1967 - The Doors released their self-titled debut album The Doors. A tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history, introducing the band's fusion of rock, blues, classical, jazz, and poetry with a knockout punch.
1975 - Elton John started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with his version of The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky." Recorded at the Caribou Ranch, outside of Nederland, Elton’s cover featured backing vocals and guitar by John Lennon under the pseudonym Dr Winston O’Boogie.
The recording sessions were quick. Halfway through Lucy in the Sky, the guitars and vocals take on a reggae feel. “That was John’s idea. John always liked ska and reggae music,” girlfriend May Pang said.
During his time there, Lennon and Pang set the town on its ear when they borrowed Carsello’s car for a trip down to Nederland for toothbrushes and a visit to Boulder to buy cowboy boots. “He freaked everyone out in town,” ranch manager John Carsello said, but he signed autographs for anyone who wanted one.
1986 - Bassist Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died. Thin Lizzybecame one of the world's top hard rock bands by the middle of the decade, especially on the strength of the hit anthem "The Boys are Back in Town". In addition to the band's instantly recognizable (and infinitely copied) twin guitar attack - it was Lynott's storytelling lyric-writing that most focused on.
2011 - Gerry Rafferty died aged 63 after a long illness. Rafferty had been a member of Stealers Wheel, who scored a hit with "Stuck In the middle with you" and then as a solo artist, "Baker Street".
Birthdays:
Guitarist John McLaughlin is 82. Formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra and has also worked with Carlos Santana, Stanley Clark and Jaco Pastorius. In 2010, Jeff Beck called McLaughlin ‘the best guitarist alive’.
Soul singer Arthur Conley was born today in 1946. Arthur Conley sang and (with mentor Otis Redding) co-wrote the 1967 classic "Sweet Soul Music," arguably the finest record ever made about the genre it celebrates.
Wilco's Nels Cline is 67. Before Wilco, Nels Cline was probably best-known for his work in the group Quartet Music and other projects in the jazz, rock, and avant-garde idioms, as well as for his general involvement in the West Coast's avant and improv scenes.
Michael Stipe of R.E.M. is 63. As the frontman for R.E.M., arguably the most important and influential American rock band of the post-punk era, Michael Stipe transformed himself from enigmatic cult hero into mainstream icon. Famed for his confoundingly opaque lyrics and notoriously mumbled delivery, the once-introverted Stipe translated his growing fame into an outlet to champion his social and political concerns, emerging as one of popular music's most respected figures, as well as the acknowledged forefather of the alternative rock movement. (Photo credit should read MAURICIO DUENAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Talk Talk leader Mark Hollis was born on this day in 1955. Hollis originally planned to become a child psychologist. Talk Talk emerged as an archetype of new wave ideals, but with each successive record their sound grew more atmospheric and complex, moving further away from conventional pop structure.
The Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan is 58. Met future Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, at a record shop where he worked behind the counter. In 1982 Shane asked her to join his band Pogue Mahone. They didn't have a bass player and she owned a bass guitar. She was also married to Elvis Costello from 1986 to 2002.
Beth Gibbons, singer and lyricist of Portishead, is 58. The trio's acclaimed version of trip-hop drew on the vocal jazz and pop of the past while reinventing it radically, and Gibbons' vocals -- which recalled bygone greats such as Nina Simone and Edith Piaf -- were a perfect fit for the group's postmodern mystique.
Justin Townes Earle was born today in 1982. His father is Steve Earle, is one of America's most acclaimed singer/songwriters, and he was named in part for Townes Van Zandt, an equally legendary tunesmith. While Justin shared his father's love of American roots music, the influences played out in a different way; there was a languid, moody quality to his music that was his alone, and he preferred spare, minimal backings with a bluesy undertow to the rock-infused country sound that dominates his dad's most famous work.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from Rocky Mountain News, Pogues' home page, Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.