Pick a Day

Music History Events: Recordings

February 11, 1963 At EMI Studios in London (later re-named Abbey Road), The Beatles record 10 songs in one day, nine of which are included on their first UK album, Please Please Me. Songs done at the session are: "There's A Place," "I Saw Her Standing There," "A Taste Of Honey," "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "Misery," "Hold Me Tight," "Anna (Go To Him)," "Boys," "Chains" and "Twist And Shout."

October 24, 1962 In the thick of the Cuban Missile Crisis, James Brown records his electrifying stage show for the album Live at the Apollo.More

April 24, 1961 Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.

October 15, 1960 The famous lineup of The Beatles records together for the first time when Ringo Starr replaces an ailing Pete Best as the group backs up Rory Storm and the Hurricanes guitarist Wally Eymond on a recording of George Gershwin's "Summertime."

October 21, 1958 At Pythian Temple studios in New York City, Buddy Holly does what will be his last studio session, recording the tracks "True Love Ways," "It Doesn't Matter Any More," "Moondreams" and "Raining In My Heart."

October 19, 1958 In Nashville, Brenda Lee records "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." To get her in the Christmas spirit, her producer, Owen Bradley, sets up a Christmas tree and turns on the air conditioning.

February 19, 1956 The Five Satins record "In The Still Of The Nite" in the basement of Saint Bernadette Church in New Haven, Connecticut.More

August 27, 1955 Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame" hits #10 in the US, becoming the first R&B song to hit the Top 10 on the Pop chart. Three weeks later, Pat Boone's cover hits #1.

December 3, 1947 Patti Page records her first hit single, "Confess." Unable to find background singers due to a strike, Mercury Records sound engineer Bill Putnam overdubs Page's own vocals. It's the first-ever recording with overdubbed vocals.

April 16, 1944 On shore leave from the Merchant Marines, Woody Guthrie arrives at Folkway Records' studios in New York City, where he starts recording with the label's founder, Moses Asch, in what becomes known as the "Asch recordings." Among the songs recorded during these sessions is "This Land Is Your Land," which becomes an iconic populist protest anthem, covered by countless artists including Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.More

October 7, 1939 Judy Garland, 16, records "Over The Rainbow" for the movie The Wizard of Oz.

July 10, 1936 Billie Holiday becomes the first major artist to record the classic song "Summertime," which was featured in the musical Porgy and Bess a year earlier.

April 5, 1923 Joe Oliver and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, featuring a young Louis Armstrong, make the first jazz recordings by an African American band at Gennett Records in rural Richmond, Indiana.More

April 9, 1860 An anonymous vocalist sings "Au Clair De La Lune" to Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, who makes the first known and oldest surviving recording of the human voice.More

June 1, 2007 Contemporary musicians record their own versions of songs from The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's album to mark 40 years since it was released. Acts including Oasis, Travis, The Fray, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers all work with Geoff Emerick - the engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions - using the original analogue 4-track equipment to demonstrate the techniques employed for the recording at Abbey Road studios in 1967.

November 17, 1994 Bob Dylan begins taping his episode of MTV's Unplugged at New York's Sony Studios.

July 21, 1987 Paul McCartney records "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Ain't That A Shame," and "Crackin' Up."

June 29, 1985 Mick Jagger and David Bowie record "Dancing in the Street" at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London for the Live Aid charity. They shoot the video the same day.

November 25, 1984 In London, Bono, George Michael, David Bowie, Jody Watley, Paul McCartney and a passel of other stars record vocals for "Do They Know It's Christmas?," the first big all-star charity single. Released a week later (in time for Christmas), it becomes a holiday favorite and raises over $14 million for famine relief in Africa.

December 8, 1980 John Lennon mixes Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" at the Record Plant studio in New York. It is the last time he is in a studio, as he is shot and killed when he returns to his apartment building.

May 11, 1979 Bob Dylan records "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking," "Precious Angel," "When You Gonna Wake Up," "I Believe In You," "Slow Train," and "Gotta Serve Somebody."

May 6, 1979 Bob Dylan records "Trouble In Mind," "When You Gonna Wake Up," and "Slow Train."

May 4, 1979 Bob Dylan records "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)," "When He Returns," and "Man Gave Names To All The Animals."

February 7, 1979 Stephen Stills records the first major-label album using all-digital equipment, but it's never released, which means that Ry Cooder's Bop Till You Drop will get the honor.

December 30, 1978 Iron Maiden have their first recording session, laying down a demo at a studio in Cambridge, England, in the first of a two-day session they get on the cheap because nobody else wants studio time over New Year's Eve weekend. The demo gets the attention of DJs and club owners, earning the band a huge UK following in 1979 and eventually a record deal with EMI.

October 17, 1978 Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand record "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." The superstar session is produced by Bob Gaudio, who keeps a full orchestra standing by in the lobby.

May 3, 1978 Bob Dylan records "Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One," "I Believe In You," and "Slow Train."

August 27, 1977 Jackson Browne plays the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. His performances of "Running On Empty" and "The Load Out/Stay" from the show are released on the album Running on Empty.

May 2, 1977 Eric Clapton records "Wonderful Tonight."

April 25, 1977 Elvis Presley makes his last-ever recordings at a session after a show in Saginaw, Michigan.