1968 - Johnny Cash played a show, which was recorded for his forthcoming live album at Folsom Prison, near Sacramento, California in front of 2,000 inmates.
Cash was fading in the mid-'60s, with diminishing audiences and languishing record sales. To revive his career, he looks to an audience that has never let him down: inmates.
His label, Columbia Records, didn't like the idea of their artist being associated with a jail. But desperate times change minds, and Columbia agrees that the ploy just might work.
Bob Johnston, coming off Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde album, is the producer. He tells Cash to "Just go out and say who you are," so he starts the show with his soon-to-be-iconic saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."
At Folsom Prison gets his career back on track and earns him his own TV series the following year. Cash cites it as one of his greatest accomplishments. (Photo credit should read DANIEL JANIN/AFP via Getty Images)
1973 - Eric Clapton made his stage comeback at the Rainbow Theatre, London, with Pete Townsend, Ronnie Wood, Stevie Winwood, Rebop, Jim Capaldi and support from The Average White Band. The night's two shows were recorded for the 'Rainbow Concert' album. Pete Townshend from The Who had organised the concert to help Clapton kick his heroin addiction.
1978 - With a budget of about $2000, borrowed from Stewart Copeland's brother Miles Copeland III, The Police started recording their debut album, 'Outlandos d'Amour'. It's a loose French translation of Love's Outlaws.
1979 - The YMCA files a lawsuit against Village People for their hit single "Y.M.C.A.," claiming the song is defaming to the organization. The suit is not only dropped, but the Y.M.C.A. adopts the song as their nonofficial commercial jingle after seeing the huge popularity boost the group brings them.
2005 - A report showed that more songs had been written about Elvis Presley than any other artist. It listed over 220 songs including: ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon, ‘A Room At The Heartbreakhotel’ by U2, ‘Calling Elvis’, Dire Straits, ‘Happy Birthday Elvis’, Loudon Wainwright III, and ‘Elvis Has Left the Building’ by Frank Zappa.
Birthdays:
Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ, was born today in 1895.
Trevor Rabin, guitarist for Yes, is 68.
Fred White, drummer with Earth, Wind & Fire, is 67.
Don Snow of Squeeze is 65.
Wayne Coyne, Flaming Lips frontman, is 61.
Graham "Suggs" McPherson, the lead singer of Madness, is 61.
On this Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.