1979: Eric Clapton finally married his “Layla,” the former Mrs. George Harrison, Patti Boyd. George was in attendance, as were Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The three Beatles played together at the reception, running through a set of old rock ‘n’ roll classics.

1962: Having recently been rejected by Decca Records, Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein runs into an old friend, recording engineer Ted Huntly, in a London record store.

Huntley suggests that Epstein might want to send his band’s demos to a producer over at EMI Records, a chap named George Martin.

1967: A group of defiant teenagers dance that decadent (and totally outdated) American dance, The Twist, in Moscow during the Communist Party’s big May Day celebration. The dance had been banned by the Soviet Ministry of Culture.

When it comes to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan gets a lot of the credit, but we all know rock & roll did most of the work.

In recording studios on this day, legendary artists were laying down tracks for some legendary songs:

1957: Chuck Berry – “Rock and Roll Music”

1964: Beach Boys – “All Summer Long”

1965: James Brown – “I Got You (I Feel Good)”

1966: Beatles– “I’m Only Sleeping”

1969: Beatles– “You Never Give Me Your Money”

1956: The times they really are a’changin’. On this day, Elvis Presley becomes the first rock ‘n’ roll artist to put an album at #1 on the Billboard charts when his “Elvis” album hits the top.

1964: In Birmingham, England, two young musicians named Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder decide to form an R&B group they call the Moody Blues (taking the name from Duke Ellington’s song “Mood Indigo”).

1972: John Hammond, the man responsible for signing Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan to the Columbia record label auditions a young Jersey boy named Bruce Springsteen. Hammond is so impressed , he immediately arranges for Bruce to appear at New York City’s Gaslight Club that night so Hammond can bring the label top brass to hear him as well.

What a day for birthdays!

1919: Pete Seeger

1928: James Brown

1937: Frankie Valli

1950: Mary Hopkin

1953: Bruce Hall (REO Speedwagon)

1955: Probably the most significant move in recording label history: Chess Records signs a new artist recommended to them by Muddy Waters. Chuck Berry will soon embark on a series of recordings that will define the music now known as rock ‘n’ roll.

1977: Led Zeppelin play to the largest concert crowd for a single act to that date when 76,229 fans crowd in the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.

The previous record had been held by the Who, also at the Silverdome.