1956 - Elvis Presley visits his favorite local movie theater, the Memphian, and is beset by an adoring crowd who, in the ensuing melee, scratch his new Cadillac. Thus begins Elvis' new habit of renting the entire theater whenever he wants to watch a movie.
1970 - Bob Dylan releases New Morning. New Morning expands on the laid-back country-rock of John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline by adding a more pronounced rock & roll edge. While there are only a couple of genuine classics on the record ("If Not for You," "One More Weekend"), the overall quality is quite high, and many of the songs explore idiosyncratic routes Dylan had previously left untouched, whether it's the jazzy experiments of "Sign on the Window" and "Winterlude," the rambling spoken word piece "If Dogs Run Free" or the Elvis parable "Went to See the Gypsy."
1979 - Prince releases his sophomore album, Prince, containing the #1 R&B hit "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and the original version of "I Feel For You," later a hit for Chaka Khan. While a little uneven, it paves the way for the major breakthroughs of his next album, Dirty Mind.
1978 - Neil Young releases Comes a Time. He signaled the album's direction with the leadoff track, "Goin' Back," and its retrospective theme augmented with an orchestral backup and the deliberate beat familiar from his number one hit "Heart of Gold." Of course, Young remained sly about this retrenchment. "I feel like goin' back," he sang, but added, "back where there's nowhere to stay." Doubtless he had no intention of staying with this style, but for the length of the album, melodies, love lyrics, lush arrangements, and steel guitar solos dominated, and Young's vocals were made more accessible by being paired with Nicolette Larson's harmonies. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
1995 - Blind Melon ('No Rain') lead singer Shannon Hoon dies of a drug overdose at age 28.
2005 - A survey conducted by the U.K. branch of Prudential concluded that the average person spent around $42,000 on music during their lives; the total included the amount spent on sound equipment, concerts and albums. Survey participants who identified as music enthusiasts were likely to spend more than double that, parting with slightly more than $89,000 in a lifetime.
2011 - Coldplay released, Mylo Xyloto. Produced by Brian Eno, Mylo Xyloto earned critical praise for its electronic sound and uplifting tone.
Birthdays:
Jeannie C. Riley ('Harper Valley PTA') is 76.
Keith Reid of Procol Harum is 75.
Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics ('La-La Means I Love You') is 74.
Pat Simmons, guitarist, singer with The Doobie Brothers is 73.
Brent Mydland keyboardist and vocalist, was born on this date in 1952. Best known for being in Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990. His eleven-year tenure was longer than that of any other keyboardist in the band.
Madness drummer Daniel Woodgate is 61.
Jennifer Holliday ("And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going") is 61.
Pras Michel of the Fugees is 49.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from Allmusic,This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.