Rock 'n' Roll History for
September 5


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Elvis Presley surprises his mother by giving her his pink, 1954 Fleetwood Series 60 Cadillac, even though she doesn't drive. Elvis ended up driving the Caddy with the members of his band for most of 1955 and 1956. The car will remain in the Presley family and eventually goes on display in the auto museum at Graceland.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Elvis Presley records "Treat Me Nice" and "Blue Christmas" at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. The former would rise to #27 on the Billboard Top 100, while the latter became a Rock 'n' Roll holiday classic that climbed to #24 in the US and #11 in the UK.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Annette Funicello's "Pineapple Princess" entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it will reach #11. It was her fifth and final Top 40 hit on that chart.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
At a press conference at Chicago's Stockyard Inn, Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr was presented with a gold-plated snare drum by William Ludwig, the Marketing Director of the Ludwig Drum Company. Sales of the firm's drums had soared after Starr gained world-wide fame playing Ludwig's oyster black pearl Downbeat drum kit. Mr. Ludwig told Ringo, "On behalf of the employees and management of the Ludwig Drum Company, I would like to thank you for choosing our instruments and for the major role you are playing in the music world today."

September 5
The Animals had their only number one hit on Billboard's Hot 100 when "House of the Rising Sun" reached the top. To promote the group in the US, disc jockeys were sent boxes of animal crackers wrapped with special promotional material. The band would continue to turn out hits like "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (#13), "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (#13), "It's My Life" (#23), "Don't Bring Me Down" (#12), "See See Rider" (#10), "San Franciscan Nights" (#9) and "Monterey" (#15) before splitting up at the end of the decade.

September 5
"And I Love Her" by The Beatles peaks at #12 on the US singles chart while "If I Fell" stalled at #53. The band performed "And I Love Her" just once outside EMI Studios. That occasion had come earlier in the year, on July 14th for an edition of the BBC's Top Gear radio show, which was broadcast two days later.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
The Rolling Stones fly to Los Angeles to record "Get Off My Cloud". In a later interview, Keith Richards would say "I never dug it as a record. The chorus was a nice idea, but we rushed it as the follow-up" (to "Satisfaction").

1966 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
After having his Beatle haircut chopped off and donning his once hated wire framed glasses, John Lennon started work on his role as Private Gripweed in the film How I Won The War. Shooting began on location in Hamburg, Germany before moving on to Almeria in southern Spain. John showed natural acting talent and many would later say that he could have easily taken up a successful movie career.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
The Beatles begin recording "I Am the Walrus" at EMI Studios in London. Shortly after the song is released as the B-side to "Hello, Goodbye", it was banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down".

1968 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Tiny Tim, whose real name was Herbert Khaury, sues Bouquet Records for $1 million in damages when the record label releases some of his early recordings of children's and novelty songs and Tin Pan Alley standards without permission. Upon receipt of the legal actin, Bouquet immediately went out of business, never to return.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's duet "Where Is The Love?" is certified Gold by the RIAA. It had peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a week at #1 on the Easy Listening chart and the R&B chart the previous July. The song would win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at next year's ceremony.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Dean Martin surprises his former partner, Jerry Lewis, by walking on stage during Jerry's Labor Day muscular dystrophy telethon at Las Vegas's Sahara Hotel. After a one minute ovation died down, Martin said to Lewis, "You know, it seems like we haven't seen each other for twenty years." Lewis responded, "Well, you know, there was all those rumors about our breaking up, and then when I started the show and you weren't here, I believed it."

1978 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Joe Negroni, vocalist for Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers, died of a brain hemorrhage just four days shy of his 38th birthday. The Manhattan quintet placed five songs on the Billboard Top 100 in 1956 and 1957, including the #6 hit, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love".

1981 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Stevie Nick's solo LP, "Bella Donna" reached the top of Billboard's album chart with the help of a pair of duet singles, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty (#3) and "Leather and Lace" with Eagles' drummer, Don Henley (#6).

1987 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
The US Rock 'n' Roll TV show American Bandstand was officially canceled after thirty years on ABC-TV.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Eagles' drummer Don Henley was a bright spot at the MTV Video Music Awards when he performed his solo hit "The Heart Of The Matter". The rest of the show was mostly Rap and Metal.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Rod Stewart and his wife Rachel Hunter become parents to a son they name Liam McAllister Stewart. In all, Rod would have eight children with five different women.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Paul McCartney's wife, Heather Mills, accepted £50,000 for libel damages over an article in The Sunday Mirror, which had suggested that she had acted dishonestly over cash collected for an earthquake appeal.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
The first Fender Stratocaster set alight on stage by Jimi Hendrix was sold by UK auctioneers The Fame Bureau for $575,000 (£280,000). Hendrix torched the 1965 Strat at the end of his show at The Astoria in Finsbury Park, London, on March 31st, 1967.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Mickey Jones, the original bassist and founding member of the '70s Rock band Angel, passed away after a long battle with liver cancer. He was 57.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Critics in Denmark panned a series of paintings by Bob Dylan which were on display at a museum in Copenhagen. One professor claimed "Bob Dylan paints like any other amateur. He is what we used to call a Sunday painter."

2012 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Joe South, the singer / songwriter who penned dozens of hit songs in the '60s and '70s, died at the age of 72. South wrote Deep Purple's "Hush", Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden" and Billy Joe Royal's "Down In The Boondocks", as well as his own hits "Games People Play" (#12 in 1969) and "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" (#12 in 1970).

2015 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Dennis Greene, an original member of Sha Na Na, passed away at the age of 66. Greene sang lead on "Tears On My Pillow" when the group appeared in the 1978 film Grease.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Rick Stevens, who fronted Tower Of Power on their #29 Hot 100 hit, "You're Still A Young Man", died of liver cancer at the age of 77.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Forbes magazine released their list of the highest paid celebrities over the past year, with Elton John coming in at #14, earning $81 million. The Rolling Stones' $59 million got them the #32 spot, while Phil Collins came in at #64 with $45 million. Other Classic Rock acts named were The Eagles (#75, $41 million); Metallica (#78, $40.5 million); Bon Jovi and U2 (both tied at #87 earning $38 million each); Paul McCartney (#91, $37 million); and KISS (#95, $36.5 million).

2024 - ClassicBands.com

September 5
Brazilian bandleader Sergio Mendes passed away at the age of 83 after suffering respiratory complications brought on by COVID-19. He achieved three Billboard Top 40 hits with "The Look Of Love" (#4 in 1968), "The Fool On The Hill" (#6 in 1968) and "Never Gonna Let You Go" (#4 in 1983). Between 1961 and 2020 he released forty-six albums and fifty-three singles, winning three Grammy Awards along the way.



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