The follow-up band to the Jimi Hendrix Experience made its debut at a New year's Eve concert at the Fillmore East in New York on this night in 1969. The Band of Gypsys double live album that got released in March of '70 got recorded the following night's concert at the same venue and expanded reissues includee material from both.  Bassist Billy Cox from the Experience made the transition into the new group, but drummer Mitch Mitchell was replaced with Buddy Miles.  The new band took a more funk infused jam approach than the Experience had on what would prove to be the last full album Hendrix recorded before his death in September of 1970.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on the final day of the year include...

1942 Police’s Andy Summers born.

1943 Kink’s Pete Quaife born.

1947 Guess Who’s Burton Cummings born.

1951 Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton born.

1960 Replacement’s Paul Wasterberg born.
1961 Janis Joplin performs in public for the first time in Beaumont, Texas.

1961 Beach Boys concert debut, Long Beach, CA.

1963 The Kinks do their debut live performance in London.

1970 Paul McCartney files suit to dissolve Beatles partnership.

1971 David Clayton Thomas does his last concert before quitting Blood, Sweat & Tears (later rejoins).
1971 Stevie Ray Vaughan quit high school to move to Austin with his band.

1973 Journey does its first concert in San Francisco.

1973 AC/DC concert debut at Sydney, Australia club.

1974 Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac.

1976 The Cars do first concert in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

1978 Grateful Dead, New Riders & Blues Brothers close down Winterland in San Francisco.

1980 Steve Winwood releases Arc Of A Diver.

1982 Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band marries Maureen Santora.
1982 Max's Kansas City club in New York shuts down.

1984 Drummer Rick Allen of Def Leppard loses arm in crash of his Corvette.

1985 Rick Nelson killed in plane crash.

1991 Ted Nugent donates 200lbs. of venison to be distributed to the homeless in Detroit.

1992 Pearl Jam opens for Keith Richards in New York City.

1996 Paul McCartney added to the Queen's Honours list, entitling him to be "Sir" Paul McCartney.

1997 Elton John knighted in London.

1999 John Fogerty sues his lawyer alledging incompetence in his handling of his 1985 copyright infringement lawsuit.

2000 Black Crowes front man Chris Robinson marries actress Kate Hudson.

2003 Eric Clapton and Ray Davies knighted at Buckingham Palace.

2003 Alex Lifeson of Rush arrested with his son after a fracas with other patrons at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida.  Charged on four counts, including drunkenness and assault.

2004 The Queen awards Roger Daltrey a CBE at Buckingham Palace.

2015 Motley Crue ends farewell tour in LA with Tommy Lee stranded upside down in a roller coaster.

2019 Rod Stewart and his son arrested on battery charge after an altercation with a security guard who refused to let children in the company of the pair into a private party for children at the Breakers Resort in Palm, Beach, Florida. The pair would plead guilty to lesser charges in December, 2021 to avoid going on trial.

Felix Pappalardi, the energetic bass player and lead vocalist in Mountain, was born on this day in 1939 in The Bronx.

A graduate of New York's High School of Music and Art, Pappalardi added to his classical training while majoring in music at the University of Michigan. Finding no openings available in Big Apple symphonies and orchestras, Felix applied what he'd learned to arranging and producing material for Folk and Rock artists, the Youngbloods, Joan Baez and a band called the Vagrants among them. His production work on Disraeli Gears, the sophomore album by Cream, boosted his profile considerably.

The Vagrants disbanded and the group's guitarist, Leslie West, contacted Pappalardi about joining the new outfit he was putting together. By that time, Pappalardi was already working on Cream's Goodbye album, but he and West hit it off musically and one of the loudest bands in Rock history was born.

Pappalardi met an untimely and violent death in April of 1983 when his wife shot and killed him in the couple's New York apartment using a Derringer Felix had given her as a gift. She faced second degree murder charges but was convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 30 include...

1928 Bo Diddley born.

1946 Patti Smith born.

1946 Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker born.

1947 Move, ELO & Traveling Wilburys member Jeff Lynne born.

1965 The Who, Kinks, and Hollies all appear on Shindig. 

1978 Emerson Lake & Palmer announces break-up.

1999 An intruder stabs George Harrison and injures wife Olivia during break-in at Henley home.

2002 Funeral for Joe Strummer of the Clash is held in London, a week after his death.

2009 Canada honors Neil Young by naming him an Officer of the Order of Canada, joining the members of Rush, Bryan Adams and Leonard Cohen as recipients.

2012 Queen guitarist Brian May recognized as PETA Person of the Year in England for his active opposition to the culling of badgers in the UK.

2012 A copy of the Please Please Me album signed by all of the Beatles after they'd used it as a coaster during a card game in 1963 is sold for $15,700.

The late, great drummer Cozy Powell was born on this day in 1947. Powell kept the beat for Jeff Beck, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Gary Moore, Robert Plant and Whitesnake, among others. He also filled Carl Palmer's role in ELP after his departure. All told, Powell was a featured drummer on close to 70 albums. He lost his life in a high speed collision on an English motorway in April of 1998.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 29 include...

1941 Moody Blues flautist and songwriter Ray Thomas is born.

1942 Band born bassist, singer and songwriter Rick Danko is born.

1955 Pat Benatar's husband and band mate Neil Giraldo is born.

1966 The Beatles record Penny Lane.

1967 Dave Mason quits Traffic (rejoins in ’71).

1968 Day two of the Miami Pop festival features Jimi Hendrix Experience, Fleetwood Mac, the Grateful Dead, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, Canned Heat, Joni Mitchell, the Turtles, Three Dog Night, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, Pacific Gas & Electric and the Box Tops. 

1968 Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck, the Pretty Things and the Bonzo Dog band play a festival in Utrecht, Netherlands.

1975 Jefferson Starship’s Grace Slick and Paul Kantner split-up.

1979 The final Paul McCartney and Wings concert performance takes place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London during the closing benefit Concert for the  People of Kampuchea in war-torn Cambodia.  The 20 song set closes with Band on the Run.

1980 Tim Hardin dies of drug overdose in Hollywood.

1982 Jamaican government releases Bob Marley commemorative stamp.

1982 Vinnie Vinent replaces Ace Frehley in KISS.
2000 Bryan Ferry on a flight that a passenger stormed the cabin in an attempt to force a crash. Crew subdued him.

2001 Guns N Roses play Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Axl reportedly orders Slash not be admitted.

2008 Jerry Garcia estate is sued on an unpaid royalties claim by estate of keyboard player Merl Saunders……

Edgar Holland Winter was born on this day in 1946 in Beaumont, Texas. The younger brother of guitar legend Johnny Winter is known mostly for his keyboard chops, but also plays a mean sax on some of his own albums and songs on other's (Meat Loaf's "All Revved Up With No Place to Go", David Lee Roth's "Just A Gigolo"). He was also credited with devising a shoulder strap attached keyboard that enabled him to be up and about on stage as he played it. 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 28 include...

