Today in Acoustic-Rock History

1965 – The first gig for Pink Floyd is at the Countdown Club in London.

1969 – Commencing with a call to a Detroit disk jockey, rumors that Paul McCartney is dead begin circulating. These are based on a number of apparently planted “clues” divined from Beatle lyrics and album covers. The “Paul is dead” hoax is laid to rest when Paul McCartney emerges from seclusion in Scotland, announcing that “rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

1970 – Bill Graham holds an auction of rock memorabilia and artifacts at New York’s Fillmore East to benefit peace candidates. Among the items on the block are a guitar smashed to bits by the Who’s Pete Townshend, Ian Anderson’s flute, a multi-colored bra tossed to the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia by an audience member and a spiral notebook with the original scrawled lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s first album, “Songs to a Seagull.”

1973 – Elton John gets a gold record for his two-record set, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” It’s his third straight #1 album.

1975 – Rod Stewart and the Faces play their last gig together. The split occurs because of Stewart’s success on his own and his wanting to further his solo career.

1993 – “Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles,” an album on which some of country music’s hottest stars pay tribute to the Eagles, is released. It sells more than 3 million copies, wins the Country Music Association’s Album of the Year Award, and rekindles interest in the band.

1994 – The live documentary “Unledded,” which reunites Robert Plant and Jimmy Page onstage, airs on MTV. It features four live acoustic versions of Led Zeppelin favorites and eight new Page-Plant collaborations.

1996 – The film documentary “The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus” is released. It had been filmed in December of 1968 but was put on the shelf for nearly 28 years, supposedly because the Stones were afraid that The Who had upstaged them.

1999 – David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young appear at New York’s Madison Square Garden to announce their forthcoming album and CSNY2K tour.