Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 29


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Elvis Presley had a remarkable ten songs on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. Even more incredible is that every single he released between 1956 and 1958 reached #1 in the United States. Including both the US and the UK, Elvis has had 36 number one hits in total.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Pop singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme are wed at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They remain married until Eydie's death on August 13th, 2013 at the age of 84.


1963 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The Weavers, who at one time were America's most popular Folk group, give their farewell concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The group had hits in the late '40s and early '50s with songs like "Goodnight Irene" and "On Top of Old Smokey".

December 29
Johnny Tillotson's "Talk Back Trembling Lips" becomes the tenth of his fourteen Billboard Top 40 hits when it peaks at #7 during a ten week stay. He, along with many others, would soon be overwhelmed by teen audiences' preference for English music that the press would dub "The British Invasion."

1964 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The Liverpool Youth Employment Service announced that some applicants were finding it difficult to get jobs because their Beatle style haircuts and clothing were unacceptable to employers.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Two members of The Sir Douglas Quintet, Doug Sahm and Frank Morin, along with a third suspect, were arrested by Corpus Christi police for possession of marijuana. When they came to trial on March 23rd, 1966, all of them wore dark suits, black oxfords, ties and dress shirts and two of them wore their hair quite short. As all three were legally classified as youthful offenders, they were placed on probation by Judge Reynaldo G. Garza who told them, "I'm glad you cut your hair. I saw your pictures in the paper when you were arrested and I don't go for that stuff."

1966 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The Jimi Hendrix Experience made their debut on the UK TV show Top Of The Pops, performing "Hey Joe". The following January, the song will enter the UK Top 10, peaking at #6. Although it failed to chart Stateside, the tune was ranked at #201 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Singer, guitarist and songwriter Dave Mason quits Traffic, one of the UK's most popular and successful Rock bands, to embark on a solo career. He would go on to be moderately successful, placing eight albums on the Billboard 200 between 1970 and 1978, after which he released seven LPs that failed to chart.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The first big Rock festival held on the east coast, The Miami Festival, gets under way in Hallandale, Florida. Tickets sell for six and seven dollars and 100,000 people turn out for the three day event. Those appearing include the hottest acts of the day, Jose Feliciano, Procol Harem, Three Dog Night, Chuck Berry, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, Canned Heat and Joni Mitchell.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle" rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a two week stay. The 30-year-old singer had been killed in a plane crash the previous September 20th after promising his wife Ingrid that he would take some time off to spend with his family.


1974 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
While vacationing with his son Julian and companion May Pang at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, John Lennon added his signature to those of George, Paul and Ringo on a pile of documents dissolving The Beatles' partnership. "Take out your camera," he told May before calling his own attorney, Harold Seider, to go over some final points. Pang would later recall, "When John hung up the phone, he looked wistfully out the window. I could almost see him replaying the entire Beatles experience in his mind."

1980 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
40-year-old Singer / songwriter Tim Hardin died of a heroin overdose in his Hollywood apartment. He is best remembered for "If I Were a Carpenter" (a hit for Bobby Darin in 1966 and The Four Tops in 1968) and "Reason to Believe" (a hit for Rod Stewart in 1971).

1982 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Jamaica issues a Bob Marley commemorative stamp in honor of the late Reggae star. Marley ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announced the birth of their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. Her middle name was to honor Ray Charles.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The trade publication Pollstar reported that Bon Jovi was the highest earning touring act of the year, taking in over $200 million (£130.7m). Australian rockers AC/DC landed at number two for the second year in a row, with tickets sales from their recent trek totaling $177m (£115m). U2, which was the top worldwide act in 2009, came in at third place with ticket sales totaling $160.9m (£104.6). Lady Gaga followed in fourth place, with Metallica at number five.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Robert Lee Dickey, who performed as Bobby Purify in the '60s Soul duo James And Bobby Purify, passed away at the age of 72. The pair is most often remembered for their 1966, Billboard #6 hit, "I'm Your Puppet".


2014 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
74-year-old Ringo Starr revealed plans for a new album in 2015 and hinted at a North American tour that would kick off in February or March. That album turned out to be "Postcards from Paradise", which was produced completely by Starr himself and was recorded with a little help from his friends Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Richard Marx, Van Dyke Parks, Todd Rundgren and several others.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Britain's Cabinet Office announced that Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees and Richard Starkey, aka Ringo Starr of The Beatles, had been selected for knighthood for their service to British music.

December 29
Billboard magazine revealed that Paul McCartney's One On One tour was the highest grossing tour of the year, earning over $132 million. Between April and December, Macca played thirty-seven concerts with an average ticket costing $145.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Phyllis McGuire, the youngest member of the singing Pop trio, The McGuire Sisters, passed away at the age of 89. The act, which included Christine and Dorothy McGuire, placed sixteen songs on the Billboard chart between 1955 and 1961, including two number one records, "Sincerely" in 1955 and "Sugartime" in 1958. Phyllis attracted a lot of unwanted attention when the FBI uncovered her long-running affair with Chicago mobster Sam Giancana, who was shot dead at his home in 1975.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
The British Photographic Industry revealed their year end statistics, with some surprising results. 23% of all physical sales were on vinyl, with ABBA's album "Voyage" being the biggest seller. That marked the fourteenth consecutive year that vinyl sales grew, up 8% over 2020. Sales of CDs continued to fall, with just 14 million discs sold, the lowest figure since 1988, six years after the format was introduced in the UK. Cassette sales, while representing a tiny fraction of the music market, also increased for a ninth consecutive year. 190,000 tapes were purchased in the past twelve months, up by around 20% from last year.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

December 29
Ian Tyson, the celebrated Canadian Folk musician best known for writing the contemporary standard "Four Strong Winds", passed away at the age of 89. Tyson enjoyed a lengthy career as one half of the Folk duo Ian And Sylvia (with Sylvia Fricker), and as a solo artist.




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