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Today in Rock History – September 16th

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are you experienced1967, Jimi Hendrix’s debut LP, Are You Experienced? entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, where it stayed for 106 weeks, including 77 weeks in the Top 40. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 15 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and two years later it was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles recorded 11 takes of “Your Mother Should Know,” giving the song a stronger beat, but this version of the song was discarded in favor of the original recording.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia.

1970, Led Zeppelin won “Best Group” in the Melody Maker readers Poll. This was the first time in eight years that The Beatles hadn’t won in that category.

1970, Jimi Hendrix joined Eric Burdon & War onstage to jam with them at Ronnie Scott’s Club in London which would be Hendrix’s final public appearance.

1971, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at Honolulu Civic Auditorium. Tickets cost $5.00. The Honolulu Star Bulletin wrote, “The real irony of Led Zeppelin’s two hour performance last night was that they played their own review in their last number, “Communication Breakdown.” The show itself was marred by a generally sloppy performance on the part of the group, rather noisy behavior on the part of some of the 4,000 people in attendance, and a hot and sweaty atmosphere on the part of the good old poorly ventilated Civic Auditorium. The music was limp and uneven during all but a small part of the evening.”

1972, Rod Stewart had his second UK No.1 album with Never A Dull Moment.

1972, The Grateful Dead performed at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

1972, Three Dog Night scored their third No.1 single with “Black and White.”

1972, Wishbone Ash, Family, Steppenwolf, John Kay Band, Slade, Uriah Heep, Roy Wood and Wizzard, Wild Angels, Glencoe, Sunshine and Cold Comfort Farm all appeared at the Buxton Festival in Derbyshire, England.

1973, Genesis performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1974, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Paramount Theatre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Supporting acts were KISS and Rush.

1976, AC/DC appeared at Rhein-Ruhr-Halle, Duisburg, Germany.

Marc Bolan of T. Rex

1977, 29-year-old former T Rex singer Marc Bolan was killed instantly when the car driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes, London. Miss Jones broke her jaw in the accident. The couple were on the way to Bolan’s home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant. A local man who witnessed the crash said, “When I arrived a girl was lying on the hood and a man with long dark curly hair was stretched out in the road. There was a hell of a mess.”

1978, Boston went to No.1 on the album chart with Don’t Look Back.

1978, During a UK tour Blondie played two shows at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, with guests The Boyfriends.

1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” was released. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song’s opening lyric “I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop,” is world-renowned.

1979, The Who played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1980, Van Halen appeared at McKale Memorial Center, Tucson, Arizona.

1981, The Kinks performed at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1989, U2 jammed with B.B. King on a boat rented for the blues legends 64th birthday in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia.

1996, Pearl Jam played the first night on their No Code tour at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. Because of the band’s refusal to play in Ticketmaster’s venue areas, they were forced to use alternate ticketing companies for the shows, which fans complained were to be out-of-the-way and hard to get to.

1998, At a Sotheby’s auction a notebook belonging to former Beatles roadie Mal Evans containing the lyrics to “Hey Jude” sold for £111,500 $178,400,) a two-tone denim jacket belonging to John Lennon went for £9,200 ($14720,) and the Union Jack dress worn by Spice Girl Ginger Spice sold for £41,320 ($66,110.)

2006, Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the US album chart with Modern Times. Entering the U.S. charts at No.1, making it Dylan’s first album to reach that position since 1976’s Desire, 30 years prior. At 65, Dylan became the oldest living musician to top the Billboard albums chart. (85 year-old Tony Bennett broke this record in 2011 with his Duets album). The record also reached number one in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

2008, Norman Whitfield died in Los Angeles, California from diabetes and other illnesses. The Motown songwriter and producer collaborated with Barrett Strong on such hits as “I Heard It through the Grapevine,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” “Cloud Nine,” “War,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and “Car Wash.”

2009, Mary Travers from Folk trio Peter, Paul And Mary, passed away after suffering from leukemia for several years. She was 72.

2013, A souvenir booklet from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival signed by Jimi Hendrix fetched $6,500 (£4060) on eBay. The artifact also included autographs from three members of the Mamas and Papas.

