1966 - Beatles producer George Martin and his engineer Geoff Emerick pull off one of the all-time great feats of sound editing: combining two takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" - in different keys and tempos - to make one song. The edit is 59 seconds in, just before John Lennon sings, "Going to..."
1967 - The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft and newcomer Dustin Hoffman, premieres in US theaters. It spawns a hit soundtrack featuring songs from Simon & Garfunkel, including "Mrs. Robinson."
1978 - One-time Faces drummer Kenney Jones became the permanent replacement for the recently deceased Keith Moon in The Who – a tough act to follow.
2000 - The Coen Brothers movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? hits theaters. With the song "Man Of Constant Sorrow" a centerpiece of the film, it ignites interest in bluegrass music. The soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, sells over 7 million copies in America.
2002 - Former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer, born John Graham Mellor, died of a suspected heart attack aged 50. Joe Strummer was born John Graham Mellor when his father, a diplomat, was stationed in Ankara, Turkey. During his time at London boarding schools, the teenage Strummer immersed himself in rock and reggae, and began busking on the streets under his newly adopted stage name. In 1974, he formed the pub rock group the 101'ers, and though they rocked pretty hard they couldn't quite match the raw fire Strummer discovered when he saw the Sex Pistols. Strummer promptly quit pub rock to join the fledgling punk movement, and co-founded the Clash in 1976; the rest was history.
2014 - Joe Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado at age 70. The singer had a career lasting more than 40 years, with hits including his cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends", "You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong". In the early Sixties Cocker was performing as Vance Arnold. The name was a combination of Vince Everett, Elvis Presley's character in Jailhouse Rock (which Cocker misheard as Vance); and country singer Eddy Arnold.
He received an Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace for services to music in 2011 and was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list in 2008. (Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Barry Jenkins, drummer with The Animals, is 76.
Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist and main songwriter for Cheap Trick, is 72.
Maurice and Robin Gibb, the twin brothers from the Bee Gees, were born today in 1949.
James Gurley, guitarist with Big Brother and the Holding Company is 70.
Meghan Trainor is 27.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.