This Date in Rock Music History: November 6

1954:  Elvis Presley signed a year-long contract with the Louisiana Hayride.

1961:  Lee Dorsey grabbed the #1 spot on the R&B chart with "Ya Ya".
1961:  "Big Bad John" was the #1 Easy Listening song for the third week.


1961:  Jimmy Dean rolled into the #1 slot with "Big Bad John".  Dion slipped with "Runaround Sue", the Dovells were at 3 with "Bristol Stomp" and Ray Charles remained at #4 with "Hit The Road, Jack".  The rest of the Top 10:  Brenda Lee jumped from 17 to 5 with "Fool #1", Sue Thompson and "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)", Troy Shondell was up to #7 with "This Time", Chubby Checker checked in with "The Fly", the Paris Sisters' great song "I Love How You Love Me" was at #9 and Gene McDaniels entered the Top 10 with "Tower Of Strength".





1964:  The Beach Boys performed "I Get Around", "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" on the British television show Ready Steady Go!
1965:  The Rolling Stones, Fontella Bass and the Strangeloves performed on the popular Shindig! television show.
1965:  Jefferson Airplane performed at the San Francisco Mime Troupe Appeal party at the Calliope Ballroom, the first concert organized by promoter Bill Graham.
1965:  The Byrds were flying high as "Turn!  Turn!  Turn!" moved from 61 to 31.
1965:  The "Help!" Soundtrack made it nine weeks at #1 on the Album chart for the Beatles.  The Ramsey Lewis Trio hit #2 with The In Crowd and Bob Dylan peaked at #3 with Highway 61 Revisited.  The Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" was at 4 with Sonny & Cher's Look At Us fifth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass with Whipped Cream & Other Delights, the Rolling Stones had Out of Our Heads at #7, the Soundtrack to "Mary Poppins" was still #8 after 58 weeks, Herman's Hermits On Tour came in at #9 and one of the most successful album artists of the Rock Era, Barbra Streisand, reached the Top 10 again with My Name Is Barbra.

1965:  The Rolling Stones ruled with "Get Off Of My Cloud".  The Toys had to settle for being second while the Beatles were at #3 after four weeks at #1.  Gary Lewis & the Playboys edged up with "Everybody Loves A Clown", the Gentrys had song #5--"Keep On Dancing" and another hit from the Vogues ("You're The One") was at #6.  The rest of the Top 10:  Bob Dylan and "Positively 4th Street", Len Barry's "1-2-3", Fontella Bass moved from 14-9 with "Rescue Me" and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass moved "Taste Of Honey" into the Top 10.
1966:  Bill Graham opened the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California.





1967:  John Fred & His Playboy Band released the single "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)".
1968:  The movie Head starring the Monkees opened in New York City.
1968:  Joe Cocker's remake of the Beatles' great song "With A Little Help From My Friends" reached #1 in the U.K.
1971:  Marvin Gaye scored his 7th #1 song on the R&B chart with "Inner City Blues".







1971:  Michael Jackson was gaining steam with his release "Got To Be There".  It moved from 89 to 39 on this date.









1971:  Cher saw an opening and moved to #1 with "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves".  Isaac Hayes was right behind with "Theme From 'Shaft'".  Rod Stewart's big hit "Maggie May" was at #3 after five weeks at #1 while John Lennon was up to #4 with "Imagine".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Osmonds and "Yo-Yo", the Carpenters were on the way down with "Superstar", Cat Stevens was aboard the "Peace Train", the Free Movement reached #8 with "I've Found Someone Of My Own", Marvin Gaye's 42nd career hit was his 13th Top 10--"Inner City Blues", which moved from 19 to 9 and Joan Baez slid down with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".





1972:  Loggins & Messina released the single "Your Mama Don't Dance".









 
  A great new band out of Seattle with their first Top 10 hit...

1976:  It was Steve Miller's turn in the spotlight as his new single "Rock 'N Me" reached #1.  "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees was waddling behind while Gordon Lightfoot made a move with "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald".  Chicago's #1 smash "If You Leave Me Now" fell to #4 and the resurgent Bee Gees were up to #5 with another hit--"Love So Right".  The rest of an excellent Top 10:  The Captain & Tennille's "Muskrat Love", Hall & Oates were stuck at #7 with the very underrated "She's Gone", Rod Stewart was on fire again, moving from 22-8 with "Tonight's The Night (Gonna' Be Alright)", Heart crept up with their first Top 10 "Magic Man" while the Commodores entered the list with "Just To Be Close To You".




          Word was spreading like wildfire about this album...

1976:  Songs in the Key of Life was #1 for the fourth week for Stevie Wonder on the Album chart.  Spirit by Earth, Wind & Fire remained #2 while Led Zeppelin made a great debut at #3 with the Soundtrack From "The Song Remains the Same".  The Steve Miller Band slipped with Fly Like An Eagle and Peter Frampton was still in the Top 5 with Frampton Comes Alive!  The rest of the Top 10:  a self-titled album by a group called Boston moved from 13-6 in its 7th week, Heart's Dreamboat Annie was stalled at #7, Chicago X, their greatest hits package, was #8, the Bee Gees edged up with Children of the World and Lynyrd Skynyrd joined the group with One More From the Road.










