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Today in Rock History – May 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Boomtown Rats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – March 27

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1966, The Who appeared at the Central Pier, Morecambe, Lancashire, England.

1966, During an UK tour, Roy Orbison fell off a motorbike while scrambling at Hawkstone Park, Birmingham fracturing his foot. He played the remaining dates sat on a stool and walking on crutches.

1967, Fats Domino played his first ever UK date at London’s Saville Theatre, supported by The Bee Gees and Gerry And The Pacemakers.

1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello award for”Michelle,” the most performed song in the UK in 1966.

1967, The Young Rascals record their future number one smash “Groovin’.”

1968, The Bee Gees kicked off a 24-date UK tour at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Also on the tour, The Foundations and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

1968, The Who appear at The Forum in Montreal, Canada. Opening for them is The Troggs making their North American debut.

1968, The Beatles were at number one on the singles chart with “Lady Madonna,” the group’s 14th chart topper.

1969, Pink Floyd played at St. James’ Church Hall, Chesterfield, England, supported by King Mob Echo and Gandalf’s Garden. The set list:  Astronomy Domine / Careful With That Axe, Eugene / Interstellar Overdrive / Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun / A Saucerful Of Secrets.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1971, New York radio station WNBC banned the song “One Toke Over the Line” by Brewer & Shipley because of its alleged drug references. Other stations around the country followed.

1971, Bruce Springsteen & Friendly Enemies opened for The Allman Brothers Band at the Sunshine In, Asbury Park in New Jersey, tickets cost $4.00. Springsteen had just disbanded his group Steel Mill and within a few weeks would form Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom with Steve Van Zandt.

1972, Elvis Presley recorded what would be his last major hit, “Burning Love,” a number two hit.

1973, Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead was arrested when police found cocaine and LSD in his car after being busted for speeding in New Jersey.

1973, Rolling Stone magazine reported that after becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, Carlos Santana had changed his name to “Devadip,” which means “the lamp of the light of the Supreme.”

1975, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Bayfront Center Arena, St. Petersburg, Florida.

1976, Genesis appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Kitchener, Ontario.

1976, Paul McCartney and Wings were forced to postpone forthcoming US tour for three weeks after guitarist Jimmy McCulloch fell in his hotel bathroom and broke a finger.

1977, Genesis played at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

rutles-all-u-need-is-cash1978, The Beatles parody All You Need Is Cash featuring The Rutles was shown in the UK on BBC-TV.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Entertainment Centre, Perth, Australia.

1979, Eric Clapton married Patti Harrison, the former wife of George, at Temple Bethel, Tucson, Arizona. Patti applied for a divorce in 1988.

1980, Rush appeared at Memorial Arena, Victoria, British Columbia.

1981, Eric Clapton performed at Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1982, Former Small Faces and Faces bass player Ronnie Lane was admitted to hospital for treatment for multiple sclerosis.  Lane succumbed to the disease in 1997.

1984, Bryan Adams went into Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver, Canada to record “Run To You” for his fourth studio album, Reckless. It was the first single released from the album and gave Adam’s his first UK hit, peaking at number 11. The music video shot in London and Los Angeles was nominated for the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards in five different categories.

1986, Van Halen kicked off a 112-date North American tour at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Los Angeles. This was the band’s first tour with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals.

1987, U2 performed from the roof of a store in downtown Los Angeles to make the video for “Where The Streets Have No Name.” The commotion attracted thousands of spectators and brought traffic to a standstill. The police eventually stop the shoot.

1988, The Grateful Dead played at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

2000, Singer, songwriter, poet and actor, Ian Dury died after a long battle with cancer aged 57. Dury had been disabled by polio as a child, formed Kilburn and the High Roads during the 1970’s. His first album New Boot’s And Panties became a punk classic spending 90 weeks on the UK chart, featured the 1979 UK number one single “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.”

2012, David Bowie’s landmark album Ziggy Stardust was celebrated with a blue plaque in central London. Former Spandau Ballet star Gary Kemp, unveiled a plaque at the spot where the cover of the 1972 release was shot. The location in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, is now a pedestrian area featuring bars and restaurants.

