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Today in Rock History – July 14

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rolling-stones-all-over-now1964, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the UK singles chart with “It’s All Over Now,” the group’s first of eight UK chart toppers. The original Valentinos version of the song was played to the Rolling Stones during their first North American tour in June 1964 by New York radio DJ Murray the K. It was originally written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. The Stones recorded their version nine days later at Chess Studios in Chicago.

1964, The Beach Boys performed at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa.

1965, The Who performed at the Locarno Ballroom in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appears at the Stadium in the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. Hendrix was the opening act for The Monkees. He got so tired of the boos and screams from impatient fans of the group that he flipped a finger at the crowd and stormed off stage.

1967, The Who began their first full North American tour at the Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon, appearing as support band to Herman’s Hermits on 55 dates.

1968, Promoter Bill Graham leaves the Fillmore Auditorium to take over San Francisco’s Carousel Ballroom. Electric Flag and Blue Cheer play the final Fillmore concerts.

1969, Procol Harum performs at the Boston Tea Party  in Boston, Massachusetts.

1969, At the Mississippi River Rock Festival, The Band find themselves upstaged when their boss, Bob Dylan, joins them on stage for three songs. He’s introduced as “Elmer Johnson.”

1970, The Grateful Dead play at the Euphoria Ballroom in San Rafael, California, a suburb of San Francisco.

1971, The Byrds, James Taylor, Steeleye Span, Sandy Denny, Tom Paxton and The Incredible String Band all appeared at the UK Lincoln Folk Festival

1973, A drunk driver killed Clarence White of The Byrds while he was loading equipment after a gig in Palmdale, California.

1973, Gary Glitter and the Glitter Men made their live debut at Mecksham, Wiltshire, England.

1973, During a concert at the John Wayne Theatre in Hollywood, California, Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed of stage, Don finished the set by himself and announced that The Everly Brothers had split.

1974, Eric Clapton played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.

1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions made their live debut supporting Wayne County at The Garden, Penzance, Cornwall, England.

1978, Marshall Tucker Band played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas.

1980, Allen Klein ex-manager of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones began serving a two-month prison sentence for falsifying tax returns.

1982, The movie premier for Pink Floyd’s The Wall was held at The Empire, Leicester Square, London, England.

1982, Van Halen kicked off their 105-date North American Hide Your Sheep Tour at Richmond County Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia.

1986, Madonna was at number one on the UK singles chart with her  “Papa Don’t Preach,” her second chart topper. Madonna also had the UK number one album with True Blue.

2007, A pair of glasses worn by former Beatle John Lennon sparked a bidding war after being offered for sale online. The circular sunglasses were worn by Lennon during the Beatles 1966 tour of Japan, where the band played some of their last ever live dates. Anonymous rival bidders had pushed the price as high as £750,00.

Born on this day: Woody Guthrie (1912) and Ellen Reid, keyboards, Crash Test Dummies (1966)

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Today in Rock History – June 26

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1965, The Byrds went to number one on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man.” Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine played on the track.

1965, The Strangeloves,  three Australian aborigines who were really three New Yorkers, enter Billboard’s Hot 100 with “I Want Candy.”

1966, In the midst of a German tour, the Beatles make a long-awaited return to Hamburg, the city where they got their start performing in local clubs. This time they come back in an eight-car motorcade and play to 7,000 people at Ernst Mercky Halle.

1966, During a North American tour, The Rolling Stones played two shows, a matinee show at The Coliseum in Washington DC, and an evening show at The Baltimore Civic Centre in Maryland. The McCoys and The Standells were the support acts.

1969, Joni Mitchell appeared on the ABC TV Mama Cass Television Program from Los Angeles, California.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at North Georgia Fairgrounds in Marietta, Ohio.

1970, Mountain played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1971, Emerson Lake and Palmer went to number one on the UK chart with their second album Tarkus.

1971, Pink Floyd play at Hatfield Polytechnic, in Hatfield, England. Tickets were 60 pence (about 90 cents.)

1972, During sessions at Olympic Studios, London, England, David Bowie recorded “John, I’m Only Dancing,” with Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Lou Reed on rhythm guitar. The track which was released and became a hit single in the UK in September of this year was not released in America, being judged too risqué by RCA Records. The original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp’s mime troupe, was banned by British music show Top Of The Pops.

1973, Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were arrested at their home in Chelsea, London on drugs and gun charges.

1974, Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.

1975, Bob Dylan officially releases the long-bootlegged Basement Tapes.

1976, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

1976, Legendary ’70s group Roxy Music announce they will undergo a “trial separation.”

1977, Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were  “Hurt”  and  “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA s pressing plant.

