Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Rock History for Today, 1956 to 2005...

1956
Elvis Presley releases his album Heartbreak Hotel and single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" on the same day.



1963
Lesley Gore performs "It's My Party" on American Bandstand.



1965
Song parodist Spike Jones dies in Bel Air, Calif. His biggest hit was "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)," and a member of his City Slickers band used to play the toilet seat. 



1966
The Beatles play their last show for a paying audience in Britain at the NME Poll Winners' Party.



1967
Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.







1969
Neil Young releases Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.







1969
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash videotape a special to appear on ABC. They play Dylan's "I Threw It All Away," "Living the Blues," and "Girl From the North Country."







1970
In New York, Bob Dylan records with George Harrison. The two mess around on the Beatles' "Yesterday," Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," and "Da Doo Ron Ron."




1972
Paul Simon releases his self-titled solo debut album, which contains the hit "Mother and Child Reunion." 






1973
Washington, D.C., declares today Marvin Gaye Day.


1973
Bachman-Turner Overdrive release their self-titled debut album.










1973
Who says Richard Nixon isn't hip? On this day the Carpenters perform at the White House for the president and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.





1975
In one of their best-ever publicity stunts, the Rolling Stones announce their Tour of the Americas by playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck driving down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.





1977
The Clash begin their first tour of England at London's Roxy.







1986
The Rolling Stones shoot their "One Hit to the Body" video, in which Mick and Keith vent their frustrations by smacking each other during the guitar solo.






1987
A U.S. federal court rules that a British retailer cannot sell unlicensed Elvis Presley merchandise.



1988
Billy Joel is cleared of defamation charges after calling Jack Powers, a songwriter who sued Joel for plagiarism, a "creep" in a Playboy interview.




1993
A man is arrested on charges of repeatedly attempting to trespass on Michael Jackson's Encino, Calif., estate.




1993
Supermodel Naomi Campbell announces her engagement to U2 bassist Adam Clayton. The couple later break it off.


1999
An exhibition of Paul McCartney's paintings, including a portrait of David Bowie, opens in Siegen, Germany.





2000
Neil Young is sued for $1.8 million by Jimmy McDonough, a writer who claims the singer tried to block an authorized biography he had spent several years working on.




2005
Bruce Springsteen's Devils & Dust tops the U.K. album chart in its first week of release. Crooner Tony Christie's version of Paul Anka's "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is the No. 1 single for a seventh week. 




2005
Nine Inch Nails close the Coachella Festival in California. Other performers during the day included New Order, The Bravery and Mos Def.
-vh1.com






Birthday Bios from 1907 to 1954...

1907
If you've ever sung "God Bless America" a few octaves higher than you should, then you're imitating Kate Smith, one of the most popular singers of the '20s and '30s. She is born today in Greenville, Ala.





1929
Popular country artist Sonny James is born in Hackleburg, Ala., today. His biggest pop hit was the 1957 No. 1 "Young Love."





1930
Little Walter is generally considered the best of the post-war blues harmonica players, reason enough to celebrate his birthday. He is born Marion Walter Jacobs in Marksville, La. Duane Allman, Fleetwood Mac, and Mike Bloomfield have covered his songs.







1933
R&B singer/songwriter Titus Turner is born in Atlanta. His compositions, such as "Leave My Kitten Alone," have been covered by artists including the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Elvis Costello.





1939
Judy Collins is born in Seattle. She was one of folk music's most recognizable faces in the early '60s. A gifted interpretor, she was one of the first artists to cut songs by Joni Mitchell. Her string of discs on the Elektra label bridge the span between folk and adult pop. 






1944
Rita Coolidge, who toured with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen ensemble, and cut several duet discs with husband Kris Kristofferson, is born in Nashville.





1949
Avant-garde musician Tim Hodgkinson is born. He's added sax to albums by cult concerns Henry Cow and Peter Blegvad.



1954
Ray Parker Jr., who wrote and sang "Ghostbusters," is born today.