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Today in Rock History – August 8

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1969, The photo session for the cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman held up the traffic. The band then returned to the studio and recorded overdubs on “The End,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy,”) and “Oh! Darling.”

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, supported by Jethro Tull.

1969, Yes played at Mother’s, Birmingham, England.

1969, Alice Cooper performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the 9th National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival at the Plumpton Race Track in Streat, England, along with Soft Machine, Keith Tippett, East of Eden, the Bonzo Dog Band, Roy Harper, The Who, and many others.  It was the kickoff night of a three day event.

1970, Blood Sweat & Tears started a two week run at number one on the US album chart with Blood Sweat & Tears 3.

1970, Janis Joplin bought a headstone for the grave of her greatest influence Bessie Smith at the Mont Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Blues singer Smith died in 1937 after being refused admission to a whites only hospital.

1971, Hawkwind appeared at the Red Lion in London.

1972, Yes performed at the Paramount Theater, Seattle, Washington.

david-bowie-young-americans1974, Recording sessions for David Bowie album Young Americans begins at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios.

1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young played at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey.

1975, Cannonball Adderley, the jazz bandleader who charted with “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” dies from a stroke in Gary, Indiana. He was 46.

1975, The lineup at this year’s Summerfest at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York  was The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, and The Outlaws.

1977, Alice Cooper played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, Neil Diamond appeared at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1979, KISS brought their act to Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1980, The Greater London Council banned The Plasmatics from blowing a car up on stage during their UK live debut at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Mesa Auditorium in Phoenix, Arizona.

1981, The Pretenders kick off their second American tour in Fort Pierce, Florida.

1981, MTV makes its first live concert stereo broadcast. The band is REO Speedwagon.

1981, ZZ Top played at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1982, The Grateful Dead are joined onstage by John Cippolina, founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, for the final six songs of the second set of their show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.

1983, The Police performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1986, David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash was released from prison after serving three years for drug and weapons possession. His conviction would be overturned by a Texas appeals court in November 1987.

1987, U2 scored their second US number one single from their Joshua Tree album with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The song received two nominations for the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, for Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

1991, On A Friday, later to become known as Radiohead, appeared at The Jericho Tavern, Oxford, England. The band had met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school. “On a Friday” referred to the band’s usual rehearsal day in the school’s music room.

1992, A riot broke out during a Guns N’ Roses and Metallica gig at Montreal stadium when Metallica’s show was cut short after singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics. Guns N’ Roses took the stage but frontman Axl Rose claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to a riot by the audience who overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires.

2007, The US National Musical Publishers’ Association joined other businesses in seeking to sue YouTube claiming songwriters were not being properly compensated when their music appeared on the site. The legal action had been combined with those of several other companies, including Viacom and Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central.

Born on August 8: Joe Tex (1933); John David, drums, Dr Hook (1942); Airrion Love, singer, The Stylistics (1949); Ali Score, A Flock Of Seagulls (1956); Christopher Foreman, guitar, Madness (1958);  Dave “The Edge” Evans, U2 (1961); Scott Stapp, singer, songwriter, Creed (1973)

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Today in Rock History – July 28

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – July 24

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The Byrds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marc Bolan of T. Rex

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – July 12

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courtesy: rollingstones.com
courtesy: rollingstones.com

1962, The Rolling Stones made their live debut at the Marquee Jazz Club, London, with Dick Taylor on bass (later of The Pretty Things) and Mick Avory on drums, (later of The Kinks). They were a last minute fill-in for Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, who had been plucked to appear on BBC radio’s Jazz Club program.  Billed as The Rollin’ Stones, culled from a song by one of their heroes, Muddy Waters. They were paid £20 for the gig. Ian Stewart’s appointment diary noted that the band played songs by Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.

1964, The Beatles appeared at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton with The Fourmost and the Shubdubs (whose drummer, Jimmy Nicol, would later fill in for an ill Ringo Starr on The Beatles’ world tour). Also in the US,  The Ed Sullivan Show re-broadcast the February 9th show, The Beatles’ first live television appearance on the program. On the way to the gig George Harrison was involved in a minor crash in his brand new Jaguar in Kings Road, Fulham, London. Passing pedestrians collected bits of broken glass as souvenirs.

