Today in Music History

Pink Floyd performed for two consecutive nights at The Bank in Torrance, California, on August 23 and 24, 1968, during their 1968 US tour.

During the recording of “The White Album”, Ringo Starr told John Lennon that he was temporarily leaving The Beatles because, in his words, he was not playing well, felt unloved and felt left out. Ringo subsequently went on holiday to Sardinia with his family.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Soft Machine and Big Brother And The Holding Company performed at the New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, New York. Janis Joplin also performed with Big Brother And The Holding Company. The concert was part of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's North American tour and attracted approximately 18,000 people. The atmosphere was disrupted by a heavy police presence because of a violent fight involving thrown chairs that had taken place at the same venue during the previous festival day on August 2.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The evening performance began at 8:15 p.m. and the midnight show at 12:00 a.m.; both had a capacity of 2,200. The source provides separate setlists for both performances and their later official releases associated with the albums “Elvis In Person” and “Elvis At The International”.

Grateful Dead performed at Pelletier Farm in St. Helens, Oregon, after local authorities refused to allow organizers to hold a three-day festival at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.

The band Ibex performed at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, Lancashire. Freddie Bulsara, later known as Freddie Mercury, contributed vocals after joining the group earlier that year. Ibex consisted of Freddie Bulsara, guitarist Mike Bersin, bassist John Taylor and drummer Mick Smith.

Johnny Cash began a four-week run at number one on the US Billboard 200 (Billboard Top LPs and Tape) with his second live album, “Johnny Cash At San Quentin”. The album was a recording of a live concert for inmates at San Quentin State Prison and followed his previous successful live album “At Folsom Prison”. It was nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and won Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song “A Boy Named Sue”. It was later certified triple platinum in the US and gold in the UK.

The song “A Boy Named Sue” reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and number two on the Hot 100.

The Beatles had their final professional group photo session at John Lennon's Tittenhurst Park estate.

The Rolling Stones began a four-week run at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Honky Tonk Women”, their fifth US number-one single. The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and was inspired by Brazilian gauchos at the ranch where they stayed in Matão, São Paulo. In the UK, the song also reached number one; it was released one day after the death of founding member Brian Jones and spent 17 weeks on the UK chart, including five weeks at number one. It was the band's last hit involving Brian Jones, who had died by drowning in his swimming pool on July 3. The song also reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland in 1969.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The evening show began at 8:15 p.m. and the midnight show at midnight; both had a capacity of 2,200. The source provides setlists for both performances and mentions the recording “Ferocious In Vegas”.

Emerson, Lake And Palmer made their debut at Plymouth Guild Hall in Plymouth, England. It was their first performance ever and also their only warm-up show before the Isle of Wight Festival six days later, where approximately 600,000 people saw them. They were paid approximately £400 for their first concert. During their career, the trio sold more than forty million records and placed ten albums on the Billboard chart and the same number in the UK.

Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground performed together for the final time at the Max's Kansas City club in New York. The performance and other concerts at the club were recorded by Brigid Polk, an associate of Andy Warhol, on a monophonic cassette recorder. The recordings were later released on the album “Live at Max's Kansas City”. Reed subsequently worked for his father for two years for $40 a week before signing a solo contract.

Diana Ross was at number one on the UK singles chart with “I'm Still Waiting”, which became her first solo UK number-one single. It remained at the top for four weeks after being heavily promoted by BBC Radio 1 presenter Tony Blackburn on his morning programme.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, both with a capacity of 2,200. The evening performance began at 8:30 p.m. and the midnight show at midnight. The source mentions, among others, the songs “Proud Mary”, “Sweet Caroline”, “Suspicious Minds”, “I'm Leavin'” and “Can't Help Falling In Love”.

Led Zeppelin performed at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, during their North American tour.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, both with a capacity of 2,200. The source provides extensive setlists including “C.C. Rider”, “Polk Salad Annie”, “What Now My Love”, “Suspicious Minds”, “My Way” and “Can't Help Falling In Love”.

The Who performed at Kungliga Tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, both with a capacity of 2,200. The evening performance began at 8:30 p.m. and included, among others, “How Great Thou Art”, “Suspicious Minds”, “My Boy”, “An American Trilogy” and “Can't Help Falling In Love”.

Fania Records organized a concert by its artists at Yankee Stadium in New York during the great salsa boom. Among those performing were Willie Colón, Johnny Pacheco and Larry Harlow, and the concert was attended by 63,000 people.

Aerosmith performed at the Parthenon Theatre in Hammond, Indiana, a former 1920s cinema with a capacity of more than 2,500 people.

Elvis Presley performed an evening and midnight show at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, both with a capacity of 2,200. The evening performance began at 8:30 p.m.; the source mentions, among others, “Big Boss Man”, “Fever”, “The Wonder Of You”, “If You Talk In Your Sleep” and “Can't Help Falling In Love”. During the midnight performance, he wished Kathy Westmoreland a Happy Birthday.

Eric Clapton remained at number one on the US album chart with “461 Ocean Boulevard”. John Denver was second with “Back Home Again”, Elton John third with “Caribou”, Stevie Wonder moved up to fourth with “Fulfillingness' First Finale”, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive II was fifth. Also in the Top 10 were Bad Company, Loggins & Messina, Robin Trower, Bob Dylan & The Band, and Paul McCartney & Wings.

