 2009, a former Animals roadie published a book claiming that Jimi’s manager had admitted to him that he arranged the murder of Hendrix, since the guitarist wanted out of his contract.

1970, Alice Cooper performed at Rainy Daze in Chesterfield, Missouri.

1970, Santana, Country Joe McDonald, and Bread appeared at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1971, The Who scored their first and only number one album with Who’s Next, the bands sixth release, featuring “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

1971, Pink Floyd play the first of two nights at the Festival de Musique Classique, at the Pavillion de Montreaux, Montreaux, Switzerland. The show included a performance of “Atom Heart Mother” with members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and choir.

1972, The Who, Mott The Hoople, The Faces and Atomic Rooster all appeared at The Oval, London.

1972, Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull entered the last of it’s 11-week run on the Aussie album charts.

1974, KISS appeared at the Electric Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band played at The Spectrum, Philadelphia.

1976, One hit wonders Wild Cherry started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Play That Funky Music.”

1976, Frampton Comes Alive! is number one in the US for the seventh of ten total weeks during April, July, August, September, and October.

1977, Yes performed at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1978, Neil Young and Crazy Horse kicked off a 23 date US tour at Cobo Hall in Detroit promoting the album Comes A Time.

1979, The Who performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1980, Yes appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1981, Gary Numan took off on a round the world trip in a single engine Cessna plane. The attempt ended after he was forced to land in India, where local police arrested him.

1982, The seven-minute epic by Dire Straits “Private Investigations” went to number two on the UK singles chart, held off by Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” at number one.

1982, Blue Oyster Cult performed at Weedsport Speedway, Syracuse, New York.

1983, Kiss appeared without their make-up for the first time during an interview on MTV.

1987, The Grateful Dead played the third of five nights at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1993, Garth Brooks went to number one on the US album chart with In Pieces. The album spent 25 weeks on the chart and sold over six million copies. The album peaked in the second spot on the UK chart.

1996, At Sotheby’s in London, Julian Lennon successfully bid just over $39,000 (£21,000), for the recording notes for the song Paul McCartney wrote for him, “Hey Jude.” At the same event, John Lennon’s scribbled lyrics to “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” sold for $103,500, (£57,500).

2006, 73 year old country singer Willie Nelson and four members from his band were charged with drug possession after marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms were found by police on his tour bus. Police had stopped the tour bus near Lafayette, Louisiana.

2009, Leonard Cohen collapsed on stage during a concert in Valencia, Spain and was taken to hospital. He was later discharged after doctors told him he had food poisoning. Cohen was in the middle of singing his song “Bird On The Wire” when he fainted, prompting the band to stop playing and rush to help him.

Born on this day: Jimmie Rodgers (1933);  Frankie Avalon (1939); Alan King, Ace (1946); Kerry Livgren, Kansas (1947); Mike Hossack, drums, The Doobie Brothers (1950); Dee Dee Ramone (1952); and Joanne Catherall, vocals, The Human League (1962)

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Today in Rock History – July 25

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beatles-hard-days-night1964, The Beatles third album A Hard Day’s Night started a twenty-one week run at the top of the UK charts. This was the first Beatles album to be recorded entirely on four-track tape, allowing for good stereo mixes.

1965, Bob Dylan plugged in for his headlining set backed by the Butterfield Blues Band at The Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Folk music purists try to boo him off the stage, while the rest of the audience give him an enthusiastic response.

1966, The Rolling Stones play San Francisco. The tour is their last with founding guitarist Brian Jones.

1967, Pink Floyd played at The Palladium Ballroom, Greenock, Scotland.

1969, Neil Young appeared with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the first time when they played at The Fillmore East in New York. Young was initially asked to help out with live material only, but ended up joining the group on and off for the next 30 years.

1969, Led Zeppelin play Milwaukee at the Midwest Rock Festival at State Fair Park, in West Allis, Wisconsin. Also on the bill were Buffy Saint Marie, First Edtion, Pacific Gas & Electric, and more. Former Yardbird Eric Clapton, who is playing with Blind Faith the next day, catches the set by fellow former Yardbird Jimmy Page’s new band. “They were very loud,” he later remembers. “I thought it was unnecessarily loud. I liked some of it; I really did like some of it. But a lot of it was just too much. They overemphasized whatever point they were making, I thought.”

