InternetFM.com

Hand Curated Radio

You are here: Home / Archives for Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Long, Long, Long” by The Beatles

by

45-adapter-logo2george_harrison_1968[1]

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Long, Long, Long” by The Beatles

One of George Harrison’s most underrated songs and a highlight of The White Album for sure. The song was actually recorded by “The Threetles” since John Lennon was not present for any of the sessions.

Lennon’s absence kind of illustrates the short shrift that Harrison’s songs were given during Beatle recording sessions, considering that songs like “Something,” “Not Guilty” and “Sour Milk Sea” were left off The White Album and “All Things Must Pass” “Isn’t It A Pity” and “Let It Down” were left off of Let It Be in favor of much weaker material like “Dig It,” “Maggie Mae” and “Good Night.”

The rattling heard during the psychedelic meltdown at the end of the track was from a bottle of wine that was left on top of a speaker during the recording. Happy “mistakes” like this were often left in making the recording more interesting and more psychedelic. “Long, Long, Long” is one in a long line of Harrison love songs that can be directed at either his wife or the Lord.

Today in Rock History – May 15

by

1966, Pink Floyd played at The Marquee Club, Wardour Street, London.  They were billed as the Pink Floyd Sound, as part of their “Spontaneous Underground” period.

1967, Paul McCartney is hanging out with Keith Moon and Eric Burdon at Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O’Nails club in London. The young American photographer of The Who’s March visit to New York, Linda Eastman, is there and Paul meets her for the first time.  They married on March 12, 1969.

1968, George Harrison and Ringo Starr attended the premiere of ‘Wonderwall’ at the Cannes Film Festival.

1968, At a press conference, Paul McCartney and John Lennon say they’ve ended their association with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

1969, John Lennon’s Life With The Lions was released on Apple’s avant-garde imprint Zapple. One side of the album was recorded on a cassette player at London’s Queen Charlotte Hospital during Yoko Ono’s pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage.

1970, A Pink Floyd concert at London’s Crystal Palace is so loud it kills fish in a nearby lake.

1970, In the new releases section of the local record store is the self-titled debut from the mighty Black Sabbath.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at the Fillmore East in New York. This show has been commercially released as Road Trips: Vol 3, Number 3.

1971, Crosby Stills Nash & Young scored their second number one album with 4 Way Street.

1971, Paul McCartney releases his album Ram.

1973, Bob Marley and The Wailers played the first of four sold-out nights at the Speakeasy in London, England as part of their Catch A Fire Tour.

1974, Bill Wyman releases the first solo album by a Rolling Stone, Monkey Grip.

1974, Frank Zappa and his wife announced the birth of their third child, a boy named Ahmet Rodan, after the Japanese movie monster that lived of a steady diet of 707 planes.

1975, Fleetwood Mac debut their new lineup in El Paso, Texas. It’s the first incarnation of the band that includes Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and John and Christine McVie.

1976, The Rolling Stones went to number one on the album chart with Black And Blue, the group’s sixth No.1 album.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.

1981, Former Sex Pistol John Lydon’s band Public Image Ltd performed a show at New York’s Ritz Club posing behind a video screen while the music was played from tapes. They were showered with missiles and eventually booed off stage.

1982, Asia went to number one on the US album chart with their self-titled album. It spent a total of nine weeks at number one and became the best-selling album in the US for 1982. The supergroup included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely bassist/vocalist John Wetton (formerly King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, U.K., Wishbone Ash), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes, The Buggles) and drummer Carl Palmer ( The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster, Emerson, Lake & Palmer).

1994, Blur scored their first UK number one album with Parklife, which went on to spend over two years on the chart. The album featured four UK hit singles, “Girls & Boys,” “End of a Century,” “Parklife,” and “To the End.”

Born on this day: Graham Goble, Little River Band (1946); Brian Eno (1948); and Mike Oldfield (1953)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – May 4

by

pink-floyd-may-19671967, Pink Floyd performed at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry, West Midlands, England.

1968, Steppenwolf make their first appearance on American Bandstand.

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

1968, Mary Hopkin won her heat on the ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks. She later signed with The Beatles owned Apple Records, Paul McCartney produced her UK No.1 single “Those Were The Days,” which also made No. 2 in the US. Hopkin later married record producer Tony Visconti.

1968, The Who appear at Melody Fair in North Tonawanda, New York.

1969, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr all show up at the London wrap party for The Magic Christian. The film, based on Terry Southern’s novel, stars Peter Sellers and Ringo.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Central City Park in Macon, Georgia.

1970,  Four Kent State Students killed, seven others wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen during demonstrations against Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. Neil Young pens the song “Ohio” within a week and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young record and release it in early June.