John Lennon claimed that he saw a UFO from the balcony of his New York apartment, which he shared with May Pang. He described it as a typical flying saucer surrounded by lights, with a red light on top. He later recorded the date and time of the alleged sighting, August 23, 1974 at 9 p.m., in the notes to the album “Walls and Bridges”.

Seth Brooks Binzer, known as Shifty Shellshock, American rapper and singer and co-founder and frontman of rap-rock group Crazy Town, was born in Los Angeles, California. With the group, he had the 2001 US number-one single “Butterfly”.

The song “Fallin' in Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for one week. It was their first and only US number-one single. The song was credited to the group even though drummer Tommy Reynolds had left three years earlier and was replaced by Alan Dennison. It reached number 33 in the UK.

Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he had met at school when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until Curtis's premature death.

Queen began recording the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales.

Alan Stivell, Babe Ruth, Heavy Metal Kids, Kursaal Flyers, Snafu, Supertramp, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Thin Lizzy, Yes and Zzebra performed at the Reading Festival.

The Eagles' album “One of These Nights” entered its final week at number one on the US album chart. It was subsequently replaced at the top by Elton John's album “Captain Fantastic”.

The Beach Boys became the first rock group to appear on the cover of People magazine. The photograph showed the five original members with beards and was accompanied by the headline “Still Riding The Crest, 15 Hairy Years Later.” Solo artists had appeared on the magazine's cover before.

Alice Hovartar and Juanita Johnson, both 19 years old, died after a car crashed into a crowd of mourners outside Graceland following Elvis Presley's death. Their funerals were held on this day.

Rush performed at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

Singer, songwriter and frontman of rock band The Strokes Julian Casablancas was born in New York. His father is business magnate John Casablancas, founder of Elite Model Management, and his mother is Danish model Jeanette Christiansen, who was crowned Miss Denmark in 1965. The Strokes had the 2001 UK hit “Last Nite” and the debut album “Is This It”, which changed the shape of guitar rock.

Comedian Steve Martin received a gold record for his novelty song “King Tut”, which reached number 17 on Billboard and had sold more than 500,000 copies when it received its gold certification. It later reached million-selling status in the US. Although it was credited to “Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons”, the backing band was actually The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

B.B. King celebrated his 30th year in the music industry at a special event at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Richard Neville, singer of the English boy band Five, was born. The group had the UK hits “Everybody Get Up”, “Keep On Movin” and the internationally successful song “When the Lights Go Out”.

“Ashes to Ashes” reached number one on the UK Official Singles Chart, where it remained for two weeks. For David Bowie, it was his second UK number-one single and his first since “Space Oddity” in 1975. The song came from the album “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” and continued the story of Major Tom from “Space Oddity”. At the time of its release, it was his fastest-selling single. The video cost £250,000, making it the most expensive music video ever made at that time.

Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The B-52's, The Pretenders, Rockpile and The Rumour performed at the Heatwave Festival in Toronto, Canada. Tickets cost $30, the festival attracted 50,000 people, and the organizers suffered a loss of more than one million dollars.

Among those performing at the Heatwave Festival, known as “New Wave Woodstock”, at Mosport Park near Toronto were Elvis Costello, The B-52s, The Pretenders and Talking Heads. Talking Heads performed songs from their forthcoming album “Remain In Light” and also introduced a new touring lineup featuring keyboardist Bernie Worrell and guitarist Adrian Belew.

Queen released the single “Another One Bites the Dust”.

On the Saturday program of the Reading Festival, Broken Home, Grand Prix, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers Band, Quartz, Samson, UFO and White Spirit performed.

Roxy Music reached number one on the UK album chart with their seventh studio album “Flesh and Blood”. The album also reached number one in New Zealand and the Top 10 in five other countries.

According to Cashbox, the best-selling song in America that week was “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” by The SOS Band. The song reached number three on the Hot 100. The Atlanta, Georgia group took its name from the abbreviation Sounds Of Success and was fronted by Mary Davis.

Natalie Horler, singer of the German dance group Cascada, was born. The group had the 2007 hit “Everytime We Touch”, for which they received a World Music Award, and the 2009 UK number-one single “Evacuate the Dancefloor”.

Aerosmith began their Done With Mirrors tour, announcing the return of the band's original lineup to the world.

Huey Lewis & The News reached number one on the US singles chart for the first time with the song “The Power Of Love”. They were followed by Tears For Fears with “Shout”, Corey Hart with “Never Surrender”, John Parr with “St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)” and Aretha Franklin with “Freeway Of Love”.

Boris Gardiner began a three-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with his version of the song “I Want to Wake Up with You”, written by Nashville songwriter Ben Peters. The song was first recorded in 1980 by American country singer Mac Davis under the title “I Wanta Wake Up With You”. Gardiner's version became the third best-selling single of 1986 in the UK and also reached number one in Australia.

Skyler Gordy, professionally known as Sky Blue, was born in Los Angeles, California. He formed half of the electronic dance duo LMFAO, with whom he had the worldwide hits “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy And I Know It” in 2011.