Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 4


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1946 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Columbia Records releases Frank Sinatra's first studio album, "The Voice Of Frank Sinatra". Issued as a set of four, 78 rpm records totaling eight songs, the album went to #1 on the fledgling Billboard chart, where it stayed for seven weeks. The chart, which was first published the previous year, consisted of only the Top Five albums.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
The winners of the first Grammy Awards were announced. Domenico Modugno's "Volare" was named Record of the Year; Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" was Album of the Year and The Champs "Tequila" won best R&B performance. Variety magazine seemed to take great delight when it later reported - "The record academy has snubbed the Rock. Not one Rock 'n' Roll record was nominated."

1963 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA", which will rise to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is just a rewritten version of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen", with new lyrics by Brian Wilson. Arc Music, Berry's publisher, objected, and was given the sole copyright, including Brian Wilson's lyrics.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
John Lennon caused a major stir in the United States when London's Evening Standard newspaper published an interview with him in which he remarked, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue that. I'm right and will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus right now." Lennon would later apologize, explaining that what he meant was "the way some people carry on, (screaming at their concerts) you'd think we were more popular than Jesus Christ". Thousands of Beatle records were smashed at mass rallies and some radio stations quit playing their songs altogether. John's apology was eventually accepted by most and time has healed most wounds.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
"Release Me" by Engelbert Humperdinck started a six week run at the top of the UK record chart. The tune would sell over 1,365,000 copies in Britain and reach #1 in eight other countries.

March 4
After scoring six UK Top 40 singles and two in the US, eighteen year old Steve Winwood announces that he is leaving The Spencer Davis Group. He would go on to the bands Traffic and Blind Faith, and a solo career that saw him reach the Billboard Top 40 ten times between 1981 and 1990.

March 4
The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" sat atop the Billboard singles chart after American disc jockeys shied away from playing the flip side, "Let's Spend The Night Together".

1968 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
A car crash sends Temptations members Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams to a hospital in Sommerset, Pennsylvania.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
A baby girl named Chastity Bono is born to Sonny and Cher. Forty years later she will undergo procedures to change her sex to male, and started going by the name Chaz.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
The English quartet Vanity Fare released a tune called "Hitchin' A Ride" as a follow-up to their #12 hit, "Early In The Morning". The record would climb to #5 in America and sell over a million copies, earning the band a Gold Record. It is notable for being one of the few hit songs to feature two recorders, prominent throughout the track .

March 4
Janis Joplin is fined $200 for using obscene language onstage in Tampa, Florida.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Badfinger receive a Gold record for the Billboard #4 hit, "Day After Day". The song featured George Harrison on guitar and Leon Russell on piano.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
RCA releases Elvis Presley's rendition of the James Taylor written "Steamroller Blues". The single will rise to #17 on the Hot 100 during a seven week stay in the Top 40. Elvis would add the song to his concert repertoire and included it on his live album "Aloha from Hawaii: Via Satellite".

1978

March 4
The Bee Gees were the hottest act around when they helped their younger brother Andy to the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by writing his hit, "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water". Their own tune, "Stayin' Alive" was pushed back to number 2, while another of their compositions, "Emotion" by Samantha Sang sat at number 4 and "Night Fever" was number 5.

March 4
The US internal Revenue Service carried out a dawn raid at the home of Jerry Lee Lewis and removed cars worth over $170,000, to pay off his back taxes.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Randy Jackson of The Jackson Five was seriously injured in a car crash, breaking both legs. He almost died in the emergency room when a nurse inadvertently injected him with methadone.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Frank Zappa's son Dweezil and his daughter Moon Unit form a band called Fred Zeppelin. Their first single, "My Mother is a Space Cadet", gets little attention.

1986 - ClassicBands.com
March 4
After just completing a two-set show with The Band in Winter Park, Florida, 41 year old Richard Manuel committed suicide by hanging himself. His band mate, Robbie Robertson honored his friend with the song, "Fallen Angel" in 1987.

March 4
Lyricist and songwriter Howard Greenfield died from complications from AIDS, eleven days before his 50th birthday. He co-wrote four songs that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", by Neil Sedaka, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own", both by Connie Francis, and "Love Will Keep Us Together", by Captain & Tennille.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
After Madonna's "Like A Prayer" debuts in a Pepsi commercial on US television, Roman Catholic groups around the world protest, calling the video, which contains both religious and sexual imagery, "blasphemy".

1996 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Apple Records releases "Real Love" by The Beatles in the UK and the US. The track started out as a demo by John Lennon and the remaining group members added their parts to complete the recording. ELO's Jeff Lynne also contributed guitar and backing vocals. The record would peak at #4 in the UK and #11 in America.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Raymond Edwards of the vocal group The Silhouettes, died at the age of 74. The Philadelphia quartet topped the Billboard chart in 1958 with "Get A Job".

2001 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Glenn Hughes of Village People died of lung cancer at the age of 50. He was buried in his leather biker outfit.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Jerry Rightmer, bassist for The Sanford-Townsend Band on their 1976 hit, "Smoke From A Distant Fire", died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 57.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Peter Tork, bassist for The Monkees, underwent extensive surgery after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer. A preliminary biopsy discovered that the cancer had not spread beyond the initial site. He would survive until February 21st, 2019.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Lolly Vegas, lead singer and guitarist for Redbone died of cancer at the age of 70. The band is most often remembered for their 1974, Billboard #5 hit "Come And Get Your Love".

2011 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Johnny Preston, who had a #1 hit with "Running Bear" in 1960, passed away at the age of 71. Preston had bypass surgery in late 2010 and suffered from lingering health problems.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Daryl Hall and John Oates confirmed that they were suing cereal maker Early Bird Foods & Co. over the company's use of the name Haulin' Oates for their granola bars.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
Russell Solomon, founder of the Tower Records chain, passed away at the age of 92. Solomon went from selling music out of his father's Sacramento drug store in 1941 to operating 271 stores and selling $1 billion worth of records in the 1990s. The company's downfall began once the internet came about, causing the firm to file for bankruptcy in 2004 before closing their doors for good in 2006.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

March 4
The Stampeders' bassist Ronnie King, who played on their 1971, Billboard #8 hit, "Sweet City Woman", passed away at the age of 76 after a brief illness. The band also enjoyed a string of hits in their home country of Canada, including "Carry Me" (#2 in 1971), "Wild Eyes" (#2 in 1971), "Oh My Lady" (#12 in 1973), "Minstrel Gypsy" (#6 in 1973) and "Hit The Road Jack" (#6 in 1975).



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