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Noteworthy Then

3/29/1979 Breakfast in America released

 

Most eventually huge groups released several good but much less appreciated albums before the one that exponentially increased their fan base. Supertramp's breakthrough album was the one the band served up on this day in 1979. Breakfast in America, the group's 6th album, surpassed the combined sales of the five previous albums within weeks of its March 29th release.

 

The 4x Platinum lp lodged in the #1 spot on album charts for a full six weeks, and heavy airplay for the title track, The Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger and Take The Long Way Home made the band a major concert draw.

 

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

 

1945 John 'Speedy' Keen of Thunderclap Newman born.

1946 Billy Thorpe born.

1947 Toto lead ssinger Bobby Kimball is born.

1947 Robert Gordon is born.

1951 Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau born.

1966 A Chair hurled by a fan during a Rolling Stones concert in Marseilles, France injures Mick Jagger.

1967 John Popper of Blues Traveler born.

1967 Beatles start recording With a Little Help From My Friends.

1970 John & Yoko Ono announce she is pregnant

1973 Dr. Hook makes the cover of the Rolling Stone.

1975 Jeff Beck releases Blow By Blow. 

1978 David Bowie opens his Low tour in San Diego.

1980 Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon Eclipses Carole King's Tapestry for the longest run on the Billboard album charts as it enters its 304th week.

1982 Scorpions release Blackout.

1986 Beatles albums go on sale legally in Russia for the first time.

2000  Phil Collins sues two Earth Wind & Fire members seeking a refund on what Collins claims were overpayments on royalties for the pairs work on the songs Sussudio and Easy Lover.

2001 Billy Joel, Paul Simon and others pay tribute to Brian Wilson at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

2005 Neil Young diagnosed with a brain aneurysm after going to hospital with blurred vision.

2007 Bono gets an honorary kinghthood. Can't be awarded the full one because he's Irish.

2009 Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh join the Allman Brothers Band for the closing night of the ABB's 15 night series of concerts at New York's Beacon Theatre.

2010 Rush inducted by the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

2015 Norman Greebaum is badly injured when his car collides with a motorcycle.

2016 Charlie Daniels gets inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

2016 Andy (Thunderclap) Newman dies at 73.

3/28/1973 Houses of the Holy released

 

 

Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy got its release on this day in 1973. The group's 5th studio album's title track ended up not making the cut and was saved for Physical Graffiti.
Most of the album was recorded in the Rolling Stones mobile studio outside Mick Jagger's Hampshire home, with a bit more work done at Olympic Studios in London and New York's Electric Lady Studios.

 

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

 

1964 Beatles become the first rockers on display at Madame Tussauds wax museum.

1969 Joe Cocker does his first US concert.

1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's single cover of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock gets released.

1974 The Raspberrys disband.

 

 

1976 Genesis opened their first US tour without Peter Gabriel at the New Century Theater in Buffalo, NY. 

1982 David Crosby gets arrested and charged on cocaine and handgun possession counts in LA.

 

 

1981 Pete Townshend joins the Grateful Dead on three songs in Essen, Germany.

1990 Steven Adler is bounced from Guns N' Roses.

1992 Ozzy Osbourne is injured when some fans rushed the stage during the Randy Rhoads memorial concert.

1996 Phil Collins announces his departure from Genesis.

2000 Jimmy Page is awarded a settlement from a publication that published an account that he had contributed to the death of John Bonham.

2005 U2 opens Vertigo tour in San Diego.

2010 Rush is inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

3/27 & 28/1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen recorded

 

One of the great live albums of all time was recorded on this and the following night at the Fillmore East in New York City in 1970. Mad Dogs & Englishmen featured Joe Cocker and Leon Russell backed by a great band that included a horn section and backing vocals from a chorus that included Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Pamela Pollard.

 

Chris Stainton joined Russell on piano and organ, Carl Radle played bass, sax players Jim Horn and Bobby Keys were joined by Jim Price on trumpet, Don Preston played guitar and Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, Chuck Blackwell and Bobby Torres provided drums and percussion.

 

The album got released in August. Expanded editions have been released since, and the complete sets from both nights are now available. There is also a great film documenting the tour that includes lots of behind-the-scenes footage of what proved to be one of the wildest tours ever staged.

 

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

 

1950 Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks is born

1959 INXS keyboards player Andrew Farriss born.

1971 Bruce Springsteen opens for the Allman Brothers Band in Asbury Park.

1973 Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia was arrested on drug charges during a traffic stop near Philadelphia.

1979 Eric Clapton marries George Harrison's ex, Pattie Boyd in Tucson, Arizona.

1984 Scorpions release Love At First Sting.

1984 Metallica makes UK debut.

1984 Bryan Adams records Run to You in Vancouver.

1987 U2 shoots the video for Where The Streets Have No Name during a rooftop live set in LA.

1987 Sammy Hagar makes his live debut fronting Van Halen in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1996 Drummer Howard Wyeth, who recorded with Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, dies of a heart attack at 51.

2000 Ian Dury dies of cancer at 57.

2001 Bruce Springsteen releases Live in New York City.

2012 Historic plaque marking the spot where David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album cover shot was taken in unveiled in London.

