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 (Little Richard) to a contract that will pay the singer a half cent for every record sold. 2008 - Little Richard got a standing ovation from a crowd of 2,400 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville without playing a single note. The 75 year old Rock 'n Roll pioneer was seated at the rear of the auditorium during a concert by The Temptations and The Four Tops when he was introduced by The Temp's Otis Williams.
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February 10, 2022 Link Wray performs his controversial instrumental hit "Rumble" on American Bandstand. Because of its title, many radio stations refused to play the record, but it still managed to sell over a million copies and reach #16 on the Billboard Pop chart. At a live gig in Fredericksburg, Virginia, attempting to work up a backing for The Diamonds' "The Stroll," Link Wray and his Ray Men came up with the stately, powerful blues instrumental "Rumble," which they originally called "Oddball." The instrumental was an instant hit with the live audience, which demanded four repeats that night. Eventually the instrumental came to the attention of record producer Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records, who hated it, particularly after Wray poked holes in his amplifier's speakers to make the recording sound more like the live version; however, Bleyer's stepdaughter loved it and it was released despite his protest. Phil Everly heard it and ...
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February 3, 2022 has become one of the most mythic days in rock 'n' roll history. It's the day the 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza 35 carrying Buddy Holly,Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson crashed in an Iowa cornfield. To many, it's simply the day the music died. Buddy Holly was touring with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, on a jaunt that was scheduled to hit 25 Midwestern cities in three weeks. Angered by rough bus tours that left band members sick with the flu and one hospitalized with frostbite, Holly decided to charter a plane from Iowa to Minnesota. The official investigation concluded that a combination of pilot error and poor weather conditions caused pilot Roger Peterson to lose control of the plane and crash. One of the most famous stories surrounding the crash is that country star Waylon Jennings, a then-new addition to Holly's backing band, surrendered his seat to the Big Bopper ...
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1968 - January 27 Otis Redding's "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" is released, six weeks after he was killed in a plane crash. It will become the first posthumous number-one single in US chart history. Otis had intended to return to the studio at a later date to add lyrics in place of the whistling that is heard during the closing bars.
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In 1981, after signing his first solo career record deal, Osbourne bit the head off a dove during a meeting with CBS Records executives in Los Angeles. Apparently he had planned to release doves into the air as a sign of peace, but due to being intoxicated at the time, he instead grabbed a dove and bit its head off. He then spat the head out, with blood still dripping from his lips. Despite its controversy, the head-biting act has been parodied and alluded to several times throughout his career and is part of what made Osbourne famous.[ On 20 January 1982, Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. Rolling Stone magazine in 2004 ranked this incident number two on its list of "Rock's Wildest Myths". While the Rolling Stone article stated the bat was alive, then 17-year-old Mark Neal who threw it onto the stage said it was brought ...
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JANUARY 13, 2022 Against the advice of Columbia Records executives, Johnny Cash visits Folsom State Prison in California to record a live album. The resulting LP, "Live At Folsom Prison" would become one of Johnny's biggest selling records, reaching #1 on the Country album chart and #13 on the Hot 200. It also produced one of his most memorable hit singles, "Folsom Prison Blues". In 2003, "Live At Folsom Prison" was certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over three million and was ranked #88 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
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