One of the greats behind the kit was born on this day in 1950. Carl Palmer played drums with several groups before gaining wider recognition when he took over for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown when the band's beat keeper left the band in the middle of its 1969 tour. After a brief stint in Atomic Rooster, a band that also included Arthur Brown alum Vincent Crane on keyboards, Keith Emerson, then in the Nice, invited Palmer to audition for a new band he was putting together. Carl proved to be a good fit, and became the Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Carl joined up with Steve Howe of Yes and Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music and Uriah Heep and UK veteran John Wetton to form Asia after ELP called it quits in 1980.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on March 20 include...

 

1951 Jimmy Vaughan is born.

'Slim' Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats is born.

1968 Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Jim Messina and Richie Furay get arrested in LA on marijuana charges. All but Clapton gets fined.

1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono get married at British Consulate in Gibraltar.

1976 Alice Cooper marries Sheryl Goddard.

1977 The London Paladium bans Lou Reed from performing there citing his punk attitude and image.

1977 T-Rex dos its last concert.

1980 A 28 year old guy barges into Asylum Records HQ and demands to meet with the Eagles or Jackson Browne, who were not there at the time.

1991 Eric Clapton’s 4 year-old son killed in fall from New York City apartment window.

2008 The Eagles open the Long Road Out of Eden Tour.

2015 Drummer AJ Pero dies of a heart attack at 55 on Twisted Sisters tour bus traveling from Baltimore to Poughkeepsie, NY.

2018 Ringo Starr gets knighted in Buckingham Palaces ceremony 21 years after Paul McCartney got the honor...