A calendar of rock history including birthdays, deaths, milestones, chart toppers, concerts, record releases, and other important events in music history.
Our sources include: Wikipedia, This Day in Music, This Day in Rock, Led Zeppelin.com, Classic Rock Concerts, The Concert Database, Live Music Archive, The Allman Brothers Band, Janis Joplin.net, The Who This Month, Setlist.fm, All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon & Phillipe Margotin (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers,) Echoes – The Complete History of Pink Floyd by Glen Povey (Mind Head Publishing)
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1966, The Beach Boys were at number one on the singles chart with “Good Vibrations.” The single was taken from the album Pet Sounds.
1967, A 16-date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice and Amen Corner played at the City Hall, Sheffield. A review in the Sheffield Star noted, “Like an electrified golliwog, Jimi Hendrix threw himself into a live-wire act that featured his intricate guitar … (read more…)
1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience went to number one on the album chart with Electric Ladyland. The double album included “Crosstown Traffic,” “Voodoo Chile,” and “All Along the Watchtower.” It featured guest appearances by Dave Mason, Steve Winwood and Al Kooper.
1968, The Steve Miller Band performed at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.
1968, Led Zeppelin played their first ever show in the north of England when they appeared at … (read more…)
1966, The Doors officially signed with Elektra Records in a deal for the band to produce seven albums. The band also reluctantly agreed to release “Break On Through” as their first single. The lyric “She gets high/she gets high/she gets high” was changed to “She gets/she gets/she gets” in order to secure radio play.
1967, Pink Floyd plays two shows at Winter Gardens in Bournemouth, England.
1968, The Paul … (read more…)
1967, a 16 date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, and Amen Corner kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall, London. All acts played two shows per night.
1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts.
1969, “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was at number one on the singles chart. The single became the longest running one hit wonder with eight week’s at the top of … (read more…)
1964, Decca Records released The Rolling Stones’ “Little Red Rooster.” Written by Willie Dixon, as “The Red Rooster,” and previously recorded by Howlin’ Wolf and Sam Cooke, the single was recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago. It was a number one hit in the UK and remains the only time a blues song has ever topped the UK pop chart.
1965, The Castiles, which featured a young singer called Bruce Springsteen appeared at The … (read more…)
1965, Velvet Underground’s manager and music journalist Al Aronowitz arranged for the group’s first paying gig, $75, to play at Summit High School, in Summit, New Jersey, opening for the Myddle Class.
1966, The Monkees debut album started a 13-week run at number one on the album chart, selling over three million copies in three months. The group would own the album charts for 31 of the ensuing 33 weeks, before the arrival … (read more…)
1965, The final recording session for The Beatles Rubber Soul album took place, at Abbey Road, London. They needed four new songs to finish the album so an old song “Wait” is pulled off the shelf and work is completed on “I’m Looking Through You.” The band recorded two new songs from start to finish. Paul’s “You Won’t See Me,” about his relationship with Jane Asher, and John’s “Girl, his response to Paul’s “Michelle.” The session began at 6 pm and … (read more…)
1963, The Yardbirds, with Eric Clapton on guitar, appeared at The Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, Surrey, England.
1966, The Who go into CBS Studios in London and record their next single “Happy Jack” in at least two versions. Sometime during this session Roger and Pete go off to a pub and John and Keith stay behind to record the B-side, a new Entwistle composition called “I’ve Been Away.”
1967, The Beatles filmed three … (read more…)
Wilson Pickett
1965, Wilson Pickett made his UK live debut at the Scotch of St. James Club in London.
1966, John Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time when he visited her art exhibition “Unfinished Paintings and Objects” at the Indica Gallery in London.
1967, the first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine was published in San Francisco. It featured a … (read more…)
1965, The Beatles worked on a new George Harrison song “Think For Yourself” at Abbey Road for their forthcoming Rubber Soul album. After rehearsing the song, they recorded the basic instrumental track in one take.
1966, The Who go into CBS Studios in London and record at least two takes of the backing track for their next single “Happy Jack.” John and Keith then go to Regent Sound and record John’s new … (read more…)
1967, The Beatles finished recording “Blue Jay Way,” “Flying,” and “Magical Mystery Tour.” The Beatles have only six songs, not enough for an album so decided to issue a double-EP. Capitol Records didn’t think the double-EP format would be acceptable for the US market, so they decide to put out an album instead. The album contained the six Magical Mystery Tour songs. Five of the six … (read more…)
1965, The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane played at the opening night of San Francisco”s Fillmore West.
1965, The Rolling Stones started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Get Off Of My Cloud,” the group’s second chart topper. The song knocked The Beatles “Yesterday” from the top spot.
1966, The Who play the Kongresshalle in Cologne, Germany.
1967, The Beatles … (read more…)
