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Today in Rock History – June 7

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The Grateful Dead

1968, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane all appeared for the first of a three night run at the Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, California.

1968, Cream played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan

1969, Supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood made their live debut at a free concert in London’s Hyde Park.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at The Hangar in Columbia, South Carolina.

1969, Keith Richards and his partner Anita Pallenburg were involved in a car crash near their home in Sussex. Richards escaped serious injury but Pallenburg was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone and the car was a write-off.

1969, The Who’s Tommy album entered the album chart peaking at No.2. It was the first of two full-scale rock operas from The Who, the other being the 1973’s Quadrophenia.

1969, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell both appeared on the first ABC TV Johnny Cash Show from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Dylan sang “I Threw It All Away” and “Living The Blues,” and duetted with Johnny Cash on “Girl From The North Country.”

1970, The Who play Tommy at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.

1972, Led Zeppelin performed at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec.

1973, David Bowie played at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1974, Audiences watching ABC saw highlights from the massive California Jam concert, including performances by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Black Oak Arkansas.

1974, On The Midnight Special, the Kinks pay host to ELO.

1975, Elton John’s album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, went to No.1 on the album chart, the first album ever to enter the chart at No.1.

1975, Pink Floyd begins its North American tour at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.  The band had arranged for the construction of an large inflatable pyramid to be launched at the climax of Dark Side of the Moon, but it failed to operate that evening. The next several shows were scheduled for indoor venues, so the crew used that time to fix the problem, and it worked successfully in Pittsburgh on June 20th.

1975, John Denver went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” the singers third No.1.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at the Pavillon De Paris in Paris.

1977, Led Zeppelin played the first of six sold out nights at Madison Square Garden, in New York City.

1978, Black Sabbath performed at St. Georges Hall, Bradford, England.

1979, Van Halen appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1979, Blondie performed ‘”Sunday Girl” on UK music television show Top Of The Pops.

1980, Bob Marley And The Wailers, Average White Band, Joe Jackson and The Q-Tips all appeared at The Summer Of ’80 Garden Party, Crystal Palace, London, England. Tickets £7.50 on the day.

1981, Rush performed at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1984, Bob Dylan appeared at Stade de Schaerbeek, Schaarbeek, Belgium

1987,  David Bowie played a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with the speakers pointing towards the nearby Berlin Wall where thousands of young East Berliners stood and listened.

1990, The Black Crowes played their debut UK gig at the Marquee in London.

1997, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a five-song set at the Tibet Freedom Concert, Downing Stadium in New York City. U2, Patti Smith and Radiohead also appeared at the concert.

1998, Songwriter Wally Gold died in a New Jersey hospital aged 70. Wrote “It’s My Party, “a hit for Lesley Gore and “It’s Now or Never,” a hit for Elvis Presley. Also a member of late 50’s group The Four Esquires, produced Kansas & Gene Pitney.

2001, During their The Tour of Brotherly Love tour, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog played the first of three nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

2012, Bob Welch, an early member of Fleetwood Mac who enjoyed a successful solo career with hits such as “Ebony Eyes,” was found dead after an apparent suicide at home in Nashville. He was 66. Police said Welch’s body was found by his wife Wendy with a single gunshot wound to the chest, and he had left a suicide note. Welch was part of Fleetwood Mac in their early years from 1971 to 1974 and worked on such albums as Future Games and Bare Trees.

Born on this day: Dean Martin (1917);  Tom Jones (1940); Prince (1958); and Dave Navarro, Jane’s Addiction (1967)

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Today in Rock History – June 5

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rolling-stones-19641964, The Rolling Stones played their first-ever live date in the US when they appeared at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California. The Stones were supporting their first album release The Rolling Stones, in North America.

1965, The soundtrack album to The Sound of Music started a 10-week run at number one on the UK chart. It returned to the top of the charts on no less than eleven other occasions spending over 380 weeks on the charts.

1966, David Bowie, appearing as “The Bowie Showboat, gave a lunchtime performance consisting of “three hours of music and mime” at The Marquee Club in London.  Admission was 3 shillings, ($0.42.)

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared on the Dusty Springfield TV show filmed on ATV, in London, England. Hendrix performed “Stone Free” and “Voodoo Chile,” and then played a version of “Mockingbird” with Dusty Springfield.

1968, Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles. The next day, the Rolling Stones amend their new song “Sympathy for the Devil” to reference the event. David Crosby is also inspired to write “Long Time Gone” in memory of the senator.

1969, The Who appeared at the Fillmore East in New York.

1970, Traffic performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The Grateful Dead play San Francisco’s Fillmore West.

1971, Grand Funk Railroad smashed the record held by The Beatles when they sold out New York’s Shea Stadium in 72 hours.

1971, Paul McCartney’s second solo album Ram started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart. It featured the American chart topping single “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey.”

1972, Roxy Music performed at Chester, Cheshire, England.

1974, Sly Stone married Kathy Silva on stage during a gig at Madison Square Garden. They separated four months later.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1974, Patti Smith enters a studio for the first time to cut her interpretation of “Hey Joe.”

1975, During recording sessions for Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, Syd Barrett turned up out of the blue as Pink Floyd were listening to playbacks of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a tribute to former band member Barrett. He was almost unrecognizable, bald, and overweight. This was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw Barrett.

1976, ZZ Top appeared at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, while Elvis Presley performed not far away at the Omni Coliseum.

1976, The Who, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers appeared at Celtic Football Club, Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets cost £4.00 ($7.)

1977, Alice Cooper’s boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act suffered a fatal bite from a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held auditions for a replacement and a snake named “Angel” got the gig.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

1979, Blues legend Muddy Waters (aged 64), married Marva Jean Brooks on her 25th birthday.

