Today in Rock n Roll History

1955: At the recommendation of R&B artist Lloyd Price, Richard Penniman, who is currently leading an ensemble called Little Richard and The Upsetters, sends a demo tape to Specialty Records founder Art Rupe. After some initial reluctance, Rupe will sign Penniman to a contract that will pay the singer a half cent for every record sold.

1960: Elvis Presley won his first Gold record for the album ‘Elvis’ on this day in rock history!

1960: The Everly Brothers sign with Warner Bros. Records in a 10-year contract worth $1 million.

1962: Gene Chandler started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Duke Of Earl.’

1966: Nancy Sinatra was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking.’

1966: James Brown records "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at Bob Gallo's Talentmasters studio in New York. The song would top the Billboard R&B chart and reach #13 in the UK. The song was originally called "It's A Man's World", but Brown added the extra words to the title as a reference to the 1963 hit comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

1967: The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite’ at Abbey Road studio’s, London. John’s lyrics for the song came almost entirely from an antique poster advertising a circus performance scheduled to take place in Rochdale, Lancashire, in February 1843. John had purchased the poster in Sevenoaks on January 31 while The Beatles were on location for the filming of the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ promotional film.

1969: Johnny Cash records a session in Nashville, Tenn., with Bob Dylan. “Girl from the North Country” is the only duet released from the session.

1972: At the end of a 14 date UK tour, Pink Floyd started a three night run at London’s Rainbow Theatre and premiered some material that was scheduled to appear on the "Dark Side of the Moon" album, including the song "Eclipse". Eventually, the playing of live versions of songs yet to be released would have to be stopped as bootleg copies of their material started to appear before the studio releases. Tickets for these shows cost £1 ($1.70).

1973: Free who reached #2 in the UK and #4 in the US in 1970 with "All Right Now", play their final show at Florida's Hollywood Sportatorium. Vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke will move on to form Bad Company.

1979: The Clash opens its first U.S. tour at the Palladium in New York City.

1982: Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk dies of a stroke at the age of 64.

1996: A Platinum American Express card that once belonged to Bruce Springsteen sold for $4,500 at a memorabilia sale in New York. Springsteen let a waiter in a Los Angeles restaurant keep the card as a souvenir after giving the expired card by mistake.

2000: John Lennon’s Steinway piano, on which he composed ‘Imagine’, went on display at the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool, England. The piano was set to be auctioned on the Internet later in the year and was expected to fetch more than £1 million ($1.7 million).

2004: The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed 531 "John Doe" lawsuits against suspected users of peer-to-peer file-sharing services. Once a John Doe suit has been approved by a judge, the record-label plaintiffs can subpoena the information necessary to identify the defendant by name.

2005: A 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix sold for £100,000 at an auction in London. Other Hendrix items sold included a poem written two weeks after his appearance at the Monterey Festival which went for £10,000 and the first Jimi Hendrix Experience’s single ‘Hey Joe’, signed by all the band sold for £2,000.


TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
1941: Gene Pitney