1968, Pink Floyd played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, One hit wonders Zager and Evans started a six week run at number one on the singles chart with “In The Year 2525.”

1969, Led Zeppelin headline the Summer Pop Festival, alongside with Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Al Kooper and Buddy Guy at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets cost $3.75 – $6.75.

1969, Elvis Presley was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 cents

1969, Yes and King Crimson appeared at the Nottingham Racecourse, Nottingham, England.

1970, Pink Floyd headlined on the third and final day of the 1st Open Air Pop Festival, at Reiterstadion Soers, in Aachen, West Germany. Among the other acts on the bill were Deep Purple, Amon Duul II, Traffic, and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

1972, The Rolling Stones appear at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. The set list: Rock and Roll, Celebration Day, (Bring It On Home intro) Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love (incl. Let That Boy Boogie, I’m Going Down), Communication Breakdown, The Ocean.

1974, Frank Zappa plays the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1974, Eric Clapton performed at Madison Square Garden, New York

1975, Yes appears at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York.

1976, The Grateful Dead played the first of six nights at the Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, California.

1977, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Aerosmith headlines at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

1979, American singer songwriter Minnie Riperton died of cancer aged 31. The Stevie Wonder produced “Loving You” gave Minnie a number one single in 1975. She worked at Chess records singing backup for various artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. She also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971. Also a member of Wonderlove in 1973, a backup group for Stevie Wonder.

1979, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice joined Whitesnake. He would stay with the band until late 1981.

Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park – 1979. Courtesy: Chicago Reader

1979, Chicago Radio Station WLUP’s morning DJ Steve Dahl hosts Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. Between games of a double header, a bonfire is started into which disco records are pitched while the crowd chants “Disco sucks.”   The promoters expected a crowd of a few thousand fans. Instead, 40,000 people showed up to take advantage of the 98 cent admission, if they brought a disco record. Dahl’s fans stormed the field and started a small riot.  While broadcasters tried to calm the crowd and get them back to their seats, fans paid no heed and tore up the field.  The White Sox had to forfeit the second game of the double header.

1980, During their 23-date 11 O’clock Tick Tock tour, U2 played at The Moonlight, West Hampstead in London.

1980, Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra had the UK number one single with “Xanadu,” taken from the film of the same name. It gave Olivia Newton-John her third UK chart topping single.

1981, Van Halen played at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.

1983, Former Traffic member Chris Wood died of pneumonia after years of battling drug and alcohol abuse. He played flute, sax, and keyboards.

1983, David Bowie appeared at the Montreal Forum, Montreal.

1986, Simply Red scored their first US number one single with “Holding Back The Years.” Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall wrote the song when he was seventeen, while living at his father’s house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later.

1996, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was charged with drug possession after the death of the band’s keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin in his New York Hotel room.

2003, Saxophonist, composer and arranger Benny Carter died aged 95. He worked with Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and composed many TV theme’s including Ironside and M-Squad.

2003, REM, The White Stripes, Idlewind, The Cardigans, The Proclaimers, The Music, The Charlatans, Coldplay, Supergrass, The Darkness, Turin Brakes, The Coral and Feeder all appeared at the two-day T In The Park festival in Scotland.

2007, Rod Stewart was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace for his services to music.

Born on July 12: Christine McVie (1943); Wilko Johnson, guitar, Dr. Feelgood (1947); Philip Taylor Kramer, bass guitar, Iron Butterfly (1952);  Dan Murphy, guitar, Soul Asylum (1962); Dominic Howard, drums, Muse (1977)

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Today in Rock History – July 10

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rolling-stones-satisfaction1965, The Rolling Stones started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the group’s first chart-topper there. In the UK, the song was initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.

1966, Johnny Tilotson, The Jive Five, The Tymes, The Shangra-Las and local band The Castiles (with Bruce Springsteen on vocals) all appeared at the Surf ‘n See Club in Seabright New Jersey.