1979, Dire Straits played at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris.

1980, The Grateful Dead celebrate the band’s fifteenth anniversary playing the Compton Terrace Amphitheater in Tempe, Arizona.

1981, Rush  performed at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1983, During a 48-date North American tour U2 played at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, near Denver. The show was recorded and released as U2 Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky.

1988, The Pet Shop Boys played their debut live show when they appeared at London’s Piccadilly Theatre as part of an Anti Section 28 Benefit concert.

1990, Drummer Jim Hodder drowned in his swimming pool aged 42. He was the original drummer with Steely Dan and also worked with Sammy Hagar and David Soul.

1993, Country singer Conway Twitty died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had the 1958 US and UK number one single “It’s Only Make Believe.” Until 2000, he held the record for the most number one singles of any country act, with 45 chart toppers. He lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City.

1997, Ex Small Faces, The Faces and leader of Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane died aged 51 after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Lane also collaborated with Pete Townshend on the 1977 album Rough Mix.

1999, Jazz singer and songwriter Mel Torme died aged 73. His biggest hit was the 1956 UK number four single “Mountain Greenery” and his “Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) has been recorded more than 1,700 times.

2002, Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin), bass guitarist with The Ramones died at his Hollywood, California apartment of a heroin overdose at age 49. He was the group’s primary songwriter, penning songs such as “Rockaway Beach,” “53rd & 3rd,” and “Poison Heart.”

2005, Oasis went to number one on the UK album chart with Don’t Believe The Truth, the band’s sixth UK chart topping  album.

2007, Paul McCartney released his 21st solo album, Memory Almost Full on the new Hear Music Starbucks label. It was later announced that all copies sold through UK Starbucks would not be eligible for the UK charts as the 533 stores were not registered with the Official Chart Company. The album was being played non-stop in more than 10,000 Starbucks outlets across 29 countries.

Born on June 5: Freddie Stone, Sly and The Family Stone (1946); Tom Evans, bass, vocals, Badfinger; Laurie Anderson (1947); Nicko McBrain, drums, Iron Maiden (1954); Richard Butler, Psychedelic Furs, (1956); Mark Wahlberg (the actor, aka Marky Mark,) New Kids on the Block (1971); Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy (1979)

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Today in Rock History – June 1

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Rock History for June 1

1966, The Beatles returned Abbey Road studios to complete recording on “Yellow Submarine. ” The band, plus friends and members of the staff helped search for a “weird instrument” to create the desired sound effects.  John Lennon ended up blowing bubbles in a bucket of water.  Paul and John imitated different voices.  Roadie Mal Evans played on a bass drum strapped to his chest, marching around the studio with The Beatles following behind singing “We all live in a yellow submarine.”

1966, The Who fly into Arlanda Airport, Stockholm. Pete Townshend is interviewed for a Swedish magazine at the airport. He tells them he is currently working on a musical called “Summer City”.

1967, The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sgt. Pepper became the first Beatles album to be issued simultaneously around the world. It was also the first Beatles album where the track listings were exactly the same for the UK and US versions. The band’s eighth LP, it debuted in the UK at number one, where it stayed for 22 consecutive weeks. The album sold 250,000 copies during the first seven days.

1967, David Bowie released his self titled debut studio album. Two singles were released from the album, “Rubber Band” and “The Laughing Gnome.”

1967, Tommy James & the Shondells performed at the Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

1968, Simon and Garfunkel went to number one on the singles chart with “Mrs Robinson.” The song was featured in the Dustin Hoffman and Ann Bancroft film The Graduate. A cover version by the Lemonheads was a hit in 1992.

1968, Cream appeared at the Edmonton Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

1968, Pink Floyd played three shows in the Netherlands on this date. First a 2 o’clock in the afternoon show at Lijn 3 in Amsterdam, as a replacement for Captain Beefheart, who cancelled. Secondly at 8 PM, the band played at ‘t Smurf, De Engh, Bussum. Lastly, a late show at Eurobeurs, Apeldoorn. The band arrived so tardy, that they played past their allotted time. When the promoter turned on the house lights to make the band quit playing and start the “disco,” an argument started between Roger Waters and the promoter. It got so heated that the local police had to be called in to break it up.

1969, Neil Young & Crazy Horse appeared at La Cave in Cleveland, Ohio

1969, The Who performed at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri.

1969, The Plastic Ono Band recorded “Give Peace A Chance” during a “bed-in” at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada. Producer Phil Spector, poet Allan Ginsberg and writer Timothy Leary all sang on the song.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Athens State Teachers College, Athens, Georgia.

1971, Chicago appeared at the London’s Royal Albert Hall, London.

1971, Harry Nilsson begins recording his album Nilsson Schmilsson in London.

1971, Joni Mitchell releases her album Blue.

1971, The two-room shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.

Pink Floyd at Abbey Road studios

1972, Pink Floyd were working at Abbey Road studios, London on Dark Side Of The Moon.

1973, Former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt broke his spine after attempting to leave a party by climbing down a drainpipe and falling three stories. It left Wyatt permanently crippled and confined to a wheelchair.

1973, Paul Simon releases There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.

1974, UK weekly music paper The NME published its 100 Great Albums: at number three: The Beach Boys Pet Sounds; number two: Bob Dylan Blonde On Blonde; and The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper was voted to the top spot.

1974, John Cale, Brian Eno, Kevin Ayers, and Nico perform the concert commemorated in the live LP June 1, 1974.

1974, Linda Ronstadt begins recording “Heart Like a Wheel” in Los Angeles. Her last project for Capitol Records. Some of the studio musicians and singers included, Andrew Gold, Glen Frey, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Russ Kunkel, Maria Muldaur, Timothy B. Schmdt, and J.D. Souther.

