Today in Music History: The Doors begin recording their debut album, Queen starts recording “Bohemian Rhapsody”

1963 – Stevie Wonder becomes the first artist to score a US #1 album and single in the same week with the album “Little Stevie Wonder / The 12 Year Old Genius” and the single “Fingertips part 2;” also the first live recording to top the charts.

1966 – The Youngbloods record “Get Together.”

1966 – The Doors start recording their first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios, West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

1967 – A 17-year-old Bruce Springsteen joins a group called Earth.

1967 – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they attend his lecture at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane in London. They later travel to India and study Transcendental Meditation with him.

1969 – Folksinger Arlo Guthrie’s film Alice’s Restaurant, based on his hit song of the same name, premieres in both Los Angeles and New York.

1975 – Queen begins three weeks of recording “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Rockfield studios in Monmouth, Wales. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor sing their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

1978 – Bruce Springsteen appears on the cover of Rolling Stone.

1979 – Prince releases what becomes his first US hit, “I Wanna Be Your Lover.”

1981 – John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, is given a sentence of 20-years-to-life in prison. He is denied parole nine times over the next 35 years.

1989 – The Who perform a special 20th anniversary charity concert of their rock opera Tommy at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, featuring guests Elton John (as the Pinball Wizard), Patti Labelle (as the Acid Queen), Steve Winwood (as the Hawker), Phil Collins (as Uncle Ernie), and Billy Idol (as Cousin Kevin).

1990 – Claiming she’s protesting a wave of music censorship, Sinead O’Connor refuses to perform if the US National Anthem is played before her show at the Garden State Arts Plaza in Homdel, NJ (as is custom). A patriotic uproar ensues, which leads to several radio stations banning her music.

1994 – Dave Abbruzzese quits Pearl Jam. He is replaced with drummer Jack Irons.

1996 – Oasis singer Liam Gallagher fails to turn up for the recording of the band’s MTV Unplugged session at London’s Royal Festival Hall in front of 400 fans. He later sits in the audience and watches the show as his brother Noel takes over vocal duties.

1999 – Warner Brothers releases Prince’s album The Vault…Old Friends 4 Sale.

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