Born on March 27:  Sarah Vaughn, jazz singer (1934); Andy Bown, bass, songwriter, Status Quo, The Herd, Judas Jump (1946); Tony Banks, Genesis (1950); Paul Wickens, multi-instrumentalist, Paul McCartney, Styx, David Gilmour, others (1956); Andrew Farriss, INXS (1959); Johnny April, bass, Staind (1965); Brendan Hill, drummer, Blues Traveler,  Stolen Ogre (1970);  Fergie, The Black Eyed Peas (1975)

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Today in Rock History – March 18

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who-1965-marquee-club-london1965, Excerpts from six numbers performed by The Who at The Marquee Club in February appear on a French Television programme called Seize Millions de Jeunes on ORTF TV 2. It is part of documentary about Mods shot by two French acquaintances of the band’s co-manager Chris Stamp. A scheduled appearance that day at the Civic Hall in Crawley is postponed until April 18th.

1966, that morning, The Who are filmed miming to “I Can’t Explain,” “Bald Headed Woman,” and “Substitute” at Tower Pier, London for Dick Clark’s ABC-TV U.S. program Where The Action Is. That evening they head out to Wembley’s Studio One to perform “Substitute” and “Barbara Ann” on Ready, Steady, GO!, then zip off to Basildon to play the Locarno Ballroom.

traffic-traffic1967, The UK music magazine New Musical Express announced that former Spencer Davis Group member Steve Winwood was planning to form a new group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. The ensemble would choose the name Traffic.

1967, Pink Floyd played at Enfield College of Technology, Enfield, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Star Club, Hamburg, Germany.

1967, The Beatles scored their 13th chart topping single with “Penny Lane.” The title refers to the name of a street near Lennon’s house, in Liverpool. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Mossley Hill area to catch a bus into the center of the city.

1969, Jimi Hendrix performed at Ellis Auditorium AmphiTheater, Memphis, Tennessee.

1970, Tommy: The Movie has its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City. A morning press conference is attended by all the movie’s stars except Oliver Reed, Jack Nicholson, Roger Daltrey, and director Ken Russell. Daltrey and Russell are back in England working on his next film, Lisztomania. The film receives a standing ovation despite occasional sound problems. Afterwards, The Who and celebrities attend a midnight party designed by new Hollywood hotshot Allan Carr in a sealed-off section of a New York subway station located under the IND Station at 57th Street and Sixth Avenue.

1971, Led Zeppelin played at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle, England during their “Back to the Clubs” tour.

1972, Yes appeared at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1972, Neil Young started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Heart Of Gold.” It was his only Top 20 hit as a solo artist.

1972, Paul Simon scored his first solo number one album when his self-titled debut went to the top of the charts. The album featured the singles “Mother And Child Reunion,” and “Me And Julio Down By The School Yard.”

1972, T Rex played the first of two sold out nights at Wembley’s Empire Pool. Ringo Starr filmed the shows for the Born To Boogie Apple documentary.

1973, Paul McCartney and Wings played a benefit gig for the drug charity, Release at The Hard Rock Cafe in England.

1973, King Crimson played at the Rainbow Theatre, London.

1974, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the first of eight shows over four nights at Gertie’s in Dallas, Texas.

bowie-man-who-fell-to-earth1976, The Film The Man Who Fell To Earth featuring David Bowie premiered in London.

1976, Bob Dylan played at theLakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1976, The Who perform at the Salt Palace Convention Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1977, The Clash released their debut single “White Riot.” It peaked at number 38 on the UK charts.

1977, The Grateful Dead played at Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California.

1977, AC/DC performed at Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, England.

1978, The brothers Gibb had a role in the top three songs on the singles charts, the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” at number one; “(Love is) Thicker Than Water” by Andy Gibb (the previous week’s chart topper) was at number two, co-written by Barry Gibb, and “Emotion” by Samantha Song, written and produced by The Bee Gees, sat at the third position.