1975, The Rolling Stones kicked off their biggest ever US tour at Assembly Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The tour would take in 45 shows in 26 cities. Guitarist Ron Wood joined The Stones on tour for the first time, replacing Mick Taylor.

1975, Aerosmith played at Roberts Municipal Stadium, Evansville, Indiana.

1976, Yes performed at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1977, Bob Marley and The Wailers played the first of four nights at the Rainbow Theatre in London. There were six nights booked at the Rainbow, but the last two shows were cancelled due to a serious toe injury Marley received, in a friendly football game with French journalists, just before the tour’s start in Paris. Subsequently, the tour’s second leg in the United States was postponed and then cancelled.

1977, Emerson, Lake & Palmer played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, U2 appeared at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland.

1978, David Bowie performed at the Falkoner Theater, Copenhagen, Denmark.

1980, Rush played at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1981, The first issue of the Heavy Metal magazine Kerrang! was published as a special pull-out by UK weekly music paper Sounds. AC/DC appeared on the front cover, and there were features on Motorhead, Girlschool and Saxon.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C.

1985, Prince & The Revolution started a three-week run at number one on the US album chart with Around The World In A Day.

1986, ZZ Top performed at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1991, American soul singer David Ruffin died of a drug overdose. After taking a large amount of cocaine Ruffin passed out, a friend drove him to a hospital in Philadelphia, where he later died. He was one of the lead singers of The Temptations (1964–68) during the group’s “Classic Five” period as it was later known. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”.

2006, The 1994 debut album by Oasis, Definitely Maybe, was voted the greatest album of all time in a survey to mark 50 years of the Official UK Albums Chart. The Beatles came in second and third place with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver, OK Computer by Radiohead was fourth and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis was voted fifth.

2013, Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend went to number one on the US album charts. Their second album Contra’ also debuted at the top spot in 2010, making this the first time an independent rock band had entered at number one with two consecutive releases. Modern Vampires of the City also shattered the previous record for first week vinyl sales, moving nearly 10,000 units.

Born on June 1: Pat Boone (1934); James William McCarty, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Buddy Miles, Cactus,  Bob Seger (1945) Ron Wood, Jeff Beck Group, The Faces, The Rolling Stones (1947); Tom Robinson, singer-songwriter (1950); Graham Russell, Air Supply (1950); Alan Wilder, keyboards, vocals, Depeche Mode (1959); Simon Gallup, The Cure (1960); Mike Joyce, drums, The Smiths (1963); Alanis Morissette (1974)

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Today in Rock History – May 11

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1967, Pink Floyd begin two days of recording with producer Joe Boyd, working on the tracks “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Arnold Layne,” “Let’s Roll Another One” and “Nick’s Boogie.”

1967, The Bee Gees made their Top Of The Pops debut performing “New York Mining Disaster” on the UK TV show.

1968, Jimi Hendrix moves into a London townhouse formerly owned by the Messiah’s composer George Frederick Handel. The guitarist tells the Daily Mirror that he will “not let the tradition down.”

1969, Yes played at Frank Freeman’s Club, Kidderminster, England.

1969, The Rolling Stones go to number five in the American album charts with their new release Beggars Banquet. It peaked at number three in the UK charts the previous year.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed the first of two nights at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta.

1969, Jethro Tull release their debut album This Was.

1970, The triple soundtrack album Woodstock was released, going gold within two weeks.

1971, King Crimson appeared at Guild Hall, Plymouth, England.

1972, John Lennon appeared on the US television Dick Cavett Show, claiming he was under surveillance from the FBI.

1972, David Bowie played at Assembly Hall, Worthing, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead’s fabled European tour stops at Rotterdam, Netherlands for a show at the Civic Hall.

1973, Wings kicked off their first official tour at the Bristol Hippodrome, playing 15 UK shows.

1973, Alice Cooper appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Led Zeppelin attended an Elvis Presley show at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles, California. After a shaky start to the show, Elvis stopped the band and jokingly said: “Wait a minute…if we can start together fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there, lets try to look like we know what were doing.” All four members of Zeppelin met with Elvis after the show, spending over two hours backstage. Elvis asked for all the group’s autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie.

1975, Led Zeppelin play “Kashmir” live for the first time during a gig at the Ahoy in Rotterdam.

1976, AC/DC performed at the Marquee Club, London.

1978, Rush appeared at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, at the end of their News Of The World 46-date tour, Queen played three sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, London, England.

1979, Rod Stewart appeared at Cobo Arena, Detroit, on his Blondes Have More Fun tour, tickets $12.50.

1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died of lung cancer and a brain tumor aged 36. Had the 1981 single “No Woman No Cry,” plus over ten other UK Top 40 singles. In 1990, February 6 was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica to commemorate his birth. The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

1985, UK producer and keyboard player Paul Hardcastle was at number one on the UK singles chart with “19.”The title referred to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and features dialogue by television narrator Peter Thomas, and a strong anti-war message.

1987, The UK indie chart had The Smiths at number one on with “Sheila Take A Bow,” number two, The Cult, “Lil’ Devil” number three, The Pogues, “The Irish Rover.” The CD chart, David Bowie a the top spot with Never Let Me Down, Raindancing by Alison Moyet stood at number two and Genesis Invisible Touch rounded out the top three.

1996, Bill Graham the Irish journalist from Hot Press magazine, credited with discovering U2, died of a heart attack aged 44. Graham brought the fledgling band to the attention of Paul McGuiness, who became their manager. Members from Clannad, U2, Hothouse Flowers and Gavin Friday all attended his funeral.

