Today in rock history 20th April

1945 - Jimmy Winston-keyboardist for The Small Faces born this day.

1948 - Craig Frost-keyboardist for Grand Funk Railroad and Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band debuts upon the earth.

1966 – During a 12 hour session at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles worked on a new John Lennon song ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’’, and a new George Harrison song ‘Taxman’.

1967 – During a UK tour, Pink Floyd appeared at the Queen’s Hall in Barnstable.

1968 – Deep Purple makes its live debut in Denmark.

1970 – Traffic, Mott The Hoople, If and Bronco all appeared at The Roundhouse, London, tickets, 25 shillings.

1971 – Born on this day, Mikey Welsh, bass, Weezer.

1985 – The charity record ‘We Are The World’ by USA For Africa was at No.1 on the UK singles chart.

1991 – Credence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty marries Julie Lebiedzinksi in Bristol, Ind.

1991 – Steve Marriott dies in a fire at his home in Essex, England. Aged 44. He was a guitarist and lead singer for the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie.

1992 – ‘A Concert For Life’ took place at Wembley Stadium as a tribute to Queen singer Freddie Mercury and for aids awareness.

1996 – Tickets ranging in price from $27.50 – $85.00 go on sale for the KISS reunion tour. This marks the first time in 15 years that all four original members of the ’70’s rock group join together in original costume and face paint.

1999 – The “No Security” tour, the Rolling Stones’ first arena outing in 20 years wraps with a make-up date at the San Jose Arena in California.

2000 – Robert Plant appeared at Disney’s Theatre of the Stars in Orlando, Florida to leave his handprints outside the theatre.

2001 – A memorial concert for former Small Faces and Humble Pie front man Steve Marriott took place at the London Astoria with Peter Frampton, Midge Ure, Chris Farlowe and Humble Pie.

2002 – In the dispute over who owned the rights to Nirvana’s recordings former members Dave Grohl and Kirst Novoselic asked a Seattle Court to prove that Courtney Love was mentally unstable.

2011 -  Judas Priest guitarist and founding member K.K. Downing announced that he was leaving the band citing differences with management and the band.

2012 – Bert Weedon, guitarist who wrote ‘Play in a Day’ died today at 91.

Today in rock history 19th April

1942 – Born on this day, Alan Price, keyboards, The Animals,

1947 – Born on this day, Mark Volman, The Turtles

1965 – The film T.A.M.I. (Teen-Age Music International) Show featuring The Rolling Stones, Supremes Four Tops, James Brown, The Beach Boys and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles opened in London, England under the title Teenage Command Performance.

1967 – Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens, played two shows at The Odeon, Birmingham.

1968 – John Lennon, George Harrison and their wives left the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India two weeks before their study was complete. Ringo and Paul had already left.

1980 – Brian Johnson 32 year old singer with Geordie joined AC/DC replacing Bon Scott who had died after a drinks binge.

1990 – On this weeks’ BBC- TV’s ‘French and Saunders’ show, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Lemmy, Mark King (Level 42), and Gary Moore all appeared in a comedy courthouse sketch. The sketch ended with all the guitarists jamming together.

2000 – Phil Collins won £250,000 in a high court case over royalties with two former members of his band. The judge ruled that they had been overpaid in error but because the two musicians had no other income they would not have to pay it back.

2001 – David Lee Roth reveals that he briefly reunited with Van Halen in July and wrote some “astonishing” music.

2002 – The body of Layne Staley, singer of the grunge rock group Alice In Chains, is found by a relative in Staley’s North Seattle apartment. Staley had been missing for two weeks.

2003 – At their Montreal concert, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are joined by Max Weinberg’s daughter Allie on keyboards.

2004 – Billy Corgan plays his first-ever solo acoustic show in his Chicago hometown at the Metro.

2012 - The Band drummer & singer Levon Helm died of throat cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was 71 years old.

2014 - Industry sales figures revealed that his year's Record Store Day saw a surge in vinyl sales, with an increase of 133% over the previous week.

 

Today in rock history 18th April

1940 - Mike Vickers -guitarist and saxophonist for Manfred Mann born today.

1946 – Lead vocalist Skip Spence of Moby Grape is born in Windsor, Ontario.

1964 – The Beatles appeared on the UK TV comedy programme The Morecambe and Wise Show, playing ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’

1970 – Appearing at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Santana, Taj Mahal and It’s A Beautiful Day.

1970 – Born on this day, Greg Eklund, drums, Everclear

1974 – Born on this day, Mark Tremonti, Creed

1992 – Albums by Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen and Wynonna debut in the top four spots on Chart Toppers’s pop album chart.

