June 13th

Musical birthdays today include former Dr. Hook frontman Dennis Locorriere (77), ex-Heart guitarist Howard Leese (77), operatic soprano Sarah Connolly (63), Smashmouth bassist Paul De Lisle (63), singer-songwriter Michael Anthony Franano (62), Five Star lead singer Denise Pearson (58), Aqua keyboardist Søren Rastrad (57), Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo (56), Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster (54), Sisters with Voices lead singer Coko [née Cheryl Gamble] (52), Awkward Stage lead guitarist Tygh Runyan (48), and rapper Raz-B [né DeMario Thornton] (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico founder Carlos Chávez, born on this day in 1899... for trumpeter & bandleader Doc Cheatham, born in 1905... for French horn player Alan Civil [best remembered for his solo on The Beatles' 'For No One'], born today in 1930... for  soul singer Bobby Freeman, who would have been 86... for Drifters vocalist Clyde McPhatter, who died on this date in 1972... for Benny Goodman, who passed away in 1986... and for jazz flautist David Most, who left us today in 2015.  

Also on June 13: Handel finishes his oratorio Solomon which includes the sinfonia The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (1747)... Stravinsky's score for 'Petrouchka' is performed for the first time at the Ballet russe in Paris, with Nijinsky as lead dancer (1911)... The Yardbirds' US-market only album For Your Love is released (1965)... The Rolling Stones hold a photo call in London's Hyde Park to introduce new guitarist Mick Taylor. The 20-year-old former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers will make his public debut with the Stones at their free concert in the Park next month (1969)... 'The Long and Winding Road' becomes The Beatles' final US № 1 single. Let It Be takes over the top spot on the album chart today as well (1970)... John Lennon's last ever TV appearance is broadcast as part of a 'Salute To Sir Lew Grade'. His performance of 'Slippin And Slidin', and 'Imagine' was recorded at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on April 18... Peter Frampton's shows at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco are recorded, and will appear on the Frampton Comes Alive! album next year... RCA Records release Red Octopus, the biggest-selling album of any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane or Starship [in this case the latter] (1975)... Whitney Houston's second album Whitney becomes the first LP by a female solo artist to debut at № 1 on the US chart. She will also set a record when the first four singles from the album go to the top spot (1987)... Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill is released (1995)... 37-year-old Susan E. Santodonato collapses and dies of a heart attack outside NYC radio station Star 105.7. as a Britney Spears impersonator leaves the building. A crowd gathered after a DJ claimed that the star was in the studio (2000)... Arctic Monkeys make their live debut at The Grapes pub in Sheffield. The band receive £27 from ticket sales (2003)... Michael Jackson is found not guilty of all charges of child abuse by a jury of eight women and four men at the end of a 16-week trial in Santa Maria, CA. Jackson is cleared of all 10 charges including abusing a 13-year-old boy, conspiracy to kidnap, and supplying alcohol to a minor to assist with a felony (2005).

