1956 - Elvis bought that famous pink Cadillac for his mother as his career gained momentum. She never had a drivers license, so the gesture was largely symbolic. He ended up owning around 200 Cadillacs, according to some estimates. Many of these he gave away to family and friends.
1967 - A young guitarist named Boz Scaggs joins The Steve Miller Band, the blues band led by his childhood friend, Steve Miller.
1979 - U2 released their first record in their native Ireland. It was an EP titled U2-3. U2-3 is special because it is the earliest U2 collectible you can find, when they were a long way from conquering the world. This single contains earlier recordings of the songs "Out of Control" and "Stories for Boys," which appear on Boy, and the non-LP track "Boy/Girl."
1983 - Guitarist Mick Jones was dismissed from the Clash by Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon for "drifting apart from the original concept of the band." The Clash soon broke up afterwards, and Jones went on to form Big Audio Dynamite.
“Mick was intolerable to work with by this time,” the late Strummer remembered in the Clash documentary, ‘Westway to the World.’ “He wouldn’t show up. When he did show up, it was like Elizabeth Taylor in a filthy mood.”
Jones later regretted his behavior. “I was just carried away really, I wish I had a bit more control,” Jones reflected. “You know, you wish you knew what you know now.”
1983 - Tom Waits releases Swordfishtrombones. The dominant sounds on the record were low-pitched horns, bass instruments, and percussion, set in spare, close-miked arrangements. Lyrically, Waits' tales of the drunken and the lovelorn have been replaced by a world of misfits. Artistically, Swordfishtrombones marked an evolution of which Waits had not seemed capable and in career terms it reinvented him.
1984 - After a 25-year career, Tina Turner had her first solo No.1 single in the US with 'What's Love Got To Do With It'. This song was originally written for Cliff Richard, however the song was rejected. It was then offered to Donna Summer, who has stated she sat with it for a couple of years but never recorded it. Tina hated the song, but her manager convinced her to record it. Turner's last big hit was a cover of "Proud Mary" she did with her husband Ike in 1971.
2011 - Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing his pants too low. A flight attendant approached Armstrong and told him, "Pull your pants up or you get off the plane." Later, Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins released a statement saying that the airline and Armstrong had settled their differences over the incident. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Conway Twitty was born today in 1933. Twitty held the record for the most No.1 singles of any act with 55 No.1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006.
Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees is 76.
Gloria Estefan is 65.
Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from Far Out Magazine, Hot Cars, Allmusic, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.