This Day in Music History: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is released, Red Hot Chili Peppers get their first #1 album 22 years into their career

1957 – Buddy Holly and the Crickets release their first record, “That’ll Be The Day,” which goes to #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. The song is inspired by John Wayne’s frequently-used, world-weary catchphrase, “That’ll be the day,” in his movie The Searchers, which Holly, Jerry Allison, and Sonny Curtis had seen in June 1956. It is also the first song to be recorded by The Quarrymen, the skiffle group that subsequently becomes The Beatles.

1960 – Frank Sinatra appears on TV for the first time when he performs on the Star Spangled Revue special, hosted by Bob Hope.

1963 – Bob Dylan releases The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan via Columbia Records. The album showcases Dylan’s songwriting talent for the first time and launches him as a leader in the singer/songwriter genre & supposed spokesperson for the youth-oriented protest movement.

1977 – The Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen” is released and sells about 200,000 copies that week despite being banned by TV and radio, high street shops, and pressing plant workers who refused to handle the record. The song officially peaked at #2 on the UK charts behind Rod Stewart’s “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” but there there is a theory that it was actually the biggest-selling single in the UK at the time and the British Phonographic Industry conspired to keep it out of the #1 slot.

1977 – Declan McManus makes his live debut at The Nashville in London as Elvis Costello.

1983 – The Smiths are at #1 on the UK independent chart with their debut single, “Hand In Glove.” The band recorded the track after their manager Joe Moss paid $365 for a one-day recording session at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzoRS038i0

1994 – After a 14 year hiatus, The Eagles reunite for a show in Burbank, California, closing the show with “Desperado.” Soon after, they launch their “Hell Freezes Over” tour, which becomes the first tour to charge more than $100 for a substantial number of tickets.

2006 – For the first time in their 22-year career, Red Hot Chili Peppers score a #1 album on The Billboard 200 with the two-disc set Stadium Arcadium.

Birthdays

1932 : Junior Parker

1935 : Ramsey Lewis

1944 : Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five)

1945 : Bruce Cockburn

1947 : Peter Knight (Steeleye Span)

1947 : Marty Kristian (The New Seekers)

1948 : Pete Sears (Jefferson Airplane)

1957 : Eddie Harsch (The Black Crowes)

1957 : Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie and the Banshees)

1958 : Neil Finn (Crowded House)

1966 : Sean Kinney (Alice in Chains)

1975 : Andre 3000 (OutKast)

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.