Rock History March 12
1965, The Beatles wrap up their location shooting of Help! in the Bahamas. Ringo Starr recalled, “A hell of a lot of pot was being smoked while we were making the film. It was great. That helped make it a lot of fun.”
1966, The first album by Love is released in the US.
1966, Sgt Barry Sadler started a five-week run at No.1 on the album chart with “The Ballad Of The Green Berets.”
1966, The Who at Birdcage Club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at the Gyro Club in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England.
1968, Pink Floyd were at EMI Studios in London recording the single “It Would Be So Nice.”
1968, The Rolling Stones started recording their next single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with new producer Jimmy Miller at Olympic studios in London.
1969, Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office. They then held a reception lunch at The Ritz Hotel, Paul then went to Abbey Road studios in the evening to work. George Harrison and his wife Patti were arrested on the same day and charged with possession of 120 joints of marijuana.
1970, Led Zeppelin played at Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf, Germany.
1971, Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Morena de Macias.
1971, John Lennon releases his solo single “Power to the People,” having recorded it a mere four days before.
1971, The Allman Brothers Band perform for two night the Fillmore East in New York. The resulting live album helped the band achieve breakthrough success.
1971, A London High Court judge rules in favor of Paul McCartney’s action to dissolve the Beatles’ partnership.
1972, King Crimson appeared at Summit Studios, Denver, Colorado.
1973, The Eagles appeared at Oxford Polytechnic during a UK tour, JD Souther was the support act.
1974, David Essex supported by Brinsley Schwarz appeared at The Kings Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, England, tickets cost 40p.
1974, John Lennon made the headlines after an incident at the Troubadour Club, LA. Out on a drinking binge with Harry Nilsson, Lennon hurled insults at the performing Smothers Brothers and punched their manager before being forcibly removed.
1975, Led Zeppelin played at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.
1976, David Bowie performed at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.
1977, The Sex Pistols were involved in a fight at London’s Speakeasy Club with Bob Harris, presenter of BBC 2’s The Old Grey Whistle Test resulting in one of the shows engineers needing 14 stitches in his head. Two days later Harris’s solicitors contact Derek Green at A&M the bands record label. Harris’s management also managed Peter Frampton, one of the label’s top acts at A&M. Green discussed the matter with the company’s two founders, Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert and the decision is made to cancel the Pistols contract and halt production of the bands first single, “God Save The Queen.”
1978, Bob Dylan appears at Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia.
1979, Roxy Music headlines at Musensaal, Mannheim, Germany.
1980, Peter Gabriel played at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
1981, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Boston Garden.
1983, U2 scored their first UK number one album with War, which went on to spend a total of 147 weeks on the chart. The album featured the singles “New Years Day” and “Two Hearts Beat As One,” and the popular “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.”
2006, Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour went to number one on the UK album chart with his third solo album On An Island.
2012, Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack died at his home in Dubois, Wyoming at the age of 65. He had been battling cancer for some time and succumbed to complications of the disease with his family at his side. Hossack was a member of the Doobie Brothers between 1971 and 1973, playing on several of the band’s best-known hits, including ‘Listen to the Music’ and ‘China Grove’.
Born on March 12: Leonard Chess, Chess Records (1917); James Taylor (1948); Bill Payne, Little Feat; Mike Gibbins, Badfinger (1949); Jack Green, The Pretty Things (1951); Steve Harris, Iron Maiden (1956); Marlon Jackson, Jackson 5 (1957); and Ben Kenny, bassist, Incubus (1977)
Get more Today in Rock History
Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Love, Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Sgt. Barry Sadler, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2.
