Today in Music History

The Grateful Dead performed at the Family Dog at the Great Highway club in San Francisco. The venue was housed in the former Edgewater Ballroom, which was part of the Playland At The Beach complex. Family Dog moved there after being forced to leave the Avalon Ballroom.

The Rolling Stones’ single “Honky Tonk Women” was released in the United Kingdom.

During a four-week engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, a security employee received a threatening phone call saying that Elvis Presley would be shot during his final performance. The caller demanded $50,000 in exchange for the name of the potential assassin. Later, a meal card with a damaged image of Elvis’s face and a drawn gun pointing at his heart was found in Elvis’s hotel mail. Elvis performed his final show without incident.

On the third day of the Isle of Wight Festival at Afton Down, performers included Procol Harum, Rory Gallagher's Taste, Chicago, Family, Cactus, and Tony Joe White. Mungo Jerry were listed in the program and on the posters but refused to perform because of the major delay in the schedule, which meant they would not go on until the early hours of the morning. A ticket for the main days of the festival cost £3.

Magic Juan of Projecto Uno was born.

The Allman Brothers Band performed in Pensacola, Florida.

The Velvet Underground’s album “Loaded” was released.

Elvis Presley became the youngest artist and the first rock musician to receive the prestigious Bing Crosby Award from NARAS for outstanding artistic contribution to recorded music. Because he disliked award ceremonies, the lifetime achievement plaque was presented to him privately in his dressing room at the Las Vegas Hilton.

“Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. More than one million copies of the song were later sold, and it received a gold record from the RIAA.

John Denver’s first major hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 behind the Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?”. Denver and co-writers Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert had never visited West Virginia when they wrote the song. The lyrics were inspired by postcards from West Virginia that Bill Danoff received from a friend living in the state. The song later became one of West Virginia’s state anthems.

Mott the Hoople opened the performances at the Weeley Festival in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, England. The lineup also included Rory Gallagher, Caravan, Lindisfarne, The Faces with Rod Stewart, and Van Der Graaf Generator, who performed at 11:30 p.m.

David Bowie, as Ziggy Stardust, appeared on the American television show The Midnight Special, marking his US television debut.

The Moody Blues’ album “Seventh Sojourn” was released in the United States.

Deep Purple received a gold record for “Smoke On the Water”, which reached No. 4 in the US and sold more than two million copies. The award was presented by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Guitarist Andrew White of the English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs was born. In 2005, the band reached No. 3 in the UK with the album “Employment”, which sold more than three million copies and won three Brit Awards, including Best British Group.

Hawkwind performed at Home Park in Windsor, England.

Peter Turner, founding member and bassist of the rock band Elbow, was born in Manchester, England. Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize for their 2008 album “The Seldom Seen Kid” and the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2009.

Aerosmith performed at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.

“Walk This Way” was released as the second single from Aerosmith’s album “Toys in the Attic”. The song originated during a soundcheck in Honolulu, where Steven Tyler, Joey Kramer, and Joe Perry worked on a groove influenced by funk and James Brown. It initially failed to make an impact on the charts, but after being reissued the following year it reached No. 10 and became one of Aerosmith’s most important songs.

Peter Frampton spent his third week at No. 1 on the US chart with the album “Frampton Comes Alive!”. The album was later briefly replaced at the top by Fleetwood Mac’s album “Fleetwood Mac” before returning to No. 1 on September 11. The live version of “Baby, I Love Your Way” from the album reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2017, Frampton told US lawmakers that 55 million streams of the song had earned him only $1,700.

Donna Summer released “I Feel Love” in the United States.

Yes performed at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, near Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is held.

Boston’s album “Don’t Look Back” was released.

Devo released the album “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo”.

Genesis performed at the Stadthalle concert hall in Vienna, Austria.

The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Foreigner’s album “4” was released in the United Kingdom.