1972, The Grateful Dead perform at the Olympia Theater in Paris during their fabled Europe ’72 tour.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Music Hall in Boston on the last night of a North American tour. The show was moved from the Orpheum Theater, a smaller venue due to the high ticket demand.

1973, Led Zeppelin opened their 1973 North American tour, which was billed as the “biggest and most profitable rock & roll tour in the history of the United States.” The group would gross over $4 million from the dates, flying between gigs in “The Starship,” a Boeing 720 passenger jet, complete with bar, shower room, TV and video in a 30′ lounge and a white fur bedroom.

1973, Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

1974, Grand Funk Railroad started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit “The Loco-Motion.” It was only the second time that a cover version had been a No.1 as well as the original.

1974, The film soundtrack to The Sting’by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at number one on the album chart.

1975, Elvis Presley kicked off a 31- date North American Tour by playing two shows at the Civic Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

1976, David Bowie performed the first of four nights at the Empire Pool, Wembley, in London. Earlier in the day, he gave a rare interview to Jean Rook of the Daily Express.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at the AWD Dome, Bremen, Germany.

1977, The Patti Smith Group, David Johansen, Dead Boys, Blondie, Suicide and Richard Hell & The Voidoids all appeared at a Punk Benefit at CBGB’s in New York City.

1978, “Night Fever” by The Bee Gees was at number one on the UK singles chart. The group’s third chart topper and the theme from the film Saturday Night Fever. The song was a US number one for over two months.

1979, Rush appeared at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey.

1984, King Crimson played at Kenmin Hall, Kanagawa, Japan.

1987, American blues vocalist, harmonica player Paul Butterfield, who fronted The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, died at his home in North Hollywood, California, of drug-related heart failure, he was 44. He achieved international recognition, as one of the early acts performing during the Summer of Love, at The Monterey festival and Woodstock festival.

1989, Stevie Ray Vaughan set out on what would be his last ever tour at the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia. The guitarist was killed in a helicopter crash on 27th Aug 1999 after a concert at Alpine Valley Music Theater in Wisconsin, after playing 107 of the 110 dates.

1996, Alanis Morissette started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill.

2004, Clement Seymour Dodd died aged 72. Producer and major force in the development of ska and reggae, made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

Born on this day – Dick Dale (1937); Nicholas Ashford, Ashford & Simpson (1942); George Wadenius, Blood Sweat & Tears (1945); Bruce Day, Santana, Pablo Cruise (1951); Randy Travis (1959); and Mike Dirnt, bass, Green Day (1972)

Get more rock history at Yeah Baby Tunes

Today in Rock History – April 29

by

April 29

1967, The 14-hour Technicolour Dream benefit party for The International Times was held at Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill in London. Seeing the event mentioned on TV, John Lennon called his driver and went to the show. Coincidentally, Yoko Ono was one of the performers. More than thirty acts appeared included The Move, The Pretty Things, Soft Machine, Tomorrow, The Flies, The Creation Arthur Brown, and The Graham Bond Organisation. All the bands played for free. Members of Pink Floyd drove all night from an gig in The Netherlands arriving at 3 AM, and taking the stage at dawn.  The entire event was documented by BBC Television.

1967, Aretha Franklin releases her interpretation of the Otis Redding song “Respect.”

1967, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens played two shows at Bournemouth Winter Gardens, England.

1969, While working on tracks for the forthcoming Beatles Abbey Road album, Ringo Starr added his vocal to “Octopus’s Garden.”

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at Aliotta’s Lounge in Buffalo, New York.

1971, Promoter Bill Graham announces he’s closing the Fillmore Auditoriums in San Francisco and New York.

1972, David Bowie performed at Town Hall, High Wycombe, England.

1973, John Denver began a weekly live UK BBC 2 TV special, The John Denver Show.

1973, The Bay City Rollers appeared at The Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh in Scotland.

1974, King Crimson performed at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1975, Yes played at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, England.

The Bee Gees

1975, After suffering the indignity of having an album rejected by their label, the Bee Gees release their career renaissance Main Course, featuring the disco hits “Jive Talkin'” and “Nights on Broadway.”

1976, Genesis performed  Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1976, After a gig in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Elvis Presley’s Graceland home and proceeded to climb over the wall. A guard took him to be another crank fan and apprehended him.

1976, Bob Dylan appeared at Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, Alabama.

1977, The Grateful Dead played the first of five nights at the New York Palladium, New York.

1977, The Kinks appeared at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.

1979, Van Halen played at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1980, Black Sabbath began their first tour with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced Ozzy Osbourne.

1983, Roxy Music performed at the California State University, Fresnom, California.

1984, Yes appeared at the Civic Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.

