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Today in Rock History – September 5

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1964, The Animals started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “House Of The Rising Sun.” When first released the record company printed the time of the song on the record as three minutes feeling that the real time of four minutes was too long for radio airplay.

1965, Sonny & Cher made their first live UK appearance when they appeared at the 100 Club in London.

1965, The Rolling Stones recorded their eighth single “Get Off Of My Cloud” at RCA studios in Hollywood. The song peaked at number one in the US and the UK.

1966, John Lennon started work in Germany on his role as Private Gripweed in the film How I Won The War.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles began recording John Lennon’s new song “I Am the Walrus,” recording 16 takes of the basic backing track.

1968, On their first ever visit to the UK The Doors appeared on Top of The Pops performing “Hello I Love You” live on the TV show.

1969, King Crimson performed at Market Hall, Romford, England.

1969, The Stooges made their New York debut at The Pavilion supporting MC5.

1970, Janis Joplin started recording sessions recording a version of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster song “Me and Bobby McGee.” Joplin, who was a lover and a friend of Kristofferson’s from the beginning of her career to her death, topped the US singles chart with the song in 1971, making the song the second posthumous number one single in US chart history after “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding.

1970, Poco appeared at the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1971, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Chicago International Amphitheatre.

1972, Yes played at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland.

1974, David Bowie played at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California.

1975, Black Sabbath performed at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington was seriously injured in a car crash in Florida.

1978, Joe Negroni from Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers died of a brain hemorrhage. They had the 1956 UK number one and US number six single “Why Do Fools Fall In Love.”

1978, The Electric Light Orchestra appeared at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Civic Center, Dothan, Alabama.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1981, Soft Cell were at number one on the UK singles chart with their electronic version of “Tainted Love.” The song had been a hit for Gloria Jones in 1964. Jones who became Marc Bolan’s girlfriend, was the driver of the car, that crashed and killed Bolan on  September 16, 1977. Jones nearly died in the accident.

1981, Stevie Nicks went to number one on the US album with Bella Donna, featuring the tracks “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty, “Leather and Lace,” with Don Henley, “Edge of Seventeen,” and “After the Glitter Fades.”

1994, Oasis appeared at The Hacienda in Manchester to celebrate the launch of their debut album Definitely Maybe. The album went on to become the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK and marked the beginning of Oasis’ success in America, selling over one million copies there.

2006, Arctic Monkeys won the UK Mercury Prize for their 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 in Feb 2006.

2012, Singer-songwriter Joe South, who had hits in the late 1960s and early ’70s, including “Games People Play,” “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” and (“I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died at home in Atlanta, Georgia from a heart attack, aged 72.

Born on September 5: John Stewart, The Kingston Trio (1934); Al Stewart (1945) Freddie Mercury, Loudon Wainwright III, and Buddy Miles (1946); Dave Clempson, guitar, Humble Pie (1949)

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Today in Rock History – September 2

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1965, The Doors recorded their first demo’s at World Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, California, where they cut six Jim Morrison songs.

1966, The Who played at Locarno Ballroom in Basildon, Essex, England.

1967, Pink Floyd, The Move, Soft Machine, Fairport Convention, The Nack, and Denny Lane performed at the UFO Festival held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London.

1970, The Rolling Stones played at Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland.

1971, Grateful Dead’s former manager was arrested after disappearing with over $70,000 of the band’s money.

1972, Rod Stewart was at number one on the UK singles chart with “You Wear It Well,” the singers second chart topper. It was taken from his album Never A Dull Moment. In America, Gilbert O’Sullivan claimed the top spot with “Alone Againn (Naturally).

1972, The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival was held over three days on Bull Island, near Griffin, Indiana. The Promoters expected over 50,000 music fans. More than 200,000 attended the festival. Many bands pulled out as the festival drifted steadily into anarchy. Bands that did appear included Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, Black Oak Arkansas, Cheech and Chong, Foghat, Albert King, Brownsville Station, Canned heat, Flash, Ravi Shankar, Rory Gallagher, Lee Michaels and Frosty, The Eagles, The Amboy Dukes, and Gentle Giant. Three concert goers drowned in the Wabash River and as the festival ended, and the remnants of the crowd burned down the music stand.

