Rock history June 16
1965, Bob Dylan recorded “Like A Rolling Stone” at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, during sessions for the forthcoming Highway 61 Revisited album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on “Like A Rolling Stone” became one of rock’s most recognizable sounds.
1965, The Who’s manager Chris Stamp goes on his first trip to see Decca Records management in New York. The only way he can make the flight is to have his brother, the actor Terence Stamp, downgrade his first-class ticket to two coach tickets as he flies to America to promote his movie The Collector.
1966, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, featuring guitarist Eric Clapton, appeared at The Marquee Club, London, England.
1966, The Who played at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
1966, The Beatles made a surprise live appearance on the UK television program Top of the Pops, performing “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” It became The Beatles’ last live musical television appearance, apart from the June 1967 worldwide transmission of “All You Need Is Love.”
1967, The three day Monterey Pop Festival in California began. All the proceeds went to charity when all the artists agreed to perform for free, and the “Summer of Love” was born. It was organized by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Lou Adler. The festival saw the first major US appearances by The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. Also on the bill: The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Otis Redding, Simon & Garfunkel, The Steve Miller Band, Canned Heat, The Mamas And The Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield and The Electric Flag. Tickets cost $3.50–6.50. Phillips, would later write, “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair”) about the festival, which became a hit for Scott McKenzie.
1967, Pink Floyd release their second single, “See Emily Play,” in England. It reached number six in the UK charts. The US release was slated for July 24th.
1968, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller, and Santana play a benefit at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium. Proceeds from the gig go toward keeping the Matrix Club, another San Francisco venue, open.
1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at Aeolian Hall in London, England.
1970, Mungo Jerry were at number one on the singles chart with “In The Summertime.” It went on to become the best selling single of 1970 spending seven weeks at the top of the charts.
1970, The Who performed at the Berkeley Community Theater. It was The Who’s last small venue concert in the US until 1999
1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama.
1972, David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It reached number five on the UK Album Chart and number 75 in the US. It was eventually certified platinum and gold in the UK and US respectively. The first single from the record, “Starman,” charted at number ten in the UK while peaking at number 65 in the US.
1972, Genesis appeared at the Corn Exchange, Bedford, England.
1973, The Eagles and King Crimson played at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.
1974, Tangerine Dream made their live UK debut at London’s Victoria Palace.
1974, The Grateful Dead played at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. The show has been released as Road Trips, Volume 2, Number 3.
1975, John Lennon files a suit against former U.S. Attorneys General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, accusing them of harassment during deportation proceedings.
1975, Peter Frampton played at the Marin County Civic Center, in San Rafael, California. Recordings from this, along with the following night at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom were used as part of his chart topping double album Frampton Comes Alive!
1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.
1976, The Jackson Five four-week summer variety show premiered on CBS- TV, featuring The Jacksons plus sisters Latoya, Rebbie and Janet.
1977, Kenny Rogers was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Lucille.” It was the American country music and pop singer’s first of two UK number ones.
1978, Mac Davis hosts The Midnight Special, welcoming guests Rod Stewart, Todd Rundgren, and Andrew Gold.
1978, Bob Dylan performed at Earls Court in London.
1978, David Bowie appeared at City Hall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
1979, The Electric Light Orchestra started a five-week run at number one on the album chart with Discovery, their first chart topping LP, featuring the tracks “Shine A Little Love,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “The Diary Of Horace Wimp.”
1980, The Blues Brothers film starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd premiered in Chicago. The film also had cameos from Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles.
1981, Van Halen appeared at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas.
1982, Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died following sustained cocaine and heroin addiction.
1983, Dire Straits performed at the Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood had their second UK number one single with “Two Tribes.” It stayed at number one for nine weeks making Frankie Goes To Hollywood the first band to have their first two singles go to the top of the UK chart. During this run the group’s previous single “Relax” climbed back up the charts to the second spot.
1989, The first day of the UK three day Glastonbury Festival took place featuring Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Throwing Muses, The Pixies, All About Eve, Hot House Flowers, The Waterboys, Suzanne Vega and Fairground Attraction. Tickets cost £28.
1994, Oasis played at The Erotika Club, Paris in France, the band’s first gig outside the UK.
1996, Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lee Hooker, Beck, Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, De La Soul and Richie Havens all appeared at the two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco: A sell-out crowd of over 100,000 made it the largest US benefit concert since Live Aid in 1985.
1999, Screaming Lord Sutch was found dead after hanging himself. The singer turned politician was 58. He was the first long-haired pop star-boasting hair over 18 inches long and the self-styled lord, whose real name was David Sutch, was Britain’s longest-serving political leader, standing in nearly 40 elections.
2002, Elvis Presley started a four-week run at number one on the UK singles chart 46 years after his first hit, with “A Little Less Conversation.” This gave Elvis a total of 18 UK chart topping singles, the most by any artist in chart history. This also set a new record for the longest span of number one hits with 44 years, 11 months and 9 days. His first UK number single was “All Shook Up” in 1957.
2010, American musician and guitarist Gary Shider died from cancer of the brain and lungs. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars, and as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic he scored the hit “One Nation Under A Groove.”
Born on June 16: Lamont Dozier, songwriter of Holland/Dozier/Holland fame (1941); American singer–songwriter and actor Edward Levert, The O’Jays (1942); Ian Matthews, singer, Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort (1946); Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, producer, The Blues Brothers, CBS Orchestra (1947); Robbin Thompson, American singer-songwriter, Steel Mill (1949); James Smith, The Stylistics (1950); Charlie Dominici, American singer, guitarist, Dream Theater, Dominici (1951); Gino Vanelli (1952); Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist, The Boomtown Rats (1954); Tupac Shakur (1971)
Get more Today in Rock History
Bob Dylan, David Bowie, ELO, Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Genesis, Jackson Five, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Mac Davis, Monterrey Pop Festival, Mungo Jerry, Otis Redding, Pink Floyd, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, Smashing Pumpkins, Steve Miller Band, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Blues Brothers, The Byrds, The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, The Pixies, The Who, Van Halen, Van Morrison.
