The Animals had to cancel a show at New York's Apollo Theater after the US Immigration Department forced the group to leave the venue. Their only New York appearance would be on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Alan Freed, who many credit with first associating the term "Rock and Roll" to music, died at the age of 43. Freed was a Cleveland disc jockey who started promoting dances that featured the top artists of the day, including, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis. After moving to New York and appearing in some teen movies, he was caught up in the payola scandal of 1959 for accepting money for playing certain records on his radio show. Before his death, he was virtually broke and fighting charges of tax evasion. It was a sad ending for one of Rock and Roll's most important pioneers.

The soundtrack to the 1969 film Easy Rider, featuring "Born To Be Wild", "If 6 Was 9" and "Ballad of Easy Rider", is certified Gold for sales of 500,000 copies. The LP had peaked at #6 on the Billboard album chart the previous September.

A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The remaining length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church. In 1976, Elvis released an album called "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee", which was recorded at his home studio at Graceland.

Jimmy Carter's inauguration had entertainment provided by Linda Ronstadt, John Lennon, Paul Simon, Gregg Allman, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band.

JIMMY CARTER: ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT

Jamaican authorities open fire on Jimmy Buffett's seaplane, mistaking it for a drug trafficker's plane. U2 singer Bono and Island Records producer Chris Blackwell were with Buffett, but no one was hurt. The incident inspired Buffett to write a song called "Jamaica Mistaica".

Nearly two months after it was issued in the United States, George Harrison releases his first solo single, "My Sweet Lord" in the UK. It would go on to become the biggest selling record of the year in Great Britain. Unfortunately for George, Bright Tunes Music Corporation would file a law suit alleging copyright infringement of the late Ronnie Mack's song "He's So Fine". In September 1976, a court found that Harrison had subconsciously copied "He's So Fine", since he admitted to having been aware of the Chiffons' recording.

David Jones starts using the stage name David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from the Monkees, just in time for the release of his single, "Can't Help Thinking About Me". He would later say that he chose "Bowie" because he likes that "big American bear-killin' knife." His family name would remain Jones.

Parlophone Records releases The Beatles' "Please Please Me", which would go on to be their first number one single in the UK. Written mostly by John Lennon, the song made it to the top in just three weeks and would sell over 1.5 million copies world wide. Despite this success, the record wouldn't appear on the US charts for another year.

Pete Townshend of The Who helped Eric Clapton to overcome some personal problems by getting him involved in a show he called The Rainbow Concert. Clapton had fallen into alcohol abuse and drug dependency. Townshend recruited Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and others to play a sold out show that was later released as the album, "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert".

The now world famous Los Angeles night club, The Whiskey A-Go-Go, opened its doors. Johnny Rivers, Alice Cooper and Kansas have recorded live albums there. Rivers also recorded two Top 10 singles, "Memphis" and "Seventh Son", live at The Whiskey.

Foghat's "Slow Ride" becomes the first of their five Billboard chart entries and the only one to crack the Top 20. In 2009, it was named the 45th "Best Hard Rock" song of all time by VH1

A fund-raising concert for UNICEF, the world hunger organization, was held in New York at the United Nations General Assembly. Performers included Rod Stewart, ABBA, The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rita Coolidge, Olivia Newton-John, Earth, Wind And Fire, Kris Kristofferson, John Denver and others. The show raised about half a million dollars, but an album of the concert was a flop.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24049235

The Who and The Kinks perform on the last airing of ABC-TV's musical variety show Shindig!. The program had gone on the air September 16th, 1964.

Led Zeppelin's "In Through the Out Door" is awarded a Platinum disc. It's the last album released before the September 25th death of drummer John Bonham. The LP was a huge commercial success, topping the Billboard 200 in just its second week on the chart. It also went to #1 in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand.

Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" hits #2 in America, where it would stay for four weeks. Held out of the top spot by "At The Hop" by Danny And The Juniors, the record sold one million copies in its first ten days of release, making it one of the best-selling singles ever in the US at that time.

62-year-old Sonny Bono of Sonny And Cher was killed when he hit a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. The duo placed eleven songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1965 and 1972 before divorcing in 1975. After leaving show business, Sonny was voted in as Mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988 and in 1994 was elected to the US congress, and re-elected in 1996.

Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #81. It will peak at #22 a month later. In 2018, the record was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has also been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the 500 songs that shaped Rock 'n' Roll.

After receiving a US army draft notice, The Beach Boys' Carl Wilson refuses to be sworn in and fails to report for military service. He filed for a conscientious objector status, but ultimately was indicted and faced criminal prosecution for draft evasion. He would be arrested on April 26th, 1967 by FBI agents and later released from custody on $15,000 bond.

Suzi Quatro appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. After a string of UK hits, she now has her sights set on America, but despite being cast as Leather Tuscadero on TV's Happy Days, her only Billboard Top 40 hit would be "Stublin' In" with Smokie's lead singer Chris Norman in 1979. Despite her lack of success in the United States she is reported to have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

The Beatles attend a New Year's Day audition for Decca Records where they record fifteen songs. After reviewing their material, the company decided to sign Brian Poole And The Tremeloes instead. A&R boss Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein, "These boys won't make it. Guitar groups are out. Go back to Liverpool, Mr. Epstein. You have a good business there." Rowe would later admit, "We decided it was better to take the local group. We could work with them more easily and stay closer in touch as they came from Dagenham."

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are invited to join Fleetwood Mac, marking the band's tenth line-up change since 1967.