Where Were you on this Day in Music History: October 2nd!

A Day in Music History        

October 2nd...

Gene Autry

September 29, 1907 - October 2, 1998 (aged 91)

Births

1933: David Somerville (The Diamonds)

1939: Lolly Vegas (Redbone)

1941: Ron Meagher (The Beau Brummels)

1945: Don McLean

1950: Mike Rutherford (Genesis)

Deaths

1998: Gene Autry

Events

1928: The first professional recordings in Nashville take place as DeFord Bailey lays down eight tracks in Victor Records (later RCA) Studios.

1945: Elvis Presley, then just ten years old, makes his first public appearance at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show singing "Old Shep" in a talent contest. He comes in second.

1954: Elvis Presley bombs at the Grand Ole Opry, which does not approve of his take on traditional country music. The Opry's talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. Elvis swears never to return.

1965: Manfred Mann plays Prague in Czechoslovakia, becoming the first Western band to take the stage behind the infamous Communist "Iron Curtain."

1967: The entire Grateful Dead are arrested for marijuana possession in San Francisco.

1968: Motown sues their most prolific songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, for their refusal to write more songs until their royalty rate is increased. The trio are eventually released from the label and go on to start their own Invictus and Hot Wax labels.

1971: The syndicated half-hour dance show Soul Train, sort of an American Bandstand of R&B, premieres, with special guests Gladys Knight and the Pips, Eddie Kendricks, and the Honey Cone.

1976: In response to John Belushi's popular caricature of himself on Saturday Night Live, Joe Cocker appears on the show, singing a dual-Cocker duet with Belushi on "Feelin' Alright."

1977: After a plot is uncovered to steal it, Elvis Presley's body is moved from its Memphis mausoleum to its final resting place in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.

1983: ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog is involved in a car crash in Skane, Sweden, and suffers a concussion, but soon recovers.

1986: The Everly Brothers are awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

2000: Paul Anka files papers to end his 37-year marriage to former fashion model Anne de Zogheb.

2004: 55-year-old Billy Joel causes a stir by marrying his third wife, the 22-year-old cooking student Katie Lee, at his Long Island home.

Releases

1961: The Crystals, "There's No Other Like My Baby"

1962: The Cookies, "Chains"

1976: Rod Stewart, "Tonight's The Night"

Recording

1937: Benny Goodman, "Flying Home"

1957: Connie Francis, "Who's Sorry Now"

1967: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"

1968: The Beatles, "Honey Pie"

Charts

1960: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay" enters the charts

1965: The McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy" hits #1

1971: Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" b/w "Reason To Believe" hits #1

1971: Rod Stewart's LP Every Picture Tells A Story hits #1

1971: John Lennon's LP Imagine enters the charts

Certifications

1977: The LP Gene Simmons is certified platinum