1974, David Bowie played the first of seven sold-out nights on his Diamond Dogs Tour at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, California.

1978, George Harrison married Olivia Arias at Henley-on-Thames register office.

1978, Teddy Pendergrass, the former lead singer of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, set out to promote his latest album Life Is A Song Worth Singing by performing a concert for women only.

1979, The Grateful Dead played at the  Civic Center in Augusta, Maine.

1984, U2 played the second of two nights at the Logan Cambell Centre, Auckland, New Zealand during their Unforgettable Fire world tour.

1988, The Human Rights Now! world tour kicked off at Wembley Stadium London with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssu n’Dour. Taking in five continents and claiming to be the most ambitious rock tour in history.

1995, Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with a song written by R. Kelly “You Are Not Alone.” It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37 year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at No.1.

2001, American saxophonist Jay Migliori died of cancer aged 70. As a session musician he recorded with The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa and was the founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker.

2006, Lead singer of the Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley was sentenced to three years in a US prison for multiple counts of tax fraud. The 64-year-old, was also ordered to pay more than $3.1m (£1.62m) to the Internal Revenue Service for “pathological” evasion. The court heard he cashed royalty checks belonging to his brother O’Kelly, who died in 1996, and also spent millions of dollars made from undeclared performances on a yacht and two homes.

Born on September 2: Hugo Montenegro, composer (1925); Rosalind Ashford, The Vandellas, Ashford and Simpson (1943); Billy Preston (1946) and Steve Porcaro, Toto (1957)

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Today in Rock History – August 24

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1966, The Doors started recording their self-titled first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios, West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney’s Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a collection of old commercial and residential buildings, some built more than 80 years ago. At the encouragement of Disney himself, Camarata began the project in 1958, starting with a former automotive repair garage whose sloping floor would tend to reduce unwanted sonic standing wave reflections

1967, 17-year old singer and guitarist Bruce Springsteen joined a group called Earth.

1967, The Doors performed at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio.

1968, The Incredible String Band, Traffic, Bonzo Dog Band, Family, Fairport Convention, Blossom Toes, Pretty things, Deviants, Blonde On Blonde and Free all appeared over two nights at The Roundhouse in London.

1968, Pink Floyd played the last date of a North American tour at The Bank, in Torrence, California.

1968, James Brown performed at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida.

1969, Yes played at Club Paradiso in Amsterdam.

1970, The Who are at the Civic Hall in Woverhampton, England. They are joined onstage by John Sebastian, of The Lovin’ Spoonful, who is a houseguest of the Townshends at the time.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas.

1972, The Who appeared at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1974, Traffic made their last live performance at the annual UK Reading Festival. Other acts appearing that day included Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Greenslade, the Heavy Metal Kids, G.T. Moore, Thin Lizzy, and Procol Harum.

1974, Paul Anka with Odia Coates started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “You’re Having My Baby,” Anka’s 24th US top 40 hit. It made it to number six in the UK.

1975, Queen started recording “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Rockfield studio’s in Monmouth, Wales. The song was recorded over three weeks. Freddie Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

1976, AC/DC appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1977, Singer, songwriter Waylon Jennings was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. Jennings had recently been named an honorary police chief.

1979, Celebrating 30 years in show business, B.B. King played at the Roxy Club, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles.

1979, Rush played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1980, Iron Maiden Whitesnake, Def Leppard, UFO, Gillan, Pat Travers Band and Rory Gallagher all appeared at the 20th National Rock Festival Reading Rock 80, England.

1981, Mark Chapman was given a 20 year jail sentence for the murder of John Lennon. The 25 year old had shot Lennon five times at close range on December 8th, 1980 in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Over the next few months, Chapman would claim many times to have been beaten by fellow inmates, some of whom allegedly tried to kill him.

