1964 - The Beatles made their live U.S. television debut on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show. They performed five songs, including their No. 1 hit at the time, "I Want To Hold Your Hand." An estimated 73 million people watched the program. Prior to the broadcast, CBS received more than 50,000 applications for the 728 seats in the TV studio. (Photo by Getty Images)
Despite over a third of America tuning in to see the moment The Beatles broke America, Ray Bloch, the show’s musical director wasn’t so keen on the band, he said to The New York Times: “The only thing that’s different is the hair, as far as I can see. I give them a year.”
1970 - The Doors release Morrison Hotel. After flirting with big-band extravagance on The Soft Parade, the Doors got back to basics on Morrison Hotel. Robby Krieger built steady grooves on “Roadhouse Blues” and “Peace Frog,” Ray Manzarek found new psychedelic sounds on “Waiting for the Sun,” and Jim Morrison crooned blissfully on “Indian Summer.”
1972 - Paul McCartney's Wings played the first night of a UK College tour in Nottingham. The group arrived unannounced asking social secretaries if they would like them to perform that evening. The band's intended first stop on the tour, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, refused to allow them to play so they drove on to Nottingham.
2015 - Bob Dylan turned the tables on his critics during a 30-minute speech at the Musicares charity gala honoring his career. The 73-year-old, who rarely talks about his work, asked why critics complained he "can't sing" and sounds "like a frog" but did not "say that about Tom Waits?" The singer added, "Critics say my voice is shot, that I have no voice. Why don't they say those things about Leonard Cohen? Why do I get special treatment?"
2021 - Jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader Chick Corea died age 79. His compositions 'Spain', '500 Miles High', 'Armando's Rhumba' and 'Windows' are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion.
Birthdays:
Carole King is 81. Since penning her first number one hit at age 17, Carole King became one of the brightest musical talents of all time, first as a songwriter for other acts, then King eventually applied her gift for songcraft to her own albums, reaching new levels of artistry and commercial success with 1971's landmark Tapestry. The album's flawless confluence of melodic hooks and soft rock textures would help define the entire era it soundtracked, going on to sell over 25 million units and consistently stay in the charts for over five years.
Joe Ely is 76. He started out as a rebel in Texas music and eventually became one of the Lone Star State's most respected elder statesmen of music. Toured with The Clash and helped them with the Spanish lyrics on "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" He sings on it as well.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, Far Out Magazine, and Wikipedia.