Rock History May 11
1967, Pink Floyd begin two days of recording with producer Joe Boyd, working on the tracks “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Arnold Layne,” “Let’s Roll Another One” and “Nick’s Boogie.”
1967, The Bee Gees made their Top Of The Pops debut performing “New York Mining Disaster” on the UK TV show.
1968, Jimi Hendrix moves into a London townhouse formerly owned by the Messiah’s composer George Frederick Handel. The guitarist tells the Daily Mirror that he will “not let the tradition down.”
1969, Yes played at Frank Freeman’s Club, Kidderminster, England.
1969, The Rolling Stones go to number five in the American album charts with their new release Beggars Banquet. It peaked at number three in the UK charts the previous year.
1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed the first of two nights at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta.
1969, Jethro Tull release their debut album This Was.
1970, The triple soundtrack album Woodstock was released, going gold within two weeks.
1971, King Crimson appeared at Guild Hall, Plymouth, England.
1972, John Lennon appeared on the US television Dick Cavett Show, claiming he was under surveillance from the FBI.
1972, David Bowie played at Assembly Hall, Worthing, England.
1972, The Grateful Dead’s fabled European tour stops at Rotterdam, Netherlands for a show at the Civic Hall.
1973, Wings kicked off their first official tour at the Bristol Hippodrome, playing 15 UK shows.
1973, Alice Cooper appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.
1974, Led Zeppelin attended an Elvis Presley show at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles, California. After a shaky start to the show, Elvis stopped the band and jokingly said: “Wait a minute…if we can start together fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there, lets try to look like we know what were doing.” All four members of Zeppelin met with Elvis after the show, spending over two hours backstage. Elvis asked for all the group’s autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie.
1975, Led Zeppelin play “Kashmir” live for the first time during a gig at the Ahoy in Rotterdam.
1976, AC/DC performed at the Marquee Club, London.
1978, Rush appeared at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1978, at the end of their News Of The World 46-date tour, Queen played three sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, London, England.
1979, Rod Stewart appeared at Cobo Arena, Detroit, on his Blondes Have More Fun tour, tickets $12.50.
1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died of lung cancer and a brain tumor aged 36. He had the 1981 single “No Woman No Cry,” plus over ten other UK Top 40 singles. In 1990, February 6 was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica to commemorate his birth. The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.
1985, UK producer and keyboard player Paul Hardcastle was at number one on the UK singles chart with “19.” The title referred to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and features dialogue by television narrator Peter Thomas, and a strong anti-war message.
1987, The UK indie chart had The Smiths at number one on with “Sheila Take A Bow,” number two, The Cult, “Lil’ Devil” number three, The Pogues, “The Irish Rover.” The CD chart, David Bowie a the top spot with Never Let Me Down, Raindancing by Alison Moyet stood at number two and Genesis Invisible Touch rounded out the top three.
1996, Bill Graham, the Irish journalist from Hot Press magazine, credited with discovering U2, died of a heart attack aged 44. Graham brought the fledgling band to the attention of Paul McGuiness, who became their manager. Members from Clannad, U2, Hothouse Flowers and Gavin Friday all attended his funeral.
2001, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog kicked off The Tour of Brotherly Love, a North American tour at The Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Nevada. (The three bands featuring pairs of brothers, (Noel and Liam Gallagher, Chris and Rich Robinson, Royston and Antony Langdon, respectively).
2003, Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding died at his home in Ireland aged 57. Redding played on the classic Hendrix albums Are You Experienced, ‘Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. Right up until his death, Redding had been taking legal action against the Hendrix estate for payment estimated at £3.26 million for his part in recordings and for ongoing royalties. Had also been a member of Fat Mattress and formed The Noel Redding Band.
2014, American Ed Gagliardi, best known as the original bass player with Foreigner died at age 62 after an eight-year battle with cancer. In 1981, Gagliardi formed the band Spys with former Foreigner keyboardist Al Greenwood
2020, American singer-songwriter Moon Martin died age 74. He was originally a rockabilly artist, and wrote the songs “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)”, made famous by English singer Robert Palmer, and “Cadillac Walk”, a hit for Willy DeVille.
Born on this day: Irving Berlin (1888); Eric Burdon (1941); Les Chadwick, Gerry And The Pacemakers (1943); and Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers (1947); Greg Dulli, singer-songwriter and guitarist, The Twilight Singers, The Afghan Whigs (1965).
Get more Today in Rock History
AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rod Stewart, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, The Cult, The Grateful Dead, The Pogues, The Rolling Stones, The Smiths, Yes.