1969, The Doors appeared at Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

1969, The Seattle Pop Festival took place at the Gold Creek Park, Woodinville, Washington. Acts who appeared over three days included, Chuck Berry, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Chicago Transit Authority, Albert Collins, Bo Diddley, The Doors, The Flock, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Guess Who, It’s A Beautiful Day, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Spirit, Ten Years After, Ike & Tina Turner, Vanilla Fudge, Alice Cooper and The Youngbloods.

1970, The Who appeared at Civic Hall, Dunstable, Bedfordshire England.

cosmos_factory1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival release their fifth album, Cosmo’s Factory, the same month as the single release of “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” b/w “Long As I Can See the Light.” The name of the album comes from the warehouse in Berkeley where the band rehearsed early in their career. It was dubbed “The Factory” by drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford, due to the fact that bandleader John Fogerty made them practice there almost every day.

1970, Jimi Hendrix performs at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

1970, The Carpenters started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with “(They Long To Be) Close To You.” The first of three US chart toppers and seventeen other Top 40 hits. The song was written in 1963 by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, and was first offered to Herb Alpert, who said he didn’t feel comfortable singing the line “so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair.”

1971, T Rex were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Bang a Gong,” which spent four weeks at the top.

1971, The Beach Boys enjoy a commercial comeback of sorts with the release of Surf’s Up. The number 29 position is their highest chart placement since 1966’s Pet Sounds.

1972, Genesis plays at the Civic Hall, Solihull, England.

1972, Punk goddess Patti Smith goes to see the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder at Madison Square Garden and remembers it as, “My brain cracked like an egg. The gold liquid spurted all over the stage. Mick bathed in it. Keith got his feet wet.”

1973, Hawkwind played at Top Rank, Southampton, England.

1974, The Grateful Dead appear at Chicago’s International Amphitheatre.

1975, ZZ Top perform at the Civic Center in San Antonio, Texas.

1976, Yes play the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada.

1978, Kansas performed at the Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1979, Van Halen headlined at the Civic Center, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1980, AC/DC released their sixth internationally released studio album Back In Black, the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, who died on February 19, 1980 at the age of 33. The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest-selling album of all time, and the best-selling hard rock or heavy metal album.

1981, Air Supply went to number one on the US singles chart with “The One That I Love,” the group’s only US chart topper, and the first Australian band to top the US singles chart.

1982, Queen appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1984, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton died at the age of 58 in Los Angeles of heart and liver complications. She had a number one R&B hit in 1953 with “Hound Dog,” later covered by Elvis Presley. She also wrote and recorded “Ball ‘n’ Chain,” which Janis Joplin recorded.

1987, Madonna had her fifth UK number one single with the title track from her 1987 film Who’s That Girl. Also a US number one hit.

1995, Grammy Award winning country singer, songwriter Charlie Rich died in his sleep at aged 62. Rich began as a Rockabilly artist for Sun Records in Memphis in 1958. He scored the 1974 US number one and UK number two single “The Most Beautiful Girl” and “Behind Closed Doors,” was a chart topping country hit.

2003, Erik Braunn, from American psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, died of cardiac failure at the age of 52. Braunn was just 16 years old when he joined Iron Butterfly, who had the 1968 US number 14 single “In-A- Gadda-Da-Vida.”

2004, Jimmy Buffett went to number one on the US album chart with License To Chill, the singer songwriter’s first chart topping album.

2014, Pop star and parodist, Weird Al Yankovic, became the first comedy act to hit the top spot for more than 50 years. Mandatory Fun, Yankovic’s 14th album, and his best-selling since Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released in 1991, went to number one on the US album chart. The last comedy album to reach the top spot in the US was Allan Sherman’s My Son, the Nut in 1963.