1993, Guitarist, producer, Mick Ronson died of liver cancer aged 46. Ronson recorded and toured with David Bowie from 1970 to 1973. He released the 1974 solo album Slaughter On Tenth Avenue. Ronson co-produced Lou Reed’s album Transformer. He was also part of the Hunter Ronson Band with Ian Hunter. Among the talent Ronson worked with were Morrissey, Slaughter & The Dogs, The Wildhearts, The Rich Kids, Elton John, Johnny Cougar, T-Bone Burnett.

1995, Rapper Tupac Shakur married Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility, where he was serving a four-year jail term for sex abuse.

2001, A blue plaque was unveiled at 38 Aubrey Walk, Kensington, London to honor the musical heritage of the address where British singer Dusty Springfield lived between 1968 and 1972.

2007, Arctic Monkeys started a three week run at number one on the UK album chart with their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare.

Born on April 29: Duke Ellington (1899); Carl Gardner, American singer, The Coasters (1928); Willie Nelson (1933); Klaus Voorman,  Manfred Mann, Plastic Ono Band (1942);  Tammi Terrell, singer (1945); Tommy James (1947); Michael Karoli, German guitarist, songwriter, Can (1948); Francis Rossi, Status Quo (1949); Mark Kendall, American guitarist,  songwriter, Great White (1957); Carnie Wilson, American singer-songwriter, actress Wilson Phillips (1968); China Forbes, American singer-songwriter, Pink Martini (1970); Mike Hogan, bass, The Cranberries (1973)

Link to Today in Rock History archive.

Today in Rock History – April 27

by

beatles-studio-19661966, The Beatles began recording the new John Lennon song “I’m Only Sleeping” at Abbey Road studios London, England. Recording began at 11:30 PM. The band recorded 13 takes, concluding on May 6th. The song features the then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet played by George Harrison, partly because the tape was played backwards accidentally.  Paul McCartney wanted to see if the band could recreate the sound. George recorded two guitar parts specifically for that purpose. It was released on the album Yesterday And Today.

1968, Simon & Garfunkel release “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate soundtrack.

1969, Joe Cocker makes his debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1969, The Who performed at the Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, England.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Mothers Club in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Radio 1 DJ John Peel served as the emcee,  He wrote in his weekly column for Disc & Music Echo, “At one moment they are laying surfaces of sound one upon another in symphonic thunder; at another isolated, incredibly melancholy sounds which cross another sounding like dying galaxies lost in sheer corridors of time and space.”

1970, David Bowie and The Hype, Barclay James Harvest, High Tide and The Purple Gang all appeared at Stockport Grammar School, England.

1971, The Grateful Dead performed at the Fillmore East in New York City. The Beach Boys also appeared on stage with the Dead, who together performed a short set of Beach Boys songs.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at Ford Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1973, King Crimson played at Irvine Auditorium, Philadelphia.

1974, A free afternoon event was held in the parking lot of the University of Connecticut, Ice Hockey Arena in Storrs. The four acts that appeared, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Fairport Convention, and Fat Back. Springsteen then went on to play another gig that evening at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

1974, Genesis appeared at the Century Theatre, Buffalo, New York.

pink-floyd-19751975, Pink Floyd played the last of a four night run at Los Angeles’ Sports Arena. A total of 511 fans were arrested over the four nights for possession of marijuana.

1976, Customs officers on a train at the Russian/Polish Border detained David Bowie, after Nazi books and mementos were found in his luggage. Bowie claimed that the material was being used for research on a movie project about Nazi propaganda leader Joseph Paul Goebbels.

1977, Eric Clapton performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1978, David Bowie appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan.

1980, Rush performed at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1981, Ringo Starr married actress and one time “Bond Girl” Barbara Bach. The pair met while filming the movie, Caveman, with Dennis Quaid and Shelley Long. In attendance at the wedding were George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

1985, USA For Africa started a three-week run at number one on the US chart with “We Are The World.” The US artists’ answer to Band Aid had an all-star cast including Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon plus the composer’s of the track, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

1996, Oasis played the first of two nights at Manchester’s Maine Road football ground as a ‘thank you’ to their fans, the 80,000 tickets sold out in hours.

2003, Madonna went to number one on the UK album chart with American Life, the Material Girl’s eighth chart topping album. It also reached the top spot on the US album charts.

2009, Aerosmith were to hold a free concert in Hawaii to placate angry fans who brought a legal case against them. Fans filed a class action case, which claimed the band had cancelled a sold-out show in Maui two years ago, leaving hundreds of fans out of pocket in favor of a bigger gig in Chicago. Lawyers for the would-be concert-goers said Aerosmith had now agreed to put on a new show, and would pay all expenses. Everyone who bought a ticket to the original concert would receive a free ticket.

