1965 - Elvis Presley his girlfriend Priscilla, and others, try LSD for the first, and last, time at his Graceland mansion. According to The Atlantic, Elvis’ decision to use the drug was also inspired by the work of Aldous Huxley. Although Huxley is primarily remembered for his dystopian novel Brave New World, he also wrote a book about mescaline called The Doors of Perception. The book advocates drugs as a means by which to contact one’s “Inner Light.” Elvis read the book and hoped to find his “Inner Light.”
Friend Jerry Schilling remembers the surrealism of the night. “Elvis and I started having an entire conversation just by laughing,” he said. “I stared at Elvis, and he seemed to morph into a child. He was this plump little boy, at times insecure. The more I stared, the more he changed. Eventually, I saw him as a baby smiling back at me, contented as could be.”
Alex Chilton was born on this day in 1950, and in 1978 on December 27, Chris Bell was killed in a car crash at the age of 27. Both of these events are significant in the history of the band Big Star, who formed in 1971 and were only active for four years until their reunion 18 years later. They released three albums in their first incarnation and their fourth and final album in 2005. Describing their early days, Rolling Stone said they created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", and were the "quintessential American power pop band", and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll".
1968 - The Beatles went to No.1 on the US album chart with the The White Album. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed, which was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's earlier Sgt. Pepper's.
1971 - George Harrison was at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "My Sweet Lord", making him the first ex-Beatle to score a No. 1 U.S. hit. The song was originally intended for Billy Preston. Harrison wrote "My Sweet Lord" in praise of the Hindu god Krishna. Later in the 1970s, "My Sweet Lord" was at the center of a heavily publicized copyright infringement suit due to its alleged similarity to the Ronnie Mack song "He's So Fine", a 1963 hit for the New York girl group the Chiffons. In 1976, Harrison was found to have subconsciously plagiarized the song. Harrison claimed he got the idea for "My Sweet Lord" from The Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy Day," not "He's So Fine." (Photo by Getty Images)
1983 - Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys dies after diving into very cold water from a boat slip in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles. After drinking all day he dove into the water to retrieve his ex-wife's belongings, previously thrown overboard at the marina from his yacht three years earlier amidst their divorce.
2015 - Ian Fraser Kilmister, best known as Lemmy, died at the age of 70. The founder and frontman of English rock band Motorhead, we largely have Lemmy to thank for influencing the genre of heavy metal. Before becoming a rockstar himself, Lemmy was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, then joined the space rock band Hawkwind before founding Motorhead.
Birthdays:
Roebuck 'pop' Staples of The Staple Singers was born today in 1915.
Edgar Winter of the Edgar Winter Group is 75.
Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste (drummer for The Meters) is 73
John Legend is 43.
On this Day In Music History is sourced from The Atlantic, Cheatsheet, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.