3/26/1948 Steven Tyler born

 

Steven Victor Tallarico was born in New York City on this day in 1948. The future front man of Aerosmith is the son of a classical pianist that taught music at a Bronx high school.

 

A close encounter with the Rolling Stones outside their New York hotel in 1965 and subsequent remarks by friends about his resemblance to Mick Jagger probably helped cast his fate.

 

Tyler first encountered Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton at a 1969 Sunapee, New Hampshire concert playing in a group known as the Jam Band. The following year, the three of them and Tyler's New York friends Joey Kramer and Ray Tabano moved to Boston. Tabano got replaced by Brad Whitford later that year.

 

Tyler and the group's big break came on August 5th, 1972. Aerosmith booked a showcase performance at Max's Kansas City, a New York club on Park Avenue that was instrumental in the early careers of dozens of musicians that would go on to become household names. Clive Davis was there for it and signed the group to a Columbia Records contract on the strength of their set.

 

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

 

1948 Boston's Fran Sheehan was born.

1948 Electric Light Orchestra's Richard Tandy born.

1965 Jeff Beck took Eric Clapton's place in the Yardbirds.

1965 Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones all get electric jolts through microphones during a Stones concert in Denmark.

1969 The Allman Brothers Band forms.

1969 Newley weds John Lennon and Yoko Ono open their bed-in for peace honeymoon at the Amsterdam Hilton.

1971 Emerson, Lake and Palmer record Pictures at an Exhibition.

1972 Mott The Hoople disbands

1975 The Who's Tommy film debuts in London.

1976 Santana releases Amigos.

1980 Van Halen releases Women and Children First.

1985 Tom Petty releases Southern Accents.

1986 Guns N' Roses signs with Geffen Records.

1987 Revolution becomes the first Beatles song used in a commercial (Nike).

1996 Stone Temple Pilots release Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop.

2002 Drummer Randy Castillo (Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, Lita Ford)) dies of cancer at 51.

2005 Crowded House, Split Enz member Paul Hester takes his own life at 46.

2019 A school book Paul McCartney had doodled some artwork in sells for almost $55,000.

2022 Genesis does it's last concert in London. The 25 song, two set + encore performance featuring the three principle members of the legendary band willing to perform together included songs from every era of the group's 55 years. 'That's All" was performed, but not as the final song. To the delight of the fans that consider the early to mid 70''s to be the years that the group produced it's best music, the final song was Carpet Crawlers from 1974's Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

3/25/1947 Elton John born

 

Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born on this day in 1947. He went from being a weekend piano player in a local pub at the age of 15 to being in a band that got backup gigs for UK appearances by the Isley Brothers, Patti LaBelle and Long John Baldry just a few years later. The future Elton John got acquainted with Bernie Taupin after the two responded to the same classified ad in the New Musical Express seeking songwriters for Liberty Records artists. Taupin handed off lyrics from Elton to compose the music. The two eventually began collaborating on songs Elton would end up recording.

Elton's 1970 self-titled debut album, Tumbleweed Connection (1970), Madman Across The Water (1971), Honky Chateau (1972), Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player (1973) and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) contained songs that earned John and Taupin standing as one of the great songwriting teams of all time.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock Events on March 25 include...

 

1947 Jack Hall of the Charlie Daniels Band and Wet Willie born.

1947 Brinsley Schwartz born.
1948 Michael Stanley born.

1966 The late, great Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey was born.

1966 The Beatles Yesterday and Today original album cover photo of the band with dismemberd dolls was taken.

1967 The Who opened a 9 day series of concerts doing 3 sets a night at the RKO 58th St. Theater in New York City.

1967 Pink Floyd does three concerts within 24 hours with sets at Windsor, Swindon and Bogner Regis.

1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono open their Bed-In For Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton.

1970 The Faces with Rod Stewart do their first North American concert in Toronto.
1972 Deep Purple releases Machinehead.

1986 Guns N' Roses signs contract with Geffen Records.

1990 Motley Crue's Tommy Lee arrested on indecency charge for mooning an audience in Augusta, Georgia.

1995 Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was rescued from a riptide while swimming in New Zealand.
2002 Bono testifies as a character witness on behalf of Peter Buck at the R.E.M. member's trial on air rage charges.  He is later cleared. 

2005 Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne escape a fire in their Buckinghamshire house.

2007 Elton John 60th birthday concert establishes a new record - his 60th concert at Madison Square Garden.

2016 The Rolling Stones play Havana, Cuba.

2022 Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at 50 in Bogotá, Colombia during the group's tour.
2022 Legacy: A Tribute to Leslie West featuring RObbie Krieger, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Martin Barre, Joe Lynn Turner, Elliot Easton and more is released...

3/24/1975 Lynyrd Skynyrd releases Nothin' Fancy

 

Lynyrd Skynyrd's third studio album hit record stores on this day in 1975. Nothin' Fancy was the first Skynyrd release with Artimus Pyle on drums and the last with guitarist Ed King.

 

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

 

1949 Nick Lowe is born.

1949 April Wine bassist Steve Lang is born

1951 Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson is born.

1962 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys.

