This Day in Music: December 6th

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Born on this day:

1955, Rick Buckler, drummer, The Jam
1956, Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot
1956, Peter Buck, guitarist, R.E.M.
1961, David Lovering, drummer, The Pixies
1962, Ben Watt, songwriter, Everything But The Girl

1949, American blues artist Huddie William Ledbetter died. Ledbetter wrote songs including “Goodnight Irene,” “Cotton Fields,” “The Rock Island Line,” and “The Midnight Special.” Ledbetter was jailed several times for fights and knife related incidents, he was once arrested for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman.

1961, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best met with Brian Epstein for further discussions about his proposal to manage them. Epstein wanted 25% of their gross fees each week. He promises that their bookings will be better organized, more prestigious, and will expand beyond the Liverpool area. He also promises that they will never again play for less than ?15, except for Cavern lunchtime sessions, for which he will get their fee doubled to ten pounds. Lennon, as leader of The Beatles, accepts on their behalf.

1962, Bob Dylan recorded “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” during a session at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City.

1969, Led Zeppelin made their debut on the U.S. singles chart with “Whole Lotta Love,” it went on to make #4 on the chart and was the first of six Top 40 singles for the group in the U.S. During the band’s career, Zeppelin never released any singles in the U.K.

1969, The Rolling Stones played a free festival at Altamont in California, along with Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. While the Rolling Stones played, fan Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by Hell’s Angels who'd been hired to police the event. It’s claimed Hunter was waving a revolver. One other man drowned, two men were killed by in a hit-and-run accident and two babies were born.

1975, Rev. Charles Boykin of Tallahassee, Florida organized the burning of Elton John and Rolling Stones records, claiming they were sinful. Boykin was reacting to the results from a survey that said 984 of the 1,000 local unmarried mothers had sex when listening to rock music.

1978, Sex Pistol Sid Vicious smashed a glass in the face of Patti Smith’s brother Todd Smith during a fight at New York City club Hurrah.

1980, The Police appeared at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, supported by R.E.M.

1986, Europe was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “The Final Countdown.” They became only the second Swedish act to score a U.K. #1. The song reached #1 in 25 countries and the song’s lyrics were inspired by David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity.”

1988, American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack at age 52. He scored the 1964 U.K. and U.S. #1 single “Pretty Woman” plus over 20 U.S. and 30 U.K. Top 40 singles including “Only the Lonely” and “Crying.” He formed his first band The Wink Westerners in 1949, and was a member of The Traveling Wilburys (known as Lefty Wilbury). See This Day in Music Spotlight.

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