Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 9


<-- Previous Day -- Home Page -- Next Day -->



1860 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
What is believed to be the world's oldest recording was made by French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville when he recorded a young lady, believed by historians to be his daughter, singing "Au Clair de la Lune". The song was captured on a "phonautograph", a device that engraved sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp. The event took place seventeen years before Thomas Edison invented his phonograph.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer win the Best Original Song Academy Award for "Moon River", as performed by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast At Tiffany's. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Capitol and Vee Jay Records settle their feud out of court over the rights to recordings by The Beatles. Capitol contended in the suit that Vee Jay's rights to the Beatles had been canceled on August 8th, 1963 for non-payment of royalties. Vee Jay was forced to stop selling "From Me To You", "Please Please Me", "Love Me Do" and other early Beatle releases.

April 9
The Rolling Stones appear on British TV's Ready Steady Go!, where they perform "Off The Hook", "Little Red Rooster" and "Around And Around".

1965 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Bruce Johnston joins The Beach Boys, replacing Glen Campbell, who was playing bass on the road and singing Brian Wilson's vocal parts.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Released the previous month, "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas And The Papas entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #79. Denny Doherty, who sang lead on the track, would later say that he thought very little of the song when they recorded it. "Nothing about it stood out to me; it was a dumb f--kin' song about a day of the week." Backed by studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, the record would climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the Cashbox Best Sellers list, and Canada's RPM chart. In the UK, it rose to #3.

April 9
The Righteous Brothers reach the top of the Billboard singles chart for the second time with "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration". It was a #15 hit in the UK. Billboard ranked the record as the #3 single for 1966.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Columbia Records releases Bob Dylan's album, "Nashville Skyline", which will peak at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the UK Top 75. The LP contains the hit single, "Lay Lady Lay", which rose to #7 on the Hot 100 chart and #5 in the UK.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Paul McCartney announces a "temporary break with The Beatles", citing "personal differences" and adding that he will no longer record with John Lennon. Paul disapproved of Yoko Ono and of Beatles financial advisor Allen Klein. When a reporter called Lennon to comment upon McCartney's resignation, John said, "Paul hasn't left. I sacked him." A week after McCartney's announcement he released his first solo album, spelling the end of The Beatles.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Ringo Starr released the non-album single "It Don't Come Easy", which would peak at #4 in both the UK and America. Writing credit went to just Ringo, but he received a lot of help from George Harrison, as the track, minus Ringo's vocal and the horns, was already completed when George gave it to him. Backing vocals were provided by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger, who were also signed to The Beatles' Apple Records. This was Ringo's first hit record as a solo artist as his cover of "Beaucoups of Blues" quit climbing at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 a year earlier. He would enjoy eleven more Top 40 hits over the next ten years, including "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen", both of which topped the chart.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Terry Jacks reached #1 on the UK singles chart with "Seasons In The Sun", and became the first Canadian to accomplish that feat since Paul Anka did it in 1957. The song is an English-language adaptation of "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man") by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. Jacks said that after his version was released, he had dinner in Brussels with Jacques Brel, who told him about writing the song: "It was about an old man who was dying of a broken heart because his best friend was screwing his wife." The record would also top the charts in thirteen other countries, including the United States and Canada.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Folk hero Phil Ochs hanged himself at his sister's house in Queens, New York after a long battle with bipolar disorder and alcoholism. He was 35. During his lifetime he released eight albums and nine singles, many of which were of the political protest variety.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
ABBA earned their only number 1 hit in the United States when "Dancing Queen" went to the top. The song also led the charts in 13 other countries. Vocalist Agnetha Faltskog later said: "It's often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was 'Dancing Queen'. We all knew it was going to be massive"

1986 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Dave Clark's musical Time opened at London's Dominion Theatre, starring Cliff Richard. Despite poor reviews, the show ran for two years.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Brook Benton, most often remembered for "The Boll Weevil Song" (#2 in 1960), "Hotel Happiness" (#3 in 1962) and "A Rainy Night In Georgia" (#4 in 1970), died of complications from spinal meningitis at the age of 57. Along with his own twenty-four Billboard Top 40 hits, Benton also wrote "A Lover's Question" by Clyde McPhatter and "The Stroll" by The Diamonds. His real name was Benjamin Franklin Peay.

April 9
Dave Prater of Sam And Dave was killed in a car accident near Sycamore, Georgia while driving to his mother's house. He was 50 years old. The original duo had split on New Year's Eve, 1981 and Prater continued to tour as The New Sam And Dave Revue with Sam Daniels.

April 9
Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car", from the movie License To Drive, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a two week stay. It also rose to #1 in six other countries and made it to #3 in the UK, making it Ocean's sixth and last Top Ten hit there.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
The Rolling Stones' 52-year-old bassist, Bill Wyman revealed plans to marry 19-year-old Mandy Smith. The two had been dating since she was 13 with the consent of her mother, despite their 33 year age difference. Mandy would move out of their Suffolk estate just weeks after the wedding and the pair divorced in 1991. She was granted a settlement then worth a reported US $880,000.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Mae Boren Axton, who co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit "Heartbreak Hotel", was found dead at her home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. She was 82. Axton's songs were also recorded by such Country stars as Patsy Cline, Faron Young and Hank Snow. She was the mother of singer / songwriter Hoyt Axton who wrote Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World".

2004 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
The parents of Grammy-winning recording artist "Weird Al" Yankovic were found dead in their home, apparent victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. The bodies of Nick Yankovic, 86, and his wife, Mary, 81, were discovered by members of the family. A closed fireplace flue was eventually blamed for the tragedy.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Elton John performed in concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to raise funds for Hillary Clinton's US Presidential campaign. With ticket prices ranging from $125 to $2,300, the effort took in over $2.5 million.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Randy Cain, a founding member of The Delfonics, died at the age of 63. The Philadelphia Soul group reached the Billboard Top 40 six times, including "La-La Means I Love You" (#4 in 1968) and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" (#10 in 1970).

April 9
Following a contentious interview where he described Canadian audiences as "mashed potatoes without gravy", Billy Bob Thornton and his band, The Boxmasters, are booed at their show in Toronto opening for Willie Nelson. The following day, the band cancels the rest of their Canadian dates. Maybe he should have said they were "French-fried potaters, um-hum."

2013 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
The passing of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher prompted a huge resurgence of the song "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead", taken from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Fueled by campaigns on Twitter and Facebook, the tune soared up to ninth place on the UK iTunes downloads chart and second place on the Amazon singles downloads chart. A Stamford, Connecticut band called The Fifth Estate took a Rock 'n' Roll version of the song to #11 in the US in 1967.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Fleetwood Mac officially announced that they had fired guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and replaced him with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House for their upcoming tour.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
Nearly fifty-five years after placing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" on Billboard's Top 40 chart, Bob Dylan enjoyed his very first number one hit in the US. "Murder Most Foul", a song about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963, climbed to the top of the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart thanks to 10,000 downloads and 1.8 million streams.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

April 9
After vowing that he would only perform his father's 1971 song, "Imagine" if it was the end of the world, Julien Lennon did just that during a benefit for Ukrainian refugees. Closing out a televised European Union pledge drive that raised $10.1 billion in grants and loans for the cause, the 59-year-old singer said "The war on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy... As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could."



<-- Previous Day -- Home Page -- Next Day -->