Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 7


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Little Richard records "Long Tall Sally" at J&M Studios in New Orleans. The song will go on be his highest charting record in the US, climbing to #6 on Billboard's Pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart by next April. Rolling Stone magazine has listed the tune as #56 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Iraq bans the films Rock Around The Clock and Bus Stop, saying they are "dangerous to teenagers and youths."

1959 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Buddy Holly is buried in Lubbock, Texas. The inscription on his tombstone reads "Holley", the correct spelling of his surname, and includes pictures of a guitar. Buddy's pallbearers were Joe Mauldin, Jerry Allison, Niki Sullivan, Bob Montgomery, Sonny Curtis and Phil Everly.

February 7
17-year-old Ritchie Valens is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery. His grave marker includes his real name, Richard Steven Valenzuela.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
An estimated crowd of over four thousand fans and two hundred journalists were on hand to greet The Beatles as they touched down at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York. They would be driven by four limos, one per Beatle, to the Plaza Hotel in New York City in preparation for their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
The Beach Boys' LP "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!)", which was recorded the previous year, was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 units. Although he was part of the band's touring group, this marked Bruce Johnston's first appearance on a Beach Boys album, as he was credited with providing harmony and backing vocals, acoustic grand piano, Hammond organ, celeste and hand claps. Nineteen studio musicians, including Hal Blaine and Glen Campbell, also made contributions to the recording.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
The ABC-TV program, This Is Tom Jones began its two year, sixty-five episode run in the US. The show, featuring Jones duetting with different guests each week, would be nominated for a Golden Globe Award later in the year.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull married record company secretary Jennie Franks. The two would split in 1974.

February 7
Shocking Blue, a three man, one woman band from Holland, had the top single in America with "Venus". It made #8 in the UK.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Soul artist Barry White is awarded four Gold records for the singles "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up" (#7), "Love's Theme" (#1 by the Love Unlimited Orchestra, conducted by White), and the albums "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited" (#3) and "Sonte Gon'" (#20).

1976 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Paul Simon had his only solo #1 hit in the US when "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" made it to the top for the first of three weeks. It would later be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for sales of over one million copies. The distinctive drum riff that defines the song was performed by session musician Steve Gadd.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Pink Floyd began The Wall Tour in the US when they gave their first live performance of the new double album in Los Angeles. A thirty foot high wall made of Styrofoam blocks was constructed across the one hundred sixty foot stage in the first half of the show, and then following the intermission, it was thoroughly destroyed.

February 7
A Jersey City sextet called Kool And The Gang, which featured Robert "Kool" Bell on lead vocals, had the top tune in America with "Celebration". It would reach #7 in the UK and the Top Ten in six other countries.

February 7
The two-part, TV mini-series Elvis And Me, based on Priscilla Presley's book, begins on ABC. Starring Susan Walters as Priscilla and Dale Midkiff as Elvis Presley, the movie was ranked the week's fifth most-watched program, as well as the network's highest-rated television film of the season.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Michael Jackson is noted in the Guinness Book of Records when his album "Thriller" passes the 25 million sales mark. It would be certified 34X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Aretha Franklin and George Michael topped the UK singles chart with "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". The song gave Aretha her first UK #1, almost twenty years after her first British hit, "Respect" in 1967.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Georgia State Representative Billy Randall introduces a bill to make Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" the official state Rock song. The motion fails.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
While battling cancer, Lonesome Dave Peverett, lead singer of Savoy Brown and Foghat died from double-pneumonia at the age of 56.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
A Vietnamese court reduced Gary Glitter's child molestation sentence, cutting his three-year term by three months as part of a nationwide Lunar New Year prison amnesty. The 62-year-old Glitter was convicted in March, '06 of molesting two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 11.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas announced that Cher has been signed to perform approximately two hundred shows over the next three years, beginning May 6. The 61-year-old singer signed to perform ninety minute concerts, four nights a week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for shows range between $95 and $250.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Janet Jackson told NBC's Today show that although she has been holding back her grief for more than a year, she has finally started to accept her brother Michael's death. "There's still not a day that goes by where I don't think about him. Not one day, not one day."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Joe Mauldin, bassist for Buddy Holly And The Crickets, died of cancer at the age of 74. After Holly's death in 1959, Mauldin played on and off as an original Cricket with J.I. Allison, Sonny Curtis, Glen D. Hardin, and occasionally Niki Sullivan.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

February 7
Mickey Jones, drummer for The First Edition from 1967 to 1975, passed away after a long illness at the age of 76. After a music career that saw him play with Bob Dylan, The Band, Johnny Rivers and Trini Lopez, Jones went on to acting in several movies, including National Lampoon's Vacation and Sling Blade, and TV shows such as The Dukes of Hazzard, CHiPs, M*A*S*H, Step by Step and Home Improvement.



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