1950 Box Tops and Big Star’s Alex Chilton is born.

1968 The Miami Pop Festival opens. Three day lineup includes sets from Fleetwood Mac, Steppenwolf, the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Procol Harum, Iron Butterfly, Joni Mitchell, Three Dog night, Pacific gas and Electric, The McCoys, The Turtles and Marvin Gaye.

1975 A 21 year-old is  arrested for threatening to shoot Ted Nugent during a Spokane, WA concert.

1976 Blues great Freddie King dies.

1983 Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys drowns.

1998 Atlanta Rhythm Section's Ronnie Hammond shot while attacking a Macon, Georgia police officer with a hammer.

2009 Van Morrison reportedly becomes a father again at 64.

2015 Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister dies of congestive heart failure just days after getting diagnosed with Prostate cancer. 

2018 Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason named as a recipient of a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Buckingham Palace...

Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones was born on this day in Portsmouth, England. His first group, Nero and the Gladiators, was an instrumental band that released a couple of modestly successful singles in the UK in 1961.  He moved to France where he composed and did session work through the rest of the 60's before moving back to England where he started the group Wonderwheel with Spooky Tooth's Gary Wright. Soon after, Jones and Wright dropped that name and reformed Spooky Tooth.  Jones would also work with George Harrison, Peter Frampton and Leslie West in the ealy to mid 70's.  His big career move came in 1976 when Mick teamed  with King Crimson veteran Ian McDonald, drummer Dennis Elliott, keyboard player Al Greenwood and bassist Ed Gagliardi to form Foreigner.  Lou Gramm of the American group Black Sheep would be recruited as the front man for the bi-continental group the following year.  Foreigner's 1977 debut album broke big and the band became FM Rock Radio mainstays.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 27 include...

1941 Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues born.

1944 Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones born.

1943 King Crimson co-founder and lyracist Peter Sinfield is born.

1947 Tracy Nelson born.

1948 Steppenwolf' guitarist Larry Byrom is born

1952 Karla Bonoff born.

1952 Dire Straits rhythm guitarist David Knopfler born.

1967 Bob Dylan releases John Wesley Harding.

1967 Doors perform on the Jonathan Winters TV show.

1975 Faces break-up becomes official.

1983 Police open first of 4 nights at Wembley Arena.

1978 Big Star guitarist Chris Bell dies in car crash.

2008 Delaney Bramlett dies following gall bladder surgery.

2008 Gregg Allman’s house robbed while he is on tour…

Led Zeppelin made their US live debut as a late addition to a sold out concert in Denver featuring Vanilla Fudge and Spirit.  The booking might not have happened had Vanilla Fudge not offered to play for less money so Zeppelin could get added to the night's lineup.

The Rocky Mountain News review of the show included, "The concert was cranked off by another heavy, the Led Zeppelin, a British group making its first U.S. tour. Blues oriented (although not a blues band), hyped electric, the full routine in mainstream rock – done powerfully, gutsily, unifiedly, inventively and swingingly by the end of their set.

Singer Robert Plant – a cut above average in style, but no special appeal in sound. Guitarist Jimmy Page of Yardbirds fame – exceptionally fine. Used a violin bow on the guitar strings in a couple of tunes with resultant interesting, well integrated effects.

Bassist John Paul Jones – solid, involved, contributing. John Bonham – a very effective drummer, but uninventive, unsubtle and unclimactic, just an uneventful solo. "

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 26 include...

1939 Producer Phil Spector born.

1962 Scorpions drummer James Kottak born.

1963 Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich born.

1966 Jimi Hendrix writes Purple Haze.

1967 Magical Mystery Tour premiers on British TV. 

1968 Steppenwolf and Canned Heat head-up the San Francisco Holiday Rock Festival at the Cow Palace south of the city. Santana, Dewey Martin's "New" Buffalo Springfield, The Spencer Davis Group, Blue Cheer, Three Dog Night, The Electric Prunes and Flaming Groovies are also on the bill.

1979 A several day series of benefit concerts to raise money to help civilian victims of a war in Cambodian kicks off at London's Hammersmith Odeon.  The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea would include Queen, Who, Pretenders, Clash, Paul McCartney and Wings, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Elvis Costello and the Attractions and others. The set McCartney & Wings did on the final night would be that band's last concert performance.

1999 Curtis Mayfield dies…

Merry Christmas, Rockers!

Not surprisingly, the day is a relatively quiet one in terms of Classic Rock events in years past, but some parents gifted the world some very musically gifted children on Christmas day, including Jimmy Buffett, born on this day in 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi.  His first instrument was trombone, which he played in his grade school band.  He picked up guitar during his freshman year at Auburn University before transferring to a community college and concluding his education at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesbrug.  After a brief stint as a music writer for Billboard, Buffett took to the water, crewing on a yacht based in Key West owned by a wealthy industrialist . He honed his skills as a songwriter/guitarist in Nashville and southern Florida and released his first album, Down to Earth, in 1970.  Since, he has released more than 30 albums, mounted annual sold out tours and created a multi-faceted, multi million dollar brand extension empire involving restaurants, resorts and merchandise based on the lifestyle and attitude of his by far biggest song, Margaritaville. 

Sadly, this is the first Christmas Jimmy is no longer with us, but we can honor him by following through with what we're said to be his among his last wishes... "keep the party going".

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 25 include...

1932 Little Richard (Richard Penniman) in Macon, Georgia.

1944 Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine born.
1945 Noel Redding, Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist, is born.

1948 Background vocalist extraordinaire Merry Clayton born.

1954 Eurthymics Annie Lennox born.

1959 Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) gets his first drum kit for Christmas.
1960 James Taylor gets his first guitar for Christmas.

1965 George Harrison proposes to Patty Boyd.

1967 Paul McCartney and Jane Asher get engaged.

1968 Led Zeppelin arrives for its debut US tour.

1978 John Lydon's Public Image LTD debuts live in London.

1981 The J. Geils Band does a concert for inmates at Norfolk Prison.

2006 James Brown dies of heart attack at 73.

2021 Neil Young surprises fans with a Christmas Day release of Summer Days, an album he recorded in 1987 but never released... 

If Heavy Metal had a Mount Rushmore, a guy born on this day in 1945 would be just about guaranteed a place on it. Bass player and lead singer Ian Fraser 'Lemmy'' Kilmister was in several regional groups and did   stint as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix before landing a spot in the band Hawkwind.  A 1975 drug arrest cost him his place in that group and led him to form Motorhead before the year was out.  Lemmy lived as hard as he rocked, a lifestyle that took a toll and ultimately his life when he passed away just a few days after his birthday in 2015.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 24 include...

1946 Guitarist Jan Akkerman of Focus born.

1964 Beatles stage their first annual Christmas concert.

1964 Beatles do Christmas show at Hammersmith Odeon with the Yardbirds an others.
1968 Guitarist Doyle Bramhall III born.

