Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 15


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Sun Records releases Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". It would go on to reach #4 on Billboard's Country And Western chart, but it won't be until April, 1968 that a live recording of the song would top the Hot Country Songs list and reach #32 on the Hot 100. That version would win Cash the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, at the 1969 Grammy Awards. It was never made quite clear why the song's main character was serving time in a California prison for shooting a man in Reno, Nevada.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Sammy Davis Jr. hosts a syndicated radio talk show with a round-table discussion of Rock 'n' Roll. His guests are Columbia Records executive Mitch Miller and MGM Records president Arnold Maxim. When Davis and Miller blast Rock 'n' Roll as "the comic books of music," Maxim takes an opposing viewpoint and says, "I don't see any end to Rock 'n' Roll in the near future."

1959 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Colonel Tom Parker cleverly keeps his client in the news by suggesting that Elvis may re-enlist at the end of his first hitch. That, of course, never happened and Presley received his official discharge from active duty on March 5th, 1960.

December 15
The Everly Brothers record "Let It Be Me" at Bell Studios in New York. It would reach #7 in America in February, 1960. The drummer on the session was Jerry Allison, formerly of Buddy Holly And The Crickets.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Dusty Springfield is deported from South Africa after performing in front of an multiracial audience at a show near Cape Town.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Just a few days after it was released, The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" LP goes Gold. It would top the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for eight weeks and receive a Grammy nomination for Best Album. The disc would be certified Platinum on December 26th, 1991 and 6X Platinum on July 25th, 2000.

December 15
The Beach Boys meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Paris and learn transcendental meditation. Mike Love would later muse, "If enough people were to learn to meditate, it would be an entirely different world, meaning world peace, prosperity and health."

December 15
The Who release their third studio album, "The Who Sell Out". Fake radio commercials are inserted between the tracks, which brought about a number of lawsuits. The LP would chart at #13 in the UK and #48 in the US and was ranked at #316 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
While performing with the Jefferson Airplane on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Grace Slick appears in blackface and raises a black-leather glove in a power salute at the conclusion of "Crown of Creation". The incident is one of several which leads to the show's cancellation the following season.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Eric Clapton joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band as part of Peace for Christmas, a benefit concert for UNICEF at the Lyceum Ballroom, in London. George Harrison, Delaney And Bonnie, Billy Preston and The Who's drummer, Keith Moon also took part. The concert was the last live appearance that Lennon ever made in his home country.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Charlie Rich followed his number 15 hit, "Behind Closed Doors", with a number one smash on the Hot 100, "The Most Beautiful Girl". The song reached #2 in the UK.

December 15
Aerosmith perform their first single, "Dream On" on American Bandstand. Guitarist Joe Perry would later say that he didn't particularly like the song, but knew the band needed to record a ballad if they wanted to get radio play.

December 15
David Cassidy went to #1 on the UK album chart with his third solo LP "Dreams Are Nothin' More Than Wishes".

1977 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Two days before they are due to appear on NBC's Saturday Night Live and start their first US tour, The Sex Pistols are denied visas to enter the country. Johnny Rotten was refused because of a drug conviction, Paul Cook and Sid Vicious because of 'moral turpitude' and Steve Jones because of his criminal record. Two weeks later, after an appeal by lawyers for Warner Brothers Records, the US Immigration Service would reverse its decision.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Pink Floyd started a five week run at the top of the UK singles chart with "Another Brick In The Wall, (part 2)". The song would rise to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 22nd, 1980 and make the Top Ten in nineteen other countries.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Despite having one of his performances picketed by a senior's advocate group called The Grey Panthers, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" by Dr. Elmo hit #1 on the Billboard Christmas singles charts, becoming the first song to ever surpass Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". To this day, estimated sales of the song top 50 million copies.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" enters the UK chart at #1, where it will stay for five weeks. The Bob Geldof produced song, specifically written to raise money for relief of famine in Ethiopia, was recorded by leading Irish and British musicians, including Phil Collins, Bono, George Michael, Sting, David Bowie, Boy George and Paul McCartney. The record would sell more than three million copies in Britain alone and enjoy similar success around the world.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
James Brown is sentenced to six years in prison after an interstate car chase with police. He would have to serve more than two years before being paroled in 1990.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Billy Joel had his last number one album when "Stormfront" reached the top of the US charts. The LP also contained his final number 1 hit, "We Didn't Start the Fire", along with the singles, "I Go to Extremes" (#6) and, "And So It Goes" (#37).