1968, Eric Clapton announced that Cream would be splitting up following a farewell tour later in the year.

1968, The Nice were banned from appearing at London’s Royal Albert Hall after burning an American flag on stage. Two years later, Keith Emerson, leader of the Nice, joined Greg Lake and Carl Palmer in Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

1968, Diana Ross & the Supremes and Stevie Wonder appeared at San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1969, Bob Dylan, Iron Butterfly, and Blues Image all appeared at the Mississippi River Festival at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois.

1969, The funeral of Rolling Stone Brian Jones took place in his home town at Hatherley Road Parish Church, Cheltenham. Canon Hugh Evan Hopkins read Jones’ own epitaph, “Please don’t judge me too harshly.” Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts from The Stones attended the funeral.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York.

1970, The Who single “Summertime Blues” backed with “Heaven and Hell” is released. The A-side comes from the album Live at Leeds while the B-side is a quickly recorded mono studio version of the Entwistle song done for the BBC, with a new vocal slapped on. It reaches number 38 in Britain and in the US, it makes number 27 in the Billboard charts.

1971, The Who performed during their “unpublicized” tour of the UK at Civic Hall, Dunstable, England.

1972, Harry Nilsson released Son of Schmilsson. His eighth album featured friends Ringo Starr and George Harrison, plus Klaus Voorman, Nicky Hopkins, Peter Frampton, Chris Spedding, Bobby Keys and Lowell George. It included the hit “Spaceman, ” and the satirical classics “You’re Breaking My Heart” and “Joy.”

1972, Pink Floyd release “Free Four”/”Stay” as a 7″ single in the US.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed for two hours and forty minutes to 11,000 fans at the Milwaukee Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1974, David Bowie played the first of five dates at The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia the recordings of which made up the David Live album released later that year.

1975, The Rolling Stones played at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1976, One hit wonders Starland Vocal Band started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Afternoon Delight.”

1976, Aerosmith performed at Comiskey Park in Chicago, home of the White Sox baseball team. The stadium was demolished in 1991, when a new stadium was opened next door.  The Beatles performed at Comiskey in 1965.

1977, Cher gave birth to a baby boy Elijah Blue.  Gregg Allman was the father.

1978, Rolling Stone Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious after falling from the stage during a Stones concert at the Coliseum in St Paul, Minnesota.

1979, Chuck Berry was sentenced to five months in jail after being found guilty of tax evasion.

Bob Marley, courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com)

1980, Bob Marley and the Wailers began what would be Marley’s last ever UK tour when they appeared in Dublin, Ireland.

1980, During their 23 date 11 O’Clock Tick Tock tour, U2 appeared at The Clarendon Hotel in London.

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

1981, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

1984, King Crimson appeared at Le Spectrum in Montreal, Quebec.

1987, Producer and record company executive John Hammond died. He brought Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen to Columbia Records. Hammond also worked as a producer with Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and Count Basie.

2002, David Bowie, Suede, Divine Comedy, Green Day, No Doubt, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, Joe Strummer, New Order, Doves and Shed 7 all appeared at the four day Move festival, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, England.

2008, The drum skin used on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album sold for £541,250 ($1 million) at Christie’s Memorabilia auction in London. Other items sold included John Lennon’s lyrics for “Give Peace a Chance” which sold for £421,250 ($832,257.) A pair of tinted prescription sunglasses belonging to Lennon, which he wore for the cover of the single “Mind Games,” sold for £39,650 ($79,000.) A rare 1/4 inch reel to-reel master tape recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing at the Woburn Music Festival in 1968 went for £48,050 ($95,00), a Marshall amplifier used by Hendrix in concert fetched £25,000 ($50,000).

Born on July 10: Jerry Miller, Moby Grape (1943); Arlo Guthrie (1947); Ronnie James Dio (1949); and Greg Kihn (1950)

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Today in Rock History – July 8

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beatles-nowhere-man-ep1966, The Beatles released the Nowhere Man 4-track EP in the UK, which included “Drive My Car,” “Michelle,” and “You Won’t See Me.” All four tracks were taken from The Beatles’ sixth UK studio album, Rubber Soul.

