1967 - At Abbey Road Studios in London, The Beatles mixed the new John Lennon song, "I Am the Walrus." which included the sound of a radio being tuned through numerous stations, coming to rest on a BBC production of William Shakespeare's "King Lear". Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyze Beatles' lyrics, Lennon added a verse of nonsense words.
1976 - Enjoying his own birthday celebrations, Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player, Norman Owens, in the chest. Lewis had been blasting holes in an office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.
1989 - While on a motorcycle trip from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, Bruce Springsteen stopped in at a small saloon in Prescott, Ariz., and wound up jamming with the house band. The Boss and The Mile High Band burned through "Don't Be Cruel," "I'm On Fire," "Route 66" and a couple of other songs. One of the bartenders, Brenda Techanec, was talking about her problems paying her hospital bills. Springsteen overheard her and a week later she received $100,000 from Springsteen.
1992, Stone Temple Pilots released their debut album Core, featuring the hit. "Plush". In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 11 on its list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums."
1997 - The Verve, which broke up just two years earlier, release their breakthrough album Urban Hymns. The majestic "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (famous orchestral riff incorporates a sample from an obscure symphonic version of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time") and the heartbreaking, country-tinged "The Drugs Don't Work" are an astonishing pair, two anthemic ballads that make the personal universal, thereby sounding like instant classics
2013 - Ten million viewers tune in to the finale of the TV series Breaking Bad, which ended with "Baby Blue," a song by Badfinger. The song represents lead character Walter White's love of his creation: blue methamphetamine. The song, which came out in 1972, was about a guy who keeps his girl (his "baby blue") waiting too long and loses her. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)
2018 - Bluesman Otis Rush died at the age of 84. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. His first single, 'I Can't Quit You Baby', written by Willie Dixon, was covered by Led Zeppelin and Stevie Ray Vaughn named his band after "Double Trouble".
Birthdays:
Songwriter Tommy Boyce, whose hits include "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" and "Scooby Doo, Where Are You," was born today in 1939.
"Great Balls of Fire" singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 87. He was rock & roll's first great wild man and also rock & roll's first great eclectic. Ignoring all manner of musical boundaries is something that has not only allowed his music to have wide variety, but to survive the fads and fashions as well. Whether singing a melancholy country ballad, a lowdown blues, or a blazing rocker, Lewis' wholesale commitment to the moment brings forth performances that are totally grounded in his personality and all singularly of one piece.
Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad is 74.
Mick Harvey of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is 65.
Primus bass player Les Claypool is 59.
On This Day In Music History was sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts Allmusic, and Wikipedia.