This Day in Rock Music History: June 17

    1933:  A man by the name of Vernon Presley married a woman by the name of Gladys Smith in Ponotoc, Mississippi.  They would give berth to a son, Elvis, a year and a half later.
    1954:  Danny Cedrone, guitarist who can be heard on the famous "Rock Around the Clock", died 10 days after recording the record after falling down a staircase.





    1955:  The stars were aligned as Eddie Fisher married Debbie Reynolds ("Tammy").  The couple would give berth to Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia of "Star Wars" fame).
    1955:  Colonel Tom Parker took over as Elvis Presley's manager.
    1963:  The Safaris released the single "Wipe Out". 
    1964:  Jay and the Americans recorded "Come a Little Bit Closer".
    1964:  The Elvis Presley movie "Viva Las Vegas" opened in theaters.
    1965:  The Beatles completed work on the tracks "Yesterday" and "Act Naturally" at Abbey Road Studios in London.
    1965:  The Kinks and Moody Blues arrived in New York City to start their first American tour at the Academy of Music.
    1965:  Elvis had the #1 song in the U.K.--"Crying in the Chapel".
    1966:  Paul McCartney bought a farm in Kintyre, Scotland.  He would later feature a Wings song "Mull of Kintyre".
    1966:  Peter Green became the guitarist of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
    1967:  The 4 Seasons had the highest-climbing song as "C'mon Marianne" moved from 66 to 33.
    1967:  Barbra Steisand performed in front of 135,000 people at New York City's Central Park.
    1967:  Sounds Like was the new #1 album for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass with Revenge from Bill Cosby moving to 2.  I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin fell to 3 and the former #1 album More of the Monkees was at 4.  The rest of the Top 10:  Born Free from Andy Williams was at #5, the Monkees moved from 197 to 6! with Headquarters, the Mamas & Papas Deliver was #7, Surrealistic Pillow came in eighth for Jefferson Airplane, Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho had the #9 album--Greatest Hits, and Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits barely made the Top 10.





    1967:  "Groovin'" by the Young Rascals entered the #1 position in its 9th week on the chart, taking over from Aretha Franklin's "Respect".  The Turtles were moving with "She'd Rather Be With Me" but Engelbert Humperdinck was standing still with "Release Me" at #4.  Jefferson Airplane's great song "Somebody To Love" came in fifth.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Little Bit O' Soul" from the Music Explosion, the Association shot up from 12 to 7 with "Windy", the Temptations had "All I Need" at 8, the Happenings fell to 9 with "I Got Rhythm" and Tommy James & the Shondells scored another Top 10 with "Mirage".
    1968 - Mason Williams released the instrumental single "Classical Gas". 
    1972:  Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played on the organ for the final time with the Grateful Dead at the Hollywood Bowl.
    1972:  Don McLean climbed to #1 in the U.K. with "Vincent".
    1972:  The Rolling Stones moved form 10 to 1 to take over the top spot on the album chart with Exile on Main Street.





    1972:  Neil Diamond remained at #1 for the third week on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Song Sung Blue".
    1973:  Joe Sayler, business manager of Steppenwolf, was shot in the arm by two intruders in his West Hollywood, California apartment.
    1974:  Elton John released the single "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me".
    1977:  Steve Winwood released his first solo album, Steve Winwood, three years after he left the group Traffic.
    1977:  Crosby, Stills & Nash were back to a trio--they mounted a comeback this time without Neil Young--with the album CSN, which they released on this date.
    1977:  The highly popular "Midnight Special" on television featured host Neil Sedaka with guests Fleetwood Mac, Kenny Rogers and Van Morrison.
    1978:  The great Boston band the Cars first appeared on the charts as their single "Just What I Needed" debuted.
    1978:  "Bluer Than Blue" by Michael Johnson took over at #1 on the AC chart.
    1978:  "You're the One That I Want" by Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta began nine weeks at #1 on the U.K. chart.
    1978:  Interesting that two of the top selling albums of all time were out at the exact same time.  The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" took over from Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and that soundtrack remained at #1 for the 22nd consecutive week.  Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione wasn't even close to the top even though it was #2, London Town from Wings was #3 and Showdown by the Isley Brothers came in fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Earth from Jefferson Starship, Gerry Rafferty moved from 14-6 with City to City, the Soundtrack to "FM" was 7, So Full of Love from the O'Jays entered the Top 10, Johnny Mathis had #9--You Light Up My Life and the Commodores had #10 with Natural High.





