1969 - John Lennon recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' during a 'bed-in' at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada. Producer Phil Spector, poet Allan Ginsberg and writer Timothy Leary all sang on the song.
It was recorded live by using four microphones and a portable 4-track cassette recorder borrowed from a local studio.
Released as a Lennon solo single under the name The Plastic Ono Band, the song is nevertheless attributed to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership - to Lennon's later regret. The writing credit could serve as thanks for McCartney's help recording "The Ballad of John and Yoko" on such short notice.
1972 - The Eagles released their debut studio album. Balance is the key element of the Eagles' self-titled debut album, a collection that contains elements of rock & roll, folk, and country, overlaid by vocal harmonies alternately suggestive of doo wop, the Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers. Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Witchy Woman," are the songs one remembers from the album and they look forward to the eventual dominance of the band by Frey and Henley.
1975 - The Rolling Stones kicked off their biggest ever US tour at Louisiana State University. The tour would take in 45 shows in 26 cities. Guitarist Ronnie Wood joined The Stones on tour for the first time, replacing Mick Taylor.
1976 - The Runaways release their eponymous debut album. Billed as the first all-female hard-rock band (featuring Joan Jett and Lita Ford), the disc has little domestic success, peaking at #194. However, the band are hugely successful in Japan, hitting the #1 spot with their single "Cherry Bomb."
1985 - Sting releases his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The Police never really broke up, they just stopped working together -- largely because they just couldn't stand playing together anymore and partially because Sting was itching to establish himself as a serious musician/songwriter on his own terms. Anxious to shed the mantle of pop star, he camped out at Eddy Grant's studio, picked up the guitar, and raided Wynton Marsalis' band for his new combo -- thereby instantly consigning his solo debut. There's ballads, faux reggae, songs about children in war and coalmines, and "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," one of his greatest solo singles.
1993 - 10,000 Maniacs become the first act to appear twice on MTV Unplugged. The network has a policy against return engagements, but when they learn that Natalie Merchant will be leaving the band, they book them.
1999 - Dido releases her debut album, No Angel, in America. It takes off at the end of 2000 after Eminem samples her song "Thank You" on his hit "Stan." It was also on this day in 2017 that the word "stan" is added to the Oxford American Dictionary, defined as "an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity."
2005 - White Stripes singer Jack White marries his girlfriend, British model Karen Elson, in a canoe on the Amazon in Brazil.
Birthday:
Brandi Carlile is 42. As a kid she was attached to the classic country music her parents doted on, specifically Patsy Cline. At 17, Carlile picked up the guitar, having developed a taste for rock & roll through Elton John's classic albums of the 1970s, and began hitting the Seattle bar scene, playing anywhere she could get a gig (including a stint singing backup for an Elvis Presley tribute act). From there she developed into a songwriter whose yearning, probing spirit is matched by her powerful, soaring voice,
Ron Wood is 76. "Woody" has been a member of several classic British rock outfits, but the one that he's undoubtedly most associated with is the Rolling Stones, who he's played with since 1976. A founding member of the Birds, a London R&B group, Wood joined the latter-day Creation in 1968 before entering Jeff Beck's employ as second guitarist and then bass player. While with Beck, Wood met vocalist Rod Stewart, and the pair joined three former Small Faces. As the Faces, they became a major international act in the early '70s. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
A two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with the Rolling Stones and the Faces) he is also a talented painter.
KBCO