This Week in Rock History

1955--Chuck Berry has his first hit, Maybellene, which will climb to

#5.

1956--Songwriter Mike Stoller (Hound Dog, Stand by Me) survives the
sinking of the cruise ship The Andrea Doria which collided
with another ship, The Stockholm, in heavy fog. Fifty-one
passengers lost their lives in the sinking.

1965--Bob Dylan shocked the audience at the Newport Folk Festival when he
premiered 3 songs from his forthcoming album Bringing It All Back
Home using electric instruments and a backing band. Folk singer
Pete Seeger, who was back stage at the time, proclaimed to the
sound engineer "If I had an axe, I'd chop the microphone cable
right now!"

1968--Cass Elliot, of the Mamas & the Papas, releases her first
solo single, a cover of the song Dream A Little Dream of Me,
which will go to #12 on the Billboard Charts. Though billed as a solo
effort, the song is actually backed by the rest of the Mamas &
the Papas.

1972--Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edgar Winter, is involved in a
barroom fight after a patron at the Chicago bar makes derogatory
comments about the length of Ramirez's hair. Ramirez would
be kicked in the head repeatedly with a steel toe boot, dying from
his injuries the following day.

1973--Led Zeppelin, who are in the middle of their US tour, are robbed of
two nights box office receipts. In all nearly $180,000 in cash is
taken from the band's safety deposit box.

1974--"Mama" Cass Elliot dies of a massive heart attack in her hotel room
following a solo performance at the London Palladium. An unfinished
ham sandwich found near the body leads to the urban legend that
Elliot had choked to death.

1976--John Lennon receives his US greencard, three years after being ordered to leave by immigration officials.

2006--A man who bugged a private jet chartered by Michael Jackson, with
the intent of selling the recordings to the press, is sentenced to 8 months in jail.