Rock 'n' Roll History for
September 4


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1954 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
To coincide with the release of his second Sun single, "Good Rockin' Tonight", Elvis Presley, along with Bill Black and Scotty Moore, make their first appearance at The Grand Old Opry. Audience reaction is so poor, the Opry's manager Jim Denny suggests that Elvis go back to driving a truck.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
The Buddy Deane Bandstand debuts on WJZ-TV in Baltimore. The two hour Rock 'n' Roll show gave viewers a chance to call in and talk to celebrity performers, which tied up lines so badly the phone company was forced to ask Deane to desist.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Following the stabbing deaths of two teenagers by a 17-year-old and other similar incidents of violence in New York City, WCBS radio in the Big Apple bans all versions of "Mack the Knife". Bobby Darin's rendition of the song would go on to win two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist at next year's ceremony. It was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2016.

September 4
Dick Clark's traveling show opens at the Michigan State Fair. The line-up includes Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Duane Eddy, The Coasters, LaVern Baker and Jan And Dean.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Sitting at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 was The Highwaymen's "Michael" (row the boat ashore). The traditional song can be traced back to the 19th century when it was sung by slaves who lived on islands off the coast of Georgia. This version by the quintet from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, would earn a Gold Record for selling one million copies.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr begin recording together for the first time at EMI's St. John Studio. They laid down six songs including "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", which will ultimately become their first single. Producer George Martin had originally wanted to release the Mitch Murray composition, "How Do You Do It", but the band's lack of enthusiasm was clear in the recording and the song remained unreleased until it appeared on "Anthology 1" in 1995.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
After completing a series of dates in the UK, The Animals play their first show in America at the Paramount Theatre in New York City. For the next nine days they would appear on a package tour with Carl Perkins, The Nashville Teens, Tommy Tucker, Elkie Brooks, The Plebs, The Quotations and Ray Cameron.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
The Who have their equipment van stolen outside the Battersea Dog's Home in England while they are inside purchasing a guard dog. The empty van was eventually recovered.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
The Doors' "People Are Strange", included on the band's second album, "Strange Days", is released in America. It will reach #12 on the Hot 100 and #10 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
The Rascals are presented with two Gold albums. The first was for their two year old debut disc, "The Young Rascals" and the second for their greatest hits collection, "Time Peace".

1969 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
The Youngbloods do not appear on The Tonight Show as scheduled. Johnny Carson says in his monologue, "They complained about the set, the lighting, the sound, the show... everything. So we wiped their noses, told them they'd been in show business a day and a half and sent them home." Youngbloods' guitarist / pianist Lowell Levinger retorted, "We weren't treated like guests..."

1970 - ClassicBands.com

September 4 - ClassicBands.com
The Rolling Stones release their second live album, "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!: The Rolling Stones in Concert". The LP would reach #6 in America, where it went Platinum, and #1 in the UK, where it became the first live album ever to top the Official Chart.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

September 4 - ClassicBands.com
The New York Times says that Sly Stone's West Hollywood landlord is suing the Rock star for $3 million, complaining that his building is inundated with "loud, noisy, boisterous persons," and wants Sly out. James Klein, the property manager, served Stone with a three-day notice to leave the premises on March 6th, but Stone refused to leave.

September 4
Motown's The Undisputed Truth had their only hit on Billboard's Top 40 chart when "Smiling Faces Sometimes" peaks at #3. Future singles by the trio wouldn't make it any higher than #63.

September 4
Paul McCartney scores his second solo, number one hit in the US with "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey". Paul would later explain that "Uncle Albert" was based on his real-life uncle. "He's someone I recall fondly and when the song was coming, it was like a nostalgia thing... As for Admiral Halsey, he's one of yours, an American admiral", referring to Admiral William "Bull" Halsey.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Lewis introduced the pair by saying, "... two of the most unusual people in all the world, and I don't mean just in the world of entertainment. They fit no patterns, meet no standards except the standard of excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, John Lennon and Yoko." From the Hotel Americana in New York City, John and the Elephant's Memory band performed "Imagine", followed by Yoko singing her new song "Now or Never". The ensemble wrapped things up with a Reggae version of "Give Peace a Chance", on which Jerry Lewis joined in on trumpet.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
"You Should Be Dancing" becomes The Bee Gees third US number one single. It was this song that launched the trio into Disco stardom and is the first chart-topper in which Barry Gibb used his now familiar falsetto.

