Pick a Day

Music History Events: Recordings

February 17, 1969 Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash record some duets in Nashville, with "Girl From The North Country" eventually ending up on Dylan's Nashville Skyline album, for which Cash writes liner notes.

January 29, 1969 Peggy Lee records "Is That All There Is."

January 23, 1969 Elvis Presley records "Suspicious Minds" at American Sound, a small studio in Memphis. The song is a huge comeback hit for Elvis and gives him his last #1 in America.

January 20, 1969 Elvis Presley records "In The Ghetto."

January 15, 1969 Elvis Presley records "A Little Bit of Green" and "Gentle On My Mind."

December 30, 1968 Frank Sinatra records "My Way."

December 19, 1968 The Friends of Distinction record "Grazin' In The Grass."

November 21, 1968 With girlfriend Yoko Ono about to miscarry their first son, John Ono Lennon II, John Lennon asks for a tape recorder to be brought to the hospital so that he can record the baby's dying heartbeat. Later that day, Yoko miscarries; the baby is buried in a secret location and the recording appears on the duo's album Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions as a track called "Baby's Heartbeat," followed by "Two Minutes Silence" for his death.

November 18, 1968 The Spiral Starecase records "More Today Than Yesterday."

October 16, 1968 Jay & the Americans record "This Magic Moment."

September 23, 1968 The Beatles begin recording "Happiness Is A Warm Gun." The title comes from a headline in American Rifleman magazine.

September 18, 1968 The Beatles pause their Abbey Road Studios recording sessions for "Birthday" so that they can run back to Paul McCartney's house and watch the British-television premiere of the 1956 American film The Girl Can't Help It, featuring Little Richard and Fats Domino. Suitably inspired, they return to the studio after the viewing and complete the song that night.

September 17, 1968 The Supremes record "Love Child."

September 11, 1968 The Beatles record most of "Glass Onion," John Lennon's song about fans who suss out hidden messages in his lyrics.

September 6, 1968 Eric Clapton records the guitar solo for The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

July 26, 1968 Jeannie C. Riley records "Harper Valley P.T.A."

June 23, 1968 Elvis Presley records "If I Can Dream" and "Memories."

May 31, 1968 While recording vocals for "Revolution," John Lennon does some improvised ranting that is later used in the head-scratching "Revolution 9."

May 30, 1968 Fresh from a retreat to India, The Beatles begin recording the White Album at Abbey Road Studios in London. The first song they work on is "Revolution."

May 16, 1968 Tony Joe White records "Polk Salad Annie."

May 14, 1968 The Rascals record "People Got To Be Free."

May 7, 1968 Aretha Franklin records a live album in Paris.

April 20, 1968 The Rolling Stones record "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

April 15, 1968 Eleven days after the assassination of her friend Martin Luther King Jr., Aretha Franklin records "Think."

March 7, 1968 Elvis Presley records "Wonderful World," "Edge Of Reality," and "A Little Less Conversation."

January 30, 1968 Bobby Goldsboro records "Honey," a song written by Bobby Russell. It becomes one of the biggest hits of 1968, spending five weeks at #1 in the US.

January 17, 1968 Elvis Presley records "U.S. Male."

November 8, 1967 Nilsson records "Everybody's Talkin'."

November 6, 1967 Bob Dylan records "All Along the Watchtower," later made famous in a cover by Jimi Hendrix. He also bangs out "John Wesley Harding," "As I Went Out One Morning," "I Pity The Poor Immigrant" and "I Am A Lonesome Hobo" at the sessions.

October 19, 1967 Jose Feliciano records "Light My Fire."