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.

1968: Mega-producer and genuinely strange person, Phil Spector marries his protégé, Veronica Bennett (aka Ronnie of the Ronettes). The marriage is not happy. Ronnie files for divorce in 1972 citing multiple episodes of verbal and physical abuse.

1963: The Beach Boys release “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, the song that would establish them as a top recording act and really kick off the surfing craze from coast-to-coast. It turns out Brian Wilson, originally listed as the song’s composer, had simply taken Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” and come up with a new set of lyrics.

Chuck is in prison at the time. When he gets out, he is none too pleased and sues the band. As a result, Berry is granted sole songwriting credit for the song and all of the songwriting royalties in perpetuity.

1988: In a radical career shift, Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California. He holds that job until 1992. Two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives, a position he maintained until his death.

1967: Paul McCartney boards a flight from the U.S. back to London. Once in the air, he gets an idea. By the time his plane touches down, he’s written “Magical Mystery Tour” and come up with an outline for the eventual made-for-TV film.

1957: To impress a girl he’s dating, Ricky Nelson performs a cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’” on his family’s weekly television show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ricky’s version sells half a million copies over the next seven days and launches one of early rock’s most successful careers.

Today, Ricky Nelson is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.