This Date in Rock Music History: November 21

1956:  The Elvis Presley movie Love Me Tender opened nationally in theaters.  It had premiered November 16 in New York City.

1960:  George Harrison was deported from Germany because he was too young to perform there with the Beatles.  Harrison spent the night teaching John Lennon his guitar parts, then used all the money he had left to purchase train tickets, tips, and taxi fares.  The group had to play without him at the Kaiserkeller Club in Hamburg.




1960:  "Stay" by Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs took over at #1.  However, Elvis Presley burned up the charts with a 35-2 move for "Are You Lonesome Tonight?  
1960:  Ray Charles had four songs on the Billboard Hot 100--"Georgia On My Mind" at #5, "Ruby" at #51, "Hard Hearted Hannah" at position #66 and "Come Rain Or Come Shine" came in at #95.
1962:  The movie Girls!  Girls!  Girls!  starring Elvis Presley opened in theaters.





1963:  The movie Fun in Acapulco starring Elvis Presley opened in theaters.
1964:  "Ringo" by Lorne Greene was the new #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
1964:  The Supremes continued to own the #1 R&B song with "Baby Love" for the fourth week.
1964:  People by Barbra Streisand was the #1 album for the fourth straight week.
1964:  The Supremes were in a hurry as "Come See About Me" sped up from #66 to #31.

The Zombies were just beginning to show us how great they were...


1964:  "Baby Love" by the Supremes wouldn't budge from its #1 position, although it got a close challenge this week from "Leader Of The Pack" by the Shangri-Las.  Jay & the Americans advanced with "Come A Little Bit Closer", swapping places with "Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers.  The Zombies had one of their biggest career hits as "She's Not There" moved to #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Ringo" from Lorne Greene, the Honeycombs slid with "Have I The Right?, the Kinks moved into the list with "You Really Got Me", Dean Martin was on the way down with "The Door Is Still Open To My Heart" and the Rolling Stones had their second Top 10 hit with "Time Is On My Side".
1968:  Yoko Ono, wife of John Lennon, suffered a miscarriage.  The couple named the unborn child John Ono Lennon II.
1969:  T. Rex played at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.
1970:  Two months after his death, Jimi Hendrix had the new #1 song in the U.K.--"Voodoo Chile".
1970:  Although Diana Ross had left for a solo career, the Supremes were still viable with their 36th hit "Stoned Love", which moved from 48 to 22 on this date.

1970:  The Partridge Family saw an opening and moved to #1 with "I Think I Love You", amazingly jumping over "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters and forcing it to be one of the top #2 songs of the Rock Era.  After five weeks at the top, the Jackson 5 fell to #3 with Smokey Robinson & the Miracles now at 4 with their hot song "The Tears Of A Clown".

    Sly & the Family's Greatest Hits package was battling for the top...


1970:  Led Zeppelin III held on to the #1 position on the Album chart for the fourth week.  Abraxas by Santana was a solid 2 and Sweet Baby James by James Taylor was hanging around.  The Carpenters remained at 4 with their debut Close to You, the Third Album by the Jackson 5 was fifth and the great Cosmo's Factory from CCR was #6.  The rest of the Top 10:  Get Yer (sic) Ya-Ya's Out! by the Rolling Stones, After the Gold Rush from Neil Young the Greatest Hits package from Sly & the Family Stone and Grand Funk Railroad moved in with Closer to Home.
1970:  The Carpenters had one of the top Adult songs of the 70's as "We've Only Just Begun" remained #1 for a seventh week.

1971:  Elton John was in concert at the Coventry Theatre in Coventry, England.
1974:  After years of estrangement, Marty Balin reunited with Jefferson Airplane (now called Jefferson Starship) during their show at the Winterland in San Francisco, California, paving the way for Balin to rejoin the group for their Red Octopus album.

1975:  Elton John earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard.
1975:  Frida Lyngstad of ABBA had the #1 album in Sweden with her solo release Frida Alone.
1976:  The band Chelsea, featuring lead singer Billy Idol, performed together for the final time at the Nashville Club in London.  Idol and Tony James left to form the group Generation X.

1979:  Dr. Hook enjoyed the #1 song in the U.K.--"When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman".
1980:  The documentary Van Morrison in Ireland premiered at the National Film Theatre in London.
1980:  REO Speedwagon released the epic album Hi Infidelity.
1981:  Bob Dylan was "on" on this night.  He played 28 songs and six encores in Lakeland, Florida.
1981:  Air Supply logged a third consecutive week at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)".





1981:  "Physical" by Olivia Newton John was officially the #1 song although most radio stations had either "Waiting For A Girl Like You" by Foreigner or "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones as the top song.  The Police had the only new song in the Top 10 with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".







1981:  The great 4 album by Foreigner took over at #1 from Tattoo You by the Rolling Stones.  Ghost in the Machine by the Police moved to #3, followed by Escape from Journey.  The rest of the Top 10:  Nine Tonight by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Raise!  by Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Nicks with her solo release Bella Donna at #7, Private Eyes from Hall & Oates, Abacab dropped Genesis off at #9 and Dan Fogelberg's The Innocent Age was #10.
1982:  Joni Mitchell and her producer and bass player Larry Klein married in Malibu, California.






1983:  The legendary "Thriller" video by Michael Jackson premiered in movie theaters in Los Angeles.
1987:  Little Richard was the minister when actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore were married.









