Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 1


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Sam Phillips launches Sun Records by releasing an instrumental called "Drivin' Slow" by 16-year-old saxophonist Johnny London. London was a local R&B and Jazz musician who had walked into 706 Union Avenue to make some demos, and impressed Phillips so much that he decided to record him. Although it didn't make much of an impression on the record charts, a copy of London's 78 was hung proudly on the entrance wall to the studio for many years.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
The Everly Brothers record "Bye Bye Love", a teen-age love song that was written by 37 year old Boudleaux Bryant and his 31 year old wife, Felice. Although nearly 30 other artists turned the song down, The Everly's version will rise to #2 in the US and #6 in the UK by next May.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Buddy Holly And The Crickets began their only UK tour, playing two sets each evening for 25 nights.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Elvis Presley signs a five year movie deal with Hollywood producer Hal Wallis. At that time, Wallis was best known for producing The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Casablanca (1942).

1963 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Gerry And The Pacemakers release their first British single, "How Do You Do It", which will go on to top the UK chart the following April. The song had been turned down by Adam Faith and although The Beatles had recorded it, they declined to issue their version.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
The Beatles start working on their first film, A Hard Day's Night, shooting the first scene at Marylebone train station in London. They also hold the top two spots on Billboard's Hot 100 with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You".

1965 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
After selling over 3 million copies in the US alone, Petula Clark's "Downtown" is awarded a Gold record. The song, which had been recorded in four different languages, was a success in a dozen other countries and was inducted into The Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2003.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Vocalist Gene Clark of The Byrds announced he was leaving the group due to his chronic fear of flying and management's decision to have Roger McGuinn sing the band's major hits. Although Clark attempted a solo career, it would prove mostly unsuccessful.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Elton John's first record, "I've Been Loving You Too Long" was released in the UK by Philips Records. It failed to chart and the label would drop him the following year.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Although the other members of The Doors insisted that he did nothing wrong, Jim Morrison was arrested after a Doors concert in Miami. He would be found guilty of indecent exposure and profanity in March, 1970. His sentence of eight months of hard labor and a $500 fine was on appeal when he died in Paris in 1971.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Olivia Newton John wins Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance as well as Record of the Year for "I Honestly Love You". The Album of the Year honors go to Stevie Wonder for "Fulfillingness' First Finale" (he also wins Best Male Pop Vocal Performance). The Song Of The Year is Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were".
Fulfillingness' First Finale

March 1
The Eagles had their first million seller and first number one record in the US when "Best of My Love" reached the top of the Billboard chart. "Take It Easy" had made it to number 12, "Witchy Woman" reached number 9, "Peaceful Easy Feeling" hit number 22 and "Already Gone" stalled at number 32.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Sara Lowndes Dylan files for divorce from her husband of eleven years, Bob Dylan. The divorce is granted in June and she is given custody of their 5 kids and possession of their million-dollar home. Sara was the subject of such songs as "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", "Lay Lady Lay" and "Sara".

March 1
Manfred Mann earns a Gold record for "Blinded by the Light," a song written by Bruce Springsteen. It was their first US number one record since "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" thirteen years earlier.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
30 year old Cyndi Lauper makes her US television debut when she appears on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, performing her current #3 hit, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".

1994 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Aretha Franklin receives a Lifetime Achievement award and Whitney Houston wins Record Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female for "I Will Always Love You" at the 36th Grammy Awards in New York. Accepting his Living Legend honor, Frank Sinatra is un-ceremoniously interrupted by the house orchestra taking the TV broadcast to a commercial break.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Eric Clapton gets his ninth Grammy, winning Best Traditional Blues Album for "From The Cradle". Sheryl Crow is presented with Record Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female for "All I Wanna Do".

2011 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
A New York City law firm launched a $700,000 lawsuit against Prince for unpaid legal services.

March 1
TMZ.com reported that the daughter of Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards was arrested after police allegedly caught her defacing public property in New York. The celebrity news website also said that Theodora Richards, 25, was also in possession of marijuana and a controlled substance. After a plea deal that saw her do community service, the charges would be dismissed.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Engelbert Humperdinck was chosen by the BBC to represent the UK at this year's Eurovision Song Contest next May. The 75-year-old crooner, who hadn't had a UK Top 20 hit since "Too Beautiful To Last" reached number 14 over forty years ago, would be the oldest ever Eurovision contestant. Unfortunately, he would finish second to last with a score of 12, far behind Sweden's Loreen, the runaway winner with 372 points.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
A US Superior Court Judge gave the go ahead for a civil lawsuit by Michael Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live, which hired Doctor Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death. A jury would later rule in favor of AEG Live.

March 1
Jewel Akens, the American singer who reached #3 in 1965 with "The Birds And The Bees", died at the age of 79, following complications from back surgery. After his heyday, he continued to perform and record, and toured with The Monkees in the late 1960's.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Tickets for The Grateful Dead's Fare Thee Well tour showed up on Stub Hub with a top-price at $116,000 for the three-day show. The cheap seats for the event, set for Chicago's Soldier Field July 3-5, could be had for a mere $1350. Originally the seats were priced from $59.50 to $199.50 per day.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
76-year-old Ginger Baker posted on his blog that he had canceled all of his scheduled shows for the year and was going into immediate retirement. The former drummer for Cream and Blind Faith revealed that his doctor had just diagnosed him with serious heart problems, causing him to announce "No more gigs for this old drummer." Ginger, who was born Peter Edward Baker, would pass away on October 6th, 2019 at the age of 80.

March 1
Gayle McCormick, the lead singer of a group called Smith, died following a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 67. The band reached #5 on the Hot 100 with a remake of The Shirelles' "Baby It's You" in 1969.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Elton John walked offstage during a gig at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas after some fans who had gathered around his piano started touching him. After security ushered concert goers back to their seats, Sir Elton returned, grumbling, "No more coming onstage on 'Saturday Night'. You fucked it up!"

March 1
Bill Burkette, lead vocalist for The Vogues during their hit making years, died of lymphoma at the age of 75. The vocal group placed eight songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1965 and 1969, including "You're The One" (#4 in 1965), "Five O'clock World" (#4 in 1966) and "Turn Around, Look At Me" (#7 in 1968).

2020 - ClassicBands.com

March 1
Forty-five years after it peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, "How Long" by Ace went to #1 on Billboard's Rock Digital Song Sales chart. The song sold 4,000 downloads, reached 831,000 streams, and increased sales by more than 2000 percent after it was used in an ad for Amazon Prime titled Binge Cheat, which featured the song's opening line, 'How long has this been going on?'



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