1966 - Peter Green joins John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, replacing Eric Clapton. He eventually leaves and forms the first line up of Fleetwood Mac with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Both John and Mick were in the Bluesbreakers too.
1972 - Grateful Dead keyboard player and founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played his last show with the band at a Hollywood Bowl concert. Health problems forced him to stop touring, and he died in March, 1973 at age 27.
According to Allmusic, it was Jerry Garcia who gave him the nickname, "Pigpen." Dead.net said it was because of his his funky approach to life and sanitation.
1973 - Dolly Parton recorded "I Will Always Love You" in RCA's Studio B in Nashville. It was written as a farewell for her one-time partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner, as Parton was breaking off their creative partnership to make her own way as a solo musician. The song reached No. 1 twice - first when it was released in 1974, and then again when she rerecorded it as a part of the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982. But the song made a legendary splash when Whitney Houston recorded her version for the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
1976 - Blondie released their debut single 'X Offender'. Written by Gary Valentine and Debbie Harry, the title of the song was originally 'Sex Offender', written about an 18-year-old boy being arrested for having sex with his younger girlfriend. Debbie Harry changed the lyrics so that the song was about a prostitute being attracted to the police officer that had arrested her. Private Stock, the band’s label insisted that the single be changed to 'X Offender' because they were nervous about the original title.
1981 - At Earls Court in London, Pink Floyd play the last of 31 performances of The Wall, a unique stage show where a giant wall is erected (and torn down) as the band plays the album in its entirety. It's Roger Waters' last concert with the band, which breaks up in 1983 and carries on without him a few years later. Photo credit should read JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP via Getty Images)
2012 - Bruce Springsteen played his longest show when he turned in a three-hour-and-48-minute, 32-song set at the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
Birthdays:
Barry Manilow is 79.
Gregg Rolie who has been a member of Santana and Journey, is 75.
Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys (and former Boulder resident) is 64.
Kendrick Lamar is 35.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Dead.net, Song Facts and Wikipedia.