1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded 'Voodoo Chile.' It was featured on the 'Electric Ladyland' double album and became a UK No.1 single on 21st November 1970 two months after the guitarist's death. Hendrix's solo on the track was named the 11th greatest solo of all-time in Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
1968: The Beach Boys opened their US tour on which the co-headliner was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The second half of the concert which featured the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, lectured the audience on "spiritual regeneration." The reaction was so negative, more than half of the remaining tour dates were cancelled.
1986: The Rolling Stones peaked at number four on Billboard 200 Album Chart with Dirty Work which was recorded during a time period where relations between Mick Jagger & Keith Richards soured considerably. They also peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with their cover of “Harlem Shuffle”.
1964: Gerry & the Pacemakers made their U.S. TV debut on the "Ed Sullivan Show." They performed "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying."
1969: At Toronto International Airport, Jimi Hendrix was arrested for possession of hashish and heroin when he crossed the Canadian border for a concert in Toronto. He claimed the drugs were not his. He was released on $10,000 bail. His trial ended when he was acquitted on December 10.
1967: Pink Floyd appeared at The Moulin Rouge, Ainsdale, Southport, England. The promotion flyers for the club said: 'The Moulin Rouge night club. Wine, Dine, Dance! And have a gay time'.
1971: Led Zeppelin kicked off a European tour at K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark in front of 4,000 fans. The set list included the only known performance of 'Four Sticks' and the debut live performance of 'Misty Mountain Hop'.
1980: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band reached number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart for the first and only time with Against the Wind which spent six weeks on top of the album chart. Seger also peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “Fire Lake”.
1971: Grand Funk Railroad held a press conference at New York’s Gotham Hotel, where only six reporters show up, despite the band’s success at the time.
1982: Chuck Berry, Cheap Trick & Joan Jett and the Blackhearts performed at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, which grossed over $455,000.
2009: Bob Dylan went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Together Through Life’ his seventh UK No.1 album. It was the singer, songwriter’s 33rd studio album, he last topped the UK chart with ‘New Morning’ in 1970. His first No.1 in 1964, was ‘The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'. Dylan now held the record, (previously held by Tom Jones), for the longest gap between solo number one albums.
2012: Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shavell narrowly avoided a potential deadly helicopter crash when their pilot became disoriented during a flight in bad weather and missed some trees by just two feet. Flying home to their estate in East Sussex, England after a day in London, the McCartney's were not aware of how close they came to crashing at the time. The UK's Department of Transport launched an investigation into the incident the following November.
2014: American musician Bobby Gregg died aged 78. Gregg is best is known for his work as a drummer on several seminal 1960s songs, including Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence'. He was also temporarily a member of The Hawks, which later became known as The Band.
♫ They Say It's Your Birthday, Happy Birthday To You ♫
1903: American singer and actor Bing Crosby who recorded an estimated 2,600 songs in his lifetime including ‘White Christmas’, which was written by Irving Berlin. Crosby had 317 other hits in the USA. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. He died of a heart attack on a golf course in Madrid, Spain, on October 14, 1977.
1919: American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger. He had a string of hit records during the early Fifties as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly's 'Goodnight, Irene', which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes. He died on 27 January 2014 at the age of 94.
1933: James Brown 'Soul Brother No.1', (1966 US No.8 and UK No.13 single 'It's A Man's World', 1986 UK No.5 single 'Living In America', 1963 album 'Live At The Apollo'). Brown demanded extreme discipline from his musicians and dancers, and had the practice of assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing un-shined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. Brown died on 25th Dec 2006 at the age of 73.
1937: Frankie Valli, singer, from American rock and pop band The Four Seasons who had the 1960s hits 'Sherry', 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Walk Like a Man', and the 1976 UK & US No.1 single 'December 1963, (Oh What A Night'). They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. Valli had the 1978 solo US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Grease'.
1944: Pete Staples, with English garage rock band The Troggs, who had the 1966 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Wild Thing' and the hits 'With a Girl Like You' and 'Love Is All Around'.
1950: Mary Hopkin, (1968 UK No.1 and US No.2 single 'Those Were The Days', released on The Beatles Apple label and produced by Paul McCartney, winner of TV Talent show 'Opportunity Knocks.
1951: American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross who had the 1981 US No.1 single 'Arthur's Theme' and the hit 'Sailing'.
1953: Bruce Hall, from American rock band REO Speedwagon, who had the 1981 US No.1's 'Keep On Loving You' and 'Can't Fight This Feeling'. They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck.
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