Week in Music History

He was born Darrell Crofts in Cisco, Texas, and became known as one half of Seals and Crofts.

The country singer and songwriter, known for the 1964 hit “Once A Day”, was born Constance June Meador in Elkhart, Indiana.

He was born in Los Angeles. He was a singer, songwriter and founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with whom, and sometimes with Neil Young, he achieved great success. With The Byrds, he took folk-rock to a new level, while with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young he helped establish new standards for vocal harmonies. Throughout his life, he had numerous problems, mostly drug-related, and in 1986 he spent five months in prison.

An American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, record label owner and music journalist was born. Early in his career, he was a member of Steve Miller Band.

The comedian and actor was born in Waco, Texas. He is best known as a comedian and actor, but is also an acclaimed banjo player and frequently performs with the Steep Canyon Rangers.

The bassist from Sly and the Family Stone was born in Beaumont, Texas.

The English bassist known for his work with Elvis Costello and the Attractions was born.

The Washington, D.C., disc jockey founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Elvis Presley after reading too many articles portraying Elvis Presley as a hillbilly or a threat to society. Elvis was frequently criticized in national news coverage and described in headlines as a hillbilly and a threat to society.

While staying at home at Graceland, he received a telephone call from his father telling him that his mother Gladys had died. She died at the age of 46. At the time, he was a private in the US Army stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and was home on emergency leave. At her funeral two days later, he was so overcome with grief that he could not stand and had to be supported. More than 500 police officers supervised the service to keep the enormous crowd from gaining access.

The film A Private's Affair, starring Sal Mineo, premiered in New York. It also featured the song “The Same Old Army”.

The English classical crossover soprano and actress was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. In 1978, she had the number 6 UK single “I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper” with Hot Gossip.

The British musician, best known as the percussionist of the rock group Cardiacs from 1981 to 1990, was born.

The song “Right Or Wrong” entered the Billboard Pop chart and later reached number 29.

The group and their manager Brian Epstein decided to fire drummer Pete Best. Best played his final concert the following night at The Cavern in Liverpool. Ringo Starr, who was nearing the end of a three-month engagement with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at a Butlin’s holiday camp, received a phone call from John Lennon asking him to join. Ringo gave Rory Storm three days' notice and made his first appearance as a member of The Beatles on August 18.

The rockabilly singer and lead vocalist of The Rock and Roll Trio died in a boating accident while fishing on Clear Lake, California, at the age of 30. His unlit boat was struck by an inattentive motorboat, throwing him overboard and causing him to drown. His body was found on August 16, but the coroner determined that he had drowned on August 14. In 1961, his US single “Your Sixteen” reached number 8 and its UK release reached number 3.

The American guitarist and singer was born. Since 1995, he has been the lead guitarist of the rock-pop group Chicago.

They released the UK EP 5 x 5, recorded at Chess Studios on Chicago's South Side, the home studio of their blues heroes. Keith Richards said that when they arrived at the building, they found Muddy Waters painting the ceiling. Several months later, the EP was expanded to album length and released in America as 12 x 5.

At the time performing under the name David, he made his Billboard Hot 100 debut with the single “What Are We Going To Do?”, which reached only number 100 after spending a single week on the chart. The following year, he was chosen as a member of The Monkees.

The EP “Tickle Me” reached number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The recording used existing Elvis songs rather than new material.

The doo-wop tenor singer from The Olympics was shot dead at the age of 25 during the Watts riots in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles group reached number 8 in the US and number 12 in the UK in 1958 with the song “Western Movies”.

They began a three-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “I Got You Babe”. Sonny Bono was reportedly inspired to write the song by the popularity of the word “babe” in Bob Dylan's “It Ain’t Me Babe”. The recording also reached number one in the UK two weeks later and became a Top Ten hit in nine other countries. Written by Sonny Bono, the song was awarded a gold record for selling more than one million copies in the US.

They filmed a performance for the CBS-TV program The Ed Sullivan Show at Studio 50 in New York. They performed “I Feel Fine”, “I’m Down”, “Act Naturally”, “Ticket to Ride”, “Yesterday” and “Help!”. The recording was broadcast on September 12, 1965, and was their fourth appearance on the show. Their fifth album Help! also began a nine-week run at number one on the UK chart.

“Hang On Sloopy” was released. Three weeks later, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one in the first week of October. The recording was also successful in the UK, where it reached number 5.

Little Anthony & The Imperials, The Shadows and The Castiles, with Bruce Springsteen on vocals, performed at the Surf ’n’ See Club in Seabright, New Jersey.

The London Catholic newspaper The Catholic Herald published an editorial calling John Lennon's recent statement that the group was “bigger than Jesus” generally accurate but “arrogant”. Meanwhile, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano accepted Lennon's public apology.

They performed at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the first concert held at the stadium. The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith also performed there later.

The new Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force in Britain, forcing all but one of the famous “pirate”, or unlicensed, radio stations to cease broadcasting. Radio Caroline continued broadcasting until March 1968.

Thousands of people arrived early the day before Woodstock and set up camp.

The first day of the three-day British Yorkshire Folk, Blues & Jazz Festival took place in Krumlin, Yorkshire. Pink Floyd did not perform because fog left them stranded at a Paris airport. Weekend tickets cost £3.

They scored their first number-one song with “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”.

He performed a Dinner Show at 8:30 p.m. and a Midnight Show at midnight at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. Both performances were attended by 2,200 people. The Midnight Show included, among others, “That’s All Right”, “Mystery Train/Tiger Man”, “Folsom Prison Blues/I Walk The Line”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “The Wonder Of You”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Suspicious Minds”.