1987:  Billy Idol rose all the way to #1 with "Mony Mony 'Live'".  Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes were one step away with "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" and Belinda Carlisle had a strong contender with "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".  Tiffany's former #1 "I Think We're Alone Now" was fourth, followed by Bruce Springsteen and one of his only big hits outside of the Born in the U.S.A. album--"Brilliant Disguise".  The rest of the Top 10:  Swing Out Sister and "Breakout", Richard Marx at #7 with Should've Known Better", Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies", the Cutting Crew scored another Top 10 with "I've Been In Love Before" and George Michael bounced from 18 to 10 with"Faith".
1987:  ...Nothing Like the Sun by Sting was the only new entry on the Top 10 Album chart.
1987:  Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes combined for the #1 Adult Contemporary hit--"(I've Had) The Time of My Life".
1988:  Elite guitarist Jimmy Page began a tour at the Hummingbird in Birmingham, England.
1990:  Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall married in Bali, Indonesia.  But once again, a Rolling Stone got it wrong.  The marriage was declared "null and void" in 1999 when it was discovered that the marriage was never registered.
1992:  Cher moved into the #1 slot on the U.K. Album chart with her Greatest Hits package.

1992:  Michael Bolton had a #1 album with Timeless (The Classics).  That bumped The Chase by Garth Brooks to second, while Sade debuted with Love Deluxe at #3, Eric Clapton slipped with his Unplugged album and Bon Jovi debuted at #5 with Keep the Faith.
1993:  Sonny Bono was a guest star on Lois & Clark:  The New Adventures of Superman on ABC-TV.

1995:  2 Pac Shakur gave out 2,000 turkeys in Los Angeles.

1995:  The Beatles' compilation Anthology I set a compilation record for first-day sales with 450,000 copies sold.
1995:  Matthew Ashman, guitarist of Adam and the Ants ("Goody Two Shoes") and Bow Wow Wow ("I Want Candy"), died at age 35 from complications of diabetes.

1995:  Peter Grant, shrewd manager for Led Zeppelin, the Everly Brothers, the Animals, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, died at age 60 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England of a heart attack brought on by years of drug abuse.









1995:  Bruce Springsteen began a tour at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
1997:  Coolio and seven members of his group were arrested and charged with assaulting a female clerk in a clothing store in Boblingen, Germany and stealing $2,000 worth of merchandise. 






1998:  It was easy to get a Top 10 album by now if you had anything of quality at all.  Alanis Morissette debuted at #1 with Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and U2 debuted at #2 with The Best of 1980-1990/The B-Sides.
1999:  Alvin Cash ("Twine Time" from 1965) died at the age of 60 from ulcer complications.
1999:  Celine Dion achieved her fourth #1 album in the U.K. with her compilation All the Way...A Decade of Songs.
2001:  Jonathan King ("Everyone's Gone To The Moon" from 1965), who discovered acts such as Genesis and was the head of Decca Records, was thrown in jail for seven years for six offenses of indecent assault, burglary and attempted burglary against five boys age 14-16 between 1983 and 1989.
2005:  Shots were fired at Bret Michaels' tour bus in Chicopee, Massachusetts.  The lead singer of Poison was hit by falling glass but escaped serious injury.
2007:  Bob Relf of Bob & Earl ("Harlem Shuffle" from 1964) died at the age of 70 in Bakersfield, California.

Born This Day:

1907:  Samuel "Buck" Ram, manager and producer of the Platters and one of the most successful songwriters of the Rock Era ("The Great Pretender", "Twilight Time" and "Only You (And You Alone)", was born in Chicago, Illinois; died January 1, 1991 of natural causes in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Note:  several websites report Buck's birthday as November 21, but according to the 'BBC', as well as the books 'Rock Obituaries:  Knocking on Heaven's Door' by Nick Talevski and 'All Music Guide to Soul:  The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul' by Vladimir Bogdanov, Ram was born on November 21.)







1940:  Dr. John ("Right Place Wrong Time" from 1973) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1941:  Andrew Love, saxophonist with the Memphis Horns, was born in Memphis, Tennessee; died of complications from Alzheimer's disease in Memphis at the age of 70.  Love worked with Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, U2, James Taylor, the Doobie Brothers, Sting, Dusty Springfield, Al Green, Alicia Keys, Bonnie Raitt and Otis Redding, among others. (Note:  some websites report his birth as 1942, but the renowned newspapers 'The New York Times', 'The Los Angeles Times', 'The Guardian', and 'The Telegraph', as well as the official website for the Memphis Horns, all report that Love was born in 1941.)
1941:  David Porter, who wrote "Hold On!  I'm Coming" and "Soul Man" with Isaac Hayes for Sam & Dave, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
1942:  Andy Newman (center, above), the namesake of Thunderclap Newman ("Something In The Air"), was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England; died March 30, 2016.

1946:  David Williams, session guitarist who played on all of Michael Jackson's later albums, and was included in The Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific guitarist of all-time, was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad; died March 6, 2009 of cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke in Hampton, Virginia.  Williams also played for Mariah Carey, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, the Temptations, Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, Dionne Warwick, Genesis, Kenny Loggins, Stevie Nicks, Melissa Manchester, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald, just to name a few.  (Note:  some websites show David's place of birth as Port of Spain, Trinidad, but his official obituary in the newspaper 'The Daily Press' lists his birthplace as Newport News.) 
1948:  Lonnie Jordan, singer, keyboardist and founder of the group War, was born in San Diego, California.
1949:  Randy Zehringer, drummer with the McCoys ("Hang On Sloopy") and brother of Rick Derringer, was born in Celina, Ohio.
1950:  Livingston Taylor ("I Will Be in Love With You" from 1978) and brother of James, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
1955:  Peter Koppes, guitarist and founding member of the group the Church

1965:  Bjork, eclectic singer originally with the Sugarcubes and now a solo star who has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. 
1967:  Margret Ornolfsdottir, keyboardist of the Sugarcubes
1968:  Alex James, bassist and songwriter of Blur, was born in Boscombe, Bournemouth, England.