1978, Aerosmith, Santana, Heart, Dave Mason, Ted Nugent and Mahogany Rush all appeared at the California Jam II festival, Ontario, California.

1978, Rush played at the Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina.

1979, Roxy Music performed at Eissporthalle, Berlin, Germany.

1981, Tom Waits appeared at the Victoria Apollo, London, England.

1984, Van Halen played at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1989, A radio station in California arranged to have all it’s Cat Stevens Records destroyed by having a steamroller run over them in protest of the singer’s support of Ayatollah Khomeni.

1996, The Sex Pistols announced their comeback at the 100 Club in London, 20 years after they had split.

1997, Rap artist Notorious B.I.G., aka Christopher George Latore Wallace, was cremated in New Jersey. The 24 year-old was gunned down and killed on March 9th as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

2001, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter John Phillips of the Mamas and The Papas died of heart failure aged 65. His first band, The Journeymen, were a folk trio. He also co-promoted the Monterrey Pop Festival with Lou Adler. Phillips was married to Michelle Gilliam, they had one child together, Chynna Phillips, vocalist of the 1990’s pop trio Wilson Phillips.

2002, The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam and close friend of the Ramones. The ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

2011, Jet Harris, bass guitarist for The Shadows, died from throat cancer at the age of 71. Jet played on the hit “Apache” and during their days as Cliff Richard’s backing band, performed on the number one hit “Living Doll.” In 1962, he left the group and had solo hits with “Besame Mucho” and “The Man With The Golden Arm.”

2013, David Bowie’s first album in a decade become the fastest-selling of the year, hitting the top spot in the UK charts in its first week of release. The Next Day was the 66-year-old’s first number one since 1993’s Black Tie White Noise and sold 94,000 copies in the first week.

Born on March 18: Charlie Pride (1938); Wilson Pickett (1941); Dennis Linde, songwriter (1943); Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist,  producer The Alan Parsons Project (1945); B. J. Wilson, English drummer, Procol Harum (1947); John Hartman, Doobie Brothers (1950); Grant Hart, Husker Du (1961); Jeff LaBar, American guitarist, Cinderella and Naked Beggars (1963); Courtney Pine, jazz musician (1964); Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Alice in Chains (1966); Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, Lush (1967); Dana Elaine Owens, aka Queen Latifah (1970); Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, Maroon 5 (1979)

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Bob Dylan, Rock History – February 4

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bob-dylan-19661966, Bob Dylan and The Band played at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the first date on a world tour which would become significant as the first outing in which Dylan used electric instruments, after he had gone “electric” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

1966, The Who play the Astoria Theatre in Finsbury Park, North London. The supporting acts are Screamin’ Lord Sutch & the Savages, the Merseys, the Fortunes and the Graham Bond Organization.

1967, The Rolling Stones’ Between the Buttons enters the UK chart at number three.

1967, this was the last week of a thirteen weeks atop the US album charts for The Monkees self-titled debut album. It would be knocked off on February 11 by the followup, More of the Monkees.

1968, Billed as ‘Tour 60 cities in 66 Days’ The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Winterland in San Francisco.

1968, Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles recorded “Across The Universe.” John and Paul decided the song needed some falsetto harmonies so they invited two girl fans into the studio to sing on the song. The two were Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road, and 17-year-old Londoner Gayleen Pease.

1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated their hair for an auction in aid of the Black Power movement.

1972, Genesis appeared at the Hippodrome in Bristol, England.

1973, Pink Floyd played at the Palais des Sports de la Porte de Versailles, Paris.

1972, In a memo to Attorney General John Mitchell, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond suggests that John Lennon be deported.

1974, Pink Floyd release “Time” backed with “Us and Them” as a 7-inch single in the US.

1975, Led Zeppelin performs at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1975, American jazz, blues, songwriter and saxophonist Louis Jordon died aged 66. Known as “The King of the Jukebox,” between 1942-1950 he scored eighteen number one singles and fifty-four Top Ten hits on the US R&B chart.

1976, David Bowie appeared at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon.

1977, This was the 25th anniversary show of TV’s American Bandstand, which began as a local program on WFIL-TV, Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952.

