Rock 'n' Roll History for
September 29


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
RCA Victor Co. announces that it has received over 856,327 advance orders for Elvis Presley's next single, "Love Me Tender". The song, which was a Civil War ballad with new words added by Ken Darby, gave Elvis co-songwriting credit due to his publishing deal with Hill & Range, which demanded songwriters concede 50 percent of the credit if they wanted Presley to record it.

September 29
Bill Haley equals Ruby Murray's record set in 1955 by having five songs in the UK Top 30 - "See You Later, Alligator" (#19), "Razzle Dazzle" (#17), "Rock Around The Clock" (#13), "The Saints Rock 'n' Roll" (#11) and "Rockin' Through The Rye" (#4).

September 29
The Lennon Sisters, accompanied by The Lawrence Welk Orchestra, enter the Billboard Top 40 with their version of "Tonight You Belong To Me", which will peak at #15. Their record was in direct competition with a version by Patience & Prudence who took the song to #4 simultaneously.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
While on tour, Buddy Holly And The Crickets record "Maybe Baby" at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The song would be released on the Brunswick label the following January and climb to #17 in the US and #4 in the UK.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" enters the US Pop chart, where it will top out at #6. It will be the third most-played song on American radio this year. Chantilly lace is actually a handmade bobbin lace named after the city of Chantilly, France, even though most of the lace bearing this name was actually made in Bayeux, France and Geraardsbergen, now in Belgium.

September 29
Tommy Edwards' "It's All In The Game" rose to the top of the Billboard chart. The melody of the song had been written in 1912 by Charles Gates Dawes, who would become vice-president of the United States between 1925 and 1929. Updated lyrics were added in 1951.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Following a bit of a dry spell after their #4 hit "Tears On My Pillow" a year earlier, Little Anthony And The Imperials record "Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop", which will reach #24 in the US early next year.

September 29
Cliff Richard becomes the first UK artist to have a Rock 'n' Roll hit in the US when "Living Doll" makes the Billboard chart, where it will peak at #30.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Bob Dylan plays harmonica on three tracks of his friend Caroline Hester's first album. Producer John Hammond is so impressed that he signs Dylan to a contract and arranges for a solo recording session in October.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
The Rolling Stones began their first tour of the United Kingdom, where they played 32 dates, opening for acts like The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley and Little Richard.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Capitol Records releases Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee". The song, which many Rock 'n' Roll lovers made fun of, reflects on being proud of residing in Middle America, where its residents were patriotic and did not smoke marijuana, take LSD, wear beads and sandals, burn draft cards or challenge authority. The song would top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and reach #41 on the Hot 100.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Grand Funk scored their first number one record when "We're An American Band" hit the top of Billboard's Hot 100. The song was sung by drummer Don Brewer rather than Mark Farner, who usually took lead vocals.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Complaining that they have been underpaid, James Brown's entire band walks out on him in Hallandale, Florida. Most of them would return to complete the tour.


1989 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
With a full-scale Eagles reunion still five years away, Glenn Frey joins Don Henley onstage for the first time since 1980 at a concert in LA. Throughout the decade, band members received several lucrative offers to reunite, but declined them all.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Rick Nelson's sons Gunnar and Matthew have a number one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Love and Affection", becoming the third generation of Nelsons to accomplish that feat. Their Grandfather, Ozzie Nelson, led his orchestra to the top of the chart in 1932 with "And Then Some" and Rick topped all others in 1958 with "Poor Little Fool" and in 1961 with "Travelin' Man".

2009 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Lynyrd Skynyrd release their thirteenth album, "Gods & Guns". It would peak at #18 on the Billboard 200, making it the band's highest-charting studio LP since 1977's "Street Survivors".

2010 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
On Jerry Lee Lewis' 75th birthday, his 40th album, "Mean Old Man", peaks at #72 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The LP consists of duets with some of music's greatest stars, such as Mick Jagger, Rod Wood, Tim McGraw, Eric Clapton, Merle Haggard, Ringo Starr, John Fogerty, and Willie Nelson. His previous album, "Last Man Standing", went to #26 in 2006.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Steve Martin shared the International Bluegrass Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award with his fellow members of The Steep Canyon Rangers. The band's LP "Rare Bird Alert" topped Billboard's Blue Grass chart earlier this year and reached #43 on the Billboard 200. Martin reached #17 on the Billboard Pop chart in 1978 with "King Tut".

September 29
Sylvia Vanderpool, who teamed with guitarist Micky Baker to form Micky And Sylvia, died of congestive heart failure at the age of 75. The duo scored a Billboard R&B #1 and Pop #11 hit with "Love Is Strange" in 1957. In 1970 she found success as a songwriter, penning The Moments' "Love On A Two Way Street" and also scored a solo #1 hit in 1973 with "Pillow Talk".


2020 - ClassicBands.com

September 29
Helen Reddy, the Australian singer behind the feminist anthem "I Am Woman", died at the age of 78. Along with fourteen other Billboard Top 40 hits, she hosted a season of The Helen Reddy Show on NBC TV in 1973, and a year later was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Late in life she was rumored to be suffering from health problems and spent her last years in a celebrity care home in Los Angeles.

September 29
78-year-old singer/songwriter Mac Davis passed away following heart surgery. Along with his own hit records, which included the chart topping "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" in 1972, Mac also wrote "In the Ghetto" and "A Little Less Conversation" for Elvis Presley. He hosted his own NBC variety series in 1974, the same year the Academy of Country Music named him entertainer of the year.



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