1957 - Sun Records released "Great Balls Of Fire," by Jerry Lee Lewis. The single went on to sell more than five million copies worldwide, and was a No. 2 in the U.S, making it one of the world's best-selling singles of all time.
The song became Jerry Lee Lewis' signature tune, a perfect fit for his incendiary style. "A person tells at least a little bit about himself in any song he cuts," Lewis said years later.
1972 - Carly Simon and James Taylor get married, forming a musical power couple not seen until Jay-Z and Beyoncé tie the knot. The marriage lasts 11 years.
1993 - Russian inventor Leon Theremin died. Theremin is best known for the electronic musical instrument that bears his name. It looks like a small radio with an antenna. It's operated by the player without physical touch. You are part of the instrument, conducting the air.
He first performed the Theremin with the New York Philharmonic in 1928. The theremin’s unique sound conjured bizarre, otherworldly sounds for a host of mystery, horror and science-fiction films throughout the 1940s and ‘50s. In pop music, the Theremin features prominently in the Beach Boys' hit song, "Good Vibrations." Jimmy Page would use it for live performances of Whole Lotta love and No Quarter.
But it was Denver band, Lothar and the Hand People, a late-1960s psychedelic rock band, who were known for their pioneering use of the theremin. They would relocate to New York City where they would release three singles and two albums. They are most fondly remembered for the trance-inducing "Space Hymn," an FM radio favorite for many years.
1995 - Hootie & the Blowfish settle out of court with Bob Dylan, who sees their lifting of lyrics from "Tangled Up In Blue" on their hit "Only Want To Be With You" as more plagiarism than tribute.
Dylan's lyric from Idiot Wind: "Said I shot a man named Gray / Took his wife to Italy / She inherited a million bucks / And when she died it came to me / I can't help it if I'm lucky."
Hootie's: Put on a little Dylan sitting on a fence
I say that line is great, you ask me what it meant by
Said, I shot a man named Gray, took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky
I only wanna be with you
Ain't Bobby so cool?
I only wanna be with you
Singer Darius Rucker admits that it's doubtful Dylan knew anything about the lawsuit. During an interview with the Dan Patrick Show, he said the singer's management was aware of their use of lyrics from 'Idiot Wind' and had no problem with it. Once the song became a hit, they objected, and Hootie was forced to pay up.
2002 - '60s British singer Lonnie Donegan, known as The King of Skiffle, dies of a heart attack at age 71. He was a big influence on The Beatles and Jimmy Page. Best known for Rock Island line and Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor?
2015 - Months after 1000 singers and musicians in Cesena, Italy performs "Learn to Fly" in an effort to entice Foo Fighters to play there, the group complies, performing a concert in the city. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Scottish singer, actress and television personality, Lulu, is 74. She had major chart hits with "To Sir with Love" from the 1967 film of the same name, and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.
Folkie Bert Jansch, founder of Pentangle was born on this day in 1943. His "Blackwaterside", later to be taken up by Jimmy Page and recorded by Led Zeppelin as "Black Mountain Side". Jansch's "Needle Of Death," originally released on his self-titled album in 1965, was the inspiration for Neil Young's own song "The Needle And The Damage Done".
Neil Young is quoted as saying: "As much of a great guitar player as Jimi [Hendrix] was, Bert Jansch is the same thing for acoustic guitar... and my favorite."
Adam Ant is 68. Adam and the Ants were seminal figures in the new wave scene.
Courtney Barnett is 35.
On this Day In Music History was sourced from Lyric Find, BBC, Taste Of Country, NPR, This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.