ANNIVERSARIES
1969-The Beatles' "The Ballad of John and Yoko" hits #8 on the US singles chart despite being banned by many radio stations because of the lyrics, "Christ, you know it ain't easy ..."
1969-The Rolling Stones original lead guitarist Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool, just three weeks after he was kicked out of the band. The official cause was recorded as "death by misadventure." Reports say that Jones had sunk into substance abuse and he was frequently strung out on barbiturates, L.S.D. and alcohol and was no longer able to function as a musician.
1971-While on sabbatical in France, The Doors' lead singer, Jim Morrison died of heart failure and acute respiratory distress. News of his death wasn't made public until after his burial in a Paris cemetery on July 9th.
1973-David Bowie ends a 60-date tour with a show at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England. Just before the encore, he shocks the crowd by saying, "This night shall always be special in my memory. Not only is it the last show of my British tour... but it is the last show I will ever do." He disbanded his backing group, The Spiders From Mars, and went to Paris to record a solo album. Bowie's retirement was short-lived however. Less than a year later, he was back on stage in the US with the Diamond Dogs tour
1975-Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night is arrested for possession of cocaine in his Louisville hotel room on the opening night of the group's tour. The charge is dropped in October when a Kentucky court determines the warrant used for the bust was granted on the basis of unfounded information. Negron's drug addiction, which he chronicled in his book Three Dog Nightmare, would eventually lead to him being kicked out of the band for good.
1977-The Marshall Tucker Band's Country cross-over hit "Heard It In a Love Song" peaks at number 14 in the US. Interestingly, there is no one named Marshall Tucker in the band. The group named themselves after the previous tenant of their rehearsal hall, after finding a key tag with his name on it.
1981-On the 10th anniversary of Jim Morrison's death, the surviving members of The Doors, Robby Kreiger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore led fans in a graveside tribute in the Paris cemetery where Morrison is buried.
2012-Meat Loaf launched a legal battle against tribute artist Dean Torkington who had registered the domain name meatloaf.org in 2000. Although he was seeking $100,000 in damages, Meat Loaf would later settle for $25,000 and control of the website, which now re-directs to meatloaf.net.
2012-KISS announced that they were set to release a guitar size book containing unseen photographs from their 40-year career. The limited edition called Monster carried a $4,299 price tag and at 3 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide, was reported to be the largest music book ever published.
BORN TODAY
1952-Andy Fraser
bass player with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Joined Free when he was aged 16.
