November 16, 1973 Bob Dylan releases his 13th studio album, Dylan. It features various covers and studio outtakes, including versions of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles."
October 3, 1973 The Who, forced to comply with union rules by recording a new track to "5:15" for their appearance on Top Of The Pops, take out their frustrations at the end of the performance. Pete Townshend smashes their gear and gives a producer the two-finger salute; Keith Moon throws wigs from the props department into the audience. The offensive bits are edited out when the show airs the following night.
September 20, 1973 The body of The Byrds guitarist Gram Parsons is stolen and taken to Joshua Tree National Park, where it is set on fire.More
August 13, 1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd release their debut album, Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd. It's an impressive set, containing the Skynyrd classics "Tuesday's Gone," "Simple Man" and "Free Bird."More
August 11, 1973 At a dance party in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc plays a set with lots of instrumental breaks that his friend MCs over, marking what many consider the beginning of hip-hop.More
July 28, 1973 The "Summer Jam" concert takes place at Watkins Glen racetrack in New York, outdrawing Woodstock with a crowd of over 600,000. The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, and The Band play to the massive crowd that paid $10 a ticket - if they bought one.More
May 13, 1973 The movie That'll Be The Day, starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Billy Fury and John Hawken of The Nashville Teens opens in the UK.More
March 17, 1973 The sci-fi musical Lost Horizon, scored by Burt Bacharach, bombs at the box office. The failure precipitates Bacharach's split from longtime songwriting partner Hal David and Dionne Warwick, who had performed their songs for more than a decade.More
March 8, 1973 Grateful Dead keyboard player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, a founding member of the band, dies at age 27.More
March 3, 1973 The live album The Concert for Bangla Desh, taken from the Madison Square Garden benefit concert organized by George Harrison, and featuring Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, wins the Grammy for Album of the Year.
February 8, 1973 The Jamaican cult classic film The Harder They Come is released in the US.More
December 2, 1972 Steely Dan make the Billboard 200 for the first time when their debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill, lands at #197. The title comes from the Bob Dylan song "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry," where he sings: Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby Can't buy a thrill The album peaks at #17 on the chart.
September 20, 1972 Paul McCartney is arrested for growing marijuana on his farm in Scotland. The judge in his case has never seen a cannabis plant, so he takes a good look at it and fines McCartney 100 pounds.
September 15, 1972 Constant touring and cocaine take their toll on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who collapses after the band's show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Sabbath cancel the rest of their shows for the year so they can all rest and recover.
August 20, 1972 Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. More than 100,000 fans show up to hear Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers, and Kim Weston, among others, perform at what becomes known as Wattstax.More
June 17, 1972 "Jesus Music" (later known as Christian contemporary) takes center stage at Billy Graham's Explo '72 in Dallas, where acts like Larry Norman and Love Song perform along with Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Andrae Crouch. Graham calls it the "Christian Woodstock."
June 7, 1972 The musical Grease opens on Broadway.More
June 3, 1972 The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" hits #1 as the group makes a successful transition from gospel to secular music.
April 29, 1972 Roberta Flack's debut album, First Take, released three years earlier in 1969, goes to #1 thanks to the Clint Eastwood movie Play Misty For Me, which uses the song "Feel Like Makin' Love." It's a huge career boost for Flack, who lands another huge hit the next year with "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."
March 25, 1972 Deep Purple's album Machine Head is released in America. Most of it was recorded in their hotel after the Montreux Casino, where they planned to record it, burned down, a story told in the song "Smoke On The Water."More
March 25, 1972 America's first single, "A Horse With No Name," rides to #1 on the Hot 100, and the group's self-titled debut album also takes the top spot on the Albums chart. The group becomes one of the most successful acts of the decade, with subsequent hits "Sister Golden Hair," "Ventura Highway" and "Tin Man."
March 18, 1972 Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold," with backing vocals by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, goes to #1 in the US.More
February 14, 1972 Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty is born to American parents in West Germany.More
December 4, 1971 During 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.More
November 17, 1971 Laura Nyro releases Gonna Take A Miracle, a tribute to '50s and '60s soul music, with Labelle as her backup singers. The R&B trio, formerly known as Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, will release their defining hit a few years later: "Lady Marmalade."
October 15, 1971 Rick Nelson (formerly Ricky) plays the "Rock & Roll Spectacular" concert at Madison Square Garden. When he plays some newer songs, the hit-hungry audience boos. Nelson writes the song "Garden Party" about the experience, and it becomes a hit, reviving his career.More
August 28, 1971 John Denver's first hit, "Take Me Home Country Roads," peaks at #2 on the Hot 100, held back by the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" Denver's song, which endures as a singalong favorite, is about West Virgina, but he had never been there - the lyric was inspired by postcards his co-writer Bill Danoff received from a friend who lived in that state.
August 4, 1971 The rapper Yo-Yo (Yolanda Whitaker) is born in Los Angeles. Teaming with Ice Cube, she has a hit in 1991 with "You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo."
August 1, 1971 George Harrison hosts the Concert For Bangladesh, the first major charity concert and the precursor to Live Aid. Guests include Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston and Ringo Starr.More
July 6, 1971 Louis Armstrong dies of a heart attack in his sleep in Corona, Queens, New York, a month shy of his 70th birthday. More
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