1995 – Oasis drummer Tony McCarrol was told by phone that he was being sacked from the group.

1981 - Yes announced that they were breaking up. Bassist Chris Squire & drummer Alan White began rehearsals with Jimmy Page for a project to be called XYZ which never materialized. Yes later reunited the following year.

2002 – Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan returns to his roots when he is inducted into the Hall of Honour at his old high school. Bryan is a 1980 graduate of John P. Stevens High School in Edison, N.J.

2004 – Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker opens a franchise of the popular restaurant chain Wahoo’s Fish Taco in Norco, Calif.

2006 – A sale of clothes belonging to Sir Elton John raised more than $700,000 (£395,000) for the singer’s Aids charity.

2012 – Dick Clark dies at age 82.

2015 - 74-year-old Ringo Starr was inducted into Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, becoming the last of The Beatles to receive that honour.

Today in rock history April 17th

1934 – Rock promoter Don Kirshner is born.

1940 – Billy Fury is born in Liverpool,

1955 – Fats Domino’s Ain’t That a Shame released in US

1955 – Pete Shelley, one of punk’s finest songwriters and lead Buzzcock, is born.

1964 – Leading the band Them, an 18-year-old Van Morrison rocks the Maritime Hotel, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the group’s debut performance.

1969 – The Band step out from behind Bob Dylan for the first time to perform solo at San Francisco’s Winterland auditorium.

1970 – Paul McCartney releases his first post-Beatles solo album, McCartney.

1982 – Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast hits No. 1 on the British albums charts.

1983 – Felix Pappalardi dies at age 41 after being shot by his wife in their New York apartment.

1995 – After Bill Berry’s operation for a brain aneurysm, R.E.M. announce they will resume their worldwide Monster tour.

1995 – Courtney Love and her band Hole perform for the sixth season premiere of MTV’s Unplugged.

1998 – Linda McCartney, the rock photographer wife of Sir Paul McCartney and onetime member of the band Wings, dies of breast cancer in Santa Barbara, Calif. She is 56.

2001 – The late Ramones singer Joey Ramone is buried in New Jersey following a private funeral service in Forest Hills, Queens.

2002 – James Al Hendrix, who introduced his son, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, to music, dies after a long battle with congestive heart failure. He is 82.

2003 – A British fan who claims he caught the flu off of Beatle. Paul McCartney attempts to auction off the germ on eBay.

2003 – Tommy Lee is cleared of responsibility for the drowning death of a four-year-old at his son’s 2001 birthday party. The boy’s parents were alleging criminal negligence and sought $10 million in damages.

2004 – Kurt Cobain’s right-handed 1960’s Mosrite Gospel Mark IV guitar sells at an auction for $117,500.

2006 – Melissa Etheridge announces her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels is expecting twins later in the spring. Etheridge has two other children by another woman.

2008 - E Street Band organist Danny Federici died of melanoma at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was 58 years old.

2013 – Ted Nugent’s anti President Obama quotes go down badly.

2015 - Eagles' drummer Don Henley settled his lawsuit with the Duluth Trading Company after the Wisconsin apparel makers sent promotional emails to their customers urging them to "Don a Henley and Take It Easy"

Today in rock history April 16th

1947 – Gerry Rafferty is born in Paisley, Scotland

1956 – Buddy Holly’s first single ‘Blue Days, Black Nights’, was released.

1963 – The Beatles perform on BBC TV for the first time on The 625 Special.

1964 – David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is born

1964 – The Beatles filmed the “chase scenes” for A Hard Days Night with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London.

1967 – Cream appeared at the ‘Daily Express Record Star Show’ at The Empire Pool, Wembley, England.

1972 – Electric Light Orchestra makes its live debut at the Greyhound Club in Surrey,

1973 – Paul McCartney appears in the TV special James Paul McCartney with his wife, Linda, and his band Wings.

1974 – Queen play their first American concert at Denver’s Regis College.

1976 – Aerosmith played at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, the first date on their 76 date North American Rocks Tour.

1990 – At London’s Wembley Stadium, artists including Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Simple Minds, and Tracy Chapman take part in a musical celebration of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.

1990 – Nirvana appeared at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1993 – Billy Burnette announces he’s leaving Fleetwood Mac. He wants to concentrate on recording country music.

1993 – David Lee Roth is busted by police after allegedly buying marijuana in New York’s Washington Square Park.

1999 – Skip Spence, a pioneering psychedelic musician who was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape dies

2003 – Hole’s Courtney Love announces the title of her first solo album will be America’s Sweetheart.

2003 – Jerry Lee Lewis filed for divorce from his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver Lewis.