1965 Bill Wyman is knocked out by electrical shock during a Stones appearance.

1973 An overzealous fan attacks Lou Reed during a Buffalo, NY concert.

1986 Van Halen unleashes 5150, the debut album with Sammy Hagar in place of David Lee Roth. The album was produced in part by Mick Jones of Foreigner.

1982 Talking Heads releases The Name Of The Band Is The Talking Heads.

1986 The Rolling Stones release Dirty Work.

1991 The Black Crowes lose their opening slot on ZZ Top's 1991 tour after bad mouthing tour sponsor Miller Beer.

2001 Macon, Georgia honors Duane Allman and Berry Oakley by naming a bridge after the two late Allman Brothers band mates. A portion of Highway 91 is also renamed Duane Allman Boulevard.

2016 A Beatles fan buys Ringo Starr's childhood home for $99,000.

 

3/23/1944 Ric Ocasek of the Cars born

Ric Ocasek, front man and rhythm guitarist for The Cars, was born today in Baltimore. After moving to Cleveland with his family at 16, Ocasek met bass player Ben Orr and the pair began promoting concerts together in the Columbus area in the early 70's. The two also played together in a few other bands before relocating to Boston and starting a harmony based folk rock group named Milkwood. A subsequent group called Cap'n Swing added guitarist Elliott Easton and caught some airplay on WBCN. After recruiting Modern Lovers drummer David Robinson to join them and re-adding Milkwood member Greg Hawkes on keys, the group shifted gears, becoming The Cars in 1976.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic ROck events on March 23 include...

 

Leon Russell's fine self titled debut album dropped on this day in 1970. The remarkable lineup of musical friends participated in the recording of it, includes Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts from the Stones, Traffic's Steve Winwood, and his Mad Dogs and Englishmen touring partner Joe Cocker.

 

1945 David Grisman is born.

1972 Concert For Bangladesh movie premieres.

1973 US Immigration Department gives John Lennon 60 days notice to leave the country.

1974 The Grateful Dead's 'Wall of Sound' concert sound system gets unveiled at Cow Palace concert in San Francisco.

1975 Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jefferson Starship play SNACK Benefit at Keezar Stadium in San Francisco.

1978 The Police sign with A&M Records.

1979 Van Halen II released.

1980 Journey releases Departure.

1980 U2 signs with Island Records.

 

 

1983 ZZ Top releases Eliminator

1985 Billy Joel marries Christie Brinckley.

1990 ZZ Top releases Recycler.

1990 Fleetwood Mac opens Behind The Mask tour

1999 Sammy Hagar releases Red VooDoo.

1999 Gov't Mule releases Live.

2009 Jay Weinberg makes drumming debut with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band during rehearsal concert in Asbury Park.

2018 Sammy Hagar is awarded a place on the Bammies Walk Of Fame in San Francisco.


 

 

3/22/1974 The Eagles release On The Border

 

 

On The Border was released by the Eagles on this day in 1974. The group's third studio album introduced a shift into a more of a Rock mode with the addition of Don Felder to the group and the decision mid-way through the recording to replace Glyn Johns as producer with Bill Szymczyk, who had impressed them with his production on future Eagle Joe Walsh's 1973 album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get.  Walsh himself would become a member of the Eagles two years later.

 

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

 

1943 Yardbirds lead singer and Renaissance member Keith Relf is born.

1965 Bob Dylan releases Bringin’ It All Back Home.

1967 The Who make their US concert debut at the Paramount Theater in New York City.

1971 Allman Brothers Band members get busted on drug charges.

1975 The Rolling Stones start recording Black & Blue album.

Ten Years After does its final concert in London.

1978 The Police sign with A&M Records.

1992 Tears for Fears announce break-up.

1994 Edgar Winter Group member and writer of Free Ride Dan Hartman dies at 43 of a brain tumor.

1997 Aerosmith plays Saturday Night Live.
2000 A Kiss concert fan falls to his death from an upper deck of a concert in Oakland, California.

2006 Aerosmith's tour canceled after Steven Tyler undergoes throat surgery.

2010 Joe Bonamassa release Black Rock.

2015 David Crosby clips and slightly injures a jogger while driving his Tesla in southern California.

2017 Boston's Sib Hashian dies at sea at 67 after doing a live set on a cruise ship.

2024 Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, sells a trove of correspondences, memorabilia, personal affects and the original artwork for the Derek and the Dominos Layla and assorted other Love Songs in a Christie's auction that attracts $3.6 million in bids, blowing past the pre-auction estimate of under $500k.
 

3/21/1976 David Bowie and Iggy Pop arrested on drug charges in Rochester, NY

 

 

David Bowie & Iggy Pop got popped on this date in 1976 at the Americana Hotel in Rochester, NY following David's concert at the War Memorial there. Bowie faced a felony charge for marijuana, but never went to trial because a grand jury would not indict him. Oddly, his mug shots were not taken until a few days following the arrest. Not surprisingly, he never did another concert in Rochester.

 

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

 

1948 Eddie Money (Edward Mahoney) born.

1950 Supertramp co-frontman and songwriter Roger Hodgson born.

1961 The Beatles do their first Cavern Club set.

1970 Faces release First Step.

1977 AC/DC releases Let There Be Rock.

1983 Pink Floyd releases The Final Cut.

1984 Yoko Ono opens Strawberry Fields memorial site in Central Park across from the Dakota apartment John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived in.
1991 Leo Fender who invented the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars dies of Parkinson's disease.