June 12th

Musical birthdays today include Roy Harper (85), blue-eyed soul singer Len Barry (84), Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos (76), Rocky Burnette (73), They Might Be Giants singer & multi-instrumentalist John Linnell (67), Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler (65), rapper Bounty Killer [né Rodney Price] (54), Dirtbombs drummer Ben Blackwell (44), and Anarbor lead guitarist Dave Melilo (38).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early New orleans jazz cornet player Emmett Hardy, born on this day in 1903... for big band & pop singer Vic Damone, born in 1928... for country songwriter & producer Chips Moman, who would have been 89... for Chick Corea, who would have been 85... for soul singer Lyn Collins, who would have been 78... for former King Crimson bassist & lead singer John Wetton, who would have been 77... for former Boston lead singer Brad Delp, who would have been 75... for original Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon, who would have been 74...  for original Blue Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan, who would have been 57... for bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, who died on this date in 1957... for Russian singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava, who passed away in 1997... and for composer Györgi Ligeti, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on June 12th: Composer Gabriel Fauré becomes director of the Paris Conservatory (1905)... The Beatles arrive in Adelaide, Australia and are met by some 250,000 fans ~ the largest single greeting the group would ever receive ~ who line the route from the airport to the city centre. The Fab Four will play their first four shows down under at Adelaide's Centennial Hall (1964)... The Beatles are included in the Queen's birthday honours list to each receive the MBE. Protests pour into Buckingham Palace, with MP Hector Dupuis saying "British Royalty has put me on the same level as a bunch of vulgar numbskulls"... The Supremes become the first American group to score five consecutive US № 1s when their latest single 'Back in My Arms again' tops the Billboard chart (1965)... Pink Floyd appear at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London. It is at this show that future co-manager Peter Jenner sees the band live for the first time. Floyd go on to sign a management contract with Jenner and Andrew King on the 31st of October (1966)... Bob Dylan’s album Greatest Hits peaks at № 10 on the US chart. The cover photograph was taken by Rowland Scherman at Dylan's November 28th, 1965, concert in Washington, D.C., and will win the 1967 Grammy award for Best Album Cover, Photography. The original album package also included Milton Glaser's now-familiar psychedelic poster depicting Bob with rainbow hair (1967)... Capitol Records releases Band of Gypsys, the last full-length Jimi Hendrix album to appear in the guitarist's lifetime (1970)... With the help of her mother, a barefoot Ronnie Spector walks out of her husband Phil's Beverly Hills mansion for the last time, leaving behind her adopted son, three year old Donté, and six year old twins, Louis and Gary. Within days she files for a divorce that will be granted in 1974 (1972)... Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Gary 'US' Bonds all appear at a rally for nuclear disarmament in NYC's Central Park before a crowd of over 450,000 (1982)... The Elvis Presley Autoland Museum opens at Graceland. The museum contains over 30 cars which were owned by the King, including his famous Pink Cadillac, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Stutz Blackhawks, a 1975 Dino Ferrari, a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, and the red MG that Elvis drove in the film Blue Hawaii (1989)... UB40 have their third UK № 1 with their version of ('I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You, also a chart-topper for Elvis in 1962 (1993)... Sinead O'Connor announces that she is a lesbian. The mother of two tells US magazine Curve that she has been in the closet for years saying, "I am a lesbian. I haven't been very open about that. I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian" (2000)... Van Morrison, Queen, Little Richard and Phil Collins are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony in NYC (2003).

June 11th

Musical birthdays today include session drummer Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie (87), former King Crimson lyricist Richard Palmer-James (79), ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard (77), Air Supply guitarist Graham Russell (76), ex-.38 Special frontman Donnie Van Zant (74), Nashville session keyboardist & harmonica player Johnny Neel (72), free jazz bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma [né Rudy McDaniel] (70), Flaming Lips multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd (57), Marianas Trench frontman Josh Ramsay (43), and Sublime with Rome lead guitarist Rome Ramirez (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Richard Strauss, born on this day in 1864... for film score composer Carmine Coppola, born in 1910... for operatic soprano Risë Stevens, born in 1913... for jazz drummer Shelly Manne, born in 1920... for jazz singer & songwriter Al Rinker, who died on this date in 1982... for trumpeter and Down Beat magazine co-founder Clyde McCoy, who passed away in 1990... for jazz guitarist Johnny Smith, who died in 2013... for Françoise Hardy and for Brian Wilson, both of whom left us one year ago today.  

