1965 - Bob Dylan released "Like a Rolling Stone".
Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. In 1966, Dylan described its genesis to journalist Jules Siegel:
It was ten pages long. It wasn't called anything, just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred directed at some point that was honest. In the end it wasn't hatred, it was telling someone something they didn't know, telling them they were lucky. Revenge, that's a better word. I had never thought of it as a song, until one day I was at the piano, and on the paper it was singing, "How does it feel?" in a slow motion pace, in the utmost of slow motion following something.
"when you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. "(Photo by Agence France Presse/Agence France Presse/Getty Images)
1975 - Steven Van Zandt makes his first appearance in concert with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Steven Van Zandt grew up in the same south New Jersey shore scene as Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny Lyon, and was closely associated with them. He was a member of Springsteen's band Steel Mill in 1969-1970 and the Bruce Springsteen Band in 1971. He toured with the Dovells, then worked with Southside Johnny, helping him form the Asbury Jukes in 1974 and playing with the group;
Birthdays:
Carlos Santana, better known as simply Santana, is 76. Delivered with a level of passion and soul equal to the legendary sonic charge of his guitar, the sound of Carlos Santana is one of the world’s best-known musical signatures. For more than four decades—from Santana’s earliest days as a groundbreaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco—Carlos has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.
Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is 57. Judging by Stone Gossard's credentials -- guitarist in Pearl Jam, participator in numerous side projects, guesting on other artists' records, producer, owner of a Seattle recording studio, record label chairman, and a one-time speaker at a House of Subcommittee hearing in Washington -- he is a true rock & roll renaissance man.
Stone was in Mother Love Bone, which broke up after the death of singer Andrew Wood. Gossard and fellow member Jeff ament decide to continue recording together. Prior to the sessions, Gossard received word from a friend in California about a vocalist that would be perfect for their project -- a surfer known as Eddie Vedder. Vedder arrived in Seattle shortly thereafter and was welcomed into their new band, which also included guitarist Mike McCready and a revolving door of drummers. Initially going by the name Mookie Blaylock (named after an NBA player), the eventually became Pearl Jam.
Chris Cornell was born today in 1964. He was the singer and frontman for Soundgarden, Chris Cornell also forged his own career after the band's initial break-up in 1997. With each album, Cornell's vocals grew stronger -- farther away from heavy metal screaming and toward a true singing style. Posthumous releases like 2020's No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 continued to celebrate his legacy as a powerful and expressive vocalist.
Kim Carnes is 78 today. Carnes is by far best-known for is her 1981 worldwide hit "Bette Davis Eyes".
R.I.P.
2021 - American songwriter and vocalist Chuck E. Weiss died. Weiss was the subject of Rickie Lee Jones's hit song ‘Chuck E.'s In Love’, from her 1979 debut album. At the time, Jones was linked romantically to Tom Waits. All three lived in the Tropicana Hotel in Los Angeles.
Chuck was born in Denver. He wrestled for Smiley Junior High School, backed up blues greats like Lightnin’ Hopkins (who later took Weiss on tour) at Chuck Morris’s Tulagi in Boulder and Ebbets Field in Denver, and taught a music-business class at the University of Colorado. He was also a disc jockey on rock station KFML-FM in the early ’70s.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, Westword, Santana and Wikipedia.