1966: The Who recorded “Happy Jack” at CBS Studios in London. One of the few songs composed by Pete Townshend to feature bassist John Entwistle on lead vocals, the song reached #3 on UK chart after its release three-and-a-half weeks later. The single went to #1 in Canada and #24 in US after being issued in America in mid-March the following year.

1966: The highest-charting record by The Creation, “Painter Man,” peaked in its second week on the UK singles chart at #36.

1967: 1967: The Moody Blues released their second studio album, Days of Future Passed. While facing financial difficulties due to a lack of critical and commercial success, the Moody Blues’ label, Deram Records, offered the band the chance to record a stereo album that combined their music with an orchestra. The resulting fusion has since been considered one of the first examples of progressive rock. The concept LP reached #27 in the UK and made it to #3 on the Billboard pop chart in the US. On the same day, the first single from the album, “Nights in White Satin,” was also released. It became the group’s highest-charting US single and their only #1 on the Cash Box chart, though it wasn’t until the record was reissued in 1972 that it reached #9 in the UK and #2 in the US. It was the first significant chart entry by the group since “Go Now” in 1964 as well as the first chart success since their recent lineup change, in which Justin Hayward and John Lodge joined the group after the departure of vocalist Denny Laine.

1969: The Grateful Dead released their first official live album, Live/Dead. Recorded over a series of concerts in early 1969, it was the first live rock album to use 16-track recording.

1971: “Day after Day” by Badfinger was released in US before its release in the UK in mid-January of 1972. The lead single from the group’s fourth studio album, Straight Up, the song was the group’s last top 10 hit on the Billboard chart in the US, reaching #4, as well as their last top 10 in the UK, where it reached #10.

1972: Dusty Springfield released her seventh studio album, See All Her Faces. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions such as an abandoned album with Jeff Barry and her final recordings with longtime producer and arranger Johnny Franz.

1973: Elton John’s seventh studio album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, hit #1 in the US. The album stayed in the top spot through the rest of the year and spent a total of 111 weeks on the chart.

1973: The O’Jays released Ship Ahoy, their seventh studio album and first to reach #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.

1973: “Rock On” by David Essex entered the Billboard Hot 100 on it’s way to reaching #5. After already reaching #3 in UK in September, it later hit #1 in Canada the following March. Essex’s first major single, it was his first of ten top 10 hits in the UK, but his only top 40 hit in the US.

1973: “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder, from his recently released sixteenth studio album Innervisions, entered the Billboard Hot 100 on its way to eventually peaking at #8 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart. Wonder played all the instruments on the track and it is regarded as one of the first soul music songs to deal explicitly with systemic racism in the United States.

1973: Former Temptations vocalist Eddie Kendricks went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the only time with “Keep on Truckin’.” The record was also his first of three chart-topping hits on the R&B chart.

1975: Neil Young released his seventh studio album, Zuma. It was his first album with a new version of his backing band Crazy Horse, which added new guitarist Frank Sampedro after the death of Danny Whitten in 1972. The Crazy Horse lineup of Sampedro, bassist Billy Talbot, and drummer Ralph Molina remained stable until 2018.

1977: Emerson, Lake & Palmer released their sixth studio album, Works Volume 2.

1978: Give ‘Em Enough Rope, the second album recorded by the Clash, was released in the UK, where it later peaked at #2. The album was their first released in the US, which was then followed by the US release of their debut album.

1978: Rod Stewart released “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” the lead single from his ninth studio album, Blondes Have More Fun. Written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, the song incorporates the melody from the song “Taj Mahal” by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor and the string arrangement from “Put Something Down On It” by Bobby Womack.

1978: Queen released their seventh studio album, Jazz.

1979: The Eagles had their fifth and final chart-topping hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Heartache Tonight.”

1980: The Cars released “Don’t Tell Me No,” the second single from their third studio album, Panorama.

1981: The Moody Blues released “Talking Out of Turn,” the third single from their tenth studio album, Long Distance Voyager.

1983: Billy Idol released his second studio album, Rebel Yell.

1986: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band released their first live album, Live 1975–85. The box set consists of forty tracks recorded at various concerts between 1975 and 1985.

1989: Robert Earl Keen released his second studio album, West Textures.

Birthdays Today

Billy May, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer for television and film who wrote arrangements for singers such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bing Crosby, and collaborator with satirist Stan Freberg on several albums, was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1916.

Kenneth Pitt, publicist and manager who worked with several musicians and bands including David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lee Lewis, Crispian St. Peters, and Manfred Mann and persuaded Manfred Mann to record “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England in 1922.

Ennio Morricone, composer of over four hundred scores for cinema and television and over one hundred classical works, was born in Rome, Italy in 1928.

Mack Rice, songwriter and singer best known for writing “Mustang Sally” and co-writing “Respect Yourself” with Luther Ingram, was born Bonny Rice in Clarksdale, MS in 1933.

Bobby Rush, blues, soul, R&B, and funk musician, composer and singer, was born in Homer, AL in 1933.

Tommy Facenda, singer and guitarist and member of Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps best known for his 1959 solo single “High School U.S.A.,” was born in Porstmouth, VA in 1939.

Screaming Lord Sutch, singer who worked with artists that included Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Charlie Watts, and Nicky Hopkins, was born David Edward Sutch in Hampstead, London, England in 1940.

Tim Rice, author and lyricist who collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on such musicals as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita, who also worked on many other film and theater projects, including his work with Elton John on the Lion King and Aida, was born in Shardeloes, Buckinghamshire, England in 1944.

Dave Loggins. singer-songwriter and musician, was born in Mountain City, TN in 1947.

Glen Buxton, guitarist for Alice Cooper, was born in Akron, OH in 1947.

Greg Lake, bassist, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, was born in Poole, Dorset, England in 1947.

Allee Willis, songwriter and artist who co-wrote hit songs including “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” by Pet Shop Boys, and “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts, was born in Detroit, MI in 1947.

Bram Tchaikovsky, guitarist and vocalist with the Motors who later lead an eponymous group, was born Peter Bramall in Lincolnshire, England in 1950.

Frank Maudsley, bassist for A Flock of Seagulls, was born in Liverpool, England in 1959.

Jacqui Abbott, singer and member of The Beautiful South from 1994-2000, was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, England in 1973.