1972 Miami police halt a Manfred Mann's Earth Band concert due to noise complaints, triggering a riot.

1973 Doobie Brothers Tom Johnson arrested in Visalia, California on marijuana charge just 3 weeks before his band releases What Were Once Vices are Now Habits.
1977 The Sex Pistols play last UK concert before breaking up in Huddersfield.

1988 Nirvana starts studio sessions for debut album Bleach.

2005 Iggy Pop and the Stooges fined for playing too loud when their Lucerne, Switzerland concert registers a 102.5 decibals reading.

2012 Early Mothers of Invention vocalist Ray Collins dies at 76.

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was born on this day in 1964 in Evanston, Illinois. His parents separated when he was a baby and his mother remarried when her son was so young that he grew up assuming her second husband was his biological father. The couple would become foster parents to seven other children younger than Eddie before relocating to the San Diego area.

His mother gave Eddie a guitar on his 12th birthday. When he was in his late teens. his parents divorced. His mother moved back to Illinois with the other children. Eddie remained in southern California with her husband. Eddie recounted that in his mid teens he "was all alone - except for music. After dropping out of high school, he rejoined his mother and adopted siblings in Illinois. He had a series of jobs but continued to dabble in music. His first break came as a result of becoming friends with Jack Irons, drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who tipped Vedder to an opportunity to send a demo to Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, former members of the Seattle band Mother Love Bone that were working on a Temple of the Dog tribute to their former band's lead singer who had died of a heroin overdose. Future Pearl jam member Mike McCready was also in on the project.

McCready, Gossard and Ament later formed Pearl Jam, recruited Vedder and set out to release an album titled Mookie Blaylock for the NBA player for the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors. Blocked with using that title, the group switched the debut album title to 10, Blaylock's Jersey number.  To this day, Vedder remains one of the most avid sports fans in the Rock ranks.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 23 include...

1940 Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna bassist Jorma Kaukonen born.

1941 Tim Hardin isborn.

1943 Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) of Spinal Tap born.

1945 Iron Butterfly drummer Ron Bushy is born.

1946 Spooky Tooth, Stealers Wheel, Mott the Hoople (under the name Ariel Bender) guitarist Luther Grosvenor born.

1949 King Crimson multi-instrumentalist Adrian Belew born.

1956 Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray born.

1964 Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys suffers nervous break-down during flight from LA to Houston.

1969 Elton John & Bernie Taupin start writing together.

1972 Grand Funk Railroad's former manager presents the band with a court order to turn over $1 million is assets to him.

1972 John Lennon’s Imagine premiers.

1977 Cat Stevens changes his name to Yusuf Islam.
1979 Stevie Ray Vaughan marries Lenora Bailey.

1987 David Gilmour comes to terms on allowing Waters to use the name Pink Floyd.
1996 Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx marries Donna Derucio.

1999 Burglar breaks into George Harrison's Maui home and bakes a pizza, does laundry and calls his friends.

2006 Bono awarded an honorary knighthood.

2020 Mountain guitarist Leslie West dies in a Florida hospital two days after suffering a heart attack at his Daytona home.

Cheap Trick' Rick Nielsen was born on this day in 1948.  His mother and father were both opera singers that also operated a music store in Rockford, Illinois, giving their son the opportunity to develop multi-instrumental skills during his teen years.  After deciding to concentrate on guitar and keyboards, Nielsen joined his first band, a group first dubbed The Phaetons, which soon after became the Grim Reapers and added his future Cheap Trick band mate Tom Petersson, before opting for another new name, Fuse.  After Fuse's debut album fizzled, Nielsen quit to briefly take over Todd Rundgren's vacated spot in Nazz.  Cheap Trick came together after Nielsen, Petersson and Bun E. Carlos had a brief stint in a Philadelphia based group named Sick Man of Europe.  Nielsen and Carlos bailed to start Cheap Trick in 1973, with Petersson joining late that year and Robin Zander signing on late the following year. 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 22 include...

1939 Big Brother & the Holding Company's James Gurley is born.

1944 Animals Barry Jenkins is born.

1967 Pink Floyd, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, the Animals and Soft Machine perform at a Christmas concert at the Olympia in London.

1973 Stephen Stills loses a paternity suit filed by California woman.

1978 Who announce Kenny Jones will replace the late Keith  Moon as drummer.

1979 Concert for Kampuchea staged in London with the Who, Paul McCartney, the Clash, Elvis Costello and Rockpile.

1991 The movie Rush with Gregg Allman playing a drug kingpin premieres.

1994 Pearl Jam announces plan to by-pass Ticketmaster on tour.

1987 Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx revived with adrenaline shots after being pronounced dead.

2002 Joe Strummer of the Clash dies of heart attack.

2008 Bruce Springsteen joins Jon Bon Jovi on Run Run Rudolph, Merry Christmas Baby and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town during benefit for community health services at Count Basie Theater in Red Band, NJ.

2010 The zebra crosswalk the Beatles were photographed crossing for the 1969 album cover near Abbey Road Studios gets recognition and protection as a "Grade II" historical site.

2014 Joe Cocker dies of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado at 70...

A guitarist/composer that challenged boundries every year of his career was born on this day in Baltimore, Maryland in 1940.  Frank Zappa was the first of four children born to a father of an  Italian born chemist and mathmatics expert employed in the U.S. defense industry and  a mother of Italian and French ancestory.  After a stint in Florida, the Zappa family moved to  California. Frank's first band gig was as a drummer. While a high school student, he met Don Van Vliet, the future Captain Beefheart. Frank's musical ambitions steered him into becoming an arranger for his high school orchestra. He then composed and arranged some music that was used in early to mid 60's films.

In 1965 he joined an R&B band known as the Soul Giants that got the attention of producer Tim Wilson, who shepherded the group into becoming the Mothers of Invention.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 21 include...

1943 Albert Lee is born.

1946 Beach Boy Carl Wilson is born.

1967 The Beatles stage a London party at the Royal Lancaster Hotel to preview the Magical Mystery Tour movie.

1967 Rolling Stones release Their Satanic Majesty’s Request.

1968 Crosby Stills & Nash make their live debut.

1969 Janis Joplin debuts her Kosmic Blues Band at Stax-Volt Records Christmas Party in Memphis.

1970 Elvis Presley visits the White House, giving Nixon a .44 pistol and getting a Narcotics Bureau badge from the President.

1985 Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. eclipses the record Michael Jackson set with Thriller for the longest run in the top 10 of sales in the Billboard chart when Bruce's 1984 release notched its 79th week.

1992 Guitar great Albert King dies of a heart attack. Born Albert Nelson in 1923, King had a big influence on a number of Rock guitar greats and became both a Blues and Rock Hall Of Fame member.

1994 Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee is arrested on abuse charge after complaint by girlfriend. 

2005 Elton John united with partner in civil ceremony in London.

2012 Rolling Stones and Faces veteran Ronnie Wood marries Sally Humphreys in a private ceremony in London attended by Keith Richards, Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart.

2012 Paul Simon performs Sound of Silence at the funeral for a teacher killed in the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut.