    1978:  Andy Gibb reached the pinnacle with "Shadow Dancing", becoming the first solo artist in history to reach #1 with his first three releases.  It would remain as the #1 song for eight weeks.  "You're the One That I Want" from Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta was second with Gerry Rafferty at 3 with "Baker Street".  Bonnie Tyler climbed to 4 with "It's a Heartache and "Too Much, Too Little, Too late" from Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams fell to #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  ABBA had another smash with "Take a Chance On Me", Chuck Mangione was on his way down with "Feels So Good", George Benson had #8--"On Broadway", Carly Simon climbed from 16 to 9 with "You Belong To Me" and Sweet enjoyed their fourth Top 10 hit with "Love Is Like Oxygen".
    1980:  Van Halen began a tour of the U.K. at the Newcastle City Hall.
    1980:  Led Zeppelin began their last tour that would be tragically cut short by the death of drummer John Bonham.
    1983:  "Every Breath You Take" by the Police held down #1 in the U.K.
    1984:  Bob Dylan granted his first television interview in 19 years, agreeing to talk to Antoine de Caunes in Nice, France.
    1985:  Bob Dylan was heard on the radio show "Rock-Line" in which he shocked people by actually taking calls from regular people.





    1989:  Ringo Starr announced the newest All-Starr band with Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Dr. John, Clarence Clemons, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Nils Lofgren.
    1989:  New Kids on the Block moved to #1 with "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)".
    1989:  Def Leppard's album Hysteria tied Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen with its 96th consecutive week in the Top 40 of the album chart.
    1995:  Rod Stewart broke an attendance record at Wembley Stadium in London when he played before 90,000 fans.
    1995:  TLC had a smash hit with "Waterfalls", the Biggest Mover of the week (39-12).



                   Blessid Union of Souls scored a Top 10 hit


    1995:  Bryan Adams owned the #1 song for the third week with "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?".  Michael & Janet Jackson debuted at #5 with "Scream/Childhood".  The rest of the Top 10:  "This Is How We Do It" from Montell Jordan, the double-sided hit "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By" from Method Man & Mary J. Blige, Adina Howard had #8 with "Freak Like Me', Blessid Union of Souls was at #9 with "I Believe" and Hootie & the Blowfish remained at 10 with "Let Her Cry".
    1997:  Megadeth released the album Cryptic Writings.
    2000:  In today's version of "Inmates R Rap Music", Nate Dogg, who appeared on the Warren G "song" "Regulate", was arrested for setting the car of his ex-girlfriend's mom on fire and kidnapping the ex-girlfriend.  After the animal Dogg was cornered in Pomona, California, he was arrested with bond set at 1 million dollars.
    2003:  After playing a Las Vegas concert, Justin Timberlake continued the show at a tiny club, joined by former 'N Sync members Lance Bass and Joey Fatone.
    2004:  Madonna announced on the television show "20/20" that she was changing her name to Esther.  That doesn't change the things she's done.  You can run but you can't hide.





    2005:  Karl Mueller, founder and bass guitarist of Soul Asylum, died of complications from throat cancer at the age of 41.
    2006:  Trouble continued for the Rolling Stones as Ron Wood entered a rehabilitation center for alcohol. 
    2006:  Olivia Newton-John was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia for her amazing contribution to music and charity.
    2007:  The Traveling Wilburys had the top U.K. album with Collection
    2008:  George Michael began his North American tour at the San Diego Sports Arena in California.


    Born This Day:
    1930:  Cliff Gallup, guitarist for Gene Vincent; died of a heart attack October 9, 1988
    1942:  Norman Kuhlke of the Swinging Blue Jeans
    1944: Chris Spedding, whose guitar work is featured by Elton John, Nilsson and Tom Waits
    1946: B.J. Cole, who played steel guitar for Elton John, Garth Brooks and Nazareth, among others, was born in London.





    1946: Barry Manilow was born in Brooklyn, New York
    1947:  Greg Rolie, keyboardist of Santana and Journey, was born in Seattle, Washington
    1947:  Glenn Buxton, guitarist of the Alice Cooper Band, was born in Akron, Ohio; died October 19, 1997 in Clarion, Iowa from complications of pneumonia
    1947:  Paul Young, singer with the Sad Cafe and Mike & the Mechanics, was born in Benchill, Wythenshaw, Manchester, England; died of a heart attack July 15, 2000 at his home in Hale, Altrincham
    1969:  Kevin Thornton of Color Me BaddSource URL: http://acsblogrock.blogspot.com/2011/06/this-day-in-rock-music-history-june-17.html
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