1966, The Who appeared at Top Rank Suite in Cardiff, Wales.

1966, The Rolling Stones performed at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

1967, UK music weekly the Melody Maker ran a front-page comment condemning the 3-month jail sentence given to Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for possession of Benzedrine tablets. Jagger was later given a conditional discharge.

1967, The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as support act. They requested Hendrix because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Hendrix manager Chas Chandler later admitted that he engineered the tour in an effort to gain publicity for Hendrix.

1968, Pink Floyd kicked off their second North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Visa problems meant a delayed start to the tour, and the band had to spend time in Canada while the paperwork was sorted out.

1969, Marianne Faithful collapsed on the set of Ned Kelly after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital, (she was later dropped from the movie).

1970, The Everly Brothers Show started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC- TV.

1971, Yes performed at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

1971, A minor riot occurred during a Mott The Hoople gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Some fans were injured and two boxes were damaged causing a temporary ban on rock gigs at the venue.

1972, Bill Withers started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Lean On Me.”

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky.

1972, Donny Osmond was at number one on the singles chart with his version of the Paul Anka song “Puppy Love.” The first of three solo chart toppers for Donny.

1972, The Concert 10 Festival was held at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Acts performing included, Claire Hamill, The Groundhogs, Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces with Rod Stewart, Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, and Three Dog Night.

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy1973, Led Zeppelin’s fifth album Houses Of The Holy was on both the US and UK album charts. The album spent a total of 39 weeks on the US chart. The cover art for Houses Of The Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis.

1974, David Bowie plays Philadelphia’s Tower Theatre. The week-long series of concerts is recorded and later released as David Live.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1977, ZZ Top performed at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

1978, Gerry Rafferty’s album City To City went to number one on the US charts knocking off Saturday Night Fever, which had reigned supreme at the top of the charts for almost six months.

1978, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow, both were fined.

1979, The B-52’s made their UK live debut at London’s Lyceum Ballroom, supported by The Tourists.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at the Tendastrisce, Rome.

1981, The Grateful Dead perform at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1983, Iron Maiden played at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1984, Bob Dylan’s current European tour came to an end at Slane Castle, County Meath in Ireland. Dylan was joined on stage by Van Morrison and they duetted on “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” U2’s Bono, who was sent to interview Dylan for the Irish rock magazine Hot Press, ended up duetting with Dylan on “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.” Carlos Santana also joined Dylan on stage and played guitar on the last seven songs of the set.

1995, TLC started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Waterfalls,” the group’s second US chart topper, and a top four hit in the UK.

2002, Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry’s treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a “conspiracy” among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson’s record label said the remarks were “ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.”

2006, Queen guitarist Brian May made a “substantial” donation to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides. Although the exact amount was not revealed it was said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years. May’s money would go towards funding cash rewards for islanders so hundreds more hedgehogs can be saved.

2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 am, but Prince took to the stage at 2.45 am. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance. His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.

Born on July 8: Jaimoe Johanson, Allman Bros (1944); Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode (1960);  Toby Keith (1961); Joan Osborne (1963); Beck (1970); Jamie Cook, guitarist, Arctic Monkeys (1985)

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Today in Rock History – July 3

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monkees-tv1967, A private party was held at the Speakeasy Club in London, England for The Monkees. Guests included: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, Eric Clapton, Lulu, and all the members from Manfred Mann, The Who and Procol Harum.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at The Scene in New York City.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Bath Pavilion in Bath, Somerset, England.

1968, At an impromptu gathering at Joni Mitchell’s house in Lookout Mountain, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash played together for the very first time.

1969, John Lennon holds a press conference to announce the release of “Give Peace a Chance,” but can’t show up as he and Yoko are recovering from a car crash in Scotland. Ringo fills in instead.

1969, Brian Jones drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol after taking a midnight swim in his pool, aged 27. His body was found at the bottom of the pool by his Swedish girlfriend Anna Wohlin. The coroner’s report stated “Death by misadventure,” and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. Jones was one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones.

