This Day in Music History: The Band holds The Last Waltz, Band Aid records “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

1961 – The Everly Brothers report for duty as artillerymen at Camp Pendleton in southern California after joining the Marine Corps Reserves. By enlisting together, the brothers ensured that they would not be drafted – or separated.

1969 – As a protest against Britain’s military involvement in foreign conflicts, John Lennon returns his Member of the British Empire medal, with an attached letter that reads: “Your Majesty, I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts. With love, John Lennon of Bag.”

1974 – Nick Drake dies after overdosing on the antidepressant Tryptasol. Just 26 years old, the British musician released three albums in his lifetime. In 1999, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous thirty years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nWuCZe4lSE

1976 – At the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, The Band plays their last concert, which is filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the classic concert movie, The Last Waltz. Guest performers include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, and Neil Young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjCw3-YTffo

1978 – Playing The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is hit in the face with a bottle thrown from the audience. The band leaves the stage and the show is cancelled after Joe Perry tells the crowd, “We love you, but you can’t throw things at us.” A firecracker was thrown on stage during an Aerosmith show the previous year.

1984 – Band Aid records “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

1997 – The original Zombies lineup — Rod Argent on organ, Colin Blunstone on vocals, Paul Atkinson on guitar, Chris White on bass, and Hugh Grundy on drums — reunites onstage for the first time in 30 years at London’s Jazz Cafe, performing two songs only: “She’s Not There” and “Time Of The Season” to promote their new box set, Zombie Heaven.

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