1982, American singer and One Hit Wonder Charlene was at number one on the UK singles chart with “I’ve Never Been To Me.” The song was recorded in 1976 and was reissued by Motown records in 1982 by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in a sweet shop in Ilford, east London.

1999, Elton John was reported to be in talks with a City finance house to secure a £25 million ($42.5 million) loan, using his back catalogue of hits as security. It had been reported that Elton had been spending £250,000 ($425,000) a week on credit cards.

2008, Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track “You Shook Me All Night Long” as the world’s worst cover version ever. In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song “All Along the Watchtower,” The Beatles rendition of “Twist and Shout,” (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N’ Roses version of the Wings song “Live and Let Die.”

Born on Jun 26: Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager (1910); Billy Davis, Jr., The Fifth Dimension (1940); Larry Taylor, Canned Heat (1942) Mick Jones, The Clash (1955); Chris Isaak (1956) ; Colin Greenwood,  Radiohead (1969)

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Today in Rock History – June 25

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The Byrds

1966, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Love, Captain Beefheart, The Lovin Spoonful and Percy Sledge all appeared at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California.

1966, Jackie Wilson was arrested for inciting a riot and refusing to obey a police order at a nightclub in Port Arthur, Texas. Wilson had a crowd of 400 whipped into a frenzy and refused to stop singing when requested to do so by police. He was later convicted of drunkenness and fined $30.

1966, Neil Diamond makes his first appearance on American Bandstand, serenading Dick Clark with “Solitary Man.”

1967, During a north American tour The Jimi Hendrix Experience gave a free afternoon concert in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. They then played another two shows that evening at the Fillmore West.

1967, 200 million people saw The Beatles perform “All You Need Is Love,”  broadcast live via satellite as part of the TV global link- up, Our World. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Keith Moon and Gary Leeds provided backing vocals.

1969, The Hollies recorded “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” Elton John played piano on the session.

1969,  Sly & the Family Stone record “Hot Fun in the Summertime.”

1970, Hall & Oates record together for the first time as Whole Oats.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at Fillmore East in New York City.

1972, David Bowie performed at Greyhound in London England.

1972, Led Zeppelin’s North American tour stops at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

1977, Marvin Gaye went to number one on the US singles chart with “Got To Give It Up,” his third US chart topper.

1978, The Grateful Dead performed at Autzen Stadium on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

1983, The Police scored their fourth UK number one album with Synchronicity, also a chart topper in the US and featuring the singles “Every Breath You Take” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger.”

Born on June 25: Eddie Floyd, soul singer (1935); Clint Warwick, The Moody Blues (1940);  Carly Simon (1945); Allen Lanier, Blue Oyster Cult (1946); Tim Finn, Split Endz, Crowded House (1952); David Paich, Toto (1954), George Michael (1963)

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Today in Rock History – June 16

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bob-dylan-highway-611965, Bob Dylan recorded “Like A Rolling Stone” at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, during sessions for the forthcoming Highway 61 Revisited album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on “Like A Rolling Stone” became one of rock’s most recognizable sounds.

1965, The Who’s manager Chris Stamp goes on his first trip to see Decca Records management in New York. The only way he can make the flight is to have his brother, the actor Terence Stamp, downgrade his first-class ticket to two coach tickets as he flies to America to promote his movie The Collector.

1966, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, featuring guitarist Eric Clapton, appeared at The Marquee Club, London, England.

1966, The Who played at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

1966, The Beatles made a surprise live appearance on the UK television program Top of the Pops, performing “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” It became The Beatles’ last live musical television appearance, apart from the June 1967 worldwide transmission of “All You Need Is Love.”

1967, The three day Monterey Pop Festival in California began. All the proceeds went to charity when all the artists agreed to perform for free, and the “Summer of Love” was born. It was organized by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Lou Adler. The festival saw the first major US appearances by The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. Also on the bill: The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Otis Redding, Simon & Garfunkel, The Steve Miller Band, Canned Heat, The Mamas And The Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield and The Electric Flag. Tickets cost $3.50–6.50 (£2–3.80).  Phillips, would later write, “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair”) about the festival, which became a hit for Scott McKenzie.

1967, Pink Floyd release their second single, “See Emily Play,” in England. It reached number six in the UK charts. The US release was slated for July 24th.

1968, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller, and Santana play a benefit at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium. Proceeds from the gig go toward keeping the Matrix Club, another San Francisco venue, open.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at Aeolian Hall in London, England.

1970, Mungo Jerry were at number one on the singles chart with “In The Summertime.” It went on to become the best selling single of 1970 spending seven weeks at the top of the charts.

1970, The Who performed at the Berkeley Community Theater. It was The Who’s last small venue concert in the US until 1999

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama.

1972, David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It reached number five on the UK Album Chart and number 75 in the US. It was eventually certified platinum and gold in the UK and US respectively. The first single from the record, “Starman,” charted at number ten in the UK while peaking at number 65 in the US.

