Rock History May 26
1964, Marianne Faithful recorded the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song “As Tears Go By,” accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.
1965, The Isley Brothers release their single “Twist and Shout.”
1966, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Paint It Black,” their sixth chart topping single.
1966, The Who were at the Locarno Ballroom in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, England.
1966, Recording began for The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” at Abbey Road studios in London. Producer George Martin was not available due to a bout with food poisoning. The idea for the song came to Paul McCartney late one evening. “The color yellow came to me, and a submarine came to me,” he has stated. Both John Lennon and Donovan contributed to the lyrics. It was a melody that Paul felt would suit Ringo perfectly.
1968, Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things all appeared at the OZ Magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London, England. OZ was a satirical humor magazine, founded by Richard Neville in 1963, and based in Sydney, Australia. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973.
1968, US blues artist Little Willie John died in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. He co-wrote and was the first to record “Fever,” covered by Peggy Lee in 1958, and “Need Your Love So Bad” covered by Fleetwood Mac. James Brown recorded a tribute album Thinking Of Little Willie John… And A Few Other Nice Things.
1969, John and Yoko began an eight-day “bed in,” in room 1742 of The Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada, to promote world peace. They recorded “Give Peace a Chance” in the hotel room, during which Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus. The song was credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record.
1969, The Hollies record “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” with a young Elton John providing piano.
1969, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends goes to number one on the American album chart, knocking their own Graduate soundtrack out of the top spot.
1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Mile High Raceway in Denver, Colorado.
1972, Ike and Tina Turner appeared at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
1972, Mott The Hoople was on the verge of splitting up, when David Bowie offered them two of his new songs, “Suffragette City,” which they turned down and “All The Young Dudes,” which they recorded. The song gave the group a number three UK and US Top 40 hit.
1972, The first day of the four day UK festival The Great Western Express near Lincoln featuring The Faces, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, Slade, The Groundhogs, Ry Cooder, Don McLean, Brewers Droop, plus a special appearance by Monty Python.
1973, The Beatles “1967-1970” (also known as the Blue album) went to number one on the charts.
1973, The Edgar Winter Group went to number one on the US singles chart with “Frankenstein,” the band’s only chart topper, and a number 18 hit in the UK. The group featured former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer.
1974, KISS performed at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington.
1975, Rush appeared at the Paramount Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
1976, Aerosmith played at Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1977, Billy Powell, singer with The O’Jays died of cancer. Originally known as The Triumphs, and then The Mascots. They took the name “The O’Jays,” in tribute to radio disc jockey Eddie O’Jay.
1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
1978, On Irish television this day, a program called Youngline, a series for young people highlighting their interests. It included a feature on a new pop group, The Hype, soon to be renamed U2.
1978, Neil Young appeared at The Boarding House in San Francisco.
1979, “Sunday Girl” gave Blondie their second UK number one hit single. The track was taken from the group’s Parallel Lines, which went on to become the biggest selling album of 1979.
1979, The first day of the two day Loch Lomond Festival featured The Stranglers, Dr Feelgood, Skids, Third World, The Dickies. Day Two featured The Average White Band, Buzzcocks, Rockpile and The Boomtown Rats, who played “I Don’t Like Mondays” live for the first time.
1983, David Bowie performed at the Amphithéâtre de Fréjus, Fréjus, France.
1994, Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The couple divorced in 1995. They had first met when the seven-year-old Presley attended several of Jackson’s concerts in Las Vegas.
1995, The Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amserdam over two days. Keith Richards later said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and Amy Winehouse.
2002, The first episode of At Home With The Osbournes was shown on MTV in the UK. Already becoming a hit in the the US, the show focused on the madman, his wife Sharon, and two of their three children. Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.
2009, A US judge ended a bitter two-year battle over the late soul singer James Brown’s estate. Judge Jack Early ruled half of his assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children. Brown’s family and wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had fought over his fortune since he died of heart failure in 2006.
2022, English drummer Alan White best known for his tenure in the progressive rock band Yes died at age 72. In 1969, White joined John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, playing drums on “Instant Karma!” and “Imagine”, as well as most of Lennon’s 1971 Imagine album. White also performed on over fifty albums by other musicians, notably George Harrison, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Terry Reid, Joe Cocker and The Ventures.
Born on May 26: Peggy Lee (1920); Miles Davis (1926); Levon Helm, The Band (1943); Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer, The Guess Who, Bachman–Turner Overdrive (1945); Mick Ronson, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople (1946); Stevie Nicks (1948); Hank Williams, Jr. (1949); Marian Gold, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, Alphaville (1954); Lenny Kravitz (1964); Alan White, English drummer, Oasis, Starclub (1972); Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, Fugees (1975)
Get more Today in Rock History
Aerosmith, Blondie, David Bowie, Edgar Winter, John Lennon, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Marianne Faithful, Neil Young, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Hollies, The Isley Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Yoko Ono.
