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Today in Rock History – June 22

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1968, Herb Alpert started a four week run at number one on the singles chart with “This Guys In Love With You.” It was his first chart topper, plus first number one for the A&M label, as well as for writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David

1968, The Rolling Stones go to number one in the UK with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” It was the first time they had visited the top spot in two years.

1968, Rolling Stone, reviews the bootleg Basement Tapes in an article titled “The Missing Bob Dylan Album.”

1968, Actor Richard Harris goes to number two with his seven-minute reading of “MacArthur Park.”

1968, The Jeff Beck group featuring Rod Stewart made their US debut at the Fillmore East, New York.

1968, The Otis Redding album Dock Of The Bay went to number one posthumously. Redding was killed in a plane crash on December 10th 1967.

1969, Singer, actress, Judy Garland, died of a barbiturate overdose at age 47. She was found on the floor of her rented Chelsea home, in London. She made more than two dozen films, most  notably playing Dorothy in  1939’s Wizard Of Oz, singing “Over The Rainbow” in the film.

1969, Supergroup Blind Faith release their self-titled album.

1970, Led Zeppelin appeared at Laugardalsholl Hall, Reykjavik, Iceland on the group’s one and only visit to Iceland. It is suggested that Robert Plant was inspired to write the lyrics to “Immigrant Song” during this trip.

1974, Gordon Lightfoot started a two-week run at number one on the album chart with Sundown.

1975, At New York’s Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton joins the Rolling Stones onstage to jam on “Sympathy for the Devil.”

1978, The Boomtown Rats, supported by Matt Vinyl & The Decorators appeared at the Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1985, Bryan Adams started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Heaven,” his first chart topping single, which made it only to number 35 in the UK.

1990, Ry Cooder and David Lindley, The Cure, Happy Mondays, Sinead O’Connor, Deacon Blue, De La Soul, Adamski, Blue Aeroplanes, Julian Cope, Del Amitri, Jesus Jones, James and The Pale Saints all appeared on day one of the Glastonbury Festival. A three day ticket cost £38 ($61).

2008, Coldplay went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Viva La Vida,” their first UK chart topper. The song won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.

2013, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke started a 13 week run at number one on the US singles chart. The song featured American rapper T.I. and American singer and producer Pharrell, the video was made in two versions; the first video features models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M’Bengue, and Elle Evans being topless, the second features them covered. The topless version of the video was removed from YouTube for violating the site’s terms of service regarding nudity, though it was later restored, but flagged as inappropriate. “Blurred Lines” topped the charts in 14 countries.

Born on June 22: Kris Kristofferson (1936); Chris Blackwell, English record producer, co-founder Island Records (1937); Murphy Dunne, American actor, keyboards, The Blues Brothers (1942); Peter Asher, English singer, guitarist, producer, Peter and Gordon (1944); Howard Kaylan, The Turtles, Flo & Eddie, Frank Zappa (1947); Todd Rundgren (1948); Larry Junstrom, American bass player, 38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd (1949); Craig Gruber, American bass player, Rainbow, Elf, Bible Black, and Raven Lord (1951); Cyndi Lauper (1953); Derek Forbes, Scottish bass player, guitarist, Simple Minds, Big Country (1956); Garry Gary Beers, Australian bass player, songwriter, producer, INXS, Absent Friends (1957); Jimmy Somerville, Scottish singer-songwriter, Bronski Beat,  The Communards (1961); Bobby Gillespie, Scottish singer-songwriter, Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Wake (1962); Dicky Barrett, American singer, actor, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (1964); Steven Page, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist Barenaked Ladies (1970);

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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 – May 5

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Buffalo Springfield

1966, The Who performed at Town Hall in Kidderminster, West Midlands, England.

1967 At a performance at the Sporthallen in Eskilstuna, The Who are forced to perform on a small stage meters above the heads of the audience. Pete Townshend cuts the set to five songs in protest.

1968, Buffalo Springfield split up. Richie Fury formed Poco and Stephen Stills teamed up with David Crosby (The Byrds) and Graham Nash (The Hollies) to create Crosby Stills & Nash. They played a show at the Long Beach (California) Arena.

1968, Pink Floyd performed two shows at Theatre 140, in Brussels, Belgium.

1969, The Beatles single “Get Back” was released in the US.

1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival release their hit “Bad Moon Rising.”

1972, The first day of the three day Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England, with The Grateful Dead, Dr John, Donovan, The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, Hawkwind, America, Family, Country Joe MacDonald, Wishbone Ash, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Brinsley Schwarz and the Flamin Groovies.

1972, Jethro Tull and Wild Turkey appeared at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1972, Blind blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis died of a heart attack aged 76. His unique finger-picking style influenced many other artists.

1972, Michelle Phillips, Mama Cass, Judy Collins, Goldie Hawn, and Jack Nicholson, among others, agree to play a series of benefit concerts to help George McGovern’s presidential campaign.

1973, David Bowie scored his first number one album when Aladdin Sane started a five-week run at the top, featuring the single “Drive In Saturday.”