1982, King Crimson and Roxy Music appeared at the Velodromo, San Sebastián, Spain.

1983, David Bowie performed at the Scope, in Norfolk, Virginia.

1985, The Grateful Dead played at Boreal Ski Resort at Donner’s Summit, California.

1989, The Who performed Tommy at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles with special guests Steve Winwood, Elton John, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle and Billy Idol.

1990, The three day UK Reading Festival kicked off, featuring, Faith No More, The Cramps, Inspiral Carpets, Pixies, The Fall, Jesus Jones, Ride, Dinosaur Junior, The Wedding Present, Billy Bragg and others. A three day ticket cost £35 ($56).

1998, Producer Gene Page died after a long illness. He worked with Barbra Streisand, Barry White, The Righteous Brothers, Dobie Gray, Bob and Earl. He produced Whitney Houston’s “‘Greatest Love of All,” and Roberta Flack’s “Tonight I Celebrate My Love.”

2001, Travis, Eminem, Eels, Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Supergrass, PJ Harvey, Manic Street Preachers, Weezer, Iggy Pop, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Cult, Frank Black, The Strokes, Supergrass, Ash, Stephen Malkmus and Mercury Rev all appeared at the Carling Weekend Reading / Leeds festival. A three day ticket cost £80 ($128).

2009, The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide caused by a mix of drugs meant to treat insomnia. On February 8, 2010, Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles. Dr. Murray pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $75,000 bail, but would be found guilty in November, 2011 and was sentenced to four years in a Los Angeles County jail.

Born on August 24: David Freiberg, bass, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane,  Jefferson Starship (1938); Ernest Wright, Little Anthony and the Imperials (1941); John Cipollina,  Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943); Jim Capaldi (1944); Ken Hensley, Uriah Heep (1945); Molly Duncan, sax, Average White Band (1945); Jean-Michel Jarre, instrumentalist (1948); John Cowan, bass,New Grass Revival, The Sky Kings, The Doobie Brothers (1951); Oteil Burbridge, bass, The Allman Brothers Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (1964)

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Today in Rock History – August 21

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1965, The Rolling Stones started a three week run at No.1 on the album chart with Out Of Our Heads the group’s first No.1 album.

1965, During a 17 date UK tour, The Who played at the Palais in Bournemouth.

1966, On their last ever US tour The Beatles performed in two cities due to a cancellation due to rain the previous day. First they performed at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. Then they flew to St. Louis, Missouri, for a concert at Busch Stadium, where they performed under a tarpaulin due to heavy rain. It was this gig that convinced Paul McCartney that The Beatles should stop performing live.

1967, The Doors started recording their second album Strange Days at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California.

1968,Tommy James and The Shondells returned to the No.1 position for the second time with the single “Mony Mony.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Carousel Theatre in Framingham, Massachusetts.

1969, Yes played at the Star Club, Hamburg, Germany.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at Assembly Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma

1971, The Band performed at Borough of York Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.

1971, Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come, Hawkwind, Duster Bennett, Brewers Droop, Indian Summer, Graphite, Queen all appeared at the Tregye Festival Truro, Cornwall, England.

1972, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane was arrested after a fight broke out on stage during a concert when the police had been called “pigs.” Grace Slick was maced and another group member injured at the show in Akron.

1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young appear at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, The Rolling Stones, 10CC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia and Hot Tuna all appeared at The Knebworth Festival, Hertfordshire, England.

1977, Yes appeared at War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York.

1978, AC/DC  performed at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts.

1979, Van Halen played at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

1982, U2 singer Bono married Alison Stewart, his girlfriend from 1975 at All Saints Church, Raheny in Ireland. U2 bassist Adam Clayton acted as Bono’s best man.

1983, The Grateful Dead performed at Frost Amphitheater on the campus of Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.

1983, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone had a four-hour brain surgery operation, after being found unconscious in a New York Street where he had been involved in a fight.

1997, Oasis’ third album Be Here Now, became one of the fastest selling albums ever, shifting over 350,000 units on the first day of release. The cover image for Be Here Now was shot at Stocks House in Hertfordshire, the former home of Victor Lownes, the head of the Playboy Clubs in the UK.

