1970 - Music and politics collided when Elvis Presley met President Richard Nixon at the White House. Elvis was a collector of guns and badges and desired one from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Elvis asked Nixon to help get him one.
"The narc badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him," Priscilla Presley would write in her memoir, Elvis and Me. "With the federal narcotics badge, he [believed he] could legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished."(Photo by National Archives)
1992 - Blues singer and guitarist Albert King died. King made his first guitar out of a cigar box, a branch from a shrub, and a strand of broom wire; he later bought a real guitar for $1.25, which he learned to play himself, left-handed with the strings upside down. Best known for his 1967 single, "Born Under a Bad Sign."
2012 - "Gangnam Style" by South Korean musician Psy became the first YouTube video to reach a billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped the music charts of more than 30 countries.
2014 - Elton John and his partner David Furnish formally converted their civil partnership to a marriage, hosting a ceremony at their Windsor estate in Berkshire. Guest’s included Ringo Starr, Victoria Beckham, Joss Stone, Sting, Elvis Costello, Jamie Cullum, George Michael and The Osbournes - Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly.
Birthdays:
Frank Zappa was born today in 1940.
Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys was born today in 1946.
Soul singer-songwriter Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman") was born on this day in 1953.
Nick Gilder, singer, (1978 US No.1 single 'Hot Child In The City') is 70.
Emmett Jefferson Murphy aka "Murph" aka "Patrick Murphy", drummer for Dinosaur Jr. and The Lemonheads, is 57.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from Smithsonian Magazine, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.