Born on April 27: Casey Kasem (1932) Jerry Mercer, drummer, Mashmakhan, April Wine (1939); Jim Keltner, drummer, Traveling Wilburys, Plastic Ono Band, and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (1939); Gordon Haskell, King Crimson (1947); Pete Ham, Badfinger (1947); Kate Pierson, The B-52’s (1948); Ace Frehley, Kiss (1951); Sheena Easton (1959); Will Boyd, bass, Evanescence, American Princes, and The Visitors (1979)

Link to Today in Rock History main page

Today in Rock History – April 26

by

1965, Bob Dylan arrives in England for a tour promoting his new album, Bringing It All Back Home. D.A. Pennebaker films his performances and acerbic exchanges with the press for the documentary Don’t Look Back.

1965, The Who perform at Town Hall in Bridgwater, Summerset, England.  They are paid £200 ($320).

1966, Dusty Springfield was at number one on the singles chart with “‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.”

1966, The Who’s first album is released in the U.S. on Decca. Retitled The Who Sings My Generation, it features a different cover, drops “I’m a Man” for the Shel Talmy-produced “Instant Party,” edits the instrumental break out of “The Kids Are Alright,” and reverses the order of “A Legal Matter” and “The Ox.” It is released in both mono and stereo although both are simply mono electronically processed as stereo. Billboard says: “the four boys from London have an ear-splitting, gut-busting and best-selling package in this program of blues-oriented rock numbers.” It fails to reach the U.S. charts, but does get airplay on Detroit radio.

1966, The Who performed at the Lynx Club in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England.

1966, The New York Times reports that Ray Charles has been ordered to undergo tests at a Boston hospital to confirm that he has been weaned off drugs.

1967, Mamas and the Papas singer Mama Cass gave birth to a daughter, Owen Vanessa, in Los Angeles.

1969, King Crimson appeared at the Technical College, Ewell, Surrey, England.

1969, Jimi Hendrix played at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1969, The Original Cast of Hair started a 13-week run at number one on the album chart.

1969, The Doobie Brothers played at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California.

1969, “Get Back,” credited to the Beatles with Billy Preston, goes to number one on the UK singles chart.

1969, During the band’s second North American tour, Led Zeppelin played the second of two nights at The Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco in California.

1970, Jimmy Page’s solo appearance on the BBC’s Julie Felix Show reveals an interesting change of direction for Led Zeppelin. While the band is pegged as a purveyor of blues bombast, his performance of the acoustic “White Summer/Black Mountain Side,” influenced by folk guitarist Bert Jansch, is a good indication of the gentler direction of Led Zeppelin III.

1972, Pink Floyd played the first of two nights at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan in support of Dark Side of the Moon.

1974, Queen appeared at the Orpheum Theater in Boston.

1975, BJ Thomas went to number one on the singles chart with “(Hey Won’t You Play), Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” It was the singer’s second US chart topper.

1976, David Bowie performed at Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden.

The Grateful Dead in 1977 (from deadlistening.com)

1977, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey.

1977, Glen Campbell had a number one hit with “Southern Nights.”

1978, Ringo Starr’s TV special, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper aired on American television. Ringo played both characters, George Harrison provided the narration.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

 

1980, Blondie were at number one on the singles chart with “Call Me,” featured in the Richard Gere movie American Gigolo.

1980, Humble Pie performed at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia.

1980, The Beat released “Mirror In The Bathroom.” It was the first digitally recorded single in the UK.

1980, The Who play at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

1980, Van Halen played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1988, Mick Jagger appeared in White Plains, New York, Federal Court in the copyright infringement case brought by reggae singer Patrick Alley, who claimed the Mick Jagger solo track “Just Another Night” was a plagiarism of his own song of the same name. Alley was claiming $7 million (£4.66 m) in profits from the track. During the case Sly Dunbar played drums to the court to show how the beats were different in each song and Mick sang and played demos of his song to show the court the development of the track. At the end of the week-long trial, Jagger won the case.

1990, Nirvana appeared at the Pyramid Club in New York City. The band’s label Sub Pop filmed the show and the performance of “In Bloom” was later used as a promo clip.

1997, Ernest Stewart, keyboard player with KC and the Sunshine Band, died of an asthma attack.

2008, Amy Winehouse spent the night in custody after being arrested on suspicion of assault. Police said Winehouse had been “in no fit state” to be questioned when she arrived at the London station and she was kept in the cell. The 24-year-old was to be questioned about an incident said to have occurred 3 days earlier after a 38-year-old man claimed he was assaulted.

2013, US country singer George Jones, who had a string of number one songs between the 1950s and 1990s, died aged 81. Nicknamed “Possum,” his signature song was “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a track about love and death. He was married to Tammy Wynette between 1969 and 1975 and the pair recorded several songs together in the 1970s.