1994 Bruce Springsteen wins Oscar for Streets of Philadelphia.

2003 Bryan Ferry and Lucy Helmore divorce.

2006 Pete Townshend releases Psychoderelict DVD.

2010 Joe Bonamassa releases Black Rock.

2014 Brian Johnson joins Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden for a version of Highway To Hell.

2014 Gregg Allman misses first of 2 nights during Beacon Theatre residency with bronchitis, band postpones dates.

2018 Mike Campbell and Neil Finn rehearse with Fleetwood Mac in Hawaii. On April 9 the band announces Lindsey Buckingham is out, they are in.

.

3/20/1950 Carl Palmer born

 

 

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...

 

3/19/1971 Aqualung released

 

 

The groundbreaking 4th studio album from Jethro Tull dropped on this day in 1971.  Aqualung was the first Tull album with Jeffrey Hammond (bass) and John Evan (keyboards) and the last with Clive Bunker (drums). The album was recorded at the same time and in the same studio building Led Zeppelin was doing sessions for its 4th album and got mixed down at Abbey Road Studios.  Ian Anderson recalls the sessions as difficult because of the acoustics of the studio.  He also took issue with the notion that Aqualung was a concept album, calling it "just a bunch of songs" and leading him to present the follow-up Thick as a Brick as a spoof on concept albums.

 

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

 

1944 Early Grateful Dead keyboard player Tom Constanten born.

1946 Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson born.

1962 Bob Dylan releases his self-titled first album.
1970 David Bowie and Angie Barnett marry.

1974 Jefferson Airplane rebrands itself Jefferson Starship.

1976 Paul Kossoff dies at 25 of  heart failure in flight during LA to New York City flight.

1976 The Doobie Brothers release Takin' it to the Streets.

1978 Billy Joel does his first UK concert in London.

1982 Guitarist Randy Rhodes dies at 25 when plane he is on clips the Ozzy Osbourne tour bus near Orlando, Florida.     

1985 Spin magazine publishes its first issue.

1996 Beatle Anthology volume II released.

2001 Rock Hall Of Fame inducts Queen, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Richie Valens, Solomon Burke. Keith Richards inducts Johnny Johnson and James Burton and jams with Paul Simon, Bono, Robbie Robertson and Burke at the end of the ceremony in New York.

2002 Jimmy Buffett releases Far Side of the World.

2009 Eric Clapton joins the Allman Brothers Band during the annual series of shows at the Beacon Theater.

2009 Cheap Trick announces Bun E. Carlos will no longer tour with band…

3/18/1978 California Jam II Rocks Ontario Motor Speedway

 

 

Ontario Motor Speedway in California played host to 350,000 Rock fans on this day in 1978 with a lineup that included Aerosmith, Heart, Foreigner, Santana, Dave Mason, Fleetwood Mac veteran Bob Welch, Dave Mason, Mahogany Rush, Ted Nugent and Rubicon.  A double live concert album culled from the concert got released by Columbia Records.

 

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

 

1941 Wilson Pickett is born.

1948 Bobby Whitlock is born.

1950 John Hartman of the Doobie Brothers is born.

1962 James McMurtry is born.

1965 Rolling Stones busted for relieving themselves on a gas station wall in Essex, England after the owner refused to let them use the rest room.

1966 Alice In Chains Jerry Cantrell is born.

1967 Word Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi were forming Traffic breaks.

1967 EMI gets Pink Floyd signed to a recording contract.

1982 Asia releases it debut album.

1994 Darryl Jones is announced as Bill Wyman’s replacement by the Rolling Stones.

1996 Sex Pistols announce a reunion.

1997 Aerosmith releases Nine Lives.

2000 U2 gets Freedom of the City award honor in Dublin.

2002 Eddie Vedder inducts the Ramones into the Rock Hall Of Fame.

2003 Ozzy Osbourne adds Jason Newstead to his band.

2011 Bruce Springsteen does 3 songs with Dropkick Murphys at Boston House Of Blues.

2017 Chuck Berry dies of a heart attack at 90.

3/17/1967 Grateful Dead release debut album

 

 

On this day in 1967, the Grateful Dead released its self-titled debut album. Although the band would go on to become notorious for long jams, six of the nine songs on the album clocked-in at under 3 minutes. Four tracks would have been longer, but Warner Brothers insisted they be shortened. The recording process was unfamiliar and uncomfortable for the band, which had to travel to LA to record it because San Francisco studio's were lagging behind in quality studio equipment. They were also working with a producer who had engineered for the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane, but to that point had little experience as a producer.

 

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

 

1941 Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane/Starship is born.

