Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 28


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is the most popular song in the United States. Billboard reports that if the sales of all versions of the song were all added up, including the original by Fess Parker, more than 18 million copies have been bought in six months.


1958 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Buddy Holly receives his draft notice, but he would later be refused induction because of his poor eyesight.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Marianne Faithful records the Mick Jagger / Keith Richards tune "As Tears Go By", accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass. The song will end up in the British Top Ten by next August.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Percy Sledge hit the top of the US charts with "When A Man Loves A Woman", a song that he improvised with his band one night when he was upset over a failed romance. A more polished version of the song was released in early April and became Percy's only US Top Ten hit. It reached #4 in the UK.

May 28
"River Deep, Mountain High" by Ike and Tina Turner is released. The record will stay on the chart for just four weeks and stall at #88. Producer Phil Spector considered the song the high point of his production career and was so disappointed by its poor performance that he would go into seclusion for two years.

May 28
Shades Of Blue, a three man, one woman, Blue-eyed Soul group from Detroit, Michigan, enter the Billboard Top 40 with "Oh How Happy". The song would stay on the chart for eight weeks, reaching #12, but follow-up releases would not be as successful.

May 28
The LP "What Now My Love" by Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass hit #1 on the Billboard 200, where it would stay for eight consecutive weeks.


1967 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
The Association appear on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour where they perform "Along Comes Mary".

1969 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were arrested at their London home and charged with possession of cannabis. They were released after posting a 50 pound bail.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Graham Nash releases his debut solo studio album, "Songs For Beginners" on Atlantic Records. The LP features contributions from David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Dave Mason, David Lindley, Rita Coolidge, and Neil Young. It will rise to #15 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on the UK's Official Albums Chart, and has since been certified Gold by the RIAA. The single "Chicago" made it to #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.


1976 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
The Allman Brothers Band temporarily disbanded after Greg Allman testified against Scooter Herring, his personal road manager, who was charged with drug trafficking. Herring was subsequently sentenced to 75 years in prison. An album of previously unreleased live material was issued later in the year under the title "Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas". In the two years that the band was apart, Gregg Allman married Cher, while Dickey Betts formed his Great Southern band.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Viewers of Dick Clark's America Picks the #1 Songs chose Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", Simon And Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" as the greatest hits of the Rock era.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Julien's Auction of Beverly Hills announced plans to put Elvis Presley's original grave site up for auction. Presley was laid to rest inside a large underground chamber at the Forrest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, following his death in August 1977, but his remains were relocated two months later and reburied at his Graceland home alongside his mother Gladys.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
George Michael was released from hospital almost two weeks after suffering cuts and bruises in a car accident on a British motorway.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Michael Jackson's former home, Neverland Ranch, was listed for sale for one hundred million dollars. The 2,700-acre ranch in Santa Ynez Valley, California included a train station, a six-bedroom house, a 50-seat movie theater and two lakes.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
Gladys Knight sang "God Bless America" at the opening game of hockey's Stanley Cup final series in Las Vegas between the Golden Knights and the Washington Capitols.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

May 28
The Royal Canadian Mint announced that they would commemorate the 50th anniversary of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" with a special silver coin. The song was recorded live from a suite at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, where John and Yoko Ono were holding their famous "Bed-in for Peace" protest on June 1st, 1969.



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