Rock History September 24
1965, Bob Dylan played the first night on a 36-date North American tour at Austin Municipal Auditorium in Austin, Texas.
1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London with manager Chas Chandler on a flight from New York City. With only the clothes he was wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to pay a hotel bill in New York.
1966, The Association started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Cherish.” The New Christy Minstrels almost recorded the track but Association member and songwriter, Terry Kirkman, held onto “Cherish” instead of selling it for $1000. The finished recording played for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, but the single’s label listed the time as 3:00 so that disc jockeys wouldn’t be discouraged from playing a “long song.”
1967, Traffic made their live debut when they appeared at Saville Theatre in London, featuring Steve Winwood.
1967, Filming continued for The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour at West Malling Air Station, Maidstone, Kent with the shooting of the “Your Mother Should Know” ballroom finale. The Beatles were all dressed in white suits and shoes, gliding down a glittery staircase as 160 members of Peggy Spencer’s dance team swirled round about.
1969, Pink Floyd performed at Stadsgehoorzaal, Leiden, The Netherlands.
1970, The Rolling Stones played at Palais des Sport, Paris
1971, Yes appeared at Queen’s Hall, Barnstable, Devon, England.
1972, During his Ziggy Stardust tour and on his first North American visit, David Bowie appeared at the New Fisher Theatre, Detroit, Michigan.
1974, Roxy Music played at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.
1976, The Grateful Dead performed at College Hall on the campus of William & Mary College, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1977, Rush appeared at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, New York.
1980, The mixing of the forthcoming John and Yoko album Double Fantasy moved from the Hit Factory in New York City to the Record Plant East. During this session, John Lennon gave one of last ever interviews to Lisa Robinson from 97-FM in Buffalo.
1980, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Congress Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
1983, UB40 scored their first No.1 album with Labour Of Love.
1984, Culture Club had their second number one single with “Karma Chameleon,” which stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and became the best-selling single of 1983.
1988, Bobby McFerrin started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” the first a-Capella record to be a chart topper. It made it to number two in the UK. The song was also included in the movie, Cocktail. It would go on to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
1988, The Hollies were at number one on the UK singles chart with “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother” after the song was used on a UK television beer commercial The song was originally a hit in 1969 and featured a young Elton John on piano.
1990, AC/DC released The Razors Edge, their 11th internationally released studio album. The only studio album to feature drummer Chris Slade, reached number two on the chart.
1991, Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at number 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at number one in January 1992, has now sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The idea for the iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.
2003, The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band’s largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.
2004, The Strat Pack: Live in Concert was held at Wembley Arena in London marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The concert featured Ronnie Wood, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin and many more.
2012, Mumford & Sons released their second studio album Babel which debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and was nominated in the category of Album of the Year for both a Brit Award and Grammy Award, winning the latter.
Born on September 24: Mel Taylor, drums, The Ventures (1934); Linda McCartney (1942); Gerry Marsden, Gerry and the Pacemakers (1942); Carson Osten, Nazz, Utopia (1946); Jerry Donahue, Fotheringay, Fairport Convention (1946); and Peter Salisbury, drums, The Verve (1971)
Link to Today in Rock History main page
AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Culture Club, Dave Matthews Band, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix The Association, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Traffic, UB40, Yes.