Born on this day: B.B. King (1925); Joe Butler, The Lovin Spoonful (1941);  Kenny Jones, Small Faces,  The Who (1941); Bernie Calvert, bass, The Hollies (1942); David Bellamy, Bellamy Brothers (1950); Ron Blair, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1952); Richard Marx, singer, songwriter (1963); and Tramar Lacel Dillard, aka Flo Rida (1979)

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Today in Rock History – August 10

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1968, The lineup for day two of the National Jazz & Blues Festival was Alan Haven, Deep Purple, Ginger Baker, Jeff Beck Group, Joe Cocker, Mike Westbrook, Ronnie Scott, T. Rex, Ten Years After, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet, and The Nice. The festival was held at Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury On Thames, England.

1968, Jimi Hendrix played at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

1968, Tom Jones went to number one on the album chart with Delilah.

1969, During a North American tour, Led Zeppelin appeared at the San Diego Sports Arena. Jethro Tull and The Surprise Package, a Seattle band, were the supporting acts.

1970, Elvis Presley played the first night of a four-week engagement, playing two shows most nights, at The International Hotel in Las Vegas.

1970, Simon and Garfunkel’s album Bridge Over Troubled Water was at number one on the album chart, The Beatles were second with Let It Be and Bob Dylan was at number three with Self Portrait.

1971, The Who play at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1972, Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested and fined £800 ($1200)for possession of cannabis in a drug bust after a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1972, Emerson, Lake & Palmer play the Hollywood Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida.

1973, KISS perform at the Hotel Diplomat, New York.

1973, a promotional film for Roger Daltrey’s performance of “I’m Free” with the London Symphony Orchestra airs on Top Of The Pops. It was shot at Roger’s farm.

1974, Roberta Flack went to number one on the US singles chart with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” the singer’s third US chart topper.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band performed at August Jam at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina. Also on the bill were Emerson Lake & Palmer, Foghat, Black Oak Arkansas, and the Marshall Tucker Band.

1974, John Denver went to number one on the US album chart with Back Home Again.

1976, Elton John played the first of ten nights sold out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The $1.25 million (£833,000) generated from the shows broke the record set by The Rolling Stones in 1975.

1976, Eric Clapton appeared at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1976, Neil Diamond performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1977, Yes played the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.

1978, Thin Lizzy appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1978, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, and Keith Moon arrive separately at Universal Studios, Hollywood for the press launch of their new album Who Are You. The party takes place on the set of the TV show Battlestar Galactica.

1979, Van Halen played at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.

1980, Black Sabbath appeared at the Civic Center, Hartford,Connecticut.

1981, Kansas performed at  Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1982, During a North American, tour Queen appeared at the Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut.

1982, The Grateful Dead’s only performance on this date took place at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse in Iowa City.

1984, Aerosmith appeared at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.

1985,”Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits peaked at number four on the UK singles chart. Notable for its groundbreaking music video and a cameo appearance by Sting, who also co-wrote the song with Mark Knopfler, and sings the song’s falsetto introduction and backing chorus, “I want my MTV,”  The video was also the first to be aired on MTV Europe when the network started on August 1st, 1987.

1985, Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran was air lifted to safety when his boat Drum overturned while racing off the English coast. Le Bon was trapped under the hull with five other crew members for twenty minutes, until being rescued by the Royal Navy.

1992, Def Leppard kicked off the North American leg on their 248-date Seven Day Weekend world Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1993, The Dave Matthews Band played at The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia, the gig was recorded with some of songs ending up on the band’s first album Remember Two Things.

2002, Lisa Marie Presley married actor Nicolas Cage at a resort in Hawaii. The marriage was Presley’s third. She was married previously to musician Danny Keough and pop star Michael Jackson. Cage filed for divorce four months later.

2002, Michael Houser, a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic, died at age 40 from complications due to pancreatic cancer, diagnosed earlier in the year.

2007, Anthony Wilson, the UK music mogul behind some of Manchester’s most successful bands, died at age 57, after suffering from kidney cancer. The TV presenter and entrepreneur founded Factory records, the label behind New Order and the Happy Mondays. He was also known for setting up the Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, England.

2008, Singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes died at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 65. Police were called to his home after his wife found him unconscious. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Hayes won an Oscar for the 1971 hit “Theme From Shaft” and was also known as the voice of Chef from the hit cartoon show, South Park. He was married four times and had 12 children.