Born on July 25: Bennie Benjamin, session drummer, Motown (1925); Manuel Charlton, Nazareth, (1941); Bruce Woodley, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Seekers (1942); Jim McCarty, Yardbirds, Renaissance (1943); Tom Dawes, Cyrkle (1944); Rita Marley, Cuban-Jamaican singer, Bob Marley and the Wailers (1946); Mark Clarke, Uriah Heep (1950);  Verdine White, bass, vocals, Earth Wind and Fire (1951); Ken Greer, Canadian guitarist, keyboard player, producer, Red Rider (1954); Thurston Moore, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, Sonic Youth, Ciccone Youth, The Coachmen, Dim Stars (1958); Brian Gibson, American bass player, Lightning Bolt (1975)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “L.A.” by Neil Young

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45-adapter-logo2neilyoungla

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “L.A.” by Neil Young

Today’s Song Of The Day is from Time Fades Away, an album that has become the great lost Neil Young record. It was recorded live on the road in 1973 on the heels of Harvest which was Young’s biggest album to date.

As usual Young did not give in to fan expectations and performed mostly new rock ’n’ roll material on the tour that had little or no connection to the mellow country sound of Harvest. He has said in interviews that “It was recorded on my biggest tour ever, 65 shows in 90 days. Money hassles among everyone concerned ruined this tour and record for me but I released it anyway so you folks could see what could happen if you lose it for a while.” (Decade liner notes)

Young was so dissatisfied with the murky sound of the original vinyl record that he never released it on CD. It has been completely out of print for many years, yet it contains some of his greatest songs including “Don’t Be Denied,” “Journey Through The Past,” the title track and this song.

As recently as this past April’s Record Store Day, it was rumored that Young would release a remastered Time Fades Away on vinyl as part of a four record box set covering his 5th though 8th records. The release was cancelled at the last minute in favor of Young’s latest album A Letter Home.
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Today in Rock History – July 7

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Alpha TV Studio – Birmingham UK July 1963 – Philip Townsend

1963, The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on Thank Your Lucky Stars. Also seen on the show were Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The Stones made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966

1965, The Who played at a gala opening of The Manor House club in London.

1966, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Sunny Afternoon,” the group’s third and last chart topper.

1966, The Who played at the Locarno Ballroom in London, England.

1967, The Monkees begin a nationwide tour, with Jimi Hendrix supporting.

1967, Dusty Springfield begins a three-week residency at New York’s Copacabana nightclub.

1968, The Yardbirds played their last gig before splitting up when they appeared in Luton, England.

1969, Arlo Guthrie and Joni Mitchell appeared in Edwardsville, Illinois.

1969, George Harrison recorded his new song “Here Comes the Sun” with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent, recovering from a car crash in Scotland.

1970, The Who headline at the Tanglewood Music Amphitheater in Lenox, Massachusetts with Jethro Tull and It’s a Beautiful Day opening. It is one of The Who’s very best performances and is projected on a 15′ X 21′ television screen on the lawn outside the venue. The show is videotaped and intended for use on a Fillmore at Tanglewood television special that never airs. “Heaven and Hell”, “I Can’t Explain” and “Water” are later released on the first video edition of 30 Years Of Maximum R&B and the surviving section of the concert on YouTube in 2014.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1971, Yes appeared at the Orlando Sports Stadium, also known as the Eddie Graham Sports Complex, an indoor venue which opened in 1967, and closed in 1995.

1971, 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her a slight injury.

1972, Chicago performed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at Chicago Stadium, Chicago.

1973, Hawkwind played at the Sports Centre, Bletchley, England.

1973, Billy Preston started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Will It Go Round In Circles,” his first of two chart toppers.

1974, David Bowie performed at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

1975, Paul McCartney & Wings release “Live and Let Die.”

1975, Keith Moon has “Happy Birthday Ringo” written in the sky above Los Angeles in honor of his fellow drummer’s 35th birthday. He then sends the bill to Ringo.

1976, Neil Young appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1978, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.

The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats

1979, The Boomtown Rats made a personal appearance at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in London.

1980, Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. They finished the show with a 17-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love.”

1980, The Who perform at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

1984, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the US album chart with Born In The USA. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.

1984, Prince started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “When Doves Cry,” his first US chart topper, which went on to sell over two million copies. It reached the fourth spot in the UK.

