1956 - Elvis Presley was termed "the most controversial entertainer since Liberace" by Billboard. On the same day, Elvis was booked for three appearances on Ed Sullivan's widely watched Sunday-night variety program, even though Sullivan had declared Elvis and his gyrating hips would never be welcomed back.
969 - The Beatles started work on the John Lennon song "Come Together," at Abbey Road studios in London. The song is the opening track on the album Abbey Road, and reached the top of the charts in the U.S. There are a few different theories on what the song is referring to - it has been speculated that each verse refers cryptically to one of the Beatles, or that Lennon was painting a sardonic self-portrait, and also that Lennon was inspired by Timothy Leary's campaign for governor of California against Ronald Reagan, which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana.
1969 Blind Faith, a group comprised of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech, release their self-titled debut album . Blind Faith were the band that introduced the world to the notion of a rock "supergroup".
Blind Faith's first and last album. is as much a follow-up to Traffic's self-titled second album as it is to Cream's final output, it merges the soulful blues of the former with the heavy riffing and outsized song lengths of the latter for a very compelling sound unique to this band.
The cover is nothing exciting, just a photo of the band with the group name and lineup. The UK release in August has a far more controversial album cover: a photo of a topless 11-year-old girl. This cover appears in limited release in America.
Unfortunately, the group was never that together as a band and evidently had just the 42 minutes of new music here ready to tour behind.
1990 - Pink Floyd's The Wall was presented live on the site of the former Berlin Wall, performed by Roger Waters and friends, including The Band, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Paul Carrack, Sinéad O'Connor, The Scorpions and others.
A stunning spectacle with elaborate props like 30-foot-tall inflatables, it visualized the concept of the album with a giant wall erected on stage as the band performed.
The concert is held at Potsdamer Platz, where a mound marks what was once the entrance to Hitler's bunker. The site is significant to Waters: his father, a member of the British Army, was killed in World War II in 1944, months before Roger was born.
2008 - The Police played the first of two nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado during the final leg of their 152-date world Reunion tour. The tour became the third highest grossing tour of all time, with revenues reaching over $340 million.
Nearly three decades after the Police’s first Denver gig at the Rainbow Music Hall, the band finally made it up to Red Rocks for the first time. After kicking off the set with “Message in a Bottle,” then taking it down a notch with “Walking on the Moon” and pumping it back up on “Demolition Man,” it was obvious it was going to be worth the wait.
Dave Herrera from Westword said this:
Seeing Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland in the Pepsi Center last year might have a remarkable experience for some, but seeing the guys at Red Rocks proved to be entirely different thing all together. Sometimes the venue makes all the difference. In this case, nothing like a little Red Rocks magic to add to an already stellar show.(Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Kim Fowley, best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles (Alley Oop)in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s, was born today in 1939.
Henry McCullough was born today in 1943. He recorded with Paul McCartney and Wings, featuring on the hit James Bond theme, 'Live and Let Die' and 'My Love', the solo which he made up on the spot in front of a live orchestra.
Cat Stevens is 75. One of the most popular singer/songwriters of the 1970s, Cat Stevens won critical acclaim and a loyal following for his gently soulful songs of love, spiritualism, and the search for a better world.
In the 70s, he changed his name to Yusuf Islam after a spiritual transformation and today releases music under the name “Yusuf/ Cat Stevens.”
Damian Marley is 45.
R.I.P.:
2005 - Long John Baldry passed away. He was one of the founding fathers of British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1960s performing with Blues Incorporated and Cyril Davies' R&B All Stars, and he later fronted the Hoochie Coochie Men with Rod Stewart, and he was a member of Bluesology with Elton John. He also narrated on Winnie The Pooh recordings for Disney and was the voice for Robotnik on the Sonic The Hedgehog computer game. Essential song: Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock & Roll
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.
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