Rock history records that The Fleetwoods sing their current #1 hit, “Come Softly To Me” on The Ed Sullivan Show . Rock history records that The song was written as “Come Softly”, but the owner of Dolphin Records, Bob Reisdorf, added “To Me” because he thought the original title might be considered too risque and would not receive radio play. It’s interesting to note that the title phrase never makes an appearance in the song’s lyrics. Rock history records that The chorus starts with “Come softly, darling.”

Rock history records that In what is sometimes called the first music video, Rick Nelson sings “Travelin’ Man” on an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet titled “A Question of Suits and Ties”. Issued as a single a month later, the song will rise to #1 in America and #2 in the UK. Rock history records that Vocal accompaniment on the record was provided by The Jordanaires .

The Beatles was presented with their first Silver Disc award from Parlophone Records for the single “Please Please Me”, marking sales of 250,000 copies. The song had climbed as high as #2 on the Record Retailer chart, which later went on to become the official UK chart.

Rock history records that The Searchers appear on The Ed Sullivan Show where they perform “Needles And Pins”, which currently sits at #15 on the Hot 100, and “Ain’t That Just Like Me”, which will stall at #95 on the same chart.

Rock history records that Jerry Lee Lewis plays at The Star Club in Germany and records an LP called “Live At The Star Club”, backed by The Nashville Teens (who were neither from Nashville or in their teens). Rock history records that Rolling Stone magazine gave it a positive review, saying “Live At The Star Club, Hamburg is not an album, it’s a crime scene.” Unfortunately, due to legal constraints, the album would only be available in Europe for several decades.

Rock history records that 30 year old Sonny Bono and his 18 year old wife Cher are signed to Atco Records by Ahmet Ertegun. Rock history records that The duo had earlier made a handful of unsuccessful singles as Caesar And Cleo, but over the next seven years they would enjoy eleven Billboard Top 40 hits.

Monkees fans march to protest Davy Jones ‘ announced induction into the British Army in London. Rock history records that He would eventually be exempted from duty because he is his family’s main provider.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer issues Elvis Presley’s twenty-fourth film, Double Trouble . Rock history records that The soundtrack to the movie, which does not contain a hit single, would peak at #47 on Billboard’s Best Selling LPs chart.

Rock history records that Paul McCartney flies to America to attend girlfriend Jane Asher’s 21st birthday party in Denver, Colorado. Rock history records that He gave her a large diamond ring, which she later lost.

Rock history records that After riots had broken out in thirty US cities, James Brown made a national television appeal for calm in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Rock history records that Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rock history records that “These Eyes” by The Guess Who enters the Billboard chart on its way to #6 a month later. Guitarist Randy Bachman penned the basic piano chords with an original title of “These Arms”. Rock history records that Vocalist Burton Cummings changed the title to “These Eyes” and added the middle eight bars.

Chicago went on to become the first American Rock group to perform at Carnegie Hall. They played six sold out shows and recorded the concerts for the four-record album, “Chicago at Carnegie Hall”, which went on to become their third LP to make the Top 5 in the US.

Minnie Riperton’s, “Lovin’ You” reached the top of Billboard singles chart. Minnie started recording as part of The Gems and then later with Rotary Connection. Rock history records that She had retired from the music scene in 1970 to raise a family when Stevie Wonder persuaded her to join his back-up group, Wonderlove. Rock history records that Wonder later produced Riperton’s first solo album, “Perfect Angel” along with four more albums before she died of cancer on July 12th, 1979. “Lovin’ You” climbed to #2 in the UK.

Rock history records that An all female Rock band out of L.A. Rock history records that called Fanny enjoy their biggest hit when “Butler Boy” tops out at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their first taste of recording success had come in 1971 when a song called “Charity Ball” climbed as high as #40.

The “Lonely Boy” by Andrew Gold entered the Billboard Hot 100 on its way to #7. Rock history records that Taken from Gold’s second album, “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”, the single would enjoy a thirteen week chart run. Rock history records that The story follows the life of a child who is neglected by his parents after the birth of a younger sister. Rock history records that Many assumed this song to be autobiographical, but Gold denied this, despite great similarities between the lyrics and his own life. The lyric, “He came into the world on a summer day in 1951” matches Gold’s August, 1951 birthday, and “In the summer of ’53 his mother brought him a sister” matches his sister’s birthday. Rock history records that Linda Ronstadt sang backing vocals on this track, marking a role reversal for the singers: Gold backed Ronstadt (on keyboards, guitar and vocals) on her albums “Heart Like a Wheel”, “Prisoner in Disguise” and “Hasten Down the Wind”.