Born on August 10: Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender, inventor of the Fender Telecaster (1909); Jimmy Dean (1928); Eddie Fisher (1929); Bobby Hatfield, singer, The Righteous Brothers (1940); Jimmy Griffin, singer, guitarist Bread, The Remingtons (1943); Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull (1947); Ronnie Spector, The Ronettes (1947); Mark Price, English drummer, All About Eve, Del Amitri (1959); Jon Farriss drummer, INXS (1961)

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Today in Rock History – July 25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – July 24

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The Byrds

1965, The Byrds were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of the Bob Dylan song “Mr Tambourine Man.” It was the first Bob Dylan song to reach the top of the charts.  Across the Atlantic, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones began the third of it’s four week run at number one.

1966, The Who played at Brittania Pier in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

1967, All four Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein signed a petition printed in The Times newspaper calling for the legalization of marijuana.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at The Maryland Ballroom in Glasgow, Scotland.

1967, The Beatles meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The band had gone to hear a lecture on Transcendental Meditation (TM) at the Hilton Hotel in London. TM involved the silent repetition of a word or sound to produce a state of mind that reduces stress, calms the mind, and energizes both mind and body. The Maharishi invited The Beatles to travel with him to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend more lectures. They accepted his invitation.

1968, Pink Floyd, along with Friends of the Family, play at the Philadelphia Music Festival, held a JFK Stadium. The Who, The Troggs, and The Mandala were unable to perform as a lightning strike hit the set just as The Mandala were to take the stage, forcing the cancellation of the rest of the event.

1969, Free and Jethro Tull performed at Boston Tea Party in Boston.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Nederland 1 TV Studios in Zaandam, The Netherlands for the last of three European TV appearances. This performance was for the program Apollo 11.

1969, Paul McCartney recorded a demo of his new song “Come and Get It” at Abbey Road studios in London. McCartney gave the song to The Iveys, (soon to become known as Badfinger). The song was later used as the theme for the movie The Magic Christian.

1969, The Beatles  recorded “Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard” for their forthcoming Abbey Road album. The working title of “Sun King” was “Here Comes the Sun King,” but the title was changed due to the similarity to George’s “Here Comes the Sun.”

1970, Iggy & the Stooges performed at the Uptown Palladium 12 Theatre‎ in Birmingham, Michigan.

1971, Paul Revere and the Raiders went to number one on the singles chart with “Indian Reservation.”

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Superball Fest, held at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Marc Bolan of T. Rex

1971, The number one record in the UK is T. Rex’s “Get It On.”

1971, Queen appeared at the Young Farmers Club, Wadebridge, England.

1972, Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edger Winters White Trash, was killed after becoming involved in a brawl in a Chicago bar. The fight started after comments were made about the length of his hair.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band drew 40,000 fans in attendance, earning a reported $120,000 for the show. The band’s film crew capture some footage of the event, in preparation for the three night finale at Madison Square Garden.

1974, George McCrae was at number one on the singles chart with “Rock Your Baby.” Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band. Regarded by some as the first disco number one

1975, Aerosmith appeared at the Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas.

1976, The Beach Boys 20 Golden Greats album started a ten-week run at number one on the album chart.

1976, Aerosmith played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada.

1976, Elton John scored his first number 1 single with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” a duet with Kiki Dee. It was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin under the pseudonym “Ann Orson” and “Carte Blanche” and was Elton’s first number one after 16 Top 40 hits. John had met Dee when she was working as a backup singer. John would later re-record the song with RuPaul for his 1993 Duets album.

1976, Yes performed at Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington.

1977, Donna Summer was at number one on the UK singles chart with the Giorgio Moroder produced “I Feel Love.” The disco diva’s only UK chart topper.

1978, The Robert Stigwood film Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was released, featuring The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. The film received extremely negative reviews from most critics, and barely broke even at the box office.

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

1980, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Convention Center Rotunda, Las Vegas.

1981, ZZ Top appeared at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1982, Survivor started a six week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Eye Of The Tiger,” taken from the film Rocky III. Also a chart topper in the UK. Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for the song.

