1971 - Five months after her death, Janis Joplin started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with her second and final solo studio album Pearl. Joplin sang on all tracks except 'Buried Alive in the Blues', which remained a Full Tilt Boogie instrumental because she died before adding her vocals.
Joplin didn't write many songs, but did compose two of the 10 tracks on the setlist: the opener "Move Over," and the a capella "Mercedes Benz," a song initially dismissed as a novelty by critics that is now recognized as a profound and insightful statement on materialism. Will a luxury car really make you happy?
1977 - Keith Richards' Toronto hotel suite was raided by Royal Canadian Mounted Police while he was sleeping. Police seized 22 grams of heroin and five grams of cocaine as well as narcotics paraphernalia. Richards was arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to traffic, and with possession of cocaine.
He eventually received a suspended sentence and ordered to play two benefit concerts. He did one with The Rolling Stones and with Ron Wood’s side band the New Barbarians. (Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images)
1981 - The Who release "You Better You Bet," their first single since the death of their drummer, Keith Moon, in 1978. Their new stickman is Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces.
Pete Townshend wrote it "over several weeks of clubbing and partying" while the still-married guitarist was dating a younger woman. He said: "I wanted it to be a great song, because the girl I wrote it for is one of the best people on the planet."
2001 - Dave Matthews Band release Everyday. The fourth proper studio album by the Dave Matthews Band had a rough birth, as the group jettisoned a set of sessions recorded with their longtime producer Steve Lillywhite, starting afresh with Glen Ballard, the mastermind behind Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. Ballard put an emphasis on Matthews' melodies over the group interplay that is the band's calling card. With Ballard on board, it's shorter songs, tighter arrangements, ultra-smooth production, big hooks, poppy choruses, plenty of electric guitars and, above all, not a single extended jam in earshot.
2004 - A worker in a supermarket in Aspen alerted the police-after seeing a man shopping with his face covered by a mask. Police arrived on the scene and identified the man as Michael Jackson who was in town on holiday with his children.
2015 - Leonard Nimoy dies at age 83. The actor, best known for playing Spock on Star Trek, also made a musical impact: His albums Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space and Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy both charted in the US (#83 and #97, respectively), and his voice was sampled in the Information Society hit "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)."
Birthdays:
Paul Humphreys, keyboards and vocals with Liverpool duo Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark is 63. Best known for the anti war song, "Enola Gay" and "If You Leave", featured in John Hughes-directed movie Pretty in Pink.
Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Tinnitist, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia