Rock History May 13
1967, The Monkees second album More Of The Monkees, went to number one on the charts. In 1967 only four albums reached the top spot. The Sound Of Music spent seventeen weeks at number one, The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s, 25 weeks, and The Monkees’ first and second albums spent nine weeks at number one.
1967, The Who played at the Shoreline Hotel in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England.
1967, The Supremes scored their tenth number one single with “The Happening”. It was the last single to be released as the Supremes. After then, they were known as Diana Ross and the Supremes.
1967, Pink Floyd performed at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England.
1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a series of interviews to help launch Apple Corps in the US.
1969, Led Zeppelin became the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at The Civic Auditorium, Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser stated: “The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better.”
1970, The world premiere of The Beatles film Let It Be took place in New York City. The film, which was originally planned as a television documentary, features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release.
1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.
1971, On his twenty- first birthday Stevie Wonder received all his childhood earnings. Despite having earned $30 million so far, he received only $1 million.
1971, James Brown cuts “Hot Pants.”
1971, Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane crashed her Mercedes into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and was hospitalized.
1972, David Bowie performed at Technical College in Slough, Berkshire, England.
1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, in Des Moines, Iowa.
1974, Forty-three people were arrested and more than fifty were injured after youths started throwing bottles outside a Jackson Five concert at RFK stadium in Washington DC.
1975, Yes played at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.
1976, Kiss played the first UK date on their current Alive World Tour at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.
1976, David Bowie performs at Ahoy Sports Stadium, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
1977, Linda Ronstadt denies a report that she was offered $1 million to appear in a Hustler photo spread.
1978, Yvonne Elliman went to number one on the US singles chart with the Gibb brothers song “If I Can”t Have You”. The song was featured in the film Saturday Night Fever; a number four hit in the UK.
1978, Aerosmith appeared at the BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama.
1978, Jimmy Buffett appears on Saturday Night Live singing “Son of a Sailor.”
1980, Rush played at Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
1984, Van Halen performed at The Forum, Inglewood, California.
1989, Bon Jovi went to No.1 on the US singles chart with “I”ll Be There For You”, the group”s fourth US No.1, a No.18 hit in the UK.
2012, Donald “Duck” Dunn, bassist with Booker T and the MG”s died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. He was also a member of the Blues Brothers Band.
2023, Amy Wadge and Ed Sheeran were victorious in a copyright trial over the track “Thinking Out Loud”. Wadge, who is based in Wales, co-wrote the song with Sheeran, her friend of 17 years. A court in New York ruled the pair had not copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”, despite claims from heirs of Gaye’s co-writer.
Born on this day: Ritchie Valens (1941); Mary Wells (1943); Magic Dick, harmonica, The J Geils Band (1945); Danny Kirwan, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Wonder (1950); Paul Thompson, drums, Roxy Music (1951); and Darius Rucker, Hootie & The Blowfish (1966)
Get more Today in Rock History.
The Monkees, The Supremes, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, James Brown, David Bowie, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Jackson Five, Yes, KISS, Linda Ronstadt, Aerosmith.
