Today in Acoustic-Rock History

1963 – The Beatles record their first of seven Christmas fan club discs.

1969 – The Who open a six night stand at New York’s Fillmore East, with the two hour-plus show centered on “Tommy.”

1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono release the LP, “The Wedding Album.”

1973 – The Rolling Stones have their first Number One ballad, “Angie,” a song that sparks rumor that it’s a love song from Jagger to David Bowie’s wife, Angela.

1973 – The Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” is released.

1974 – The Grateful Dead perform the last of a five-date stand at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, kicking off a 19-month hiatus from touring.

1976 – Led Zeppelin’s film, “The Song Remains the Same,” a mixture of concert footage and fantasy sequences, premieres in London.

1977 – Three days after the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Street Survivors,” an LP whose cover depicts the band standing among flames, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ronnie Van Zant (vocalist), Steve Gaines(guitarist), and his sister Cassie (background vocals) are killed when their leased two-engine plane crashes in the swamps of Gillsburg, Mississippi.

1979 – The Eagles’ “The Long Run” begins its year-long run on the charts, including nine weeks at #1.

1995 – “Playback,” a box set that marks Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 20th anniversary, is released.

1999 – John Mellencamp plays a surprise gig at the 350-person-capacity Mercury Lounge in New York.

BIRTHDAY:

Tom Petty 1953