1972, Genesis appeared at the Corn Exchange, Bedford, England.

1973, The Eagles and King Crimson played at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1974, Tangerine Dream made their live UK debut at London’s Victoria Palace.

1974, The Grateful Dead played at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. The show has been released as Road Trips, Volume 2, Number 3.

1975,  John Lennon files a suit against former U.S. Attorneys General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, accusing them of harassment during deportation proceedings.

1975, Peter Frampton played at the Marin County Civic Center, in  San Rafael, California. Recordings from this, along with the following night at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom were used as part of his chart topping double album Frampton Comes Alive!

1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1976, The Jackson Five four-week summer variety show premiered on CBS- TV, featuring The Jacksons plus sisters Latoya, Rebbie and Janet.

1977, Kenny Rogers was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Lucille.” It was the American country music and pop singer’s first of two UK number ones.

1978, Mac Davis hosts The Midnight Special, welcoming guests Rod Stewart, Todd Rundgren, and Andrew Gold.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Earls Court in London.

1978, David Bowie appeared at City Hall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.

1979, The Electric Light Orchestra started a five-week run at number one on the album chart with Discovery, their first chart topping LP, featuring the tracks “Shine A Little Love,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “The Diary Of Horace Wimp.”

1980, The Blues Brothers film starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd premiered in Chicago. The film also had cameos from  Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Ray Charles.

1981, Van Halen appeared at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas.

1982, Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died following sustained cocaine and heroin addiction.

1983, Dire Straits performed at the Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood had their second UK number one single with “Two Tribes.”It stayed at number one for nine weeks making Frankie Goes To Hollywood the first band to have their first two singles go to the top of the UK chart. During this run the group’s previous single “Relax” climbed back up the charts to the second spot.

1989, The first day of the UK three day Glastonbury Festival took place featuring Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Throwing Muses, The Pixies, All About Eve, Hot House Flowers, The Waterboys, Suzanne Vega and Fairground Attraction. Tickets cost £28 ($48).

1994, Oasis played at The Erotika Club, Paris in France, the band’s first gig outside the UK.

1996, Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lee Hooker, Beck, Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, De La Soul and Richie Havens all appeared at the two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco: A sell-out crowd of over 100,000 made it the largest US benefit concert since Live Aid in 1985.

1999, Screaming Lord Sutch was found dead after hanging himself. The singer turned politician was 58. He was the first long-haired pop star-boasting hair over 18 inches long and the self-styled lord, whose real name was David Sutch, was Britain’s longest-serving political leader, standing in nearly 40 elections.

2002, Elvis Presley started a four week run at number one on the UK singles chart 46 years after his first hit, with “A Little Less Conversation.” This gave Elvis a total of 18 UK chart topping singles, the most by any artist in chart history. This also set a new record for the longest span of number one hits with 44 years, 11 months and 9 days. His first UK number single was “All Shook Up” in 1957.

2010, American musician and guitarist Gary Shider died from cancer of the brain and lungs. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars, and as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic he scored the hit “One Nation Under A Groove.”

Born on June 16: Lamont Dozier, songwriter of Holland/Dozier/Holland fame (1941); American singer–songwriter and actor Edward Levert, The O’Jays (1942); Ian Matthews, singer, Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort (1946); Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, producer, The Blues Brothers, CBS Orchestra (1947); Robbin Thompson, American singer-songwriter, Steel Mill (1949); James Smith, The Stylistics (1950); Charlie Dominici, American singer, guitarist, Dream Theater, Dominici (1951); Gino Vanelli (1952); Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist, The Boomtown Rats (1954); Tupac Shakur (1971)

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Today in Rock History – June 10

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1966, Steve Marriott of The Small Faces collapsed while performing on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! The group were forced to cancel the following week’s gigs.

1966, Big Brother & the Holding Company perform with their new lead singer, Janis Joplin, for the first time.

1967, In Woodstock, N.Y., Bob Dylan and the Band begin to record what will become known as The Basement Tapes.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Nautilus Club, South Pier, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.

1969, The Byrds, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Smokey Robinson, and Dionne Warwick performed at California’s Fantasy Faire and Magic Mountain Music Festival.

1969, Pink Floyd played at Ulster Hall, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1969,  Gary Lewis & the Playboys appeared on The Tonight Show.

1970, The Who appeared at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado.

1971, A crowd gets so excited during a performance by Jethro Tull in Denver that police fire tear gas on them.

1972, Sammy Davis Jr started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Candy Man,” his only US No.1. The song was taken from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

1972, The Rolling Stones double album Exile On Main Street went to No.1 on the album chart, the bands seventh chart topping album. On the same day, they performed at the Pacific Terrace Center, Long Beach, California.

