September 3rd

Musical birthdays today include Beach Boy Al Jardine (76), original Thin Lizzy lead guitarist Eric Bell (71), Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer (70), Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones (63), pop singer Jennifer Paige (45), LMFAO co-founder Stefan 'Redfoo' Gordy (43), rapper B.G. [né Christopher Dorsey] (38), and Sum 41 bassist Jason McCaslin (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Memphis Slim and Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt, both born on this day in 1915... for Western Swing singer Hank Thompson, born in 1925... for Outlaw Country star Tompall Glaser, who would have been 85... for Canned Heat founder and original lead singer Alan Wilson, who died today in 1970 at the age of 27... for Keith Harwood, studio engineer noted for his work with Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie, and who was killed in a road accident today in 1977... and for 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' composer Johnny Marks, who left us today in 1985. 

Also on September 3: The № 1 single in America is The Mitch Miller Singers' 'Yellow Rose of Texas', written in 1853 (1955)... Following a pattern that is becoming familiar, a Rolling Stones concert in Chicago ends in a riot after 30 fans jump onto the stage and the band members flee (1965)... Donovan tops the American charts with 'Sunshine Superman' [also a № 2  hit in the UK], which features the guitar work of session man Jimmy Page (1966)... After a two week absence, Ringo rejoins The Beatles. He finds his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back (1968)... A notice in the latest issue of Rolling Stone announces that the Bob Dylan bootleg album The Great White Wonder has now sold some 350,000 copies (1969)... Arthur Brown is arrested at the Pop '70 Festival in Palermo, Italy, after the singer sets his hat alight during the performance of his hit 'Fire' and strips naked on the stage. He will spend 4 days in solitary confinement before being released (1970)... Fleetwood Mac release the album Future Games, their first record to feature Christine McVie and American guitarist Bob Welch as full-time members (1971)... Bill Wyman, Ron Wood, David Bowie and Keith Moon are among the members of the all-star band recruited to play Peter Sellers' 50th birthday party in Los Angeles (1975)... The 3-day Us festival, bankrolled by Apple Computers co-founder Steve Wozniak, opens in San Bernardino, CA. Headliners include The Police, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Talking Heads, the Kinks and the Ramones. David Bowie, who receives $1 million for his one-hour set, is widely criticized after it is revealed that he paid each member of his backing band $350 (1982)... The № 1 single in the UK is UB 40's 'Red Red Wine', a cover of Neil Diamond's 1968 Top 40 hit. When the single is finally released in the US in 1988, it will top the charts there as well (1986)... Ike Turner is released from prison after serving 18 months of a 4-year sentence for drug and weapons possession. The singer claims in an interview with Variety soon thereafter that he has spent upwards of $10 million on cocaine over the years (1988)... Crosby, Stills and Nash release After the Storm. After 25 years with Atlantic Records, it is their final album of new material for the label (1994)... The Rolling Stones 40th anniversary '40 Licks' Tour kicks off in Boston, MA (2002)... Sir Cliff Richard stuns the music world by choosing not to renew his contract with EMI Records, signing with Eminem's label Universal Music instead. Sir Cliff had sold more than 250 million records with EMI during his 46-year career (2004)... The Rolling Stones perform for 89,620 fans at the Magnetic Hill Concert Site near Moncton NB, making it the largest crowd for a musical event in Canadian history (2005)... Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums are found tampered with in record shops throughout the UK in the latest stunt by 'guerilla artist' Banksy. The provocateur replaced the American socialite turned singer's CD with his own remixes, giving them titles such as 'Why Am I Famous?' and 'What Have I Ever Done?' He had also changed pictures of Hilton on the CD sleeve to show her topless and with a basset hound's head (2006)... Internal emails sent by the promoters of Michael Jackson's planned 2009 comeback tour are published, and see them voice concerns about the singer's stability, both physical and mental. In one of them, sent the day the King of Pop arrived in London to announce his This Is It shows, he is described as 'an emotionally paralysed mess'. The singer had locked himself in his hotel room and was said to be drunk and despondent (2012).