1944 John Sebastian is born.

1951 Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham is born

1966 The Who's Keith Moon marries Kim Kerrigan.

1967 Jimi Hendrix Experience releases Purple Haze in the UK.

1968 Mick Jagger joins a Vietnam War protest in London that inspires Street Fighting Man.

1971 Peter Gabriel marries Jill Moore.

1968 U2 wins a talent contest in Dublin that nets the band $850 and an audition for CBS Records.

1979 Bad Company releases Desolation Angels.

1979 Talking Heads appear on American bandstand.

1990 Traffic, Family, Blind Faith member Ric Grech dies of kidney and liver failure at 43.

1998 Van Halen releases Van Halen III.

1998 Scott Weiland releases 12 Bar Blues.

2003 Mark Knopfler breaks six ribs and  collarbone in motorcycle accident.

2004 Ray Davies of the Kinks awarded CBE at Buckingham Palace.

2008 Heather Mills lands a $47 million dollar divorce settlement from Paul McCartney on the 8th anniversary of the day Paul had announced they were a couple..

2010 Alex Chilton of Box Tops and Big Star dies of a heart attack.

2013 Historical marker placed at 94 Baker Street, site of the Apple Boutique,

2014 L' Wren Scott, Mick Jagger's lover, commits suicide in New York Apartment. Stones postpone tour....

2017 Jack Irons drums with Pearl Jam on Shine On You Crazy Diamond during Key Arena concert in Seattle.
2023 U2 releases Songs of Surrender.

2024 Little Feat releases Sam's  Place.

 

3/16/1954 Heart's Nancy Wilson born

 

 

Heart's younger sister Nancy Wilson was born on this day in 1954 in San Francisco. When she and sister Ann watched the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Nancy said it was like a '...lightning bolt came out of the heavens and struck' the two of them. The pair's first band was The Viewpoints. Nancy moved to the Seattle area and Ann to Vancouver, where the two eventually reunited in a band known as Hocus Pocus before becoming Heart.

 

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

 

1926 Jerry Lee Lewis is born i Ferriday, Lousiana

1942 Jerry Jeff Walker is born in Oneonta, NY.

1949 Elliott Murphy is born in Rockville Centre, NY. born.

1972 John Lennon appeals his US deportation order.

1975 T-Bone Walker dies of pneumonia at 64.

1977 A&M Records cancels the contract of the Sex Pistols.

1978 REO Speedwagon releases You Can Tune A Fish But You Can't Tune A Piano.

1981 Who release Face Dances.

1984 Dire Straits release Alchemy.

1991 Wolfgang Van Halen is born.

1991 Black Crowes play Saturday Night Live.

1992 Metallica fans dangle an usher by his feet over the railing during a concert in Orlando.

1996 The Ramones announce their concert on this night in Buenos Aires will be their last concert.

2005 Billy Joel checks himself into rehab.

2010 Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, the Stooges and the Hollies inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame.

2015 Andy Fraser of Free dies of  a heart attack at 62.

2017 Ray Davies gets knighted by Prince Charles during ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

2017 James Cotton dies of pneumonia in Austin, Texas hospital at 81.

2020 Neil Young performs for a virtual campaign rally for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

3/15/1940 Phil Lesh born

 

A Happy birthday to Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh, born on this day in Berkeley, California. Lesh played violin and trumpet before meeting Jerry Garcia and agreeing to pick up bass to secure a spot in the Warlocks, the group that would morph into the Grateful Dead.

 

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

 

1941 Mike Love of the Beach Boys is born.

1943 Sly Stone is born Sylvester Stewart.

1947 Ry Cooder is born.

1955 Twisted Sister's Dee Snider is born.

1963 Poison's Bret Michaels is born.
1968 The Byrds got a chilly reception from country music fans when they play the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

1968 Beatles release Lady Madonna in the US.
1968 T-Rex's Marc Bolan publishes a book of poetry titled The Warlock of Love.

1976 Kiss releases Destroyer.

1979 Bonnie Bramlett cold-cocks Elvis Costello for harrassing Ray Charles.

1974 The Emerson, Lake and Palmer film Pictures at an Exhibition opens in LA.
1982 Bob Dylan inducted by the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

1988 Mick Jagger opens his first solo tour in Osaka, Japan.

1988 Talking Heads release Naked.

1994 Sammy Hagar releases Unboxed box set.

1999 Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel are inducted into Rock Hall Of Fame.

2004 Jackson Browne, George Harrison, Bob Seger, Traffic and Prince are inducted into Rock Hall Of Fame.

2010 Genesis, Stooges, Hollies are inducted into Rock Hall Of Fame.

2015 Mike Porcaro of Toto dies of ALS at 59.

2024 The Black Crowes release Happiness Bastard, their first album since reuniting in 2020.

2024 Mark Knopfler releases a new version of Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)  to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust that includes dozens of gueast artists, among them, Jeff Beck , Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown,  Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Steve Cropper, Sheryl Crow, Roger Daltrey, Duane Eddy, Peter Frampton, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Tony Iommi, Joan Jett,  Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Alex Lifeson, Steve Lukather, Phil Manzanera, Dave Mason, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Rick Nielsen, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian,  Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Zak Starkey, Sting, Andy Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel, Joe Walsh, and Ronnie Wood.

3/14/1980 Def Leppard releases On Through The Night

 

 

Def Leppard released its debut album on this day in 1980. The album led off with Rock Brigade, a track that had Strawbs member Dave Cousins do a spoken words intro. He also added his voice to the track When the Walls Came Tumblin' Down.

