Today in Acoustic-Rock History

1961 – Bob Dylan makes his concert-hall debut at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York City. Fifty people, mostly friends of the singer, pay two bucks each to attend. Dylan earns $20 for the night.

1963 – Dylan plays the big room this time, to a sell-out crowd at Carnegie Hall in N.Y.C.

1963 – The Beatles appear at the Royal Command Performances at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London before a glittering audience which includes the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden. John Lennon says “Will people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.”

1970 – Bob Dylan, long under pressure to return to his political stance of the ’60’s, records “George Jackson,” a paean to the black militant killed in a California prison shootout.

1972 – Moody Blues hit #2 in the US with “Nights In White Satin.”

1974 – Elton John releases his “Greatest Hits” LP.

1976 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, finishing up a two month tour with a six night stand at New York City’s Palladium Theater, have their final show interrupted by a phoned-in bomb threat. After a quick check shows everything to be clear, Springsteen quips that the caller might have been Mike Appel, his former manager and then current litigant in an extensive lawsuit.

1977 – The Band film documentary, “The Last Waltz” opens.

1998 – A number of artists, including Don Henley, John Mellencamp, James Taylor, Elvis Costello and Shawn Colvin, perform at a benefit at the Santa Monica Airport for City of Hope. Each artist performs their favorite one-hit wonder song.

BIRTHDAY:

James Honeyman-Scott (Pretenders) 1957