4 DECEMBER
In Music History
1962 Sponge frontman Vinnie Dombroski is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1959 BoDeans bassist Bob Griffin is born in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
1956 At Sun Studio in Memphis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis jam together on a few tunes. Johnny Cash shows up later to get in the picture and complete what becomes known as the "Million Dollar Quartet."
1954 The Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" hits #1 in America.
1951 Gary Rossington is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He becomes a founding member and guitarist of both Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rossington-Collins Band. Rossington is inducted into the Rock and Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1948 Southside Johnny, of the Jersey Shore rock band Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, is born in Neptune, New Jersey.
1944 Dennis Wilson (of The Beach Boys) is born in Inglewood, California.
1942 Bob Mosley (bass player for Moby Grape) is born in Paradise Valley, California.
1942 Chris Hillman (of The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds) is born in Los Angeles, California.
1940 Rock 'n' roll singer Freddy Cannon is born Freddy Picariello in Revere, Massachusetts.
1934 Ethel Merman records "I Get A Kick Out Of You."
1928 Louis Armstrong records "Basin Street Blues."
1915 Jazz pianist Eddie Heywood, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia.
1879 The Irish composer Herbert Hamilton Harty is born.
Blaze In Montreaux Sparks "Smoke On The Water"
1971During a Frank Zappa concert, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland catches fire when someone fires a flare gun, inspiring Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." Deep Purple are there to record their album Machine Head the following day, but end up using the Grand Hotel and including the song as a last-minute addition.
Read more4 DECEMBER
Featured Events
2014 ASCAP lists its Top 30 Holiday Songs of the Century, with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" topping the tally.
1993 Frank Zappa dies of terminal prostate cancer at age 52 in Los Angeles, California.
1980 Led Zeppelin make it official: they will not continue after the death of their drummer, John Bonham. They never fully re-form, but do play some shows with Jason Bonham filling in for his father.
1969 Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) is born in housing projects in Brooklyn - something he will remind us of many times in his raps.
1965 The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," written by Pete Seeger with lyrics lifted from a passage in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, hits #1 in America.
1965 The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" hits #1 for the first of three weeks. Written by folk singer Pete Seeger, its lyrics come from the Bible's book of Ecclesiastes.
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