1924 – The late Earl Scruggs (Flatt & Scruggs – ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’) was born.
1929 – The late Wilbert Harrison (‘Kansas City’) was born.
Some sources use January 5 as his birth date but his gravestone says January 6
1937 – The late Doris Troy (‘Just One Look’) was born.
1940 – The late Van McCoy (‘The Hustle’) was born.
1946 – The late Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd founder and original guitarist – ‘Arnold Layne’) was born.
1947 – The late Sandy Denny (lead singer with Fairport Convention – ‘Meet On The Ledge’) was born.
1957 – Elvis Presley was filmed from the waist up on his third and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1958 – Chuck Berry recorded ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’
1964 – Gene Pitney released ‘That Girl Belongs To Yesterday’. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was the first song composed by the duo to become a Top 10 hit in Britain.
1968 – Happening ’68’ premiered. The Dick Clark produced program lasted less than two years.
1975 – Led Zeppelin fans rioted before a Boston concert, causing $30,000 in damages. Boston Mayor Kevin White canceled the concert.
1975 – Pink Floyd began recording the ‘Wish You Were Here’ album.
1976 – Peter Frampton released the legendary ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ in the U.S. The album was certified gold less than eight weeks after its release.
Rock Factoid: It was the best-selling album of 1976, and was still #14 on Billboard’s 1977 year-end album chart. It remains the biggest-selling live album of all time.
1977 – EMI Records formally released the Sex Pistols from their contract due to their rowdy public behavior. The Sex Pistols were given a $68,000 payout for the early release.
1980 – Georgeanna Tillman of The Marvelettes (‘Please Mr. Postman’) died from sickle cell anemia at the age of 36.
1984 – Polydor Records released John Lennon’s ‘Nobody Told Me’ in the U.S.
Rock Factoid: Recorded (but uncompleted) shortly before his death in 1980, the song was later completed in 1983 and released as the first single from the Lennon and Yoko Ono album ‘Milk And Honey’.
Rock Factoid #2: Lennon’s original recording was actually a demo because he had written the song for Ringo Starr’s 1981 album, ‘Stop And Smell The Roses’. The two had set a date of January 14, 1981 to record Starr’s version of the song (with Lennon producing) but we all know why that never happened.
1993 – Jazz legend John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie died of pancreatic cancer.
1996 – James Brown’s wife, Adrienne, collapsed and died two days after undergoing cosmetic surgery in Beverly Hills.
2006 – Lou Rawls (‘You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine’) died of cancer.
2006 – Alex St. Clair (guitarist with Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – ‘Plastic Factory’) died after suffering a heart attack.
2007 – ‘Sneaky’ Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitarist with The Flying Burrito Brothers – ‘Closer To You’) died of Alzheimer’s disease.
2009 – Ron Asheton (guitarist/songwriter with The Stooges – ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’) died of a heart attack.
Asheton’s body was found on January 6th, but his actual date of death is not known.
2012 – Tom Ardolino (drummer with NRBQ – ‘Green Lights’) died following a prolonged illness.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.