1959: James Brown and the Famous Flames began recording their debut album, Please Please Please, for King Records.

1963: The Rolling Stones got their first steady gig at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England performing on Sundays for the British equivalent of $67 a week.

1968: British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac released their self-titled debut album. The LP is mix of blues covers and originals written by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who both share vocal duties, and is the only Fleetwood Mac album not to involve Christine McVie.

1969: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their final British concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Select performances from the show were later released as part of the album “Hendrix in the West” in 1972.

1970: The Jackson 5 released “ABC.” The single became their second #1 on the pop and R&B charts as well as the title track from the second album.

1970: Funk band Funkadelic released their eponymous debut album.

1973: Roberta Flack achieved her second #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”

1975: “Philadelphia Freedom” by The Elton John Band was released. A tribute to John’s friend Billie Jean King and her professional tennis team, Philadelphia Freedom, it became his sixth #1 hit in the US.

1975: Led Zeppelin released their sixth studio album, Physical Graffiti, in the UK on their newly founded imprint label Swan Song Records.

1976: The Eagles’ first compilation album, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, became the first album to receive the RIAA Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that shipped one million copies in the US.

1978: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band released their eighth studio album, Watch. It is the first album recorded with new bassist Pat King, and the final album for both guitarist Dave Flett and original drummer Chris Slade.

1979: The Police debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Roxanne,” the first single from their debut album, Outlandos d’Amour.

1981: Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe announced the breakup of their collaborative group Rockpile.

1984: Queen released their eleventh studio album, The Works.

1985: Phil Collins started five weeks at #1 on the UK chart with his third solo studio album, No Jacket Required.

1990: A little over a year after Roy Orbison’s death, an all-star tribute concert was held in his honor at the Universal Ampitheather in Los Angeles, featuring performances by acts that included John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, k.d. lang, Joe Ely, John Hiatt, Levon Helm, Chris Isaak, Emmylou Harris, John Fogerty, Rodney Crowell, Al Kooper, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Townshend, and Bob Dylan, who joined David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and Chris Hillman as a reunited Byrds in singing “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

1996: Alanis Morissette’s third studio album, Jagged Little Pill, became her first #1 LP when it started the first of seven non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard pop album chart. Three months later, it went to #1 in the UK.

1998: Fastball released “The Way,” the lead single from their second studio album, All the Pain Money Can Buy.

1998: Gov’t Mule released their second studio album, Dose.

1998: Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in London.

2003: Peter, Paul and Mary released their final studio album, In These Times. It features twelve new recordings as well as selections by Pete Seeger, Anne Feeney, Gene Nelson, and others.

2009: Chris Isaak released his tenth studio album, Mr. Lucky.

Birthdays Today

David “Fathead” Newman, jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist, session musician, and bandleader best know for his work as a sideman in the 1950s and 1960s on recordings by Ray Charles and as a member of Bluesiana Trianagle, was born in Corsicana, TX in 1933.

Paul Jones, singer, harmonica player, actor, radio personality, who sang duets with future Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones at London’s Ealing Club before becoming the lead singer and harmonica player for Manfred Mann and The Blues Band, was born Paul Pond in Porstmouth, Hampshire, England in 1942.

Nicky Hopkins, one of the most in-demand keyboardist of his time, who recorded and performed on many notable British and American pop and rock recordings from the 1960s through the 1990s by acts that include Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, The Kinks, The Pretty Things, The Move, Jefferson Airplane, Harry Nilsson, and the Jerry Garcia Band, was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England in 1944.

Butch McDade, drummer and songwriter for The Amazing Rhythm Aces, was born David Hugh McDade in Clarksdale, MO in 1946.

Lonnie Turner, bass player and guitarist for the Steve Miller Band, was born in Berkeley, CA in 1947.

Howie Blauvelt, bassist who played alongside Billy Joel in The Echoes, The Lost Souls, and The Hassles before joining Ram Jam, was born in 1949.

George Thorogood, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and frontman of his band, The Destroyers, was born in Wilmington, DE in 1950.

Michelle Shocked, singer-songwriter, was born Karen Michelle Johnston in Dallas, TX in 1962.