| 92 | years ago | 1934 | Beatles manager Brian Epstein is born. |
| 83 | years ago | 1943 | Cass Elliot, vocalist for The Mamas & the Papas, is born. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Elvis Presley leaves a Brooklyn Naval base to sail to Germany, where he'll hook up with his Army unit. |
| 68 | years ago | 1958 | Lita Ford, guitarist for the Runaways, and later, a solo rocker, is born in London, England. Her biggest record will be a 1989 duet with Ozzy Osbourne, Close My Eyes Forever. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | The Beatles stop in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, population 4,925, just after midnight. Between concerts in Dallas and New York, they fly their big jet to the old air base in tiny Walnut Ridge so John, George, and Ringo can fly off in a small prop plane, while Paul drives off separately in a truck. They all end up on a 36-hour break near Alton, Missouri at a dude ranch that's owned by Reed Pigman, the pilot of The Beatles' tour jet. Word leaks out that the Fab Four will be back in Walnut Ridge the next day to get back into their jet and head to New York. A crowd of 300 screaming and swooning teenagers turns out to see The Beatles off. It is the last time Arkansas sees The Beatles in person. |
| 62 | years ago | 1964 | The Rolling Stones' It's All Over Now peaks at #26 on the pop chart. |
| 60 | years ago | 1966 | The Lovin' Spoonful's fifth hit single and first #1 pop hit, Summer in the City, wins the New York-based group its first gold record. |
| 58 | years ago | 1968 | Steppenwolf earns its first gold disc with Born to be Wild. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The Grateful Dead's Uncle John's Band peaks at #69 on the pop singles chart. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | Neil Young's After the Gold Rush enters the album charts, as does The Moody Blues' A Question of Balance. |
| 56 | years ago | 1970 | The Rolling Stones release Get Yer Ya Ya's Out. |
| 53 | years ago | 1973 | Gram Parsons of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brotherss dies under mysterious conditions in Joshua Tree, California. His death at first is attributed to heart failure but later is officially announced as due to a drug overdose. His coffin is stolen by two of his associates, manager Phil Kaufman and Michael Martin, a former Byrds roadie, and it's taken to Joshua Tree where it's set afire. The two are picked up by police. Gram Parsons was 26. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Max Weinberg makes his debut as drummer in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band at the Main Point in Philadelphia. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Bad Company's self-titled debut album turns gold. The #1 album gives the group its first hit, the top-five, Can't Get Enough. |
| 52 | years ago | 1974 | Eric Clapton gets a gold disk for I Shot The Sheriff. |
| 51 | years ago | 1975 | Dickie Goodman, who is the master of the novelty “break in” record, in which he uses excerpts from current hits into a story, earns his one and only gold record for Mr. Jaws. |
| 50 | years ago | 1976 | Promoter Sid Bernstein, the one responsible for handling The Beatles' 1965 and '66 Shea Stadium shows, takes out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times extending his hopes of reuniting the Fab Four for a concert. While labeling the would-be event a “symbol of hope” that would offer solace to a world “so hopelessly divided,” he takes care to point out that revenues could reach $230 million. |
| 48 | years ago | 1978 | Linda Ronstadt's latest effort, Living in the U.S.A., is released with an intital shipment of two million units or, as music industry parliance would have it, the album “ships double platinum.” |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | The New York Post runs a front-page headline reading “The Beatles Are Back!” and reports that a rumored reunion benefit for the Kampuchean boat people has been officially set. One source quotes Paul McCartney as saying that “if The Beatles ever did reform, we'd have to rehearse for six months.” The reunion, of course, never does take place. |
| 47 | years ago | 1979 | The first of the MUSE - Musicians United for Safe Energy, but better known as No-Nukes - concerts is held in New York. Performers include Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, and James Taylor. |
| 45 | years ago | 1981 | Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel perform before 400,000 fans in New York's Central Park. It is a 22-song set which opens with Mrs. Robinson. The event is recorded and released as The Concert in Central Park and filmed for an HBO cable special. |
| 40 | years ago | 1986 | Paul McCartney's Press To Play LP is released. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | John Mellencamp's The Lonesome Jubilee enters the album charts. The multi-platinum LP contains two Top-Ten hits: Paper In Fire and Cherry Bomb. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Joe Walsh, Willie Nelson and others perform at Farm Aid at the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium. |
| 39 | years ago | 1987 | Pink Floyd releases their A Momentary Lapse Of Reason LP. It's the group's first post-Roger Waters album. |
| 34 | years ago | 1992 | Elton John's The One is released. |
| 18 | years ago | 2008 | Earl Palmer, the New Orleans drummer who largely defined the beat of rock’n’ roll on thousands of recording from the late 40’s on, dies in Los Angeles at age 83. He was possibly the most recorded drummer in music history. His work appeared on records by Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ricky Nelson, the Righteous Brothers, Ike & Tina Turner, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Neil Diamond, Jan and Dean, Tim Buckley, Marvin Gaye, and Randy Newman. |
| 18 | years ago | 2008 | Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is critically injured in a fiery Learjet crash in South Carolina. The take-off crash kills the pilot and co-pilot, Barker's bodyguard, and his personal assistant. Also injured in the crash is Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. celebrity DJ AM |