Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 15


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1954 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Big Joe Turner records "Shake, Rattle And Roll" at Atlantic Records studios in New York. Released the following April, the song reached #1 on the US Billboard R&B chart and #22 on the Billboard singles chart. This was not the first use of the term Rock And Roll, as Vaudeville performer "Baby" Franklin Seals published "You Got to Shake, Rattle and Roll", a ragtime tune about gambling with dice, in 1910.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
The Coasters record "Searchin'", which will reach #3 in the US and become the first of their ten Billboard Top 40 hits.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Jerry Lee Lewis performs "Great Balls of Fire" and his latest release "Breathless" on American Bandstand. Later in the day, he would appear on Dick Clark's Rock 'n' Roll program, Saturday Night Beechnut Show, along with Pat Boone, Chuck Willis, Connie Francis, Johnnie Ray, and The Royal Teens.

February 15
Frankie Avalon scored his first US Top 10 smash when "Dede Dinah" reached number 7. He would follow it with a string of hits over the next couple of years, including "Ginger Bread" (#9), "Venus" (#1), "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (#8), "A Boy Without a Girl" (#10), "Just Ask Your Heart" (#7) and "Why" (#1).

1961 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Jackie Wilson was shot by Juanita Jones, a girlfriend who had gone to his New York apartment to confront him about another woman. Although he managed to escape and make it to a hospital, Wilson lost a kidney and would carry the bullet that was too close to his spine to be removed, for the rest of his life. No charges were ever filed against Jones.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Ray Charles records "I Can't Stop Loving You" at United Studios in Hollywood, California. The tune will go on to top both the US and UK charts and would be included on the LP "Modern Sounds In Country / Western Music", which would lead the Billboard album chart for 14 weeks.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
After smoking three packs of cigarettes a day for many years, Nat King Cole died of lung cancer at the age of 47. His daughter Natalie had just turned 15 the previous week. Nat originally played piano in Jazz bands, but stepped to the front of the stage for good when "Mona Lisa" became a number one hit in 1950. Cole continued his hit streak with "Unforgettable" (#12 in 1951), "A Blossom Fell" (#2 in 1955), "Send For Me" (#6 in 1957), "Looking Back" (#5 in 1958), "Ramblin' Rose" (#2 in 1962) and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (#6 in 1963). He hit the charts again in 1991 when his voice was dubbed into a duet with Natalie on an updated version of "Unforgettable", which rose to #14.

February 15
24-year-old John Lennon passes his L-Test, becoming the last Beatle to obtain a driver's licence. Fittingly, that same day the band begins working on a new song called "Ticket To Ride".

February 15
Nearly two and a half months after debuting in the UK, The Beatles' "Eight Days A Week" is released in the US. It will rise to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their sixth single to do so. The record would be certified Gold by the RIAA the following September.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
The six founding members of Chicago got together and in their words, "agreed to devote our lives and our energies to making this project work." Starting out as The Big Thing, they would evolve into The Chicago Transit Authority, placing their debut single, "Questions 67 and 68" at #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 just over two years later.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
John and Cynthia Lennon, along with George and Patti Harrison, fly to India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Paul and Ringo would join them a few days later, but Starr would become bored and leave on March 1st. Much of the Beatles' "White Album" was written during their stay.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
"Everyday People" by Sly And The Family Stone rises to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a four week stay. The song was included on the band's 1969 album "Stand!", which sold over three million copies.

February 15
A hairdresser named Vickie Jones was arrested in Fort Myers, Florida for trying to pass herself off as Aretha Franklin. Jones' concert performance was so realistic that no one asked for a refund.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Although she would place twenty-one songs on the Billboard Top 40, Linda Ronstadt had her only number one hit with "You're No Good". The song first appeared on the chart in 1963 when Betty Everette took it to #81.

February 15
Gino Vannelli makes his TV debut on Soul Train, where he performs his Billboard #22 hit, "People Gotta Move". He is only the second White artist to ever appear on the program.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
At the 21st Grammy Awards, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack won Album Of The Year and The Bee Gees won Best Pop Group and Best Arrangement For Voices for "Staying Alive". Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" won Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. Donna Summer's "Last Dance" won two Grammys: Best Female R&B Vocal and Best R&B Song.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
39 year old Mike Bloomfield, lead guitarist for The Electric Flag, is found dead behind the wheel his parked car in San Francisco. It was later rumored that he overdosed and his drug dealer drove him to a secluded spot where he would be discovered later. Bloomfield had just completed his final album, "Living In The Fast Lane". He was ranked #42 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
After allegedly referring to El Paso, Texas as "the place with all those greasy Mexicans", Joe Elliot and the rest of Def Leppard are forced to cancel a show in that city due to various threats.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Model Kelly Emberg launches a $25 million palimony suit against Rod Stewart. The pair lived together from 1985 to 1990. Rod has often been quoted as saying "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

1993 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Little Richard expresses his anger after being told he will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award during the non-televised portion of the Grammy Awards. Richard said "This is the crowning achievement of my career and they want to give it to me secretly."

1994 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
A federal court jury ruled Michael Jackson did not steal the idea for his hit song "Dangerous" from a Denver woman who had sent him a demo tape.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Michael Jackson's estate sued the singer's former manager, Tohme R. Tohme, claiming he lined his own pockets by persuading the singer to sign unconscionable contracts in the final year of his life.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Chubby Checker launched a half-billion dollar lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard for including an app on its phones and tablets that used the same name as the 71-year-old musician to measure a man's penis length based on his shoe size. The app had already been removed in 2012 after it was downloaded just 84 times at a cost of 99 cents. In July, 2014, the suit would be settled out of court for undisclosed terms.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

February 15
Among the winners at the 58th annual Grammy Awards were Best Blues Album: "Born To Play Guitar" by Buddy Guy, Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: "I'll Be Me" by Glen Campbell and Best Spoken Word Album: "A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety" by Jimmy Carter.

February 15
The Grammys paid tribute to the late Glenn Frey when Eagles co-founders Don Henley and Bernie Leadon, along with guitarist Joe Walsh, bassist Tim Schmit and Jackson Browne, took the stage for a rendition of "Take It Easy". After their performance, show producer Ken Ehrlich presented the band with the Grammy Award that they won for "Hotel California", which were they were not on-hand to receive at the 1977 Grammys.

February 15
Paul McCartney was denied access to a Grammy after-party which was being held at the Argyle club in Hollywood. McCartney, along with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and Beck, then headed to another party hosted by Republic Records, and had no problem getting in. Alluding to the incident, Maca quipped, "How VIP do we gotta get? We need another hit."



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