1993, U2 started a two-week run at number one on the US album chart with Zooropa the Irish band’s fourth US No.1. Zooropa won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1994.

1993, UB40 started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Elvis Presley had the first hit with the song, in 1961, Corey Hart was next up with a top 30 hit in 1987, and Hall and Oates recorded the song for 1990’s, The Last Temptation of Elvis charity album. UB40 originally covered the song for the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack, but Bono’s version was chosen instead. Also on the same day UB40 went to number one on the UK album chart with Promises And Lies.

1994, The Grateful Dead performed at Soldier Field in Chicago. Traffic was the opening act.

2003, Ozzy Osbournes long-standing tour manager, Bobby Thompson, was found dead in his Detroit hotel room. Thompson had been battling throat cancer.

2011, Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant joined three local musicians at a fundraising charity show in Monmouth Wales, where tickets cost £3. The event was a tribute to his friend, former Led Zeppelin producer Pat Moran, who died of a rare dementia in January. Plant delighted the small crowd in the Monmouthshire town with songs from his Led Zeppelin days as well as tunes from his solo career.

Born on July 24: Heinz Burt, bass, The Tornadoes (1942); Jim Armstrong, The Them (1944); Steve Goodman (1948); Paul Geary, American singer, drummer, manager, Extreme (1961)

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Today in Rock History – June 11

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1966, The Rolling Stones started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with “Paint It Black,” the group’s third No.1 single.

1966, European radio stations mistakenly report that The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey is dead. Actually, it was guitarist Pete Townshend who had been injured in a car accident a few days earlier.

1966, Elvis Presley begins shooting his 26th film, Double Trouble.

1967, Printed in this week’s music weekly Melody Maker’s ad’s pages, “Freaky lead guitarist, bass and drummer wanted for Marc Bolan’s new group. Also any other astral flyers like with car’s amplification and that which never grows in window boxes, phone Wimbledon 0697.” The band who formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, went on to release four underground folk albums before becoming known as T Rex.

1968, Cream appeared at Paul Sauvé Arena in Montreal, Quebec.

1968, London’s Olympic Studio catches fire while the Rolling Stones are there recording Beggars Banquet.

1968, Working at Abbey Road studios in London on the White Album, John Lennon worked on “Revolution 9” in studio 3, while Paul McCartney recorded “Blackbird” in studio 2.

1969, The Beatles were at No.1 on the singles chart with “The Ballad Of John and Yoko,” the group’s 17th No.1. Only two Beatles played on the track, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

1969, David Bowie releases his single “Space Oddity” in conjunction with the planned Apollo 11 lunar landing.

1970, Traffic jammed at the Fillmore East in New York.

1970, The Rascals, Poco, and Alee Keith played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appear at the Eastown Theater, Detroit, Michigan.

1972, Led Zeppelin performed at the Civic Center in Baltimore.  Tickets were priced from $5.50 – $7.50. The set list was: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Stairway to Heaven, Going to California, That’s the Way, Tangerine, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Dazed and Confused, What Is and What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love (medley incl. Let That Boy Boogie, I Need Your Love Tonight, Hello Mary Lou, Heartbreak Hotel, I’m Going Down, Going Down Slow), Rock and Roll, Communication Breakdown.

1972, The Rolling Stones play the Forum in Inglewood, California. The opening act is Stevie Wonder.

1973, Deep Purple performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1974, The Who headlined at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1975, The Rolling Stones appeared at the Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

1976, The Grateful Dead performed at the Great Boston Music Hall.

1976, AC/DC appeared at Glasgow City Hall, Scotland, on the first night of their Lock Up Your Daughters 19 date UK tour.

1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours retains the number one album in the US. Just one of the 31 weeks it would spend in that position in 1977 and 1978.

1977, Joe Strummer and Topper Headon were detained overnight in prison in Newcastle upon Tyne having failed to appear at Morpeth Magistrates on May 21st. Both Clash members were to answer a charge relating to the theft of a Holiday Inn pillowcase. They were both fined £100 ($170).

1977, KC and the Sunshine Band became only the second group after The Jackson Five to achieve four US No.1’s when “I’m Your Boogie Man” went to the top of the charts.

1977, As Britain celebrated the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, The Sex Pistols reached No. 2 in the singles chart with “God Save The Queen.”

