This Date in Rock Music History: August 27

1962:  "He's A Rebel" was released on this date.  The song was credited to the Crystals, even though Phil Spector had the Blossoms record the song because the Crystals were on tour.
1964:  The Beatles performed before 14,000 fans at the Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1964:  The Honeycombs topped the U.K. chart with "Have I The Right".
1965:  The Beatles visited Elvis Presley at his home at 565 Perugia Way in Bel-Air, California. 
1966:  Petula Clark moved to #1 on the Easy Listening Chart with "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love".
1966:  Everyone was singing it, because its message was the message of a generation--Stevie Wonder's version of "Blowin' In The Wind" hit #1 on the R&B chart.

    

                                                An appropriate song as we get through the last of "the dog days of summer"...

1966:  The perfect way to close out a great summer in music--"Summer In The City" by Lovin' Spoonful at #1 for a third week.  Bobby Hebb had to settle for a #2 with "Sunny" while "See You In September" by the Happenings was #3.  Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs came in fourth with "Lil' Red Riding Hood" and Donovan moved from 10 to 5 with "Sunshine Superman".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Troggs with "Wild Thing" just ahead of two big movers--"You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes (up from 28 to 7) and the Beatles (climbing from 52 to 8) with "Yellow Submarine", Petula Clark remained at 9 with "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" and Billy Stewart's "Summertime".
1967:  Eric Burdon (appearing with but advertised without the Animals) headlined the second day of the Festival of the Flower Children at Woburn Abbey in Woburn, England.

1967:  Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was found dead at his home in London after he had combined alcohol with an overdose of Carbitral (a drug taken to assist sleep).
1969:  Led Zeppelin played at the Casino Ballroom on Hampton Beach in New Haven, Connecticut.  There were to be two shows, but the 10 p.m. event was canceled.
1970:  Supertramp, which had released their debut album a month previously, performed at the famous 1970 Isle of Wight Festival at East Afton Farm.
1970:  Jimi Hendrix recorded the song "Slow Blues" at his New York recording studio he had premiered the night before.  At one minute at 45 seconds, it was never finished.  It was the last song Hendrix recorded; he died 22 days later.
1971:  Pink Floyd finished work on the album Meddle.
1975:  The Eagles were flying high on the One of These Nights tour, performing at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1977:  Jackson Browne recorded "Stay" and "Running On Empty" live at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
1977:  The Floaters were on top as their song "Float On" led the way in the U.K.
1977:  Jimmy Buffett married Jane Slagsvol, whom Jimmy had met in Key West in 1972.

1977:  Bank Holiday in the U.K., and concert goers flocked to the annual Reading Festival to see Aerosmith, Little River Band, Thin Lizzy, Graham Parker and the Rumour, John Miles and Ultravox.  (Note:  some websites incorrectly report the date as July 12.  The performance was August 27, as you can see from the above photo.)


















             
                                                                                    The Commodores with their first big hit...


1977:  Once again, the Emotions were leading the way with "Best Of My Love" but Andy Gibb's former #1 "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" was still at #2.  Rita Coolidge remained in third with "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher", the Commodores' great song "Easy" was at #4 and James Taylor moved from 12 to 5 with his remake of "Handy Man".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Whatcha' Gonna' Do" by Pablo Cruise, Crosby, Stills & Nash with "Just A Song Before I Go", the Floaters and "Float On" at #8, Fleetwood Mac had another Top 10 from Rumours with "Don't Stop" and one of the great songs of the summer--"Strawberry Letter 23" by the Brothers Johnson jumped up from 23 to 10.










                                                            Steve Miller's album was against tough competition...


1977:  Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was making its third run as the #1 album, now in its 16th week at that position.  CSN by Crosby, Stills & Nash was #2 followed by Streisand Superman by Barbra Streisand and the Soundtrack to "Star Wars".  JT by James Taylor was fifth.  The rest of the Top 10:  I'm in You by Peter Frampton, Book of Dreams from the Steve Miller Band, the Emotions with Rejoice at 8, the Commodores with their self-titled release and Love Gun from Kiss.

1978:  Foreigner, Patti Smith, Squeeze, and After the Fire performed on the final day of the annual Reading Festival in Reading, England.

1979:  Pat Benatar released her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, on Chrysalis Records.
1983:  Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Black Sabbath, Suzi Quatro and Marillon performed on the second day of the Reading Rock Festival in Reading, England.










1983:  Rita Coolidge held on to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the fourth week with "All Time High".
1982:  Queen played at the Myriad Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1983:  Barry Manilow was in concert at Blenheim Palace in Oxford, England.





































                           Loverboy had another Top 10 album...


1983:  The Police album Synchronicity had been out nine weeks with six of those at #1.  For now, it held off Michael Jackson's Thriller, which would eventually return to #1.  The Soundtrack to "Flashdance" came in third and Def Leppard completed a pretty powerful top four with Pyromania.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Wild Heart from Ms. Stevie Nicks, the "Staying Alive" Soundtrack by the Bee Gees, David Bowie's Let's Dance dropped to 7, Loverboy had another hit album with Keep It Up, Donna Summer entered the Top 10 with She Works Hard for the Money and the Fixx completed the list with Reach the Beach.










































1988:  Will never forget when this song was played at Baltimore's Camden Yards as Cal Ripken took a victory lap around the stadium after officially breaking baseball's all-time record for consecutive games played.  On this date, Whitney Houston released the single "One Moment In Time".
1988:  Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine reached the top of the Adult Contemporary chart with "1-2-3".



























