1969 - The Beatles release Abbey Road. The album contains a handful of the most enduring Beatles songs, each adding a new emotional maturity to their catalog. But what makes Abbey Road transcendent is how the album is so much greater than the sum of its parts. While a single song or segment can be dazzling, having a succession of marvelous, occasionally intertwined moments is not only a marvel but indeed a summation of everything that made the Beatles great.
In their interviews for The Beatles Anthology, the surviving band members stated that, although none of them ever made the distinction of calling it the "last album". But It's hard not to interpret "And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make" as a summation not only of Abbey Road but perhaps of the group's entire career, a lovely final sentiment. (Photo by Krafft Angerer/Getty Images)
1974 - John Lennon releases Walls and Bridges, recorded during his infamous "lost weekend," as he exiled himself in California during a separation from Yoko Ono. Lennon's personal life was scattered, so it isn't surprising that Walls and Bridges is a mess itself, containing equal amounts of brilliance and nonsense. Falling between the two extremes was the bouncy Elton John duet "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," which was Lennon's first solo number one hit.
1975 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in Westwood, California. It's the story of a newly wed couple that stumble upon a castle during an ongoing Annual Transylvanian Convention, where they meet the Igor-like Riff Raff, his French maid sister Magenta, a groupie named Columbia, and. Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a cross-dressing mad scientist. It's a little bit of Frankenstein and a whole lot of sex and rock 'n roll. It was initially a major flop but would go on to be a major cult success. The soundtrack featured the song "Time Warp".
1979 - U2 released their very first record, an EP titled 'U2-3.' With an initial run of 1,000 individually numbered copies, it included Out Of Control, Stories For Boys, Boy-Girl.
2003 - Singer Robert Palmer ("Addicted To Love") died of a heart attack in a Paris hotel room. He was 54. One of the great underappreciated singers of the rock era, Robert Palmer sang with such ease that it disguised both his vocal skill and his adventurous tastes. Deeply rooted in soul, he pivoted to a variety of sounds throughout his career, often operating at the vanguard of fashion or perhaps right on the edge of the mainstream.
Birthdays:
Bryan Ferry, singer for Roxy Music, is 77. While fronting Roxy Music in the 1970s and early '80s, Bryan Ferry devised a blueprint for art rock, and as a solo performer, he brilliantly updated the parameters of the pop songbook. Although Ferry's solo career has included several excellent self-penned tracks, he's best-known for his adventurous interpretations of songs from the rock and pop canon. Combining a studied, wry, lounge-singer persona with a genuine passion for everything from Motown and Bob Dylan to the Great American Songbook of the 1920s and '30s, Ferry's performances add a post-modern gloss to pop standards.
Olivia Newton-John was born on this day in 1948. She skillfully made the transition from popular country-pop singer to popular mainstream soft rock singer, becoming one of the most successful vocalists of the '70s in the process.
Cesar Rosas, Los Lobos, is 68.
Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl is 60.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic,, Song Facts and Wikipedia.