1978, Genesis appeared at Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany.

1980, Aerosmith played at Stage West, Hartford, Connecticut.

1981, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at the Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois.

1983, ZZ Top played at the Civic Auditorium Arena, Omaha, Nebraska.

1984, Yes performed at Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden.

1988, Nelson Mandellas 70th birthday tribute took place at Wembley Stadium, London, featuring Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, George Michael, Eric Clapton, UB40, The Eurythmics and Simple Minds. The event was broadcast live on BBC 2 to 40 different countries with an estimated audience of 1 billion.

1991, The Grateful Dead played at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

2005, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin founding member and guitarist, was awarded an OBE in the Queen of England’s Birthday Honours list and Queen guitarist and founding member Brian May was awarded a CBE.

2011, Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon, re-entered the Billboard Album chart at No. 47, and reached the milestone of 1,000 weeks on Billboard’s charts.

Born on this day: John Lawton, Uriah Heep (19467);  Glenn Leonard, The Temptations (1947); Alan Skipper, drums, The Pretty Things (1948) and Frank Beard, ZZ Top (1949)

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Today in Rock History – May 20

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1965, The Who performed at Town Hall in Kidderminster, West Midlands, England.

1966, Bob Dylan and The Band played at the ABC Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Some members of the audience were unhappy with Dylan “going electric,” and attempted to overpower the band by playing their own harmonicas.

1966, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of the Who grew tired of waiting for John Entwistle and Keith Moon to arrive for their gig at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England. Moon had taken Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys to a taping of Ready Steady Go! and had also been popping pills. Pete and Roger took to the stage with the rhythm section of the local band that opened the show. When Moon and Entwistle finally arrived in the middle of the set. During the finale of “My Generation,” as Keith kicked over his drum set, Pete already in a foul mood, swung his guitar into the amp stack and accidentally (or on purpose) hit Moon on the head with his guitar. A brawl ensued. Moon suffered a cut on his leg and possibly a broken ankle. Moon and Entwistle quit the band, only to rejoin a week later.

1967, The Beatles new album Sgt Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band had a special preview on the Kenny Everett BBC Light program, Where It’s At. They played every track from the album, except “A Day In The Life,” which the BBC had banned saying it could promote drug taking.

1967, The Young Rascals started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Groovin.”

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Floral Hall in Southport, Lancashire, England. The support act was Big Sleep.

1967, Jimi Hendrix signs a US record deal with Reprise Records.

1967, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” was the number one R&B single in America.  It had returned to the top of the charts after being dislodged by Martha & the Vandellas.

1968, Pete Townshend marries Karen Astley.

1968, The Beatles, armed with a bunch of new songs after their visit to India, met at George Harrison’s home in Esher, Surrey. They taped 23 new songs on George’s 4-track recorder, many of which would end up on The Beatles’ next two albums, the White Album and Abbey Road. The demos included “Cry Baby Cry,” “Revolution,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Blackbird,” and “Child of Nature,” a Lennon song that became “Jealous Guy.”

1969, Peter Cetera, from the band Chicago, was beaten up by four men at a Chicago Cubs-Dodgers baseball game at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. The men objected to the length of Cetera’s hair. In the liner notes to a Chicago box set, he recalled, “four Marines didn’t like a long-haired rock ‘n’ roller in a baseball park,  and of course I was a Cub fan, and I was in Dodger Stadium, and that didn’t do so well. I got in a fight and got a broken jaw in three places, and I was in intensive care for a couple of days.”  Cetera underwent four hours of emergency surgery.

1969, Led Zeppelin started three days of recording and mixing sessions at A&R Studios in New York City, which included the recording of “Heartbreaker” and various other parts for new tracks for the group’s  second album.

1970, Mountain played at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The final feature film involving The Beatles Let It Be was premiered simultaneously in London and Liverpool a week after the film’s US release.

1972, Fleetwood Mac  and McKendree Spring appeared at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee.

1972, T Rex were at number one on the UK singles chart “Metal Guru,” the band’s fourth and final chart topper. They also had the UK number one album with Bolan Boogie.

1972, Uriah Heep played at Liverpool Stadium in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the Civic Theatre, Ottawa, Canada.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Stadium on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

1974, KISS played at Foothills Arena, Calgary, Alberta.