Born on April 26: Maurice Williams, The Zodiacs (1938); Giorgio Moroder, producer (1940); Tony Murray, The Troggs (1945); Gary Wright, Spooky Tooth (1945); Roger Taylor, Duran Duran (1960); Chris Mars, drums, The Replacements (1961);  Jose Antonio Pasillas II, drummer, Incubus (1976)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – April 17

by

1965, Bob Dylan”s debut album The Freewheelin” Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the album chart.

1965, Paul McCartney spent the day shopping for furniture in Portobello Road, London disguised in a cloth cap, moustache, glasses and overcoat.

1966, The Who performed at the Regal Cinema in London.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played in Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

1969, The Band step out from behind Bob Dylan for the first time to perform solo at San Francisco’s Winterland auditorium

1970, While performing at the White House at the invitation of President Richard Nixon, Johnny Cash was asked to perform “Okie From Muskogee.” Cash declined because it was not his song, but had been a hit for Merle Haggard. Instead, Cash sang his number one hit, “A Boy Named Sue”.

1970, Country Joe & the Fish along with the Hampton Grease Band played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1970, Paul McCartney releases his first post-Beatles solo album, McCartney. The the versatile musician played every instrument on the record.

1970, Santana began sessions for what would be their breakthrough album Abraxas at Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco, California. When released in September of this year, Abraxas peaked at number one on the US chart.

1971, All four Beatles had solo singles on the charts, Paul McCartney with “Another Day,” John Lennon, “Power To The People,” George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord,” and Ringo Starr with “It Don”t Come Easy.”

1971, Three Dog Night started a six week run at number one on the singles chart with “Joy To The World.” It was the group’s second chart topper.

1972, The Grateful Dead perform at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark during their legendary Europe ’72 tour.

1972, Keith Richards girlfriend Anita Pallenberg gave birth to their second child, daughter Dandelion.

1973, Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon went gold in the US. The LP went on to stay in the US chart for more than ten years and become the longest charting rock record of all time.

1973, Yes appeared at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1973, Tito and John Jackson from The Jackson Five were arrested for buying stolen TV and stereo equipment.

1974, Vinnie Taylor, guitarist with US rock and roll revival band Sha Na Na, was found dead in a Holiday Inn hotel room in Charlottesville, Virginia from a drug overdose. Sha Na Na played at the Woodstock Festival, their 90-second appearance in the Woodstock film brought the group national attention. The group appeared in the movie Grease as Johnny Casino & The Gamblers.

1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Coliseum in Denver, Colorado.

1975, Elvis Presley bought a Convair 880 Jet formally owned by Delta Airlines for $250,000, which he re-christened Lisa Marie. Presley spent a further $600,000 refurbishing the Jet to include personal quarters, a meeting area and a dance floor.

1976, David Bowie performed at Hallenstadion, Zürich, Switzerland.

1977, The Stranglers, Cherry Vanilla, The Police, and The Jam all appeared at The Roundhouse, London, England.

1978, Genesis played at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Cameron Indoor Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

1983, Felix Pappalardi, producer and bass player with American rock band Mountain was shot dead by his wife Gail Collins during a jealous rage. Collins was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years in prison. Pappalardi who was 43, had produced the  albums Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire by Cream

1987, Reggae drummer and percussion player Carlton Barrett of The Wailers was shot dead outside his house in Kingston, Jamaica. He joined Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1970, wrote the Marley song “War.” Barrett was the originator of the one-drop rhythm, a percussive drumming style.

1991, Nirvana appeared at the OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, where they played a new song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” live for the first time.

1994, Pink Floyd started a four-week run at number one on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth chart topping album.

1998, Linda McCartney died after a long battle against cancer. She married Paul McCartney in 1969 when she was working as a photographer. As well as a being a member of Wings, she became an animal rights campaigner and launched her own brand of vegetarian food.

2004, Kurt Cobain’s Mark IV-style Mosrite Gospel guitar sold for $100,000 (£66,667) at the Icons of 20th Century Music auction held in Dallas, Texas. Other items sold included Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s song writing piano which sold for $140,000 (£93,333) and a 1966 Rickenbacker guitar owned by The Byrds Roger McGuinn’s sold for $99,000 (£66,000.)

2008, Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen and a member of The E Street Band, died of cancer at the age of 58. Federici had worked with Springsteen for over 40 years, starting with his early bands Steel Mill, and Child.

Born on April 17: Don Kirshner (1934); Roy Estrada, Frank Zappa Band (1943);  Jan Hammer, Mahavishnu Orchestra (1948); Pete Shelley, English drummer, The Buzzcocks (1955); Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter, producer, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer,  Green Jellÿ (1964); LizPhair (1967); Matt Chamberlain, session drummer, Edie Brickell, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, Morrissey, David Bowie, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, The Wallflowers, Kanye West, Garbage, John Mayer (1967)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – April 2

by

The Beach Boys, 1964

1964, The Beach Boys recorded their next single “I Get Around,” which became their first US number one in the summer of ’64.

