1964: The mods’ favorite band, the High Numbers, fail their record audition with EMI. Within the year, they will change their name to the Who and successfully audition for Brunswick Records.

1971: Mick Jagger becomes a parent for the first time when his wife Bianca gives birth to Jade Jagger in Paris.

1977: Another sad day for rock and roll as three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zandt, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, die when their charter plane runs out of fuel and crash lands in a forest near Gillsburg, Mississippi. The rest of the band survives the crash, but are so shaken, they will not perform together again for another decade.

1964: A concert that would have a tremendous impact on British rock takes place at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, England.

The American Negro Blues Festival features Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lightning Hopkins, Willie Dixon, and many more.

In attendance are many young Brits who will eventually become rock legends getting their first taste of live American blues.

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We're celebrating birthdays today…

1926: Chuck Berry
1937: Cynthia Weil (songwriter)
1947: Laura Nyro
1949: Joe Egan (Stealer’s Wheel)

1967: Brian Epstein’s funeral is held in Liverpool. Fearing their appearance would become a media circus, the Beatles do not attend out of respect for the Epstein family’s privacy.

1986: Two days before his actual birthday, Chuck Berry headlines a special 60^th Birthday Concert arranged by Keith Richards.

Along with Richards, Berry is joined on stage by Eric Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon, Robert Cray, and Linda Ronstadt at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. The preparations and the show itself are filmed by veteran filmmaker Taylor Hackford and released as the rock documentary Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll!

1960: While in Hamburg, Wally Eymond, a guitarist in the Liverpool band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, decides to record a version of the Gershwin brothers’ song “Summertime.”

For some reason, he wants the Beatles to be his back-up band at the recording session. The lads are fine with that, but drummer Pete Best can’t make it. So Eymond brings along the Hurricanes' drummer, Ringo Starr. Today marks the first day the Beatles would play with Ringo on drums.

The boys would not ask him to formally join the group until 1962.

1955: Bill Haley and the Comets give a concert in Lubbock, Texas. A local group is hired to open for Haley. Buddy Holly (and the sidemen later known as the Crickets) make such a good impression as the opening act that Nashville talent scout Eddie Campbell, who is in the audience, arranges for them to get studio time to make their first demo.

1990: In a sign that the times really have “a-changed,” Bob Dylan performs for the cadets at the West Point Military Academy. And yes, he does perform his scathing anti-war song “Masters of War.”

During the concert, the cadets also engage in an impromptu singalong with Dylan on his other anti-war classic “Blowin’ in the Wind.”