ME5SENGER_24

The Cooper-Hewitt Museum, a part of the Smithsonian Institute, auctions off John Lennon's psychedelic-painted 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V at Sotheby's in New York. The car, which Lennon donated to the museum in 1977, was sold to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum for a then record price of $2,299,000. When John had the car...

Jefferson Airplane make the cover of Life magazine under the headline: "Music That's Hooked the Whole Vibrating World. The New Rock." Photographer Art Kane snapped the band in plexiglas boxes in front of a mound of gypsum on the bank of New York's East River across from the United Nations Building. The cost of the issue was 35...

Fats Domino records his rendition of "Blueberry Hill" at Master Recorders in Hollywood. Rising to #2 on Billboard's Top 100, it will prove to be the highest charting of his thirty-seven Top 40 hits. The tune had been recorded by at least six other popular artists in the 1940s.

Elvis Presley played the final concert of his career at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis to a crowd of only half the venue's capacity. The top price ticket for the event was just $15. Before the show, Presley was presented with a plaque commemorating the two billionth record to come out of RCA's pressing plant. The last song...

Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention release their tenth and final album, "One Size Fits All". It would rise to #26 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is released in America, where it would become their highest charting single, reaching #8. If you listen carefully, you can hear Ronnie Van Zant shout "Turn it up", asking producer Al Kooper and engineer Rodney Mills to turn up the volume in his headphones so that he could hear the track...

Jefferson Starship's LP "Red Octopus" was released. The album, marking the return of singer Marty Balin, went to number one in the US and became the band's biggest seller, eventually being certified 2X Platinum

English singer Robert Palmer releases the single, "Simply Irresistible", which will peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would also win a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at next year's ceremony. In the UK, the record was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single, even though it had only risen...

"Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly And The Family Stone is released by Epic Records. It would peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, kept out of the top spot by "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations. The song would later be ranked by Rolling Stone at #247 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The three day Newport '69 Festival starts in Northridge, California. 150,000 people attend to hear Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, CCR, Ike And Tina Turner, Jethro Tull, The Rascals, Steppenwolf and others. Hendrix receives $125,000 for his appearance. At the time it was the highest fee ever paid to a Rock act for a single...

Carole King saw her "Tapestry" album hit number one in the US for the first of fifteen consecutive weeks. The LP contained such classic tracks as "It's Too Late" (#1), "I Feel the Earth Move" (#1), "So Far Away" (#14), "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", "You've Got a Friend" (#1) and "Smackwater Jack" (#14). The Grammy Award winning...

Bob Dylan finishes recording "Like A Rolling Stone" at Columbia Studios in New York City. A young session musician named Al Kooper played the now iconic organ riff for which the track is known for. At 6:13 long, the record company was hesitant to release the single, and disc jockey's shied away from playing it, but somehow the...

Donovan becomes the first high-profile Rock star busted for drugs by the newly vigilant London drug squad. The singer and his girlfriend were taken to Marylebone Police Station, booked, fingerprinted, and given a cup of tea. When they were finally released around 4 AM, a police sergeant asked for an autograph for his daughter.

Joe Walsh's comic depiction of Rock stardom, "Life's Been Good", is released. It would become his highest charting solo single, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Paul McCartney's "Ram" LP goes Gold in the US, where it would reach #2 and spend over five months in the Top Ten, eventually going Platinum. The album topped the chart in the UK.