November 7

Births

1922: Al Hirt (Jazz Trumpeter & Bandleader)

1942: Johnny Rivers (John Henry Ramistella) (Singer / Songwriter)

1943: Joni Mitchell (Singer / Songwriter)

1957: John "Jellybean" Benitez (DJ and Producer)

1960: Tommy Thayer (Lead guitarist, took over Ace Frehley's character in Kiss)

1967: David Guetta (DJ & Producer)

1968: Greg Tribbett (Guitar for Mudvayne)

1971: Robin Finck (Guitarist for Nine Inch Nails & Guns N' Roses)

Events

1951: Frank Sinatra marries his second wife, actress Ava Gardner. The marriage, her third, lasts six years and is credited for moving Sinatra into his "mature" phase as a singer, with Nelson Riddle stating: "It was Ava who did that, who taught him how to sing a torch song. That's how he learned. She was the greatest love of his life and he lost her."

1956: Elvis Presley becomes the first artist to chart an Extended Play or EP 45 rpm record when the four-song Love Me EP enters the Billboard charts.

1959: Smokey Robinson marries Claudette Rogers, still a member of the group and the eventual inspiration for his song "My Girl" made famous by the Temptations. The two would divorce in 1985.

1961: Ray Charles is arrested for possession of drugs in Indianapolis, IN, after local authorities discover marijuana and heroin in his hotel room.

1963: The Beatles make their only visit to Ireland as a group, performing two shows in Dublin at the Adelphi Cinema.

1967: Elton John, still going by his given name of Reg Dwight, and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin sign their first major publishing deal, with their parents there to witness the signing, as both are still minors.

1974: Ted Nugent won a National Squirrel-shooting contest after picking off a squirrel at 150 yards. The heavy metal guitarist also shot dead 27 other mammals during the three day event.

1986: Willie Nelson guest stars as a corrupt cop on tonight's "El Viejo" episode of NBC-TV's Miami Vice.

1986: Tracey Pew, bassist with The Birthday Party died during an epileptic fit at age 28.

1987: Tiffany became the youngest act to score a US No.1 since Michael Jackson ('Ben', in 1972) with 'I Think we're Alone Now'.

1991: Frank Zappa was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died on December 4^th, 1993.

1991: Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin quit Guns N’ Roses and was replaced by guitarist Gilby Clarke. Stradlin citied a combination of Axl Rose's personal behaviour and the difficulties of being around Slash, Matt Sorum, and Duff McKagan, due to his new-found sobriety.

1995: The Captain (Daryl Dragon) and Toni Tenille renew their vows in Virginia City, NV on the occasion of their 20th anniversary.

2000: Garth Brooks filed for a divorce from his wife Sandy.

2002: Twelve Guns N' Roses fans were arrested during a riot after a gig in Vancouver was cancelled. Promoters pulled the gig after Axl Rose's flight from Los Angeles was delayed.

2002: Whitney Houston's husband, New Edition singer Bobby Brown was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, speeding, driving without a license and having no proof of insurance after he was stopped by police in Atlanta City.

2003: In a desperate effort to reassure visitors that the SARS outbreak is no threat, Hong Kong officials invite the Rolling Stones, among others, to play a massive concert in the city. The total cost for appearance fees tops $100 million.

November 6

Births

1916: Ray Conniff (Bandleader)

1941: Guy Clark (Country artist)

1948: Glenn Frey (Guitar & Vocals in The Eagles & Solo)

1961: Craig Goldy (Guitarist in Dio)

1963: Paul Brindley (Guitar in The Sundays)

1963: Rozz Williams (Lead Vocals for Christian Death)

1964: Corey Glover (Vocals & Guitar for Living Colour)

1964: Greg Graffin (Lead Vocals for Bad Religion)

1966: Paul Gilbert (Guitarist for Racer X & Mr. Big)

Events

1954: Elvis Presley signs a year-long contract with the Shreveport concert radio show Louisiana Hayride and, on the same day, records his one and only commercial, a radio spot for the city's "Southern Maid Doughnuts" outlet in which he sang the company jingle: "You can get them piping hot after 4 pm, you can get them piping hot. Southern Maid Donuts hit the spot, you can get them piping hot after 4 pm."

