1963 – The first Monterey Folk Festival took place over three days in Monterey, California. The festival featured Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Peter Paul and Mary. The 1967 Monterey Rock festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix and The Who as well as the first major public performances of Janis Joplin. It was also the first major performance by Otis Redding in front of a predominantly white audience.
1964 – Bob Dylan made his first major concert UK appearance when he played at the Royal Festival Hall in London with an afternoon show listed as a ‘Folksong Concert’. Dylan’s 18-song set included the live debut of Mr. Tambourine Man and took place on a Sunday afternoon. In the interval, Dylan received a telegram from John Lennon seeking a meeting which never materialised.
1966 – During a UK tour, Bob Dylan appeared at The Free Trade Hall in Manchester. This was the concert where a member of the audience shouted out ‘Judas’ at Dylan unhappy with the singers move from acoustic to rock. Dylan replied with ‘You’re a liar’, the entire concert was eventually officially released in The Bootleg Series by Sony Music in 1999.
1967 – The Tremeloes were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of a Four Seasons song, (the B-side to Rag Doll), ‘Silence Is Golden’, the group’s only UK No.1.
1967 – Working at Abbey Road studios The Beatles began recording a new John Lennon song ‘You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)’. The song was not finished until November 1969, and was not released until March 1970 (as the B-side of the ‘Let it Be’ single).
1969 – It was reported that for the first time ever album sales had overtaken single sales in the UK. 49,184,000 albums were produced during 1968 compared with 49,161,000 singles.
1971 – Dawn were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Knock Three Times’, the group’s first of two UK No.1’s. Singer Tony Orlando had retired from singing when he was persuaded to front Dawn for studio recordings.
1975 – Elton John was awarded a Platinum Record for sales of a million copies of the LP ‘Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy’, the first album ever to be certified Platinum on the day of its release.
1975 – Led Zeppelin played the first of five sold-out nights to 17,000 fans at Earls Court Arena, London England. The set list included: Rock And Roll, The Song Remains The Same, The Rain Song, Kashmir, No Quarter, Going To California, Dazed And Confused, Stairway To Heaven, Whole Lotta Love, and Black Dog. Tickets cost £1 ($1.70) – £2.50 ($4.25).
1986 – Spitting Image started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Chicken Song.’ Spitting Image had become the ‘must see’ Sunday night UK TV show, which mocked politicians and public figures.
1986 – Whitney Houston started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Greatest Love Of All’, the singers third US No.1, a No.8 hit in the UK.
1987 – A fire destroyed Tom Petty’s house in Los Angeles, the cost was estimated at $800,000.
1990 – Nirvana played the last date of a North American tour at the Zoo in Boise, Idaho. This was Chad Channing’s final gig with the band, drummer Dave Grohl replaced him in Sept of this year after his band Scream had split-up.
1996 – US blues guitarist Johnny Guitar Watson died of a heart attack while on tour in Yokohama, Japan. According to eyewitness reports, he collapsed mid guitar solo. His last words were “ain’t that a bitch.” His ferocious ‘Space Guitar’ single of 1954 pioneered guitar feedback and reverb.
1996 – Kevin Gilbert, multi instrumentalist and songwriter, died of accidental asphyxiation. Member of Giraffe, worked with Sheryl Crow, co-wrote her 1994 UK No.4 hit ‘All I Want To Do.’
2002 – Sharon Sheeley, US songwriter, died aged 62. Hits include ‘Poor Little Fool’ US No.1 for Ricky Nelson in 1958 and 1959 hit for Eddie Cochran ‘Somethin’ Else’. Sheeley survived the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran during a 1960 UK tour.
2003 – Singer with Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession after being stopped during a routine traffic search in Los Angeles, He was released on $10,000 bail.
2006 – Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills admitted that they had given up the fight to save their marriage, saying that after four years together, they were going their separate ways.
2008 – Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty posted a two-minute clip of themselves playing with newborn mice on Youtube. The video showed Doherty and Winehouse in a bare room, making rambling comments, picking up the mice and talking to them.
2012 – Donna Summer, the 1970s pop singer known as the Queen of Disco, died of lung cancer, an illness she believed she contracted from inhaling toxic particles released after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. She won five Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and had three multi-platinum albums, including the hits ‘Hot Stuff’, ‘Love to Love You, and ‘Baby’ and ‘I Feel Love’.
2013 – Bob Dylan was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Dylan, who was unable to attend the New York ceremony, said he felt “extremely honoured” and “lucky” to be admitted. Dylan’s induction was decided by a vote of the Academy’s 250 members.
2013 – French Electronic Duo Daft Punk released their fourth album Random Access Memories. It would debut at No.1 on both the US and UK charts and go on to win five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
2015 – Rapper Chinx was shot and killed in Queens, New York. The 31 year-old, was part of French Montana’s Coke Boys group, was riding in a car in the early hours of the morning when another vehicle pulled up and opened fire. He was hit in the torso and chest, and died later at a Queens hospital.
2016 – American Texas country and folk singer, songwriter Guy Clark died in Nashville following a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett and many other artists.
2016
Alanis Morissette sued her former manager for fraud saying she was robbed of almost $5m by her former business manager. In papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the singer claimed Jonathan Schwartz transferred money to his own accounts without permission. Schwartz said the transfers were made to fund an “investment” in a marijuana-growing business for the singer, and to avoid extra trips to the bank because Morissette “spends a lot of cash”.
2017 – American musician, singer and songwriter Chris Cornell died suddenly in Detroit after performing at a show with Soundgarden. Cornell was known for his role as one of the architects of the 1990s grunge movement, and for his near four octave vocal range as well as his powerful vocal belting technique. He released four solo studio albums as well as working with Audioslave and Temple of the Dog.
