More Music History for March 27, 2018

 

1952 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Sun Records of Memphis, Tennessee began releasing records. The label would later become the home of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
CBS Laboratories announces the invention of stereophonic records. Although the new format would be playable on ordinary phonographs, when used on the proper equipment, a new rich and fuller sound would be heard.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Two anti-payola bills are introduced in US Congress by 71-year-old Representative Emanuel Celler of New York. He blames payola for "the cacophonous music called Rock and Roll," and says that style of music would never have gained popularity, "especially among teenagers," if not for the result of payola.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
The very first record ever released by Del Shannon, "Runaway" enters the Billboard chart on its way to becoming a million selling, number one hit. In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song as #466 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
The Who released their first US chart entry, "I Can't Explain". Although the song could only climb as high as #93 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band still gained a large following thanks to their exciting live performances.

March 27
British rocker P.J. Proby, who was accused of splitting his skin-tight trousers during performances on several occasions, was ordered off the stage at a municipal ballroom in Hereford, England. Proby would later claim that that real reason he was fired was to make room for Tom Jones.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Roy Orbison fell off a motorbike during a UK tour, fracturing his foot. He played the remaining dates sitting on a stool and walking on crutches.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
At a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards: best-selling British single of 1966 - "Yellow Submarine", most-performed song of 1966 - "Michelle" and next-most-performed song - "Yesterday".

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Three Dog Night's version of Hoyt Axton's "Joy To The World" enters the Billboard Hot 100 on its way to becoming the biggest selling single of the year. Unlike most Three Dog Night songs recorded at that point, instead of having just the three main vocalists singing harmony, the song was recorded with all seven members of the band singing.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Elvis Presley records what proves to be his last Top Ten hit during his lifetime, "Burning Love". It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart and #7 in the UK. The song's writer, Dennis Linde, later overdubbed the opening guitar riffs into the record's final mix.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead is arrested for speeding on the New Jersey turnpike, but the $15 speeding ticket turns into $2,000 bail when the police find a wide variety of drugs in Garcia's car. He spends three hours in jail.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Eric Clapton married George Harrison's ex-wife, Patti Boyd in Tucson, Arizona. George attended the wedding as did Ringo and Paul. The newly weds would stay together for nine years.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Sammy Hagar plays his first show as lead singer of Van Halen in Shreveport, Louisiana. Many of the over ten thousand people in attendance wore t-shirts or hoisted banners depicting former front man David Lee Roth's name or photo circled and crossed out.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Elton John and Tim Rice win the Oscar for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture for "Can You Feel The Love" from The Lion King.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Ian Dury, the English rocker who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s as founder and lead singer of the British band, Ian Dury And The Blockheads died of colorectal cancer a few weeks short of his 58th birthday.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Former Village People policeman Victor Willis was arrested in San Francisco, California, after he disappeared from an ongoing drug and gun trial. Police had charged Willis with being in possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in July 2005. He would later be sentenced to three years' probation after he agreed to enter a treatment program.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Former Jefferson Airplane and Starship singer Grace Slick along with former manager Bill Thompson, filed a lawsuit in California federal court charging that another former member, Paul Kantner violated both trademark rights and an $80,000 legal settlement he signed in 1985 by using the name Paul Kantner's Starship while touring.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Gordon Stoker, the tenor voice of The Jordanaires who backed Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves and many more, passed away at the age of 88. Estimated sales of records that the vocal group sang on total more than eight billion copies.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
Willie Nelson announced that he and his family were hard at work on a new brand of marijuana called Willie's Reserve. Stores of that same name were being planned and were to include his signature brand and other strains that are grown to meet quality standards.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

March 27
The Foundations lead singer Clem Curtis died of lung cancer at the age of 76. The band is most often remembered for their two biggest hits, "Baby, Now That I've Found You" (#11 in 1968) and "Build Me Up Buttercup" (#3 in 1969).