1964: On tonight's episode of ITV's musical variety show Ready Steady Go!, the Beach Boys make their first British TV appearance, performing "I Get Around," "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)," and "Dance, Dance, Dance."

1965: Guests on tonight's episode of ABC's musical variety show Shindig! include the Rolling Stones, Fontella Bass, and the Strangeloves.

1965: New York City is hit with its infamous total electrical blackout, causing Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones, and the Band's Robbie Robertson to huddle in their room at the Hilton, lighting candles.

1965: Promoter Bill Graham puts on his first show, a Jefferson Airplane & Grateful Dead concert (for the benefit of the radical San Francisco Mime Troupe) at the Calliope Ballroom in San Francisco. One year later to the day, he opens his own ballroom, the Fillmore (later known as the Fillmore West).

1967: During a three hour session Bob Dylan recorded ‘All Along The Watchtower’ and ‘John Wesley Harding’ at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

1968: The Monkees' first and only feature film, Head, premieres in New York. A random, angry film that attempts to make the band look hip while systematically destroying their hated teenybopper image, the $750,000 film is a complete flop at the box office, no doubt also due to the strange TV marketing campaign, which focused merely on a friend of the band saying the word "Head" into the camera. Today, however, the film has gained a cult reputation as a surreal masterpiece.

1970: Aerosmith performed their first ever gig when they played at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts.

1972: Billy Murcia (Drummer for The New York Dolls) passed out from an accidental overdose. He was put in a bathtub and force-fed coffee, in an attempt to revive him, which resulted in asphyxiation and death.

1973: Phil Kaufman, manager of the recently-deceased country-rock singer Gram Parsons, is fined $300 for stealing the singer's body from the Los Angeles International Airport (where it was to be shipped to a Louisiana funeral home on the wishes of his estranged stepfather), then driving out to the desert instead with Gram's close friend Michael Martin, cremating Parsons, and scattering his ashes near the Joshua Tree National Monument in Twentynine Palms, CA, a favorite spot of the singer. Both men claim the cremation was Parsons' last wish.

1975: The Sex Pistols made their live debut at St Martin’s School Of Art in central London, supporting a band called Bazooka Joe, which included Stuart Goddard (the future Adam Ant). The Pistols’ performance lasts 10 minutes.

1980: After the death of drummer John Bonham, the remaining members of Led Zeppelin meet on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, along with manager Peter Grant, to decide what to do next. All four men agree the band would simply not be the same without Bonham, and decide to split up.

November 5

Births

1911: Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye ) (Country Singer)

1931: Ike Turner (Singer, Guitarist & Producer)

1941: Art Garfunkel (Singer)

1946: Gram Parsons (Singer / Songwriter in Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers & Solo)

1947: Peter Noone (Singer / Songwriter in Herman's Hermits)

1947: Donnie McDougall (Guitar for The Guess Who)

1950: Dennis Provisor (Singer for The Grass Roots)

1956: Rob Fisher (Keyboards for Naked Eyes)

1957: Mike Score (Lead Vocals & Keyboards for A Flock Of Seagulls)

1959: Bryan Adams (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist)

1960: Ken Coomer (Drummer for Uncle Tupelo & Wilco)

1961: David Bryson (Guitar for Counting Crows)

1963: Brian Wheat (Bass for Tesla)

1971: Jonny Greenwood (Guitar & Keyboards for Radiohead & Solo)

1974: Ryan Adams (Singer / Songwriter for Whiskeytown & Solo)

1987: Kevin Jonas (Singer & Guitar for The Jonas Brothers)

Events

1966, The Monkees were top of the Billboard singles chart with ‘Last Train To Clarksville’, the group’s first No. 1. It was later revealed that due to filming commitments on their TV series, none of the group had played on this or most of the group’s early recordings.

1967: Kenny Rogers and his group The First Edition make their television debut on CBS' Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

1968: Peter Noone, lead singer of Herman's Hermits, marries Mireille Strasser at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London; the couple are still married.

1970: Long since retired from touring with his group, Brian Wilson joins the Beach Boys on stage at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles only to suffer inner ear damage in his good ear from an excessively loud sound system. After losing his balance a few times, he is helped backstage.

