1955 - In New York City, legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker, only 34, died of heart failure. Parker, along with Dizzy Gillespie and a few others, had more or less invented the then-radical form of bebop jazz music in the mid-'40s. He remains a tremendous influence.
as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of popular music.
1968 - The Rolling Stones started recording their single, "Jumpin' Jack Flash," with new producer Jimmy Miller at Olympic Studios in London. Keith Richards said that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awakened one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, "Oh, that's Jack — that's jumpin' Jack."
1969 - Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office. They then held a reception lunch at The Ritz Hotel, Paul then went to Abbey Road studios in the evening to work. George Harrison and his wife Patti were arrested on the same day and charged with possession of 120 joints of marijuana.
1971 - The Allman Brothers Band played the first of two nights at the Fillmore East, New York. Both shows were recorded and released as The Allman Brothers live double album, At The Fillmore East, which became the groups breakthrough album. The group performed at the venue the previous night opening for Johnny Winter, but for the next two shows they have the stage to themselves. The album goes on to sell over a million copies; it is certified Gold on October 25, four days before Duane Allman dies in a motorcycle accident.
1974 - John Lennon, during his famous "lost weekend," was involved in a scuffle with a photographer outside the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Lennon and Harry Nilsson had been drinking and were heckling comedian Tommy Smothers before being forcibly ejected from the club. Nilsson takes heat in the press for being a bad influence on Lennon. Said Nilsson: "It ruined my reputation for 10 years. Get one Beatle drunk and look what happens."
1977 - The Sex Pistols were involved in a fight at London's Speakeasy Club with Bob Harris, the host of BBC television's music program, The Old Grey Whistle Test. The altercation resulted in one of the show's engineers needing 14 stitches in his head. Two days later, Harris's lawyers contacted Derek Green at A&M Records, the label with whom the Sex Pistols had signed a contract just a few days earlier. Green discussed the matter with A&M's two founders, Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert, and they decided to cancel the Pistols' contract and to halt production of the band's first single, "God Save The Queen."
1988 - Rick Astley started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Never Gonna Give You Up." The song was released as the first single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody, and it actually received a fair amount of grief as Nick Lowe in 1990 quoted from the song and called it "ghastly" in the lyrics to "All Men Are Liars", and in 2004, it was voted number 28 in "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever by VH1". But the song has enjoyed a fond resurgence over the last few years as its music video has become the basis for the "Rickrolling" internet meme.
2001- Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow" was voted Song Of The Century in a poll conducted by the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. The song was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and became Garland's signature song.
2013 - Bob Dylan was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, marking the first time a rock musician had been chosen for the elite honor society. Officials in the Academy – which recognizes music, literature and visual art – were unable to decide if Dylan belonged for his words or his music and instead inducted him as an honorary member like previous honorees Meryl Streep, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.
Birthdays:
Leonard Chess, the founder of the Chess record label, home to John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed was born on this day in 1917.
Al Jarreau was born today in 1940.
Liza Minnelli is 75.
James Taylor is 73. His first album was released on The Beatles Apple label.
Bill Payne, Little Feat keyboardist, is 71.
Marlon Jackson is 64.
Graham Coxon, guitarist for Blur, is 52.
Incubus bassist Ben Kenney is 44.
Pete Doherty of The Libertines is 42.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.