Also on June 11th: Bedřich Smetana's opera Libuše premieres  at the National Theatre in Prague (1881)... Hank Williams makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry and receives an unprecedented six encores (1949)... Drummer Tommy Moore makes the fateful decision to quit The Beatles and return to his job of driving a forklift at the Garston Bottle Works in Liverpool. He is briefly replaced by Norman Chapman, who is called into National Service after just three gigs. After going drummerless and mostly jobless for a few weeks, the band hire Pete Best on August 12th, only one day before they are to go to Hamburg to play a string of club dates... In Cologne, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontakte suite for electronic instruments, piano and percussion is performed for the first time (1960)... The Beatles tape a BBC radio program, 'Here We Go', at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester, in front of a studio audience composed largely of loyal Cavern fans. This is the band's last known recording on which Pete Best plays drums (1962)... Decca Records release The Angry Young Them, the debut album from Them featuring lead singer Van Morrison (1965)... Radio stations throughout Europe mistakenly report that Roger Daltrey has been killed in a car crash. Pete Townshend was in fact injured in a road accident a few days ago, but both he and Daltrey very much alive (1966)... Printed in the classified ads section of this week's Melody Maker: 'Freaky lead guitarist, bass and drummer wanted for Marc Bolan's new group. Also any other astral flyers with car amplification and that which never grows in window boxes, phone Wimbledon 0697.' The band which forms as Tyrannosaurus Rex go on to release four underground folk albums before becoming known as T Rex (1967)... John works on 'Revolution 9' in Studio 3 at Abbey Road, while Paul is next door in Studio 2 adding overdubs to 'Blackbird' (1968)... AC/DC kick off their 'Lock up Your Daughters' UK tour with a show at Glasgow City Hall (1976)... Nelson Mandela' s 70th birthday tribute takes place at Wembley Stadium, London, featuring Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, George Michael, Eric Clapton, UB40, The Eurythmics and Simple Minds. The event is broadcast live on BBC 2 to 40 different countries with an estimated audience of 1 billion (1988)... Sir Paul McCartney marries Heather Mills at St Salvator Church, Ireland. Guests include Ringo Starr, David Gilmour, Jools Holland and Chrissie Hynde. Heather walks down the aisle clutching a bouquet of 11 'McCartney' roses. Mills first met McCartney at the Pride of Britain Awards event in London in April 1999, which McCartney was attending to present an award to an animal rights activist (2001)... Jimmy Page is awarded an OBE in the Queen of England's Birthday Honours list, while Queen guitarist and founding member Brian May is awarded a CBE (2005)... Dark Side of the Moon re-enters the Billboard Album chart at № 47, and reaches the milestone of 1,000 weeks on the magazine's charts (2011).

June 10th

Musical birthdays today include former Shirelles vocalist Shirley Owens (84), French pop singer Chantal Goya (84), Breeders lead guitarist Kelly deal (65), former Pixies bassist Kim Deal (65), reggae fusion singer Maxi Priest [né Max Elliot] (65), ex-Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (61), former Lush guitarist & vocalist Emma Anderson (59), rapper The D.O.C. [né Tracy Curry] (58), ex-Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty (56), rapper Flesh-n-Bone [né Stanley Howse] (53), R&B singer Faith Evans (53), and 702 vocalist LeMisha Grinstead (48).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Frederick Loewe, born on this day in 1901... for Howlin' Wolf [né Chester Burnett], born in 1910... for Judy Garland [née Frances Gumm], born in 1922... for bossa nova guitarist João Gilberto, born in 1931... for free jazz drummer John Stevens, who would have been 86 today... for Ray Charles, who passed away on this date in 2004... and for Sly Stone, who let us one year ago today. 