1975, AC/DC headlined at Croxton Park Hotel, Thornbury, Australia.

1976, Aerosmith played at  Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, Alabama.

1977, Rush performed at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago.

1978, The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack entered the 18th week of its amazing run of 24 weeks at number one on the US album charts.

1978, Paul McCartney went to number one on the US singles chart with “With A Little Luck,” his sixth solo US chart topper. It was taken from the London Town album.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1980, Bob Dylan performed at the Franklin County Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio.

1983, David Bowie played at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany.

1989, Ferry “Cross The Mersey” by Ferry Aid started a three week run at number one on the UK singles chart. The song was recorded to raise funds for the Hillsborough Football victims. Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson and The Christians all featured on the recording

1997, U2 caused traffic chaos in Kansas City, Missouri after they paid for traffic control to close down five lanes so they could shoot the video for “Last Night On Earth.” Apart from major traffic jams, a passing Cadillac crashed into a plate glass window trying to avoid a cameraman.

1997, Foo Fighters released their second album The Colour And The Shape. The album was a Grammy nominee for Best Rock Album in 1998. Even though Foo Fighters are an American band, the word “Colour” in the album title is always spelled with the British spelling. This was a nod to producer Gil Norton, who is British. It reached the third spot on the UK charts, and was a top ten album in the US.

2001, R.E.M. started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with “Reveal.”

2007, Linkin Park went to number one on the UK album chart with Minutes To Midnight the bands fifth Top 20 UK album. Also a US chart topper.

2012, Robin Gibb, a member of the Bee Gees, and a singer-songwriter who helped to turn disco into a global phenomenon by providing the core of the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, died from cancer aged 62.

2013, Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and founder member of the The Doors died aged 74. Manzarek, who had suffered from bile duct cancer for many years, died in a clinic in Rosenheim, Germany. He formed The Doors with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1965 after a chance meeting with his old film school classmate at Venice Beach, Los Angeles.

2014, Prince Rupert Loewenstein, the Bavarian banker credited with turning The Rolling Stones into the world’s richest rock band, died at the age of 80. It was on Loewenstein’s advice that the Stones became tax exiles, decamping to the south of France in the 1970s.

Born on this day: Joe Cocker (1944); Cher (1946); Steve Currie, T Rex (1947); Jimmy Hendrson, Black Oak Arkansas (1954); Jane Wieldin,  The Go-Go”s (1958); Dan Wilson, Semisonic (1961);  Busta Rhymes (1972)

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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 – April 28

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1966, The Kinks appeared at the Mecca Ballroom, Nottingham, England.

1966, The Young Rascals topped the Pop charts with  “Good Lovin’.” This is the first of three number one songs for group, which later records as just The Rascals.

1966, The Who perform at The Witchdoctor at the Savoy Room in Catford, England.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Tabernacle Club, Hillgate, Stockport, England.

1967, Johnny Cash appeared at the Burlington Auditorium in Burlington, Iowa.

1968, The Broadway musical Hair opened at the Baltimore Theatre in New York City. The musical’s profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972.

1968, The Mothers of Invention played at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Cream performed at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri.

1969, Yes appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.

1971, Hawkwind appeared St. Michels Mount, Penzance, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago.

1973, King Crimson performed at the Academy of Music in New York.

Dark side1973, Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side Of The Moon went to number one on the chart, it went on to enjoy a record breaking 741 weeks, selling over 20 million copies world-wide.

1973, The Faces scored their first number one album with Ooh La La.

1974, Queen appeared at Exposition Hall, Portland, Maine.

1975,  John Lennon appears on The Tonight Show, and Ringo Starr shows up on The Smothers Brothers Show to sing his “No No Song.”

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany.

1977, Eric Clapton appeared at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1978, Mike Oldfield played the first of two nights at London’s Wembley Arena, England.

1979,  When “Heart of Glass” by Blondie hits number one, Andy Warhol throws a party for the group at Studio 54 in New York.

1979, The Very Best Of Leo Sayer started a three-week run at number one on the UK album chart, giving Sayer his first and only chart topping LP.

1980, The Grateful Dead played at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama.