1977, Aerosmith played at the Kyoden-Taiiku-Kan, Fukuoka, Japan.

1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is released. The album shoots to the top of US album charts, staying there for 31 weeks. More than 17 million copies have been sold in the U.S.

Saturday-Night-Fever1978, The Bee Gees started a four week run at number one on the singles chart with “Staying Alive.” It came from the film soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, it gave the Gibb brothers their fifth number one.

1979, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

1981, The Who performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1982, Scottish singer Alex Harvey died of a heart attack while waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing a concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys. In an ambulance on the way to the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal. It occurred on the day before his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugen, Belgium. Formed Alex Harvey Big Soul Band in 1959 and then mid 1960’s band Tear Gas. He had the 1975 UK number seven single with Sensational Alex Harvey Band “Delilah” and 1975 album Next.

1983, Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parent’s house in Downey, California. The coroner’s report gave the cause of death of imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa. The Carpenters’ 1970 album Close to You, featured two hit singles, (“They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” They peaked at number one and two respectively on the singles chart.  In Playboy‘s annual opinion poll for 1975, its readers voted Karen Carpenter the Best Rock Drummer of the year.

1984, Culture Club started a three-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Karma Chameleon” the group’s 5th US Top 10 hit, also a chart topper in the UK.

1984, The Eurythmics scored their first UK number one album with their second release Touch, featuring the singles “Here Comes The Rain Again,” “Who’s That Girl,” and “Right By Your Side.”

1984, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble kicked off their 114-date Couldn’t Stand the Weather tour at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

1985, Prince performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1992, Pearl Jam appeared at The Borderline in London, England, tickets cost £5 ($8.50.)

1999, Rykodisc becomes the first music label to give its stamp of approval to the MP3 music format.

2001, Jimmy Buffett is thrown out of a New York Knicks – Miami Heat basketball game after verbally abusing a referee.

2009, Erick Lee Purkhiser, aka Lux Interior, singer and founding member of The Cramps died aged 62. He met his wife, better known as Poison Ivy, born Ivy Rorschach, in Sacramento in 1972, when he and a friend picked her up when she was hitchhiking. The couple later founded The Cramps.

Born on February 4: John Steel, The Animals (1942); Florence Larue, The 5th Dimension (1944); Margie and Mary Ann Ganser, vocalists, The Shangri-Las (1947); Vincent Furnier, aka Alice Cooper (1948); Phil Ehart, Kansas (1950); Jerry Shirley, Humble Pie (1951);  Clint Black, country singer (1962)

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Today in Rock History – January 27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Bowie in 1971

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – January 12

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beatles-1964-tv1964, The Beatles appeared on the ATV show Sunday Night At The London Palladium performing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” “This Boy,” “All My Loving,” “Money,” and “Twist And Shout.” The compare for the evening was Bruce Forsyth. When The Beatles appeared on this show on October 13, 1963, their fee had been £250 ($400.) Three months later, their fee was £1,000 ($1600.)

1965, NBC premieres a new pop TV show called Hullabaloo, hosted by Jack Jones. The show’s guests include the New Christy Minstrels and a comedian called Woody Allen. In a taped segment, Beatles manager Brian Epstein introduced performances by the Zombies and Gerry & the Pacemakers from London.

1968, The Beatles Film Productions changed its name to Apple Film Limited and Apple Music Limited changed its name to Apple Corps Limited.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at the University of Aston, Birmingham, England. It is generally accepted that this was the first show to include David Gilmour as a permanent part of the group.  They performed as a five-piece band until Syd Barrett’s dismissal.

1969, Led Zeppelin’s debut album was released in the UK. Recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, the album took only about 36 hours of studio time to complete at a cost of just £1,782 ($2851,) most of the tracks being recorded “live” in the studio with very few overdubs. The album spent a total of 71 weeks on the UK chart.

1971, Deep Purple performs at Town Hall, Birmingham, England.

