This Day in Music History: David Bowie releases The Man Who Sold The World, The Last Waltz premieres

1957 – Jackie Wilson makes his US chart debut with “Reet Petite.”

1965 – The Beatles record “What Goes On.”

1967 – Pink Floyd makes their US live debut at the Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco, California. They share the bill with local group Big Brother & The Holding Company and singer/songwriter Richie Havens.

1968 – In Providence RI, Cream perform their last US concert.

1970 – David Bowie releases his third studio album. The Man Who Sold the World features the nucleus of what becomes the Spiders from Mars backing band.

1977 – Director Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed documentary of The Band’s star-studded final concert, The Last Waltz, premieres in New York City. It features performances by Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mtchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, The Staple Singers, Dr. John, and more.

1978 – Boston plays in the city of Boston for the first time to a sold out crowd at the Garden.

1978 – Van Morrison is the musical guest on tonight’s episode of NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live. He performs “Wavelength” and “Kingdom Hall.”

1984 – Prince plays the first of seven nights at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan at the start of his 87-date North American Purple Rain tour. This show marks the live debut of his new band, The Revolution.

1988 – The U2 documentary Rattle And Hum opens worldwide.

1989 – Elton John scores his 50th UK chart hit with his latest single, “Sacrifice.” Only Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley had previously achieved this feat.

1990 – The musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story opens on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre.

1991 – Bobby “Blue” Bland, Booker T. & The M.G.s, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, The Isley Brothers, Sam & Dave and The Yardbirds are elected to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

1992 – Elton John and Bernie Taupin sign a $39 million songwriting deal with publishing giant Warner/Chappell, the largest such deal up to that time.

1998 – Amazon.com forms Advantage For Music, a program that allows unsigned artists and independent labels to sell music online.

2002 – Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin receive the Music Industry Trusts Award for one of the greatest songwriting partnerships of all time.

2002 – Journals, a book containing letters and diary entries Kurt Cobain had written from the 1980s until 1994, is released.

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