Also on June 10th: Franz Liszt's London debut is the first classical piano concert to be billed as a 'recital' (1840)... The Rolling Stones record three songs at Chess Studios in Chicago. During breaks in the session, they meet Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Chuck Berry... On their first world tour, The Beatles take a flight from Hong Kong to Australia, making an unscheduled fuel stop in Darwin, where over 400 fans greet their aircraft. The Beatles then continue on to Sydney, where they arrive in the middle of a heavy downpour. The group are required to appear in an open-top truck in the pouring rain to wave at the thousands of fans who have come out to meet them (1964)... John Coltrane and the 'Classic Quartet' record the smaller ensemble pieces that will be divided up between the albums Kulu Sé Mama and Transition, the former the final Coltrane collection to appear in his lifetime (1965)... Steve Marriott collapses during a Small Faces appearance on the TV show Ready Steady Go! The group will be forced to cancel the following week's gigs (1966)... Sammy Davis Jr. has his only US № 1 single with 'The Candy Man'. The Rolling Stones are atop the UK album chart with Exile on Main Street (1972)... The Eagles release One of These Nights, which will go on to become their first US № 1 album (1975)... Joe Strummer and Nicky Headon of The Clash are each fined £5 by a London court for spray-painting the name of the band on a wall in London's West End (1977)... John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are at № 1 on the singles charts in both the US and Britain with 'You're the One That I Want' from the Grease soundtrack (1978)... Jerry Garcia goes into a five-day diabetic coma, forcing the Grateful Dead to cancel the remainder of their current tour (1986)... Sinead O'Connor takes out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to 'stop hurting me please.' She blames her troubled behaviour on abuse she suffered as a child. O'Connor is still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October (1993)... Radiohead have the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with Amnesiac (2001)... The surviving members of Led Zeppelin meet at a secret rehearsal space in England to run through songs for the forthcoming 02 Arena benefit tribute to the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. It is the first time the three musicians have been in the same room with instruments since their four-song set at Led Zeppelin's 1995 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2006)... The Rolling Stones play their first UK festival in over 30 years when they appear at 'Isle of Wight '07'. The Stones arrive on the island via privately chartered ferry for their 200-strong entourage, including five Winnebago trailers and their own security team. The band's last UK festival appearance was at Knebworth Fair in 1976 (2007).

June 9th

Musical birthdays today include Cox Family patriarch & fiddler Willard Cox (89), jazz pianist Kenny Barron (83), film score composer James Newton Howard (75), ex-UFO lead guitarist Paul Chapman (72), singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves (62), operatic soprano Erika Miklósa (55), former Yummy Fur frontman Jackie McKeown (55), Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy (48), Afrobeat singer D'banj [né Dapo Oyebanjo] (46), and Anoushka Shankar (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer John Howard Payne [best remembered for 'Home Sweet Home'], born on this day in 1791... for Cole Porter, born in 1891... for bluesman Skip James, born in 1902... for Les Paul, born in 1915... for blues bassist & Muddy Waters sideman Calvin 'Fuzz' Jones, born in 1926... for R&B singer Johnny Ace, born in 1929...  for French popular singer Barbara [née Monique Serf], born in 1930.. for pioneering soul singer Jackie Wilson, born in 1934... for Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, who would have been 85... for ex-Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder, who would have been 75... for classical pianist Claudio Arrau, who died on this date in 1991... and for funk & soul singer Darondo [né William Pulliam], who left us today in 2016. 

Also on June 9th: Accompanied by his father Leopold and his sister Nannerl, 7-year-old Wolfgang Mozart leaves Salzburg for his first European concert tour (1763)...  At a private concert in Paris, Debussy and Stravinsky perform a four-hand piano version of the latter's score for The Rite of Spring,  which will premiere with great controversy in a year's time in its full orchestrated version (1912)... Jelly Roll Morton records 'Jelly Roll Blues' in Richmond, Indiana (1924)... On the last night of their tour with Roy Orbison, The Beatles perform at King George's Hall, Blackburn, Lancashire. It is at this show that the group's fans first start throwing jelly babies at them while they are on stage, after George Harrison's off-the-cuff remark on television that the band enjoy eating them (1963)... At Columbia Studio A in NYC, Bob Dylan records 14 tracks in one night, including the first version of Mr. Tambourine Man and the entirety of the Another Side of Bob Dylan album (1964)... Bob Dylan receives an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University. Dylan will commemorate the event in the song 'Day of the Locusts (1970)... Elvis makes entertainment history by performing the first of four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. George Harrison, John Lennon, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Art Garfunkel are in the audience. The performances are also being recorded for a live album... Bruce Springsteen signs his first contract with Columbia Records (1972)... Rick Wakeman announces that he is leaving Yes (1974)... The Rolling Stones release Some Girls, their first studio album with Ron Wood as a full member. The album cover was designed by Peter Corriston and features The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately runs into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli [representing her mother Judy Garland], Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe threaten legal action (1978)... Cyndi Lauper is at № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Time after Time' (1984)... MC Hammer's second major-label release Please Hammer Don't Hurt' 'em goes to the top of the US album chart, where it will stay for 21 weeks, a longevity record since the establishment of the rankings (1990)... Buckingham Palace announces that Mick Jagger is to be given a knighthood for services to music (2002)... The 10-day Belgian music festival 'Lokerse Feesten', which prides itself on its horse-meat sausages, announces that it will be going meat-free on the day that vegetarian singer Morrissey appears. Organisers will order stalls to sell vegetarian food only on the 4th of August, the day the former Smiths lead singer is due to perform. In 2009, Morrissey left the stage at California's Coachella festival, saying he could "smell burning flesh". The booking "means a welcomed catering challenge for one day", the spokesman adds (2011).

