1971 - Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle on a Macon, Georgia street while trying to swerve to avoid a tractor-trailer and was thrown from the motorcycle. He was three weeks shy of his 25th birthday.
1973 - John Lennon releases "Mind Games" and the LP of the same name in the US. Amid frequent court appearances battling to stay in the United States and constant surveillance by the FBI, due to his political activism. Lennon hunkered down and wrote the songs for the album in a week. The song "Mind Games", with its "love is the answer" refrain and call to "make love not war", began during the band's Get Back sessions, in early 1969, with the title "Make Love, Not War".
1983 - The Dark Side Of The Moon album by Pink Floyd won the distinction of remaining on the album chart for the longest period in history when it reached a record total of 491 weeks and ended up remaining on the chart for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988. It is Pink Floyd's best-selling album and one of the best-selling worldwide. It breaks the record for most weeks on the Billboard albums chart when it eclipses Johnny's Greatest Hits by Johnny Mathis. (Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images)
2003 - Researchers in Ohio found that songs get stuck in our heads because they create a "brain itch" that can only be scratched by repeating a tune over and over. Songs such as the Village People's "YMCA" and the Baha Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out" owe their success to their ability to create a "cognitive itch", according to Professor James Kellaris, of the University of Cincinnati College of Business Administration.
2014 - Phil Collins handed over his large collection of Alamo memorabilia to a Texas museum, calling the donation the end of a six-decade "journey". "I'm 64," he said of his fascination with the 1836 battle. "When I was five or six years old, this thing began." Collins' collection included a fringed leather pouch used by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie's legendary knife.
Birthdays:
Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow was born today in 1955.
Denny Laine of The Moody Blues is 76.
Rob Van Leeuwen of Shocking Blue is 76.
Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac was born on this day in 1946.
Roger O'Donnell of The Cure is 65.
Einar Orn of The Sugarcubes is 58.
Peter Timmins of Cowboy Junkies is 55.
Toby Smith of Jamiroquai was born today in 1970.
Bassist Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend is 36.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.