1974, Jim Croce started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

steve-miller-band-the-joker1974, The Steve Miller Band were at number one on the US singles chart with “The Joker,” the group’s first of three chart toppers. It reached number one on the UK chart in 1990.

1975, KISS appeared at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1975, The Warner Bros. Looney Tunes package tour kicks off in Europe, featuring the Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, Graham Central Station, Bonaroo, Montrose and Tower of Power.

1977, Rolling Stone Keith Richards was fined £750 ($1,275) for possession of cocaine found in his car after the guitarist had been involved in a car crash.

1977, The Police had their first rehearsal, held at drummer’s Stewart Copeland’s London flat, with Henri Padovani on guitar.

1978, Rush performed at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1979, Joy Division appeared at Wythenshawe College, Manchester, England.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band played at Calderone Concert Hall, Hempstead, New York.

1983, Swedish percussionist with Traffic, Reebop Kwaku Baah died from a brain hemorrhage in Stockholm, Sweden. Also worked with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Can and The Rolling Stones.

1996, AC/DC played the first date on their Ballbreaker World Tour in Greensboro, North Carolina. The world tour would last for 11 months finishing on November 30, 1996 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

2003, Singer-songwriter Maurice Gibb from the Bee Gee’s died aged 53 in Miami Hospital, Florida following a heart attack during abdominal surgery.

Born on January 12: Long  John Baldry (1941); Cynthia Robinson, Sly and the Family Stone (1946); Chris Bell, Big Star (1951); Blixa Bargeld, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1959); and Zack de la Rocha, vocals, Rage Against The Machine (1970)

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Today in Rock History – January 7

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beatles-1964-tv1964, The Beatles recorded a seven-song appearance for the BBC Radio program Saturday Club. They played All My Loving, Money, The Hippy Hippy Shake, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Roll Over Beethoven Johnny B. Goode, and I Wanna Be Your Man. The show was broadcast on February 15, while the Beatles were in the US.

1967, The Young Rascals, The Doors, and Sopwith Camel play at Winterland in San Francisco.

1968, San Francisco’s underground FM station KMPX holds a ballot among its listeners to find out who would be the best candidate on a pro-grass ticket. The people say they want Bob Dylan for president, Paul Butterfield for vice-president, George Harrison as U.N. ambassador, Jefferson Airplane as the Secretary of Transportation, and the Grateful Dead as attorney general.

1968, Jimi Hendrix appears at Tivolis Koncertsal in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1970, Led Zeppelin kicked off an 8-date UK tour at Birmingham Town Hall.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Georgia Southern Gym, Statesboro, Georgia.

1971, Black Sabbath released Paranoid, their second studio album. The album features the band’s best-known signature songs, including the title track, “Iron Man” and “War Pigs.” The album was originally titled War Pigs, but allegedly the record company changed it to Paranoid, fearing backlash from supporters of the ongoing Vietnam War.

1973, David Bowie appeared at City Hall, in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.

1973, Black Sabbath performed at The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival, Ngaruawahia, New Zealand.

1974, Carly Simon and James Taylor’s daughter Sarah Maria was born.

1974, Aerosmith played at the Michigan Theatre in Detroit, the first date on their 56-date North American Get Your Wings Tour.

1975, KISS performed at the Pavilion, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

1977, Andy Gibb was at number one on the singles chart with “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” a song written by his Bee Gee brother Barry.

1978, Rush played at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

the wall1980, Pink Floyd released Another Brick In The Wall, (Part 2) in the US. The single peaked at number one on both the US and UK charts, giving Pink Floyd their first and only chart topping single. The single went to the first position in many other countries, including Australia, Germany and Italy.

1981, The Police played the first night of a North American tour at The University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada during their Zenyatta Mondatta World Tour.

1981, Cheap Trick appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1993, R.E.M. played a Greenpeace Benefit show at the 40 watt Club, Athens, Georgia, for 500 people. The show was recorded on a solar powered mobile recording studio.

1994, Nirvana plays the Seattle Arena. It is the band’s last US show.

