George Harrison was born today in 1943.
He was the youngest Beatle.
He loved Formula One racing, egg sandwiches, and watching Monty Python's Flying Circus
George became a devout vegetarian at the age of 22 in 1965. According to his ex-wife Pattie, he would allow neither meat nor fish to be brought into their home.
A versatile musician, George played 26 different instruments.
He put up $4 million "to see a movie." Monty Python was working on their next film, “Life of Brian,” where a man is mistaken for Jesus and crucified. Producers found it so blasphemous, the film couldn't get funding. Eric Idle, a member of Python, was friends with George and gave him the script to read. The next day, George said he’d give them the money. When Idle asked why, George answered, “I want to see the movie.” Turns out, he wanted to see it so much, he mortgaged his house for $40 million, which according to Idle, “is still the most amount of money anyone has ever paid for a cinema ticket.”
In 1988, George formed The Traveling Wilburys. Tom Petty said that George was always proud of the Wilburys' success because the band had been his dream project; just a group of friends making music for the hell of it and having a good time.
He was the first Beatle to have a number one song as a solo act. "My Sweet Lord" hit the #1 spot on the charts in December of 1970.
George's greatest joy was gardening. He claimed to have "planted 10,000 trees" in his lifetime. (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
1957 - Buddy Holly and The Crickets taped "That'll Be The Day" at their first session with producer Norman Petty at his studio in the eastern New Mexico town of Clovis. It would become Holly's biggest hit. The title being taken from a phrase used by John Wayne in the film 'The Searchers.'
1968 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience play two shows at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Between shows, Hendrix gets "casted" by the inventive groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster, who makes a mold of his love gun. Cynthia learned how to cast molds when as a student at the University of Illinois, she got an assignment to cast "something hard." After developing her craft on some male friends, she and two female friends put together official-looking kits and branded themselves "The Plaster Casters Of Chicago." Hendrix is the first celebrity subject. Cynthia and the other Casters refine their craft and build their legend. That same year, they are profiled in a Rolling Stone cover story on groupies.
1985 - U2 launched their first full-scale arena tour of North America, starting at the Dallas Reunion Arena in Texas. Lone Justice and Red Rockers share opening duties on the tour.
1985 - Tears For Fears release Songs From The Big Chair, featuring the hits "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." The title inspired by the 1976 TV movie Sybil, about a woman with multiple personalities who reveals her true self from the safety of her psychiatrist's big chair.
1995 - At a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come".
1997 - At Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party, DMC of Run-DMC meets Sarah McLachlan, whose music he credits with keeping him alive as he fights off depression. Years later, after DMC learns he was adopted, he collaborates with McLachlan on the song "Just Like Me" and learns that she was also adopted.
1998 - At Radio City Music Hall, Bob Dylan was handed three Grammys, including one for Best Album for 'Time Out Of Mind'. During Dylan's performance of the song, Michael Portnoy, hired as a background dancer, ripped his shirt off and jumped in amongst the band, revealing the words 'Soy Bomb' painted on his chest. Also in the evening, during Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, Ol Dirty Bastard grabbed the microphone and made various observations such as "Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best" and "Wu-Tang is for the children". He was then escorted from the stage.
2009 - President Obama honored Stevie Wonder his musical hero, with America's highest award for pop music, the Library of Congress' Gershwin prize at a ceremony at the White House. The president said the Motown legend had been the soundtrack to his youth and he doubted that his wife would have married him if he hadn't been a fan. Wonder's song 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' had been the theme song during Obama's presidential campaign.
2019 - Mark Hollis of Talk Talk dies at 64.
Birthdays:
John Doe of X is 68.
Mike Peters of The Alarm is 62.
Brian Baker of Minor Threat is 56.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Neatorama, and Wikipedia.