June 8th

Musical birthdays today include Nancy Sinatra (86), Parliament-Funkadelic founding member Fuzzy Haskins (85), former Three Dog Night vocalist Chuck Negron (84), Renaissance lead singer Annie Haslam (82), Boz Scaggs (82), Julie Driscoll (79), Bonnie Tyler (75), ex-Black Flag frontman Greg Ginn (72), ex-Simply Red lead singer Mick Hucknall (66), Greek pop singer Katy Garbi (65), Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes (64), Kanye West (49), Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks (47), ex-The Calling frontman Alex Band (45), and Nickel Creek fiddler Sara Watkins (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Tomaso Albinoni, born on this day in 1671... for Robert Schumann, born in 1810... for singer-songwriter Steven Fromholtz, who would have been 81 today... for former Milli Vanilli vocalist Rob Pilatus, who would have been 61... for singer-songwriter Root Boy Slim [né Foster MacKenzie III], who died on this date in 1993... and for pop singer Crispian St. Peters, who left us today in 2010. 

Also on June 8th: The Crystals' 'Da Doo Ron Ron' peaks at № 3 on the US singles chart. The song was produced by Phil Spector, and represents his first use of a multi-track recording system to build the song layer upon layer to achieve a result that has become known as a 'wall of sound'. Backing musicians included Glen Campbell on guitar, Leon Russell on piano, Hal Blaine on drums and Nino Tempo on sax (1963)... Procol Harum go to № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'a Whiter Shade of Pale', while Sgt. Pepper reaches the top of the album rankings, where it will remain for 27 weeks (1967)... Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts visit Brian Jones at his home in Cotchford Farm, E. Sussex to discuss his future in the Rolling Stones. Upon returning to London, Jagger & co. issue a statement announcing that Jones has left the band (1969)... Bob Dylan releases Self-Portrait... East German police impound Deep Purple's van and equipment after the group drive too close to the border while on a European tour (1970)... Bill Wyman becomes the first Rolling Stone to release a solo album with Monkey Grip. The record features guest appearances by, Dr John, Leon Russell and Lowell George... David Bowie starts a four-week run at the top of the UK charts with his third № 1 album, Diamond Dogs. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It is controversial as the full painting clearly shows the hybrid's genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover make their way into circulation at the time of the album's release... Elvis Presley calls Dolly Parton to tell her that he would like to cover her new single 'I Will Always Love You'. Parton is interested until Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker tells her that it is standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis records. Parton refuses. The song will become a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston almost two decades later when released as a single from the the soundtrack to the film 'The Bodyguard'... Paul McCartney and Wings go to № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Band On The Run'. McCartney later states that George Harrison unwittingly contributed the first line of one part of the song: "If we ever get out of here" was something that he said during one of the many Beatles' business meetings (1974)... Tears for Fears have the № 1 single in the US with 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'... Bob Dylan releases Empire Burlesque (1985)... At a Greenpeace press conference, vegetarian Chrissie Hynde claims that she once firebombed a McDonalds restaurant. The following day, a McDonalds in Milton Keynes, England is destroyed in this way and the Pretenders lead singer is threatened with legal action (1989)... Bruce Springsteen marries Patti Scialfa in a small private ceremony at their home in Beverly Hills, CA (1991)... Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Martin Carr of The Boo Radleys are all involved in a brawl at Dingwalls, Camden in London (1998)... Months of secrecy surrounding Sir Paul McCartney's wedding plans are blown when John Leslie, the owner of the 17th century Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan, lets slip to reporters that Sir Paul had booked the venue for the wedding (2002)... Rolling Stone magazine publishes a list of the Top 50 guitar songs of all time ~№ 5 is ‘Brown Sugar’ by The Rolling Stones; № 4, ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks; № 3, ‘Crossroads’, by Cream; № 2 ‘Purple Haze’, by Jimi Hendrix, and at № 1, Chuck Berry's ‘Johnny B Goode’ (2008).