The album recorded during the concerts George Harrison staged at Madison Square Garden the previous August to raise awareness and relief funds for the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh got released on this day in 1971.  The triple disc set produced by George and Phil Spector became a best seller in multiple countries around the world and won the Grammy Album of the Year recognition.

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

1944 Blood Sweat & Tears Bobby Colomby is born

1945 Peter Criss of KISS is born.

1948 Engineer/musician Alan Parsons who worked on Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon in addition to forming his own successful Alan Parsons Project born.

1966 Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes is born.

1967 Jethro Tull forms.

1975 Joe Walsh replaces Bernie Leadon in the Eagles.
1980 Motorhead's Phil Taylor breaks a neck bone during a post concert party.

1981 The Allman Brothers Band releases Brothers Of The Road.
1982 Concert promoter Don Law dies of lung cancer.

2005 Ozzy Osbourne attends the bachelor party Elton John throws for his partner.

2006 Procol Harum keyboard player Matthew Fisher wins a share of the copyrights to Whiter Shade of Pale.

2007 Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli divorce.

2009 Big Brother & The Holding Company guitarist James Gurley dies of heart attack.

2015 Bruce Springsteen plays the Saturday Night Live Christmas show, Paul McCartney joins the E Street Band on Sant Claus Is Coming To Town.
2016 Journey, Yes, Electric Light Orchestra, Pearl Jam announced as Rock Hall Of Fame 2017 inductees.

2017 Steve Miller joins Billy Joel on The Joker at Madison Square Garden...

Ten Years After’s Alvin Lee born Graham Anthony Barnes was born in Nottingham. England on this day in 1944. The future lead singer/guitarist took up the instrument at 13 and formed what would be the core of his band just three years later. The group's first few albums established a decent fan base in the States, but their electrifying performance of  I'm Going Home at the original Woodstock festival created something of a sensation.  The expectation that he would deliver an equally incendiary version of the song at every subsequent concert ended up leaving Lee feeling stylistically hemmed in.  The success of I'd Love to Change the World eased that pressure some, but Lee ultimately disbanded the group and went solo, producing several solid albums. The highlight was In Flight, a double live album recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London and released in 1974.

Lee died in Spain at 68 after undergoing a routine procedure to address atrial arrhythmia.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 19 include...

1944 Lovin' Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky born.

1957 Loverboy's Doug Johnson born.

1969 Mick Jagger pays fine for marijuana possession in Marlborough, England.

1969 Beatles release their 7th annual Christmas record.

1975 Rolling Stones make Ron Wood a full time member.

1993 Michael Clarke of the Byrds dies of liver failure at 47.

1994 Aerosmith closes tour at Mama Kin Club in Boston.

1997 B.B. King performs for the Pope at the Vatican.

2001 Stone Temple Pilot's Scott Weiland pleads guilty on a domestic battery charge.

2009 Austin, TX announces city will honor Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Townes Van Zandt at new Austin Music Memorial.

2022 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss release Raise The Roof...

One of Rock's most endearing and enduring guitarists and songwriters was born on this day in 1943 in Dartford, England.  It is said that Keith Richards earned his first guitar by devising a way  to reach one place on a high shelf by his grandfather.  From that day forward, Keith immersed himself in learning his way around the instrument with the help of his grandpa and by listening to records.  A chance encounter with Mick Jagger on a train platform would lead to Keith joining Jagger in a group performing under the name Little Boy Blue.  Before long, Brian Jones invited the pair to meet pianist Ian Stewart , an acquaintance that led to the formation of the Rolling Stones.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 18 include...

1938 Chas Chandler, bass player for the Animals and early Jimi Hendrix manager, born.

1943 Sax player Bobby Keys, did a lot of work with the Rolling Stones and also recorded or toured with Joe Cocker, George Harrison, John Lennon, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Humble Pie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Delaney & Bonnie and others,  born

1948 Be Bop Deluxe’s Bill Nelson born.

1950 Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue drummer Randy Castillo born. 

1968 Janis Joplin holds auditions fer her Kozmic Blues Band.

1953 Elliot Easton (Shapiro) of the Cars born.

1968 Janis Joplin auditions members for her Kozmic Blues Band.

1972 Bob Dylan on the set for the first day of filming his role in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid movie.

1978 Led Zeppelin finishes recording sessions for In Through The Out Door.

1981 Rod Stewart LA concert is telecast globally by satellite.

1983 Keith Richards marries Patty Hanson in Mexico.

1993 Eric Clapton attends Keith Richards 50^th birthday party in New York City.
2000 Melody Maker publishes its final edition.

2005 Appliances from Jerry Garcia’s home put up for auction on EBay to benefit a charity the late Grateful Dead guitarist supported.

2015 Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks perform together for the first time in almost 20 years.
2020 Paul McCartney releases McCartney III...

The man John Mellencamp proclaims is the best lead vocalist in rock was born on this day in 1949 in Middlesbrough, UK. Paul Rodgers started his musical journey as a bass player in a group called the Roadrunners when that group's front man decided he'd rather be the rhythm guitarist.  The song All Right Now with his next band Free brought his powerful vocals to the attention of the rock world.  Free disbanded in 1971 and Rodgers signed on doing vocals and playing some guitar in Peace, a band that toured opening for Mott The Hoople.  Free reunited the following year but only remained together until '73, when Rodgers, Free drummer Simon Kirke, Mott The Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell put together Bad Company.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 17 include...

1942 Paul Butterfield born.

1958 Multi instrumentalist Mike Mills of R.E.M. is born.

1964 Sam Cooke is buried in Chicago six days after being shot and killed by a motel manager when an argument over the whereabouts of the woman he'd arrived with turned physical in El Segundo, California. The  woman that pulled ther trigger three times claimed it was in self defense. The Police report of the incident labeled the killing as being a justifiable homicide.

1971 David Bowie releases Hunky Dory.

1976 Genesis releases Wind and Wuthering.

1977 Elvis Costello plays Saturday Night Live, subbing for the Sex Pistols whose visas got shot down.
1982 The Who do the first of their farewell concerts.

1984  ZZ Top's Dusty Hill shoots himself while removing his boot when derringer he had tucked into it goes off.

1986 Doobie Brothers do a benefit concert for Stanford CA Hospital after it names a wing in the band’s honor. 

1987 Robert Plant includes Led Zeppelin songs in a concert for the first time during a Band of Joy concert in Folkstone, England.
2005 Neil Young plays Saturday Night Live.

2009 Fire damages London clothing store Eric Clapton has ownership share in.

2010 Paul McCartney does afternoon concert at 350 seat 100 Club in London…

Big happy birthday wishes to the guitar legend in the Little 'ole band from Texas today!  ZZ Top's BIlly Gibbons was born on this day in 1949 in Houston.  His father was a concert pianist and classical music conductor with connections within the southeast Texas music world that allowed him to give his son the chance to get  behind the scenes glimpses of moments that would have a major influence on him. An early one was getting to be a fly on the wall during a B.B. King recording session.  Billy started out as a percussionist and got private lessons with the legendary Tito Puente, writer of the early Santana hit Oye Como Va.  Billy took up guitar at age 13 and later formed a group known as The Moving Sidewalks, a band that got to open some dates of the first Jimi Hendrix Experience US tour.