2005, Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer died aged 71, four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Dr Moog built his first electronic instrument, a theremin – aged 14 and made the MiniMoog, “the first compact, easy-to-use synthesizer” in 1970. He won the Polar prize, Sweden’s, music equivalent to the Nobel prize, in 2001. Wendy Carlos’ 1968 Grammy award-winning album, Switched-On Bach, brought Dr Moog to prominence.

2008, Drummer Buddy Harman died of congestive heart failure at age 79. He worked with Elvis Presley (“Little Sister,”) Patsy Cline (“Crazy,”) Roy Orbison (“Pretty Woman,”) Johnny Cash (“Ring Of Fire’,”)  and Tammy Wynette (“Stand By Your Man.”) Harman was the first house drummer for The Grand Ole Opry and can be heard on over 18,000 recordings.

Born on August 21: Count Basie (1904); Kenny Rogers (1937); Tom Costello, Santana (1941); Jackie DeShannon singer (1944);  Joe Strummer (1952); Budgie, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Kim Sledge, Sister Sledge (1957)

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Today in Rock History – August 17

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today in rock history
The Byrds circa 1965

1965, The Byrds were forced to cancel a concert during their UK tour at The Guildhall, Portsmouth when only 250 of the 4,000 tickets had been sold.

1966, During a North American tour The Beatles played two shows at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada. The attendance for each show was 18,000.

1967, The Who’s manager Kit Lambert was at Columbia Recording Studio in Hollywood, California mixing the mono masters for “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand” (U.S. single version,) “Summertime Blues,” “Someone’s Coming,” and “Relax.

1967, Herman’s Hermits, Neil Diamond, and The Who performed at Memorial Auditorium in Chatanooga, Tennessee.

1968, Wheels of Fire by Cream enters its second week at number one on the US album charts.

1968, The Who perform at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.

1968, The Rascals (formally the Young Rascals), started a five week run at number one on the singles chart with “People Got To Be Free.” The group had thirteen top 40 hits.

1969, The final day of the three day Woodstock festival took place at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. Acts who appeared included Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Sha Na Na, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, The Band, Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Over 186,000 tickets had been sold but on the first day the flimsy fences and ticket barriers had come down. Organizers announced the concert would be a free event, prompting thousands more to head for the concert. There were two deaths, a teenager was killed by a tractor as he lay in his sleeping bag and another died from a drug overdose.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Oakland Musical Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at the Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia. The concert was rescheduled from August 10th.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Boston Commons in Boston, Massachusetts. Duane played “Soul Serenade” on slide guitar in tribute to King Curtis, who died four days earlier.  J. Geils played on “Stormy Monday.” Wet Willie opened.

1972, Deep Purple performs the last of three shows at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo. These recordings were used in the Made in Japan live album.

1973, Former Temptations singer Paul Williams was found dead in his car, after shooting himself. He owed $80,000 in taxes and his celebrity boutique business had failed.

1973, KISS appeared at The Daisy, Amityville, New York.

1974, Eric Clapton started a four-week run at number one on the album chart with 461 Ocean Boulevard

1974, UK group Paper Lace scored their only US number one single with “The Night Chicago Died.” It climbed to the third spot in the UK.

1974, Aerosmith played at the Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia.

1975, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Yes performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1977, Rush headlined at RKO Orpheum Theatre, Davenport, Iowa.

1979, The New York Post reported that Anita Pallenberg, the wife of Keith Richards, was linked to a witches coven in South Salem, New York where Richards owned a house. A policeman claimed he was attacked by a flock of black-hooded, caped people and a local youth claimed he had been invited by Pallenburg to take part in “pot smoking sex orgies.” Locals also claimed they found “ritualistic stakes” and small animals that had been sacrificed near the house.

1980, The Grateful Dead appeared at Municipal Auditorium Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

1982, ZZ Top played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.

1983, David Bowie performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1984, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey.