1969, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Sly and the Family Stone, Jeff Beck, Savoy Brown, Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Buddy Guy Blues Band, Mothers Of Invention and Ten Years After all appeared at the four day Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island.

1969, The Grateful Dead appeared at Reed’s Ranch in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1970, Gene Ammons,  Sonny Stitt, Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann, Mongo Santa Maria, Jerry Smith, Oscar Peterson, Roberta Flack, and Sarah Vaughn appeared at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

1970, The three day Atlanta Pop Festival took place, featuring The Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Mountain, Procol Harum and Rare Earth. Over 200,000 music fans attended the festival.

1971, American singer, songwriter and poet, Jim Morrison of The Doors was found dead in a bathtub in Paris, France, the cause of death was given as a heart attack. No autopsy was ever performed. However other theories exist. Morrison’s girlfriend, Pam Courson, stated that Jim had died of an accidental heroin overdose, having snorted what he believed to be cocaine.

1971, Melody Maker reports on the appearance of a new Who bootleg in the US, Who Unreleased. Seven of the ten tracks are British Who releases that had not yet come out in the States.

1972, Blues singer, guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell died of cancer aged 68. The Rolling Stones covered his “You Got To Move” on their Sticky Fingers album. He coached Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar technique.

1973, Laurens Hammond the inventor of the Hammond organ died aged 73. Many rock artists including Procol Harum, Keith Emerson, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Allman Brothers and The Faces featured the sound of the Hammond. He also invented a silent spring-driven clock and during the World War II, he helped design guided missile systems.

1973, On the last night of a 60-date tour David Bowie announced he was about to retire from live performing, although it eventually transpires that Ziggy Stardust, the stage persona is being retired and not Bowie himself.

1975, Yes performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.

1975, Lead singer from Three Dog Night Chuck Negron was arrested at his Louisville hotel room on the opening night of the band’s tour and charged with possession of cocaine.

1976, Pete Townshend opens his Meher Baba Oceanic Centre with a week-long convention for his followers and gives away copies of the new Meher Baba tribute LP With Love. It features Pete’s “His Hands,” “Sleeping Dog,” and “Lantern Cabin,” a Pete vocal on “Meher” as well as a Billy Nicholls’ song “Without Your Love,” that will later be a solo hit for Roger.

1976, Brian Wilson played his first live show with The Beach Boys in seven years when they appeared at the Anaheim Stadium, California.

1977, Aerosmith appeared at Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Pavillon De Paris, Paris.

1979, James Taylor played at Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at Oberschwabenhalle, Ravensburg, Germany.

1981, bands performing on this date: Kraftwerk at the Hammersmith Odeon, London; Blue Oyster Cult at Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon; Van Halen at Cobo Arena, Detroit; Rush at the Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota; and Bruce Springsteen at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford.

1982, The Human League started a three week run at number one on the US singles charts with “Don’t You Want Me,” also a UK chart topper.

1983, Iron Maiden appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California.

1985, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the first of three sold out shows at Wembley Stadium in London.

1986, U2 crew member Greg Carroll was killed in a motorcycle accident in Dublin while running an errand for Bono. The song “One Tree Hill” on the band’s Joshua Tree album is dedicated to Carroll.

1996, AC/DC played the second of two nights at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain on their Ballbreaker world tour.

2001, American singer, songwriter Johnny Russell died aged 61. Wrote “Act Naturally” covered by The Beatles and Buck Owens. Jim Reeves, Jerry Garcia, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt all covered his songs.

Born on July 3: David Lynch, The Platters (1929);  Tommy Tedesco, session guitarist for Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Supremes, The Monkees, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, and more (1930); Paul Barrerre, Little Feat (1948); Johnnie Wilder, vocals, Heatwave (1949); Andy Fraser, Free, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (1952); Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure (1960); and Kevin Hearn, Barenaked Ladies (1969)

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Today in Rock History – June 15

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The Who, 1964 - from THE MARK AND COLLEEN HAYWARD COLLECTION (http://rockmusicprints.com/)
The Who, 1964 – from THE MARK AND COLLEEN HAYWARD COLLECTION (http://rockmusicprints.com/)

1964, The Who played at the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill, London.