Toward the end of 1969, Billy recruited Frank Beard and Dusty Hill form the band American Blues and formed ZZ Top.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 16 include...

1943 Tony Hicks of the Hollies born.

1951 Guitarist Robben Ford born.

1966 Jimi Hendrix releases Hey Joe in England.

1970 5 Creedence Clearwater Revival singles and albums certified Gold on the same day.

1971 Frank Zappa's 200 Motels movie opens in London.

1974 Mott the Hoople breaks-up.

1983 Who make official break-up announcement.

Stephen Stills, former Eagle Don Felder, members of Styx and Nigh Ranger appear at Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding concert in Phoenix, AZ.

2005 Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the estates of George Harrison and John Lennon sue EMI for unpaid royalties in the tens of millions.

2006 Paul McCartney walks away from his business deal with EMI Music..

2007 Dan Fogelberg dies from Prostate cancer.

2013 Rock Hall of Fame announces Peter Gabriel, KISS, Nirvana, Hall & Oates, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens as 2014 inductees.

2018 Ringo Starr and Ron Wood join Paul McCartney on Get Back during Paul's tour closing concert at London's 02 Arena...

A pair of big album releases arrived On this day In 1964 and 1967. The  Beatles released Beatles ’65 on December 15th in the US.  The group's 5th US album  included 8 songs from Beatles for Sale, an album released 10 days earlier in the UK that was only available as an import in America until 1987.  The US album would rocket from #98 on the Billboard album chart to #1 the following week, the largest consecutive week jump in the publication's history to that time.

Three years later, The Who Sell Out got its release on this day.   The band's third album was something of a novelty with spoof commercials inserted between songs, some of which caused objections from unamused advertisment producers of jingles for actual products that were lampooned on the album. 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 15 include...

1910 Legendary producer John Hammond born.  Hammond had a hand in securing contracts and influencing the careers of a slew of artists, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Michael Bloomfield and many others.

1919 Woodstock site dairy farmer Max Yasgur born.

1942  Drummer Carmen Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck, Bogart & Appice) born.

1955 Paul Simonon of the Clash born.

1969 John Lennon did his last UK concert, a UNIFEF benefit a the Lycium in London.

1977 Sex Pistols denied US visas the day before scheduled appearance on Saturday Night Live.

1981 Robbie Krieger of the Doors joins Blue Oyster Cult on Roadhouse Blues during Reseda, California BOC show.

1984 Robert Plant plays Saturday Night Live with the Honeydrippers.

1989 Paul McCartney donates $100,000 to Friends of the Earth.

1990 Rod Stewart marries Rachel Hunter.

1991 Scorpions donate $62,000 to Russia for humanitarian aid.

2001 Joe Walsh awarded a doctorate of Music by Kent State University.

1994 Richie Sambora marries Heather Locklear.

2005 NJ state legislator introduces bill to make Born To Run license plate, with sales to benefit Garden State food banks.

2009 Rock Hall Of Fame announces Genesis and the Stooges will be inducted.

2010 First guitar Pete Townshend ever played auctioned for $11,000 to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust.

2018 Springsteen on Broadway closes after 236 sold-out performances...

December 14 was a relatively quiet day in Rock's past, but this night in 1992 fans of the J. Geils Band and Bruce Springsteen lucky enough to be at the E Street Band's Boston Garden concert witnessed The Boss and Geils front man Peter Wolf do In the Midnight Hour together.

The invite to join forces on the Wilson Pickett classic that night came during a pre-concert backstage get together of Peter and Bruce during which The Boss, long an admirer of the energy an stage presence of Wolf, inspired Peter to get out and do more concerts. Since the demise of the Geils Band some 8 years earlier, Wolf had done a trio of solo albums but did not tour and was sour over some record label issues. Springsteen encouraged him to put those aside and reconnect with his fans. By spring of '93, Peter had put together a band and was back on stage doing what makes him one of the great front men in Rock.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 14 include...

1949 AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams is born.

1962 Bill Wyman plays his first gig with the Rolling Stones.
1967 Rolling Stones' Brian Jones hospitalized for exhaustion.

1974  Mick Taylor leaves the Rolling Stones.

1980 Yoko Ono calls for  a 10 minute period of silence in memory of John Lennon.

1984 George Harrison plays with Deep Purple in Sydney, Australia.

1986 Elton John records Live With he Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

1995 FBI files on John Lennon are released.

1997 Guess Who lead guitarist (1970-1974) Kurt Winter dies of kidney failure

1999 Paul McCartney does webcast from the Cavern Club.

2005 Jimmy Page knighted by Queen at Buckingham Palace for his efforts to help poor children in Brazil.

2006 Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun dies six weeks after sustaining a head injury in a backstage fall during a Rolling Stones concert at the Beacon Theater… 

Rock & Roll isn't rocket science, but even if it was, Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers veteran Jeff' Skunk ' Baxter would be in his element. Born on this day in 1948 in Washington, DC. , Baxter's career in music began as a drummer in a prep school band dubbed King Thunder and the Lightning Bolts. A gig working as a teen at Manny's Music, a Mecca for musicians in search of instruments in Manhattan, led to him meeting Jimi Hendrix and briefly joining the lineup of the future guitar legend's band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, as a bassist. After moving to Boston to attend college, Baxter landed a place in Ultimate Spinach and then had a stint in the Holy Modal Rounders.   After moving to SoCal, Jeff got session work as a guitarist and became a founding member of Steely Dan in 1972. After three albums, he made the jump to the Doobie Brothers.

A fascination with under the hood aspects of studio equipment and recording technology got him interested in other technologies, including missile guidance systems.  Largely self-taught, Baxter became a highly respected expert in algorithms that could be used to improve missle defense capabilities and became a leading consultant to the Defense Department.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 13 include...

1948 Ted Nugent born.

1949 Television's Tom Verlaine born (Thomas Miller).

1966 Jimi Hendrix Experience records Foxy Lady and later that day have their TV debut on Ready, Steady, Go!

1974 George Harrison visits the White House at the invitation of Jack Ford, the President's son.

1983 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page perform Roy Head's Treat Her Right in concert.

1985  Phil Collins guest stars on Miami Vice.

1988 Bruce Springsteen and Julianne Phillips divorce.

2000 Aerosmith, Queen, Steely Dan, Paul Simon announced as Rock Hall Of Fame 2001 inductees.

2001 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, the Ramones announced as Rock Hall Of Fame 2002 inductees.

2002 Zal Yanovsky of the Lovin' Spoonful dies of a heart attack at 57.

2005 Cream Royal Albert Hall double CD released.

2010 Paul McCartney plays the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

2021 Bruce Springsteen does a surprise four song set backed by Steve Earle's band and Willie Nile at Earle's annual Friends of John Henry benefit at Town Hall in New York.