1987, Session drummer Gary Chester died of cancer. He had been a member of The Coasters and played on many major hits for other acts including “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Under The Boardwalk,” “Walk On By,” “It’s My Party.”

1991, Nirvana shot the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, costing less than $50,000 (£31,250) to make, the shoot features real Nirvana fans as the audience. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Group awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

1999, Led Zeppelin topped a chart of Britain’s most bootlegged musicians, compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), after identifying 384 bootleg titles featuring Led Zeppelin performances. The bootleg chart was complied from the BPI’s archive of some 10,000 recordings seized over the past 25 years. The Beatles, came in second with 320 entries, other acts listed included The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd.

2002, Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland held the number one position on the US singles chart with “Dilemma.” The UK number one album was By The Way by The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the US chart topping album was The Rising by Bruce Springsteen.

2008, Jackson Browne was suing US Republican presidential candidate John McCain for using one of his songs without permission. Browne claimed the use of his song “Running on Empty” in an ad was an infringement of copyright and would lead people to conclude he endorses McCain. Browne was seeking more than $75,000 (£40,000) in damages.

2012, Three members of the Russian feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years imprisonment after they had staged a performance on the soleas of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in a protest directed at the Orthodox Church leader’s support for President Putin during his election campaign.

Born on August 17: John Seiter, Spanky And Our Gang (1944); Gary Talley guitar, The Box Tops (1947); Sib Hashian, drums, Boston (1949); Kevin Rowland, singer, Dexy’s Midnight Runners (1953); Colin Moulding, XTC (1955); Belinda Carlisle (1958); and Steve Gorman, drums, The Black Crowes (1965)

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Today in Rock History – August 3

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1966, The Rolling Stones spend nine days recording for their next album at Los Angeles, RCA Studios, Hollywood, USA. Tracks recorded included: “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “My Obsession,” “Yesterday’s Papers,” and “Back Street Girl.”

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played the first of five nights at the Salvation Club in New York City.

1967, To promote Ravi Shankar’s Hollywood Bowl concert on August 4, George Harrison joins the sitar player at his news conference.

1967, The Who appeared at Dane County Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

1968, The Doors started a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Hello I Love You.” The song replaced “Grazing in the Grass”by Hugh Masakela at the top spot.  The Doors had eight top 40 hits from 1967-71.

1968, The two day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California with Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, Chambers Brothers, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Country Joe and the Fish, Electric Flag, James Cotton Blues Band, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf, and Tiny Tim. Over 100,000 fans attended the festival.

1969, Janis Joplin sings with Little Richard at the Atlantic City Pop Festival.

1969, The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson is busted. He had agreed to serve civilian duty instead of being drafted into the Army, but when he arrived at Los Angeles County Hospital to do his bit, he taught music classes instead of acting as an institutional helper.

1971, Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new group Wings, with his wife Linda and former Moody Blues guitarist and singer Denny Laine.

1971, The Who play The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Stevie Wonder released his sixteenth studio album Innervisions. Wonder played all or virtually all instruments on six of the album’s nine tracks.

1973, ABC’s In Concert, broadcast an Eagles show from UCLA.

1974, Anne Murray appeared at The Schaefer Festival in New York as the headlining act. The opening act was Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

1974, Bad Company went to number one on the US album chart with their self-titled debut album. The supergroup was formed in Westminster, London in 1973 by two former members of Free, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirk, as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell.

1974, KISS performed at the Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1975, Black Sabbath appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1976, Eric Clapton played at the ABC Theatre, Plymouth, England.

1977, The Steve Miller Band headlined at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1979, The Knack album Get the Knack and the single “My Sharona” both go to number one.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Starlight Bowl, San Diego, California.

1985, Madonna scored her first UK number one single with “Into The Groove.” The track was taken from the movie Desperately Seeking Susan which featured Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.

1985, Tears For Fears started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Shout,” the duo’s second US chart topper.

1987, Def Leppard released their fourth studio album Hysteria which became their best selling album to date, selling over 20 million copies worldwide. The album is the follow-up to the band’s 1983 breakthrough Pyromania. Hysteria’s creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of the December 1984 car accident that cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm.