1973, King Crimson played at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

1973, Elvis Presley went to number one on the album chart with Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite.

Led Zeppelin in 1973

1973, At Tampa Stadium in Florida, 56,800 Led Zeppelin fans see Led Zeppelin. The band grossed $309,000 (£193,125). At the time the show set a record for the largest paying crowd at an American rock concert. The band played for two and a half hours without an intermission. Tickets were $5.00 (£3.13).

1974, Television appeared at CBGB’s in New York City, supported by the Stillettoes (later to become Blondie, who were playing their first show at CBGB.)

1975, Yes performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1977, The Grateful dead played at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut.

1978, Aerosmith performed at the Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina.

1979, Peaches and Herb started a four week run at number one on the singles chart with “Reunited.”

1979, On the last date of a US tour, The Boomtown Rats appeared at The Palladium in New York City.

1979, Van Halen played at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1980, The Who appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1984, Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr married Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde in a horse drawn carriage in Central Park, New York City.

1984, Duran Duran were at number one on the UK singles chart with “The Reflex,” the group’s second and last chart topper. The song which was taken from their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger was also a US number one.

1990, During a North American tour Nirvana appeared at the Einstein-A-Go-Go in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

1992, Radiohead released The Drill EP, their first record in the UK. The band were still called “On a Friday” when the songs for this EP were recorded; they changed their name to Radiohead the following month.

1996, Rage Against The Machine went to number one on the US album chart with Evil Empire. The album’s title is taken from the phrase “evil empire”, which was used by Ronald Reagan and many conservatives in describing the former Soviet Union. The album won the 1996 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance.

Born on this day: Johnnie Taylor, US soul singer (1937); Tammy Wynette (1942); Bill Ward, drums, Black Sabbath (1948); Ian McCullouch, Echo & the Bunnymen (1959); Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, aka Adele (1988)

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Today in Rock History – January 29

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beatles-1964-tv1964, The Beatles spent the day at Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France, The Beatles’ only studio recording session for EMI held outside the UK. They recorded new vocals for “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love,” after EMI’s West German branch persuaded Brian Epstein that they would be unable to sell large quantities of records in Germany unless they were recorded in the German language. A translator coached John, Paul, and George, although their familiarity with the German language from their Hamburg days made things much easier.

1965, Texas rocker P.J. Proby, who’s enjoyed hits in England with singles like “Hold Me,” had “accidental” split of his trousers while performing in London.  Proby is quick to incorporate the unexpected exposure into his stage routine, but he is later banned from the ABC Theater chain. He later found work singing demos for Elvis Presley.

1967, The Monkees self-titled debut album started a seven-week run at number one on the UK album chart.

1967, Jimi Hendrix and The Who appeared at The Saville Theatre, London, England.

1968, during a tour of Australia and New Zealand, The Who, The Small Faces and Paul Jones appeared at the Town Hall, Wellington in New Zealand.

1968, The Doors appeared at The Pussy Cat A Go Go, Las Vegas. After the show,  Jim Morrison taunts a security guard in the parking lot by pretending to smoke a joint, resulting in a fight. The police arrive, arrest Morrison, and charge him with vagrancy, public drunkenness, and failure to possess sufficient identification.

1969, Fleetwood Mac had their only UK number one single with the instrumental “Albatross.”

1971, Deep Purple kicked of a 21-date UK tour at Leeds Town Hall, Yorkshire.

1971, Hot Tuna, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band played the first of a three night engagement at the Fillmore West, San Francisco.

george-harrison-bangladesh1972, the triple album The Concert For Bangla Desh went to number one on the UK album chart. The event was organized by George Harrison to raise funds for the people caught up in the war and famine from the area. The show featured Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members from Badfinger.

1972, David Bowie performed at Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, England.

1973, The Who tape their appearance on the BBC-2 TV program The Old Grey Whistle Test. The show opens with a mimed version of “Relay” with live vocals that runs noticeably longer than the released single. Later they play the as yet unreleased “Long Live Rock.”

1974, Genesis played at Eulachhalle, Winterthur, Switzerland.

1975, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina. A total of 39 people were arrested, mostly on drug charges.

1977, Gwen Dickey, former backing band for The Temptations, went to number one on the US singles chart as Rose Royce with “Car Wash.” It was a number nine hit in the UK.

1977, Pink Floyd appeared at Deutschlandhalle, West Berlin, Germany.

1977, Aerosmith played at Gunma Sports Center, Maebashi, Japan.

1978, Rush performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin.

1979, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego’s Grover Cleveland Elementary School. Spencer fired the shot’s from a .22-caliber rifle her father had given her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, she answered “I don’t like Mondays.” Bob Geldorf of The Boomtown Rats went on to write and recorded a song based on the event.

1980, Rush played at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama.

1981, Bruce Springsteen appeared at the Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa.

1982, ZZ Top performed at Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

1983, Australian group Men At Work went to number one on the British and American singles and album charts simultaneously with “Down Under” and Business As Usual. The last artist to achieve this was Rod Stewart in 1971.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult played at Hydepark Circus, Osnabrück, Germany.

