| 74 years ago (1944) | Booker T. Jones, organist for Booker T & the MG's, is born. |
| 61 years ago (1957) | Jerry Lee Lewis secretly weds his third wife, third cousin Myra Gale Brown, in Hernando, Tennessee. |
| 60 years ago (1958) | Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx is born. |
| 58 years ago (1960) | Aretha Franklin makes her New York pop stage debut, singing blues and pop standards at the Village Vanguard. |
| 54 years ago (1964) | Sam Cooke, one of the most popular and influential R&B singers of his generation, dies under violent and mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles. According to court testimony, Cooke, who was married to Barbara Campbell, picked up a 22-year-old woman named Elisa Boyer at a party. He promised her a ride home but they ended up at a motel. Boyer claims Cooke forced her into the motel room and began ripping her clothes off. She managed to escape with his clothes while he was in the bathroom. He pursued, wearing only a sports coat and shoes. While she called police from a phone booth, Cooke began pounding on the door of the office of the motel's manager, Bertha Franklin. He demanded to know where Campbell was and allegedly broke the door open. Cooke reportedly assaulted Franklin, who shot him three times, yet Cooke kept coming at her. She then beat Cooke with a stick. By the time police arrive, Sam Cooke was dead. |
| 53 years ago (1965) | Ray Charles' Crying Time enters the Hot 100 where it stays for 15 weeks, making it to #6. It is his 44th chart entry. |
| 47 years ago (1971) | Carly Simon's Anticipation is released. |
| 47 years ago (1971) | Blood, Sweat & Tears lead singer David Clayton Thomas is among the performers making public service announcements and press statements in support of the Canadian Save the Seals campaign. |
| 47 years ago (1971) | The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, has his 32nd album released this week, Revolution of the Mind, subtitled Live at the Apollo, Volume Three. It opens with a song whose title only James Brown could have come up with, It's a Brand New Day So Open Up the Door and Let a Man Come In to Do The Popcorn. |
| 46 years ago (1972) | Genesis plays their first date in the U.S. at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. The group, which has yet to place an LP in the Top 200, consists of Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks. |
| 46 years ago (1972) | James Brown is arrested after a show in Knoxville, Tennesee and charged with “disorderly conduct.” Brown and two members of his entourage were talking to fans about narcotics use when a white man told police the singer was trying to incite a riot. However, after Brown threatens to sue the city for $1 million, the event is then termed a “misunderstanding.” |
| 42 years ago (1976) | KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is nearly electrocuted during a concert in Florida when he touches a short-circuited light. He is carried from the stage but returns 10 minutes later to finish the show. |
| 42 years ago (1976) | Bob Seger releases the LP Night Moves. The album turns out to be his big breakthrough album -- reaching #8 on the chart and selling over five million copies. |
| 30 years ago (1988) | Don Henley, Tom Petty, Graham Nash, and Bonnie pay tribute to Roy Orbison with a benefit show at The Wiltern Theatre. |