Rock History August 13
1965, Jefferson Airplane made their live debut at San Francisco’s Matrix Club.
1965, Mike Smith, lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, suffered two broken ribs when he was pulled off the stage by fans. The group were in Chicago at the beginning of a US tour.
1965, The performed at The Marine Ballroom at the Central Pier in Morecambe, Lancashire, England.
1965, The Beatles arrived at Kennedy International Airport for a tour of North America. The set list for the tour was “Twist and Shout,” “She’s a Woman,” “I Feel Fine,” “Dizzy Miss Lizzie,” “Ticket to Ride,” “‘Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Baby’s in Black,” “Act Naturally,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!,” “I’m Down,” and “I Wanna Be Your Man.” The tour was not a happy one for The Beatles, John Lennon took to screaming off-microphone obscenities at the audiences.
1966, Lovin Spoonful started a three-week run at number one on the Billboard singles chart with “Summer In The City,” knocking of “Hanky Panky” by Tommy James and the Shondelles.
1966, Revolver, The Beatles seventh album release in three years, started a seven-week run at number one on the UK charts. Meanwhile, their Yesterday and Today album entered the third of a five-week run atop the US charts.
1967, The Who appeared at Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. After the show, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle run over to the Ambassador to catch Jimi Hendrix’s set. When Hendrix sees Pete and John in the audience, he launches into a cover of “I Can’t Explain”.
1967, Fleetwood Mac made their live debut when they appeared at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Also on the bill Jeff Beck, Cream, Small Faces, The Move, The Pink Floyd, Donovan and Chicken Shack.
1968, The Who appeared at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California.
1971, Saxophonist King Curtis Ousley was stabbed to death by a vagrant on the front steps of his New York home. Ousley had worked with John Lennon and also played on The Coasters “Yakety Yak.”
1971, John Lennon flew from Heathrow Airport to New York, he never set foot on British soil again.
1971, Pink Floyd played their first ever Australian date when they appeared at the Festival Hall in Melbourne.
1972, Hawkwind performed at the Rainbow Theatre, London.
1972, Ten Years After headlined the final day of the Reading Festival. Matching Mole, Quintessence, Stackridge, Status Quo, Stray, String Driven Thing, Sutherland Brothers, Vinegar Joe, and Wizzard were also on the bill.
1973, John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra played at the Wollman Skating Rink Theater in New York City.
1974, Rory Gallagher appeared at The Agora, in Cleveland, Ohio.
1975, The Grateful Dead performed at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The show was broadcast on September 1st by the Metromedia Network.
1976, The Clash played a private gig for the press at Chalk Farm rehearsal studios, London.
1977, Yes scored their second UK number one album with their eighth studio album Going For The One. The album marked the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who departed in 1974 over musical differences.
1977, Bachman Turner Overdrive split up.
1978, AC/DC appeared at Gusman Philharmonic Hall, Miami, Florida.
1980, Four masked robbers broke in to Todd Rundgren’s New York house and proceeded to steal Hi-Fi equipment and paintings after tying the musician up. It was reported that one of the intruders had been humming his hit “I Saw The Light.”
1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Poplar Creek Music Theater, Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
1982, American soul singer Joe Tex died at his home in Navasota, Texas, following a heart attack, just five days after his 49th birthday. Had nine US Top 40 hits including the 1972 US number two single “I Gotcha.”
1983, KC and the Sunshine Band were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Give It Up.” The American disco group’s only UK chart topper spent three weeks at the top spot.
1992, Neil Diamond played the first of six sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in New York. Diamond would bring in over $40 (£25) million from touring this year, the second highest in the music industry.
1994, Woodstock ’94 was held in Saugerties, New York, attended by over 350,000 fans, the festival featured Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Aerosmith, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tickets cost $135.00 (£89.00). Performers from the original Woodstock appearing at Woodstock ’94 were The Band, Santana, Joe Cocker, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, surviving members of Sweetwater, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Additionally, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane, and Bob Weir, guitar of the Grateful Dead, all Woodstock alumni, performed with The Band.
2009, Guitarist Les Paul died in hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 94 suffering from severe pneumonia. Paul is credited with developing one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which went on sale in 1952 and contributed to the birth of rock. He also developed other influential recording innovations such as multi-track recording and overdubbing. In the early 50s, Paul and his wife Mary Ford had a string of hits including “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” “How High the Moon,” and “Vaya Con Dios.”
Born on August 13: Cliff Fish, bass, Paper Lace (1949); Dan Fogelberg (1951); Hughie Thomasson, singer, guitarist, Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952); Danny Bonaduce, The Partridge Family (1959)
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Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Dave Clark FIve, Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Tex, John Lennon, Lovin Spoonful, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pink Floyd, Rory Gallagher, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Todd Rundgren, Yes.