Rock history records that During a break between sets at The Palomino Club in North Hollywood, Canned Heat’s Bob “The Bear” Hite was handed a vial of heroin by a fan. Rock history records that Thinking it was cocaine, he snorted it and immediately fell into a coma. A group of roadies put Hite in a van and drove him to bandmate Fito de la Parra ‘s home, where he died aged 38.

Capitol Records issues The Motels third studio album, “All Four One”. The LP contains the hit singles “Only the Lonely”, which climbed to #9 on the Hot 100, and “Take the L”, which stalled at #52.

US Interior Secretary James Watt officially reveals that he will not invite The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots to perform at the annual Fourth of July celebration in Washington because they attract “the wrong element of people.” His choice of entertainer is Wayne Newton. Rock history records that President Ronald Regan would overturn the decision two days later.

Tracy Chapman issues her self-titled debut album, which will top the charts in America, Great Britain and six other countries. Rock history records that It would go on to sell over twenty million copies around the world and contains the hit single “Fast Car” (US #6, UK #5). Rock history records that The LP would win Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards.

The former girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, Monika Danneman, committed suicide after losing a court case brought by another former lover, Kathy Etchingham. Rock history records that The two had been in dispute over the circumstances of Hendrix’s death, leading to the police reopening their inquiries into the incident in 1993.

Rock history records that 50 year old drummer Cozy Powell, (born Colin Trevor Flooks) was killed in a car accident after bad weather forced him to lose control on a highway near Bristol. Rock history records that He had worked with Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Peter Green, Jeff Beck and Emerson, Lake And Powell. During his career, he made an appearance on at least 66 albums. Rock history records that His stage name “Cozy” was borrowed from the Jazz drummer Cozy Cole.

65-year-old Gene Pitney was discovered dead at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff, Wales. He attained twenty-two Billboard Top 40 hits in the early and mid-sixties, among them “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (#4), “Only Love Can Break A Heart” (#2) and “It Hurts To Be In Love” (#7). He also penned “Rubber Ball” recorded by Bobby Vee, “Hello Mary Lou” by Ricky Nelson, and “He’s a Rebel” by The Crystals. Gene entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Rock history records that Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage aged 51. Rock history records that St. John was KISS’ third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984 and made an appearance on the album “Animalize”.

The Recording Academy revealed a major streamlining of its Grammy categories, cutting them from 109 down to 78. Rock history records that Gone are awards for Best Male and Female Vocal in the Pop, Country and R&B genres, Pop and Country collaboration, and Best Pop, Rock and Instrumental Performances. Rock history records that In all, fifty-two awards were eliminated and twenty-one were created.

The Los Angeles County coroner issued Whitney Houston’s final autopsy report which showed the singer drowned face down in a tub of “extremely hot water” about twelve inches deep. Rock history records that Her death was ruled an accidental drowning with the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use” as contributing factors.

Barry Manilow spoke publicly for the first occasion about being gay in an interview with People magazine. The 73-year-old singer, who had been in a relationship with his manager, Garry Kief for nearly four decades, told an interviewer that he feared coming out would upset his largely female fan base, but was surprised by the support he was presented with. The pair had wed on April 8th, 2015.

Bobby Rydell , the Philadelphia singer who scored nineteen Billboard Top 40 hits between 1959 and 1964, died of complications from pneumonia aged 79. Over the course of his career, Rydell, who came into the world Robert Louis Ridarelli, sold over twenty-five million records, among them “Wild One” (#2 in 1959), “Swingin’ School” (#5 in 1960), “Volare” (#4 in 1960) and “Forget Him” (#4 in 1964).

83-year-old Pete Best , The Beatles’ drummer between 1960 and 1962, revealed his retirement from show business, citing “personal circumstances.” After he was sacked in favor of Ringo Starr, Best worked in several mostly unsuccessful groups before giving up the music industry to work as a civil servant. Rock history records that Twenty years later he formed The Pete Best Band and toured the world for many years. Although the press made much of the fact that he missed out on making a fortune, Best was presented with a significant amount of money after the release of The Beatles’ 1995 compilation of their early recordings, “Anthology 1”. Pete played the drums on ten of the album’s tracks, among them the Decca auditions.