1965 - The much loved and respected crooner/jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole died. First famous for his jazz piano stylings, he also had an unforgettable voice and was one of the first African Americans to host a national television variety show, "The Nat King Cole Show".
1969 - Rolling Stone's front cover features an article on "groupies" - introducing a new term to the popular lexicon.
Says "Henri", long time member of the San Francisco scene, “Being a groupie is a full time gig. Sort of like being a musician. You have two or three girl friends you hang out with and you stay as high and as intellectually enlightened as a group of musicians. You’ve got to, if you’re going to have anything to offer."
1981 - Mike Bloomfield was found dead in his car in San Francisco from an accidental heroin overdose aged 37. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield band and Electric Flag and had played on Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited. Bloomfield's Telecaster licks were featured on Dylan's ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.
1987 - Ben and Jerry's introduces a new flavor: Cherry Garcia, named after the Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. They sent the first 8 pints straight to Jerry Garcia for approval. He gave it a thumbs-up. According to his publicist, he said, “As long as they don’t name a motor oil after me, it’s fine with me.”
Jerry reportedly said if he left the band, he could just live off the royalties from the ice cream alone. It was Ben & Jerry's best selling flavor until 2013 when it was dethroned by "Half Baked". (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
1994 - A federal court jury ruled Michael Jackson did not steal the idea for his hit song "Dangerous" from a Denver woman who had sent him a demo tape.
Denver songwriter Crystal Cartier claims she wrote Dangerous in 1985 for her album Love Story: Act One. While on the stand, Jackson delivered abbreviated a cappella renditions of his hits, ostensibly to explain how the vocal melodies were conceived on the spur of the moment “like a gift that’s put in my head.” “I wrote the words to ‘Dangerous,’” Jackson testified between samples of his songs. “No one at all” assisted with the writing, he said.
It took the four-man, four-woman jury less than four hours to rule that Jackson hadn’t swiped Cartier’s tune.
Birthdays:
Famed producer Glyn Johns is 81. He's worked with or produced Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, The Who The Beatles, ('Let It Be' sessions), the Faces and Led Zeppelin. He also produced the Eagle. Glyn was flown in to Boulder at Tulagi to check out the band. Johns was initially unimpressed with the band a politely declined to work with them. He eventually relented.
Ali Campbell, singer with UB40, is 64. The band is named after a British unemployment form. At UB40's inception none of its members could play an instrument, the birth of the group was somewhat curious. Then seventeen, Ali Campbell "got very drunk and upset somebody," brother Robin told Rolling Stone 's Parke Puterbaugh, "and he got a flying glass in his face." With the money he received from criminal injuries compensation, Ali went out and bought a guitar and drum set, and the others went out and bought instruments for themselves.
Gary Clark Jr. is 39. He is best known for his fusion of blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. He has shared the stage with Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, B.B. King and the Rolling Stones. His song, "When My Train Pulls In" was the A side of a KBCO Studio C Record Store Day 45.
Brandon Boyd singer of Incubus, is 47. Did you know, an incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sex with sleeping women...
Conor Oberst is 43. With his trembling voice, acoustic guitar, and confessional approach to songwriting, Conor Oberst played an important role in shaping the lighter, intimate side of indie rock during the late '90s and beyond. His main project was Bright Eyes, an eclectic group of rotating musicians that vacillated between pop, folk, electronica, and country-rock.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Disgraceland podcast, Ben & Jerry, Colorado Music Experience, Musician Guide, Song Facts, Rolling Stone, Guitar, and Wikipedia.