1964 - During a recording session at Chess Records in Chicago, The Rolling Stones ran into a couple of their heroes: Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon.
Keith Richards: “We walked into Chess Studios and there’s this guy in black overalls painting the ceiling. And it’s Muddy Waters and he’s got whitewash streaming down his face and he’s on top of a ladder.”
Muddy Waters offered insight and support during their session, and exchanged ideas to help the young lads..
1967 - Bob Dylan and The Band began recording the legendary Basement Tapes in Woodstock, N.Y. Dylan, recovering from a motorcycle accident and burned out from touring, recorded the songs for other people to cover. Some of the tracks — “I Shall Be Released,” “This Wheel’s on Fire,” “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” — would go on to become some of Dylan’s best-known and most covered.
1971 - Police fire tear gas into the rowdy crowd at the Jethro Tull concert in Denver, but the band continues playing even though some of them have trouble seeing their instruments.
The hot summer evening brought 10,000 die-hard fans from around the country to see Jethro Tull, which sold out nearly two weeks ahead of the show. An hour before showtime, however, nearly 2,000 ticketless fans outside the venue caused a commotion when they attempted to climb the hills behind the venue in order to sneak in. As the situation snowballed and fans followed the example of the gate-crashers around them, police onsite responded with copious amounts of tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
Mayor McNichols banned rock concerts from red rocks for 5 years after that. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
1975 - The Eagles released One of These Nights which became the Eagles' first No.1. One of These Nights was the culmination of the blend of rock, country, and folk styles the Eagles had been making since their start but the musical arrangements were tighter and more purposeful. The result was the Eagles' best-realized and most popular album so far.
1986 - Bob Geldof was awarded an honorary Knighthood for his efforts to raise funds to eradicate famine in Ethiopia. Geldoff's coordination of the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas" in 1984 kicked off a massive awareness of the issue of hunger in Africa (spawning the American response, "We Are The World"), culminating in the Live Aid concerts of 1985.
2004 - Ray Charles died at age 73. Charles was a pioneer of soul music and was influenced by jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and country. Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in show business". Blind from the age of seven, he didn't let that stop him from achieving massive success and his massive contributions to the racial integration of country and pop music over his lifetime.
2007 - In the last scene of the HBO series The Sopranos, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey plays on the jukebox while Tony Soprano sits at a diner. It cuts to black on the line, "Don't Stop."
The series, which runs for six seasons, is very violent, chronicling the adventures of a mob boss (Tony) and his family. Steve Perry, the lead vocalist and co-writer of the song, feared it would be part of a gruesome scene ending with bloody retribution, and insisted on knowing the top-secret ending before granting permission. He was sworn to secrecy.
Birthdays:
Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf) was born today in 1910. In the history of the blues, there has never been anyone quite like the Howlin' Wolf. Six foot three and close to 300 pounds in his salad days, the Wolf was the primal force of the music spun out to its ultimate conclusion. A Robert Johnson may have possessed more lyrical insight and a B.B. King certainly more technical expertise, but no one could match him for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1991.
Judy Garland was born on this day in 1922. Played Dorothy in The wizard Of Oz and sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It was voted the 'Song Of The Century' in a 2001 poll published in America.
Kim Deal of The Pixies and The Breeders is 61.
Kim Deal's twin sister Kelley Deal of The Breeders is also 61.
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is 58.
Joey Santiago of The Pixies is 57.
On this Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Fly Paper Sound Fly, Live for Live music, Westword, Rolling Stone, Song Facts and Wikipedia.