Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 19


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes", a song that he wrote after seeing a young man get angry at his date for scuffing his shoes. Even though today we more often hear Elvis Presley's version, it only made it to number 20 on the Billboard Top 100 during a five week stay, while was Perkins' original went to number 2 and stayed on the chart for 17 weeks.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
"Come See About Me", the third release from The Supremes album "Where Did Our Love Go", becomes their third straight US number one single. The song opens with a fade-in, making it one of the first to use that technique.

December 19
The Beatles fourth album, "Beatles For Sale", started a seven-week run at the top of the UK album chart. It would stay in the Top 20 for an amazing 46 weeks. The LP was not widely available in the US until 1987, when the Beatles' catalogue was brought into line for release on CD. Instead, eight of the album's fourteen songs were included on Capitol Records' concurrent release, "Beatles '65", issued only in North America.


1966 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Nancy Sinatra's "Sugar Town" entered the Billboard Hot 100 where it would reach #5. Although the lyrics seem innocent enough, the song's writer, Lee Hazelwood, would later say "Sugar Town was an LSD song if there ever was one." The B-side was "Summer Wine", a popular duet featuring and also written by Hazelwood.

December 19
For reasons that are never fully explained, a Los Angeles radio station announces that Mick Jagger had died.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Elton John's first US hit, "Your Song" enters the Billboard Top 40, where it will reach number eight. An excellent version of the tune had already been recorded by Three Dog Night for their "It Ain't Easy" album, but it wasn't issued as a single.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
As if Disco wasn't bad enough, the US music scene reaches a new all time low when "Convoy" by C.W. McCall earns a Gold record. It would go on to top the Billboard Pop chart in early January. The novelty tune tells the story of interstate truck drivers and their run-ins with the law. It reached #2 in the UK and has been ranked at #98 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait airs on ABC. Karen and Richard welcome Gene Kelly, Kristy and Jimmy McNichol and Georgia Engel. The duo's parents, Agnes and Harold Carpenter make a cameo appearance.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Elvis Presley's personal physician, George Nichopoulos, was charged with 'illegally and indiscriminately' prescribing over 12,000 tablets of uppers, downers, and pain killers for the Rock 'n' Roll star during the twenty months preceding his untimely death. Although he was acquitted this time, he was charged again in 1980 and again in 1992 and was stripped of his medical license in July 1995.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Country music singer Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle) shot a man in a bar in Hillsboro, Ohio after being offered a meal of deer meat and turtle soup. Paycheck was offended and yelled, "What do you think I am, a country hick?," and pulled out a .22 pistol and fired, grazing the patron's head. He was later tried, convicted and spent twenty-two months in prison before being pardoned by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste.


1986 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
A California Superior Court Judge refuses to reinstate a lawsuit brought against Ozzy Osbourne by the parents of a teenager who committed suicide while listening to Osbourne's "Suicide Solution". The judge ruled that Ozzy is protected by The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gives him the right to freedom of speech.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Original Byrds drummer Michael Clarke died of liver failure at the age of 47. After The Byrds, he went on to play for The Flying Burrito Brothers from 1969 to 1973 and Firefall from 1974 to 1981. He and the rest of The Byrds were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in January 1991.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Avenue H in Lubbock, Texas, is renamed Buddy Holly Avenue in honor of the city's hometown hero.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Just nine days shy of his 86th birthday, The Staple Singers' patriarch, Roebuck "Pops" Staples died at his home after suffering a bad fall. The American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group placed eight songs on the Billboard Top 40, including "I'll Take You There" (#1 in 1972), "If You're Ready (Come With Me)" (#9 in 1973) and "Let's Do It Again" (#1 in 1975).

2014 - ClassicBands.com

December 19
Wrapping up a twenty-eight year tradition that started in 1986, Darlene Love sang "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on The Late Show With David Letterman for the last time. The 73-year-old Love said she would retire the song from television after Letterman retired.




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