Pick a Day

20 JANUARY

In Music History

1975 Bob Dylan releases Blood on the Tracks, which contains the tracks "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Idiot Wind."

1973 Jerry Lee Lewis makes his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, telling the crowd at the end of his set: "Let me tell ya somethin' about Jerry Lee Lewis, ladies and gentlemen; I am a rock 'n' rollin', country-and-western, rhythm 'n' blues-singin' mothaf---er."

1971 The Roots drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is born in Philadelphia. He takes on projects as a music historian, winning an Oscar for his 2021 documentary Summer Of Soul.

1971 Diana Ross marries Bob Silberstein (Robert Ellis Silberstein) at a ceremony in Las Vegas. It's the first marriage for Ross, who dated Motown chief Berry Gordy for years. One of the first high-profile interracial couples, they get divorced in 1976 after having three children together, including Tracee Ellis Ross, star of the TV series Black-ish.

1969 Elvis Presley records "In The Ghetto."

1969 James Brown performs at Richard Nixon's Inaugural Ball, even though he endorsed Nixon's opponent, Hubert Humphrey. Nixon is wildly unpopular in the black community, but Brown stands by him, supporting him in his successful 1972 re-election campaign.

1968 John Fred and His Playboy Band's "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" hits #1. The song is a takeoff on The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."

1968 Roughly three months after the death of Woody Guthrie, a tribute concert is put on in the folk hero's name by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, the Band, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, and Richie Havens at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

1967 Arthur Conley records "Sweet Soul Music."

1965 The Rolling Stones and The Kinks both make their debut on ABC's Shindig! along with guests Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, Bobby Vee, Bobby Sherman and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

1965 Alan Freed, who brought black music to a white audience as a DJ and concert promoter in Cleveland and New York, dies at age 41 of cirrhosis. Caught up in the Payola scandal, Freed's brother says he "died of a broken heart because they took his microphone away."

1964 The Beatles' first American album is released: Meet the Beatles! The first two tracks are the hits "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There."

1958 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice, which allows him a 60-day deferment to finish his film King Creole.

1958 Seventeen-year-old Ricky Nelson's debut album, Ricky, hits #1 in America.

1952 Paul Stanley of Kiss is born Stanley Harvey Eisen in Queens, New York.