February 28, 1970 The title track of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album hits #1 on the Hot 100, where it remains for six weeks, longer than any other song in 1970.
February 9, 1970 The Doors release their fifth album, Morrison Hotel. It's named after a real hotel in Los Angeles that happens to bear the same name as their lead singer, Jim Morrison. The album, which marks a return to the band's blues sound, features the classic-rock staple "Roadhouse Blues."
January 31, 1970 "Whole Lotta Love" reaches #4 in the US, the highest Led Zeppelin will ever chart on the Hot 100. Most of their songs, including "Stairway To Heaven," are not released as singles.
January 14, 1970 At the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, The Supremes play their last concert with Diana Ross, who introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell. Ross performs with the group just once more: at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983.
November 10, 1969 Sesame Street debuts on American public television. Many of the lessons are taught with songs, and in later seasons, musicians drop by to help out: Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Ray Charles, Dixie Chicks and Alicia Keys are among the many to appear on the show. The two big names that turn down offers: Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand.More
August 22, 1969 The Beatles participate in their final photo shoot, which is held on the lawn of John Lennon's home at Tittenhurst Park in Sunninghill, England. Photos from the session are used on the front and back covers of their Hey Jude compilation album.More
August 18, 1969 Jimi Hendrix closes out Woodstock with an early morning performance of "Hey Joe." The festival headliner, he was supposed to play the previous night, but when it ran long, he ended up taking the stage on a Monday morning. His set includes a scorching rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."More
August 16, 1969 Eric Clapton's supergroup Blind Faith release their self-titled album. On the cover is a photo of a naked 11-year-old girl holding a model spacecraft.More
August 8, 1969 The Beatles shoot the photo for their Abbey Road album cover at the crosswalk outside Abbey Road studios, where they are recording. Fans find many nested clues in the shot of the four band members walking in stride across the street, fuelling rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.More
July 21, 1969 Blind Faith, a group comprised of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech, release their self-titled debut album in the United States.More
June 1, 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace A Chance" to close out their "bed-in" in Montreal.More
May 26, 1969 Still on their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono check in to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (the "Hotel La Reine") in Montreal, where they start their second week-long "bed-in" for peace. At the end of their stay, they record "Give Peace A Chance" with a chorus that includes Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers and Dick Gregory.
April 26, 1969 "Oh Happy Day" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers enters the Hot 100 at #72, becoming the first pure gospel song to make that chart. More
March 22, 1969 Two days after their wedding in Gibraltar, John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their "Bed-in," inviting members of the media into their Amsterdam hotel room where they are promoting peace with songs, signs and dialogue. These events are outlined in the song "The Ballad of John and Yoko."
February 15, 1969 Sly & the Family Stone land their first #1 hit when "Everyday People" tops the Hot 100 for the first of four weeks. The song's message: we're all essentially the same, no matter what we look like. Of the seven members in the group, two are white and five are black.
December 26, 1968 Led Zeppelin's first US tour begins in Denver. They're the opening act for Vanilla Fudge.More
December 14, 1968 Motown acts hold the top three spots on the Hot 100: 1) "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye 2) "Love Child" by The Supremes 3) "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder The chart stays the same the next week, and a week later Stevie and The Supremes trade positions.
November 23, 1968 Promoting their avante-garde album Two Virgins, famous for the cover photo of the couple naked, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, again nude.More
November 2, 1968 Jose Feliciano's unique rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner," which he performed on acoustic guitar before Game 5 of the World Series on October 7, enters the Hot 100 at #89, making it the first version of the US National Anthem to chart (it peaks at #50). Many singers start adding their own flavor to the song; the next version to chart is Whitney Houston's Super Bowl performance in 1991, which hits #20.
October 7, 1968 Long before the US National Anthem becomes a performance piece, the Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano makes waves when he does a slow, jazzy version of the song before Game 5 of the World Series between the Tigers and Cardinals. Among those joining the uproar are Tigers starting pitcher Mickey Lolich, who complains that the overly long rendition screwed up his pregame routine.More
June 5, 1968 Senator Robert Kennedy is shot three times while exiting through a kitchen at a hotel where he delivered a speech after winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. This event prompts David Crosby to write "Long Time Gone" and The Rolling Stones to insert the lyrics, "Who killed the Kennedys?" to their new song "Sympathy For The Devil."
June 1, 1968 Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" hits #1 on the Hot 100. The song was written for the movie The Graduate and titled after the character played by Anne Bancroft.
April 4, 1968 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is killed after being shot on a Memphis motel balcony. King's life inspires a number of songs, including U2's "Pride (In The Name Of Love)."More
March 16, 1968 Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" hits #1, becoming the first-ever posthumous #1 hit. Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.More
February 25, 1968 The Jimi Hendrix Experience play two shows at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Between shows, Hendrix gets "casted" by the inventive groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster, who makes a mold of his love gun.More
December 9, 1967 Jim Morrison of The Doors is arrested onstage during his band's concert in New Haven, Connecticut. The singer is arrested after angrily telling the crowd about a backstage run-in he'd had with a police officer before the show. The officer had confronted Morrison and maced him while he was hanging out in a private area with a young woman. It's the first time a famous musician is arrested in the middle of a performance.More
November 9, 1967 The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published, with a photo of John Lennon on the cover and items about David Crosby, The Who and Country Joe McDonald (of Country Joe & the Fish).More
October 7, 1967 After a London hotel accuses The Mamas & The Papas' Cass Elliot of running out on her bill, the singer is jailed overnight and strip-searched, forcing the cancellation of both an upcoming gig and television appearance.
September 9, 1967 "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave enters the Hot 100 at #79. The song was co-written by Isaac Hayes, who wrote about what he thought a "soul man" would be.
August 24, 1967 John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they attend his lecture at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, London. They later travel to India and study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi, an experience that informs many of their songs on The White Album.
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