Photo: Simon Bema

Although it wasn't "...in the backseat of a Greyhound bus rollin' down Highyway 41", it was on this day in 1943 that Ramblin' Man and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band Dickey Betts was born in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 12 include...

1941 Moody Blues founding keyboard player Mike Pinder is born 

1946 Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker is born.

1953 Georgia Satellites born lead singer and rhythm guitarist Dan Baird is born.

1953 KISS, Grand Funk Railroad and Blackjack guitarist is Bruce Kulick born.

1957 Fixx lead singer Cy Curnin is born.

1964 Ray Davies of the Kinks marries 17 year-old Rasa Didztpetris.

1967 Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones draws a three year probation sentence on drug charges.

1969 John Lennon & Yoko Ono release Live Peace In Toronto.

1970 The Doors last concert with Jim Morrison fronting the band takes place at the Warehouse in New Orleans.

1974 The Rolling Stones open their recording sessions for Black and Blue on the same day that the departure from the group of Mick Taylor gets announced. The 15th studio album from the band in the US would get its release on April 20. 1976.

1980 Clash releases Sandanista.

1985 David Crosby surrenders to authorities after more than two weeks after a warrant is issued for his arrest on drugs and weapons charges.  He serves nine months of a 14 month sentence and manages to kick his drug habit while in jail.

1985 Rolling Stones veteran Ian Stewart dies in waiting room while waiting for his doctor appointment.

2003 Mick Jagger is knighted at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles.

2007 Ike Turner dies of a cocaine overdose.

2008 John Paul Jones of Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures plays with the Allman Brothers band at Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Asheville, NC.

2012 The Rolling Stones, the Who, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters, Michael Stipe and others perform at a Hurricane Sandy relief concert.

2015 Steve Vai's custom Ibanez Guitar stolen during a benefit concert for another guitarist in LA.

2015 Crowd nearly riots over sound problems during AC/DC concert in Wellington, NZ.

2017 Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens dies.

2020 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's first public performance in four years is doing two songs from the Letter To You reunion album on Saturday Night Live.

2021 Paul McCartney's Yamaha bass guitar sell for $496,000 in Music Rising benefit auction to raise money for New Orleans area musicians sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and their wives attend the London premiere of Abbey Road documentary If These Walls Could Sing, produced by McCartney's daughter, Mary.

2023 The Allman Brothers Band Live Manley Field House at Syracuse University April 7.1972 gets released.

The Rolling Stones staged one of the most unusual intended for TV music specials ever on this day in 1968. Their Rock and Roll Circus included performances by them, the Who, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithful, Taj Mahal and John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience under the name the Dirty Mac surrounded by big top trappings with Mick Jagger as the ring master.  

The 15 hour marathon proved so exhausting that Mick considered the Stones set to be unacceptable, leading him to nix the planned TV airing of it by the BBC. The distilled recording of it was not released for another 28 years.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 11 include...

1944 Booker T. Jones born.

1958 Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx born.

1961 Darryl Jones, Rolling Stones session bassist, born

1964 Sam Cooke is shot and killed during a dispute with a woman at a LA motel.

1967 Jethro Tull forms.

1969 Film The Magic Christian with Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers has London premiere.

1970 John Lennon releases Plastic Ono Band.

1972 First US Genesis concert takes place at Brandeis University near Boston.

1973 Ace Frehley gets shocked by an ungrounded lighting fixture during KISS concert.

1982 The Jam does its last concert in Brighton, UK.

1987 Bono gets arrested for spray painting graffiti on a fountain during a free U2 concert in San Francisco.

1988 Don Henley, Tom Petty and Graham Nash do a concert in Los Angeles honoring Roy Orbison following his death a few days earlier.

1998 A bottle strikes Chris Robinson during a Tucson, Arizona Black Crowes concert. A security guard trying to arrest the person that threw it is stabbed.

2002 David Lee Roth sues Van Halen for leaving him out of negotiations to renew the group's contract with Warner Brothers Records.

2002 Guns N' Roses remaining tour dates get cancelled due to Axl Rose and others failing to show up on time.

2005 Movin’ Out, musical featuring music of Billy Joel, ends 3 year Broadway run. Joel does two songs at the close.

2008 Auction of shotguns from Eric Clapton collection brings close to half a million dollars.

2010 Charlie Gilmour, adopted son of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, scales British war memorial during protests over student tuition hikes. Later is arrested despite apology.

2010 Paul McCartney does 4 songs and appears in skits on Saturday Night Live.   2010 Bob Weir and Mickey Hart join Sammy Hagar during Red Rocker’s holiday benefit concert in Mill Valley, California.

2012 Ravi Shankar dies following heart valve replacement.

2016 Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but skips the ceremony.

Paul McCartney & Wings live triple album Wings Over America got its release on this day in 1976. Most of the tracks on the album were from a concert in Denver, Colorado on June 23rd of the bicentennial year. Plenty of overdubs of backing vocals got recorded for the LP and the conventional credit of Lennon-McCartney on the five Beatles songs on the collection were switched to McCartney-Lennon.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 10 include...

1965 The Warlocks do their first gig as the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore West.

1967 Otis Redding and his band mates die in plane crash in Wisconsin just four days after Redding had recorded Dock of the Bay.

1967 The Steve Miller Band inks a $750,000 deal with Capitol Records.

1971 Frank Zappa suffers a broken leg and skull fracture when the jealous boyfriend of a fan pushes him off the stage during a London concert.

1973 CBGBs opens in New York City.

1976 Billy Idol debuts with Generation X in London.

1983 Keith Richards marries Patty Hanson.

1994 Town of Saugerties, New York sues the organizers of the Woodstock II festival over money lost because of lax gate crasher policy.

1995 Bruce Springsteen performs a fund raising concert to benefit metropolitan area food banks at the Beacon Theater in New York.

1998 Bruce Springsteen wins a suit blocking the former manager from releasing an album of early material.

1998 Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead and others perform at Amnesty International benefit in Paris.

1999 The band's Rick Danko  dies of a heart attack brought on by drug use.

2007 Led Zeppelin reunites with Jason Bonham on drums in a tribute concert to Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun at London's O2 Arena.

2010 Florida Governor pardons Jim Morrison for his conviction on a public lewdness charge at a 1969 Doors concert in Miami.

2015 Janis Joplin's psychedelically painted 1964 Porsche sells for $1.76 million.

2015 Collector buys the last guitar Pete Townshend smashed on stage in 1989 for $84,000...

Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker unleashed one of the great debut albums by a Rock trio on this day in 1966 when Cream's debut album Fresh Cream hit the  streets.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 9 include...

1934 Junior Wells is born Amos Wells, Memphis.

1941 Dan Hicks is born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1962 George Martin sees the Beatles for the first time at the Cavern Club.

1967 Jim Morrison gets maced while showering with a female fan backstage.  The Doors front man later gets arrested for taunting police from the stage during the concert in New Haven, Connecticut.