2001, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog kicked off The Tour of Brotherly Love, a North American tour at The Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Nevada. (The three bands featuring pairs of brothers, (Noel and Liam Gallagher, Chris and Rich Robinson, Royston and Antony Langdon, respectively).

2003, Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding died at his home in Ireland aged 57. Redding played on the classic Hendrix albums Are You Experienced, ‘Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. Right up until his death, Redding had been taking legal action against the Hendrix estate for payment estimated at £3.26 ($5.22) million for his part in recordings and for ongoing royalties. Had also been a member of Fat Mattress and formed The Noel Redding Band.

Born on this day: Irving Berlin (1888);  Eric Burdon (1941); Les Chadwick, Gerry And The Pacemakers (1943); and Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers (1947); Greg Dulli,  singer-songwriter and guitarist, The Twilight Singers, The Afghan Whigs (1965).

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Today in Rock History – May 6

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1965, In their Clearwater, Florida hotel room, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards worked out the opening guitar riff of “Satisfaction,” following Richard’s purchase of a Gibson fuzz-box earlier that day.

1966, The Who appeared at the Top Hat Ballroom in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

1966, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on “I’m Only Sleeping” and worked on various mixes of the track.

1966, During a four month world tour, Bob Dylan played the first night of 11 UK dates at the ABC in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1967, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens all appeared at the Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire, England.

1967, The Who’s Keith Moon gives an interview in which he advises, “To get your playing more forceful, hit the drums harder.”

1967, Otis Redding played at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Kitson Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

1968, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, and The Association played at the First European International Pop Festival, Palazzo Dello Sport, Rome, Italy.

1969, King Crimson appeared at Maida Vale Studio, London.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at Kresge Plaza on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1971, Ike & Tina Turner are awarded a gold disc – the only one they ever received – for their recording of “Proud Mary.”

1972, The Tyrannosaurus Rex double album Prophets, Seers And Sages And The Angels Of The Ages / My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now Their Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows went to No.1 in the UK. The longest title of an album ever at the time!

1973, Paul Simon set out on his first tour without partner Art Garfunkel, using The Jesse Dixon Singers as a backup group on stage. Simon’s tour of America and Europe was recorded and released as Live Rhymin.

1975, Rush played at the Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Boomtown Rats

1976, The Bee Gees announce a series of benefit concerts for UNICEF at a United Nations press conference.

1976, The Rolling Stones appeared at Forest National, Brussels, Belgium.

1977, The Boomtown Rats played their first gig in England when they appeared at Studio 51, London.

1977, REO Speedwagon performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever started an 18 week run at No.1 on the album chart, The album, which features seven Bee Gees songs, went on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.

1979, Yes played at Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington.

1980, Van Halen appeared at the Rochester Community War Memorial, Rochester, New York.

1981, Dire Straits performed at Rhein-Main-Hall, Wiesbaden, Germany.

1995, Oasis scored their first UK No.1 single when “Some Might Say” went to the top of the UK charts. It was the first single to be released from the Manchester bands second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? And the last Oasis track to feature original drummer Tony McCarroll.

2004, A sale at Christie’s in London, England became the most successful pop auction in the company’s history after Beatles memorabilia sold for a record £788,643. The auction included a leather collar worn by John Lennon which sold for £117,250. A signed copy of a management deal with The Beatles and manager Brian Epstein sold for £122,850. A Vox Kensington guitar used by Lennon and Harrison went for £100,000. Also sold, a coloured felt-pen drawing by Lennon (£10,000), a letter with his signature (£5,500), and a pen-and-ink drawing called Happy Fish (£9,500).

2006, During a UK tour, Morrissey played at The Apollo Manchester on the first of three nights at three different venues in his home city of Manchester. The singer then appeared at Manchester Opera House the following night and then at Manchester Bridgewater Hall on the 8th May.

Born on this day:  Bob Seger (1945); Robbie McIntosh, Average White Band (1950); and John Flansburgh, They Might Be Giants (1960)

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Today in Rock History – March 11

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1965, Tom Jones was at number one on the singles chart with “It’s Not Unusual.”

1965, The Who go into IBC Studios, London to record their first album. Songs known to be recorded on this date are Pete Townshend’s “You’re Gonna Know Me” (later retitled “Out In The Street”), plus covers of James Brown’s “Please Please Please” and “I Don’t Mind,” Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man,” Martha and the Vandella’s “Motoring” and “Heat Wave,” and Paul Revere and the Raiders’ “Louie Go Home” as “Lubie (Come Back Home.)” On the 16th, they meet again with producer Shel Talmy for “L.P. routining” and have another studio session at IBC on the 19th. The album is eventually rejected and some of the tracks are not released for over twenty years.

1966, This week’s ITV music show Ready Steady Go in the UK, was entirely devoted to the music of James Brown.

1966, Marianne Faithfull, Coltrane Union, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Rick & Us, plus Pink Floyd performed for the first of two nights billed as “The Tea Set.” The shows took place at the Rag Ball, on the Concourse Area of the University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, England. It was the first time a film was played on a screen behind the band as Pink Floyd performed their set.

1967, The Supremes had their ninth number one single with “Love Is Here And Now Your Gone.”

1967, Jimi Hendrix appears at the International Club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

1967, music publisher, Dick James, announced that 446 different versions of the Paul McCartney song “Yesterday” had been recorded so far.

1968, The Otis Redding single “Dock Of The Bay,” went gold in the US three months after the singer was killed in a plane crash.

1969, The Jackson 5 sign with Motown.