 

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

 

1971 The Rolling Stones stage a farewell concert in London before moving to France as tax exiles.

1981 Eric Clapton cancels US tour when he lands in hospital with an ulcer.

1984 First Hard Rock Café opens, New York City.

1982 Metallica makes live debut at Radio City in Anaheim, CA.

1984 Rainbow does its last concert in Japan.   

1992 Farm Aid V is staged in Irving, Texas with Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt, the Spin Doctors, Arlo Guthrie and others. 
2003 Robert Trujillo makes the jump from Ozzy Osbourne's band to Metallica.

2005 U2, Pretenders, Buddy Guy inducted into Rock Hall Of Fame.

2006 The cars announce reunion plans.

2010 Torrential rains cause partial collapsed of the stage just before the scheduled start of a Guns N' Roses concert in Rio.

2011 Atlanta Rhythm Section's Ronnie Hammond dies at 60 of heart failure.

2016 Sony Music buys back the remaining stake in publishing rights to Beatles songs from the Michael Jackson estate for $750 million...
 

3/13/1960 U2's Adam Clayton born

U2's Adam Clayton was born on this day in 1960 to an Royal Air Force pilot father and a mother who was an airline stewardess.  The future U2 bass guitarist became friends with Dave Evans, aka The Edge,  in his early teens, shortly before Clayton began to develop an interest in music as an alternative to participating in scholastic sports, something he had little aptitude for or interest in.  Early piano lessons were given up for guitar as soon as Adam got turned on to guitar driven rock bands beginning to break-out in the US and UK.  Clayton and Evans became acquainted with Bono (Paul Hewson) and Larry Mullen Jr. at a school all three attended.  A bulletin board notice Mullen posted in hopes of recruiting propective band members drew the interest of Clayton, Hewson, Dave Evans and his brother and a couple of others.  The band Feedback started as a quintet, but was soon down to Dave Evans, Mullen, Hewson and Clayton.  The group adopted the name The Hype and then changed it to U2 shortly after Dik Evans left the fold.

 

1950 Early Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan is born.

1958 Gold Record standards announced by the Recording Institute of America.

1965 Eric Clapton leaves the Yardbirds to join John Mayall's Blues Breakers.

1966 Pink Floyd plays the Marquee Club for the first time. The venue helps launch the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Cream and King Crimson.

1966 Rod Stewart goes solo, leaving the band Steampacket that also included Long John Baldry, Animals lead guitarist Vic Briggs, Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll.

1972 The Eagles start recording debut album.

1977 David Bowie and Iggy Pop open a North American tour in Montreal.

1987 Bob Seger is honored on Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
2001 Eric Clapton releases Reptile.

2006 Rock Hall Of Fame inducts Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie, the Sex Pistols and Miles Davis. The Sex Pistols refuse to attend and former Blondie band members not inducted disrupt the awards appearance of their replacements.

3/12/1971 Night one of the Allman Brothers Band's Live at the Fillmore East recordings

 

 

An album many consider to be the greatest double live album ever released was recorded on this and the following night in 1971 at the Fillmore East in New York City. Released in July of '71, the Allman Brothers Band Live At Fillmore East established the group as a must-see live band. 

Since the ABB was just an added act on a nights billed as "Johnny Winter and Elvin Bishop Group, with Extra Added Attraction: Allman Brothers" the band only received $1250.00 for doing the gigs but crowd response got them elevated to headline status for the third night.

 

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

1948 James Taylor is born.

1949 Little Feat keyboard great Billy Payne is born.

1956 Iron Maiden keyboard, bassist, songwriter Steve Harris is born

1967 Velvet Underground releases its debut album.

1968 Rolling Stones record their first takes of Jumpin' Jack Flash.

1969 Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman at a Register's office. Reception held at the Ritz Hotel.

1969 George Harrison  and Pattie Boyd get arrested on marijuana charges

1969 The Allman Brothers Band releases its self-titled album.

1971 British High Court issues a ruling dissolving the Beatles partnership.

1971 Elton John releases 11/17/70.

1974 Drunk John Lennon and Harry Nilsson get ejected from the Troubadour in LA for calling out insults during a set by the comedy duo the Smothers Brothers.

1977 The Sex Pistols get into a fight with a BBC DJ at the Speakeasy Club in London during which another BBC employee is bashed in the head, requiring stitches. 

1991 R.E.M. releases Out Of Time.

2003 Elvis Costello guest hosts David Letterman's Show while Letterman recovered from heart surgery.

2007 Van Halen, Patti Smith, Ronettes get inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame.

2010 Pink Floyd prevails in a lawsuit against EMI over the sale of digital files of individual songs.

2010 More than 125 arrests made and 8 hospitalized after a gate crashing incident at Metallica in Colombia.

2012 Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack dies of cancer at his Wyoming home.

2013 Bob Dylan becomes the first Rock musician to get the Academy of Arts and Letters honor.

2013 Iron Maiden drummer (1979-'82) Clive Burr dies of complications related to MS at 56.

2016 Iron Maiden's custom 747 tour jet loses two engines in an under tow collision at Santiago, Chile airport...

3/11/1975 Welcome To My Nightmare released

 

 

Alice Cooper's 8th studio album was welcomed to record stores by his fans on this day in 1975. Welsome To My Nightmare, recorded after the breakup of the band that bore his name, revolved around the bad dreams of a boy named Steven.  Alice Cooper concerts during his long career have included more songs from this release than any of hhis other albums.

