This Day in Music History: The Grateful Dead release Anthem of the Sun, the first Lollapalooza is held

1953 – Truck driver Elvis Presley makes his first ever recording when he pays $3.98 to lay down two songs at Memphis Recording Service (later renamed Sun Studios): “My Happiness'” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” The so-called vanity disc is a gift for his mother. It would surface 37 years later as part of an RCA compilation called Elvis – the Great Performances.

1964 – The Rolling Stones score their first American hit when their cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” peaks at #48 on the Hot 100.

1968 – The Beatles record “Helter Skelter,” one take of which lasted 27 minutes and 11 seconds, the bands’ longest recording ever. Exactly one year later in 1969, Ringo Starr records his vocals for “Octopus’s Garden.”

1968 – The Grateful Dead release their sophomore album, Anthem of the Sun.

1978 – Def Leppard make their live debut for an audience of 150 at a school in Sheffield, England.

1988 – The Beach Boys release their single “Kokomo.”

1991 – The very first Lollapalooza music festival is held in select locations throughout North America. Performers include Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Ice-T, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Emergency Broadcast Network, and Rage Against The Machine.

1992 – Bobby Brown marries Whitney Houston at her New Jersey estate. Attendees include Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, and Freddie Jackson. Houston files for divorce in September ’06.

1995 – The oldest known musical instrument in the world is found in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia. The 45,000 year-old relic is a bear bone with four artificial holes along its length.

2012 – At the age of 74, country music legend Glen Campbell is forced to cancel his farewell tour dates in Australia and New Zealand due to failing health from Alzheimer’s disease.

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