1978:  Natalie Cole released the single "Our Love".











1978:  Olivia Newton-John released the single "A Little More Love".









1978:  Nicolette Larson released the single "Lotta' Love".
1978:  Boston performed for the first of two nights in their hometown at the Boston Garden in Massachusetts.
1979:  The movie The Rose with Bette Midler premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, with the opening night party at the Roseland Ballroom.  (Note:  many websites report that the movie  premiered in Los Angeles on October 10.  This cannot be correct, because the world premiere was on November 6, according to the book 'Bette Midler:  Still Divine' by Mark Bego.)
1982:  Marvin Gaye notched his 11th #1 on the R&B chart with "Sexual Healing".
1982:  Neil Diamond had his eighth #1 on the Adult Contemporary song with "Heartlight".
1982:  Don Henley was making noise with his single "Dirty Laundry", which moved from 73 to 55.

1982:  This song follows one of the great moments in cinema history when Richard Gere carries off Debra Winger at the conclusion of the landmark movie An Officer and a Gentleman.  "Up Where We Belong" from Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes took over at #1, moving Men At Work down with "Who Can I Be Now?".  Olivia Newton-John had song #3 with "Heart Attack" and Michael McDonald was stuck at #4 with "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)".  The rest of the Top 10:  Two big hits on their way down, "Jack & Diane" by John Cougar (Mellencamp) and "Eye In The Sky" from the Alan Parsons Project, Neil Diamond's "Heartlight" at #7, America with "You Can Do Magic", Laura Branigan stormed into the Top 10 with "Gloria" and Lionel Richie was up to #10 with his initial solo release "Truly".
1983:  Ringo Starr starred in Princess Daisy, a television mini-series.




1984:  Madonna also released the single "Like A Virgin".

1989:  Janet Jackson released the single "Rhythm Nation".
1989:  Dickie Goodman ("Mr. Jaws" from 1975 and other novelty songs), later the head of music at 20th Century, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound In Fayetteville, North Carolina at the age of 55.

1990:  Madonna released the single "Justify My Love".












1990:  Timmy T. released the single "One More Try".

1993:  P.M. Dawn released the single "I'd Die Without You".










1993:  Vs. by Pearl Jam debuted at #1 while Rush debuted at #2 with Counterparts.  Bat Out of Hell II:  Back Into Hell by Meat Loaf fell to #3 and In Utero took a step backwards for Nirvana.

1993:  Meat Loaf hit #1 with a Jim Steinman song--"I'd Do anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)".  Mr. Meat finally displaced Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover", the previous #1 for eight solid weeks.  Ace of Base was up to #2 with their debut hit "All That She Wants", Xscape was "Just Kickin' It" and Janet Jackson climbed from 9-4 with "Again".
1995:  Queen released their first studio album in the U.K. since the death of lead singer Freddy Mercury.
2000:  Garth Brooks filed for divorce from wife Sandy.
2005:  The great musical The Jersey Boys:  The Story of Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons opened on Broadway in New York City.

2005:  Westlife led the way on the U.K. chart with "You Raise Me Up".

2005:  Westlife had the #1 album in the U.K. with Face to Face.

2006:  Marianne Faithful announced that she had made a complete recovery from breast cancer. 
2010:  Scott McKenzie ("San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair") was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome in Los Angeles.
2013:  Lee Crystal, drummer with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts from 1981-1986, died in Maplewood, New Jersey of complications from multiple sclerosis at the age of 57.

Born This Day:

1916:  The great Ray Conniff, band leader and arranger ("Somewhere My Love" and all the great Christmas songs we're about to hear), was born in Attleboro, Massachuseets; died October 12, 2002.
1932:  Stonewall Jackson ("Waterloo") was born in Tabor City, North Carolina.
1933:  Joseph Pope of the Tams ("Be Young, Be Foolish")
1937:  Eugene Pitt, founder of the Jive Five, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1938:  P.J. Proby, who was a backup singer on several demos that Elvis Presley recorded, was born in Houston, Texas.
1938:  Jim Pike of the Lettermen
1941:  Doug Sahm, who played with the Sir Douglas Quintet ("She's About a Mover" from 1965) was born in San Antonio, Texas.
1943:  Mike Clifford ("Close To Cathy") was born in Los Angeles.
1947:  John Wilson, drummer of Them ("Gloria" and "Here Comes the Night"), was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1947:  George Young, guitarist of the Easybeats ("Friday on My Mind") and older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC, was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

1948:  Glenn Frey, co-founder, guitarist, vocalist and one of the best songwriters of the Rock Era from the Eagles who also enjoyed a successful solo career, was born in Detroit, Michigan; died January 18, 2016 of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia at the age of 67. 
1964:  Penny Ford, who sang the lead vocal for Snap on "The Power" was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1964:  Corey Glover, lead singer of Living Colour, was born in Brooklyn, New York.




1966:  Pebbles ("Mercedes Boy") was born in Oakland, California.