 

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

 

1947 Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein born.

1970 Crosby Stills & Nash win best New Artist Grammy for their debut album as a trio on the same day that they become a quartet by introducing Neil Young as a member with the release of De Ja Vu.

1971 Jim Morrison moves to Paris.

1975 10cc releases The Original Soundtrack

1985 Eric Clapton releases Behind The Sun.

1992 Eric Clapton records MTV Unplugged session.

1995 Van Halen's Balance Tour opens in Pensacola, Florida.

1997 Paul McCartney is knighted at Buckingham Palace.

2000 Kiss starts their Farewell Tour.

2008 Rock Hall Of Fame inducts The Dave Clark Five, John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen and The Ventures

2009 U2 does a free concert and broadcast from a small theater in Somerville Theater near Boston.

2018 Session drummer Hal Blaine of the Wrecking Crew passes away at 90.

2022 Bryan Adams releases So Happy It Hurts...

3/10/1972 Thick As A Brick released

 

 

Jethro Tull's 5th album got its US release on this date in 1972. Thick As A Brick was conceived as a spoof concept album by Ian Anderson in reaction to critics that believed the group's previous album, Aqualung, had been one. Anderson's writing credits for songs on Thick As A Brick were listed as Gerald Bostock, a made-up 12 year-old character that supposedly wrote a long poem included in the multiple page faux newspaper that folded out of the album's cover.

 

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

 

1947 Boston’s Tom Scholz is born.

1963 Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament is born.

1963 Producer Rick Rubin is born.

1964 Simon & Garfunkel record The Sounds of Silence. Their record company adds bass, drums and electric guitar without seeking permission before its release.

1974 David Bowie records a Philadelphia concert for the 1974 release David Live

1977 Sex Pistols stage an event outside Buckingham Palace to announce they had signed a contract with A&M Records.  The chaos that ensues at the after party at label headquarters results in the contract getting voided within a week.

1980 Billy Joel releases Glass Houses.

1981 Jimmy Page does his first post Led Zeppelin appearance at a Jeff Beck concert in London.

1981 Joe Walsh releases There Goes The Neighborhood.

1984 Ian Gillan leaves Black Sabbath to join re-formed Deep Purple.

1998 Eric Clapton releases Pilgrim.

2003 AC/DC, the Clash, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, the Police and Righteous Brothers inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame.

2005 Danny Joe Brown (vocalist) with Molly Hatchet dies of  Renal failure.

2010 Pink Floyd granted the legal right to prevent EMI from selling their songs individually instead on albums.

2023 Van Morrison releases Moving On Skiffle...

3/9/1987 U2 releases The Joshua Tree

 

 

U2 released The Joshua Tree on this day in 1987. The Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois produced album was the group's 5th studio album and broke from the gate at a pace that made it the fastest selling album in UK history. The album landed Album Of The Year and two other Grammy's and more than 30 million copies of it have sold world wide.

 

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

 

1942 Velvet Underground's John Cale born.

1945 Procol Harum guitarist, singer Robin Trower born.

1948 Manfred Mann's Chris Thompson born.

1949 Move guitarist Trevor Burton is born.

1970 Black Sabbath makes its live debut at The Roundhouse in London

1974 Bad Company makes live debut.

1976 Who postpone tour after Keith Moon collapses during show in Boston.

1977 Sex Pistols sing recording contract at a card table outside Buckingham Palace.

1981 Robert Plant and The Honeydrippers play an unannounced concert at Keele University in the UK.

2000 Chrissie Hynde gets arrested at a New York City protest over the use of cowhide from India in GAP store products.

2005 Molly Hatchet's original lead singer Danny Brown dies of diabetes complications at 53.

2007 Brad Delp of Boston found dead in his Atkinson, New Hampshire home after taking his own life by cabon monoxide poisoning.

2020 Pearl Jam cancels North American spring tour over Covid-19 Corona virus concerns.

3/8/1977 Foreigner releases debut album

 

 

The group comprised of 3 Brits and 3 Americans dropped it's debut album on this date in 1977. Across the Pond members Mick Jones (Spooky Tooth), Ian McDonald (King Crimson) and Dennis Elliott were united with US musicians Lou Gramm (Black Sheep), Ed Gagliardi and Al Greenwood. The perfect name for the outfit; Foreigner.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on March 8 include...