1969 Jacob Dylan is born.

1972 Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Steve Winwood, Richie Havens and Peter Sellers participate in an orchestral production of the Who's Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre in London. 

1974 George Harrison releases Dark Horse.

1978 Blues Brothers Soul Man single released.

1992 Bill Wyman announces he's leaving the Rolling Stones.

1997 Elton John delivers $32 million check from sales of  Candle In The Wind remake in tribute to Princess Diana and sung by him at her funeral to Princess Di Fund.

2006 U2 closes Vertigo tour with Hawaii performance. Band is joined onstage by opener Pearl Jam and surprise guest Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day.

2010 Florida Governor Charlie Crist secures a pardon for Jim Morrison on wrongful conviction the singer had exposed himself during a March, 1969 Doors concert in Miami.

2013 Billy Joel and Carlos Santana get Kennedy Center recognition.

2010 adopted son of David Gilmour arrested after scaling a statue during protest in London over tuition hikes. 

2017 Auction of Neil Young's model trains, musical equipment and vintage cars raises big money for Bridge School...

This day ended up being a date of profound entrances and untimely and violent exits in Rock history.

Jim Morrison was born on this day in 1943 in Melbourne, Florida. Four years later, Gregg Allman was born in Nashville. And on this night in 1980 New York City, John Lennon was shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment by a deranged man who'd had John autograph a copy of the recently released Double Fantasy album just hours earlier.

And on this night in 2004, 'Dimebag Darrell' Abbott of Pantera and Damageplan was murdered when a fan rushed the stage during a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio and shot the guitarist several times. The band's security head and a fan attempting to disarm the assailant were also shot and killed before a police officer shot the killer.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 8

1957 Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is born.

1967 Traffic releases Mr. Fantasy.

1968 Graham Nash quits Hollies, joins Crosby, Stills & Nash.

1969 Jimi Hendrix is acquitted of heroin/hashish charges.

1970 Jim Morrison records An American Prayer.

1975 Bob Dylan plays a benefit for boxer Rubin Hurricane Carter at Madison Square Garden. 

1975 Uriah Heep bassist Gary Thain dies of a heroin overdose at 27.

1984 Motley Crue's Vince Neil crashes his Pantera, an accident that kills Hanoi Rocks drummer Nick Razzle Dingley.

1995 The Grateful Dead officially announce end of the band 4 months after Jerry Garcia’s death.

1998 Bruce Springsteen announces his first tour with the E Street Band in close to a decade.

2000 Sting gets a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

2003 Ozzy Osbourne sustains broken collarbone and ribs in an ATV crash on his LA estate.

2006 Roger Daltrey sits out the last several songs of The Who's St. Paul concert suffering from laryngitis.

2011 Lynyrd Skynyrd plays grand opening of band’s BBQ in the Excalibur in Las Vegas.

2013 Billy Joel, Carlos Santana and Herbie Hancock receive Kennedy Center Honors.

2016 Mick Jagger becomes a father again at 73...

King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer veteran Greg Lake lost his battle with cancer on this day in 2016.  Born Gregory Stuart Lake in Dorset, England, the bassist/guitarist was one of the youngest songwriters to pen a song that would become one of the best known songs of an impressive career when he wrote Lucky Man at the age of 12.  Robert Fripp recruited him to join King Crimson when he was just 17.  He made the jump to ELP in 1970 and played a major role in crafting the musical direction of the trio.  After launching a solo career in the mid 70's, Lake would continue to perform with ELP off and on.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 7 include...

1942 Harry Chapin is born.

1949 Tom Waits is born.

1962 Bill Wyman auditions to become bass player for the Rolling Stones.

1964 Brian Wilson suffers a breakdown during a flight from Los Angeles to Houston.

1967 Beatles open the Apple Boutique in London.

1968 Eric Burdon announces the Animals last concert as a band will be a December 22 show.

1971 Paul McCartney releases Wild Life.

1973 A former Fleetwood Mac manager claims he owns the name and assembles a different lineup to tour under it.  The ploy fails.

1984 Foreigner releases Agent Provocateur.

1992 The short-lived SONY Minidisc debuts.

2005 MBE medal John Lennon returned is found in a storage vault at St. James Palace.

2008 Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey receive Kennedy Center Honors.

2015 Neil Peart of Rush announces he's retiring.

2015 David Bowie's last public performance is on stage in a production of Lazarus in New York City.

2014 Sting receives Kennedy Center honor in Washington, DC.

2018 Burglar breaks into Paul McCartney's London home while the former Beatle is on tour.

2023 A Fender Precision bass guitar ZZ Top's Dusty Hill bought at a Dallas pawn shop for $70 dollars early in his career sells at an auction for $393,700.

Today marks the anniversary of the release of Beggar's Banquet in 1968. It was the last full Stones album recorded with Brian Jones, who showed up only occasionally for sessions and often wanting to play instruments other than guitar (sitar on Street Fighting Man, harmonica on Dear Doctor and Prodigal Son, Mellotron on Jigsaw Puzzle and Stray Cat Blues). The following year on December 6th, the Stones headlined the ill fated Altamont Speedway concert near San Francisco. And on 12/6/1970, Gimme Shelter, the remarkable film documenting that concert, had its premier in New York City.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 6 include...

1947 Savoy Brown's Kim Simmons born.

1956 R.E.M.’s Peter Buck born.

1956 Guitar legend Randy Rhoads born.

1961 Brian Epstein offers to manage the Beatles, a deal won’t be struck for almost another year.

1967 Otis Redding records Dock of The Bay.  He would lose his life in a plane crash just four days later taking him to Madison =, Wisconsin, where Redding was scheduled to do a concert at The Factory, a club near the University of Wisconsin campus.

1977 Jackson Browne releases Running On Empty.

1988 Roy Orbison dies of heart attack.

1993 Eagles reunite for first time in 13 years for video shoot.

1999 Rock Hall Of Fame announces Eric Clapton. Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, the Lovin' Spoonful, and Earth, Wind and Fire as 2000 inductees.

2003 Elvis Costello and Diana Krall marry.

2005 Queen guitarist Brian May awarded Commander of the Order of British Empire by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

2009 Bruce Springsteen receives Kennedy Center Award in DC.

2015 Indianapolis Colts owner pays over $2 million for drum kit used in more than 200 performances by Ringo Starr.

Back when album sales were booming, Major record labels timed releases for late November and early December knowing that lots of fans would snap them up for themselves and as easy to wrap holiday gifts for friends and family.

This pair of landmark albums got released right about this time in 1969 and 1973. Let It Bleed from the Rolling Stones on 11/28/1969 and Paul McCartney and Wings highly anticipated Band on the Run in on this day in 1973.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 5 include...