1996, Los Del Rio started a fourteen-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Macarena.” The song which has sold 11 million copies world-wide was ranked the topGreatest One Hit Wonder of all Time by VH1 in 2002.

2001, Co-founder of the American group 5th Dimension, Ron Townson died of kidney failure aged 68.

2006, Arthur Lee, singer and guitarist of the influential 1960’s band Love died in Memphis at the age of 61 following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He called himself the “first black hippie” and formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965.

2007, Queen guitarist Brian May handed in his astronomy PhD thesis, 36 years after abandoning it to join the band. May had recently carried out observational work in Tenerife, where he studied the formation of “zodiacal dust clouds.”

2008, Kid Rock was at number one on the UK singles chart with “All Summer Long.” The song is based on Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” It reached number 23 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Born on August 3: Tony Bennett (1926); Beverly Lee, The Shirelles (1941);  John York,  bass player, songwriter, and producer, The Byrds, Sir Douglas Quintet (1943); B. B. Dickerson,  bass, War (1949); John Graham, Earth Wind & Fire (1951); Ian Bairnson,  sax, keyboards, The Alan Parsons Project, Pilot (1953); James Hetfield, guitar, vocals, Metallica (1963); Ed Roland,  singer, guitarist, Collective Soul (1963)

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Today in Rock History – July 29

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1966, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their unofficial live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England. The official unveiling came two nights later at the Sixth Annual Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival.

1966, Bob Dylan was injured when his Triumph motorcycle crashed near his home in Woodstock, New York. Though the extent of his injuries was never disclosed, Dylan said that he broke several vertebrae in his neck. During his recovery, Dylan withdrew from public and, other than a few select appearances, did not tour again for almost eight years.

1966, Datebook published Maureen Cleave’s interview with John Lennon in which he said ‘We’re bigger than Jesus now.” American Christians reacted with outrage, organizing bonfires and burning the group’s records.

1966, The Grateful Dead played their first ever show outside the US when they appeared in Vancouver.

1967, The Doors started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Light My Fire.” The song only reached number 49 in the UK.

1967, Pink Floyd played two shows. First, an early show supported by The Void at The Wellington Club, The Dereham Exchange in East Dereham.  Then, they appeared at the Love in Festival at Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill in London. Also on the bill were Eric Burdon & The Animals, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & The Treinity, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Creation, Blossom Trees, Sam Gopal’s Dream, and Apostolic Intervention.

1968, Gram Parsons left The Byrds on the eve of a tour of South Africa, refusing to play to segregated audiences.

1968, Rehearsals and the first recording session of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” took place at Abbey Road studios London. Paul was on piano and vocals, George on guitar, John played acoustic guitar, and Ringo was on drums. The McCartney song was written about John Lennon’s son Julian.  They would complete the recording at Trident Studios, which had eight-track recording facilities. Abbey Road still was a four-track studio.

1970, The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca ends. The band informs manager Allen Klein that “neither he nor ABKCO Industries have any authority to negotiate recording contracts on their behalf.” They begin to consider starting their own label.

1971, The Who appear at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York.

1972, Gilbert O’Sullivan started the first four of a six-week run at number one on the singles chart with “Alone Again, (Naturally.)” It’s reign was briefly interrupted for a week by “Brandy” from The Looking Glass. O’Sullivan’s only chart topper was the follow up to “Clair,” which peaked in the second spot.

1972, Roxy Music performed at the Crystal Palace in London.

1973, Led Zeppelin lost $203,000 in cash when a thief made off with their safe deposit box from two Madison Square Garden concerts in New York City. The theft took place at The Drake Hotel in New York where the group were staying. Tour manager Richard Cole who discovered the theft was arrested as a suspect and questioned by police but was later released.

1974, Mamas And The Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilson’s London flat when she died. Her only solo hit was “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” which also featured the rest of The Mamas and The Papas.

