Rock 'n' Roll History for
October 19


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1958 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Brenda Lee records "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree". The song will be released as a single but will fail to chart in either 1958 or 1959. When it was re-released in 1960 it rose to #14 and has since become a Christmas standard, being ranked at #4 in the Top 10 All Time Christmas Songs.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
The Beatles and Gerry And The Pacemakers combined into one band called The Beatmakers for a show at the Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool. George Harrison played lead guitar and Paul McCartney played rhythm, with the drumming duties split between Pete Best and Freddie Marsden. Les Chadwick played bass and John Lennon sat at the piano with Karl Terry joining in the vocals. Finally, Gerry Marsden played guitar and sang, while Les Maguire played the saxophone.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
A tour of the UK dubbed The Greatest Record Show, kicks off at London's Finsbury Park Astoria. The line-up featured Lesley Gore, Brook Benton, Dion, Timi Yuro and newcomer Trini Lopez, who currently has the number 3 record in the United States with "If I Had A Hammer".

1964 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
The LP "Beach Boys Concert" was released on Capitol Records. Produced by Brian Wilson, the live album was their seventh LP over all, and their third of the year. Recorded at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California on December 21, 1963, the performance was not augmented by any additional musicians, although it received heavy post-production at United Western Recorders in Hollywood in August of 1964. The LP would go on to become the first live album to top the Billboard chart, maintaining that position for four weeks during a sixty-two-week chart stay.


1966 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
The Yardbirds arrive in New York for their first US tour with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on lead guitars. After two shows, Beck developed acute tonsillitis and quit the group. He would go on to form The Jeff Beck Group that gave Rod Stewart his first major exposure.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Jose Feliciano records his version of "Light My Fire", which will reach #3 in the US in 1968.

October 19
Motown Records releases "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson And The Miracles. The song would rise to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart, becoming the group's sixth million selling record. It was also a hit in the UK where it reached #27.

October 19
The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was the #2 album in the UK. Holding down the top spot was the soundtrack to The Sound Of Music.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Less than a month after leaving The Mamas And The Papas, Cass Elliot's first solo album, "Dream A Little Dream" was released on Dunhill Records. Recorded live in just ten days, the LP would be only a moderate success, selling 150,000 copies and climbing to #87 on the Billboard 200 chart. The single "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" fared much better, peaking at #12 on the Hot 100 and #11 in the UK. Among the musicians appearing on the album were Hal Blaine - drums, Harvey Brooks - bass guitar, James Burton - guitar, dobro, Jim Gordon - drums, Larry Knechtel - keyboards, John Sebastian - guitar, harmonica and Stephen Stills - guitar, vocals.

October 19
18 year old Peter Frampton meets Steve Marriott at a Small Faces show in London. After striking up a friendship, the two start planning a new group which will emerge as Humble Pie next April.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
A dual funeral is held for Rory Storm and his mother at Oakvale Congregational Church, Broadgreen, England. Storm, born Alan Ernest Caldwell, was the leader of Rory Storm And The Hurricanes, the band that Ringo Starr left to join The Beatles. When Starr was asked why he did not attend the service, he said, "I wasn't there when he was born either."

1974 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Billy Preston went to the top of the US singles chart with "Nothing From Nothing", the singer's second and final number one.

October 19
Canada's Bachman-Turner Overdrive had the #1 album in the US with "Not Fragile". A single from the LP, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", also topped the American charts and gave the band their only hit in the UK where it rose to #2.


1977 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Judy Collins appears on The Muppet Show, where she sings her 1975 hit, "Send in the Clowns".

1979 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release their third studio album, "Damn the Torpedoes". It would be a critical and commercial success, rising to #2 on the Billboard 200 chart and going on to be certified Triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2020, the album was ranked #231 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The title of the LP comes from an exclamation by David Farragut, an officer in the Union navy during the Civil War. Warned of mines, then called torpedoes, in the water ahead, Farragut said, "Damn the torpedoes! Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!"

1985 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
A group called a-ha became the first Norwegian band to top the Billboard Hot 100 when "Take on Me" went to number one. The song would reach number two in the UK in November.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
In a clear example of just how far music had sunk, an American Rock critic calls Public Enemy's aptly titled Rap effort "Bring The Noise" as "merely the greatest piece of Rock and Roll released in 1987." The single is made up of melodyless rapping over sampled tracks by James Brown, Funkadelic, Marva Whitney, The Beastie Boys and others. For a record given such high praise, it failed to crack the US Top 40 and only reached #56 on the Billboard Hot R&B / Hip-Hop chart.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
During a Pink Floyd show at London's Earls Court, a section of seating collapsed with over 1,000 fans escaping serious injures.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Glen Buxton, the original lead guitarist for Alice Cooper, died of complications of pneumonia at the age of 49. During his time with the band he co-wrote some of their biggest hits, including "Eighteen" (US #21), "School's Out" (US #7) and "Elected" (US #26).

2005 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
A UK company called Prudential announced the results of a survey which claimed that the average person will spend about 21,000 Pounds ($42,000) on music during their lifetime. The amount included money spent on recordings, playback equipment and concerts. Music enthusiasts were likely to spend more than double the average.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Rod Stewart's CD, "Still the Same...Great Rock Classics of Our Time", entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart at #1.


2007 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
The ninth wave of pre-litigation letters were sent by the RIAA to administrators at 19 universities, as federal lawmakers continued to examine the state of copyright theft on college campuses nationwide.

October 19
Trini Lopez is given the Lifetime Achievement honor at the Latinos of Distinction Awards in Ontario, California.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Elton John described today's songwriters as "pretty awful", Pop music as "uninspiring" and talent shows like American Idol as "boring" in an interview with Britain's Radio Times magazine.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
At the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr Conrad Murray, Dr Steven Shafer testified that it would have been impossible for Michael Jackson to have self-administered a lethal dose of the sedative propofol. He later said of Dr Murray's delay in calling 911: "I almost don't know what to say. That is so completely and utterly inexcusable."

October 19
73-year-old Etta James announced her decision to retire following the release of her latest album, "The Dreamer". As well as her 1961 R&B smash "At Last", James also placed nine songs on the Billboard Top 40 Pop chart between 1960 and 1968. She would die of leukemia on January 20, 2012.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess passed away at his home in Arizona at the age of 95. He and his brother Leonard were responsible for releasing early hits by Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, as well as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Etta James.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Singer and actress Della Reese passed away at the age of 86. She began her career by scoring three Billboard Top 20 hits in the late 1950s, including the #2 hit "Don't You Know".

2020 - ClassicBands.com

October 19
Spencer Davis, leader of The Spencer Davis Group, died in a hospital at the age of 81 while being treated for pneumonia. The band reached the Billboard Hot 100 twice with "Gimme Some Lovin'" (#7) and "I'm A Man" (#10), both in 1967, but had many more hits in their native UK.




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