1980, Marshall Tucker Band bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injures from a jeep car crash in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The thirty year-old was an original member of the band, and composed several of their songs and played bass, percussion, guitar, and contributed backup vocals.

1981, Steve Currie, former member of T Rex, was killed in a car crash returning to his home near Vale de Parra, Algarve, Portugal, he was 33 years old. Currie joined T. Rex (recently renamed from Tyrannosaurus Rex) as bass guitarist in late 1970, and also worked as a session player, playing on “Motorbikin” by Chris Spedding.

1983, During the second leg of their War North American tour, U2 appeared at the Rochester Institute Of Technology Ice Rink, Rochester, New York.

1984, King Crimson appeared at Kani Hoken Hall, Tokyo.

1985, Eric Clapton performed at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1988, Rush played at Wembley Arena in London.

1990, Guns N’ Roses leader Axl Rose married Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers Don at Cupid’s Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They divorced in January 91 after a stormy nine months of marriage.

1990, Sinead O’Connor started a six-week run at number one on the US album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002, Sugababes scored their first UK chart topping single with “Freak Like Me.” The song was originally sung by American Adina Howard in 1995, and was mixed with the synth line from Gary Numan’s 1979 hit “Are Friends Electric?”

2008, Scott Weiland, singer with The Stone Temple Pilots, was sentenced to 192 hours in county jail for his November 2007 drunk driving conviction. He was also fined $2000 (£1333,) and required to complete an 18-month alcohol program, as well as placed on probation for four years.

2015, Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer’s hit ‘Louie Louie’ reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene

Born on April 28: John Wolters, drums, Dr. Hook (1945); Chuck Leavell, American singer-songwriter, keyboards, The Allman Brothers Band, Sea Level (1953); Kim Gordon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, Sonic Youth, Ciccone Youth, Free Kitten (1953);  Eddie Jobson, English keyboardist,  violinist, Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., Jethro Tull (1955);  Phil King, English bass player, Lush, The Jesus and Mary Chain (1960) Scott Putesky, aka Daisy Berkowitz, American guitarist, Marilyn Manson, Jack Off Jill (1968); Howard Donald, English singer-songwriter, producer, Take That (1968); Violent J, American rapper, producer, wrestler, actor, Insane Clown Posse, Dark Lotus,  Psychopathic Rydas (1972)

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Today in Rock History – March 20

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1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the British Consulate Office in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for an international “Bed-In” for peace. They planned another “Bed-in” in the United States, but were denied entry. The couple then went to Montréal, and during a “Bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’. Lennon also detailed this period in The Beatles’ ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’, recorded by Lennon and McCartney on April 14, 1969.

1970, David and Angela Bowie were married at Beckenham Registry Office, London. They were divorced in 1980.

1970, The Grateful Dead performed at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

1971,  The Rolling Stones placed full page advertisements at their own expensein all the UK’s music papers disclaiming any connection with the release of the Decca album Stone Age saying “in our opinion the content is below the standard we try to keep.”

1971, Janis Joplin started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with the Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee.”  The song is the second posthumous number one song of the rock era, reaching the top of the charts almost six months after Joplin’s death on October 4th, 1970.

1973, Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Cum On Feel The Noize,” the group’s fourth UK number one.

1976, Status Quo started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their third No.1 album Blue For You. The bands record label set up a deal with Levi Jeans, advertising in over 6,000 clothes shops to help promote the album.

Lou Reed

1976, Alice Cooper married 19 year old Sheryl Goddard.

1977, Lou Reed was banned from appearing The London Palladium in England because of his punk image.

1977, T Rex played their final ever gig when they appeared at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England.

1980, 28 year- old Joseph Riviera held up the Asylum Records office in New York and demanded to see either Jackson Browne or The Eagles. Riviera wanted to talk to them to see if they would finance his trucking operation. He gave himself up when told that neither act was in the office at the time.

1982, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a No.4 hit in the UK. The song had been a B-side from 60’s band The Arrows.

1991, Eric Clapton’s four year old son, Conor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment after a housekeeper who was cleaning the room left a window open. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress, Lori Del Santo and the pair were visiting a friend’s apartment. Clapton was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspired his song “Tears in Heaven.”

