1970: Grace Slick is inadvertently invited to Tricia Nixon’s birthday party at the White House. She brings along Abbie Hoffman as her plus one. They are turned away at the security gate and leave without incident.

1963: Jan & Dean’s “Surf City, written by Brian Wilson and featuring the Beach Boys as backing vocals, reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first surf music to hit # 1.

1969: This is the day that The Who first performs their rock opera Tommy live in concert in Dalton, England.

Five years later to the day (1974), they begin filming the movie version, directed by Ken Russell.

Twenty-four years later (1993), the Broadway version opens.

1970: A nerdy looking little guy who would go on to become one of rock’s most outlandish stars, Elton John makes his solo debut on this day, as opening act for T. Rex and Spooky Tooth at the Roundhouse in London.

1991: Founding member of the Small Faces and Humble Pie, Steve Marriott, perishes in a fire at his home in Sussex. Marriott had been planning a Humble Pie reunion with Peter Frampton at the time of his death.

1968: Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison leave the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had already left. The group would soon renounce their association with the Maharishi. Lennon will write a song about him, called “Sexy Sadie.”

1963: British actress Jane Asher is a guest panelist on the popular BBC show Juke Box Jury. One of the acts she is asked to review is the Beatles. Her verdict: “Now these I could scream for!”

Very soon she will start dating band member Paul McCartney.

1970: RCA and the Lear Jet company announced they have jointly developed and will market that giant leap forward in audio technology… wait for it… the 8-track tape player!

1970: Jefferson Airplane front man Marty Balin is busted in a hotel room in Bloomington, Minnesota, after the police find him smoking marijuana and engaging in sexual activity with teenage girls. In other words, living the rock & roll dream.

1964: Taking a break from filming their first movie, given the working title Beatlemania!, the Beatles are relaxing when Ringo remarks that it really has been “a hard day’s night.” John Lennon immediately begins scribbling some lyrics on the back of a greeting card and by the next morning has a new song and the film has a new title: A Hard Day’s Night.