1974, Grateful Dead played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1975, Kansas appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, Eric Clapton kicked off a 12-date UK tour at The Pavilion, Hemel Hempsted, London.

1978, Prince appeared on the US charts for the first time with “Soft and Wet.”

1978, Genesis plays at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1978, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.

1978, The film soundtrack to Grease featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John went to number one on the US album chart.

1980, Van Halen played at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1986, English songwriter, producer and manager Gordon Mills died of stomach cancer. Worked with Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones and Gilbert O’Sullivan. Wrote the 1963 number four UK hit “I’ll Never Get Over You,” for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and “I’m The Lonely One” a hit for Cliff Richard.

1991, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of four nights at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.

2004, Keyboard player Huby Heard died from heart problems. He was a member of Billy Preston’s The God Squad, and worked with Teddy Pendergrass, Ray Charles, Little Bootsy Collins, The Brothers Johnson, The Rolling Stones and Bill Wyman.

2006, Pamela Anderson married for the second time to US rapper Kid Rock, on a yacht off the French resort of St Tropez. The 39-year-old former Baywatch star divorced from rock star Tommy Lee in 1998, had recently got back together with Kid Rock, after a brief engagement ended in 2003. Anderson and Rock split after four months of marriage.

Born on July 29: Neal Doughty, keyboards, REO Speedwagon (1946); Geddy Lee, Rush (1953); Patty Scialfa, singer, guitar, E-Street Band (1953); John Sykes, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake (1959); Woody Weatherman, guitarist, songwriter, Corrosion of Conformity (1965); Wanya Morris, singer, Boyz II Men (1973); Danger Mouse, American keyboard player, drummer, producer, Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells, Danger Doom (1977); Ben Koller, American drummer, Converge, United Nations, All Pigs Must Die (1980)

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Today in Rock History – July 27

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1968, Bee Gee Robin Gibb collapsed, as the group were about to set out on their first US tour. The singer was suffering from nervous exhaustion.

1968, The Steve Miller Band appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Cass Elliot released her first solo single following the break up of The Mamas and Papas. “Dream a Little Dream of Me” had been around since 1931 and had been recorded by Frank Sinatra and Frankie Laine, among others. many others. Cass’ version would be the most successful when it peaked at number 12 on the charts.

1968, Jackie Wilson performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1969, Led Zeppelin and the Doors play the Seattle Pop Festival at Gold Creek Park in Woodinville, Washington.  Robert Plant remembers the following about Jim Morrison. “He hung on the side of the stage and nearly toppled into the audience and did all those things that I suppose were originally sexual things, but as he got fatter and dirtier and more screwed up they became more bizarre. So it was really sickening to watch.”

1972, Hawkwind played at the Pier Pavillon, Hastings, England.

1973, Led Zeppelin played the first of three nights at New York”s Madison Square Garden. Top ticket price was $7.50 (£5.00.)

1974, John Denver started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Annie’s Song,” the singer’s second chart topper. The song was a tribute to his wife and was written in ten minutes while he was on a ski lift.

1974, Wings started a seven-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Band On The Run, featuring the title-track, “Jet” and the American hit “Helen Wheels.” The album sold over 6 million copies world-wide.

1974, Aerosmith performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin.

1974, Eric Clapton appeared at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, Davenport, Iowa.

1974, The Grateful Dead played the Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia.

1975, The Rolling Stones perform at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1976, After a four-year legal fight, John Lennon was awarded his Green card, allowing him permanent residence in the US.

1976, Bruce Springsteen sued his manager Mike Appel for fraud and breach of trust. The case dragged on for over a year, halting Springsteen’s career. An out of court settlement was reached the following year.

1976, Tina Turner filed for divorce from her husband Ike, ending their violent 16-year marriage and successful musical partnership.

1977, AC/DC appeared at Amarillo World Headquaters, Austin., Texas.

1978, Kansas played at the Pine Knob Music Theatre, in Clarkston, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.

1978, Joy Division performed at the Roots Club, Leeds, England.

1979, Blondie appeared at the Orpheum Theater, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, Van Halen headlined at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1981, Ozzy Osbourne played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.