1970, Winners at the 12th annual Grammy awards included Joe South for song of the year with “Games People Play.” Crosby Stills and Nash won best new artist, and The Fifth Dimension won Record of the year with “Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In.” Album of the Year went to producer James William Guercio and Blood, Sweat & Tears for Blood, Sweat & Tears.

ticket courtesy LedZeppelin.com

1970, Led Zeppelin perform at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany. The set list: We’re Gonna Groove, I Can’t Quit You Baby, Dazed and Confused, Heartbreaker, White Summer / Black Mountainside, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Organ solo / Thank You, Moby Dick, How Many More Times (medley incl. Let That Boy Boogie, Bottle Up ‘n Go, Long Distance Call, Shake ’em On Down), Whole Lotta Love.

1970, The world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll movie, Jean-Luc Godard’s One Plus One, starring the Rolling Stones, opens in the US. The obtuse film features Godard’s trademark Marxist lecturing interspersed with scenes of the Stones composing “Sympathy for the Devil.” The producers later recut the footage to include more Mick and redub the movie Sympathy for the Devil. Critics remained baffled.

1970, Deja Vu, the first Crosby, Stills, Nash album to also feature Neil Young, was released. It topped the pop album chart for one week and spawned three US Top 40 singles, “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” and “Woodstock.”

1971, Jim Morrison of The Doors arrived in Paris, where he checked  into The Hotel George’s.  The following week he moved into an apartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis. Morrison lived in Paris until his death on July 3rd 1971.

Harvest Young1972, Neil Young went to number one on the album chart with Harvest. The album featured the hit single “Heart Of Gold.”

1972, Harry Nilsson was at number one on the singles chart with his version of The Peter Ham and Tom Evans song “Without You.” It was first recorded by Badfinger in 1970. The song was also a number one for Mariah Carey in 1994.

1973,  Pink Floyd played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada on the North American leg of the Dark Side of the Moon tour.

1974, Deep Purple performed at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Geor

1975,  Mick Jagger stops by Record Plant studios in Los Angeles, and ends up getting involved in a jam session with Wings and Ron Wood.

1976, The Who appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1976, David Bowie performed at the Civic Arena, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1977, The Clash appeared at The Roxy Club, London, supported by The Slits, the first all-female punk group who were making their live debut.

1978, Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, album began a 416-week run on the chart, going on to sell over 2 million copies.

1978, The debut single from Kate Bush, “Wuthering Heights,” a song inspired by the Emily Bronte novel, started a four-week run at number one on the UK singles chart. The record company, EMI, had originally chosen another track, “James and the Cold Gun” as the lead single, but Bush was determined that “Wuthering Heights” would be the first release from the album.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Olympia in Paris.

1981, Rush played at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1983, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Holiday Star Theatre, Merrillville, Indiana.

1986, Aerosmith appeared at the Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.

1992, The Grateful Dead performed at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1993, Oasis recorded their first demos at The Real People’s studio in Liverpool. The set included “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” “Columbia,” and “Fade Away.”

1995, Van Halen kicked off their 131-date Balance World Tour, at the Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola Civic Center, Florida. It was dubbed the “Ambulance” Tour by Eddie Van Halen, due to his hip surgery, and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, wearing a neck brace for most of the tour.

2006, The Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical was at number one on the US album chart. The album went on to break all records for a soundtrack selling over 7 million copies worldwide. A number one album in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

2008, Madonna was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a star-studded ceremony in New York City.  John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures, and The Dave Clark Five were also among the inductees.

2015, Jimmy Greenspoon, keyboardist with Three Dog Night, died in Potomac, Maryland after a year-long battle with metastatic melanoma at the age of 67. During the course of their career, Three Dog Knight had 21 top 40 hits, including three chart topping singles.

2015, A jury in the United States ruled that the writers of “Blurred Lines” copied a Marvin Gaye track. Jurors in Los Angeles decided that the 2013 single by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke breached the copyright of Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got To Give It Up.” The family of the late soul singer were awarded $7.3 million (£4.8m) in damages.

Born on March 11: Harvey Mandel, American guitarist, Pure Food and Drug Act, Canned Heat (1945); Mark Stein, Vanilla Fudge (1947); George Kooymans, Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist, Golden Earring (1948); Jan Schelhaas, keyboardist Caravan, Camel (1948); Bobby McFerrin (1950); Jimmy Iovine,  record producer,  co-founder Interscope Records (1953); Jimmy Fortune, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Statler Brothers (1955); Nina Hagen, German singer, actress (1955); Bruce Watson, guitar, Big Country (1961); Vinnie Paul,  drummer, songwriter, producer Pantera, Damageplan, Hellyeah, Gasoline (1964); Andy Sturmer, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, Beatnik Beatch, Jellyfish (1965); Benji and Joel Madden, singer-songwriters, Good Charlotte (1979)

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Today in Rock History – March 2

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1967, The ninth annual Grammy Awards are held. Frank Sinatra’s Sinatra, A Man and His Music wins Album of the Year, while “Strangers in the Night” is named Record of the Year. John Lennon and Paul McCartney win the Song of the Year Grammy for “Michelle.”

1967, Engelbert Humperdinck was at number one on the singles chart with “Release Me.” The singer’s first of two number ones, the song spent six weeks at the top of the chart and a record fifty-six weeks on the chart.

1968, Blue Cheer give birth to heavy metal when their interpretation of “Summertime Blues” is released. The single goes to number 14.

1968, “Call Me Lighting” backed with “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” enters the US charts. It reaches number 40 in the Billboard charts and number 38 in Cash Box. That night The Who perform at New Edmonton Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. After the show they are thrown out of their hotel’s English-style pub for having long hair. In response John writes the song “What Are We Doing Here?”