1994, Oasis started recording their debut album Definitely Maybe, at Monrow studios in South Wales. When released in August 1994, it became the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK. It was later surpassed in 2006 by Arctic Monkeys debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The album went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide.

Born on January 7: Paul Revere, Paul Revere & the Raiders (1938); Danny Williams, singer (1942); Dave Cousins, The Strawbs (1945); Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone (1946); Kenny Loggins (1948); Marshall Chapman, singer-songwriter, author (1949); Kathy Valentine, bass, The Go- Go’s (1959); John Ondrasik,  singer-songwriter, Five For Fighting (1965)

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Today in Rock History – January 6

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elvis-on-ed-sullivan-19571957,  Elvis Presley makes his last appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the variety program that helped launch him nationwide. He performs for over 20 minutes, singing “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Peace in the Valley,” “Too Much” and “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again.”

1958,  Gibson guitars launched its “Flying V” electric guitar.

1962,  Elvis Presley had his third number one album with Blue Hawaii. It spent a total of 18 weeks at the top of the charts.

1964, The first night of a 14-date UK tour Group Scene 1964, featuring The Rolling Stones, The Ronettes, Marty Wilde, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Dave Berry and The Cruisers, played at the Granada Theatre, Harrow on The Hill, Middlesex, England.

1967,  The Who played their first gig of this year when they appeared at Morecambe, Central Pier in England.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the UFO Club, 31 Tottenham Court Road, London.

beatles-magical-mystery-tour1968,  The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour started an eight week run at number one on the album chart, the group’s 11th US chart topper.

1968, The Who Sell Out first appears on Billboard‘s album charts. It had been released in America right after Christmas 1967. It peaks at #48.

1970,  Crosby Stills Nash & Young made their UK live debut at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1972, Mahavishnu Orchestra performed at Symphony Hall in Boston.

1973, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” with Mick Jagger on backing vocals, started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart.

1973, David Bowie appeared at the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1974, Hawkwind played at the New Theatre, Oxford, England.

1975, Pink Floyd started sessions start at Abbey Road Studios London for their next album Wish You Were Here.

 1975, The mayor of Boston cancelled a Led Zeppelin concert after more than 2,000 fans rioted trying to buy tickets. The fans caused an estimated $50,000 to $75,000 damage at Boston Garden. The gig during the band’s North American tour was rescheduled for Feb 4th.

1977, EMI Records dropped The Sex Pistols, giving the band $68,000 to release them from their contract.

1978, Rush played at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

1979, The Bee Gees started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Too Much Heaven,” the group’s seventh chart topper.

1979, Boston performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1979, The Village People scored their only number one single with “Y.M.C.A.” At its peak the single was selling over 150,000 copies a day.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1987, Eric Clapton started what became an annual event by playing six shows at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1989, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at The Ritz, in New York.

1993,  Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie dies in Englewood, N.J. The trumpeter was 75.

2001, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour won the right to his dot com name. Dave took legal action in his battle to reclaim davidgilmour.com from Andrew Herman who had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site.

2006, American soul, jazz, singer Lou Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The 72-year-old, Grammy-winning artist had been battling lung cancer. Rawls had the 1976 US number two and  UK number ten single “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.”

2007, US country-rock steel guitar player “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, died aged 72 from Alzheimer’s disease. He was one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers with the Byrds’ Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons. He also worked with John Lennon and Joni Mitchell.

Born on this day: Earl Scruggs (1924); Van McCoy, singer, producer (1944); Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd (1946); Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention (1947); Kim Wilson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1951); Malcolm Young, guitar, AC/DC (1953); Kathy Sledge, singer, Sister Sledge (1959); Muzz Skillings, bass, Living Colour (1960); Mark O’Toole, bass, Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1964); Gary Wiseman, drummer, Bowling For Soup (1971);  Alex Turner, guitar, vocals, Arctic Monkeys (1986)

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Today in Rock History – December 24

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beatles_rs1965, The Beatles had the number one album in the US for the third Christmas in a row. Rubber Soul sat atop the LP chart in 1965, following Beatles For Sale in 1964 and With The Beatles in 1963. The Fab Four would repeat this feat again in 1968 with The Beatles (The White Album) and again in 1969, with Abbey Road.