September 4
KISS releases the Soft-Rock ballad, "Beth", which will rise to #7 and become their only US Top 10 hit. The song was originally titled "Beck", written about a woman named Rebecca, the wife of one of Peter Criss' former band mates. Because Criss dedicated the number to his wife Lydia at each performance, many mistakenly thought the song was about her.

September 4
Blue Oyster Cult's biggest hit, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", cracks the Billboard Top 40 on its way to #12. The song, which deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death, would be listed at #405 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 songs of all time in 2003.

September 4
Nearly fourteen months after it was released, Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album goes to number one on the Billboard 200 chart for a one week stay. The band's initial LP with Lindsey Buckingham as guitarist and Stevie Nicks as vocalist, the record would give them their first three Billboard Top 40 hits, "Over My Head" (#20), "Rhiannon" (#11), and "Say You Love Me" (#11). Along with being certified 7X Platinum in America, the album peaked at #23 on the UK Official Album Chart.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
A new version of Yes, with Steve Howe, Alan White, Chris Squire, Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, sell out a three night stand at New York's 19,000 seat Madison Square Garden.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Just as its six week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 was ending, "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor climbs to number one in the UK for the first of four weeks.

September 4
"Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band hits #1 in America, giving the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native his third chart-topping single and final Billboard Top 40 entry. The song would later be awarded a Gold Record by the RIAA for sales of one million copies.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
After just getting his license back after a five-year suspension, Gregg Allman is arrested in Florida for drunk driving.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Cat Stevens emerges from seclusion in London, England to sign copies of his first album in eighteen years. The LP, titled "The Life of the Last Prophet", was mostly spoken-word and was released under his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam. He was born Steven Demetre Georgiou and people close to him during his career always referred to him as Steve.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Nearly twenty-six years after the death of Elvis Presley, BMG / RCA, unearthed a never-before-heard song called "I'm A Roustabout". The song was originally commissioned and written for the film Roustabout (1964) by long-time Presley collaborators Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell, but was never used. Instead, a completely different song written by the team Giant / Baum / Kaye was recorded for the film and eventually became the title song for both the movie and the album. Winfield Scott found the original acetate in the basement of his New Jersey home and BMG / RCA added the track to the album "Elvis, 2nd to None".

2012 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Live recordings by Rory Storm And The Hurricanes, with future Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr, came to light after being discovered in Storm's sister's basement. Although the quality of the tapes were described as leaving "a bit to be desired", plans were underway to round them into the group's first and only album. That LP would later emerge as "Live at the Jive Hive March 1960". Storm passed away on September 27th, 1972.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
After a 90-minute hearing a US District Judge granted Aretha Franklin an emergency injunction to stop the film Amazing Grace from premiering that evening at the Telluride Film Festival. The singer objected to footage of her 1972 concert performance at the New Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles being used in the movie. After Franklin's death in 2018, her family made arrangements to issue the film and it gained worldwide release on April 5th, 2019.

September 4
Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards summed up what a lot of Classic Rock lovers have always felt when he told The New York Daily News that Rap was for "tone deaf people." He went on to say "All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There's an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another."

2016 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Joe Jeffrey, leader of The Joe Jeffrey Group who had a Billboard #14 hit with "My Pledge Of Love" in August, 1969, died of cancer at his Cleveland home. He was 80 years old. Joe's real name was Joseph Stafford Jr.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

September 4
Gary Wright, who scored a pair of Billboard #2 hits in 1976 with "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive", died of Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia at the age of 80. He first rose to prominence when he helped form the band Spooky Tooth, and later played keyboards on George Harrison's 1970 album "All Things Must Pass" and Ringo Starr's hit singles "It Don't Come Easy" and "Back Off Boogaloo".



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