1938 J.J. Cale born.

1947 Buffalo Springfield, Poco and Loggins & Messina veteran Jim Messina was born.

1960 Great White's Jack Russell born.

1965 The Beatles do their final concert in their hometown of Liverpool.

1968 Graham Nash splits wit the Hollies.

1978 Charlie Daniels Band records The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

1980 John Lennon does his last interview with Rolling Stone's Jonathan Cott.

1994 Pearl Jam releases Vitalogy.

2004 Elton John gets Kennedy Center honors.

2005 Pink Floyd’s Pulse released on DVD.

2005 Valarie Bertenelli files for divorce from Eddie Van Halen.

2009 Bruce Springsteen a guest of honor at State Department dinner the night before he gets Kennedy Center Award in Washington.

2009 Phil Lesh joins the Black Crowes on a Grateful Dead song encore at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

2010 Paul McCartney gets Kennedy Center honors.

2010Steven Tyler does last 4 songs on Abbey Road album during the wards segment honoring Paul McCartney.

2013 Rough draft of Born To Run lyrics auctioned for $197,000.

2015 Indianapolis Colts owner bids just over $2 million for Ringo Starr Ludwig drum kit played at more than 200 performances.

 2017 John Mayer undergoes emergency appendectomy, Dead & Company postpone New Orleans and Florida concerts...

Rock lost one of its most eclectic creative geniuses to prostate cancer when Frank Zappa died on this day in 1993.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on December 4 include...

1942 Moby Grape bassist Bob Mosely born.

1944 Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson born.

1944 Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers bassist Chris Hillman born.

1948 Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes lead singer John Lyon born.

1951 Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington born.

1964 Beatles For Sale released in UK.

1967 Beatles open Apple Boutique in London.

1976 Zephyr, James Gang, Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin ods on heroin & cocaine at 25 in Miami.

1980 Led Zeppelin announce breakup in the wake of Jon Bonham's September, 1980 death with an announcement that reads, "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were."

1988 Roy Orbison’s does his final performance in Cleveland.

1989 Supreme Court sides with Prince in finding he had not lifted U Got the Look from a song his half sister wrote. 

2006 Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics for "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" sell for $192,000 in New York Auction. 
2009 Sammy Hagar hosts Grand Opening of his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Las Vegas.

2015 Crosby, Stills & Nash perform during National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC.

2015 A Beatles statue is unveiled in Liverpool.

2022 U2 is honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Rock's Prince of Darkness arrived in this world on this day in 1948.  John Michael Osbourne was the son of factory working parents in the industrial city of Birmingham, England.  He acquired the nick name Ozzy while in grade school.  Hearing the Beatles for the first time when he was 14 convinced him to become a musician, which he would, after leaving school the following year, taking on a number of jobs, dabbling in crime and doing some jail time. 

Ozzy's musical salvation began in Rare Breed, a band that Terence 'Geezer' Butler started.  It disbanded after doing just a couple of gigs and the pair recruited two members from another band's break-up - Bill Ward and Tony Iommi of Mythology, to form a group that briefly went under the names Polka Tuck Blues and Earth before settling on Black Sabbath.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events include...

1949 Jefferson Starship lead singer Mickey Thomas born.

1952 .38 Special guitarist/singer Don Barnes born.

1953 Molly Hatchet guitarist Duane Roland born.

1961 Brian Epstein proposes he manage the Beatles.

1965 Beatles release Rubber Soul in UK.

1965 Keith Richards shocked on stage during Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento, CA.

1969 The Rolling Stones record Brown Sugar.

1971 Montreux casino catches fire during a Frank Zappa concert. Seeing it from afar inspires Deep Purple to write Smoke On Water.

1976 Bob Marley, his wife and his manager wounded during a robbery of his home in Jamaica.

1976 Sex Pistols release Anarchy in the UK.

1979 Stampede for general admission kills 11 at Cincinnati Who concert.

1986  The parents of teens that committed suicide after listening to Judas Priest songs sue the band.

1991 Guns N' Roses replaces Izzy Stradlin with Gilby Clarke.

2002 Peter Garrett quits Midnight Oil

2009 Ron Wood jailed overnight after police respond to domestic disturbance call for altercation between the Rolling Stones guitarist and Eketerina Ivanova in at London home.

2014 Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan dies after suffering a stroke in Austin, Texas.

2015 Scott Weiland discovered dead in tour bus outside motel in Bloomington MN.

2023 April Wine lead singer and guitarist Myles Goodwyn dies at 75 in Halifax, NS.

You've heard of swine flu.  How about the swine that flew?  Algie, the inflatable pig that Pink Floyd commissioned to be photographed floating between the smokestacks of the Battersea Power Station for the cover of the Animals album broke loose after the photo for the album cover was taken  on this day in 1976 and briefly disrupted flights at Heathrow airport before being recovered from a field in Kent.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events that took place on December 2 include...

1952 Doobie Brothers keyboard player/vocalist Michael McDonald born.

1960 Def Leppard drummer Rick Savage born.

1968 George Harrison releases Wonderwall.

1969 George Harrison starts touring with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.

1973 Who play Montreal Forum and get arrested after the concert for causing $6,000 damage to the suite in their hotel.

1975 Queen releases A Night At The Opera.

1979 Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge divorce.

1994 REM's Michael Stipe opens vegetarian restaurant in Georgia.

1997 Rolling Stones fan killed in a fall from the balcony during the group's Pontiac Silverdome concert in Michigan.

1998 Jimmy Buffett does benefit for Hurricane relief benefit in Mobile, Alabama.

2003 Alice Cooper gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2006 Bruce Springsteen joins two bands for songs at a Parkinsons Disease fund raiser at a club in Sayerville, NJ.

2008 Bono receives Nobel Man of Peace award in Paris.

2009 Alan Parsons Project songwriter, pianist, singer abd producer Eric Wolfson dies of kidney cancer at 64.

2012 Led Zeppelin gets Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC,

2014 Sax player Bobby Keys dies in Franklin, Tennessee of Liver cancer at 70.
2022 Nazz release Lost Masters and Demos.

2023 KISS closes out its final tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released it's second album in the UK on this day in the UK.  Reprise Records would elect to delay the US release until the middle of January because sales of the debut album that came out the previous May were still going strong in the States.  Jimi and the band capped off the release day by playing on a bill that included Pink Floyd, The Move and Nice at Central Hall in Chatham that night. 

1944 Doors drummer John Densmore born.

1944 Blue Oyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom born.

1964 The Who do the opening set of a 22 consecutive Tuesday nights at London's Marquee Club.

1968 Janis Joplin does her last concert with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1977 Aerosmith releases Draw The Line.  The album failed to impress fans, critics and the band members themselves. Joe perry would attribute the relatively lackluster material and performance to group members having turned into, "...drug addicts dabbling in music, rather than musicians dabbling in drugs."

1983 Neil Young sued by Geffen Records for releasing un-commercial albums.

1996 Former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts arrested on golf course, accused of  threatening wife with a pistol.

2017 Neil Young does a 90 minute solo concert live webcast from Coronation Hall in his childhood hometown of Omemee, Ontario on the same day he oepns his entire catalog of recorded material for free online streaming.

2017 U2 releases Songs Of Experience.

2017 Van Morrison releases Versatile.

2023 Peter Gabriel releases i/0, his first album in 21 years...