1973 - Paul McCartney released Band On The Run, his fifth album since his departure from The Beatles. McCartney's penchant for sophisticated, nuanced arrangements and irrepressibly catchy melodic hooks is up to the caliber he displayed in the Beatles. The album has the majestic, orchestral sweep of McCartney's Abbey Road-era ambition, with a wide range of style-dabbling, from swaying, acoustic jazz-pop, straightforward rock, and a one-off pub sing-along. It was his most commercially successful, selling well and spawning two hit singles, the multi-part pop suite of the title track and the roaring rocker "Jet." The title came from the name of a pony they owned. The band Jet took their name from the song as well. (Photo by ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP via Getty Images)
1980 - U2 play their first show in the US when they perform at The Ritz Ballroom in New York City. They would eventually make their way to Denver in May of 1981 at the Rainbow Music Hall.
2008 - The musical biopic Cadillac Records premieres in US theaters, with Beyoncé in a starring role as soul legend Etta James. Cadillac Records is the story of Chess Records, a Chicago-based label started by Leonard Chess (played by Adrien Brody) in 1950 for black musicians, launching the careers of Etta James, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, and Chuck Berry.
Birthdays:
Little Richard was born today in 1932. Of the great artists from the first era of rock & roll, few were as powerful and exciting as Little Richard, and no one bested his magnetism and flamboyance. Blessed with a singularly forceful voice (his piercing "Whooooo!" is still one of the most eloquent screams in American music) and a rollicking piano style, Little Richard fused gospel, rhythm & blues, and boogie woogie into a sound that was purely electric, and he startled audiences with his flashy clothes, outrageous persona, and willingness to present a sexually ambiguous image at a time when such things were all but unknown in popular culture.
1938 - J.J. Cale, a forerunner of the Tulsa Sound, is born. With his laid-back rootsy style, J.J. Cale was best-known for writing "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," songs that Eric Clapton later made into hits. But Cale's influence wasn't only through songwriting -- his distinctly loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie became the blueprint for the roots rock of Clapton and Mark Knopfler, among others.
Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls is 58.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.