What Happened Today In Music
May 3rd
1952 - Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells recorded 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels'. Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session at Owen Bradley’s studio because of the $125 union scale recording payment. 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels' was an answer song to Hank Thompson's 'The Wild Side of Life', and its lyrical treatment of seductive, wayward women. It became the first No.1 Billboard country hit for a solo female artist.
1965 - The Beatles
The Beatles spent the day filming for their forthcoming film Help!, on Salisbury Plain, England, with the British Army's Third Tank Division.
1967 - Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd appeared at The Moulin Rouge, Ainsdale, Southport, England. The promotion flyers for the club said: 'The Moulin Rouge night club. Wine, Dine, Dance! And have a gay time'.
1968 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
The Beach Boys opened their US tour on which the co-headliner was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The second half of the concert which featured the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, lectured the audience on "spiritual regeneration." The reaction was so negative, more than half of the remaining tour dates were cancelled.
1968 - Jimi Hendrix
The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded 'Voodoo Chile.' It was featured on the 'Electric Ladyland' double album and became a UK No.1 single on 21st November 1970 two months after the guitarist's death. Hendrix's solo on the track was named the 11th greatest solo of all-time in Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
1969 - Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix was arrested by police on his way to Toronto for possession of hashish and heroin. Hendrix claimed the drugs had been planted on him.
1971 - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin kicked off a European tour at K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark in front of 4,000 fans. The set list included the only known performance of 'Four Sticks' and the debut live performance of 'Misty Mountain Hop'.
1972 - Les Harvey
Les Harvey guitarist with Stone The Crows died after being electrocuted on stage during a gig at Swansea University, Wales. He was the brother of Scottish singer Alex Harvey and a member of the Alex Harvey Soul Band.
1975 - Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their second album 'Once Upon A Star.'
1976 - David Bowie
David Bowie played the first of six sold out nights at Wembley, on his Station To Station tour, his first UK gig in three years.
1976 - Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney made his first concert appearance in America in almost ten years when Wings kicked off their 31-date 'Wings Over America' tour at the Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas.
1980 - Bob Seger
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band started a six week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Against The Wind'.
1980 - Geno Washington
Dexy's Midnight Runners were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Geno', a song written about US soul singer Geno Washington.
1986 - Robert Palmer
Robert Palmer went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Addicted To Love', it made No.5 in the UK. Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan but due to contractual problems her voice was removed.
1986 - Tony Bennett
The Art Of Excellence by Tony Bennett became the first album in the US to be initially released on CD instead of the traditional vinyl format.
1997 - Katrina And The Waves
Katrina And The Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with the song 'Love Shine A Light', making them the first UK winners since Bucks Fizz in 1981.
1997 - Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his posthumous hit 'Hypnotize', a No.10 hit in the UK, the rapper was gunned down and killed on March 9th, 1997.
2004 - Ozzy Osbourne
The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by two musicians who claimed they were owed royalties from Ozzy Osbourne. Bassist Robert Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake had fought a long-running battle since 1997 with the Osbourne family claiming they were entitled to money from the albums ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ and ‘Diary of a Madman.’ Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager, said that the pair had "harassed" her family and had had their contributions removed from the albums because of their "abusive and unjust behaviour".
2008 - Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Rap star Sean 'Diddy' Combs was honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. The 38-year-old dedicated the star to his father, who was shot dead in 1972.
2009 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Together Through Life’ his seventh UK No.1 album. It was the singer, songwriter’s 33rd studio album, he last topped the UK chart with ‘New Morning’ in 1970. His first No.1 in 1964, was ‘The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'. Dylan now held the record, (previously held by Tom Jones), for the longest gap between solo number one albums.
2012 - Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shavell narrowly avoided a potential deadly helicopter crash when their pilot became disoriented during a flight in bad weather and missed some trees by just two feet. Flying home to their estate in East Sussex, England after a day in London, the McCartney's were not aware of how close they came to crashing at the time. The UK's Department of Transport launched an investigation into the incident the following November.
2014 - Bobby Gregg
American musician Bobby Gregg died aged 78. Gregg is best is known for his work as a drummer on several seminal 1960s songs, including Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' and Simon And Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence'. He was also temporarily a member of The Hawks, which later became known as The Band.
2017 - Eagles
The Eagles were suing a hotel in Mexico that calls itself the Hotel California, after the band's hit song and album. The rock band claim the 11-room hotel, in Todos Santos, "actively encourages" guests to believe it is associated with them in order to sell merchandise. They claim the hotel plays Eagles songs in the lobby and sells t-shirts describing the venue as "legendary".