1972, Led Zeppelin played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York. Tickets were $5 and $6 (£3.33 and £4.) arlier this day, members of Led Zeppelin, Peter Grant and Richard Cole attend Elvis Presley’s afternoon concert at Madison Square Garden.

1973, Wet Willie, the Allman Brothers Band,and  The Grateful Dead,  played at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.  The Allmans joined the Dead onstage for the third set of their show for It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry, That’s Alright Mama, Promised Land, Not Fade Away > Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad > Drums > Not Fade Away, Johnny B. Goode.

1974, The Who began a four-night sold-out run at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1975, The Eagles release One of These Nights.

1975, Aerosmith appeared at Brown County Arena, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

1976, At Seattle’s Kingdome, Paul McCartney & Wings play for a crowd of 67,100, setting an indoor attendance record.

1976, Yes played at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1977, Joe Strummer and Nicky Headon from The Clash were each fined £5 ($8.50) by a London court for spray-painting “The Clash” on a wall.

1977, Led Zeppelin played the third of six nights at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1979, Van Halen played at the Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1980, Rush performed at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1981, ZZ Top appeared at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1981, Bob Dylan headlined at Poplar Creek Music Theatre, Hoffman Estates, Illinois (outside of Chicago.)

1982, Addie Harris from The Shirelles died of a heart attack after a show in Atlanta. 1961 US number one and UK number four single “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” They became the first all girl group to have a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

1982, Eric Clapton performed at the Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1986, Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went into a five day diabetic coma, resulting in the band withdrawing from their current tour.

1991, Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr kicked off an 8-date tour at the Gothic Theater in Denver.

1993, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to “stop hurting me please.” She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O’Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.

2001, Radiohead went to number one on the UK album chart with Amnesiac. The band’s fifth studio album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and produced three singles, “Pyramid Song,” “I Might Be Wrong,” and “Knives Out.”

2004,  Ray Charles died at age 73. Glaucoma rendered Charles blind at the age of six. He scored the 1962 UK and US number one single “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” plus over 30 other US Top 40 singles and the 2005 US chart topping album Genius Loves Company. Charles was also the winner of 17 Grammy Awards. Ray was married twice, and fathered twelve children by nine different women appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers. Also, he was portrayed in a feature film starring Jamie Foxx.

2006, The surviving members of Led Zeppelin met at a secret rehearsal space in England to run through songs for the forthcoming 02 Arena benefit tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder, the late Ahmet Ertegun. It was the first time the three members had been in the same room with instruments since their four-song set at Led Zeppelin’s 1995 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

2007, The Rolling Stones played their first UK festival in over 30 years when they appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival. The Stones arrived at the Isle of Wight on their own privately chartered ferry for their 200-strong entourage including five Winnebago trailers and private security team. The Stones last UK festival appearance was Knebworth Fair in 1976

Born on June 10: Howlin’ Wolf (1910); Judy Garland (1922); Shirley Owens, The Shirells (1941); Rick Price, The Move (1944); Kim Deal, Pixies (1961); Jimmy Chamberlin, drums, Smashing Pumpkins (1964)

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Today in Rock History – May 22

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1964, The Beatles arrived back from their first US trip at Heathrow Airport and were greeted by thousands of fans. Also on this day The Beatles scored their second chart topping album with The Beatles Second Album. It displaced Meet The Beatles! from the top of the charts.

1965,  The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride ” surpassed Herman’s Hermits  “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” on the top spot on the charts.

1965, The Who appeared at the Astoria Ballroom, Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England.  Also an article on The Who appears in Record Mirror featuring short and angry quotes from Pete and Keith. Pete: “This thing about smashing amplifiers; well, if we’ve got a particularly thick audience out in the sticks we do it but sometimes we take the thing down a bit.” Keith: “We had to do something [“Anyway Anyhow Anywhere”] that would get away from all the rubbish that people are buying.”

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, Finland.

1967, Florence Ballard appears with the Supremes for the last time on The Tonight Show.

1968, Gary Puckett And The Union Gap were at number one on the singles chart with “Young Girl.” The song which was about under-age sex was their only chart topper.

1968, Pink Floyd performed at the Hotel Billard Palace, Antwerp, Belgium.

1968, Frank Sinatra appeared at Oakland Coliseum, California backed by a full orchestra. The concert was a Democratic Party fundraiser.

1969, John Lennon and Paul McCartney pick up another prize at the  Ivor Novello awards in London, winning A-Side Which Achieved the Highest Certified British Sales, 1968 for “Hey Jude.”

1970, The Byrds and Mason Proffit played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band headlined at the Grand Opera House in Macon, Georgia.