1989, It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums.

2001, Stereophonics, David Gray, The Dandy Warhols, The Proclaimers, Paul Weller, Texas, Coldplay, Beck, Toploader, Ash, Starsailor, Nelly Furtado, James, and Muse all appeared at  T In The Park festival, Scotland, weekend tickets, £64 ($109.)

2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The official cause of death was listed as pancreatic cancer.  He joined Pink Floyd in 1965, and crafted most of the material from their first album, but only contributed one song for the second offering.  Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD. By April 1968, he was kicked out of the band. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.

2007, The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organized by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to “heal the planet.” Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London’s Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, The Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.

2009, Michael Jackson’s family and fans said farewell to the pop superstar at an emotional memorial service. The singer’s coffin was placed in front of the stage during the public event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after an earlier private funeral.

2010, Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr onstage at a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to help celebrate the former Beatle drummer’s 70th birthday.  Ringo’s All-Starr Band were joined by Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Angus Young and Steven Van Zandt, as Paul belted out “Birthday” and Ringo delivered “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Born on July 7: Mary Ford, American singer (1928); Joe Zawinul, pianist, Miles Davis band, Weather Report (1932); Ringo Starr (1940);  Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); Rob Townsend, drummer, Family (1947); Lynval Golding, guitar, The Specials (1952); Mark White, bass, The Spin Doctors (1962)

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Today in Rock History- May 26

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1964, Marianne Faithful recorded the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song “As Tears Go By,” accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.

1965, The Isley Brothers release their single “Twist and Shout.”

1966, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Paint It Black,” their sixth chart topping single.

1966, The Who were at the Locarno Ballroom in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, England.

1966, Recording began for The Beatles’  “Yellow Submarine” at Abbey Road studios in London. Producer George Martin was not available due to a bout with food poisoning. The idea for the song came to Paul McCartney late one evening. “The color yellow came to me, and a submarine came to me,” he has stated. Both John Lennon and Donovan contributed to the lyrics. It was a melody that Paul felt would suit Ringo perfectly.

1968, Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things all appeared at the OZ Magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London, England. OZ was a satirical humor magazine, founded by Richard Neville in 1963, and based in Sydney, Australia. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973.

1968, US blues artist Little Willie John died in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. H co-wrote and was the first to record  “Fever,” covered by Peggy Lee in 1958, and “Need Your Love So Bad” covered by Fleetwood Mac. James Brown recorded a tribute album Thinking Of Little Willie John… And A Few Other Nice Things.

1969, John and Yoko began an eight-day “bed in,” in room 1742 of The Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada, to promote world peace. They recorded “Give Peace a Chance” in the hotel room, during which Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus. The song was credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record.

1969, The Hollies record “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” with a young Elton John providing piano.

1969, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends goes to number one on the American album chart, knocking their own Graduate soundtrack out of the top spot.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Mile High Raceway in Denver, Colorado.

1972, Ike and Tina Turner appeared at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

Mott the Hoople

1972, Mott The Hoople was on  the verge of splitting up, when David Bowie offered them two of his new songs, “Suffragette City,” which they turned down and “All The Young Dudes,” which they recorded. The song gave the group a number three UK and US Top 40 hit.

1972, The first day of the four day UK festival The Great Western Express near Lincoln featuring The Faces, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, Slade, The Groundhogs, Ry Cooder, Don McLean, Brewers Droop, plus a special appearance by Monty Python.

1973, The Beatles “1967-1970″album went to number one on the chart.

1973, The Edgar Winter Group went to number one on the singles chart with “Frankenstein,” the bands only chart topper, and a number 18 hit in the UK. The group featured former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer.

1974, KISS performed at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington.

1975, Rush appeared at the Paramount Theatre, Portland, Oregon.

1976, Aerosmith played at Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1977, Billy Powell, singer with The O’Jays died of cancer.  Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots. They took the name “The O’Jays,” in tribute to radio disc jockey Eddie O’Jay.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

1978, On Irish television this day, a program called Youngline a series for young people highlighting their interests. It included a feature on a new pop group, The Hype, soon to be renamed U2.

1978, Neil Young appeared at The Boarding House in San Francisco.

