1965 - At a hotel in Clearwater, Florida, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones can't sleep because there's a guitar riff running through his head. He rolls a tape, falls asleep and wakes up the next morning to find he's recorded the riff to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."
Richards rolls out of bed with a three-note riff in his head. Fortuitously, the guitarist has taken to sleeping with a tape recorder beside the bed, and manages to capture the melody as a series of grunts followed by the words "I can't get no satisfaction." The tape ends with the sound of snoring, as Richards rolled back over to sleep immediately afterwards.
The most popular account is that the riff and lyrics both originated at the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel, later known as the Fort Harrison Hotel, which since the mid '70s has been part of the worldwide spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology. When they took over the premises, they are supposed to have had the room, supposedly on the 6th floor, 'cleaned' of the Rolling Stones' influence." (Inquiries to the Church of Scientology on this matter received no reply.)
1966 - Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on 'I'm Only Sleeping' and worked on various mixes of the track. The song features the then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet played by Harrison who perfected the part with the tape running backwards so that, when reversed, it would fit the dreamlike mood.
1968 - Johnny Cash releases At Folsom Prison. Folsom Prison looms large in Johnny Cash's legacy, providing the setting for perhaps his definitive song and the location for his definitive album, At Folsom Prison. The ideal blend of mythmaking and gritty reality, At Folsom Prison is the moment when Cash turned into the towering Man in Black, a haunted troubadour singing songs of crime, conflicted conscience, and jail. Cash is relating to the prisoners and he's entertaining them too, singing "Cocaine Blues" like a bastard on the run, turning a death sentence into literal gallows humor on "25 Minutes to Go," playing "I Got Stripes" as if it were a badge of pride. At Folsom Prison is the quintessential Johnny Cash album, the place where his legend burns bright and eternal.
1972 - Elton John released "Rocket Man." The song’s official title is "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)." The inspiration for Bernie Taupin's lyrics, however, was the short story The Rocket Man, written by Ray Bradbury. The sci-fi author's tale is told from the perspective of a child, whose astronaut father has mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job. It was published as part of the anthology The Illustrated Man in 1951.
The most commonly misheard lyric in this song is "Rocket Man, burning out his fuse up here alone." This was the centerpiece of a 2011 commercial for the Volkswagen Passat, where folks came up with all kinds of interpretations of the last few words: telephone, cheap cologne, motor home, provolone. (Photo by RAPH GATTI/AFP via Getty Images)
1994 - Pearl Jam filed charges against Ticketmaster in a federal court, claiming monopolistic practices on the part of the ticketing agency. The band didn't want to charge more than $18.50 for tickets at the time, with service fees of no more than $1.80. Ticketmaster balked, saying that they needed at least $2 in fees to cover costs. Pearl Jam skipped their tour that summer as the case continued, and they tried to play venues that didn't use Ticketmaster to sell their tickets. The band ended up losing in court, and eventually had to book their next tour with Ticketmaster.
1997 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time holds its induction ceremonies in Cleveland, where the Hall is located. (Previous ceremonies were held in New York). Getting in are The Jackson 5, The Bee Gees, The Young Rascals, Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Parliament-Funkadelic.
1984 - Tina Turner releases "What's Love Got To Do With It". It's an anti-love song, and Turner hated it. She balked at recording it, but deferred to her manager, Roger Davies, who was engineering her comeback and was sure the song would be a hit. It would got to #1.
2005 - Starbucks banned the sale of Bruce Springsteen's latest album, Devils and Dust, over concerns about its adult content. The retailer said it would promote other albums instead.
The track in question, “Reno,” describes an encounter with a prostitute, and mentions describes various sex acts.
Birthdays:
Bob Seger is 79. Originally a hard-driving rocker in the vein of fellow Michigan garage rockers the Rationals and Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger developed into one of the most popular heartland rockers over the course of the '70s. Combining the driving charge of Ryder's Detroit Wheels with Stonesy garage rock and devotion to hard-edged soul and R&B, he crafted a distinctively American sound.
Americana singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 79. With a warm, warbling tenor voice and folksy, personable approach to both his music and his audiences, Jimmie Dale Gilmore is the archetype of a Texas singer/songwriter, with his eye for the dusty beauty of the Southwest meshing beautifully with the Zen cowboy demeanor that informs his music and his persona. Gilmore came out of the fruitful Lubbock, Texas music scene of the '70s, and his early work with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock as the Flatlanders was a crucial precursor to both the outlaw country and alt-country movements.
Davey Johnstone of the Elton John band is 73. Although guitarist Davey Johnstone is best known for being a longtime member of Elton John's band, he has guested on numerous other artist's recordings over the years and is widely regarded as one of rock's most versatile players. His credits include: including Joan Armatrading, Kiki Dee (Johnstone's future wife), Leo Sayer, Alice Cooper, the Who, Meat Loaf, Stevie Nicks, Yvonne Elliman, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, George Jones, Belinda Carlisle, and Vonda Shepherd, among many others.
R.I.P.:
2002 - Songwriter and producer Otis Blackwell died from a heart attack. He wrote the classic songs ‘All Shook Up’, ‘Return To Sender’, ‘Don't Be Cruel’, ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ and ‘Fever.’ Over the years, Blackwell's songs have sold more than 185 million copies.
On This Day In Music History was sourced, curated, copied, pasted, edited, and occasionally woven together with my own crude prose from This Day in Music, Tampa Bay Times, Music This Day, Allmusic, Classic Bands, Ultimate Classic Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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