May 3rd
1903 - Bing Crosby
American singer and actor Bing Crosby who recorded an estimated 2,600 songs in his lifetime including ‘White Christmas’, which was written by Irving Berlin. Crosby had 317 other hits in the USA. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. He died of a heart attack on a golf course in Madrid, Spain, on October 14, 1977.
1919 - Pete Seeger
American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger. He had a string of hit records during the early Fifties as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly's 'Goodnight, Irene', which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes. He died on 27 January 2014 at the age of 94.
1933 - James Brown
James Brown 'Soul Brother No.1', (1966 US No.8 and UK No.13 single 'It's A Man's World', 1986 UK No.5 single 'Living In America', 1963 album 'Live At The Apollo'). Brown demanded extreme discipline from his musicians and dancers, and had the practice of assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing un-shined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. Brown died on 25th Dec 2006 at the age of 73.
1934 - Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli, singer, from American rock and pop band The Four Seasons who had the 1960s hits 'Sherry', 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Walk Like a Man', and the 1976 UK & US No.1 single 'December 1963, (Oh What A Night'). They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. Valli had the 1978 solo US No.1 & UK No.3 single 'Grease'.
1944 - Pete Staples
Pete Staples, with English garage rock band The Troggs, who had the 1966 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Wild Thing' and the hits 'With a Girl Like You' and 'Love Is All Around'.
1948 - John Richardson
John Richardson, from English pop band The Rubettes who had the 1974 UK No.1 single 'Sugar Baby Love'.
1950 - Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin, (1968 UK No.1 and US No.2 single 'Those Were The Days', released on The Beatles Apple label and produced by Paul McCartney, winner of TV Talent show 'Opportunity Knocks.
1951 - Christopher Cross
American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross who had the 1981 US No.1 single 'Arthur's Theme' and the hit 'Sailing'.
1953 - Bruce Hall
Bruce Hall, from American rock band REO Speedwagon, who had the 1981 US No.1's 'Keep On Loving You' and 'Can't Fight This Feeling'. They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck.
1959 - David Ball
David Ball, English producer and electronic musician who with Soft Cell had the 1981 UK No.1 single 'Tainted Love', (an obscure 1965 northern soul track originally released by Gloria Jones, the girlfriend of Marc Bolan).
1964 - Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell, American rock drummer who has worked with numerous high-profile acts, including The B-52s, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Cyndi Lauper, Gustavo Cerati and David Bowie.
1965 - Simon Smith
Simon Smith, drums, from British indie rock group The Wedding Present. During 1992 they released one single every month giving them 12 Top 30 hits, making them the only group to score more than 10 new hits in one year.
1969 - Jay Darlington
Jay Darlington from English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, who had the 1996 UK No.2 single 'Hey Dude'.
1971 - John Driskell Hopkins
John Driskell Hopkins American musician with the Grammy Award winning country music group, Zac Brown Band. Their 2015 album Jekyll + Hyde which debuted at No.1 on the US chart featured the single 'Heavy Is the Head' with vocals from Chris Cornell.
1972 - Josey Scott
American musician Josey Scott, the lead singer, Saliva. Scott sang 'Hero' with Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, which was used as the theme song to the 2002 film Spider-Man.
1977 - Eric Church
Eric Church, American country music singer-songwriter. His 2014 single 'Give Me Back My Hometown', became his fourth No.1 on the Country Airplay chart. Church has become an avid advocate for the use of marijuana, reflected in songs such as 'Smoke a Little Smoke'.
1979 - Danny Foster
English pop singer and television personality, Danny Foster who with Hear'Say, had the 2001 UK No.1 single 'Pure And Simple'.
1981 - Farrah Franklin
Farrah Franklin, singer, actress and model. Joined Destiny's Child in 2000, along with Michelle Williams, replacing original members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. Left Destiny's Child after five months.
1985 - Kelli-Leigh
Kelli-Leigh, English singer and songwriter, best known for being the uncredited vocalist in the 2014 UK No.1 singles ‘I Got U’ by Duke Dumont and ‘I Wanna Feel’ by Secondcity. She has also performed backing vocals for Adele and Leona Lewis among others.
1997 - Desiigner
American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, Desiigner. He had the 2016 US No.1 single 'Panda'.
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