1965, The Who made their first radio appearance on the UK BBC’s Joe Loss Pop Show.

1966, a charity concert at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California, took place featuring, Jan and Dean, Sonny & Cher, The Mamas And The Papas, The Turtles, Otis Redding, Donovan, and Bob Lind.

1967, 154 Austrian Rolling Stones fans were arrested when a riot broke out at a 14,000-seated Town Hall gig; a smoke bomb was thrown on the stage.

1967, Steve Winwood leaves the Spencer Davis Group to form his own band, Traffic.

1968, Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, as her band was being billed, performed at The New Generation in New York.

1968, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Paul Suave Arena, Montreal, Canada.

1969, Bruce Springsteen’s new group Child made their live debut at the Pandemonium Club in Wanamassa, New Jersey.

1970, Phil Spector completed final editing and mixing for The Beatles Let It Be album, 16 months after the “Get Back” project had begun.

1970, Janis Joplin decides to get a tattoo on her wrist and another over her heart reading “One for the Boys.”

1971, Janis Joplin was posthumously at number one on the album charts with Pearl.

1971, Ringo Starr releases his debut single, “It Don’t Come Easy.”

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Boston Garden.

1973, Led Zeppelin played at the Centre Sportif on the Ile de Vannes, in Paris. The setlist: Rock and Roll, Over the Hills and Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (medley including Everybody Needs Someone To Love, Let That Boy Boogie, I’m Going Down, (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care, Let’s Have a Party, I Can’t Quit You Baby), Heartbreaker.

1974, Queen performed at Barbarella’s, Birmingham, England.

1975, Genesis appeared at Killesberghalle, Stuttgart, Germany.

1976, Robin Trower played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1977, Abba were at number one on the UK singles chart with their fifth chart topper, “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” The song was also a Top ten hit in over 15 countries.

1977, Fleetwood Mac went to number one on the US album chart with Rumours. Also on this day Fleetwood Mac kicked off a 7-date UK tour at the Odeon, Birmingham, England.

1983, Pink Floyd release the US version of The Final Cut, their last album with Roger Waters. The UK release took place on March 21st.

1987, U2 kicked off their 29-date North American Joshua Tree tour at Arizona State Activity Centre in Phoenix.

1987, One of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Buddy Rich died aged 69 due to complications caused by a brain tumor. Rich worked with many acts including, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey’s band, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. Rush’s Neil Peart organized a pair of 90s tribute albums (titled Burning for Buddy), which also featured the work of Kenny Aronoff, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Max Roach, Steve Smith and Matt Sorum.

1990, Nirvana went into Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin and started work on demo versions of “In Bloom,” “Dive,” “Lithium,” “Pay To Play,” “Imodium,” “Sappy,” and “Polly,” with Butch Vig producing.

1998, Rob Pilatus, one half of pop duo Milli Vanilli was found dead in a Frankfurt Hotel room after taking a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl, You Know It’s True,” selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album.

2003,  soul singer Edwin Starr died at his British home in Nottingham aged 61. Formed The Future Tones in 1957, had the 1970 US number one and UK number three anti-Vietnam War protest song “War.” According to Starr, the song was recorded in one take.

2006, A John Lennon schoolbook containing the 12-year-old’s drawing of Lewis Carroll’s poem The Walrus and the Carpenter was sold at auction for £126,500, ($239,733). The poem inspired Lennon to write The Beatles’ 1967 song “I Am the Walrus.” Also sold for £12,000, ($22,741) was a ship’s log book written by Lennon during a stormy trip to Bermuda in 1980, and a letter from Paul McCartney to his bandmates Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr failed to reach its £50,000, ($94,742) reserve price

2006, Gnarls Barkley started an eight-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Crazy.” The American duo made chart history by becoming the first act ever to reach the top of the charts through computer downloads only. The single was not available to buy in shops until the following week.

2013, A grand piano used in the Motown Records studios was fully restored and put on display at a museum dedicated to the legendary record label in Detroit. Sir Paul McCartney helped fund the restoration of the 1877 Steinway, which was originally in Motown’s Studio B. and was used to create hits for names including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Edwin Starr.

Born on April 2: Serge Gainsbourg, (1928); Marvin Gaye (1939); Leon Russell (1941); Emmylou Harris (1947); Leon Wilkeson, bass, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952); David Robinson, The Cars (1953);  Greg Camp, Smash Mouth (1967)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – February 15

by

beatles-meet-the-beatles1964, The Beatles scored their first number one album with Meet The Beatles! The album stayed at the top of the charts for eleven weeks.

1964, The Dave Clark Five appeared on the UK TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars.

