1970: The Sixties come to an official end when the Beatles release their last album of new studio material, Let It Be. The album was actually recorded before Abbey Road but shelved when the band couldn’t find a mix they liked. John Lennon brought in legendary producer Phil Spector to remix the sessions and finally get the album out and into the hands of Beatles fans.

1967: A group of defiant teenagers dance that decadent (and totally outdated) American dance, The Twist, in Moscow during the Communist Party’s big May Day celebration.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, the following artists were laying down tracks for these 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.

1974: Grand Funk Railroad hits the top of the charts with their Todd Rundgren-produced cover version of Little Eva’s classic early rocker “The Loco-Motion.” It is only the second time the original version and a later cover version both hit #1. The first time was “Go Away Little Girl,” a hit for Steve Lawrence in 1963 and little Donny Osmond in 1971.

1968: The Beach Boys begin a 17-city tour with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Boys played first, then the Maharishi lectured the crowd on “spiritual enlightenment.”

Reaction is so bad more than half the tour dates are canceled.

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's top brass to hear him as well.

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 define the music 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 into the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.

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

1976: Following his concert in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen takes a cab to the Graceland mansion, hoping to meet Elvis Presley.

Turned away at the gate, Springsteen scales a wall and attempts to crash his way into meeting the King. It turns out Elvis is away from Memphis at the time and Bruce is escorted off the grounds by security without further incident.