1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono perform at a jazz festival in Cambridge, England, where they record “Let’s Go On Flying,” “Snow Is Falling All the Time,” “Don’t Worry Kyoko,” “Song for John,” and “Cambridge 1969.” It’s the first time a Beatle has performed solo.

1970, Genesis appears at the Mistrale Club, Beckenham, in the London Borough of Bromley, England.

1972, Yes appeared at the Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York.

1973, David Bowie played at the Masonic Temple Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1974, Stevie Wonder won four awards at the Grammys. Innervisions is named Album of the year, while Best R&B song and Best vocal go to “Superstition” and “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” wins for Pop vocal performance. Joel Dorn (producer) and Roberta Flack take home a statue for “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

1974, Terry Jacks started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Seasons In The Sun.”

1975, A policeman who stopped a Lincoln Continental for running a red light in Los Angeles was surprised to find Paul McCartney at the wheel with his wife Linda. The cop detected a smell of marijuana and on searching the car found eight ounces of the drug. Linda was arrested for the offense.

1976, The Who appeared at the Pavillon de Paris, Paris.

1977,  Black Sabbath performed at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1977, The Jam played the first of a five-week Wednesday night run at The Red Cow, Hammersmith, London. The group had just signed a four-year recording contract with Polydor records.

1977, AC/DC appeared at The Top Rank in Swansea, England.

1977, David Bowie and Iggy Pop played at Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1978, Eric Clapton performed at the Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama.

1979, Rush appeared at the Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.

1979, Stevie Ray Vaughn played at Soap Creek Saloon, Austin, Texas.

1980, ZZ Top performed Dane County Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin.

1983, A new digital audio system, a five-inch compact disc containing up to 1 hour of music was launched by Sony, Philips and Polygram.

1985, Phil Collins started a five-week run at number one on the UK chart with his third solo LP No Jacket Required.

1985, The Smiths were at number one on the UK indie charts with “How Soon Is Now.”

1991, 21 years after it’s first release, “All Right Now” by Free made it to number two in the UK singles chart after being re-issued to coincide with its use in a Wrigley’s Chewing gum TV ad.

1991, French singer Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack. Famous for his 1969 UK chart topping duet with Jane Birkin on “Je t’aime… Moi non plus.” During his career, he wrote the soundtracks for more than 40 films.

1996, Oasis scored their second UK number one single when “Don’t Look Back In Anger” went to number one. From the band’s What’s The Story Morning Glory‘album. It was the first Oasis single to feature Noel on lead vocals instead of his brother, Liam Gallagher.

1999, Dusty Springfield died after a long battle against cancer, aged 59. The British singer had her first UK hit single in 1963 with “I Only Want To Be With You,” which reached number four, the 1966 UK number one and US number four single with “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” plus over 15 other UK Top 40 singles.

2003, Singer, songwriter Hank Ballard died from throat cancer. He wrote and recorded “The Twist” but it was only released on the B-side of a record. One year later, Chubby Checker debuted his own version of “The Twist” on Dick Clark’s Philadelphia television show. It topped the charts and launched a dance craze that prompted the creation of other Twist songs, including “Twist and Shout” by the Isley Brothers and “Twistin’ the Night Away” by Sam Cooke.

2008, Canadian guitarist, singer, Jeff Healey, died of cancer. Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes when he was eight months old, resulting in his eyes being surgically removed. After living cancer-free for 38 years, he developed sarcoma in his legs. Despite surgery for this, the sarcoma spread to his lungs and ultimately was the cause of his death. Healey released over 12 albums, presented a long running radio show and worked with many artists including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, BB King, ZZ Top & Eric Clapton.

2013, A pencil doodle by Paul McCartney when he was a teenager sold for over $5,000. The sketches were drawn by McCartney during the late 1950’s while a student at the Liverpool Institute High School For Boys. The drawings showed multiple faces with different expressions on a single sheet of paper in pencil. The auction house said the drawing sold for £3,764 ($5,692)

Born on March 2: Kurt Weill (1900); Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter, producer, Four Tops (1938); Lou Reed (1942); Rory Gallagher (1949); Karen Carpenter (1950); Dale Bozzio, American singer, Missing Persons (1955); John Cowsill (1956); Mark Evans, bass, AC/DC (1956); John Bon Jovi (1962); Chris Martin, singer-songwriter, Coldplay (1977);

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Today in Rock History – February 19

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beatles-studio-19651965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded the rhythm track “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” in two takes. On his new song, John Lennon sang, and accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, backed by Paul and George.  The band lip-synched to the recording for the movie Help!  The final album mix was made four days later.

1965, The Who learn by letter that J.E. Grant has given them the go-ahead to appear on the BBC Light Programme after they pass their audition of the 12th with four votes out of seven. The same day is more good news as “I Can’t Explain” makes its first appearance on a British chart, popping up at #45 in Record Mirror.

1966, Lou Christie went to number one on the US singles chart with “Lightnin’ Strikes.”

1966, The Who performed at Memorial Hall in Norwich, England.

1966, Bob Dylan appeared at Ottawa Auditorium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Brady’s Club in London.

1967, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

1969, Yes appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, Neil Young played an acoustic show at KQED-TV Studios, San Francisco.  Back in the day, KQED was responsible for spotting the best new music via their live sessions. The song selection was from the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere era. The setlist reportedly was:  Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Everybody’s Alone, Dance Dance Dance, On The Way Home, Wonderin #1, Wonderin #2, Instrumental Noodling (including – Out On The Weekend I – Don’t Want To Talk About It – Helpless – Country Girl – Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It,) Sugar Mountain.

1971, REO Speedwagon  and Mountain played Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois.