1979, “Sunday Girl” gave Blondie their second UK number one hit single. The track was taken from the group’s Parallel Lines, which went on to become the biggest selling album of 1979.

1979, The first day of the two day Loch Lomond Festival featured The Stranglers, Dr Feelgood, Skids, Third World, The Dickies. Day two featured The Average White Band, Buzzcocks, Rockpile and The Boomtown Rats, who played “I Don’t Like Mondays” live for the first time.

1983, David Bowie performed at the Amphithéâtre de Fréjus, Fréjus, France.

1994, Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The couple divorced in 1995. They had first met when the seven-year-old Presley attended several of Jackson’s concerts in Las Vegas.

1995, The Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amserdam over two days. Keith Richards later said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and Amy Winehouse.

2002, The first episode of At Home With The Osbournes was shown on MTV in the UK. Already becoming a hit in the the US, the show focused on the madman, his wife Sharon, and two of their three children. Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.

2009, A US judge ended a bitter two-year battle over the late soul singer James Brown’s estate. Judge Jack Early ruled half of his assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children. Brown’s family and wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had fought over his fortune since he died of heart failure in 2006.

Born on May 26: Peggy Lee (1920); Miles Davis (1926); Levon Helm, The Band (1943); Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer, The Guess Who, Bachman–Turner Overdrive (1945); Mick Ronson, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople (1946); Stevie Nicks (1948); Hank Williams, Jr. (1949);  Marian Gold, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, Alphaville (1954); Lenny Kravitz (1964); Alan White, English drummer, Oasis,  Starclub (1972); Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, Fugees (1975)

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Today in Rock History – May 24

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1966, Captain Beefheart appeared at the Whisky a Go Go. West Hollywood, California. Supported by Buffalo Springfield and The Doors.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at Gröna Lund in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1968, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull are arrested on charges of marijuana possession. The same day the Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” generally seen as a comeback record following the flop of Their Satanic Majesties Request. It goes to number three in the US, and the top spot in the UK.  Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards’ country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.” The rest of the lyrics evolved from there.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at The Punchbowl Hotel, Lapworth, England.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1969, Bob Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline peaked at number three in the US charts. The singer’s ninth album, it also scored Dylan his fourth UK chart topper. The album featured “Lay Lady Lay,” which became one of Dylan’s biggest pop hits, reaching the seventh position in the US, his biggest single in three years.

1969, The Beatles started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Get Back,” the group’s 17th chart topper.  The song was credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston,”  the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

1970, Peter Green played his last gig with Fleetwood Mac when they appeared at the Bath Festival, Somerset, England.

1971, Bob Dylan’s 30th birthday is commemorated with a Peanuts cartoon commenting on the event. Dylan himself spends the day visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

1973, David Bowie played at the Odeon Theatre (Lewisham), in London.

1972, Grateful Dead Europe ’72 tour plays at the Lyceum in London, England.

1974, American composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington, died of lung cancer and pneumonia aged 75. He worked with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday.  He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. In 2009 the United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington on the reverse side of the coin.

1974, David Bowie released his eighth studio album Diamond Dogs. Thematically, it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and Bowie’s own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell’s book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the author’s estate denied the rights. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia

1975, Earth Wind and Fire went to number one on the singles chart with”Shining Star,” the group’s first and only chart topper.

1976, AC/DC performed at The Nashville, London.

1978, Neil Young appeared at The Boarding House in San Francisco.

1979, Yes played at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1980, Genesis fans turning up at the Roxy Club box office in Los Angeles to buy tickets for a forthcoming gig were surprised to find the band members Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford selling the tickets themselves.

1981, Van Halen played at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1991, Founding member of The Byrds, Gene Clark, died of a heart attack aged 49. He penned group’s hits “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Eight Miles High.” He was also a member of McGuinn, Clark and Hillman.

1991, Guns n’ Roses played the first show on their 192-date Use Your Illusion world Tour at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

2003, Paul McCartney made his first ever live performance in Russia when he appeared in-front of 20,000 fans in Red Square

2007, Amy Winehouse, Madonna and Arctic Monkeys were among the winners at the Ivor Novello Awards. Winehouse won best contemporary song for her hit “Rehab,” while Madonna collected the international hit of the year for “Sorry.” Sheffield-based band Arctic Monkeys collected the best album award for Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not.