1971: Two firsts at tonight's Elvis Presley show at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Minneapolis, MI: comic Jackie Kahane begins his lifelong stint as opening act, and Elvis ends the show with cape outstretched in a bizarrely Christlike pose -- another gimmick that will become a staple of Elvis' live act.

1973: Who guitarist Pete Townshend storms off the stage at tonight's gig in Newcastle, England, after discovering that the backing track the band plays along to is running 15 seconds behind.

1977: Ozzy Osbourne quit Black Sabbath only to rejoin a few weeks later. He later quit again to pursue a solo career.

1982: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys part ways on the orders of Wilson's new psychiatrist and caretaker, Dr. Eugene Landy.

1983: Drummer Topper Headon of The Clash was arrested for walking his dog while drunk on London's Fulham Road.

1988: Kylie Minogue's version of "The Loco-Motion" hits #1 in the US, making it the first song to ever take the top spot three separate times in three different versions (the 1962 Little Eva original and the 1974 Grand Funk Railroad cover).

1992: Tom Jones guest stars on tonight's "Marge Gets a Job" episode of FOX-TV's The Simpsons, a move that revived his dormant career.

1998:Rapper ODB, of Wu Tang Klan, was arrested for threatening to kill his former girlfriend. He was stopped while climbing over a security gate at the woman's place of employment.

2000: The Who guest star on tonight's "A Tale of Two Springfields" episode of FOX-TV's The Simpsons.

2003: Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers was found dead in hotel room in Michigan 30 minutes before he was due on stage, aged 63. The autopsy report from the Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner gave the opinion that Hatfield suffered a sudden, unexpected death due to acute cocaine toxicity.

2005: Beach Boys singer Mike Love sues former leader Brian Wilson for using his likeness and the band trademark in his promotion of the SMiLE project, a reconstructed release of the band's legendary "lost" 1967 album.

2005: Guitarist Link Wray died of heart failure at age 76.

November 4

Births

1940: Delbert McClinton (Blues artist)

1954: Chris Difford (Guitar & Vocals for Squeeze)

1956: Jordan Rudess (Keyboards for Dream Theater)

1956: Jimmy Honeyman-Scott (Guitar for Pretenders)

1966: Kool Rock- Ski (Damon Wimbley) (Rapper in The Fat Boys)

1969: Sean John Combs (Puff Daddy & P. Diddy, Diddy) (Rapper)

Events

1961: A young Bob Dylan appears at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time. Unfortunately, only about 50 people attend, most of them friends of the singer.

1976: A bomb threat delays the start of Bruce Springsteen's concert at the Palladium in New York; Springsteen jokes that the threat was made by former manager Mike Appel, who's currently suing him.

1977: The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary of the Band's star-studded last concert, premieres in New York City, featuring Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, the Staple Singers, Dr. John, and more.

1978: Former Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young bassist Greg Reeves sues the group for a million dollars in alleged unpaid royalties from sales of the hit 1970 album Deja Vu.

1978: Boston played their first show in the city of Boston.

1978: Van Morrison is the musical guest on tonight's episode of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live, performing "Wavelength" and "Kingdom Hall."

1980: An ailing Bob Marley is baptized a "Christian Rastafarian" at Kingston, Jamaica's Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

1986: Country Singer Tammy Wynette enters the Betty Ford Clinic with an addiction to painkillers.

1991: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its 7th annual inductees, including Jimi Hendrix, Booker T. and the MGs, Sam and Dave, the Yardbirds, the Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash, and Bobby "Blue" Bland.

1992: Elton John and Bernie Taupin sign a $39 million songwriting deal with publishing giant Warner/Chappell, the largest such deal up to that time.

1993: Depeche Mode's Martin Gore was arrested at the Denver Westin Hotel after refusing to turn down the volume of his music in his room.

1994: MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith died from a heart failure at age 45.

1998: Michael Jackson announces that wife Debbie Rowe is pregnant with his first child, denying tabloid reports that Rowe was paid to be artificially impregnated and carry the child to term.

1998: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested after an alleged drunken brawl with photographer Mel Bouzac at a London pub. Bouzac had been tipped off that Liam was in the pub wearing a Russian hat and attempted to take photos.