1970- Led Zeppelin releases Led Zeppelin III. On their first two albums, Led Zeppelin unleashed a relentless barrage of heavy blues and rockabilly riffs, but Led Zeppelin III provided the band with the necessary room to grow musically. The genesis of the album began with writing songs in a cottage in Wales and saw them weaving British folk into their heavy rock, a hybrid that deepened the band's sound. While there are still a handful of metallic rockers, III is built on a folky, acoustic foundation that gives the music extra depth.
1973 - Elton John released Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Under the working titles of Vodka and Tonics and Silent Movies, Talking Pictures, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to the album in two and a half weeks, with John composing most of the music in three days while staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. The album was a statement of purpose spilling over two LPs, which was all the better to showcase every element of John's spangled personality. This was truly the debut of Elton John the entertainer, the pro who knows how to satisfy every segment of his audience.(Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Harlequins)
1978 - Dolly Parton becomes the first country singer to pose for Playboy.
"...I was afraid maybe a lot of my country fans and some of the people who love me who are of a religious nature might not understand. “I mean, who else but Dolly Parton should be on the cover of Playboy?” she asked. “If you wanted an outrageous person to be an outrageous magazine cover, who else? I just hope people will take it in the spirit in which I did it—you know, something cute and off-the-wall for me.”
1987 - Bruce Springsteen releases his Tunnel Of Love. He got married for the first time two years earlier, but there are few signs of domestic bliss in the songs. Marriage doesn't change Springsteen's approach to songwriting: instead of writing about himself, he uses characters to tell his stories. And many of these characters are struggling with their relationships. In February 1988, the Tunnel Of Love tour begins. On that trek, Springsteen takes up with band member Patti Scialfa. The following year, he and Phillips divorce; in 1991 he marries Scialfa.
1992 - Singer Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations died. His was the lead voice on the Temptations' hits, "The Way You Do The Things You Do," "Get Ready" and "Just My Imagination." As a solo artist, had the U.S. No. 1 single "Keep On Truckin."
2011 - Scottish Folk-Guitar master Bert Jansch dies at age 67. His ‘Blackwaterside’ was a big influence on Zeppelin's ‘Black Mountain Side’. "Needle Of Death," was the inspiration for Neil Young's, "The Needle And The Damage Done".
Birthdays:
Steve Miller is 79. His career has encompassed two distinct stages: one of the top San Francisco blues-rockers during the late '60s, and one of the top-selling pop/rock acts of the mid- to late '70s. His first recordings established his early style as a blues-rocker influenced but not overpowered by psychedelia. Then, in 1973, Miller's reinvention as a blues-influenced pop/rocker who wrote compact, melodic, catchy songs, led to platinum success for The Joker and a number one hit for its title track.
Brian Connolly, lead singer with Sweet, was born today in 1945.
Brian Johnson of AC/DC is 75.
Russell Mael of Sparks is 74. One of pop's best-loved and most influential cult bands, Sparks grew out of the minds of brothers Ron and Russell Mael. The combination of Russell's formidable vocal range, Ron's impressive keyboard skills, and their vividly witty songwriting defined their music as it changed over the years -- which it did often. When they emerged in the early '70s, their theatricality fit in with the glam rock scene, just a year later, Sparks were at the forefront of the power pop movement, by the end of the decade, they were electronic pop pioneers. "Cool Places," a duet with the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin, became one of the band's biggest hits.
Fast Eddie Clarke, guitarist with Motörhead, was born today in 1950.
Bob Geldof, Bootmtown Rats and Live Aid organizer, is 71.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from Cheat Sheet, Allmusic, NPR, Far Out Magazine, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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