1957 - Buddy Holly and the Crickets released their first record and only single to make it to #1, "That'll Be The Day." It was inspired by John Wayne repeatedly uttering the catch-phrase in the movie The Searchers.
1962 - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, containing soon-to-be standards such as "Blowin' in the Wind," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," released via Columbia Records. It's hard to overestimate the importance of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the record that firmly established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision. This is rich, imaginative music, capturing the sound and spirit of America as much as that of Louis Armstrong, Hank Williams, or Elvis Presley. Dylan, in many ways, recorded music that equaled this, but he never topped it.
1967 - The Bar-Kays, Otis Redding's backup band, entered the R&B chart with "Soul Finger." It would be their biggest hit without Redding. Six months later, four of the band members died in the same plane crash that killed Otis.
1977 - The Sex Pistols' version of "God Save The Queen" was released and promptly banned by the BBC for containing "treasonous sentiments." It, nonetheless, and in spite of, peaked at No.2 on the U.K. charts.
1977 - Declan McManus made his first live debut in the U.K. under the stage name Elvis Costello. He adopted the name Elvis Costello, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his mother's maiden name.
1977 - Neil Young releases American Stars 'n Bars, his 8th studio album. Containing an eclectic batch of songs pieced together from four different recording sessions going back as far as three years (with "Star of Bethlehem" being the oldest), the album features one of Young's most iconic tunes, "Like a Hurricane."
1987 - U2's concert in Rome was so loud that it set off earthquake alarms.
1994 - After a 14-year hiatus, the Eagles reunited for a show in Burbank, California, closing the show with "Desperado." They soon launched their "Hell Freezes Over" tour, which became the first tour to charge more than $100 for a substantial number of tickets.
2011 - American Soul and Jazz poet, musician and author Gil Scott-Heron passed away. His signature song was, 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.' Upon the news of his death Public Enemy's Chuck D tweeted "RIP GSH...and we do what we do and how we do because of you".
2017 - Gregg Allman, founding member of the The Allman Brothers Band, died at the age of 69 at his home in Savannah, Georgia after a battle with liver cancer. The band's main songwriter early on, Allman contributed compositions like 'Dreams' and 'Whipping Post' to the Allman Brothers repertoire. Duane Allman decided Gregg would play organ, an instrument he didn't know. In an interview, Gregg told me the band blind folded, led him into a room, took off the blind fold and there in the middle of the room was a Hammond B3 with some joints on it. They said we'll see you in a couple of days when you learn how to play it. Gregg also shot himself in the foot to get out of going to Vietnam.
(Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
Birthdays:
Memphis blues singer and musician Junior Parker was born today in 1932.
The Drifters' Ruby Lewis was born today in 1935.
British singer Cilla Black was born today in 1943.
American Jazz giant Ramsey Lewis is 86.
Bruce Cockburn, singer/songwriter is 76
Split Enz guitarist and vocalist Neil Finn is 63.
Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes of TLC was born today in 1971.
Andre 3000 of Outkast is 46.
On This Day in Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Allmusic, Song Facts and Wikipedia.