1957 - The Elvis Presley classic "Jailhouse Rock" was released. The film clip from the movie where he sang the song is considered by many historians to be the first rock video.
1988 - Bobby McFerrin started a two-week run at No. 1 with "Don't Worry Be Happy," the first a cappella song to be a No. 1 record.
1991 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers release Blood Sugar Sex Magik in the US. Under the guidance of producer Rick Rubin, the Chili Peppers found new creative freedom while recording the album at The Mansion, Harry Houdini's former home, in Los Angeles. Frontman Anthony Kiedis, in particular, tentatively entered new territory with "Under the Bridge," which started out as a poem until Rubin encouraged him to record it as a ballad. (Handout Photo by MTV/Getty Images)
1991, Nirvana released their epic Nevermind, making today the 30th anniversary of the release. Nevermind was never meant to change the world, but you can never predict when the Zeitgeist will hit, and Nirvana's second album turned out to be the place where alternative rock crashed into the mainstream. It was the first Nirvana album to feature drummer Dave Grohl. In addition, it was responsible in part for bringing both grunge and alternative rock music to a mainstream audience and ending the dominance of hair metal. The idea for the now iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.
2003 - The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band's largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.
2012 - Mumford & Sons released their second studio album, Babel. They know how to turn a phrase, plant a seed, and build a bridge and tear it back down again without losing the audience in the process. It's also exactly what they did on their debut, and short of being a little rowdier and raspier, Babel feels less like a legitimate sequel and more like an expanded edition of the former.
Birthdays:
Linda McCartney was born today in 1942. She passed away in 1998.
Blind Lemon Jefferson, the father of Texas blues, was born today in 1893. He passed away in 1929. The Christina Ricci movie "Black Snake Moan" was named after one of his songs.
Jesse Hughes frontman and guitarist of Eagles of Death Metal is 49.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.