| 78 years ago (1938) | Singer Ben E. King is born. |
| 58 years ago (1958) | To Know Him Is To Love him by the Teddy Bears, composed and arranged by 18 year old Phil Spector is released on Dore Records. The title is taken from the inscription on Spector's father's tombstone. The song makes it up to #1 by the end of the year. |
| 53 years ago (1963) | The legendary New York disc jockey Murray The K receives a copy of The Beatles' She Loves You and plays it on the radio. It is believed to be the first Beatles song ever played in the U.S. |
| 53 years ago (1963) | Bob Dylan's second LP, and the first to feature mostly originals, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, enters the LP chart. The disc contains the song Blowin' In The Wind. |
| 53 years ago (1963) | The Beach Boys' Little Deuce Coupe peaks at #15 on the singles chart. |
| 48 years ago (1968) | The Beatles' Hey Jude hits #1 on the singles chart, a position it will hold for 9 weeks. At 7 minutes 11 seconds, it was one of the longest songs ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. |
| 48 years ago (1968) | The Who's Magic Bus peaks at #25 on the singles chart. |
| 48 years ago (1968) | The Moody Blues' Days Of Future Past enters the LP chart. |
| 48 years ago (1968) | Manager Albert Grossman announces Janis Joplin will be depart from Big Brother and the Holding Company in November after fulfilling current obligations. Joplin says she and the band “weren't growing together anymore.” |
| 46 years ago (1970) | Eric Burdon and War's Spill the Wine goes gold. |
| 45 years ago (1971) | The New York Times reports on the growing interest among white youths in black gospel music. |
| 44 years ago (1972) | David Bowie sells out his first U.S. show at New York's Carnegie Hall. |
| 43 years ago (1973) | The Rolling Stones appear on U.S. television for their first time since 1967. |
| 41 years ago (1975) | 40,000 fans watch Jefferson Starship and Jerry Garcia and Friends for free in San Francisco's Lindley Park. The Dead make their first public appearance in over a year. |
| 40 years ago (1976) | A&M Records sues George Harrison after he fails to deliver his LP, 33 1/3 on time. At the time, Harrison was suffering from hepatitis. |
| 37 years ago (1979) | Jimmy McCulloch, guitarist with Thunderclap Newman, Stone the Crows and Paul McCartney's Wings, is found dead in London of undetermined causes. He was 26. |
| 31 years ago (1985) | Phil Collins' Don't Lose My Number peaks at #4 on the singles chart. |
| 27 years ago (1989) | Jimmy Buffett publishes a book of short stories entitled, Tales From Margaritaville. |
| 25 years ago (1991) | Dire Straits' On Every Street enters the LP chart. |
| 25 years ago (1991) | R.E.M.'s Shiny Happy People peaks at #10 on the singles chart. |
| 12 years ago (2004) | Nonesuch Records releases Brian Wilson's Smile album, which he started with the Beach Boys in 1966 but never finished until now. In fact, he partially rewrote it with help from original collaborator Van Dyke Parks, and completely re-recorded it. The album closes with a new version of Good Vibrations containing the original lyrics by Tony Asher rather than those of Beach Boy Mike Love that were in the 1966 edition. The CD was premiered in London earlier in the year to critical acclaim. |
| 10 years ago (2006) | Billy Joel tells Newsday he may be movin’ out. He's put his primary residence -- the 14-acre Centre Island estate where he's lived for four years -- up for sale for $37.5 million. Joel, who paid $22.5 million for the property, is frustrated that he can't get a permit to build a dock for his yacht there. The native Long Islander will still maintian property in Sag harbor. |
| 6 years ago (2010) | Eric Clapton releases his 19th solo album, Clapton. New Orleans guest musicians include Allen Toussaint, Wynton Marsalis, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. Also in the mix are Sheryl Crow, Steve Winwood, J. J. Cale, and Derek Trucks. |
| 1 year ago (2015) | Frankie Ford, whose 1959 hit Sea Cruise brought him international fame, dies at the age of 76. The Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Coroner's Office blames natural causes after a long illness. Ford had sung since childhood. His adopted parents, Vincent and Anna Guzzo of Gretna, brought him to New York when he was 5 to perform on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. He was among three white singers called to Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio in the late 1950s to cover songs by local black musicians whose records got less airtime because of racial discrimination. |