Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 16


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" by Bill Hayes reached the number one spot on the Billboard Top 100 chart, where it would stay for five weeks. The song sold more than 7,000,000 records on more than twenty different labels worldwide.

March 16
Epic Records releases Roy Hamilton's "Unchained Melody", which will climb to #6. The Righteous Brothers would update the song ten years later and take it to #4.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Although he is about to be dropped by Columbia because his Big Band style records weren't selling, Bobby Vinton is allowed to lay down a couple of vocal efforts. The results would produce the first of his thirty, US Top 40 hits, "Roses Are Red", which would top the Billboard chart next June.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Peter, Paul And Mary's "Puff The Magic Dragon" is released in the US, where it will reach #2. Although banned by some radio stations who thought the song was about drugs, it is really just a story about a little boy growing up, according to its writer, Peter Yarrow.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Capitol Records releases The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" in the United States. The song will reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4th, where it would stay for five consecutive weeks. Included in the film A Hard Day's Night, the record would be ranked at #295 on Rolling Stones's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.

March 16
Alan Freed, who helped bring Rock 'n' Roll to the forefront, is charged with tax evasion, a grand jury indictment stemming from the earlier payola investigation which ruined the career of the ex-DJ.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
The Rolling Stones were at #1 on the UK singles chart with "The Last Time", the band's third chart topping record in their homeland.

March 16
Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record topped both the US Country and Easy Listening charts as well as the UK singles chart. Miller would later recall that the song was inspired when he was driving and saw a sign on the side of a barn that read, "Trailers for sale or rent." A short time later, he bought a statuette of a hobo in the Boise, Idaho airport gift shop and stared at it until he had completed the song.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding became the number 1 song in the US. The tune was recorded just three days before the plane crash that killed Redding in December, 1967, and was his only Gold record.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
24-year-old Tammi Terrell, who teamed up with Marvin Gaye for several Motown hits, died at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. After she had collapsed in Gaye's arms onstage in 1967, it was discovered that she was suffering from a brain tumor. The duo's hits included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (#19 in 1967), "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (#10 in 1968), "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" (#24 in 1968) and "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By" (#30 in 1969).

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
At the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, Simon And Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" wins Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists, Best Engineered Record and Best Contemporary Song.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
After several embarrassing incidents, A&M Records announces the termination of The Sex Pistols' contract and that they have halted production of the band's newest single, "God Save The Queen". Only nine copies of the record, complete with an A&M card envelope, were known to exist, one of which sold at a UK auction for $22,155 in 2006.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Elvis Costello was the object of a lot of bad publicity after he allegedly made racist comments about Ray Charles and James Brown while at a Holiday Inn bar. He was there promoting his new "Armed Forces" album, discussing British and American music with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett when the remarks were supposedly made. Bramlett responded by punching Costello in the face. After word about the incident came out, Costello held a press conference and apologized.

1983 - ClassicBands.com
March 16
US radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey died in New York City at the age of 79. His show, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts was a fore runner of Star Search and American Idol on which scouts presented their discoveries to perform live before a national radio and television audience. Contestants who appeared on the show included Pat Boone, The Chordettes, The McGuire Sisters, Tony Bennett, Lenny Bruce, Roy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, The Diamonds, Eddie Fisher, Connie Francis, Don Knotts, Steve Lawrence, Al Martino, Johnny Nash, and Jonathan Winters.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Seven members of Country singer Reba McEntire's band and her road manager were among ten people who were killed when their private jet crashed in California just north of the Mexican border. McEntire, who had given a private concert in San Diego for IBM employees the night before, was not on the plane.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Johnny Cymbal, (born John Hendry Blair) died in his sleep in Nashville, Tennessee of an apparent heart attack at the age of 46. His novelty song "Mr. Bass Man" reached #16 in March, 1963. Five years later, recording under the name Derek, his tune "Cinnamon" reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave out its first set of Diamond Awards for sales over 10 million units in the US. Sixty-one albums and one single qualified. At the top of the list was The Eagles' Greatest Hits, with over 25 million copies (it would sell another million by the end of the year).

2005 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Billy Joel checked himself into a rehabilitation center for treatment of alcohol abuse.

March 16
Jakson Spires, drummer and founding member of Blackfoot, died at the age of 53 after suffering a brain aneurysm. The band reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August, 1979 with "Highway Song".

2009 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
The Weinstein Co. acquired the rights to produce Nowhere Boy, the story of John Lennon's tumultuous childhood. The script focuses on the battle between Lennon's aunt Mimi and his mother Julia for custody and the affections of the young musician as well as his friendship with Paul McCartney. The film was released at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on January 27th, 2010.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Bobbie Smith, lead vocalist for The Spinners, died following complications from lung cancer at the age of 76. The group had seven Billboard Top 10 singles, including "Rubberband Man", "One of a Kind (Love Affair)", "Working My Way Back To You / Forgive Me Girl" and "I'll Be Around".

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Andy Fraser, bassist for the group Free, and co-writer of their 1970, Billboard #4 hit, "All Right Now", died of cancer at the age of 62.

March 16
57-year-old Bruce Crump, founding member and original drummer for southern rockers Molly Hatchet, died after a battle with throat cancer.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
The Kinks' front man, 72-year-old Ray Davies, was knighted by the Prince Of Wales for services to the arts at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, England.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

March 16
Dick Dale, known as The King of the Surf Guitar, passed away at the age of 81. Appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and in the Beach Party movies in the early '60s brought him to national prominence, and he is often credited with recording the first Rock / Surf record, "Let's Go Trippin'", which topped out at #60 on the Billboard chart in 1961.

March 16
David White, backing vocalist for Danny And The Juniors on their hits, "At The Hop" and "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay", passed away at the age of 79. After leaving the group in 1959, he concentrated on producing and songwriting and co-wrote "You Don't Own Me" for Lesley Gore and "1-2-3" for Len Barry.



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