June 7th

Musical birthdays today include Tom Jones (86), jazz guitarist Royce Campbell (74), record executive & producer Antonio 'L.A.' Reid (70), Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra (69), Prefab Sprout lead singer Paddy McAloon (69), Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Michael Cartellone (64), producer & former Theaudience guitarist Billy Reeves (61), Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz (60), original Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro (59), rapper Necro [né Ron Braunstein] (50), Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson (41), Iggy Azalea (36), and Fetty Wap (36).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for conductor George Szell, born on this day in 1897... for Dean Martin [né Dino Crocetti], born in 1917... for jazz guitarist Tal Farlow, born in 1921... for jazzman Harold 'Tina' Brooks, born in 1932... for Savuka frontman Johnny Clegg, who would have been 73... for Prince, who would have been 68... for blues & gospel singer Carole Fredericks, who died on this date in 2002... for fusion jazzman & former Soft machine bassist Hugh Hopper, and for Kenny Rankin, both of whom who passed away today in 2010... and for former Fleetwood Mac guitarist & singer Bob Welch, who took his own life today in 2012 at the age of 66. 

Also on June 7th: John Coltrane and sidemen complete the Africa/Brass sessions, devoting most of the day to Eric Dolphy's arrangement of 'Greensleeves' (1961)... The Rolling Stones release their debut single, a cover of Chuck Berry's 'Come on' (1963)... During their first US tour, the Stones are booed off the stage in San Antonio, TX. A troupe of performing monkeys who were one of the opening acts are brought back on as security try to restore order... Heading for the far eastern leg of their world tour, The Beatles fly from Amsterdam to Hong Kong. When the plane stops to refuel in Beirut, police turn firefighting foam on hundreds of fans who have invaded the runway (1964)... British supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Grech and Steve Winwood make their live debut at a free concert in London's Hyde Park. Their only album release provokes controversy because the cover features a topless pubescent girl holding a silver space ship which many perceive as a phallic symbol. The US record company issues it with an alternative cover showing a photograph of the band on the front. The controversy is fuelled by rumours about the girl's relationship to the band, which include the story that she is a groupie being kept as a slave... Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell both appear on the premiere of ABC-TV's 'The Johnny Cash Show' from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Dylan sings 'I Threw It All Away' and 'Living the Blues', and duets with the host on 'Girl From The North Country'; Joni performs 'Both Sides Now' (1969)... Elton John's ninth studio LP Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy becomes the first record ever to debut on the Billboard album chart at № 1. John Denver is at the top of the singles listing with 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' (1975)... Led Zeppelin play the first of six sold out nights at Madison Square Garden on what will prove to be the band's final North American tour (1977)...  Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public. The bathroom in which Elvis died nearly 5 years earlier remains sealed... Stray Cats release Built for Speed, their third and biggest selling album (1982)... David Bowie plays a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with the speakers pointing towards the nearby Berlin Wall, behind which thousands of young East Berliners stand and listen (1987)... Hanson are at № 1 in both the US and the UK with 'MMMbop'. The single will go on to top the charts in 27 other countries... Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher plays a five-song set at the Tibet Freedom Concert, Downing Stadium in NYC. U2, Patti Smith and Radiohead are also on the bill (1997)... Virgin Records announce that they have dropped Victoria Beckham after her debut solo album, which cost over £3 million to make and sold only 50,000 copies (2002)... The funeral of Bo Diddley takes place in Gainesville, FL. Many in attendance chant "Hey Bo Diddley" shortly after family members passed by his coffin as a gospel band played the pioneering rocker's music. At the service, they present a floral tribute in form of his trademark square guitar (2007).