Rock 'n' Roll History for
November 17


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1958 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
The Kingston Trio led the US hit parade with a century-old Folk song called "Tom Dooley". Although this popular group would place nine more records in the US Top 40, this would be their only number one. The lyrics of the song are based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina by Tom Dula (whose name in the local dialect was pronounced "Dooley").

1962 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" reaches the top spot on the Billboard singles chart, just as their first hit, "Sherry" did earlier in the year. Songwriter Bob Crewe later said that he was inspired to write the song after he heard actor John Payne use the phase "big girls don't cry" in a 1956 movie called Slightly Scarlet. In the UK, the song reached #13.


1963 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
John Weightman, the Headmaster of a Surrey Grammar School, banned all students from having Beatle haircuts. In announcing his decision he said "This ridiculous style brings out the worst in boys physically. It makes them look like morons."

November 17
Nancy Sinatra and her husband Tommy Sands appear on The Ed Sullivan Show where they perform "Old Straw Hat" and "Hey Good Lookin'". The two had married in 1960 and divorced in 1965.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Elton John, along with Dee Murray on bass and backing vocals and Nigel Olsson on drums and backing vocals, perform live at A&R Recording Studios in New York. The thirteen songs they play are broadcast on WABC-FM and later make up Elton's first live album, "17-11-70", which would reach #11 in America and #20 in the UK.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Rod Stewart and The Faces release "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse", their third LP together. The album contains the band's biggest US hit, "Stay with Me", which reaches #17, while the LP went into the US Top Ten.

November 17
Columbia Records releases "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II", a double LP compilation of older material. The collection would become one of the singer's best selling albums, being certified 5X Platinum, and reaching #14 in the US and #12 in the UK.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
13-year-old Tony DeFranco led Canada's The DeFranco Family to the top of the Cashbox Best Sellers list with "Heartbeat - It's A Lovebeat". The song would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but did not chart in the UK.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
ABBA kick off their first European tour in Copenhagen, playing outside of Sweden for the first time.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Olivia Newton-John's first television special, A Very Special Olivia Newton-John is broadcast on ABC-TV. Ron Howard, Lee Majors, Lynda Carter and Elliot Gould co-star.


1979 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Former Jethro Tull bass player John Glascock died of a heart attack in London at the age of 26. Though he recorded with the band, Glascock's long battle with heart disease kept him from touring.

November 17
The Commodores held down the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Still", their twelfth Billboard Pop chart entry. It would be the group's last number one record before Lionel Richie went solo.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their fifth album, "Double Fantasy" in both the US and UK. The album would reach the top of the charts in both countries as well as seven others around the globe. Four singles made the Billboard Top 40, "(Just Like) Starting Over" (#1), "Woman" (#2), "Watching The Wheels" (#10), and "Nobody Told Me" (#5). The LP would win Album Of The Year at the 1982 Grammy Awards and sell over three million copies in America alone.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Six months after it was released "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The single would be certified Platinum in the United States for sales of over two million copies.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young is involved in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles which leaves him with a broken leg, ankle and shoulder. Police say he was speeding and not wearing a helmet.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
After a long battle to claim royalties, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago of Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers were awarded an estimated $4 million in back payments from the song "Why Do Fools Fall In Love". This ruling was later overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit because the pair did not bring the case to court soon enough. The rights to the song then went back to Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal.


2000 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Cher appears on the US TV show Will and Grace, in a story titled "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed". Watched by about 22 million viewers, it was the program's second most viewed episode ever.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Arthur Conley, who recorded the million selling, 1967 hit, "Sweet Soul Music", died at his home in the town of Ruurlo in the eastern Netherlands. The 57 year old singer had been suffering from intestinal cancer and had grown progressively weak in recent weeks.

November 17
Don Gibson died of natural causes at the age of 75. Along with his Country music success, he also placed four songs on the US Pop charts, including the #7 single "Oh Lonesome Me" in 1958 and "Sea Of Heartbreak", #21 in 1961.

November 17
"Let It Be... Naked", which deleted Phil Spector's orchestral overdubs and embellishments on The Beatles' 1970 album, "Let It Be", is released. The LP would climb to #5 in the US, going Platinum, and #7 in the UK where it went Gold.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
J. Marc Schaffel, a former producer and business associate of Michael Jackson, filed a $3.8 million law suit against Jackson over loans and payments made on Jackson's behalf. The suit also claimed that Jackson did not fully pay Schaffel for his role in producing two television specials. In July, 2006, a jury would award Schaffel $900,000 while also giving the Pop star $200,000 for his counter-claim.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Sheriff's deputies in South Los Angeles charged 61-year-old Bonnie Pointer of The Pointer Sisters for possessing rock cocaine after the car she was riding in was pulled over for a mechanical malfunction.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Soul singer Jimmy Ruffin passed away in a Las Vegas hospital at the age of 78. The Collinsville, Mississippi native reached the Billboard Top 40 with "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" (#7 in 1966), "I've Passed This Way Before" (#17 in 1966), "Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got" (#29 in 1967) and "Hold On To My Love" (#10 in 1980).

2021 - ClassicBands.com

November 17
Keith Allison, a member of Paul Revere And The Raiders from 1968 to 1975, died of natural causes at the age of 79. Before joining The Raiders he played guitar and harmonica on Sonny & Cher's mega-hit "The Beat Goes On" and later recorded and performed with Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, The Righteous Brothers, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Rick Nelson, The Crickets and Johnny Rivers. As an actor, Allison played Captain James J. White in Gods and Generals (2003) and showed up on episodes of Blossom, 7th Heaven and The Love Boat.




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