1971 - The Grateful Dead's former manager was arrested after disappearing with more than $70,000 of the band's money. Lenny Hart, was the father of Mickey Hart, one of the percussionists for the Grateful Dead. He was also the Grateful Dead's original money manager. In March, 1970, he disappeared along with approximately $155,000 of the group's profits.
Hart was located by a private detective and arrested in San Diego on July 26, 1971, while baptizing people and using the name "Rev. Lenny B. Hart". He was convicted of criminal embezzlement and sentenced to six months in jail.
The Grateful Dead song "He's Gone" is based on Lenny Hart's embezzlement of band money and subsequent disappearance. As a result of the fiasco, Mickey Hart, feeling ashamed of his father's actions, left the band in February 1971, not returning to the group on a full-time basis until 1975.
1982 - Fleetwood Mac kick off their Mirage tour in Atlanta. Their opening act is Men at Work, whose debut album Business as Usual is racing up the charts in America. Two weeks after the tour ends in October, Men At Work get their own tour as headliners.
1995 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, with opening ceremony performances by Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Al Green, The Allman Brothers Band, Booker T. & the MG's, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, The Pretenders, John Fogerty, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, George Clinton, The Kinks, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, The Animals' Eric Burdon, and Boz Scaggs. (Photo by Jason Nelson/Getty Images)
2005 - Kanye West criticized President George W. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina during a televised benefit concert in New York. Appearing alongside comedian Mike Myers for a 90-second segment, West told the audience, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." The comment went out live on the East Coast, but was cut from a taped version seen on the West Coast.
Birthday:
American composer John Zorn is born in New York City, 1953. As a child, he shows an eccentric fascination with sound and avant-garde music that prompts his parents to get him psychologically evaluated.
Billy Preston was born today in 1946. A child prodigy, the self-taught keyboardist hones his talents in church. He becomes a sought-after session musician for acts like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and becomes a star in his own right with a number of funky hits throughout the '70s.
Steve Porcaro of Toto is 64.
Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs is 63.
On This Day in Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.