Music History

Hank Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry and told not to return until he was sober. The reason was his drinking problem and frequent absences. He died four months later.

Hank Williams was arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct in Alexander City, Alabama. The arrest came just days after he had been fired from the Grand Ole Opry because of his drinking.

Pete Seeger testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he was asked whether he had performed for communists. Seeger stated that he had sung for Americans of all political beliefs and that he was proud never to have refused to sing to any audience regardless of its religion, skin color or circumstances in life.

A London judge fined Sidney Turner three pounds and ten shillings for "creating an awful noise" after he threatened his neighbors that he would "drive them mad". From 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., he played Bill Haley and His Comets' "Shake Rattle & Roll" as loudly as possible.

A rock 'n' roll enthusiast was fined $9.80 at a London court after playing Bill Haley's “Shake Rattle and Roll” at full volume all day and neighbors complained.

Bill Haley filed a lawsuit against Dave Miller of Essex Records, seeking to block the release of recordings he had made during his contract with Essex. The lawsuit described the recordings as inferior to his newer recordings at the time.

Houston police arrested Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and several others backstage at Music Hall and fined them for alleged gambling. Some believed the real reason for the raid was opposition to the newly integrated audience. The artists nevertheless managed to return and perform a second set.

Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman had the third-best-selling song in the US with their novelty song “Flying Saucer”. It sold 500,000 copies in just three weeks and eventually surpassed one million. The recording's concept involved two radio reporters asking questions that were humorously answered with excerpts from mid-1950s hits. Buchanan and Goodman were sued for copyright infringement by seventeen different record companies, but all the lawsuits were dismissed with the ruling that the parodies did not interfere with sales of the original recordings.

Jerry Lee Lewis filed for divorce from his second wife. Three months later, he married his cousin Myra before the divorce had been legally finalized.

Billboard published an article warning that the payola scandal, involving secret payments by record companies to disc jockeys for playing their records, was rapidly getting out of control. The scandal soon ended the career of pioneering rock'n'roll radio personality Alan Freed.

Following the stabbing deaths of two teenagers by a 17-year-old perpetrator and other similar violent incidents in New York, radio station WCBS banned all versions of “Mack the Knife.” Bobby Darin's version later won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.

In communist East Germany, 15 teenagers were imprisoned in Leipzig after marching through the streets, chanting “Long live Elvis Presley,” and mocking officially approved local music. Authorities described their rock 'n' roll demonstration as capitalist subversion and sentenced them to terms ranging from six months to more than four years in prison; one source gives the upper limit as four and a half years.

Barry White was sentenced at the age of 16 to four months in prison for stealing tires worth $30,000. He was released on parole after three months. While in prison, he heard Elvis Presley singing “It’s Now or Never”, which inspired him to devote his life to music. He left his street gang, joined the group The Upfronts, and later became a singer and producer. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and earned numerous gold and platinum singles.

The BBC banned Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" because it was considered too morbid and tasteless. The ban lasted for more than a decade; after restrictions were relaxed, the single was reissued in the UK in 1973 and reached No. 3.

The Four Seasons sued their financially struggling first record company, Vee Jay Records, over unpaid royalties and subsequently moved to Mercury/Philips Records. According to the source, this marked the beginning of a series of problems that led to the label's collapse.

Paul McCartney was fined £31 and lost his driving licence for one year after being caught speeding.

Paul McCartney was fined £25 and lost his driving licence for one year after being caught speeding. He received additional fines of £3 each for two further charges involving the late presentation of his driving licence and insurance document, bringing the total penalty to £31. Police stopped him at 11:45 p.m. on June 14, 1963, on Seabank Road in Wallasey while he was driving the other Beatles back to Liverpool after their performance at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton.

Police stopped soul singer Joe Tex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while he was driving his new Cadillac. He was charged with watching a television set installed in the dashboard while driving and became only the second American motorist to be formally charged with the offense.

Johnny Cash was arrested while crossing the Mexican border into El Paso, Texas, after customs officials found hundreds of pills in his guitar case. He spent the night in jail, received a suspended prison sentence, and was fined $1,000.

The Doors officially signed a seven-album contract with Elektra Records. The band also reluctantly agreed to release “Break On Through” as their first single. The lyric “She gets high” was changed to “She gets” for radio airplay.

The new Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force in Britain, forcing all but one of the famous “pirate”, or unlicensed, radio stations to cease broadcasting. Radio Caroline continued broadcasting until March 1968.

Bob Dylan renewed his recording contract with Columbia Records.

Thieves broke into Mick Jagger’s London apartment while he was away and stole valuable jewelry and luxury furs belonging to his then-partner Marianne Faithfull.

California narcotics agents raided the Grateful Dead's communal house at 710 Ashbury Street in San Francisco. A total of 11 people were arrested, but among the Grateful Dead members themselves, only Bob Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan were present and arrested. Jerry Garcia and the other band members were not at the house at the time of the raid. The other nine people arrested included business managers Rock Scully and Danny Rifkin, equipment manager Bob Matthews, and six visitors or friends. Police seized approximately one pound of marijuana. Sensational headlines at the time about the “arrest of a rock band” later led to claims that the entire Grateful Dead had been arrested.

Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas spent the night in a London jail after being accused of stealing from a hotel. The charges were dropped the following day; the incident led to the cancellation of a television appearance and concert performance and, according to some reports, may have been an excuse to question her about a known suspected drug trafficker.

Bobby Darin sold his music publishing company for one million dollars.

Cynthia Powell Lennon initiated divorce proceedings against John Lennon because of his infidelity. After returning from a vacation in Greece, she discovered that John was with Yoko Ono, who was staying at their London home. She filed the petition on August 22, 1968, one day before the sixth anniversary of their wedding; the subsequent decree nisi was issued on November 8, 1968.