1965, American singer and pianist Nat King Cole died of lung cancer. His first hit was the 1943 “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” Cole also had the 1955 US number two single “A Blossom Fell,” the 1957 UK number two single “When I Fall In Love,” plus over 20 other US and UK Top 40 singles. He was the father of singer Natalie Cole, and in 1956 became the first black American to host a television variety show.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Dorothy Ballroom in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

1968, US blues harmonica player Little Walter died from injuries incurred in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub in Chicago. First harmonica player to amplify his harp giving it a distorted echoing sound. He joined Muddy Waters’ band in 1948.

1968, The Lennons and Harrisons arrived in India to study meditation with the Maharishi, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr arrived four days later. Ringo returned before the others comparing the experience to be “like a Butlins holiday camp.”

1969, The Who performed at Dreamland Fun Park in Margate, Kent, England.

1969, Led Zeppelin played the second of two nights at Thee Image Club in Miami, Florida. Thee Image was a converted bowling alley, with all of the lanes stripped out and standing room only. The stages were on the center back wall.

1969, Singer Vickie Jones was arrested on fraud charges for impersonating Aretha Franklin in concert at Fort Myers, Florida. No-one in the audience had asked for their money back.

1969, Sly and the Family Stone started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Everyday People,” their first chart topper.

1970, Grand Funk, Mountain, Chicago, Rare Earth, Cold Blood, Rotary Connection appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.

1970, The Daughters of the American Revolution announce that there will be no more rock concerts at their Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Seems the organization was miffed that Sly & the Family Stone sparked a riot after turning up five hours late for a gig there.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

1973, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

1974, Yes performed at the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, Connecticut.

Linda Ronstadt

1975, Linda Ronstadt went to number one on the singles chart with “You’re No Good,”a classic song written by Clint Ballard, Jr. which first charted for Betty Everett in 1963. It was Ronstadt’s only solo chart topper out of 12 other top 40 hits. Also Ronstadt went to number one on the album chart with Heart Like A Wheel.

1975, Gino Vannelli becomes the first white man to perform on Soul Train. His current hit song was “People Gotta Move.”

1976, Roxy Music appeared at the Kent State University Memorial Gymnasium, Kent, Ohio.

1977, SwangSong, Led Zeppelin’s label released the following:  “For the fourth consecutive year, Led Zeppelin swept the top honors in the major U.S. and U.K. music polls. Zeppelin took five first places in Creem and Circus and six in Britain’s New Musical Express.  Over 40,000 ballots were cast in the Circus readers poll determining that Led Zeppelin were 1976’s best group. Jimmy Page topped Jeff Beck and Queen’s Brian May to maintain his position as best guitarist. Robert Plant was voted number one male vocalist. The best songwriting award went to Page and Plant. Elton John and Bernie Taupin placing second. Jimmy Page won the top spot as producer of the year.”

1977, Glen Matlock was fired as bass player from The Sex Pistols, being replaced by Sid Vicious. Matlock rejoined in the ’90s when the Pistols reformed.

1978, Frank Zappa played at Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany.

1979, At the 21st Grammy Awards, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack won Album of the Year and The Bee Gees were named Best Pop Group and Best Arrangement for Voices for “Staying Alive.” Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” won Record and Song of the Year. Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” won two Grammys: Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song.

1980, Rush appeared at Roberts Municipal Stadium, Evansville, Indiana.

1981, American guitarist Mike Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield Band and Electric Flag. Bloomfield played on Bob Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited.

1984, Van Halen played at the Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia.

1997, U2 went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Discotheque,” the band’s third UK chart topping single. The entire track was leaked onto the Internet in December 1996, forcing U2 to move up the release date.

2000, BBC Sessions, the collection of live and studio Who tracks recorded for the BBC from 1965 to 1970, was finally released in the US and Europe. European purchasers get the extra tracks “Man With Money” and the complete “Shakin’ All Over/Spoonful” unavailable on the US disc. However, American purchasers have the option of getting a seven-track bonus disc unavailable in Europe if they buy BBC Sessions at Best Buy department stores. The CD peaks at #101 in the U.S., #24 in the UK and #50 in Japan.

2006, Winners at the Brit Awards included, James Blunt who won British male solo artist, British female solo artist went to KT Tunstall. Coldplay won Best British album for X&Y and Best British single for “Speed of Sound.” Kaiser Chiefs won Best British group and Best British Live Act, British urban act went to Lemar, British breakthrough act was Arctic Monkeys, International breakthrough act was won by Jack Johnson. International male solo artist was Kanye West with Madonna winning International female solo artist. Green Day won International group and Best International album with American Idiot and Outstanding contribution to music went to Paul Weller.