                                                              Tracy Chapman from her stunning debut album...

1988:  George Michael set an all-time record with his fourth consecutive #1 song from the same album--Faith.  "Monkey" was the one that did it on this date and that gave him eight #1 songs in the decade, beaten only by Michael Jackson.  Elton John's "I Don't Wanna' Go On With You Like That" moved up to challenge while Chicago was up to #3 with "I Don't Wanna' Live Without Your Love".  Guns N' Roses had an all-out smash with "Sweet Child O' Mine" which was up to #4 and Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" moved from 12 to 5.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Fast Car" from Tracy Chapman, Steve Winwood tumbled from #1 with "Roll With It", Huey Lewis & the News hit the Top 10 with "Perfect World", Whitney Houston" moved to 9 with "Love Will Save the Day" and Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine had #10--"1-2-3".






1988:  Tracy Chapman pulled off the rare feat of getting a #1 album with her debut.  After 54 weeks since its release, Hysteria by Def Leppard was still hanging in there at #2.  Steve Winwood dropped with his album Roll With It and Guns N' Roses fell with Appetite for Destruction.  The rest of the Top 10:  He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper from D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, George Michael's Faith was #6, OU812 by Van Halen came in seventh, the great "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack was #8, and the self-titled Richard Marx came in at #9, passing Poison's Open Up and Say...Ahh!
1989:  Izzy Stradlin of Guns 'N Roses was arrested at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona after creating a disturbance on an airline flight.  (Note:  several websites, including those for some newspapers, incorrectly say this occurred on August 30.  The correct date is August 27, according to the Associated Press and the book 'Watch You Bleed:  The Saga of Guns N' Roses' by Stephen Davis.)
1990:  Garth Brooks released the incredible album No Fences.  (Note:  some websites incorrectly say the album was released September 4.  According to the book 'The Garth Factor:  The Career Behind Country's Big Boom' by Patsi Bale Cox, the album was released August 27.)

1990:  Elite guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn, the pilot, and three members of Eric Clapton's band were killed in a helicopter crash in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.













1991:  Pearl Jam released an album (Ten) that would alter the grunge rock landscape.

1992:  Lyrics to "A Day In The Life" that were handwritten by John Lennon sold at a Sotheby's auction for $87,000.

1993:  Rage Against the Machine, the Stone Temple Pilots, Tool and Chumbawamba were the top performers on the opening day of the three-day Reading Festival in the U.K.  Radiohead was to appear, but had to cancel because lead singer Thom Yorke had a sore throat.
1994:  Primal Scream, Radiohead, Ice Cube and the Manic Street Preachers were among the performers on the second day of the Reading Festival in Reading, England.
1994:  Boyz II Men had the #1 R&B song for a second week with "I'll Make Love To You".
1995:  Neil Young, Soundgarden, White Zombie and Blind Melon performed on the final day of the Reading Festival in Reading, England.
1996:  OutKast released their album ATliens on LaFace Records.
1996:  Pearl Jam released the album No Code on Epic Records.

2000:  It was the best Reading Festival in years--Rage Against the Machine, Blink-182, Slipknot, Placebo, and the Stereophonics performed on opening night in Reading, England.
2000:  Richard Jaeger, percussionist who played for Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Pointer Sisters, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead, died at the age of 52.
2001:  Five had the #1 U.K. song with "Let's Dance".

















2003:  The Rolling Stones took to the London club Astoria to perform.
2003:  A Georgia judge ordered Bobby Brown to serve nine days in jail for violating parole.
2004:  The Darkness, the Offspring, and Modest Mouse performed on the opening day of the Carling Weekend Festival in Reading and Leeds, England.
2005:  The Foo Fighters and the Kings of Leon headlined day two of the Reading Festival in the U.K.
2006:  Pearl Jam, Chemical Romance, Placebo, and Slayer performed on the final day of the Carling Weekend Reading Festival in Leeds and Reading, England.
2006:  Beyonce and Jay-Z held the #1 spot in the U.K. with "Deja Vu".
2009:  John Paul Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame.
2010:  Marvin Hamlisch was named as the principal conductor of the Pasadena Pops Orchestra in California.

Born This Day:
1937:  Tommy Sands ("Teen-Age Crush" from 1957) was born in Chicago, Illinois. 

1942:  Daryl Dragon of the Captain & Tennille was born in Los Angeles.
1949:  Tim Bogert, bassist for Vanilla Fudge, was born in New York City. (Note:  some sources incorrectly say Bogert was born in Richfield, New Jersey.  According to Tim's official website, he was born in New York City.)
1949:  Jeff Cook, founding member, vocalist, lead guitarist, keyboardist and fiddle player of Alabama, was born in Ft. Payne, Alabama.


















1953:  Alex Lifeson (real name Alex Zivojinovich), guitarist of Rush, was born in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada.  (Note: Some websites claim Alex was born in Surnie, British Columbia, Canada.  There is no such city in British Columbia; the correct name of the city is Fernie.)1956:  Glen Matlock, bass guitarist for the Sex Pistols, was born in London, England.





























1961:  Yolanda Adams was born in Houston, Texas.
1970:  Tony Kanal, bassist of No Doubt, was born in Kingsbury, London, England.
1978:  Mase (real name Mason Betha) was born in Jacksonville, Florida (Note:  sources are all over the map on his year of birth, citing 1974, 1975 and 1977.  His booking agency, Richard De La Font, lists his birth year as 1978.)
1979:  Jon Siebels, guitarist for Eve 6











1986:  Mario was born in Baltimore, Maryland.