Rock History June 13
1967, The Bee Gees appeared live on the UK TV show As You Like It. The group were promoting their debut single “New York Mining Disaster 1941.”
1968, Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Hallucinations performed at Boston Tea Party in Boston, Massachusetts.
1969, The Who stage the Hollywood premiere of Tommy, performing the rock opera at the Hollywood Palladium as part of the “Magic Circus” with fellow acts Poco, and the Bonzo Dog Band. Attending the show are Janis Joplin, Spirit, Mama Cass Elliot, David Crosby, Peter Tork and The Turtles.
1969, The Rolling Stones held a photo call in Hyde Park to introduce new guitarist Mick Taylor. The 20 year-old former John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers member made his live debut with the Stones the following month at a free concert at Hyde Park London.
1969, Glen Campbell played at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.
1969, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Sam & Dave, and the Staple Singers appear at the Soul Bowl ’69, held at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
1969, The Grateful Dead performed at the Convention Center in Fresno, California.
1969, Led Zeppelin play at Town Hall in Birmingham, the first of eleven shows in England and France before returning to the US. Supporting acts were Liverpool Scene and Blodwyn Pig.
1969, Pink Floyd played at the Great Hall, Devonshire House at the University of Exeter, in Exeter, England.
1970, The Beatles started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “The Long And Winding Road,” the group’s 20th chart topper. The album Let It Be started a four-week run at number one the US album chart on the same day.
1970, Grand Funk Railroad, supported by Steel Mill, featuring Bruce Springsteen, appeared at the Ocean Ice Palace in Bricktown, New Jersey, tickets cost $5.00.
1970, Christine Perfect says she will retire from music following the release of her self-titled solo album. However, she later becomes a member of her husband, John McVie’s, band, Fleetwood Mac.
1971, Grin, led by Nils Lofgrin played at the Alexandria Roller Rink, Alexandria, Virginia.
1972, The Rolling Stones performed at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.
1972, Clyde McPhatter, original lead vocalist with The Drifters, died of a heart attack in New York. He joined Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1950, formed The Drifters in 1953, and had several solo hits including 1962’s “Lover Please.” He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
1973, David Bowie played at the Gaumont State Theatre, London.
1974, King Crimson appeared Cow Palace in San Francisco.
1974, David Bowie, Corinne “Coco” Schwab., Stuey George and driver Jim James leave the MainMan suite at the Sherry Netherland Hotel in New York to begin the nine hour trip by limousine to Montreal for the start of the “Diamond Dogs” tour.
1975, John Lennon made his last ever TV appearance when he appeared on Salute To Sir Lew Grade, performing “Slippin And Slidin,” and “Imagine.”
1976, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia.
1977, Crosby, Stills and Nash performed at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.
1977, Rush played at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England.
1979, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.
1980, Before a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game, Pat Benatar performs a short set and dances with the team mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.
1980, “Roadie” opens across America. Appearing in the film are VH1 giants Meat Loaf, Blondie, Pat Benatar, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, and Styx.
1980, The Grateful Dead performs at the Seattle Center Coliseum, in Seattle, Washington.
1981, Smokey Robinson was at number one on the UK singles chart with a song he wrote in the late 60’s. “Being With You.” It was his first solo chart topper.
1984, Yes appeared at the Falkoner Teater, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1988, The biggest charity Rock concert since Live Aid in 1985 took place at London’s Wembley Stadium, to rally against South African apartheid. Among the performers were Sting, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, George Michael, Whitney Houston and Dire Straits. Half the money raised went towards anti-apartheid activities in Britain, the rest was donated to children’s charities in southern Africa.
1992, Erasure started a five-week run at number one in the UK with the Abba-Esque EP. The release featured four covers of Abba hits and Vince Clark & Andy Bell dressed up as the two female members of Abba for the videos.
1992, Billy Ray Cyrus started a 17-week run at number one on the US album chart with Some Gave All. His debut album featured the world-wide breakthrough song “Achy Breaky Heart,” which was originally recorded as “Don’t Tell My Heart” by The Marcy Brothers on their 1991 self-titled album.
1995, Alanis Morissette released her studio album, Jagged Little Pill. The album went on to sell over 30 million copies world-wide, and made Morissette the first female Canadian to score a US number one album. Jagged Little Pill featured the massive hits “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” “Ironic,” and “You Learn.”
2003, The Arctic Monkeys made their live debut at The Grapes pub in Sheffield, England. They received £27 ($46) from ticket sales.
2015, Rapper MC Supreme was killed in Malibu, California when a pickup truck hit his parked car on the shoulder of the Pacific Coast Highway. The 47-year-old “Black in America” performer, whose real name was Dewayne Coleman, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Born on June 13: Uriel Jones, session drummer, the Funk Brothers (1934); Bobby Freeman, singer (1940); Marv Tarplin, American guitarist, songwriter, the Miracles (1941); Malcolm McDowell, actor (1943); Dennis Locorriere, guitar, Dr Hook (1949); Howard Leese, American guitarist, producer, Bad Company, Heart (1951); Paul De Lisle, American bass player, songwriter, Smash Mouth (1963); Denise Pearson, English singer-songwriter, Five Star (1968); Rivers Cuomo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Weezer, Avant Garde, Homie (1970);
Get more Today in Rock History
Aerosmith, Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, Aretha Franklin, Blondie, Cheap Trick, Crosby Stills & Nash, David Bowie, Dire Straits, Glen Campbell, Grand Funk, John Lennon, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Nils Lofgren, Pat Benatar, Pink Floyd, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Ray Charles, Rush, Sam & Dave, Stevie Wonder, Sting, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Yes.
