This Weekend in Classic Rock

Today, in 1971, Led Zeppelin released “Black Dog” as a single in the United States.  If you're a Led Zeppelin fan, that's reason enough to rock out, but the weekend is almost here, and if you need another reason, Eddie Webb from Classic Rock Nights has a whole host of reasons!

In 1964…Ringo Starr entered a London hospital and had his tonsils removed.

In 1970…Former Animal Eric Burdon launched his new initiative, Curb the Clap, by distributing bumper stickers. Burdon said he wanted to raise awareness of the “number one sickness in the record business today – VD” and raise money for the Los Angeles Free Clinic.

In 1971…Led Zeppelin released “Black Dog” as a single in the United States.

In 1973…The Who were arrested in Montreal after they trashed a hotel suite. They spent six hours in jail and then were ordered to pay a 21-hundred-dollar fine. John Entwistle later wrote the song “Cell Block Number Seven” about the incident.

In 1973…Bob Dylan fans started mailing in ticket requests for his tour. Dylan sold 658-thousand seats through the mail. San Francisco witnessed traffic jams as fans rushed to send in their applications.

In 1978…Bob Dylan taught his band an early version of his song “Slow Train” at a soundcheck.

In 1979…Stevie Wonder performed his album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants with the National Afro-American Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

In 1986…Annie Lennox got carried away singing “Missionary Man” at a Eurythmics concert in Birmingham, England. She ripped her bra off before an audience of ten-thousand people.

In 1988…Geraldo Rivera welcomed Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Willie Nelson on his talk show to talk about sex on the road.

In 1997…A man died after he fell from the balcony of the Pontiac Silverdome during a Rolling Stones concert.

In 1998…Jimmy Buffett gave Mobile, Alabama a hand in recovering from Hurricane George. He performed a benefit concert, his first in his hometown in eight years.

In 1999…Sir Paul McCartney confirmed that he would play Liverpool’s Cavern Club for the first time since The Beatles said farewell to the club in 1963.

In 2003…Alice Cooper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, between those of Gene Autry and Hugh Hefner.

In 2003…Soul icon Ray Charles announced he was recovering from hip replacement surgery in Beverly Hills, California. He said, “I feel terrific and am so thankful to the good Lord that all is going well for me.”

ON DECEMBER 3^RD…

In 1929…Britain’s Gramophone Company Ltd. bought a house at 3 Abbey Road in London. The residence was later converted into the famous Abbey Road studios, where groups like The Beatles and Pink Floyd recorded.

In 1961…Beatles John, George, Paul and Pete Best met Brian Epstein a second time at his NEMS record store in Liverpool.

In 1965…Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was knocked unconscious when his guitar hit his mike and electrocuted him during a show in Sacramento, California.

In 1965…The Beatles began their last British tour in Glasgow, supported by The Moody Blues. Their tour was accompanied by the release of the single “We Can Work It Out” backed with “Day Tripper.” It was the band’s first double A-side 45.

In 1968…NBC aired an Elvis Presley comeback special. After years of making movies, he proved he could still rock, improvising with his old rhythm section in a boxing ring. He wore black leather and brought down the house with the debut of “If I Can Dream.”

In 1971…A fire burned down the Montreux Casino during a Frank Zappa concert. Deep Purple witnessed the conflagration and went on to write “Smoke on the Water” about the catastrophe.

In 1976…An inflatable pig was spotted floating over London’s Battersea Power Station. It was only the photo shoot for a Pink Floyd album cover. However, the balloon broke free of its moorings and flew away, prompting the Civil Aviation Authority to issue a warning to pilots flying over London.

In 1976…In Kingston, Jamaica, a squad of gunmen burst into Bob Marley’s house and began to shoot.  Marley, his wife Rita, and his band manager were inside at the time but weren’t hurt. Marley performed two days later, but went into self-imposed exile in Miami for eighteen months.

In 1976…The Sex Pistols released the single “Anarchy in the U.K.”

In 1979…A stampede of fans who tried to get into a Who concert at the Cincinnati Riverfront crushed eleven people to death. The band was not told of the incident until after the show. Their concert in Providence, Rhode Island on December 5^th was cancelled. Although newsman Walter Cronkite blamed the incident on “a drug-crazed mob of kids,” the venue’s unreserved seating policy also came up for criticism.

In 1980…Photographer Annie Leibovitz took pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their apartment in New York.

In 1991…Guns N’ Roses announced that guitarist Gilby Clarke would replace the departed Izzy Stradlin in the band’s lineup.

In 2002…The Doors announced they were postponing their reunion tour with singer Ian Astbury of The Cult after new drummer Stewart Copeland fell off his bike in L-A.

ON DECEMBER 4^TH…

In 1956…Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash all met up at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis. Someone kept a tape recorder running as the foursome messed around on some gospel standards, and the session was later released under the title The Million Dollar Quartet.

In 1964…The Beatles Fan Club in Britain announced it had 65-thousand members.

In 1969…President Richard Nixon and 40 governors watched films of acid trips and listened to rock music for research into reasons behind the “generation gap.”

In 1971…Number one in the American singles chart was Sly & the Family Stone with “Family Affair.”

In 1975…Tragedy struck Deep Purple in Jakarta, Indonesia after their bodyguard, Patsy Collins, fell six flights down an elevator shaft in their hotel and died. His body was never found.

In 1976…Guitarist Tommy Bolin, who briefly played with the James Gang and was Ritchie Blackmore’s replacement in Deep Purple, was discovered dead in a Miami hotel room from a drug overdose.

In 1980…Led Zeppelin declared that they would not reform following the death of drummer John Bonham, although Jimmy Page and Robert Plant later toured together in the ‘90s. Their statement read, “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

In 1987…Madonna filed for divorce from Sean Penn for the first time. She later decided to stay with the actor, but then filed again in 1988.

In 1987…Roy Orbison performed in Akron, Ohio. It was his last ever concert.

In 1989…The Supreme Court declared that Prince did not utilize lyrics by his sister Lorna Nelson for “U Got the Look.”

In 1990…On ABC’s Nightline, Madonna defended her “Justify My Love” video to Ted Koppel.

In 1991…Van Halen performed a free concert in Dallas to make up for a show back in 1988 when singer Sammy Hagar lost his voice mid-set.

In 1993…Frank Zappa died in L-A from pancreatic cancer. He was 52.