1967 - The Monkees begin a U.S. tour with Jimi Hendrix opening.
1968 - Three years after Eric Clapton's departure and eight months after Jeff Beck left the band, The Yardbirds disbanded, guitarist Jimmy Page put together a new lineup to fulfill some contractually obligated concerts and began referring to the group as The New Yardbirds. The Who's drummer Keith Moon was dubious about the band's prospects, and he jokingly suggested that they change their name to "Led Zeppelin," as in, "They'll go over like a lead balloon." The New Yardbirds — Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones — soon did change their name to Led Zeppelin.
1973 - Paul McCartney & Wings released "Live And Let Die." McCartney was initially asked to write a song for the movie for someone else to perform. He agreed to write it only if his band Wings could perform it.
1978 - Talking Heads released their second studio album More Songs About Buildings And Food. Where Talking Heads had largely been about David Byrne's voice and words, co-producer, Brian Eno moved the emphasis to the bass-and-drums team of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz; all the songs were danceable, and there were only short breaks between them. Byrne held his own, however, and he continued to explore the eccentric, if not demented persona first heard on 77. Their cover of Al Green's "Take Me to the River"; released as a single, it made the Top 40 and pushed the album to gold-record status.
1980 - The original Led Zeppelin lineup performed its final show. They played in Berlin, the last stop of a European tour. A U.S. was to begin in October. But shortly before it's start, John Bonham died, leading to the breaking up of the band.
Birthdays:
Ringo Starr is 83.
Ringo Starr anchored the Beatles with a smile and a thundering backbeat, qualities he'd never lose during the group's heyday or throughout his long solo career. As a drummer, his unconventional parts were a defining compositional feature of the band's sound and his laid-back charisma endeared him to fans, especially during their early days. While John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and to a lesser extent, George Harrison, served as the band's frontmen, Starr enjoyed his share of the spotlight. A natural acting ability helped him steal scenes in their feature films, A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and he sang lead on mid-'60s Beatles classics like "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends." (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
R.I.P:
2001 - Fred Neil, a folk singer-songwriter known for writing Harry Nilsson's hit "Everybody's Talkin'," dies at age 65.
2006 - Syd Barrett died at age 60. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, and active as a rock musician for only about seven years. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs. After leaving music, Barrett continued with painting and dedicated himself to gardening. Pink Floyd wrote and recorded several tributes to him, most notably the 1975 album Wish You Were Here, which included "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", as an homage to Barrett.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, Pop Expresso, and Wikipedia.
KBCO