Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.
1955, Elvis Presley played two shows in Beaumont, Texas, with bassist Bill Black and guitarist Scotty Moore.
1966, Reg Calvert, manager of The Fortunes, Screaming Lord Sutch and the owner of offshore pirate radio station Radio City, was shot dead by business rival William Smedley during a confrontation. (Smedley was the owner of pirate station Radio Caroline). Smedley was later cleared of charges. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.
1966, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded from start to finish, a new John Lennon song “She Said She Said.” The song was reportedly based on a bizarre conversation that Lennon had with Peter Fonda while John and George Harrison were tripping on LSD.
1968, The Who appeared at Durham University, Durham, England.
1972, Led Zeppelin appeared at Denver Coliseum on their North American tour.
1975, Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple to form his own group, Rainbow.
1976, Touring North America for the first time, Wings played the last dates of their 31-date tour with three nights at the Los Angeles Forum.
1977, Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten was attacked in a brawl outside the live music venue Dingwalls in Camden, London.
1980, Police arrested The Stranglers after a concert at Nice University for allegedly starting a riot.
2000, 39-year-old Karen McNeil, who claimed she was the wife of Axl Rose and that she communicated with him telepathically, was jailed for one year for stalking the singer.
2001, John Lee Hooker, American blues singer and guitarist died in his sleep at age 83. Hooker had hits will “Boom Boom,” “Dimples” and “I’m in the Mood.” His songs have been covered by many artists including Cream, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, The Yardbirds, The Doors and The White Stripes. He appeared and sang in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers.
Born on this day:
1944, Ray Davies, guitar, vocals, The Kinks
1947, Joey Molland, guitar, vocals, Badfinger
1950, Joey Kramer, drums, Aerosmith
1951, Nils Lofgren, guitarist, singer
1961, Kip Winger, vocals, guitar, Winger
1961, Sascha Konietzko, vocals, synthesizers, KMFDM
1976, Mike Einziger, guitar, Incubus
1981, Brandon Flowers, vocals, keyboards, The Killers
1986, Lana Del Rey (Elizabeth Grant), singer-songwriter