This Date in Rock Music History: May 23

1960 - "Cathy's Clown" reached #1 in its sixth week of release for the Everly Brothers.  Elvis Presley was resigned to #2 with "Stuck On You".  
1962:  The Elvis Presley movie Follow That Dream opened in theaters.
1963:  The Beatles toured with Roy Orbison at the Odeon Cinema in Nottingham, England.












1963:  Paul Revere & the Raiders from Boise, Idaho signed with Columbia Records, becoming the first rock group to sign with the label.









1964:  Dusty Springfield released the single "Wishin' And Hopin'".  (Note:  several different dates are thrown out on the Internet, including April, May and June.  According to the book 'The Complete Dusty Springfield' by Petula Clark and Paul Howes, the song was released May 23.)
1964:  Marvin Gaye performed "You're A Wonderful One" on the popular television show American Bandstand.









                                       America hadn't seen anything like the Beatles...

1964:  Mary Wells was #1 for the second week in a row with "My Guy".  The Beatles had the runner-up spot with "Love Me Do" while Louis Armstrong was on his way down with "Hello, Dolly!".  The Dixie Cups moved from 14 to 4 with "Chapel Of Love".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Ray Charles Singers all got together for the song "Love Me With All Your Heart", the Dave Clark Five dropped to 6 with "Bits And Pieces", the Reflections were at #7 with "(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet", the 4 Seasons fell to #8 with "Ronnie", Roy Orbison was at #9 with "It's Over" and Peter & Gordon had the fast rising (30-10) "A World Without Love".
1964:  The count was now 15 weeks in a row at the top of the Album chart for the new band from Liverpool, the Beatles.  Meet the Beatles spent 11 weeks at #1 and now The Beatles' Second Album was #1 for the fourth week in a row.
1967:  Bobby Darin's movie Cop Out premiered.
1970:  The Grateful Dead performed outside the United States for the first time at the Hollywood Rock Festival.  No, we're not saying Hollywood, California is outside the U.S.--the Hollywood Rock Festival was in Leycett, Staffordshire, England.

1970:  Eric Burdon's great singing sparked the Animals on their way to becoming one of the top acts of the 1960's.  Now, Burdon formed a new group and on this date, War debuted on the chart with the first single of their career, "Spill the Wine".
1970:  "Everything Is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens was #1 on the Adult chart.
1970:  The album McCartney by Paul reached #1 in its third week of release. 









"Up Around the Bend", one of an incredible 10 smash hits in a two-year period for CCR...

1970:  The Guess Who's double-sided hit, "American Woman"/"No Sugar Tonight" held on to #1 for a third week with "Vehicle" from the Ides of March close behind.  Tyrone Davis moved from 8-3 with "Turn Back The Hands Of Time", Ray Stevens was next with "Everything Is Beautiful" and Simon & Garfunkel stalled at 5 with "Cecilia".  The rest of the Top 10:  The Beatles with "Let It Be", the Moments jumped in with "Love On A Two-Way Street", CCR's double-sided smash "Up Around The Bend"/"Run Through The Jungle", the Jackson 5 tumbled with "ABC" and the Marmalade remained in the 10 spot with "Reflections Of My Life".
1971:  Iron Butterfly announced that they had broken up.
1973:  Jefferson Airplane were prevented from presenting a free concert in Golden Gate Park after authorities in San Francisco passed a resolution banning electronic instruments in the park.  The group later wrote the song "We Built This City" about the experience.
1974:  George Harrison started his own record label, Dark Horse Records.
1974:  The Supremes released Anthology, the best of their greatest hits packages.
1975:  Earth, Wind & Fire and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes appeared on The Midnight Special.
1976:  Bob Dylan's concert at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado was taped by NBC-TV and later shown in the special Hard Rain.







