A calendar of rock history including birthdays, deaths, milestones, chart toppers, concerts, record releases, and other important events in music history.
1965, Excerpts from six numbers performed by The Who at The Marquee Club in February appear on a French Television programme called Seize Millions de Jeunes on ORTF TV 2. It is part of documentary about Mods shot by two French acquaintances of the band’s co-manager Chris Stamp. A scheduled appearance that day at the…
Rock History March 17 1957, Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion for $102,500. The 23-room, 10,000 square foot home, on 13.8 acres of land, would be expanded to more than 17,000 square feet before Elvis moved in a few weeks later. The original building had at one time been a place of worship, used by…
Rock History March 16 1964, The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the US with 2,100,000 copies of their latest single”Can’t Buy Me Love.” 1964, DJ Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion, the latest plague on the payola-plagued pioneer’s career 1965, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the singles…
Rock History March 15 1969, Cream started a two-week run at number one on the chart with their album Goodbye. Cream: Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton 1969, Tommy Roe started a four week run at number one on the singles chart with ‘Dizzy’, 1969, Janis Joplin was featured on the cover of Rolling…
Rock History March 14 1964, For the first time in British recording history, all Top Ten singles in the UK were by British acts. Number one was “Anyone Who Had A Heart” by Cilla Black. Number two – “Bits and Pieces” by The Dave Clark Five. At number three, “Little Children “Diane” by The Bachelors.…
Rock History March 13 1965, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds due to musical differences with the other band members. Clapton wanted to continue in a blues type vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of their first hit, ‘For Your Love’. The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck 1965, The Beatles started…
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…
Rock History March 11 1965, Tom Jones was at number one on the singles chart with “It’s Not Unusual.” 1965, The Who go into IBC Studios, London to record their first album. Songs known to be recorded on this date are Pete Townshend’s “You’re Gonna Know Me” (later retitled “Out In The Street”), plus covers…
Rock History March 10 1965, Davie Jones (David Bowie) and the Manish Boys appeared at the Bromel Club, Bromley Hill, England. 1965, The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week” goes to number one. It’s the first single by a British act to top the American charts but not make the charts in Britain, where it was…
Rock History March 9 1967, Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at the Marquee, London, England. The Marquee club has often been defined as “the most important venue in the history of pop music,” not only for having been the scene of the development of modern music culture in London, but also for having been…
Rock History March 8 1964, On The Ed Sullivan Show, the Dave Clark Five perform “Glad All Over.” Comparing them to the Rolling Stones, Sullivan declares the Five “nice, neat boys.” They would perform more times on his show than any other rock act. 1965, Bob Dylan’s single “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was released in the…
Rock History March 7 1965, during a Rolling Stones gig at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England a female fan fell from the circle while the group were playing. The crowd below broke her fall and the girl escaped serious injury just breaking a few teeth. 1966, Mike Millward guitarist from The Fourmost died, aged…
Rock History March 6 1965, The Rolling Stones Number 2 album went back to number one on the UK charts for six weeks. 1965, The Temptations went to number one on the singles chart with the Smokey Robinson penned song “My Girl,” making the group the first male act to have a chart topper for Motown.…
Rock History March 5 1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth UK tour at The Regal Theatre, Edmonton, London. A 14-date package tour with The Hollies, The Konrads and Dave Berry and the Cruisers. 1966, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass went to number one on the album chart with Going Places. 1966, Staff Sergeant…
Rock History March 4 1966, John Lennon’s statement that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus Christ” was published in The London Evening Standard. “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. We’re more popular then Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was alright, but his…
Rock History March 3 1966, Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay formed Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles. Buffalo Springfield 1966, The Who played at the Victoria Ballroom in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. 1967, The Doors appear at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco. 1967, A twice-nightly tour kicked off in the UK at The ABC in…
Rock History March 2 1967, The ninth annual Grammy Awards are held. Frank Sinatra’s Sinatra, A Man and His Music wins Album of the Year, while “Strangers in the Night” is named Record of the Year. John Lennon and Paul McCartney win the Song of the Year Grammy for “Michelle.” 1967, Engelbert Humperdinck was at…
Rock History March 1 1967, The Beatles began recording “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” at Abbey Road studios, London. Work on the new John Lennon song began the day before with extensive rehearsals. Despite the acronym of the song spelling out LSD, the origins of the composition came from a drawing that Lennon’s son…