1972, Harry Nilsson started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with his version of the Badfinger song “Without You.” It won a Grammy in 1973 for Best Male Pop Vocal.

1972, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide in Australia. A local paper who reviewed the show printed: Singer Robin Plant (sic) overcame an “Australian bug” in his throat and broke into his own in “Black Dog” and “Stairway To The Stars” (sic.)

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

1974,  At the first American Music Awards, Al Green’s Livin’ for You wins the Favorite Album, Soul/R&B award. The hosts were Roger Miller, Helen Reddy, and Smokey Robinson.

1974, KISS make their television debut on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.

1974, Black Sabbath appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Former lead singer with Tower Of Power, Rich Stevens was arrested in connection with the drug related murders of three men in San Jose, California. Stevens was found guilty of the charges in November 1976.

1976, Cat Stevens performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1977, Leo Sayer had his only number one single with the Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager song “When I Need You.”

manfred-mann-blinded1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band scored a number one single in the with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song “Blinded By The Light.” The track was the first single from Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The Earth Band’s version features several changed lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen’s “cut loose like a deuce” is replaced with “revved up like a deuce.” Springsteen himself has said that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a “feminine hygiene product” that it became popular.

1977, ZZ Top played at Chicago Stadium in  Chicago.

1979, Frank Zappa performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn’t go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

1982, Alice Cooper appeared at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1992, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of three nights at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The 55,000-seat baseball stadium (The Big Egg) is the largest concert hall in Japan.

1994, Mariah Carey had her first UK number one with her version of the Peter Ham – Tom Evans song “Without You.” This was 22 years after Harry Nilsson made it a US chart topper. Carey’s version was released on January 24, 1994, just over a week after Nilsson had died following a heart attack. the tragic connection with this song is that both Ham and Evans committed suicide, Ham in 1975, and Evans in 1983, after an ongoing battle to receive royalties from the song.

1995, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a Cancun beach, Mexico, the bride wore a white bikini. Anderson and Lee who married only four days after meeting, had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation. The tape was later stolen and released on the Internet. After suing the video company who released the tape, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The couple divorced in 1998.

1996, Winners at this year’s Brit Awards included Paul Weller who won British Male Solo Artist, British Female Solo Artist went to Annie Lennox, Oasis won British Group, Best Album for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Best British Video for “Wonderwall.” British Breakthrough Act went to Supergrass, International Group was Bon Jovi, International Breakthrough Act went to Alanis Morissette and David Bowie was awarded Outstanding Contribution to music. Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker was arrested after a stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s appearance, (who won Artist of a Generation). Cocker was accused of attacking children who were performing with Jackson. All charges against Cocker were later dropped.

2014, David Bowie was named best British male at the Brit Awards in London, although he was not there in person to collect his award. Arctic Monkeys won both best group and best album for the third time – the first act to achieve that milestone. Ellie Goulding won best British female, while pop act One Direction were honored for their global success for the second year running. Bowie’s prize came at the expense of four much younger hopefuls – Jake Bugg, Tom Odell, John Newman and Mercury Prize winner James Blake.

Born on this day: Smokey Robinson (1940); Lou Christie (1943); Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist, Loverboy, Streetheart (1946); Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath (1948); Mark Andes, Spirit (1948); Andy Powell, Wishbone Ash (1950); Francis Buchholz,  bass, Scorpions, Michael Schenker Group (1954); Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter, a guitars, The dB’s (1956); Dave Wakeling, The English Beat (1957); Hans Holzl, aka Falco (1957); Henry Samuel, aka Seal, singer (1963); Jon Fishman, American drummer, Phish (1965); Daniel Adair, drums,  3 Doors Down (1975);

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Today in Rock History – January 28

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Moody-Blues-Go-Now1965, The Moody Blues were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Go Now!”

1965, The Who made their first appearance on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! To project the desired image, the hand-picked audience consisted only of teens dressed in the current “Mod” fashion.

1966, The Cavern Club in Liverpool closes, having run up debts of 10,000 pounds. The club became world famous as one of The Beatles’ earliest venues.

1967, The Four Tops appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill, The Dakotas, Madeline Bell, The Remo Four and Johnny Watson.

1968, Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theater.

1969, After the Beatles cut versions of “Get Back” and “Don”t Let Me Down” for single release, John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet Allen Klein for the first time at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

1969, Marmalade were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.”

1970, Jimi Hendrix performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1970, The Who played at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, Germany.

1971, Genesis appeared at St. George’s Hall, Bradford, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at Town Hall in Leeds, England.

1972, Deep Purple performed at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California.

1973, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University appearing to an audience of 25 people.

1974, Hawkwind took the stage at Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England.

1975, Genesis performed at Civic Hall, Phoenix, Arizona.

1977, Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at number two. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing, but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.

1978, The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to number one on the album chart.  The album sold over 15 million copies worldwide and spent over 440 weeks on the album chart.

1982, AC/DC appeared at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1983, The first Narara Music Festival was held near Somersby, New South Wales over the Australia Day weekend, the line-up included Men At Work, The Church, The Choirboys, Cold Chisel and INXS.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood started a five-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Relax!”

1985, The recording took place for “We Are The World,” the US equivalent of “Band Aid” at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.

1987, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in San Francisco.

1988, Eleven years after it was released, The Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols went Gold in the US with sales over 500,000.

1994, Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Cafe, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a check for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for £25,000 ($42,500) from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.

1998, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a 20-minute solo gig at the King Head, an English pub in Santa Monica in front of 250 fans.

2000, Saxophonist and bandleader Thomas “Beans” Bowles died of prostate cancer aged 73. He played on many Motown sessions including Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave,” and The Supremes “Baby Love.” Bowles wrote the melody on Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Pt. 2.”

