Rock 'n' Roll History for
January 22


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1959 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Buddy Holly was in the recording studio for the last time. He laid down tracks for "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Wait 'Til the Sun Shines Nellie", "Love Is Strange", "Dearest" and "Smokey Joe's Cafe". Alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder in his New York City apartment, he would make his final recordings, including "Peggy Sue Got Married", "Crying, Waiting, Hoping", "That's What They Say", "What To Do", "Learning The Game" and "That Makes It Tough". The recordings would be overdubbed posthumously and released by Coral Records.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
On his 25th birthday, Sam Cooke switched record labels from Keen Records to RCA, even though he had a string of hits with Keen that included "You Send Me", "Only Sixteen", "Everybody Likes to Cha Cha Cha" and "Wonderful World". The switch was beneficial to all as Sam continued to crank out the chart busters until his death in 1964.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
With Producer George Martin at the helm, Gerry And The Pacemakers record "How Do You Do It" at EMI Studios in London, England. Released the following March, the record made no impact on the North American charts until the summer of 1964, when it was re-issued as the follow-up to "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying". This time the record climbed to #9 on the Hot 100 and #6 in Canada. In their native UK, the single reached number one in the charts, staying there for three weeks in total. The Beatles had recorded the song on September 4th, 1962, but it wasn't released until November, 1995 on the retrospective "Anthology 1".

1966 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
The instrumental tracks for The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" were recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The music was provided by members of The Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums, Jerry Cole on 12-string lead guitar, Bill Pitman on acoustic rhythm guitar, Barney Kessel on 12-string mando-guitar, and Carol Kaye on bass guitar. None of The Beach Boys played instruments on the track, but they would add their vocals in March and April at Columbia Studios in Hollywood.

January 22
After twelve previous releases that failed to catch on, Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy enters the Billboard Hot 100 with what will be her biggest hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". The song would later go to number one for one week and spend three and a half months on the chart.


1973 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
A band called Climax had the number 3 song in the US with "Precious And Few". The group's lead singer, Sonny Geraci, was the former vocalist of The Outsiders, who scored a US chart topper in January, 1966 with "Time Won't Let Me".

1977 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Wings' triple live album "Wings Over America" hits #1 in the US. In the UK, the set climbed to #8.

January 22
Peter Green, who had earlier left Fleetwood Mac, was institutionalized after firing a pistol in the general direction of a delivery boy who was attempting to deliver a $30,000 royalty check. Green had renounced Rock and Roll in 1970 and didn't want the money. He later worked as a hospital porter and a gravedigger, but came back in 1979 to record "In the Skies", which reached #32 in the UK.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Tommy Tucker, who wrote "Hi Heel Sneakers" and many other R&B hits, is overcome by carbon tetrachloride fumes and dies while finishing floors in his home. He was 48 years old.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Barry Manilow sings the national anthem at Superbowl XVIII. (18)

1985 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
In his annual list of the Worst-Dressed Women, designer and fashion critic Mr. Blackwell cites Cher as the worst of 1984. Cyndi Lauper came in at #4 ("looks like the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake"), and in a tie for #10 are Dee Snider of Twisted Sister ("a car crash in a whorehouse) and Prince ("a toothpick wrapped in a purple doily").

1989 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Gene Simmons of KISS and former Playboy model Shannon Tweed have a son they name Nicholas Adam Simmons.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Twenty-three years after it was released in America, the LP "Elvis' Gold Records" is made available in China on cassette only.


1994 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
The number 1 song on Billboard's Hot 100 was "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Sting and Rod Stewart. The tune was the first number one for Sting since 1983's "Every Breath You Take" by The Police and the first for Stewart since "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" from 1978. The track was written for the movie The Three Musketeers.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Chubby Checker guests on Fox-TV's Ally McBeal.

January 22
Santana started a three week run at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart with "Supernatural". The album spent a total of nine weeks at the top during the year and went on to become a 15X Platinum disc.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Prosecutors in the Phil Spector murder trial rested their case after testimony from Donna Clarkson, mother of 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson, who died of a gunshot at Spector's California mansion in February 2003. Spector would be found guilty of murder on April 13th, 2009 and was sentenced to 19 years to life in the California state prison system. He would die while still incarcerated on January 16th, 2021 at the age of 81.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Aretha Franklin called off her engagement to her longtime friend William Wilkerson just three weeks after announcing her intention to wed later in the year.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
A red Mosrite guitar, once owned and used by punk rocker Johnny Ramone, sold at an auction for $71,875.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Peter Overend Watts, the original bassist for Mott the Hoople who played on the band's only Billboard Top 40 hit, "All The Young Dudes", died of throat cancer at the age of 69.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Neil Diamond announces that he's retiring from concert touring because he's been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's is a progressive condition in which the brain becomes damaged. It can lead to tremors, difficulty moving, speech changes and eventually memory problems.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
After several months of struggle to obtain his dual citizenship, Canadian born Neil Young finally became an American citizen. He celebrated the event by posting a video on his Instagram, singing "I'm proud to be a Canarican" to the tune of "God Bless the U.S.A." while waving miniature flags of both countries. Young entered the United States illegally in 1966, driving a Pontiac hearse.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

January 22
Don Wilson, co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the instrumental guitar band The Ventures, died of natural causes at the age of 88. The Ventures put 14 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. With over 100 million records sold, they are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.




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