1970, Litter, The Bob Seger System, and Mountain performed at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago

1971, The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers started a four-week run at number one on the charts, the group’s second chart topping album, the set featured “Brown Sugar,” “Bitch,” and “Wild Horses.” The artwork for Sticky Fingers, which, on the original vinyl release, featured a working zipper that opened to reveal cotton briefs, was conceived by American pop artist Andy Warhol. The cover, a photo of Joe Dallesandro’s crotch clad in tight blue jeans, was assumed by many fans to be an image of Mick Jagger. The album also features the first usage of the “Tongue and Lip Design” created by John Pasche.

1971, The Faces appeared at Liverpool Stadium in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1972, Pink Floyd, Donovan, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Buddy Miles and Carlos Santana, Tom Paxton and Memphis Slim, Dr. John The Night Tripper and Spencer Davis with Sneeky Pete and Gene Clark played at The Amsterdam Rock Circus 1972, Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

1973, David Bowie appeared at the Odeon Theatre (Romford), in London.

1974, The Who performed at Guildhall, Portsmouth, England.

1975,  The Eagles headlined at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, During a European tour The Rolling Stones played at Earls Court in London.

1976, Wings started a five week run at number one on the singles chart with “Silly Love Songs,” McCartney’s fifth chart topper since leaving The Beatles.

1976, KISS appeared at The Olympia Theatre, Paris.

1977, Television kicked off their first UK tour at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland, Blondie were the support act.

source: LedZeppelin.com

1977, Led Zeppelin performed at the Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

1979, Rush appeared at Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway.

1980, U2 kicked off their 23-date 11 O’Clock Tick Tock tour at The Hope & Anchor in London.

1980, Black Sabbath played at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England.

1982, The Grateful Dead performed at the Greek Theatre, at The University of California at Berkeley.

1983, ZZ Top appeared at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama.

1984, Van Halen performed at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1991, Wil Sinnott from The Shamen drowned while swimming off the coast of La Gomera when he was pulled under by strong currents. The Shamen were in Tenerife filming a video for their new single “Move Any Mountain.”

2000, Travis swept the board at the Ivor Novello awards. Singer Fran Healy won two awards for Best Contemporary Song for the single “Why Does It Always Rain On Me,” and Songwriter Of The Year for the Travis album The Man Who.

2004, Morrissey appeared at the M.E.N. arena Manchester, England on his 45th birthday. It was Morrissey’s return to his home city Manchester after an absence of 12 years and the 18,000 tickets sold out in only 90 minutes. During the set Morrissey performed five Smiths songs.

2005, Dave Matthews Band were at number one on the US album chart with Stand Up. The album entered the chart at No.1 with sales of 465,000. Features the singles “American Baby,” “Dreamgirl,” and “Everybody Wake Up.”

Born on this day: Bruce Rowlands, Fairport Convention (1941); Calvin Simon, Funkadelic (1942); Bernie Taupin (1950); Morrisey (1954); and Dan Roberts, bass, Crash Test Dummies (1967)

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Today in Rock History – May 14

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1964, Jan & Dean start recording “Little Old Lady (From Pasadena).”

1965, The Who appeared at Civic Hall in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

1965, San Francisco radio station KYA hosts the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Beau Brummels, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and the Vejtables at the Civic Auditorium.

1966, The Who played at Palais in Bury, Manchester, England.

1967, around the UK – Jimi Hendrix played at the Elizabethan Ballroom in Manchester, The Bee Gees appeared at The Beachcomber in Nottingham, and Alan Price played at the Coatham Hotel in Redcar.

1967, Pink Floyd played “Pow R Toc H” and “Astronomy Domine” live on the arts program The Look of the Week broadcast by BBC2 television. Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were interviewed by classic music critic Hans Keller. Below is video from that appearance.

1968, Cream performed at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio.

1968, Paul McCartney and John Lennon make a guest appearance on The Tonight Show to announce the creation of Apple Corps.

1969, During a UK tour, Fairport Convention’s van crashed on the M1 motorway on the way home from a gig in Birmingham, killing the group’s 19 year-old drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn.

1969, King Crimson performed at the Revolution Club, London, while Yes appeared at the Marquee Club.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at Merramac Community College in Kirkwood, Missouri.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed at the Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans.

1974, Another Grateful Dead show at a college venue. This time at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula.

1975, Yes appeared at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Granby Halls, Leicester, England.

1976, 33 year old Keith Relf, former lead singer for The Yardbirds, was electrocuted while tuning a guitar which was not properly grounded. The accident happened in his West London home where he was found by his eight year old son, still holding the plugged-in electric guitar.

1977, The Eagles’ Hotel California enters it’s last week at number one on the US album charts.  It held the top spot for five weeks in the spring of 1977, and on two occasions earlier in the year.

