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It’s Throwback Thursday! Here’s what happened this week in Boss rock n’ roll history.
In 1963, the Beatles were at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with “She Loves You,” the group’s second No. 1. It became the biggest seller of the year. In 1989, Aerosmith released “Pump,” their tenth studio album, which featured the hit singles, “Love In An Elevator,” “The Other Side,” and “Janie’s Got a Gun.” And in 2003, singer-songwriter Johnny Cash died of respiratory failure at age 71.
In 1960, the Federal Communications Act was amended to outlaw “payola” — payments of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay of records. In 2019, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Money died of cancer at 70. His string of hits in the late Seventies included “Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” and “Take Me Home Tonight.”
In 1968, while he was on tour in the U.K., Roy Orbison’s house in Nashville burnt down; his two eldest sons died in the blaze. Born today in 1949 was Steve Gaines, guitarist with Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose 1975 No. 19 single “Freebird” became a Southern rock anthem. Gaines was killed at age 28 in a plane crash on October 20, 1977; the crash also killed Steve’s sister Cassie Gaines and the band’s leader, Ronnie Van Zant, age 29.
In 1956, Elvis Presley started a 5-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. charts with “Don’t Be Cruel.” Presley’s biggest-selling single — with sales over six million by 1961 — had “Hound Dog” on the B side. It became the most successful single on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. In 1962, The Four Seasons started a 5-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Sherry,” becoming the first group to release three consecutive No. 1 hits. And in 1970, Vice President Spiro Agnew said in a speech that the youth of America were being “brainwashed into a drug culture” by rock music, movies, books, and underground newspapers.
In 1970, Jimi Hendrix joined Eric Burdon on stage at Ronnie Scotts in London for what would become the guitarist’s last ever public appearance. In 1925, blues guitarist B.B. King was born. He gained the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy” that was later shortened to “Blues Boy” and finally to B.B. King.
In 1967, the Doors were banned from The Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison broke his agreement with the show’s producers. Morrison said before the performance that he wouldn’t sing the words, “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher,” from “Light My Fire” but did anyway. In 1923, Hank Williams was born Hiram King Williams. The singer-songwriter and musician is regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time.
In 1970, Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbot’s Hospital in London at the age of 27 after choking on his own vomit. In 1993, Garth Brooks went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with “In Pieces.” The album spent 25 weeks on the chart and sold over 6 million copies.
