1969 - Decca Records released what has been called the Rolling Stones' most political song (although with an air of resignation "what can a poor boy do...")., "Street Fighting Man," written after Mick Jagger attended a March 1968 anti-war rally at London's U.S. embassy, during which mounted police attempted to control a crowd of 25,000. The single was kept out of the U.S. Top 40 because many radio stations refused to play it based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics.
Mick Jagger later said: "The radio stations that banned the song told me that 'Street Fighting Man' was subversive. 'Of course it's subversive,' we said. It's stupid to think you can start a revolution with a record. I wish you could!" (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
1973 - The Rolling Stones release Goat's Head Soup. Sliding out of perhaps the greatest winning streak in rock history, the Stones slipped into decadence and rock star excess with Goats Head Soup, their sequel to Exile on Main St. This is where the Stones' image began to eclipse their accomplishments. That said, all the songs work well, illustrating just how far they've traveled in their songcraft, as well as their exceptional talent as a band -- they make this all sound really easy and darkly alluring, even when the sex'n'satanism seems a little silly.
1976 - George Harrison was found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" of the Ronnie Mack song "He's So Fine" when writing "My Sweet Lord." Earnings from the song were awarded to Mack's estate; The Chiffons then recorded their own version of "My Sweet Lord."
1978 - The Grateful Dead perform "Shakedown Street" live for the first time ever at Red Rocks Amphitheater. The Dead considered the outdoor venue “a sacred place", likening it to Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt. “We played better,” said Jerry Garcia.
1990 - Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sang 'Amazing Grace' at a memorial service held for guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan who had been killed in a helicopter crash 4 days earlier.
2004 - Green Day release the title track of their new album American Idiot. The title refers to the state of the United States at that point in time. It speaks of a nation controlled by the new, biased media, and how the singer is not part of a "Redneck Agenda" discontent with how things are going.
2007 - Hilly Kristal, founder of the New York punk club CBGB died at the age of 75. Kristal was credited with discovering Patti Smith and the Ramones and his club became a breeding ground for punk rock. The New York City venue, whose full title CBGB OMFUG stood for 'country, bluegrass, blues and other music for uplifting gourmandisers', was originally launched to showcase country music.
Birthdays:
Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac and a successful solo career, was born on this day in 1945.
Gina Schock, drummer for the Go-Go's, is 65.
Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze is 65.
Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub is 55.
Debbie Gibson is 52.
Van Morrison is 77. Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music's true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced what is regarded as perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from ColoradoMusic.org., Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.