1977, Talking Heads played a gig at The Rock Garden in London where Brian Eno, who was in the audience, sees them and goes on to produce the band.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1983, Spandau Ballet scored their first and only UK number one album with “True.” The title track from the album spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles charts and reached the second spot in the US. Other singles from the album included “Gold” (a number two UK hit and a Top 30 hit in the US), “Lifeline,” and “Communication.”

1988, Led Zeppelin reunited for the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party at Madison Square Garden, New York, appearing with Jason Bonham the son of John Bonham on drums. Other acts performing included Foreigner, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King.

1998, singer and actor Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles aged 82, after suffering a heart attack. Sinatra had his first hit in 1940, working in the Swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. He went on to score over 25 Top 40 singles including the 1966 chart topper “Strangers In The Night.” His 1969 single “My Way,” re-entered the UK charts eight times and spent a total of 165 weeks on the UK chart.

2006, Red Hot Chili Peppers started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Stadium Arcadium, the bands’ ninth studio album, also a US chart topper.

Born on this day: Bobby Darin (1936);  Jack Bruce (1943); Gene Cornish, The Young Rascals (1946);  Al Ciner, The American Breed (1947); and David Byrne (1952)

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Today in Rock History – February 24

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Rolling-Stones-19631963, The Rolling Stones started a Sunday night residency at The Station Hotel, Richmond, Surrey. The Stones were paid $41 for the gig and played on the first night to a total of 66 people.

1965, The first full day of filming took place for The Beatles movie Help! with the group riding bicycles on location near London Airport, England.

1966, The Who perform at the Victoria Ballroom in Chesterfield, England, without Roger Daltrey, who had come down with laryngitis. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle share the vocals. Beforehand, John and Keith Moon sit in with the opening act, The Fruit Eating Bears.

1967, The Who play two shows at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Bologna, Italy.

1967, Pink Floyd performed two shows on this date. An early show took place at the Ricky Tick Club, at the Thames Hotel in Windsor, and a late show, their regular Friday gig at the UFO, held at the Blarney Club on Tottenham Court Road in London.

1968, Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine, Eire Apparent, and The Paupers played at CNE Coliseum in Toronto. After the concert, Hendrix reportedly jammed with Robbie Robertson and members of The Hawks, soon to be known as The Band, at an area club.

1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last ever-British performance when they appeared at the Royal Albert Hall.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.

1970, Syd Barrett participated in two recording sessions for the BBC at Maida Vale Studios in London. Playing along with Syd were David Gilmour, and Jerry Shirley on drums.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

1972, Genesis performed at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1973, Roberta Flack had her second number one when “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” started a five-week run at the top. The song was written about US singer songwriter Don McLean.

1973, The Byrds made their final live appearance when they played at The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. It was their current incarnation of the group, which included Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, John York and Gene Parsons.

1974, Yes appeared at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

led-zeppelin-physical-graffiti1975, Led Zeppelin released their sixth album Physical Graffiti in the UK. Recording sessions had been disrupted when bassist and keyboard player John Paul Jones had proposed quitting the band, supposedly to become choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral, England, although in reality he just needed time to rest after Zeppelin’s demanding tour schedule. The group decided on a double album so they could feature songs left over from their previous albums Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy.

1976, The Eagles Greatest Hits became the first album to be certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. New certification’s represented sales of 1 million copies for albums and two million for singles.

1977, ZZ Top played at Cobo Arena, Detroit.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Matsushita Denki Taiikukan, Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan.

1979, Rush appeared at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1982, Winners at the Grammy Awards included John & Yoko Album of the year with Double Fantasy, Kim Carnes for Song of the year with Bette Davis Eyes, Quincy Jones won producer of the year, and Sheena Easton best new act.

1982, King Crimson performed at the E J Thomas Auditorium, Akron, Ohio.

1982, The Police won best British group at the first annual Brit Awards held in London. Adam And The Ants won best album for Kings Of The Wild Frontier, Cliff Richard won British Male Solo Artist, and Randy Crawford won British Female Solo Artist. British Breakthrough Act went to The Human League. British Producer was Martin Rushent, and Outstanding Contribution went to John Lennon.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Palace Theatre, Albany, New York.

1992, Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love in Waikiki, Hawaii. The press reported that the couple were expecting a baby on Sept 10th of that year.

2000, Carlos Santana won eight awards at the Grammy Awards. Before the Supernatural album, the guitarist had not had a top ten album since 1981. Sting won two awards, one for best pop album and another for best male pop vocalist. Sir Elton John won the legend award, and Phil Collins the best soundtrack award for Tarzan.

2004, Estelle Axton, who helped create the legendary US soul music label Stax, died in hospital in Memphis, aged 85. Stax was home to Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes and Booker T and the MG’s and the Stax studio, “Soulsville USA” was second only to Motown in its production of soul hits during its 1960s heyday.