1965, The Who appear on Ready Steady GO! performing “Jingle Bells” and an otherwise unreleased instrumental called “You Rang”  with John Entwhistle imitating Lurch the Butler from The Addams Family TV series. A poor audio copy of these tracks does still exist.

1967, The Bee Gees performed their Christmas special live from Liverpool Cathedral, England which was broadcast on UK TV.

1968,  Led Zeppelin leave Britain to start their first American tour. Robert Plant remembered, “It was Christmas, and Christmas away from home for the English is the end of the world.”

1968, Yes performed at the Speakeasy Club in London.

1969, Yes played at Farx Club, Southall, Middlesex, England.

1972, David Bowie appeared at the Rainbow Theatre, London, England giving a special Christmas Eve concert.

1973, Tom Johnson of the Doobie Brothers was arrested in Visalia, California and charged with possession of marijuana. His court date is set for January 10th, the same day the band’s new LP is to be released. The album is ironically titled What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.

1974,  James Taylor, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell get into the Christmas spirit by going around Los Angeles singing carols.

1975, AC/DC appeared at The Hordern Pavillion, Sydney, Australia.

Eagles-Hotel-California1976, Hotel California, The Eagles’ sixth album, spent the first of eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. It was the band’s first LP with Joe Walsh and last with bassist Randy Meisner, which has now sold over 16 million copies.

1977, The Bee Gees started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “How Deep Is Your Love,” the group’s 4th chart topper. It stayed in the top ten for 17 weeks giving it the longest chart run in history.

1977, The Kinks performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1977, The Sex Pistols played their last ever UK gig, (until 1996), before splitting, at Ivanhoes in Huddersfield. It was a charity performance before an audience of mainly children.

1983, The Police appeared at The Brighton Centre, Brighton, England on their Synchronicity Tour.

1988, Nirvana started recording their first album Bleach using a $600 loan from an old school friend.

1988, American glam metal band Poison started a three-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”

1994, Pearl Jam went to number one on the US album chart with Vitalogy. Their third studio album was first released on vinyl record, followed by a release in other formats two weeks later.

2000, Four Seasons bassist Nick Massi died of cancer. They scored the 1976 UK and US number one single “December 1963, Oh What A Night,” as well as hits with “Sherry,” and “Rag Doll.”

2009, Larry Knechtel, the keyboard player for Bread, died following a heart attack at the age of 69. Knechtel earned a Grammy award for his arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and also performed with Neil Diamond, Randy Newman, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., The Dixie Chicks and Elvis Costello.

2012, American musician Ray Collins died aged 76. Collins was the lead vocalist on early Mothers of Invention albums, including Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets and continued to contribute to other Frank Zappa projects through the mid-1970s.

Born on this December 24: Lee Dorsey (1924); Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister, Hawkwind, Motorhead (1945); Jan Akkerman, Focus (1946); Darren Wharton, Thin Lizzy, Dare (1962); Ricky Martin (1971); Tomas Kalnoky, Streetlight Manifesto (1980); Louis Tomlinson, One Direction (1991)

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Today in Rock History – November 19

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1964, The Supremes became the first all girl group to have a UK chart topping single when “Baby Love” went to the top of the charts.

1965, David Bowie and the Lower 3rd appeared at The Marquee Club, London.

1965, The Kinks, The Who, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, The Hollies, Wilson Pickett and The Golden Apples Of The Sun all appeared at the Glad Rag Ball, Wembley Empire Pool, London. Wembley Pool seats 10,000 and is the biggest venue The Who had yet played. However, they are forced to use the communal amplifiers and Roger Daltrey storms off in mid act demanding The Who’s amps be installed. The rest of the band perform instrumentals while Roger gets pelted with vegetables. Finally The Who’s amps are brought on and Roger returns to the mike.

1965, The Doors appeared at Hughes Aircraft Union Dance in Los Angeles, California.