 

1947 Randy Meisner of the Eagles is born.

1949 Dave Lambert of is Strawbs born.

1958 Gary Numan is born Gary Webb.

1968 Fillmore East opens in New York with concert by Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company.  

1969 Steve Marriott leaves the Small Faces.

1973 Paul McCartney gets fined $170 for growing marijuana.

1973 Ron ‘Pig Pen’ McKernan of the Grateful Dead dies from a gastro intestinal hemorrhage at 27.

1974 Bad Company opens its first UK tour with a concert in Newcastle.

1987 Bob Seger does his last Detroit concert for a 9 year period.

1993 Beavis & Butthead premiers on MTV.

2003 Mark Knopfler sustains minor injuries in a motorcycle crash.

2011 Mike Starr of Alice In Chanis dies of a suspected prescription drug overdose.

2011 Phil Collins announces his live performing retirement.

2015 Beatles producer George Martin dies at 90.

2016 AC/DC suspends US tour because of Brain Johnson's hearing problems.

3/7/1975 David Bowie releases Young Americans

 

David Bowie's 9th studio album dropped on this day in 1975. Young Americans marked David's move from the Ziggy Stardust glam phase of his career into one that embraced more rhythmic and soulful songs. The title song, recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia using Luther Vandross producer Tony Visconti, and Fame, the song that Bowie and John Lennon worked on together on at Electric Lady Studios in New York, propelled the album into the top 10. David Sanborn plays sax on the title track and Sly and the Family Stone's Andy Newmark is featured on drums throughout the album.

 

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

 

1945 Love's Arthur Lee is born.

1946 Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band is born.
1946 Procol Harum's Matthew Fisher is born.

1969 The Who release Pinball Wizard in the UK.

1969 Genesis releases From Genesis to Revelation.

1973 Bruce Springsteen is introduced during a Columbia records New Artist showcase in a New York City club. John Hammond, the man who signed him, has a heart attack.

1985 David Crosby gets jailed in Texas for parole violation for leaving rehab.

1987 The first five Beatles albums get released as CDs.

1993 Black Crowes cancel a Louisville concert after a crew member gets into an altercation with an undercover cop.   2006 David Gilmour releases On An Island.

2022 Bruce Springsteen speaks at a press conference announcing that the Freehold, NJ Firehouse will open an exhibit space that will display memorabilia items related too him in 2024. Springsteen's archives have since been entrusted to Monmouth University and will eventually be housed in a building on the New Jersey campus the Long Branch, NJ university is raising $45 million to build.

3/6/1946 David Gilmour born

 

 

One of the titans of Progressive Rock guitar was born on this day in 1946 in Cambridge, England. David Gilmour would become a member of Pink Floyd shortly before Syd Barrett exited the band. Raised on the music of Bill Haley, Elvis, the Everly Brothers and other Rock pioneers, getting introduced to Barrett and the other members of Pink Floyd redirected him into a whole new realm of creative expression on guitar. When it became apparent that Barrett's personal demons would make it impossible for him to continue in the band, Gilmour stepped up. Barrett's parting with the band was announced on Gilmour's birthday in 1968.

 

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

 

1966 The Rolling Stones record Paint It Black.

1968 Syd Barrett announces he has left Pink Floyd.

1970 Beatles release Let It Be as a single in the UK.

1973 New York Immigration officials cancel John Lennon's visa extension just five days after it was approved.

1990 Aerosmith gets honored on Hollywood Rock Walk.

2000 Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt & James Taylor are among those inducted into Rock Hall Of Fame.

2001 Aerosmith releases Push To Play.

2001 The National Academy of Recording Artists sues Napster over music sharing.

2004 David Crosby gets arrested on marijuana and weapons charge in New York City hotel.

2009 U2 does a free morning concert at Fordham University.

2013 Ten Years After guitarist, vocalist Alvin Lee dies unexpectedly in Spain from complications following a surgical procedure to address atrial arrythmia.

2016 Eagles co-founding member Randy Meisner's wife dies in what was deemed an accidental shooting in couple's Hollywood home.

2018 Bon Scott statue gets unveiled on Melbourne, Australia street named in his honor...

3/5/1982 John Belushi dies

 

 

Too Fast to live, too young to die, my, my. On this day in 1982, the world lost the brilliant manic comic who assumed the role of 'Joliet Jake' with fellow cast member Dan Aykroyd as his musical brother 'Elwood Blues' in Saturday Night Live skits and in the 1980 Blues Brothers movie. John Belushi died of an apparent overdose in Los Angeles.

 

The pair released the album Briefcase Full of Blues in 1978 and opened for the Grateful Dead at the last concert Bill Graham presented at Winterland in San Francisco.

 

While the Blues Brothers act was purely comedic between songs and included antics like Belushi doing cartwheels during them, the pair revered true blues players and their routines and musical performances turned many of their fans on to some great musicians they might not have discovered otherwise.

 

John's headstone is inscribed "I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on."

 

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

 

1952 Alan Clark of Dire Straits born.

1965 Kinks release Kinda Kinks.

1965 The Rolling Stones and The Hollies open a UK tour at the Regal Theatre in London.

1969 Creem Magazine's first issue gets published.

1970 Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante born.

1971 Led Zeppelin does Stairway to Heaven live for the first time at the Ulster Hall in Belfast, Ireland on the opening night of a UK tour.

1971 Badfinger opens its first US tour in Toledo, Ohio.

1973 Jimi Hendrix manager Michael Jeffrey is killed in Spanish airliner crash.

1985 3,000 radio stations play We Are The World simultaneously.

1994 Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane & Starship gets arrested after waving a gun at police responding to a domestic dispute at her California home.

1984 David Gilmour releases About Face.

1986 Steve Earle releases Guitar Town.

2002 The Osbourne's premiers on MTV.