2014, Franny Beecher, the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, died in his sleep from natural causes. He was 92 years old. He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006.

Born on February 24: Paul Jones, Manfred Mann (1942); Nicky Hopkins (1944); Rupert Holmes, “The Pina Colada Song” (1947); and Lonnie Turner, Steve Miller Band  (1947); George Thorogood (1950); Michelle Shocked (1962)

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Today in Rock History – February 18

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kinks-1965
The Kinks

1965, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Tired Of Waiting For You,” the group’s second chart topper.

1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded two new songs. John Lennon’s “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was recorded in nine takes, and a new Paul McCartney song “Tell Me What You See” was laid down in four takes.

1966, Beach Boy Brian Wilson recorded the future classic song “Good Vibrations,” which went on to become the band’s third US number-one hit. As a child, his mother told him that dogs could pick up “vibrations” from people, so that the dog would bark at “bad vibrations” Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1966, News breaks in Melody Maker that The Who are leaving Brunswick and U.S. Decca for the new Reaction label in Europe and Atco in the U.S. Former producer Shel Talmy threatens the group with payback that he soon delivers, launching a lawsuit against the band and its managers. “Substitute” was to have been released on the 18th but is stopped because of the lawsuit. That night The Who are  in Scotland, performing at the Volunteer Hall in Galashiels.

1966, The Rolling Stones kicked off an 11-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Commemorative Auditorium, Sydney, supported by The Searchers.

1967, The Buckinghams started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Kind Of A Drag,” the Chicago-based group’s only chart topper.

1968, The Byrds performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, David Gilmour makes his film debut as a member of Pink Floyd as Belgian TV recorded several promotional clips over two days including filmed versions of “Astronomy Domine,” “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun,” “Apples and Oranges,” “Corporal Clegg,” Paintbox,” “Scarecrow,” and “See Emily Play.”

1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

1969, Pink Floyd and Fairport Convention appeared at the Manchester & Salford Students’ Shrove Rag Ball, held at the Main Debating Hall at Manchester University, in Manchester, England.

1971, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band made their New York debut at Unganos.

1972, On their first Australian tour, Led Zeppelin rescheduled to the following night their concert at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide, after heavy rain left the stage and equipment unsafe. Zeppelin had brought to Adelaide the largest PA system seen in Australia to produce what was expected to be the loudest rock show ever heard.

1972, David Bowie performed at Sheffield University in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1973, The Rolling Stones appeared at the Kooyong Tennis Stadium, Melbourne, Australia.

1974, Yes headlined at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1977, Pink Floyd played at Oude Ahoy Hallen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Eagles-Hotel-California1978, winners at the Grammy Awards included Fleetwood Mac, Album of the year for Rumours, The Eagles, Record of the year for “Hotel California,” and Best pop vocal performance, The Bee Gees for “How Deep Is Your Love.”

1978, Parliament Funkadelic performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1980, During an interview Rolling Stone Bill Wyman said that he intended to leave the band in 1982, on the group’s 20th anniversary. Wyman quit the band in 1993.

1983, Neil Young appeared Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1987, Bon Jovi were at number one on the singles chart with “Livin’ On A Prayer.”

1989, Fine Young Cannibals scored their only UK number one album with The Raw And The Cooked.

1990, Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, held at the Dominion Theatre, London, England.

1995, Guitarist Bob Stinson from The Replacements died from a drug overdose, his body was found in his Uptown, Minneapolis apartment. Stinson was a founding member of The Replacements, was also a member of Static Taxi.

1998, Robert Smith of The Cure does battle with the forces of musical evil as embodied by a monstrous Barbra Streisand on the animated television show South Park.

2000, An American court ordered the release of FBI files relating to John Lennon’s interests and activities including his support for the Irish Republican cause, and the Workers Revolutionary Party. The British Government told the US that it wanted the files to remain secret. MI5 also had files on Lennon, which they had passed on the FBI during the ’70s.

2004, On his official Web site, Billy Corgan blames the 2000 split of the Smashing Pumpkins on guitarist James Iha. “James Iha broke up the Smashing Pumpkins, not me,” he writes. “I would have gone on forever, the Smashing Pumpkins were essentially my entire life.”

2007,  Norah Jones scored her third US number one album with Not Too Late, also a number one in the UK and over 20 other countries.

2011,  Radiohead released their 8th album The King of Limbs as a download.

2013,  Soul and R&B singer Otis Damon Harris, who was a member of The Temptations, died at the age of 62 after a 14-year battle with prostate cancer. Harris was a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1975, joining shortly after the departure of Eddie Kendricks.