2010, Paul Gray, the bassist with US metal band Slipknot, was found dead in a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. The body of the 38-year-old musician was found by an employee at the hotel in a suburb of the city. Police said foul play was not suspected, but an autopsy would be carried out. The nine members of Slipknot wore masks in public and referred to other bandmates by numbers; Gray was number two.

Born on May 24: Bob Dylan (1941); Derek Quinn, Freddie and the Dreamers (1942); Patti Labelle, singer (1944); Steve Upton, Wishbone Ash (1946); Albert Bouchard, drums, Blue Oyster Cult (1947); Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, producer, Dire Straits, The Notting Hillbillies (1960); Dwight Errington Myers, aka Heavy D, rapper (1967); Rich Robinson, The Black Crowes (1969); Alessandro Cortini, keyboards, Nine Inch Nails (1976)

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Today in Rock History – May 16

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1966, The Beach Boys released the album ‘Pet Sounds.’ The album is now regarded as the masterpiece of composer-producer Brian Wilson, and is often hailed as one of the best and most influential albums in popular music.

1966, Dylan’s iconic Blonde On Blonde album was released, reaching No.9 in the US charts and No.3 in the UK. Rock’s first double album, and Dylan’s seventh studio effort, it was recorded with Al Kooper, Robbie Robertson and Nashville country music session players, and had what Dylan later called ‘that wild mercury sound’.

1967, Jeff Beck appeared at the Corn Exchange in Bristol, Manfred Mann played at the Industrial Ballroom in Norwich, and appearing on the ITV show ‘As You Like It’; Lulu, Cat Stevens, Herd, Georgie Fame and the Tremeloes.

1969, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane was arrested for possession of marijuana and received a two and a half year suspended sentence.

1969, Pete Townshend spent the night in jail for assaulting a man during a Who gig at The Fillmore East. What Townshend didn’t know was the man who jumped onto the stage was a plainclothes policeman trying to warn the audience that a fire had broken out. The Who guitarist was later fined $30 for the offense.

1970, Police burst into the Bloomington, Minnesota hotel room of Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin after neighbors complain about noise. They find Balin and friends with marijuana and teenaged girls. The singer is sentenced to a year’s hard labor and a fine, but on appeal only has to pay the fine.

Randy Bachman, second from right

1970, Randy Bachman leaves the Guess Who.

1970, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to No.1 on the album chart with ‘Deja Vu’.

1970, Pink Floyd played at the Warehouse in New Orleans, with support from The Allman Brothers Band and Country Funk.  The band had $40,000 worth of equipment stolen from their truck overnight. Nick Mas0n  told Melody Maker in an later interview, “We sat at our hotel thinking – ‘Well that’s it. It’s all over.’  – We were pouring out our troubles to a girl who worked at the hotel and she said her father worked for the FBI. The police hadn’t helped us much, but the FBI got to work and four hours later it was found.”

1972, The Grateful Dead’s Europe ’72 tour stop is Theatre Hall in Luxembourg.

1974, Brian May collapsed in New York while Queen were on a US tour and was flown back to England suffering from hepatitis.

1974, Neil Young made an unannounced appearance at The Bottom Line in New York and played songs from his new album ‘On The Beach.’

1975, Chubby Checker hosts The Midnight Special, with appearances by Lesley Gore and Danny & the Juniors.

1976, Patti Smith made her UK debut at The Roundhouse, London.

1978, A David Bowie show at Deutschlandhalle in Berlin was halted during “Station to Station” when Bowie noticed security manhandling an audience member. Bowie ordered him in German to stop, which he did and the show resumed.

1987, U2 started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart ‘With Or Without You’, the group’s first US No.1. The third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, the song was the group’s most successful single at the time.

Born on this day: Liberace (1919); Robert Fripp, King Crimson (1946); Darrell Sweet, Nazareth (1947); Jonathan Richman, The Modern Lovers (1951); and Janet Jackson (1966)

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