Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 11


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Buddy Holly And The Crickets audition for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts program, but are rejected. Holly was not the only notable musician to miss the cut, as The Four Freshmen and Elvis Presley were also passed over.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Dave "Baby" Cortez reached the top spot on the Billboard chart with "The Happy Organ". The song was originally recorded under the name "The Dog and the Cat" with a vocal track that didn't work out. Cortez then added an organ solo and changed the title. A follow-up record was called "The Whistling Organ", which stalled at #61, but Cortez would find his way back to the Top Ten in 1962 with "Rinky Dink".

1962 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Ray Stevens releases a silly, novelty song called "Ahab The Arab". Remarkably, the record will rise to #2 on the Cashbox Best Sellers list, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #9 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
The Rolling Stones were refused service at The Grand Hotel in Bristol because they were not wearing jackets and ties. The Daily Mirror describes them as "The ugliest group in Britain," and quips, "The Rolling Stones gather no lunch."

1965 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
The Byrds make their TV debut singing "Mr. Tambourine Man" on NBC's Hullabaloo. The song currently sat at #87 on the Hot 100, but would rise to the top of the chart by June 26th. Although the song's composer, Bob Dylan, wrote four verses for the song, The Byrds' rendition used only the second, and two repeats of the chorus.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
The Bee Gees made their debut on the UK TV show Top Of The Pops, performing "New York Mining Disaster, 1941" which will enter the UK Pop chart two days later and go on to reach #12. In reality, there was no mining disaster in New York in 1941, although there was one in McIntire, Pennsylvania which killed six people.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
The soundtrack LP to the original Woodstock festival was released. The three record set featured many of the top Rock artists of the time, including Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young, Joe Cocker and The Who. The album would go Gold within two weeks, reaching #1 in the US and Canada and #35 in the UK. It attained 2X Platinum status in 1993.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
John Lennon appears on The Dick Cavett Show on ABC-TV and says that he believes the FBI has tapped his phone.

May 11
A naked photo of David Cassidy, shown from the waist up, is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. There are only three issues of the publication that ever sold out, the very first one, the one with John Lennon after his death, and this one.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin meet Elvis Presley backstage after The King's performance at the Forum in Los Angeles. After hearing that the trio was in the audience, Presley was overheard telling his band, "Wait a minute... if we can start together, fellas, because we've got Led Zeppelin out there... Let's try to look like we know what we're doing, whether we do or not."

May 11
Three Dog Night's "The Show Must Go On" reaches #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #1 on the Cashbox best sellers chart. The song turns out to be the band's final Top Twenty hit and their last Gold single.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
For $12.⁵⁰ you could buy a ticket to see Rod Stewart's Blondes Have More Fun show at the Cobo Arena in Detroit.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Bob Marley, the uncontested King Of Reggae, died of a brain tumor at the age of 36. Seven months earlier he had collapsed on stage during a concert in the US. He was given a state funeral and buried near his birthplace in St. Ann's Parish, Jamaica. His last words were reported to have been, "Money can't buy life."

1985 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Madonna's "Crazy For You", written for the movie Vision Quest, hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. After eleven weeks on the chart it replaced "We Are The World" by USA For Africa. The song would be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 16th, 1985, for shipment of one million copies.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Roy Orbison was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York. Eric Clapton presented the award to Orbison's widow, Barbara.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
31 years after his death, Ritchie Valens is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You can find it at 6733 Hollywood Blvd.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
57-year-old Noel Redding, former bass player with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, died from complications of cirrhosis of the liver. Redding joined Hendrix's band in 1966 and played on three albums before parting ways with the legendary guitarist in 1969.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
55-year-old John Whitehead of McPhadden And Whitehead was shot to death while working on his car in Philadelphia. The duo is most often remembered for their 1979 hit, "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now". As of 2022, no suspects had been arrested in what some believe may have been a case of mistaken identity.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall's daughter Elizabeth appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine's June issue. Her six-page, eight photo spread showed the 27-year-old baring all and seductively smoking a cigarette.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

May 11
The Fox network announced that they were canceling their TV talent show, American Idol after the 2016 season. Besides being a showcase for young hopefuls, the program also provided a platform for established artists to perform their old hits and reconnect with their fans. The program would be revived in 2018 with Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie serving as judges.



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