1986, Pete Townshend performed at Gala du Midem, Cannes, France.

1992, American blues singer and guitarist Willie Dixon died of heart failure. He wrote the classic songs “You Shook Me,” “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and “Little Red Rooster.” Dixon was a major influence on The Rolling Stones, Cream, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

1996, George Michael had the UK No.1 single with “Jesus To A Child.” It was the singer’s sixth UK chart topper as a solo artist and the first single from his come-back album Older,  delivered after lengthy litigation with his record company.

2006, Arctic Monkeys went to number one on the UK album chart with their debut album Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not. The Sheffield-based bands album became the fastest-selling debut in chart history after shifting more than 360,000 copies in its first week of release.

2009, Singer-songwriter John Martyn died in the hospital in Ireland at the age of 60. The folk, blues and funk artist was widely regarded as one of the most soulful and innovative singer-songwriters of his generation and had been cited as an influence by artists as varied as U2, Portishead and Eric Clapton

Born on January 29: James Jamerson, bassist, The Funk Brothers, Motown (1938); Andrew Loog Oldham, Stones manger (1944); Tommy Ramone (1952); Luiz Perez, Los Lobos (1953); Rob Manzoli, singer, Right Said Fred (1954); Roddy Frame, guitarist, singer, Aztec Camera (1964)

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Today in Rock History – July 28

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1965,  The Who pre-tape an appearance on Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio! at The Marquee followed by a gig at the Pontiac Club in southwest London’s Putney, where the band’s PA blows up after the first set. The Who’s first live performance of “My Generation” may have taken place at this explosive set.

1965, Rolling Stone Charlie Watts buys a 16th century wooden mansion in Sussex, England. His father tells the press, “We can’t understand why he prefers an old place like this to something modern.”

1966, James Brown appeared at The Apollo Theatre in New York City.

1968, Pink Floyd plays a Friday night gig at UFO, The Blarney Club, on Tottenham Court Road in London.  On the bill were Fairport Convention and Shiva’s Children. From Melody Maker, “In a cacophony of sound played to a background of multi-coloured projected lights the Pink Floyd proved they are Britain’s top psychedelic group. In two powerful sets they drew nearly every conceivable note from their instruments, but ignored their two hit singles…..Bass player Roger Waters gave the group a powerful depth and the lights played on to them to set an impressive scene.” This was the last show at the “intimate” Blarney Club. The landlord kicked producer Joe Boyd out of the space, and they relocated to the much larger Roundhouse venue.

1969, Yes play at the Old Granary in Bristol, England.

1969, Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalized after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.

1970, “Ned Kelly,” starring Mick Jagger as the behelmeted highwayman, opens in Australia. Reception is unkind. Halliwell’s Film Guide fumes, “Obstinately unlikable action picture with some kind of message which never becomes clear amid all the cleverness.”

1973, Chicago went to number one on the album chart with Chicago IV. It was the group’s second chart topper.

1973, The Watkins Glen outdoor summer jam was held outside of Watkins Glen, New York with The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead and The Band. Over 600,000 rock fans attended. Many historians claimed the event was the largest gathering of people in the history of the United States. 150,000 tickets were sold for $10 each, but for all the other people it was a free concert. The crowd was so huge that a large part of the audience was not able to see the stage.

1974, Peter Frampton appears at the Garden, in Boston, Massachusetts.

1975, Bob Dylan plays his first session for the Desire album. On “Romance in Durango,” he’s joined by Eric Clapton on dobro, while Emmylou Harris plays steel guitar on “Abandoned Love.” The album features the song “Hurricane.” It protests the conviction of former middleweight boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter for triple murder in 1966, arguing for his innocence.

1975, The Rolling Stones perform at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Tickets were $9.50.

1978, The lineup for Buffalo’s Summerfest at Rich Stadium was Bob Welch, Pablo Cruise, Foreigner, and the headliner was Welch’s former mates, Fleetwood Mac.

1979, Van Halen plays the Fieldhouse in Dayton, Ohio.

1979, “I Don’t Like Mondays” gave The Boomtown Rats their second UK number one single. Bob Geldof wrote the song after reading a report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was “I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day.”

1980, The Police, U2 and Squeeze all appeared at the Dalymount Festival in Dublin, Ireland.

1996, Marge Ganser from The Shangri-Las died of breast cancer. The group scored over ten hits during the 60’s including the 1964 US number one “Leader Of The Pack.”

2008, Amy Winehouse was rushed to hospital after she started to have fits at her home in Camden North London. A spokesman said it appeared the singer had suffered a reaction to medication she was taking to help her off hard drugs.

Born on July 28: George Cummings, steel guitar, Dr Hook (1938); Michael Bloomfield (1944); Rick Wright, Pink Floyd (1945); Jonathan Edwards (1946); Garald Casale, Devo (1948); Simon Kirke, drums, Free (1949); Steve Morse, Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple, Kansas (1954); Dan Warton, drums, Neds Atomic Dustbin (1972)

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