1977:  Linda Ronstadt was at Sound Factory One in Los Angeles to begin work on her album Simple Dreams.
1978:  Bruce Springsteen started his tour at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York.  (Note:  some websites refer to the venue as Shea's Buffalo.  The correct name of the facility is Shea's Performing Arts Center, according to the newspaper 'The Buffalo News'.)
1979:  ABC-TV aired The Third Barry Manilow Special.
1979:  The film The Kids Are Alright, featuring film clips of the Who, debuted in New York City.
1979:  Tom Petty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
1985:  It was "Aretha Franklin Appreciation Day" in the state of Michigan.
1986:  AC/DC released the album Who Made Who.
1987:  The Doobie Brothers reunited for a Vietnam Veteran's benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
1987:  Roy Orbison appeared on Saturday Night Live.  (Note:  some websites claim the show was on May 22.  In 1987, Saturday fell on May 23.)
1987:  Swingout Sister had the #1 U.K. album with It's Better To Travel.







1987:  The Joshua Tree from U2 was #1 for the fifth week on a row on the Album chart.
1990:  Nick Mason, drummer of Pink Floyd, married Annette Lynton in London.
1992:  Iron Maiden had the #1 album in the U.K. with Fear of the Dark.
1992:  Freddie Mercury's attorneys announced that the late Mercury had given the majority of his estate ($17 million) to long-time friend Mary Austin.











1995:  Vanessa Williams released the single "Colors Of The Wind".
1997:  Fleetwood Mac recorded a show at Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California for a special on MTV that would air on the site that was formerly a music channel in the summer of that year.  (Note:  some websites claim the concert was recorded for MTV's 'Unplugged' series, and some websites say the show was recorded May 22.  It was recorded for Fleetwood Mac's 'The Dance' special on MTV on May 23.)
1998:  Hanson sold out their concert in Detroit at the Pine Knob Amphitheater in less than 20 minutes.






1998:  Mariah Carey had the #1 song with "My All".
2000 - Eminem released the Marshall Mathers LP on Interscope Records. 
2000:  Noel Gallagher walked out on his group Oasis during the middle of a European tour.  The band replaced him with Matt Deighton and the music played on.









2002:  Dido won Songwriter of the Year honors at the Ivor Novello Awards.
2005:  Two members of Bobby Brown's entourage were stabbed during a brawl at Justin's Restaurant and Bar in Atlanta, Georgia.  Why anyone would want to marry someone that chose an entourage like that is beyond me.  Oh wait, someone did.
2006:  It was "Sammy Hagar Day" in San Bernardino, California.







2006:  The Eagles played Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain as part of their Farewell I tour.
2006:  The king of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Prize Award, recognizing them as "great pioneers in rock music".
2006 Music promoter Ian Copeland, brother of former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, died of skin cancer at his home in Los Angeles.  Ian discovered the Average White Band and helped the careers of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Charlie Daniels Band and the Allman Brothers Band get off the ground.  Copeland was 57.






2007:  Paul Simon was given the first Gershwin Award by the United States Library of Congress honoring his contributions to music.
2008:  Shirley Bassey was rushed to a hospital in Monaco for emergency stomach surgery.
2010:  Paul Simon was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts.


Born This Day:
1943:  "General" Norman Johnson, lead singer of Chairmen of the Board ("Give Me Just A Little More Time") was born in Norfolk, Virginia; died October 13, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Note:  some websites claim Johnson was born in Huntersville, Virginia.  According to the newspapers 'The New York Times' and 'The Guardian', Norman was born in Norfolk.)
1946:  Danny Klein, standup bassist and harmonica player of the J. Geils Band, was born in New York City.
1947:  Bill Hunt, who played horns and keyboards for ELO, was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England.
1952:  Jim Mankey, guitarist of Concrete Blonde
1953:  Rick Fenn, guitarist of 10cc
1957:  Thereza Bazar of Dollar, who had the underrated song "Shooting Star", was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
1967:  Junior Waite of Musical Youth
1967:  Phil Selway, songwriter and drummer of Radiohead, was born in Abingdon, Berkshire, England.  (Note:  some websites naively say Selway was born in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.  This is impossible, seeing as Abingdon was not included in the county of Oxfordshire until 1974, seven years after Phil was born.  You will never see Oxfordshire listed as the county of birth on Selway's official birth certificate.) 
1973:  Gerald Rivera, also known as Maxwell ("Somebody's Watching Me") was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1974:  Jewel was born in Payson, Utah.  (Note:  some websites report that Jewel was born in Homer, Alaska.  According to her official website, she was born in Payson.)
1983:  Heidi Range of the Sugababes was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.