2008, A flat once rented by The Beatles in London went up for sale for £1.75 ($2.8) million. The band shared the three-bedroom top floor property in Green Street, Mayfair in the autumn of 1963. A publicity photo of the Fab Four peering over a banister, used as the cover for the December 1963 edition of The Beatles Book, was taken at the top of the property’s communal stairwell.

Born on February: Brian Holland, songwriter, producer (1941); Glyn John, producer (1942); Denny Zager, Zager & Evans, Mick Avory, drummer, The Kinks (1944); John Helliwell,  sax, keyboards, Supertramp (1946); David Brown, bass, Santana (1950); Melissa Manchester (1952); John Goodsall,  guitaris, Brand X, Atomic Rooster (1953); Ali Campbell,  English, singer-songwriter,  guitar, UB40 (1959); Brandon Boyd, Incubus (1976); Ronnie Vannucci, Jr., American,  drummer, songwriter, The Killers, Big Talk (1976); Brooks Wackerman, American, drummer, Bad Religion, Infectious Grooves, Fear and the Nervous System, Bad4Good (1977)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – February 6

by

beatles-quarrymen1958, George Harrison joined Liverpool group The Quarrymen. The group, who were named after Lennon’s school, featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Len Garry, Eric Griffiths and John Lowe.

1965, The Righteous Brothers started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with the Phil Spector produced “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” The song was also number one in the UK.

1965, Rolling Stones II supplanted Beatles for Sale out of the top spot on the UK Record Retailer chart.

1966, The Who played at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1967, Pink Floyd were photographed for the weekly British girls magazine Jackie. The magazine was the best-selling teen magazine in Britain for ten years. The best-ever selling issue was the 1972 special edition to coincide with the UK tour of American singer David Cassidy.

1969, The Grateful Dead and Iron Butterfly performed at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1969, Doors singer Jim Morrison was arrested for drunk driving and driving with no license in Los Angeles, California.

1970, Eric Clapton played the first of two nights at The Fillmore East in New York City.

1970, Jack Bruce,  Zephyr, and White Clover appeared at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1970, Apple Records releases the John Lennon solo single “Instant Karma” in the U.K.

1972, The Skriven av: MarkusAtt plocka russinen ur kakan ar en metod som Vinnarum casino upphojt till skon konst. Allman Brothers Band performed at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.

1973, Traffic played at Cobo Arena, Detroit.

1975, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Montreal Forum, Montreal. Outside the arena, a police riot squad stood by ready to avoid a repeat performance of a riot which marked the visit of the Rolling Stones in the summer of 1972. However, there were no incidents. Tickets cost $7.50 (Canadian)

1976, T Rex appeared at St Albans City Hall during a 15 date UK tour.

1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England.

1979, Tommy opens as a musical in London’s West End. The script is based on the screenplay to the film written by Pete Townshend and Ken Russell. Chris Welch in Melody Maker gives it a positive review although he finds much of the story pretentious. Variety pans the production. It closes after 118 performances.

1979, Heart performed at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi.

1981, Composer Hugo Montenegro died in California. Had the 1968 number one single “The Good The Bad And The Ugly” from the soundtrack to the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western film. He worked for RCA records, producing a series of albums and soundtracks and television themes, including two volumes of Music From The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

1981, According to the New York Post, the surviving Beatles will record a new album as a tribute to John Lennon. But it’s another false alarm brought on by Ringo Starr working with Paul McCartney on the latter’s Tug of War sessions

1982, Kraftwerk were at number one on the UK singles chart with “The Model / Computer Love,” the first German act to score a UK number one single. The single spent 21 weeks on the UK chart.

1982, The J Geils Band started a six week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Centerfold,” the band’s only US number chart topper, and a number three hit in the UK. The band’s album Freeze – Frame started a four-week run at number one on the US album chart on the same day.

1994, Nirvana embarks on their final tour of Europe

1998, American singer and guitarist Carl Wilson from The Beach Boys died aged 51 after a long battle with lung cancer. Wilson was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in early 1997. He sang lead vocal on “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations,” and “I Can Hear Music.” Wilson sang backing vocals on Elton John’s “Don”t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.”

2005, Paul McCartney performs a 12-minute set of Beatles classics, as well as his own “Live and Let Die,” during the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

2011, Irish guitarist and singer Gary Moore died in his sleep of a heart attack in his hotel room while on vacation in Estepona, Spain. Moore had been a member of Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, and Colosseum II, before going solo, scoring the 1979 UK number eight single “Parisienne Walkways.”

Born on February 6: John London, session bass player (1942); Bob Marley (1945); Richie Hayward, Little Feat (1946); Natalie Cole (1950);  Huw Lloyd-Langton, guitarist Hawkwind (1951); Simon Phillips, drummer, Toto, Michael Shenker Band (1957); Axl Rose (1962)

Main Page: Today in Rock History