2012 – “I’m absolutely devastated,”Rod Stewart said. “Shattered that I’m going to miss my second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – and this time alongside my mates.”In a joint statement with Stewart, Hall of Fame organizers said Faces will still play a short set at Saturday’s ceremony with Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall replacing Stewart on vocals.

2015 - Former Rolling Stones bassist, 78-year-old Bill Wyman announced that he would release "Back to Basics", his first solo album in 33 years, on June 22nd on Proper Records.

Today in rock history 15th April

1927 – John Lennon biographer and Professor Longhair liner-notes author Albert Goldman is born.

1944 – Guitarist Dave Edmunds is born in Cardiff.

1964 – The Beatles filmed outside shots at the Scala Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London for their forthcoming movie ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’

1966 – UK music press announces there’ll be no new Beatles film for the time being. Producer Walter Shenson says, ‘We’ve turned down everything from The Beatles in the Army to The Beatles Meet Elvis’.

1966 – Appearing live at the Blackpool Odeon, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdink,

1967 – Born on this day, Frankie Poullian, bass, The Darkness.

1971 – Rolling Stone announces that the Illinois Crime Commission has compiled a list of “drug-oriented rock records.” The list includes Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”

1975 – Appearing at Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, Kiss, Rush and the Heavy Metal Kids.

1977 – Lynyrd Skynyrd give a gold album for One More for the Road to Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson. The band donates another gold record to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, where the double live album was recorded.

1982 – Billy Joel breaks a wrist when his motorcycle and an auto collide. He is hospitalized and has surgery.

1996 – Jerry Garcia’s ashes are scattered near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. A portion of the remains of the Grateful Dead guitarist had already been deposited into the Ganges in India.

2001 – Punk pioneer Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Ross Hyman) singer of The Ramones died after losing a long battle with lymphatic cancer aged 49.

2003 – Heartland rocker Melissa Etheridge announces she’s become engaged to her partner of two years, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels.

2003 – Fleetwood Mac release their album Say You Will. The disc reunites the band with AWOL songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, but vocalist Christine McVie opts to sit this one out.

2004 – ‘Frisco noisemakers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club announce they have left their label Virgin. Robert Turner says, “This is actually the greatest day in our band’s somewhat short history.”

2004 – Courtney Love is ordered by a Los Angeles judge to stand trial for two counts of drug possession. Love appears in court with a copy of The 48 Laws of Power and tells the judge she will be “on tour” the date of her next hearing.

2007 – Acts appearing at the Quilmes Rock festival at River stadium in Argentina included Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver, Placebo, Keane and Evanescence.

 

Today in rock history 14th April

1945 – Ritchie Blackmore, of Deep Purple and Rainbow, is born in Weston-Super-Mare.

1955 – Fats Domino releases “Ain’t That a Shame.”

1963 – The Beatles are introduced to the Rolling Stones for the first time backstage in Richmond. George Harrison says he’s particularly impressed by the unsigned band’s performance.

1965 – The Beatles announce that the title of their second film has been changed from Eight Arms to Hold You to Help!

1967 – David Bowie releases his novelty single “The Laughing Gnome.” Using music hall stylings and a sped-up voice, the song becomes a hit only in 1983.

1969 – Led Zeppelin enter the English albums chart with their self-titled debut in its third week of release.

1974 – Pete Townshend performs solo for the first time at London’s Roundhouse. He’s backed by tapes he made in his home studio.

1980 – A resolution is introduced in the New Jersey Assembly to make Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” the official state song. The resolution fails to be passed.

1980 – Pete Townshend releases his solo album Empty Glass.

1983 – Pete Farndon of the Pretenders dies at the age of 29.

1994 - Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was cremated at the Bleitz Funeral Home in Seattle. One third of Cobain’s ashes were later scattered in the Wishkah River in Washington, one third were scattered in a Buddhist temple in New York & the rest are with Courtney Love.

1997 – Ringo Starr debuts as the host of the VH1 programme Classic Albums.

2004 – Courtney Love tells Blender magazine that she’s been swindled out of $40 million “by a fiduciary institution.” An insider says she is in debt to the tune of $4 million. “I’m covered in loser dust,” she wails.

2006 – The Beatles announce plans to digitally remaster their back catalogue and sell it online.

2008 - Queen guitarist Brian May was inducted into Liverpool John Moores University as the university’s fourth Chancellor.

2009 – George Harrison receives a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2010 – Tom Petty tells Playboy “There are no record people left in the record business; now it’s some guy who used to be with the leased-car department and got a promotion. Or maybe he was an accountant and now he’s a record-company president. And he hires more accountants and leased-car men”.

2015 - 65-year-old Billy Joel announced that he and his 33-year-old girlfriend, Alexis Roderick, were expecting a baby.