Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 21


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1961 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Bobby Vee records what would prove to be his only Billboard number one hit, "Take Good Care Of My Baby". The Gerry Goffin and Carole King song was produced by Snuff Garrett. Among the musicians on the record were Barney Kessel, Tommy Allsup and Howard Roberts on guitar, Clifford Hills on bass, Robert Florence on piano and Earl Palmer on drums, while Sid Sharp did the string arrangements. The Johnny Mann Singers sang backup. The song spent fifteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top spot on September 21st, 1961 where it would stay for three weeks.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
The debut LP by The Byrds, "Mr. Tambourine Man" was released on Columbia Records. The album would peak at #6 on the Billboard chart and reach #7 in the United Kingdom. The "Mr. Tambourine Man" single had been issued ahead of the album in April, 1965 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK chart. A second single, "All I Really Want to Do", also a Dylan cover, stalled at #40 in America, but reached the Top 10 in Great Britain. The Byrds themselves played on most of the songs, but on the instrumental tracks for "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "I Knew I'd Want You", Jim McGuinn's twelve-string electric guitar was accompanied by members of The Wrecking Crew, including Bill Pitman and Jerry Cole on guitars, Larry Knechtel on bass, Leon Russell on electric piano, and Hal Blaine on drums.


1966 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
The Rolling Stones file a 4.9 million dollar lawsuit against fourteen New York hotels for banning them, claiming that the ban was "injurious to the group's reputation and discriminatory in violation of New York's Civil Rights law."

1970 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Pete Townshend of The Who caused a stir at Memphis International Airport. He was overheard saying "Tommy" seems to be 'going down a bomb', meaning the group's song "Tommy" was a hit. Officials however, only heard the term 'bomb' and police and FBI reacted.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Gary Glitter appeared on British TV's Top Of The Pops, performing "Rock & Roll Part 2". The song would reach #2 in England and #7 in America. After Glitter was convicted of child sex offenses in 1997, the song is seldom heard on air.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
The Soft Rock group Bread, led by David Gates, give their final concert in Salt Lake City. A truck accident earlier in the day had destroyed the band's equipment, so they had to play with borrowed instruments and amps.


1975 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
The Captain And Tennille sat on top of the Billboard singles chart with the Neil Sedaka / Howard Greenfield written "Love Will Keep Us Together", a song that would later win a Grammy Award for Record Of The Year. It reached #32 in the UK.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Bert Kaempfert, whose instrumental hit, "Wonderland By Night" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in January, 1961, died suddenly following a stroke at his home in Mallorca, Spain at the age of 56. Kaempfert co-wrote Frank Sinatra's 1966, #1 hit, "Strangers In The Night" and Joe Dowell's 1961 chart topper, "Wooden Heart". He also produced The Beatles' first ever recording session in which they backed Tony Sheridan on "My Bonnie".

1981 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Just after signing a multi-album contract with Warner Brothers, the Pop group Steely Dan announced they were breaking up. Donald Fagan and Walter Becker, the driving forces behind the band, said their fourteen year musical partnership was over. The duo reach the US Top 40 ten times with hits like "Do It Again" (#6 in 1972), "Reeling in the Years" (#11 in 1973), "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (#4 in 1974), "Peg" (#11 in 1978) and "Hey Nineteen" (#10 in 1981).

1990 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Little Richard gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. Says Richard: "Like everything I got, it took a long time to get."

1994 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
George Michael lost his lawsuit against Sony Records, a legal battle which cost the singer an estimated 4 million Pounds. Michael claimed that his 15-year contract with Sony was unfair because the company could refuse to release albums it thought wouldn't be commercially successful. Michael vowed he would never record for Sony again, but later changed his mind and actually resigned with them in November, 2003.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
John Lee Hooker, a legendary Blues pioneer who had recorded an estimated 100 albums, died of natural causes at his Los Altos home at the age of 83.


2006 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Former Village People lead singer Victor Willis pleaded no contest to drug possession charges. He was later sentenced to three years' probation after he agreed to enter a drug rehab program.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Billboard magazine estimated that Michael Jackson's album catalog had generated about $383 million in sales and that MJ Inc. had earned at least $1 billion in revenue in the year following his death.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
People magazine reported that 75-year-old Glen Campbell had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. "I still love making music," said Campbell. "And I still love performing for my fans. I'd like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
James Taylor enjoyed his first number one album on the Billboard Hot 200 when "Before This World" sold 97,000 units during its debut week. In the forty-five years since "Sweet Baby James" was released in 1970, Taylor had achieved eleven Top Ten albums.


2016 - ClassicBands.com

June 21
Roger Friedman, owner of the entertainment industry news and film review website Showbiz 411, announced that Led Zeppelin refused a $14 million offer to perform at the 2016 Desert Trip Festival in Indio, California. Those who had already signed on included The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, The Who and Neil Young.

June 21
The Daily Mail reported that David Crosby had reached an agreement to pay $3 million to a jogger he injured in a car accident in California last year.



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