2001, Limp Bizkit started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Chocolate Starfish.

2005, English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60. He was a member of Traffic,  and had the solo 1975 UK number four single “Love Hurts.” Capaldi also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

2009, Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell called police saying he was having trouble breathing and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead an hour later.

2015, Sly Stone was awarded $5m (£3.3m) in missed royalties by a Los Angeles court. The singer claimed his former manager, Gerald Goldstein, and lawyer, Glenn Stone, had cheated him out of earnings dating back more than 20 years. In 2011, it was reported he was homeless and living in a camper van after falling on hard times, and fighting drug addiction problems.

Born on January 28: Ronnie Scott, jazz musician London club owner (1927); Dick Taylor, The Pretty Things (1943); Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine (1945); William Nelson, Funkadelic (1951); Dave Sharpe, guitarist and singer, The Alarm (1959)

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Today in Rock History – January 27

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Beatles-1962-B1962, The Beatles appeared at Aintree Institute in Aintree, Liverpool. The group had played here many times before but this was their last performance at the venue. Brian Epstein became infuriated when the promoter paid The Beatles’ fee of £15 ($24) with handfuls of loose change. Epstein took this as an insult to the group, and made sure that The Beatles never played for that promoter (Brian Kelly) again.

1965, John and Cynthia Lennon fly to the Alps for a ten-day-long skiing vacation.

1967, The Grateful Dead played at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Chislehurst Caves in London, England.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the UFO, held at the Blarney Club, Tottenham Court Road in London. Also on the bill were AMM, Five Acre Light, Dave Brown, Plight of the Erogenius, and Chapter 1. The Floyd’s performance was filmed and clips of two songs were used in a Granada TV documentary program.

1968, The Bee Gees made their live debut in the United States when they played at the Anaheim Centre, Anaheim California.

1968, The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1968, Melody Maker became the first music publication to report that David Gilmour had become a member of Pink Floyd.

1969, The Who begin five days of rehearsals at the Whitehall Theatre working on a new set.

1970, John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” was written, recorded and released within a period of ten days, making it one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history. The UK release was on February 6th, while the US release took place fourteen days later. The recording was produced by Phil Spector, marking a comeback for the American producer after his self-imposed retirement in 1966, and leading to him being offered the producer’s role on the Beatles’ Let It Be album (1970). The song was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, “Instant Karma!” employs Spector’s signature Wall of Sound technique and features contributions from George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Alan White and Billy Preston.

1970, The Who played at the Operettenhaus in Hamburg, Germany.

David Bowie in 1971

1971, David Bowie arrived in the US for the first time. He couldn’t play live because of work permit restrictions, but attracted publicity when he wore a dress at a promotion event.

1971, Neil Young performed at Macky Auditorium, at the University Of Colorado in Boulder.

1972, Pink Floyd performed Dark Side of the Moon at City Hall, in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. Also in the performance was One of These Days / Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun / Echoes, and the encore was A Saucerful of Secrets.

1973, No Secrets by Carly Simon enters the third of five weeks atop the US album charts.

1973, Roxy Music won “the most promising new name,” section in the NME reader’s poll.

1973, “Superstition,” the lead single from Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book album gave him his second number one single in the US, 10 years after his first chart topper. Jeff Beck created the original drum beat while in the studio with Wonder. After writing the song, Wonder offered it to Beck to record, but at the insistence of Berry Gordy, Wonder himself recorded it first. Beck was instead offered “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers,” which he recorded on Blow by Blow in 1975.

1975, The J Geils Band appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1976, David Bowie filed a lawsuit against attorney Michael Lippman claiming that he had taken a 15% agents fee instead of the customary 10%.

1977, The Clash signed to CBS Records in the UK for £100,000 ($160,000.)

1977, AC/DC performed at The Haymarket, Sydney, Australia.

1979, Ian Dury And The Blockheads were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick,” their only UK chart topper, after it overtook “Y.M.C.A.”

1980, Def Leppard played the first of two nights at The Marquee, London. Tickets cost £2 ($3.40).

1980, Bob Dylan performed at the Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult played at Ausstellungshalle, Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, Germany.

1984, Madonna made her first appearance in the UK when she appeared on C4 TV music program The Tube performing “Holiday.” The show was broadcast live from the Hacienda Club in Manchester.

1994, Oasis made their London live debut when the played at King’s Cross Water Rats.

1998, James Brown was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of a firearm after police were called to his South Carolina home. Brown later claimed the drugs were used to help his eyesight.

2002, Enrique Iglesias scored his first UK number one single with “Hero.” His father, Julio Iglesias, had a UK number one hit in 1981.

2006, Gene McFadden, R&B vocalist and songwriter, best known as half of the Philly soul team McFadden & Whitehead, died of cancer at the age of 56. The duo had the 1979 hit “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” which sold more than 8 million copies and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

2014, American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger died at the age of 94. He had a string of hit records during the early 1950’s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene.” The song was a number one for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes.

2015, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne were given a song writing credit on Sam Smith’s hit “Stay With Me,” because of the similarities to his 1989 track “I Won’t Back Down.” “Stay With Me” had been nominated for three Grammy awards, including Song of the Year. The parties made an out of court settlement.

Born on January 27: Elmore James (1918); Bobby “Blue” Bland (1930); Nick Mason, drums, Pink Floyd (1944); Nedra Talley, singer, The Ronettes (1946); Kim Gardner, bass, Ashton Gardner & Dyke (1948); Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy (1951); Margo Timmins, vocals, Cowboy Junkies (1961); Gillian Gilbert,  keyboards,  singer, New Order, The Other Two (1961)

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