1958 - CBS records announced the invention of stereophonic records. Although the new format would be playable on ordinary record players, when used on the new stereo players, a richer, fuller sound was heard.
1965 - Jeff Beck joins The Yardbirds as a replacement for Eric Clapton.
1965 - The Who released their first US chart entry, "I Can't Explain". Pete Townshend described it as being about a guy who "can't tell his girlfriend he loves her because he's taken too many Dexedrine tablets."
1972 - Elvis Presley recorded what would be his last major hit, "Burning Love," which would go on to be a No. 2 hit on the U.S. chart. Originally recorded by Arthur Alexander on his 1972 self titled album. Despite the song's success, Presley had stated he did not actually care for the song and felt uncomfortable performing it.
Drummer Ronnie Tutt would later recall, "He never felt comfortable with it because he had a hard time with those lyrics."
"I'm just a hunk, a hunk of burning love
Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love"
1979 - Eric Clapton marries George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie, the subject of the song "Layla." Harrison attends the wedding and remains friends with Clapton.
Attendees Paul McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr drunkenly jam together on Clapton's outdoor stage - the same venue where Harrison wrote "Here Comes The Sun." The event becomes an impromptu - though musically questionable - partial reunion of the Beatles as they play songs including "Get Back" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Other musicians to join the performance at various points include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Bill Wyman, Elton John and various members of Cream and Wings.
1982 - "Pac-Man Fever," a song about the arcade game that had America enthralled, cracked the Top 10, becoming the only song about a video game ever to do so.
Singer, songwriter, poet and actor, Ian Dury died after a long battle with cancer aged 57. Along with his band The Blockheads, Dury developed a strange fusion of music hall, punk rock, and disco that brought him to stardom in his native England. Driven by a warped sense of humor and a pulsating beat, singles like "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick," "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," and "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3" became Top Ten hits in the U.K.,
2015 - Country singer Willie Nelson announced that he and his family were hard at work on a new brand of marijuana called Willie's Reserve.
His website: Willie Nelson has never made any bones about it. The cannabis culture is a way of life for him. And he has always operated under a simple philosophy: my stash is your stash.
Friends, fans and fellow musicians can attest to that. For decades, as Willie and his band travelled from town to town, pot enthusiasts flocked to his shows, their pockets stuffed with offerings from their home gardens and local communities. They happily shared their bounty. And Willie gladly returned the favor. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Derrick Morgan, a pioneer of ska who worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff, is 83. At one time he was the the unrivaled King of Ska. His 1966 song, "Tougher Than Tough," widely credited as the first record in the rocksteady genre.
Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks is 73. Banks is one of the more undeservedly underrated keyboard players in progressive rock (flashier figures such as Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, got all the attention). Banks' work was so subsumed by Genesis for so long that he never quite achieved the profile of his slightly older rivals, despite playing an essential role in shaping the sound of his group, which, along with Yes, was one of the two most successful prog rock bands of the '70s.
On This day in Music History was from This Day in Music, Willie's Reserve, Allmusic, Classic Bands, Song Facts and Wikipedia.