1965 - Along with a string quartet, Paul McCartney recorded what would turn out to be the most recorded song of all time - "Yesterday." It was the first time a Beatle recorded without the others, and marked a shift to more independent accomplishments among the group. The working title was "scrambled eggs."
1966 - Deeming its "butcher cover" in poor taste, Capitol Records recalls the new Beatles album, Yesterday and Today, which is scheduled for release the next day and has already been sent to stores.
The gory cover was shot in March by the Australian photographer Robert Whitaker, who is known for his artistry and sense of macabre. His concept is a play on how The Beatles are adulated religiously.
The shot of the group wearing butcher uniforms amid dismembered doll parts, raw pork and sausage links is meant to show how they are being torn apart by their celebrity.
When it becomes clear that retailers won't put the album on shelves, Capitol begins the recall, claiming that the image was an attempt at "pop art satire" that didn't work.
Copies of the album fetch anywhere from a few thousand to $40, 000. A signed copy recently sold for $234, 000.
1970 - The Grateful Dead release their fourth album, Workingman's Dead. It was difficult times. The hippy movement was crumbling, the band was in debt to the record company and several members were facing possible jail time due to a drug bust.
For a group already established as exploratory free-form rockers of the highest acclaim, Workingman’s Dead's eight tunes threw off almost all improvisatory tendencies in favor of spare, thoughtful looks at folk, country, and American roots music with more subdued sounds than the band had managed up until then.
They’d continue this trend on the even more roots-minded American Beauty, recorded later the same year, but the limitlessness, fearlessness, and true power of the band began here.(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
1995 - Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher died after a chest infection set in following a liver transplant. Auditioned for The Rolling Stones following the departure of Mick Taylor.
2017 - The National Music Publishers Association gives Yoko Ono the Centennial Award for song of the century and adds her name to the credits of the award-winning song, "Imagine." John Lennon took the sole credit, but later admitted he got the idea from Yoko's book Grapefruit, where she wrote things like, "Imagine 1000 suns in the sky at the same time."
Birthdays:
Motown saxophone great Junior Walker was born on this day in 1931.
Spooner Oldham, songwriter and session musician, organist, best known as part of the studio backing band, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, is 79
Zombies founder Rod Argent is 77.
Alan White, drummer for Yes, was born on this day in 1949.
Steve Hunter is 73. Played the acoustic guitar intro on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill." Also played with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper.
Boy George, is 61
Joshua Radin is 48.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Rolling Stone, ebay, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.