Born on March 20: Lee “Scratch” Perry, reggae producer (1936); Jerry Reed (1937); Jimmy Vaughn (1949); Carl Palmer, ELP (1951); Fonso Martin, Steel Pulse (1956); and Chester Bennington, vocals, Linkin Park (1976)

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Today in Rock History – March 19

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Bob-Dylan-bob-dylan1962, Bob Dylan’s debut album Bob Dylan was released in the Untied States. Initially poor sales led the record to be known around Columbia Records as “Hammond’s Folly.” John Hammond was producer of Dylan’s early recordings and the man responsible for signing Dylan. The album was praised by the New York City weekly newspaper Village Voice as an “explosive country blues debut,” but featured only two Dylan original compositions, “Talkin’ New York” and “Song To Woody,” with the rest being old folk standards.

1965, The Tailor And Cutter magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said of the appeal, “The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theatre.”

1966, The Who played Kings Hall in Stoke-On-Trent, England.

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played two shows at The Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Canada.

1968, Donovan goes to India to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

1969, during a UK tour, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Top Rank Club in Cardiff, Wales.

1970, Pink Floyd played at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden.

1971, Humble Pie performs at the Fillmore East in New York. In attendance are members of The Who.

1971, T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Hot Love.’ The group’s first of four UK No.1’s spent six weeks at the top of the charts.

1974, Jefferson Airplane re-named the group and became Jefferson Starship. The new line-up included Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, drummer Johnny Barbata, David Freiberg, Peter Kaukonen, Craig Chaquico and Papa John Creach.

1975, Tommy: The Movie has its Los Angeles premiere at Mann’s Wilshire Theater. Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Ann-Margret, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Robert Stigwood attend. All are interviewed by David Frost for an ABC Wide World Special. Other celebrities interviewed by Army Archerd going into the theater or the afterwards party held at the Studio One Club include Paul and Linda McCartney, Ron Wood, Kenney Jones, Sally Kellerman, Dean Martin, Tommy Smothers, and Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. The special airs on U.S. television on the 26th.

1975, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Tickets cost $7.50 in advance.

1976,  Gary Thain bass player with Uriah Heep died of a drug overdose aged 28.

1976, Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Kossof had a long history of drug abuse.  His first band was Black Cat Bones alongside drummer Simon Kirke, (later of Free), and he formed Back Street Crawler after leaving Free.

1978, Billy Joel made his UK live debut at London’s Dury Lane Theatre.

1979, Elton John appeared at the Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland. Tickets £5.00

1980, Elvis Presley’s autopsy report is a part of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners’ case against Dr. George Nichopoulos. Presley’s former personal physician is accused of over prescribing drugs to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He later has his medical license revoked.

1980, Pete Townshend is filmed miming to his single “Rough Boys” for the Kenny Everett Video Show accompanied by Kenney Jones.

1981, The J Geils Band were at number one on the US singles chart with “Centerfold.” Roxy Music had the UK’s top single with “Jealous Guy,” a John Lennon cover.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed. After driving much of the night, the band had stopped near a small airstrip. The tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock, talked the band’s keyboardist, Don Airey, into taking a test flight in a ’55 Beechcraft Bonanza, the joyride ended, and the plane landed safely. Then Aycock took Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood on another flight and attempts were made to “buzz” the tour bus. The left wing clipped the bus, which sent the plane spiralling into a nearby house and bursting into flames. All three bodies were burned beyond recognition, and were identified by dental records.

1996, The second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured “Real Love,” a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon’s The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home, it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled The Ballad of John and Yoko.

1999, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played the second night at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, New Jersey as warm up dates for their forthcoming Reunion Tracks tour.

2001, Keith Richards inducted Johnnie Johnson and James Burton at the 16th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame award ceremonies at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Richards also took part in the closing jam with Bono, Paul Simon, Kid Rock, Solomon Burke, Robbie Robertson and others.

Born on March 19: Paul Atkinson, The Zombies (1946); Jack Schaeffer, American singer, saxophonist, producer, Royale Monarchs (1946); Derek Longmuir, Bay City Rollers (1952); Ricky Wilson, The B-52’s (1953); Terry Hall, English singer-songwriter, The Specials, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Vegas (1956); Brann Dailor, American drummer, songwriter, Mastodon, Lethargy, Today Is the Day (1975)

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