1958 - Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic "Johnny B. Goode" single was released.
This song is based on Berry's life. It tells the tale of a boy with humble beginnings with a talent for guitar. Some details were changed: Berry was from St. Louis, not Louisiana, and he knew how to read and write very well. He graduated from beauty school with a degree in hairdressing and cosmetology.
The line "that little country boy could play" was originally "that little colored boy can play." Berry knew he had to change it if he wanted the song played on the radio.
The song is named after his piano player (Johnnie Johnson) and the street where he grew up (Goode Avenue). (Photo credit should read LUC NOVOVITCH/AFP via Getty Images)
1974 - Tom Petty marries his first wife, Jane Benyo. The couple met when they were both 17, which provides the title for the Stevie Nicks song "Edge Of Seventeen."
Stevie came up with the title when she asked Tom Petty's wife Jane when the couple met. Jane said, "At the age of seventeen," but she had a very strong southern accent and Stevie thought she said "the edge of seventeen," which makes a great song title.
Stevie Nicks wrote this song about the death of her uncle and the death of John Lennon. The line about the "Words from a poet and a voice from a choir" refers to Lennon.
1976 - Led Zeppelin released Presence. Created at a time of intense turmoil for Led Zeppelin -- they scrapped a planned international tour in the wake of Robert Plant's car accident in Greece in August 1975 -- Presence is a strange, misshapen beast of a record that pulls upon its own tension. With Plant somewhat on the sidelines -- he recorded many of the vocals while in a wheelchair -- Jimmy Page reasserted himself as the primary creative force in the band, helping steer Presence toward a guitar-heavy complexity, perched halfway between a return to roots and unfettered prog.
2000 - The movie High Fidelity, starring John Cusack and Jack Black as record store clerks, and featuring a cameo by Bruce Springsteen, opens in theaters.
Springsteen wasn't the first choice for this role: Bob Dylan got first crack at it, but he turned it down.
Birthdays:
Shirley Jones, known for her roles in Oklahoma! as well as on The Partridge Family, is 89.
Trumpeter Herb Alpert is 88. Known for his mariachi-inspired easy listening sound, trumpeter Herb Alpert is one of the most successful instrumental performers in pop history. He is also one of the entertainment industry's canniest businessmen, having co-founded A&M Records -- a label that ranks among the most prosperous artist-owned companies ever established -- with partner Jerry Moss.
Mick Ralphs is 79. Mick Ralphs was the lead guitarist for not one, but two of album rock's most storied bands: underappreciated glam rock legends Mott the Hoople, and the far more commercially successful Bad Company. He wrote "Can't Get Enough" while in Mott, but Ian Hunter was unable to sing it because of the vocal register it was written in. He brought it with him to Bad Company and they had a number one hit with it.
AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is 68. It's impossible to imagine an AC/DC show without Young bobbing his head up and down in time to the music, playing amped up Chuck Berry licks on his Gibson SG guitar, shirtless and drenched in sweat. And in addition to his manic stage persona, he's one of the best (and underrated) rock guitarists of all time.
Young also stumbled across a gimmick that would remain his trademark to this day -- band rehearsals were right after school, so he would practice in his "school boy uniform" (which consisted of a cap, tie, a white shirt, jacket, and shorts). The look became such a hit that Young wore the outfit on stage.
Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Antonoff is 39. He is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers and the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. Aside from his work with Bleachers and Fun, Antonoff has worked as a songwriter and record producer with various artists, including Taylor Swift, the 1975, Lorde, St. Vincent, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Chicks, plus, Tegan and Sara.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.