1966, The Supremes started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “You Keep Me Hanging On,” the group’s seventh US chart topper. It made it to number eight in the UK. It was a top ten hit in the US for Vanilla Fudge in 1967.

1967, The Beach Boys played at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.

1967, The Bee Gees, The Flowerpot Men and The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band all appeared at the Saville Theatre, London, England.

1967, Pink Floyd appears at the Coventry Theater in Coventry, England.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts.

1971, Yes performed at William and Mary Memorial Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia.

1972, The Grateful Dead play the Hofheinz Pavilion at the University of Houston.

led-zeppelin-physical-graffiti1973,  Led Zeppelin begin sessions for their sixth album by recording a demo called “Driving to Kashmir.” The song title would later be shortened to just plain “Kashmir.” The sessions break up when John Paul Jones threatens to leave the band to become a choirmaster.

1974, David Bowie’s Philly Dogs tour stops at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1975, Aerosmith plays at Lantz Arena, Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

1976, UK music weekly Sounds made The Sex Pistols debut 45 “Anarchy In The UK,” its single of the week.

1976, George Harrison and Paul Simon are taped for a sketch on Saturday Night Live.

1977, Rush perform at War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York.

1978, Eric Clapton appears at Vorst Nationaal, Brussels, Belgium.

1979, Bob Dylan plays at the Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California.

1981, Black Sabbath performs at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1982, Led Zeppelin release their ninth and last studio album,  Coda.  It is a collection of unused tracks from various sessions during the band’s twelve-year career. It was released two years after the group had officially disbanded following the death of drummer John Bonham. The collection goes to number six in the US and four on the UK charts.

1983, Tom Evans from Badfinger committed suicide by hanging himself in his back garden from a willow tree. Family members said the singer, songwriter was never able to get over his former bandmate Pete Ham’s suicide. Evans co-wrote “Without You,” a hit for both Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey.

1983, Tina Turner made her first chart appearance in over ten years with her version of the Al Green hit “Let’s Stay Together.”

1988, Bon Jovi started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Bad Medicine,” the lead single from the band’s album New Jersey, It became the group’s third US chart topper, and a number 17 hit in the UK.

1994, Crosby Stills & Nash member David Crosby had a successful liver transplant operation. Crosby’s liver was deteriorated from extensive alcohol and drug abuse, as well as hepatitis-C.

2000, The Beatles started an eleven-week run at number one on the UK album chart with The Beatles 1. The album was produced by George Martin, and features virtually every number-one single released from 1962 to 1970. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the band’s break-up, it was their first compilation available on one CD. The world’s best-selling album of the 21st century, 1 has sold over 31 million copies, and topped album charts virtually worldwide.

2003, English bassist player Greg Ridley died from pneumonia. He was a member of the VIP’s with Keith Emerson, Spooky Tooth, and Humble Pie who had the 1969 UK number four single “Natural Born Bugie.” He formed Strange Brew with Clem Clempson and Cozy Powell.

2004, Record producer Terry Melcher, who was behind hits by the Byrds, Ry Cooder and the Beach Boys, died aged 62 after a long battle with skin cancer. He was the son of actress Doris Day, and co-wrote “Kokomo” for the Beach Boys. Melcher also produced “Mr Tambourine Man” for the Byrds, as well as hits for The Mamas and the Papas.

2006, A guitar played by George Harrison was set to fetch more than £100,000 ($160,000) at a London auction. The Maton MS500 guitar was used on The Beatles first album.

2012, Two farmers were found not guilty of health and safety offences after a giant hay bale crushed former ELO cellist Mike Edwards to death. He was killed instantly when the 600 kg (1320 pound) bale rolled down a field and landed on his van near Totnes in Devon in September 2010. In March 2011 in Plymouth an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death on Mr Edwards.

Born on this November 19: Dave Guard, Kingston Trio (1934); Ray Collins, Mothers of Invention (1937); Eddie Rayner, keyboards, Split Enz (1941); Fred Lipsius,  sax, Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943); Joe Correro, Paul Revere and the Raiders (1946); Matt Sorum, drummer, The Cult, Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver (1960)

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