1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off an 8-date mini-European tour at The Odeon Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, supported by The Hollies

1966, “Substitute” by The Who peaks at number 13 on the German charts.

1967, Guitarist Peter Green quit the John Mayall Band. He went on to be a founding member of Fleetwood Mac.

1968, The Soft Machine appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Today John and Yoko plant their acorns outside Coventry Cathedral in England to help promote peace.

1968, Pink Floyd performed two shows (7:30 and 11:30 pm) at Magic Village in Manchester, England. Also on the bill for this all night event were Purple Stone and the Alchemist, The Jack Lancaster – Bruce Mithcell Quartet, and the Inner Light Show.

1968, Quicksilver Messenger Service supported by The Hallucinations played at Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts.

1969, Led Zeppelin, along with Liverpool Scene and Bloodwyn Pig appeared at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, during a five date UK tour.

1969, The Frost played at the Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

1969, The Doors appeared at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1970, The Who performed at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1971, Pink Floyd performed at Abbaye de Royaumont in Royaumont, France. The show that was filmed by French TV channel ORTF, and two songs were broadcast on Cinq Grand Sur La Deux in the early hours of July 12th.

1972, The Rolling Stones appeared at University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1973, On television’s Midnight Special, host Jim Croce welcomes guests Wishbone Ash and Bobby Womack.

1973, David Bowie performed at the Odeon Theatre, Taunton, England.

1974, Abba’s debut album Waterloo entered the chart for the first time peaking at number 28.

1974, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” The song was a UK chart topper for Paper Lace.

1974, Elvis Presley played the first night of an 18-date US tour by playing four shows at the Tarrant County Center, Forth Worth, Texas.

1975, ZZ Top played at the Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, Washington.

1976, The Sex Pistols recorded their first demos in Clapham’s Majestic studios followed by a gig that night at The 100 club, London.

1976, AC/DC appeared at St. Georges Hall, Bradford, England.

1977, The Sex Pistols held a party on a boat as it sailed down The River Thames in London. The Pistols performed “Anarchy In The UK” outside The Houses Of Parliament, resulting in members from the party being arrested when the boat docked later that day.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1978, During a European tour Bob Dylan played the first of six sold out nights at London’s Earl Court.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1980, Nazareth played at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1983, David Bowie performed at Ruhrland Stadion, Bochum, Germany.

1984, Yes appeared at the Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.

1985, Dire Straits started a nine-week run at number one on the US album chart with, Brothers In Arms.

1986, U2 and Sting headlined a concert in New Jersey celebrating 25 years of Amnesty International.

1989 Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster “Bleach Your Works” urging drug users to bleach their needles. Kurt Cobain claimed that most of the lyrics on the album were written the night before recording while he was feeling “pissed off,” and that he did not regard them highly.

1996, Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. Already blinded by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993. She won 13 Grammy Awards, and the 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook was the first of eight “Songbook” sets.

2002, A rare autographed copy of The Beatles’ album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for £34,000 ($57,800), more than five times the estimated price.

 2003, Radiohead scored their fourth UK number one with their sixth studio album Hail To The Thief, while Metallica were at number one on the US album chart with St Anger, the band’s fourth US chart topper, and a top three hit in the UK.

2005, Coldplay went straight to number one on US album chart with their third album X&Y, having already entered at number one in the UK. The last time a British artist had a simultaneous US and UK number one was in November 2000 with 1, a compilation of hits by The Beatles. The last studio album to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic was Radiohead’s Kid A in October 2000.

Born on June 15: Nigel Pickering, Spanky And Our Gang (1929); Waylon Jennings (1937); Harry Nilsson (1941); Johnny Halliday, “the French Elvis” (1943); Muff Winwood, The Spencer Davis Group (1943); Russell Hitchcock, vocals, Air Supply (1949);  Steve Walsh, Kansas (1951); David Hinds, Steel Pulse (1956); rapper Ice Cube (1969)

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Today in Rock History – June 7

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The Grateful Dead

1968, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane all appeared for the first of a three night run at the Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, California.

