1965 - 18-year-old David Bowie recorded "Can't Help Thinking About Me" at Pye Studios, London, England, which was later released as a single under the name David Bowie with The Lower Third. It became the first David Bowie record to be released in the U.S. as well as the first time the name "Bowie" appeared under the songwriters' credit. (Photo credit RALPH GATTI/AFP via Getty Images)
1967 - Otis Redding and several members of his band died when their plane crashed into a lake near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding and his band had made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local ‘Upbeat’ television show the previous day. His biggest hit, "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," had been recorded just three days earlier. Redding was 26.
1971 - Playing the first of two nights at London's Rainbow Theatre, in England, Frank Zappa was pushed off stage by an audience member. Zappa fell onto the concrete-floored orchestra pit - the band thought Zappa had been killed. He suffered serious fractures, head trauma and injuries to his back, leg, and neck, as well as a crushed larynx, which ultimately caused his voice to drop a third after healing. This accident resulted in him using a wheelchair for an extended period, forcing him off the road for over half a year.
1973 - The CBGB Club (Country, BlueGrass, and Blues), opened in the lower East side of New York City. Founded by Hilly Kristal, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands such as Blondie, Television, Patti Smith and the Ramones.
2007 - The surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited for their first full-length concert in nearly thirty years. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert was a benefit concert held in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun at the O2 Arena in London, and more than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show with all proceeds going to Ahmet's charity. Zeppelin performed 16 songs including two encores.
2008 - The Associated Press reported that the U.S. military used loud music to "create fear, disorient and prolong capture shock" for prisoners at military detention centers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Among the songs blasted 24 hours a day were "Born In The USA" by Bruce Springsteen, "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC, "White America" by Eminem, "The Theme From Sesame Street" and "I Love You" from the Barney and Friends children's TV show.
2009 - In an interview with Q magazine, Paul McCartney was asked if his marriage to Heather Mills was the worst mistake of his life. He replied "OK, yeah. I suppose that has to be the prime contender." The divorce settlement had cost McCartney $38.9 million, plus annual payments for his daughter, Beatrice.
2019 - Gershon Kingsley, the German-American composer and a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, died at age 97. His best-known composition "Popcorn" has been covered by Jean Michel Jarre, Aphex Twin, Herb Alpert, Muse, Crazy Frog and The Muppets.
Birthdays:
Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones (best known for "The Things That I Used to Do") was born today in 1926.
J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. is 55.
Meg White of The White Stripes is 46.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.