1990 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Rod Stewart married New Zealand super model Rachel Hunter in Beverly Hills. He was quoted saying "I found the girl that I want, I won't be putting my banana in anybody's fruit bowl from now on." They would split in 1999.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Eagles' guitarist Joe Walsh is given an honorary Doctorate of Music from Kent State University in Ohio.

December 15
R&B singer Rufus Thomas, whose biggest Pop hit, "Walkin' The Dog", reached #10 in the US in 1963, died following a short illness. He was 84.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
71 year old James Brown underwent successful surgery to treat his recently diagnosed prostate cancer. The Godfather Of Soul was quoted as saying, "I have overcome a lot of things in my life, I will overcome this as well." He would survive until December 25th, 2006.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
72 year old Lou Rawls revealed that he was being treated for lung cancer as well as brain cancer. Although the singer's prognosis was bleak, he remained upbeat, telling reporters "Don't count me out, brother." Sadly, Rawls would pass away on January 6th, 2006.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour re-captured the title of top-grossing tour ever from U2's Vertigo and was the top grossing tour of the year, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore. The Stones took in about $437 million since the previous November.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
John Byrne, the lead singer of The Count Five and writer of their 1966, US #5 hit, "Psychotic Reaction", died following kidney and liver failure. He was 61.

December 15
A modest, one-story, red-brick house at 3137 Whittier in St. Louis where Rock 'n' Roll pioneer Chuck Berry lived for eight years in the 1950s, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Berry, who later moved to Wentzville, Mo., about 40 miles west of St. Louis, said "Many of my favorite songs came about while in that house. It's good to know that my music and now that house will always be a part of St. Louis' history."

2009 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
With U2 leading the way by making over 311 million dollars, several classic rockers were among the top earning touring acts of the year, including Madonna ($222 million), Bruce Springsteen ($156 million), AC/DC ($135 million), Billy Joel and Elton John ($90 million) and Tina Turner ($86 million).

2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Phil Spector's lawyers asked the US Supreme Court to review his murder conviction, arguing his constitutional rights were violated by the trial judge. In February, 2012, that appeal would be denied and Spector would die in custody on January 16th, 2021 at the age of 81.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band appeared The Late Show With David Letterman where they performed a cut from the new album, a Country flavored tune called "All Of The Roads". Seger also told Letterman about the origin of the name the Silver Bullet Band. "We were all arguing about what our band name should be, and I was kind of letting the band pick it themselves, and they just kept arguing and arguing," Seger said. "Finally, our manager sent us our paychecks with 'Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band' on it. He got tired of waiting for us so he made it up himself."

2021 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Bruce Springsteen sold his catalog to Sony for a reported $500 million. The deal included his master recordings and his publishing rights.

December 15
Wanda Young of The Marvelettes passed away at the age of 78. She sang lead vocals on three of the group's ten Billboard Top 40 hits, "Don't Mess With Bill" (#7 in 1966), "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (#13 in 1967) and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" (#17 in 1968).

2022 - ClassicBands.com

December 15
Dino Danelli, drummer for The Rascals on their thirteen Billboard Top 40 hits, passed away at the age of 78. The band reached the Top Ten on five occasions with "Good Lovin'" (1966), "Groovin'" (1967), "How Can I Be Sure" (1967), "A Beautiful Morning" (1968) and "People Got To Be Free" (1968).

December 15
Kim Simmonds, co-founder and guitarist for Savoy Brown died following a battle with colon cancer. He was 75.



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