Thursday, December 29, 2011

This Week In Rock History


1954--Seven years after it was initially recorded, Bing Crosby's version of Irving Berlin's song White Christmas enters the charts for the first time. Crosby's version of the song would go on to sell over 100 million copies worldwide, holding the record for the most copies sold of a single until 1997 when it was surpassed by Elton John's re-recording of Candle in The Wind for Princess Dianna.

1960—12 year-old James Taylor receives a guitar for Christmas .

1964--Patty Boyd, then girlfriend of George Harrison, is attacked by female Beatles fans who are jealous of her relationship with George.

1968--Peter Tork quits the Monkees. He buys out his contract for $160,000, all the money he had in the world. He returned to the Monkees in 1986, and has performed with them off-and-on since.

1970--George Harrison's My Sweet Lord becomes the first solo hit for a member of the The Beatles. Later Harrison would be found guilty of unintentionally plagiarizing the melody line from The Chiffons’ 1963 hit He's So Fine.

1970--Elvis Presley tours FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. He requests, and is granted, a permit to carry a gun in all 50 states.

1974--British blues band Fleetwood Mac change their line-up for the 10th time, adding guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. With the new line-up the band morphed into a best selling pop/rock act.

1982--Jamaica issues a Bob Marley commemorative stamp.

1990-- James Brown uses his two day furlough from prison to give his first concert in two years in Ft. Jackson, South Carolina.

1998--Bryan McLean, guitarist for the band Love, is having Christmas dinner with a young fan researching a book on the band, when he drops dead at the table from a massive heart attack.

2004--A North Carolina man named Wade Jones sold three tablespoons of water taken from a cup used by Elvis Presley during a 1977 concert for $455.






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