Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 18


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1902 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
29-year-old Italian opera singer Enrico Caruso was paid $50 each to record ten songs on wax for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company in Italy. He would go on to become the world's first recording star. Two years later he began recording in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor). Over a 16-year span, he would earn millions of dollars in royalties from the retail sales of his 260 recordings.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Britain's EMI Records announces that it has now stopped all production of 78 rpm discs.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
The Everly Brothers record "Cathy's Clown" live in a single take, with Floyd Cramer on piano, Floyd Chance on bass, and Buddy Harman on drums. The song will become the duo's best selling tune, moving over eight million copies world-wide and topped both the US and the UK singles chart.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Gary "U.S." Bonds appears on The Ed Sullivan Show performing his latest hit, "Twist, Twist, Senora", which will reach #9 in April.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
The Standells appear on an episode of The Munsters, where they perform their version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to show the adults in the house what Rock music is all about.

March 18
Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman were fined £5 each for urinating on the outer wall of a Francis Petrol station in Stratford, outside of London, England. According to attendant Charles Keeley, he refused to give the band the key to the loo because he didn't like the looks of them and told them to "Get back in the car and keep driving." Instead, The Stones began chanting "We'll piss anywhere! We'll piss anywhere," as Bill Wyman proceeded to unzip his fly and pee on the garage wall. Quickly piling back into their black Daimler touring car, the boys sped away, giving Keeley the one finger salute. When handing down the sentence, the judge chastised the accused, calling them morons, and berated them for their long hair, their dirty clothes and the clown-like behavior.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
After three minor chart makers, an Oklahoma group called Five Americans release their biggest hit, "Western Union", which would rise to #5 on The Hot 100.

March 18
The Beatles enjoy their thirteenth US number one single with "Penny Lane". The song's title refers to the busy shopping area around Allerton Road and Smithdown Road in Liverpool, where John and Paul would meet to catch a bus into the center of the city.

March 18
The UK music magazine New Musical Express announces that Steve Winwood is planning to form a new group with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. The ensemble will choose the name Traffic.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Neil Young enjoyed his only solo, US number one hit with "Heart Of Gold". Backing vocals were provided by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. The song reached #10 on the UK chart.

March 18
The Chicago vocal group, The Chi-Lites make their second appearance on TV's Soul Train, where they perform their newest release, "Oh Girl". The tune will go on to top the Billboard Pop and R&B charts and reach #14 in the UK. Not bad for a song that writer Eugene Record would later say he was surprised that the record company even wanted to issue as a single.

March 18
Paul Simon's self-titled debut album topped the UK chart on the strength of the singles "Mother And Child Reunion" (#5) and "Me And Julio Down By The School Yard" (#15).

1976 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Jim McCartney, father of former Beatle Paul McCartney, died at his home in the Norfolk village of Gayton at the age of 73. Paul was just about to kick off a European tour in Copenhagen with Wings and chose not to attend the funeral. A falling out with Jim's wife Angie and Paul's step-sister Ruth soon followed.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Rita Coolidge released her sixth album, "Anytime...Anywhere". It would prove to be her most successful LP, rising to #6 on the Billboard 200 chart and eventually going Platinum. The disc spawned three Billboard Top 20 hits, all of them covers: Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" (#2 in 1977), Boz Scaggs' "We're All Alone" (#7 in 1977), and The Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do" (#20 in 1978).

1978 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
The Bee Gees continued an amazing hot streak of three consecutive number one hits with "Night Fever". After "Oh, Darling" stalled at #15, they would have three more chart toppers in a row.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Driving home from a basketball game in Philadelphia, Teddy Pendergrass was involved in a car accident that left him partially paralyzed from the neck down. Pendergrass had been with The Cadillacs and Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes before going solo in 1977. Two years would pass before he could return to performing.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Disco Queen, Donna Summer gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
The Rolling Stones introduce Darryl Jones as the replacement for baseman Bill Wyman, who had previously announced that he would no longer tour with the band.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
A film company paid over a million dollars for nine hours of film shot by Yoko Ono during the '70s that showed John Lennon smoking hash and talking about his political beliefs.

2001 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
John Phillips, the quiet leader of The Mamas And Papas died of heart failure at the age of 65. John's daughter, Mackenzie Phillips co-starred in US TV's One Day At A Time, which ran from 1975 until 1984.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Dionne Warwick, The Doobie Brothers and Petula Clark are among the entertainers at the wedding reception for Liza Minelli and David Guest. The couple split in July 2003 after just 16 months of marriage.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Terence "Jet" Harris, bass guitarist for The Shadows, died from throat cancer at the age of 71. Jet played on the hit "Apache" and during their days as Cliff Richard's backing band, performed on the chart-topper "Living Doll". In 1962 he left the group and had solo hits with "Besame Mucho" and "The Man With The Golden Arm".

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
The Billboard 200 albums chart welcomed some old friends into its Top 10 this week when Bon Jovi's "What About Now" debuted at #1, David Bowie's "The Next Day" reached #2 and Eric Clapton's "Old Stock" came in at #7.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Elvis Presley's concert in Memphis in March 1974, when he returned to the city during a US tour to perform in his hometown for the first time in 13 years, was released on a new two-CD set. "Elvis Recorded Live On Stage in Memphis" included a re-mastered version of the full concert, including songs that weren't on the original July 7th, 1974 release on vinyl. The 1974 album featured the song "How Great Thou Art," which would win Presley a Gospel Grammy.

March 18
Joe Lala, a drummer and percussionist who worked with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, the Eagles and Eric Clapton, died from complications of lung cancer at the age of 66.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

March 18
Chuck Berry, one of Rock 'n' Roll's founding fathers and a true music legend, passed away at his home near St. Louis at the age of 90. Along with influencing a generation of guitarists, he placed fourteen singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and twenty-two on the R&B chart. He was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986.



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