1964 - Bob Dylan releases The Times They Are a-Changin'. If The Times They Are a-Changin' isn't a marked step forward from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, even if it is his first collection of all originals, it's nevertheless a fine collection all the same. Choosing to concentrate on social protests in the style of "Blowin' in the Wind", the title track, is an anthem that nearly equaled that song. (Photo by Agence France Presse/Agence France Presse/Getty Images)
1968 - Johnny Cash played a show, which was recorded for his forthcoming live album at Folsom Prison, near Sacramento, California in front of 2,000 inmates. When released, the lead single, "Folsom Prison Blues" (an update of his 1956 hit) became one of the most famous recordings of his career. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career.
1978 - With a budget of only £1,500 (about $1,830.85) borrowed from Stewart Copeland's brother Miles Copeland III, The Police started recording their debut album. Outlandos d'Amour' featured the hits 'So Lonely', 'Roxanne' and 'Can't Stand Losing You'.
1969 - The Beatles release Yellow Submarine in the United States. It wasn't really a proper album at all, but a soundtrack that only utilized four new Beatles songs, filled out with "Yellow Submarine," "All You Need Is Love," and a George Martin score. But "Hey Bulldog" is good and Harrison contributed two nice slabs of Indian inspired hazy psychedelia. The album would have been far better value if it had been released as a four-song EP (an idea the Beatles even considered at one point, with the addition of a bonus track in "Across the Universe" but ultimately discarded).
2005 - A report showed that more songs had been written about Elvis Presley than any other artist. It listed over 220 songs including: ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon, ‘A Room At The Heartbreakhotel’ by U2, ‘Calling Elvis’, Dire Straits, and ‘Elvis Has Left the Building’ by Frank Zappa.
Birthdays:
Trevor Rabin, guitarist for Yes, is 69.
Graham "Suggs" McPherson, the lead singer of Madness, is 62.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts Allmusic, and Wikipedia.