1968, Cream played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan

1969, Supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood made their live debut at a free concert in London’s Hyde Park.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at The Hangar in Columbia, South Carolina.

1969, Keith Richards and his partner Anita Pallenburg were involved in a car crash near their home in Sussex. Richards escaped serious injury but Pallenburg was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone and the car was a write-off.

1969, The Who’s Tommy album entered the album chart peaking at No.2. It was the first of two full-scale rock operas from The Who, the other being the 1973’s Quadrophenia.

1969, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell both appeared on the first ABC TV Johnny Cash Show from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Dylan sang “I Threw It All Away” and “Living The Blues,” and duetted with Johnny Cash on “Girl From The North Country.”

1970, The Who play Tommy at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.

1972, Led Zeppelin performed at the Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec.

1973, David Bowie played at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1974, Audiences watching ABC saw highlights from the massive California Jam concert, including performances by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Black Oak Arkansas.

1974, On The Midnight Special, the Kinks pay host to ELO.

1975, Elton John’s album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, went to No.1 on the album chart, the first album ever to enter the chart at No.1.

1975, Pink Floyd begins its North American tour at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.  The band had arranged for the construction of an large inflatable pyramid to be launched at the climax of Dark Side of the Moon, but it failed to operate that evening. The next several shows were scheduled for indoor venues, so the crew used that time to fix the problem, and it worked successfully in Pittsburgh on June 20th.

1975, John Denver went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” the singers third No.1.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at the Pavillon De Paris in Paris.

1977, Led Zeppelin played the first of six sold out nights at Madison Square Garden, in New York City.

1978, Black Sabbath performed at St. Georges Hall, Bradford, England.

1979, Van Halen appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1979, Blondie performed ‘”Sunday Girl” on UK music television show Top Of The Pops.

1980, Bob Marley And The Wailers, Average White Band, Joe Jackson and The Q-Tips all appeared at The Summer Of ’80 Garden Party, Crystal Palace, London, England. Tickets £7.50 on the day.

1981, Rush performed at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1984, Bob Dylan appeared at Stade de Schaerbeek, Schaarbeek, Belgium

1987,  David Bowie played a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with the speakers pointing towards the nearby Berlin Wall where thousands of young East Berliners stood and listened.

1990, The Black Crowes played their debut UK gig at the Marquee in London.

1997, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a five-song set at the Tibet Freedom Concert, Downing Stadium in New York City. U2, Patti Smith and Radiohead also appeared at the concert.

1998, Songwriter Wally Gold died in a New Jersey hospital aged 70. Wrote “It’s My Party, “a hit for Lesley Gore and “It’s Now or Never,” a hit for Elvis Presley. Also a member of late 50’s group The Four Esquires, produced Kansas & Gene Pitney.

2001, During their The Tour of Brotherly Love tour, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog played the first of three nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

2012, Bob Welch, an early member of Fleetwood Mac who enjoyed a successful solo career with hits such as “Ebony Eyes,” was found dead after an apparent suicide at home in Nashville. He was 66. Police said Welch’s body was found by his wife Wendy with a single gunshot wound to the chest, and he had left a suicide note. Welch was part of Fleetwood Mac in their early years from 1971 to 1974 and worked on such albums as Future Games and Bare Trees.

Born on this day: Dean Martin (1917);  Tom Jones (1940); Prince (1958); and Dave Navarro, Jane’s Addiction (1967)

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Today in Rock History – June 5

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rolling-stones-19641964, The Rolling Stones played their first-ever live date in the US when they appeared at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California. The Stones were supporting their first album release The Rolling Stones, in North America.

1965, The soundtrack album to The Sound of Music started a 10-week run at number one on the UK chart. It returned to the top of the charts on no less than eleven other occasions spending over 380 weeks on the charts.