The Rolling Stones' “Street Fighting Man” was banned by several radio stations in Chicago and other cities following violence during the Democratic National Convention, amid fears that its lyrics could provoke further unrest. Local authorities were concerned that its revolutionary lyrics could incite public disorder or further violence. According to one source, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were not particularly concerned about the censorship; Jagger joked that censorship had previously helped one of the band's records sell a million copies.

Tiny Tim obtained a temporary restraining order from the New York Supreme Court and filed a $1 million lawsuit against Bouquet Records over the unauthorized release of his earlier recordings. The case also involved the album With Love and Kisses from Tiny Tim: Concert in Fairyland, which was compiled from his old demo recordings.

Motown Records filed a $4 million lawsuit against songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland after they had refused to write new material during the previous year because of a dispute over royalties and profit shares. The trio was subsequently released from Motown, founded the Detroit labels Invictus and Hot Wax, and released new songs under pseudonyms because of the legal dispute. The series of lawsuits and countersuits lasted nearly ten years and was privately settled in 1977.

He was arrested at a motel in La Jolla, California, for possession of cocaine and barbiturates after being found crawling along a corridor in a confused and combative state. He was later released on $2,500 bail. It was another complication for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, who did not tour together again until 1974.

During a four-week engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, a security employee received a threatening phone call saying that Elvis Presley would be shot during his final performance. The caller demanded $50,000 in exchange for the name of the potential assassin. Later, a meal card with a damaged image of Elvis’s face and a drawn gun pointing at his heart was found in Elvis’s hotel mail. Elvis performed his final show without incident.

Arthur Brown was arrested at the Palermo Pop ’70 festival in Italy after setting his helmet on fire and stripping on stage during his performance of “Fire”. He spent four days in solitary confinement and was subsequently deported by Italian authorities.

The Rolling Stones, together with Brian Jones's father Lewis Jones, filed a lawsuit in the High Court against former managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton. They alleged that in 1963 the managers had made a secret agreement with Decca Records intended to deprive the group of appropriate royalties.

Former Grateful Dead manager Lenny Hart was arrested for embezzling $70,000 from the group’s funds.

The Rolling Stones sued their former manager Andrew Loog Oldham over unpaid royalties.

The Jefferson Airplane concert at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio was accompanied by an unusually heavy police presence because of a bomb threat. Fans began throwing rocks at the police, who responded by using tear gas. The band sided with the fans, and bassist Jack Casady called the police “pigs”, prompting the officers to intervene directly on stage and arrest him. A fight broke out, during which guitarist Paul Kantner was knocked to the ground and singer Grace Slick was hit with tear gas. Jack Casady, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick were later arrested and had to return to Akron to resolve the charges. Each was fined $50 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence. Another member of the group was also injured during the incident.

“Papa” John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas filed a lawsuit against his former record label, Dunhill Records, on August 2, 1973, seeking $60 million in unpaid royalties.

Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley finalized their divorce after six and a half years of marriage. Priscilla was awarded property, $725,000 in cash and $4,200 a month in support, plus half the proceeds from the sale of a Los Angeles home and five percent of the outstanding stock in two publishing companies. The couple left the Santa Monica courthouse arm in arm after the short hearing.

John Lennon testified in federal court that the Nixon administration had sought to deport him because of his participation in anti-war demonstrations during the Republican convention in Miami, Florida, in 1972. He also said he suspected that his phones had been tapped and that he had been followed by government agents. The federal appeals court overturned the deportation order on October 7, 1975.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned John Lennon's deportation order. The court ruled that his 1968 British conviction for marijuana possession did not provide sufficient legal grounds for his deportation. The decision also rejected selective deportation based on secret political motives.

Variety reported that Marvin Gaye faced two consecutive five-day jail sentences in Los Angeles County for contempt of court over failure to pay child and spousal support.

Judge Richard Owen ruled at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that George Harrison was guilty of "subconscious plagiarism". The court found that the melody of Harrison's 1970 solo song "My Sweet Lord" was legally identical to "He's So Fine", written by Ronnie Mack and recorded by The Chiffons in 1963. The royalties from the song were awarded to Mack's estate, and Harrison eventually paid $587,000 in damages to copyright holder Bright Tunes. The Chiffons subsequently recorded their own version of "My Sweet Lord".

Elvis met with private investigator John O'Grady, who discussed preventing the publication of a book by his former bodyguards. Elvis agreed to a plan to offer Red West, Sonny West, and Dave Hebler money to withdraw the book from publication. The plan ultimately failed.

Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols was fined £125 at a London court after being caught with a knife at the 100 Club punk festival the previous year.

Waylon Jennings was arrested by federal agents at American Sound Studio in Nashville and charged with conspiracy and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Shortly before, he had been named honorary police chief of Nashville. The monitored shipment contained 27 grams of cocaine and had been sent to Jennings in Nashville. The charges were later dropped because of procedural defects in the arrest and search warrants; before the agents could correct the error, drummer Richie Albright flushed most of the cocaine down the toilet. The incident later inspired Jennings's song „Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand“.

Three men were arrested in Memphis while attempting to steal Elvis Presley's body from his mausoleum at Forest Hills Cemetery and demand a ransom for it. Police were waiting for them after receiving a tip about the planned break-in. The city of Memphis subsequently approved Vernon Presley's request to change the use of the land at Graceland and establish Presley Family Cemetery. Elvis's remains were then moved to the Meditation Garden at Graceland, where they were placed in safety.