1985, Paul Young went to number one on the US singles chart with his version of the Daryl Hall song “Every Time You Go Away.”

1986, Queen became the first western act since Louis Armstrong in 1964 to perform in Eastern Europe when they played at Nepstadion in Budapest, Hungary. The gig was filmed and released as “Queen Magic in Budapest.”

1991, Jesus Jones went to number two on the US chart with “Right Here, Right Now. The failed to upend Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do), I Do It for You” from a seven week stay at the top position.

1996, The Spice Girls scored their first UK number one single with “Wannabe,” spending seven weeks at number one. The song won Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards and Best Single at the 1997 Brit Awards.

2001, Leon Wilkeson, bass player with Lynyrd Skynyrd, was found dead in a hotel room in Florida aged 49.  Wilkeson had apparently been suffering from chronic liver and lung disease. His death was attributed to natural causes. He was also a member of the Rossington-Collins Band.

2012, The Beatles returned to the Top 40 of the Billboard albums chart with the iTunes-exclusive compilation Tomorrow Never Knows. The set included 14 classic songs by the band and marked the first time The Beatles released an album exclusively to iTunes that had never been previously issued.

Born on July 27: Nick Reynolds, The Kingston Trio (1933); Al Ramsey, Gary Lewis and the Playboys (1943); Bobby Gentry (1944);  Maurenn McGovern (1949); Michael Vaughn, guitar, Paper Lace (1950); Conway Savage, bass, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1960); Rex Brown, bass, Pantera (1964); Juliana Hatfield, singer, songwriter (1967)

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Today in Rock History – July 25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – July 15

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1967, The Doors and The Jefferson Airplane both played an afternoon and evening show to over 8,000 fans at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Stowmarket Carnival, held at The Cricket Meadow, in Stowmarket, England.  Feel for Soul, The Ketas, and other bands were also on the bill.

1967, This week’s Top 5 UK albums – number 5, Fiddler On The Roof, Original Soundtrack, number 4, Are You Experienced?, Jimi Hendrix, number 3, Sound Of Music, Soundtrack, number two, Headquarters, The Monkees and number one, The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1969, Singer Judy Collins appears in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt.

 

1971, Yoko Ono appears at the London department store Selfridges, where she signs copies of her book Grapefruit. John Lennon turns up to lend a wrist.

1971, King Crimson played at Town Hall in Watford, England.

Elton-john HonkyChateau1972, Elton John started a five week run at No.1 on the album chart with Honky Chateau, his first US chart topper.

1972, Black Sabbath appeared at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

1973, The Edgar Winter Group, Sly & The Family Stone, Canned Heat, Lindisfarne and The Kinks all appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. With his wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquilizers.

1973, Led Zeppelin played at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. Tickets were $4.50.

1975, Yes performed at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, Bob Dylan with special guest Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, and Graham Parker all appeared at Blackbushe Aerodrome, Surrey, England.

1978, The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at No.1 on the album chart with Some Girls, the group’s seventh No.1 album. The cover designed by Peter Corriston, featured The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately ran into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (representing her mother Judy Garland), Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe who all threatened legal action.

1989, Pink Floyd appeared in Canal di San Marco, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy on a floating stage. Over 200,000 people attended the gig (almost double the number authorities had planned for) causing damage to buildings and bridges. The concert was broadcast live on TV to over 20 countries with an estimated audience of almost 100 million. Two Venice councilors were later ordered to stand trial for the costs incurred by the concert.

2000, Sad Cafe singer Paul Young died of a heart attack at his Manchester home aged 53. “Run Home Girl” was a hit for Sad Cafe in the US, “Everyday Hurts” was a UK No.3 hit in 1979. Joined Mike Rutherford and Paul Carrack in Mike and the Mechanics and had the hits “The Living Years” and “Silent Running.”

Born on this day: singer Millie Jackson (1944); Peter Lewis, Moby Grape (1945); Linda Ronstadt (1946); Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); and Artimus Pyle, drums, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1948)

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