Today in Music History

Anni-Frid Lyngstad and her group Anni-Frid Four won the talent competition on the Swedish television show Hylands Hörna. She later became famous as one of the singers of ABBA.

The final episode of the animated series The Beatles Cartoon Show was broadcast in the United States.

During a ten-date tour of Sweden, The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed at Liseberg in Gothenburg.

Ringo Starr rejoined The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios after a two-week absence. He found his drums covered with flowers as a welcome from George Harrison; during his absence, the other three Beatles had recorded “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Dear Prudence” with Paul McCartney on drums.

Sly & the Family Stone defeated The Chambers Brothers to win the television talent competition Showcase '68, similar to American Idol but intended for professional performers.

The Doors earned their second No. 1 Billboard single with “Hello, I Love You”, which reached No. 15 in the United Kingdom.

Wet Wet Wet reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with their first compilation album, End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits.

Elvis Presley’s film The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It) premiered in the United States. It was a period film set in the 1920s and was Presley’s 30th film.

King Crimson performed at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth, southwest London.

The Rolling Stones released the song “Angie”, which later became one of their best-known ballads.

Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, co-founder, guitarist and singer of Canned Heat, was found dead at the age of 27 in the garden of his bandmate Bob Hite in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles. He died from a barbiturate overdose. He was also known for performances at the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock and for singing on “Going Up the Country” and “On the Road Again”.

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.

It was reported that Bob Dylan’s bootleg album Great White Wonder had sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.

On September 3, 1970, Elvis Presley performed Dinner and Midnight Shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The concerts took place during his August–September Las Vegas engagement, shortly before he began his September concert tour outside Nevada.

Freddie King and Johnny Winter performed at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

Led Zeppelin performed at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California. A local newspaper critic described the performance as resembling an evangelical religious service, with clapping, shouting, parading and an atmosphere of frenzy among the young audience.

The Dave Clark Five officially announced their breakup, ending one of the most successful careers of the British Invasion. The Tottenham group had 17 US Billboard Top 40 hits from 1964 to 1967 and another 19 UK chart hits from 1963 to 1970.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and a midnight concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. The midnight performance included “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, “That’s All Right”, “Proud Mary”, “Sweet Caroline”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “Love Me Tender”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “His Latest Flame”, “Little Sister/Get Back” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”.

John Lennon left the United Kingdom and traveled to New York, from where he never permanently returned to Britain.

Led Zeppelin played a one-night concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. The top ticket price was $7.50.

Paul McCartney announced the formation of his new band Wings. The lineup included his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Denny Laine.

Ringo Starr received a gold record for “It Don’t Come Easy”, which reached No. 4 in both the US and UK. Ringo received full writing credit, although George Harrison later made significant contributions to the song’s final form.

The Allman Brothers Band performed at Place de Nations in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

David Bowie performed at the Hardrock Concert Theatre in Stretford, Manchester, England.

Elvis Presley performed three shows at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas: an extraordinary 3:00 a.m. concert, an evening Dinner Show and a midnight show. The midnight performance included “See See Rider”, “Johnny B. Goode”, “Suspicious Minds”, “My Way”, “A Big Hunk O’ Love” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”.

In their song “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, The Temptations sing: “It was the 3rd of September, that day I’ll always remember.”

Pop singer and songwriter David Mead was born. He later had the British radio hit “Girl On The Roof”, which also appeared in the films National Lampoon's Van Wilder and The Sweetest Thing.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and a midnight concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. These were the final performances of his engagement; during the last evening he improvised, joked with the audience and, according to the source, arrived on stage on Lamar’s back with a toy monkey around his neck.

At the end of his Las Vegas engagement, Elvis Presley had a public argument backstage with Colonel Tom Parker. Later that night, according to the source, Elvis fired him, although Parker had already announced his own departure and demanded money that Elvis owed him.

American singer Jennifer Paige was born Jennifer Paige Scoggins in Marietta, Georgia. She became known for the hits “Crush”, “Always You” and “Sober”.

Stevie Wonder released the album Innervisions, which became one of his most significant albums in soul and funk.

The Rolling Stones performed at the Eisstadion in Mannheim, Germany.

Elton John released the single “The Bitch Is Back” in the United States on MCA Records. The B-side was “Cold Highway”.

Elvis Presley attended a Tom Jones concert at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with Sheila Ryan and later also appeared on stage.

DJ Redfoo, whose real name is Stefan Kendal Gordy and a member of the duo LMFAO, was born. He is the son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

The star-studded improvised group Trading Faces was formed at actor Peter Sellers’ 50th birthday celebration in Los Angeles. The lineup consisted of Bill Wyman, Ronnie Wood, Jesse Ed Davis, Danny Kortchmar, Keith Moon, Joe Cocker, Nigel Olsson, David Bowie and Bobby Keys.

Elvis Presley performed on tour at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. The concert began at 8:30 p.m., and Presley wore a blue Bicentennial jumpsuit; according to the source, approximately 7,500 to 8,000 spectators attended.

Marshall Tucker Band performed at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia.

After Elvis Presley’s death, he had 27 albums and nine singles in the UK Top 100; the album “Moody Blue” reached No. 1 on the album chart and “Way Down” topped the singles chart. Presley thus achieved a total of 17 UK No. 1 singles, equal to The Beatles.

Grateful Dead, with supporting acts The Marshall Tucker Band and New Riders Of The Purple Sage, played a headline concert at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The concert lasted 11 hours and, with an attendance of 107,019, set a US record for attendance at a paid concert outside festivals, which stood until 2024, when it was surpassed by George Strait.

Studio engineer Keith Harwood was killed in a car accident shortly after leaving a recording session with The Rolling Stones. He worked with David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, among others; The Rolling Stones later dedicated the album Love You Live to him.

Frank Zappa, Scorpions, Brand X, John McLaughlin, Ten Years After, Joan Baez and Genesis appeared at Ludwigsparkstadion in Saarbrücken, Germany.

Croatian-American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Tomislav “Tomo” Miličević was born in Sarajevo in what was then Yugoslavia. He became known as a member of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars from 2003 to 2018.

Van Halen performed at Kaikan Hall in Kyoto, Japan.

Blue Öyster Cult performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.

Canadian bassist, singer, songwriter and producer Jason “Cone” McCaslin was born in North York, Ontario. He became known as a longtime member of the rock band Sum 41.

Steve Peregrin Took, percussionist and singer associated with T. Rex, died.

The techno-pop duo Soft Cell, consisting of Marc Almond and David Ball, appeared on Top of the Pops with their UK No. 1 hit “Tainted Love”. In the US, the song later reached No. 8 and spent 43 weeks on the chart.

The Allman Brothers Band performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Culture Club released the single “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” in the United Kingdom. Critics were not particularly favorable; Smash Hits magazine described it as “fourth-rate reggae”.