Guy Stevens, British musician, producer, and manager, died at the age of 38 after overdosing on prescription medication he was taking to reduce his dependence on alcohol. He worked with Mott The Hoople, Free, and The Clash and produced The Clash’s third album “London Calling”. He was president of the Chuck Berry Appreciation Society and brought Chuck Berry to the UK for his first tour. Procol Harum and Mott The Hoople also owed their distinctive names to Stevens.

George Strait scored his first No. 1 country hit with “Fool Hearted Memory” from his second album “Strait From The Heart”, which also contained his famous cover of “Amarillo By Morning”. He quickly became one of country music’s most successful hitmakers and had 17 No. 1 hits by the end of the decade.

Country singer LeAnn Rimes, whose full name is Margaret LeAnn Rimes, was born in Jackson, Mississippi. At the age of eight, she became known as the winner of the original version of “Star Search” with Ed McMahon, followed at age 13 by the release of Bill Mack’s song “Blue”. She later recorded the single “How Do I Live”, which reached No. 3 in the US in 1997 and No. 7 in the UK in 1998.

Thin Lizzy performed at the Reading Festival alongside Climax Blues Band, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, Opposition, Sad Café, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Ten Years After, and The Enid. For bassist and singer Phil Lynott, it was his final performance in the United Kingdom.

Egyptian poet Abdul Rahim Mansour died.

During the Victory Tour, The Jacksons surpassed 1.1 million ticket sales in just two months, breaking the record for concert ticket sales. The tour consisted of 55 shows and featured all six Jackson brothers; according to the individual sources, it attracted approximately 2 to 2.5 million spectators at 22 venues and grossed approximately $75 million. By the end of the tour in December 1984, they had surpassed the previous overall attendance record held by The Rolling Stones’ 1981 tour. Paula Abdul created the tour choreography.

Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” was released in the United States and reached No. 1 on the US chart.

English musician, singer, and songwriter Florence Welch, co-founder and frontwoman of Florence and the Machine, was born in London. In 2009, the band released the album “Lungs”, which reached No. 1 in the UK and won a Brit Award for Best British Album. The 2015 album “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” reached No. 1 in both the UK and US and received five Grammy nominations.

The “Get Tough On Toxics” benefit concert against pollution and corporate pollution was held in Long Beach, California. Performers included Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and Neil Young, as well as Joni Mitchell, Lindsey Buckingham, Warren Zevon, and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. Members of the Eagles also attended, with the exception of Glenn Frey, who was hospitalized with an intestinal illness.

Tina Turner was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

George Michael’s “Monkey” spent its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kylie Minogue set a new British record when her debut album “Kylie” became the best-selling album by a female artist in Britain, with sales of almost two million copies. The album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, who also wrote nine of its ten tracks. Six singles were released from the album, including “I Should Be So Lucky”, which reached No. 1 in both Australia and the UK.

Metallica released the single “Harvester of Sorrow”.

Alice in Chains released their debut studio album “Facelift” in the United States through Columbia Records. The album subsequently sold more than three million copies and became the first grunge album to receive an RIAA gold certification.

The Black Crowes’ album “Shake Your Money Maker” was released in the United Kingdom.

Metallica’s album, commonly known as The Black Album, was released in the United Kingdom.

Billy Joel began a three-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart with his twelfth studio album “River of Dreams”. Joel said that most of the music for the album came to him in his sleep, inspiring its title. The album eventually sold more than four million copies in the United States. The album cover was painted by his second wife, former model Christie Brinkley, and was later voted the worst album cover of the year.

Bruce Dickinson gave his final performance with Iron Maiden at Pinewood Studios in London before leaving the band for six years. The concert was filmed by the BBC and broadcast on MTV and pay-per-view in the UK; it was later released as “Raising Hell”. The show included magician Simon Drake performing elaborate staged “deaths”, including an iron maiden stunt in which Dickinson apparently died onstage.

German multinational dance group Culture Beat began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Mr Vain”. It was the first UK No. 1 single that was not available in a 7-inch format. “Mr Vain” became a worldwide success and reached No. 1 in at least 19 countries.

At a benefit concert at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, Natalie Merchant performed her first concert after leaving the group 10,000 Maniacs.