Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 5


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1959 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
The Fleetwoods sing their current #1 hit, "Come Softly To Me" on The Ed Sullivan Show. The song was written as "Come Softly", but the owner of Dolphin Records, Bob Reisdorf, added "To Me" because he thought the original title might be considered too risque and would not receive radio play. It's interesting to note that the title phrase never appears in the song's lyrics. The chorus starts with "Come softly, darling."

1961 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
In what is sometimes called the first music video, Rick Nelson sings "Travelin' Man" on an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet titled "A Question of Suits and Ties". Released as a single a month later, the song will rise to #1 in America and #2 in the UK. Vocal accompaniment on the record was provided by The Jordanaires.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
The Searchers appear on The Ed Sullivan Show where they perform "Needles And Pins", which currently sits at #15 on the Hot 100, and "Ain't That Just Like Me", which will stall at #95 on the same chart.

April 5
Jerry Lee Lewis plays at The Star Club in Germany and records an LP called "Live At The Star Club", backed by The Nashville Teens (who were neither from Nashville or in their teens). Rolling Stone magazine gave it a positive review, saying "Live At The Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, it's a crime scene." Unfortunately, due to legal constraints, the album would only be available in Europe for several decades.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
30 year old Sonny Bono and his 18 year old wife Cher are signed to Atco Records by Ahmet Ertegun. The duo had earlier made a handful of unsuccessful singles as Caesar And Cleo, but over the next seven years they would enjoy eleven Billboard Top 40 hits.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Monkees fans march in London to protest Davy Jones' announced induction into the British Army. He would eventually be exempted from duty because he is his family's main provider.

April 5
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases Elvis Presley's twenty-fourth film, Double Trouble. The soundtrack to the movie, which does not contain a hit single, would peak at #47 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.

April 5
Paul McCartney flies to America to attend girlfriend Jane Asher's 21st birthday party in Denver, Colorado. He gave her a large diamond ring, which she later lost.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
After riots had broken out in thirty US cities, James Brown made a national television appeal for calm in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
"These Eyes" by The Guess Who enters the Billboard chart on its way to #6 a month later. Guitarist Randy Bachman wrote the basic piano chords with an original title of "These Arms". Vocalist Burton Cummings changed the title to "These Eyes" and added the middle eight bars.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Chicago became the first American Rock group to perform at Carnegie Hall. They played six sold out shows and recorded the concerts for the four-record album, "Chicago at Carnegie Hall", which became their third LP to make the Top 5 in the US.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Minnie Riperton's, "Lovin' You" reached the top of the Billboard singles chart. Minnie began recording as part of The Gems and then later with Rotary Connection. She had retired from the music scene in 1970 to raise a family when Stevie Wonder persuaded her to join his back-up group, Wonderlove. Wonder later produced Riperton's first solo album, "Perfect Angel" along with four more albums before she died of cancer on July 12th, 1979. "Lovin' You" reached #2 in the UK.

April 5
An all female Rock band out of L.A. called Fanny enjoy their biggest hit when "Butler Boy" tops out at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their first taste of recording success had come in 1971 when a song called "Charity Ball" peaked at #40.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
"Lonely Boy" by Andrew Gold entered the Billboard Hot 100 on its way to #7. Taken from Gold's second album, "What's Wrong with This Picture?", the single would enjoy a thirteen week chart run. The story follows the life of a child who is neglected by his parents after the birth of a younger sister. Many assumed this song to be autobiographical, but Gold denied this, despite great similarities between the lyrics and his own life. The lyric, "He was born on a summer day in 1951" matches Gold's August, 1951 birthday, and "In the summer of '53 his mother brought him a sister" matches his sister's birthday. Linda Ronstadt sang backing vocals on this track, marking a role reversal for the singers: Gold backed Ronstadt (on keyboards, guitar and vocals) on her albums "Heart Like a Wheel", "Prisoner in Disguise" and "Hasten Down the Wind".

1981 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
During a break between sets at The Palomino Club in North Hollywood, Canned Heat's Bob "The Bear" Hite was handed a vial of heroin by a fan. Thinking it was cocaine, he snorted it and immediately fell into a coma. A group of roadies put Hite in a van and drove him to bandmate Fito de la Parra's home, where he died at the age of 38.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
US Interior Secretary James Watt officially announces that he will not invite The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots to perform at the annual Fourth of July celebration in Washington because they attract "the wrong element of people." His choice of entertainers is Wayne Newton. President Ronald Regan would overturn the decision two days later.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Jimi Hendrix's former girlfriend, Monika Danneman, committed suicide after losing a court case brought by another former lover, Kathy Etchingham. The two had been in dispute over the circumstances of Hendrix's death, leading to the police reopening their inquiries into the incident in 1993.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
50 year old drummer Cozy Powell, (born Colin Trevor Flooks) was killed in a car accident after bad weather forced him to lose control on a highway near Bristol. He had worked with Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Peter Green, Jeff Beck and Emerson, Lake And Powell. During his career, he appeared on at least 66 albums. His stage name "Cozy" was borrowed from the Jazz drummer Cozy Cole.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
65-year-old Gene Pitney was found dead at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff, Wales. He attained twenty-two Billboard Top 40 hits in the early and mid-sixties, including "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (#4), "Only Love Can Break A Heart" (#2) and "It Hurts To Be In Love" (#7). He also wrote "Rubber Ball" recorded by Bobby Vee, "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson, and "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals. Gene was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage at the age of 51. St. John was KISS' third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984 and appeared on the album "Animalize".

2011 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
The Recording Academy announced a major streamlining of its Grammy categories, cutting them from 109 down to 78. Gone are awards for Best Male and Female Vocal in the Pop, Country and R&B genres, Pop and Country collaboration, and Best Pop, Rock and Instrumental Performances. In all, fifty-two awards were eliminated and twenty-one were created.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
The Los Angeles County coroner released Whitney Houston's final autopsy report which showed the singer drowned face down in a tub of "extremely hot water" about twelve inches deep. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning with the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" as contributing factors.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Barry Manilow spoke publicly for the first time about being gay in an interview with People magazine. The 73-year-old singer, who had been in a relationship with his manager, Garry Kief, for nearly four decades, told an interviewer that he feared coming out would upset his largely female fan base, but was surprised by the support he received. The pair had married on April 8th, 2015.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

April 5
Bobby Rydell, the Philadelphia singer who scored nineteen Billboard Top 40 hits between 1959 and 1964, died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 79. Over the course of his career, Rydell, who was born Robert Louis Ridarelli, sold over twenty-five million records, including "Wild One" (#2 in 1959), "Swingin' School" (#5 in 1960), "Volare' (#4 in 1960) and "Forget Him" (#4 in 1964).



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