1966, David Bowie, appearing as “The Bowie Showboat, gave a lunchtime performance consisting of “three hours of music and mime” at The Marquee Club in London.  Admission was 3 shillings, ($0.42.)

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared on the Dusty Springfield TV show filmed on ATV, in London, England. Hendrix performed “Stone Free” and “Voodoo Chile,” and then played a version of “Mockingbird” with Dusty Springfield.

1968, Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles. The next day, the Rolling Stones amend their new song “Sympathy for the Devil” to reference the event. David Crosby is also inspired to write “Long Time Gone” in memory of the senator.

1969, The Who appeared at the Fillmore East in New York.

1970, Traffic performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The Grateful Dead play San Francisco’s Fillmore West.

1971, Grand Funk Railroad smashed the record held by The Beatles when they sold out New York’s Shea Stadium in 72 hours.

1971, Paul McCartney’s second solo album Ram started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart. It featured the American chart topping single “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey.”

1972, Roxy Music performed at Chester, Cheshire, England.

1974, Sly Stone married Kathy Silva on stage during a gig at Madison Square Garden. They separated four months later.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1974, Patti Smith enters a studio for the first time to cut her interpretation of “Hey Joe.”

1975, During recording sessions for Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, Syd Barrett turned up out of the blue as Pink Floyd were listening to playbacks of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a tribute to former band member Barrett. He was almost unrecognizable, bald, and overweight. This was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw Barrett.

1976, ZZ Top appeared at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, while Elvis Presley performed not far away at the Omni Coliseum.

1976, The Who, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers appeared at Celtic Football Club, Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets cost £4.00 ($7.)

1977, Alice Cooper’s boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act suffered a fatal bite from a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held auditions for a replacement and a snake named “Angel” got the gig.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

1979, Blues legend Muddy Waters (aged 64), married Marva Jean Brooks on her 25th birthday.

1979, Dire Straits played at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris.

1980, The Grateful Dead celebrate the band’s fifteenth anniversary playing the Compton Terrace Amphitheater in Tempe, Arizona.

1981, Rush  performed at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1983, During a 48-date North American tour U2 played at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, near Denver. The show was recorded and released as U2 Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky.

1988, The Pet Shop Boys played their debut live show when they appeared at London’s Piccadilly Theatre as part of an Anti Section 28 Benefit concert.

1990, Drummer Jim Hodder drowned in his swimming pool aged 42. He was the original drummer with Steely Dan and also worked with Sammy Hagar and David Soul.

1993, Country singer Conway Twitty died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had the 1958 US and UK number one single “It’s Only Make Believe.” Until 2000, he held the record for the most number one singles of any country act, with 45 chart toppers. He lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City.

1997, Ex Small Faces, The Faces and leader of Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane died aged 51 after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Lane also collaborated with Pete Townshend on the 1977 album Rough Mix.

1999, Jazz singer and songwriter Mel Torme died aged 73. His biggest hit was the 1956 UK number four single “Mountain Greenery” and his “Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) has been recorded more than 1,700 times.

2002, Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin), bass guitarist with The Ramones died at his Hollywood, California apartment of a heroin overdose at age 49. He was the group’s primary songwriter, penning songs such as “Rockaway Beach,” “53rd & 3rd,” and “Poison Heart.”

2005, Oasis went to number one on the UK album chart with Don’t Believe The Truth, the band’s sixth UK chart topping  album.

2007, Paul McCartney released his 21st solo album, Memory Almost Full on the new Hear Music Starbucks label. It was later announced that all copies sold through UK Starbucks would not be eligible for the UK charts as the 533 stores were not registered with the Official Chart Company. The album was being played non-stop in more than 10,000 Starbucks outlets across 29 countries.

Born on June 5: Freddie Stone, Sly and The Family Stone (1946); Tom Evans, bass, vocals, Badfinger; Laurie Anderson (1947); Nicko McBrain, drums, Iron Maiden (1954); Richard Butler, Psychedelic Furs, (1956); Mark Wahlberg (the actor, aka Marky Mark,) New Kids on the Block (1971); Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy (1979)

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