Born on February 18: Yoko Ono (1933); Skip Battin, The Byrds (1934); Bobby Hart, singer, songwriter (1939); Herman Santigo, singer, Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers (1941);Dennis DeYoung, Styx (1947); Robbie Bachmann, drummer, BTO (1953); Derek Pellicci, Australian drummer, Little River Band, Mississippi (1953); John Trevolta (1954); Andre Young, aka Dr. Dre, rapper, producer, entrepreneur (1965)

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Today in Rock History – January 21

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byrds-mr-tambourine-man1965, The Byrds record “Mr. Tambourine Man.”  The only actual member of the band who performs on the record is lead guitarist/singer Jim McGuinn. Musicians from the fabled “Wrecking Crew,” including Larry Knetchel on bass, Leon Russell on piano, Hal Blaine on drums, Jerry Cole and Bill Pittman on guitar, replace the rest of the band. These musicians provided the backing track over which McGuinn, Crosby, and Clark sang. By the time the sessions for their debut album began in March 1965, however, producer Terry Melcher was satisfied that the band was competent enough to record its own music.

1965, The US Immigration Department forces The Animals to cancel a performance at New York’s Apollo Theater. Instead, the English group appears on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1966, George Harrison married Patti Boyd at Leatherhead Register Office in Surrey with Paul McCartney as best man. George had first met Patti on the set of The Beatles movie A Hard Days Night.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Birdcage Club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

1967, It was to have been The Who’s first performance at Leeds University, but Pete Townshend doesn’t make it, because his car ran out of gas and the date was canceled. “Happy Jack” reaches its U.K. peak at number three. Brian Epstein’s NEMS officially announces their amalgamation with the Robert Stigwood Organization taking over concert bookings for Stigwood’s acts including The Who.

1968, Jimi Hendrix recorded his version of the Bob Dylan song “All Along the Watchtower” at Olympic Studios in London. Rolling Stone Brain Jones and Dave Mason from Traffic both played on the session.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1970, Elvis Presley’s last film Change Of Habit was released.

1971, Neil Young performed at the Music Hall, Boston.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at The Guildhall, Portsmouth, England. This was the first time that they were able to perform Dark Side of The Moon album in its entirety, because the previous night’s performance in Brighton was halted for technical reasons.

1973, Led Zeppelin performs at Gaumont Theatre in Southampton, England. Tickets cost £1 ($1.60).

1973, The Rolling Stones kicked off an 11-date Pacific tour at Honolulu International Centre, Hawaii.

1974, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia throws a post-concert party for Bob Dylan at the gubernatorial mansion. Carter later remarks, “He never initiates conversation, but he’ll answer a question if you ask him.”

1975, Led Zeppelin played at Chicago Stadium in Chicago. A floor seat cost $8.50 (£5.65.) The setlist: Rock and Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills and Far Away, In My Time of Dying, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Kashmir, The Wanton Song, No Quarter, When the Levee Breaks, Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, How Many More Times, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, Black Dog.

1977, Genesis performed at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England.

1978, The soundtrack album Saturday Night Fever started a 24-week run at number one on the US album charts, it went on to sell over 30 million copies world wide, making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time.

1979, The Grateful Dead perform at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

1980, Rush appeared at the Forum in Montreal.

1981, Black Sabbath took the stage at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1982, B.B. King donated his entire record collection of over 20,000 discs to Mississippi University’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

1984, Soul singer Jackie Wilson died aged 49. Wilson suffered a massive heart attack while playing a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey on September 29, 1975, falling head-first to the stage while singing “Lonely Teardrops,” and had remained in a coma until his death 8 years later.

1984, Yes started a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” a number 28 hit in the UK.

1987, Keith Richards inducted Aretha Franklin at the 2nd annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards, held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Keith later took part in a jam with Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Sting, and Daryl Hall.

1997, “Colonel” Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager and agent, died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 87.

1997, Songwriter Jesse Levine died of kidney failure aged 58. He co-wrote, “Knock Three Times” and “Tie A Yellow Ribbon,” both US and UK number ones for Dawn in the early ’70s.

2002, American singer and actress Peggy Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at the age of 81. 1958 US number 8 and UK number 5 single “Fever.” Lee worked with Benny Goodman, Randy Newman, Quincy Jones, and was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, winning Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit “Is That All There Is?”

2012, Adele was at number one on the US album chart with her second studio album 21. The album which yielded five hit singles including the lead single “Rolling in the Deep,” has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

Born on January 21: Wolfman Jack (1938); Richie Havens (1941); Placido Domingo (1941); Edwin Starr (1942); Mac Davis (1942); Billy Ocean (1950); Rob Brill, drums, Berlin (1956); Jason Mizell, aka Jam Master Jay, Run-DMC (1965); Chris Kilmore, Incubus (1973); Benjamin Moody, guitar, Evanescence (1980)

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