Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 10


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1958 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Elvis Presley uses his first weekend furlough from the US Army to record "A Fool Such As I", "I Got Stung" and "A Big Hunk Of Love" at RCA's Nashville studios.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
The Beatles release the single, "Rain", their first song to use the reversed-tape effect that would later stir up the Paul McCartney death hoax.

June 10
Steve Marriott of The Small Faces collapsed while performing on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! The group was forced to cancel the following week's gigs.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
The Beatles' "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" started a twenty-three week run at #1 on the UK album chart. The LP also topped the Billboard Hot 200 chart for fifteen weeks, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and would eventually sell over thirty million copies worldwide. Ringo Starr would later comment: "a bunch of songs and you stick two bits of 'Pepper' on it and it's a concept album. It worked because we said it worked."

June 10
Jimi Hendrix is denied entry to London's Botanical Gardens because "people in fancy dress aren't allowed."

June 10
After selling over 356,000 copies in the first three weeks after its release, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum tops the UK chart. The song would peak at #5 in the US near the end of July. In 2004, the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited recognized it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years. The same year, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" at #57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Earl Grant, the vocalist and keyboard player who reached #7 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 1958 with "The End", was killed instantly when the car he was driving ran off Interstate 10 near Lordsburg, New Mexico. He was 39. His album, "Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites)" sold over one million copies, gaining Gold record status.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
A Jethro Tull concert in Denver is disrupted by police who fire tear gas to quiet the 10,000 plus crowd. The band plays on, even though keyboardist John Evans can't see his piano through the gas.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
"The Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a three week stay. The tune was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It also spent two weeks at the top of the Easy Listening chart and was ranked as Billboard's #5 record for the year. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards in March, 1973, but lost to Harry Nilsson's "Without You".

1974 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
The Who begin a four day stay at Madison Square Garden to which tickets had sold out in sixty hours, a full two months before the concerts.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Asylum Records releases the Eagles' fourth studio album, "One Of These Nights", which will yield three Billboard Top 10 singles: "One of These Nights" (#1), "Lyin' Eyes" (#2) and "Take It to the Limit" (#4). The LP itself would top the Billboard 200 chart, selling four million copies along the way. It was nominated for Album of the Year in 1976, but lost to Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years".

1978 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta teamed up to take "You're The One That I Want" to the top of the Billboard chart. In the UK, the record would be number one for nine weeks. Worldwide, the song sold over fifteen million copies.

June 10
Joe Walsh's comic depiction of Rock stardom, "Life's Been Good", is released. It would become his highest charting solo single, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Micki Harris of The Shirelles died of a heart attack after a performance in Atlanta, Georgia. She was only 42. The group reached the Billboard Top 40 twelve times between 1960 and 1963, topping the chart with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "Soldier Boy".

1986 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
More than 10,000 fans helped The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band celebrate their 20th anniversary at a concert in Denver.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Bette Midler achieves her only US number one record when "Wind Beneath My Wings" topped the Billboard chart. Although the song would only stay on top for a week, it would win Grammy Awards for Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
James Brown and an all-star line up performed at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles for a live, pay-per-view at-home audience. The concert, called James Brown: Living in America – Live!, was his first public performance since his parole from the South Carolina prison system the previous February. He had served two-and-a-half years of two concurrent six-year sentences for aggravated assault and other felonies.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
The Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas called for a boycott of Warner Brothers Records and Time Warner Inc. for publishing the song, "Cop Killer" by Ice-T's hard core group, Body Count. Among the lyrics that police object to are, "I got my 12-gauge sawed off. I got my headlights turned off. I'm 'bout to bust some shots off. I'm 'bout to dust some cops off." A few weeks later, Ice-T (real name: Tracy Lauren Marrow) decided to delete the song from the album, which was then re-issued with "Cop Killer" removed.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Irish singer Sinead O'Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to "stop hurting me please." She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O'Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.

June 10
Jimmy Weston, lead singer of The Danleers, passed away. The Brooklyn, New York doo-wop group is most often remembered for their 1958, #7 hit, "One Summer Night", which sold over one million copies. Further releases were not so successful and the group mostly dissolved by the mid-1960s.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
During an induction ceremony for the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame at the Sheraton New York Hotel, Phil Spector closed his acceptance speech by saying "When I get inducted anywhere, you always think; Obituary. This will look good in the obituary."

2004 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Ray Charles passed away at the age of 73. During his 45 year career, Ray appeared on the US Pop charts 77 times, with 33 of those songs making the Top 40. He became the first artist to have an album on Billboard's Hot 200 for six decades in a row.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Paul Anka, who lists his residences as both Beverley Hills and Ottawa, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in a glittering ceremony in Ottawa.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Former Journey lead singer Steve Perry revealed that he had recently undergone treatment for melanoma and that his prognosis was good.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

June 10
Rick Astley releases "50", his first album of original songs in over fifteen years. In the UK it goes to #1 after just one week, but did not chart at all in America. Astley is most often remembered for a string of hits during the 1980s, including "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever", both of which topped the Hot 100 in 1988.



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