1960 - Paul McCartney and Pete Best were arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and then igniting it. The Beatles were in Hamburg, Germany, moving out of the place they were staying and lit the condom for light. They spent the night in jail and were deported the next day.
1973 - Paul McCartney releases Band On The Run. McCartney's penchant for sophisticated, nuanced arrangements and irrepressibly catchy melodic hooks is up to the caliber he displayed in the Beatles, far surpassing the first two Wings releases. The album has the majestic, orchestral sweep of McCartney's Abbey Road-era ambition, with a wide range of style-dabbling -- swaying, acoustic jazz-pop, straightforward rock, wiry blues, and a one-off pub sing-along. Though it lacks the emotional resonance of contemporaneous releases by John Lennon and George Harrison, McCartney's infallible instinct for popcraft overflows on this excellent release. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
1976 - Two days after he is shot in an assassination attempt, Bob Marley performs at the Smile Jamaica concert, which he organized in an effort to promote peace in the country. For more on the shooting of Marley, read here: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-story-of-bob-marley.../
1993 - Co-founder of the Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins, who had struggled with his mental health, particularly as the band’s fame grew commits suicide at age 32. Hopkins was fired from the group before the release of their debut album, New Miserable Experience, but the biggest hits from that album, "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," were songs he wrote.
2008 - The musical biopic Cadillac Records premieres in US theaters, with Beyoncé in a starring role as soul legend Etta James. Cadillac Records is the story of Chess Records, a Chicago-based label started by Leonard Chess (played by Adrien Brody) in 1950 for black musicians, launching the careers of Etta James (Beyoncé), Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker), and Chuck Berry (Mos Def).
The soundtrack, a mix of originals and covers, is nominated for multiple Grammy Awards
Birthdays:
Harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II was born today in 1912. Sonny Boy Williamson was, in many ways, the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hoboed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim, and simply wrote, played, and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into Black phonograph records.
Little Richard was born today in 1932. Of the great artists from the first era of rock & roll, few were as powerful and exciting as Little Richard, and no one bested his magnetism and flamboyance. Blessed with a singularly forceful voice (his piercing "Whooooo!" is still one of the most eloquent screams in American music) and a rollicking piano style, Little Richard fused gospel, rhythm & blues, and boogie woogie into a sound that was purely electric, and he startled audiences with his flashy clothes, outrageous persona, and willingness to present a sexually ambiguous image at a time when such things were all but unknown in popular culture.
JJ Cale was born on this day in 1938. With his laid-back rootsy style, J.J. Cale was best-known for writing "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," songs that Eric Clapton later made into hits. But Cale's influence wasn't only through songwriting -- his distinctly loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie became the blueprint for the roots rock of Clapton and Mark Knopfler, among others. Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Garcia also covered his songs.
Jim Messina, Buffalo Springfield, Poco, also, Loggins and Messina, is 75. Poco is a member of the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame.
Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls is 57.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.