1967 - Bob Dylan releases John Wesley Harding. It's a quiet, country-tinged album that split dramatically from his previous three. A calm, reflective album, that strips away all of the wilder tendencies of Dylan's rock albums. Included "All along The Watchtower", which Hendrix would reinvented as an electric rocker.
1967 - After establishing his career as a poet and writer, Leonard Cohen releases his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, on Columbia Records. The album doesn't sell particularly well at first, peaking at #83 on the Billboard charts, but Cohen's powerful voice and lyrics in oft-covered tracks like "Suzanne" and "So Long, Marianne" become highly influential.
1970 - George Harrison was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'My Sweet Lord' making him the first Beatle to score a No.1 US hit. The song was originally intended for Billy Preston
1975 - The Faces split became official. Rod Stewart had severed all connections with the group to work as a solo artist, Ronnie Wood was on permanent loan to the Stones, Ronnie Lane went on to form Slim Chance and drummer Kenny Jones joined The Who.
1978 - Big Star guitarist Chris Bell dies in a car accident at age 27. One of the unsung heroes of American pop music. During his short and troubled lifetime (suffered from clinical depression, and began self-medicating with drugs and alcohol), his work with the band Big Star was celebrated only by a tiny cult, and his only solo single received little notice. However, decades later, Bell's work with Big Star was belatedly acknowledged as some of the best and most influential pop music of the '70s.
1980 - Three weeks to the day after John Lennon's murder, "(Just Like) Starting Over" is number one in the US and the UK simultaneously. The song had been chosen by Lennon for its October 20 release, not because he felt it was the best track on the album, but because it was the most appropriate following his five-year absence from the recording industry.
2008 - Delaney Bramlett, the guitarist who gained renown in the late 1960s as part of the rhythm and blues combo Delaney And Bonnie and Friends, died. Bramlett's backing band would often contain the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Dave Mason. The ensemble achieved a pair of Billboard Top 40 hits in 1971: "Never Ending Song Of Love" and "Only You Know And I Know".
Birthdays:
Haley Williams of Paramore is 34.
Terry Bozzio, drummer best known for his work with Frank Zappa. He has also worked with Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, Robbie Robertson and Richard Marx. Also founded Missing Persons who had a hit with "Walking In L.A.".
Mike Pinder, keyboardist for the Moody blues, is 81.
Scotty Moore was born on this day in 1931. Scotty Moore was one of the great pioneers of rock guitar. As the guitarist on Elvis Presley's Sun recordings, he may have done more than anyone else to establish the basic vocabulary of rockabilly guitar licks, as heard on classic singles like "That's All Right," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train." Moore took the stinging licks common to both country music and blues, and not only combined elements of country & western and R&B, but added a rich tone through heavier amplification. His concise, sharp phrasing and knack for knowing both what to play and when not to overplay were perfect accents to Presley's vocals. (Photo by Mike Brown/Getty Images)
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Classic Bands, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
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