20 NOVEMBER
In Music History
1957 Jim Brown (drummer for UB40) is born in Birmingham, England.
1955 After agreeing to perform Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons" on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show, Bo Diddley instead plays the song he was actually there to promote, his own hit "Bo Diddley." A furious Sullivan blackballs Bo from ever appearing on the show again. The singer has claimed he was never paid for the performance.
1954 Frank Marino (frontman for Mahogany Rush) is born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1950 Gary Green (guitarist for Gentle Giant) is born in Stroud Green, North London, England.
1947 Joe Walsh of the Eagles and the James Gang is born Joseph Fidler Walsh in Wichita, Kansas.
1946 Duane Allman (guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band, Derek and the Dominos) is born in Nashville, Tennessee.
1946 Ray Stiles (bass guitarist for The Hollies) is born in Guildford, Surrey, England.
1944 Record producer Mike Vernon is born in Harrow, Middlesex, England. He'll produce albums from David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and Fleetwood Mac.
1942 "Spirit In The Sky" singer Norman Greenbaum is born in Malden, Massachusetts.
1940 Tony Butala (lead singer of The Lettermen) is born in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
1929 Leo Reisman records "Happy Days Are Here Again."
1925 Jazz singer June Christy is born Shirley Luster in Springfield, Illinois. She would start her career as vocalist for Stan Kenton's Orchestra, garnering hits like "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy," "Tampico," and "How High the Moon" before going solo.
1827 Composer Edmond Dede is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1820 Whaling ship The Essex is rammed and sunk by a whale in the South Pacific, later inspiring the song "Nantucket Sleighride."
Fan Takes Over When Keith Moon Passes Out
1973After Keith Moon passes out at his drum kit, The Who pull a fan from the audience to take over.
Read more20 NOVEMBER
Featured Events
2013 "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi returns to the Hot 100 at #25 thanks to a viral video of a Boston Celtics fan dancing to the song. Billboard tweaked their methodology earlier in the year so streaming views of songs were factored into the chart tally.More
2012 Fiona Apple cancels the remaining dates on her Idler Wheel tour to care for her dying dog.More
2007 The debut album from Amy Winehouse, Frank, is finally released in the US eight months after her second album, and three years after its British release. Although critically acclaimed and massively influential in her native UK, it fails to set the American charts on fire, reaching its peak of #33 only after the singer's untimely death in 2011.
2003 After returning to his Neverland home following a raid on it a few days before, and in response to an arrest warrant, Michael Jackson is charged with child molestation in Santa Barbara, California. The singer is immediately released after posting three million dollars' bail.
2003 The first ever Vibe Awards takes place in Santa Monica, California, with 50 Cent winning for Artist of the Year, Dopest Album (Get Rich or Die Tryin') and Hottest Hook ("In Da Club").
1976 George Harrison and Paul Simon share the stage on Saturday Night Live to perform "Homeward Bound" and "Here Comes The Sun." Earlier in the year, the show's producer Lorne Michaels offered The Beatles $3000 to reunite. In the opening sketch, he is seen arguing with Harrison over how much of that money he should get.
1976 Paul Simon opens Saturday Night Live dressed as a turkey (in honor of Thanksgiving).More
1969 James Brown drags his road-weary band into King Studios in Cincinnati, where Clyde Stubblefield starts banging out a drum pattern. Brown makes it the basis of a song, which he calls "Funky Drummer." It's just a minor hit, but becomes one of the most samples songs in hip-hop.
1955 In the music equivalent to the Babe Ruth trade, Sun Records owner Sam Phillips sells Elvis Presley's contract to RCA for $35,000. It wasn't all bad for Phillips: Presley had just one year left on his contract, and Phillips invested the money in a local hotel chain called the Holiday Inn, which made him a bigger fortune than anything he did in music.
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