Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 10


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Nat King Cole is attacked by a group of five racial segregationists while singing onstage at the Municipal Hall in Birmingham, Alabama. The hoodlums were quickly arrested by police and Cole would return later that night for a second show. The assaulters received the maximum sentence of 180 days in jail.

April 10
Leo Fender patents the Stratocaster electric guitar, the successor to his iconic Telecaster model.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
16-year-old Ricky Nelson sings his first record, a cover version of Fats Domino's "I'm Walking", on his parents' TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ABC. Both versions reached #4 on the Billboard chart.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Bobby Darin records the novelty tune, "Splish Splash" at Atlantic Studios in New York City. It will become the first of his twenty-two, Billboard Top 40 hits, reaching #3 by the following August. The record will become a world wide hit, although he was outsold in Britain by a rival version from comedian Charlie Drake.

April 10
Dick Clark devoted an hour of his American Bandstand TV show to the memory of Chuck Willis, who had died earlier in the day from peritonitis. Willis recorded hits that included: "C.C. Rider" (#12), "What Am I Living For" (#9) and "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes" (#24).

1962 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
The Beatles' original bass player, 22 year old Stuart Sutcliffe, died of a brain hemorrhage. Sutcliffe was included in the band because he had the equipment and place to rehearse, although he couldn't play very well. His girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, created The Beatle haircut for Stu, and John and Paul followed soon after. Sutcliffe can be heard on very early Beatle tracks included on "Anthology 1". He left the band in 1961 to resume painting because his headaches were getting too severe to play.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Freddie And The Dreamers hit #1 in the US with "I'm Telling You Now", two years after it had reached #2 in the UK.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Elton John releases his second studio album, a self-titled effort that includes his American breakthrough single, "Your Song". The LP would climb to #4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was nominated for both Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male, at the 1971 Grammy Awards.

April 10
The Progressive Rock band Emerson, Lake And Palmer was formed when drummer Carl Palmer joined keyboardist Keith Emerson and singer / guitarist Greg Lake.

April 10
Doors singer Jim Morrison is dragged off stage by keyboardist Ray Manzarek during a concert in Boston, when Morrison screams to the audience, 'Would you like to see my (genitals)?'. Theater management quickly switched off the power. Morrison had been arrested in Miami a year earlier for "lewd and lascivious behavior" during a performance.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #99, on its way to #2. The song was the singer's first of fifteen Top 40 hits and was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1971, and Platinum on April 10, 2017. Denver co-wrote the song with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, who would go on to form The Starland Vocal Band and have a US number one hit with "Afternoon Delight" in 1976.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Led Zeppelin's fifth album, "Houses of the Holy" was certified Gold. It had topped both the UK and the US album charts and was ranked at #278 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in 2020.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
The UK music magazine The Melody Maker reviewed a show by The Sex Pistols with the words, "I hope we shall hear no more of them."

April 10
Peter Frampton went to #1 on the Billboard album chart with "Frampton Comes Alive". The LP would stay on the chart for 97 weeks and sell over 6 million copies. It is still one of the largest selling live albums of all time, behind Garth Brooks' "Double Live", "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live 1975 - '85" and "The Eagles Live".

1982 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
"Ebony and Ivory", a duet by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, debuts on the US charts at #29. It will eventually reach number one in both the US and UK, becoming Wonder's first British chart topper. The song listed at #59 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time, but in October 2007 it was named "the worst duet in history" by BBC 6 Music listeners and these days gets little airplay on either side of the Atlantic.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Nate Nelson, lead vocalist for The Flamingos on their 1959 hit "I Only Have Eyes For You", passed away at the age of 52.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
George Michael and Madonna are celebrated at the 8th Golden Raspberry Awards at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Michael's "I Want Your Sex" is named Worst Original Song, and Madonna is named Worst Actress for her role as Nikki Finn in Who's That Girl.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Tiny Tim announced that he had decided to drop his short-lived bid for mayor of New York and back Rudolph Giuliani. Really nothing more than a cheesy publicity stunt thought up by his manager, Tim's run never really got off the ground. "My campaign fizzled as flat as this beer," he told a News reporter over a few brews.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
A charity tribute concert for the late Linda McCartney was held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Among the performers were Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde, George Michael, Elvis Costello and Sinead O'Connor.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Little Eva (Boyd), whose version of "The Loco-Motion" went all the way to #1 in the US in 1962, passed away at the age of 57 after a long illness.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
A fire destroyed the former home of the late Country singer Johnny Cash. The 13,880-square-foot house, located in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, was home to Johnny and his wife June until their deaths in 2003. The property was purchased by The Bee Gees' Barry Gibb in January 2006. Gibb and his wife Linda had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Major record labels including Warner Music, Universal Music, Sony Music and Capitol Records filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the file sharing site Megaupload, asking for $13 million in damages.

April 10
The estate of Elvis Presley filed a lawsuit against Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A., the Italian company that manufactures Beretta guns, for using Presley's image in an advertising campaign.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Yvonne Staples of The Staple Singers died of colon cancer at the age of 80. She sang on the group's hits "Respect Yourself" (#12 in 1971), I'll Take You There" (#1 in 1972) and "Let's Do It Again" (#1 in 1975).

2020 - ClassicBands.com

April 10
Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to "Hey Jude" sold for $910,000 at an online auction held by Julien's Auctions of New York. Among more than 250 other pieces of Beatles memorabilia was a bass drum head with The Beatles' logo that was used during the band's 1964 tour of North America, which was purchased by a collector for $200,000.



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