In 1948, "The Louisiana Hayride" premiered on radio station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana, with the Bailes Brothers, Johnny and Jack, the Four Deacons, the Tennessee Mountain Boys featuring Kitty Wells, the Mercy Brothers, Curley Kinsey and the Tennessee Ridge Runners, Harmie Smith, the Ozark Mountaineers, and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys performing on the first show, broadcast live from Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium. Admission was 60 cents for adults, 30 cents for children, and remained so for the next 11 years.
On April 3, 1956, an estimated 40 million viewers, one in every four Americans, watched Elvis Presley sing "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" live from the deck of the USS Hancock in San Diego on NBC-TV's "Milton Berle Show." Later in the program, Elvis performed "Blue Suede Shoes" again, this time with Berle joining in as "Elvis' brother Melvin."
In 1957, in Ottawa, Elvis Presley, backed by Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and D.J. Fontana, performed in concert at the Ottawa Auditorium after doing two shows the previous night in Toronto. Initially, he also had been scheduled to perform in Montreal but those shows were cancelled by promoters because they regarded Elvis as being "too controversial."
In 1958, Alan Freed's "Big Beat Show" concert tour played two shows at the Coliseum in Baltimore, with performances by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Danny & the Juniors, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Diamonds, Billy & Lillie, the Chantels, Dicky Doo and the Don'ts, Jo Ann Campbell, Larry Williams, Ed Townsend, the Pastels, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
On this day in 1957, "Round And Round" by Perry Como was the #1 song.
In 1959, the BBC bans the Coasters' song "Charlie Brown" because of the word "spitball." Two weeks later they would change their decision and start to play the single, which rose to #6 on the UK chart.
In 1959, in New York City, Earl Taylor and his Stoney Mountain Boys became the first Bluegrass group to perform at Carnegie Hall.
In 1960, the Everly Brothers made their British concert debut at the New Victoria Theatre in London, with the remaining Crickets as their backup group.
In 1961, Brenda Lee released the single "You Can Depend On Me."
In 1961, a Pittsburgh quintet called the Marcels took "Blue Moon", a tune written in 1934 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, to the top of the Billboard chart. It was also a #1 in the UK. Rodgers hated the doo-wop arrangement so much that he took out advertisements in UK trade papers, urging people not to buy it.
In 1963, the Elvis Presley film "It Happened at the World's Fair," co-starring Joan O'Brien and Gary Lockwood, opened in U.S. and Canadian movie theaters.
In 1964, Bob Dylan made his first entry on the UK charts with "The Times They Are A-Changin'", which would reach #9. In 2004 the song was ranked #59 on Rolling Stone's list of the '500 Greatest Songs of All Time'.
In 1966, Pink Floyd appeared at The Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, England. During the early 1960s a new generation of British rhythm and blues bands such as The Rolling Stones, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, and The Animals forged a new era in rock music at the Marquee.
In 1966, folksinger Peter Tork opened a solo stint at the Troubadour in Hollywood. At that point, Tork had auditioned for, but not yet secured, a role in "The Monkees" TV series.
In 1967, working on the Beatles Sgt Pepper album at Abbey Road studios in London, George Harrison recorded his lead vocal on his song "Within You Without You," as well as a sitar part, and some acoustic guitar parts.
In 1969, the Doors' Jim Morrison turns himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles. He is charged with inter-state flight to avoid prosecution on six charges of lewd behavior and public exposure at a concert in Miami on March 2nd, 1969. He is later released on $2000 bail.
In 1969, Billy Preston signed with Apple Records.
In 1971, the Temptations hit the top of the Billboard Pop chart for the third and final time with "Just My Imagination," a #8 hit in the UK. They would place 11 more songs in the US Top 40 during the next 20 years.
In 1975, Steve Miller was arrested at his home for an altercation with a party guest, allegedly setting fire to her clothes and personal effects. Miller made matters worse when police arrived by resisting arrest. Charges were dropped the following day.
In 1978, Cher's TV special, with guests Dolly Parton, Rod Stewart, and the Tubes, aired on ABC.
In 1978, bandleader/composer/radio comedian/actor Ray Noble died of cancer at 74.
In 1984, record producer Jack Douglas was awarded $3 million in royalties owed to him by the John Lennon estate for his work on the Lennon/Ono "Double Fantasy" album.
In 1987, U2 opened an American tour in Arizona.
In 1988, the Traveling Wilburys record "Handle With Care" in Malibu, Florida. The Quintet is comprised of Nelson (George Harrison), Lucky (Bob Dylan), Otis (Jeff Lynn), Charlie (Tom Petty) and Lefty (Roy Orbison).
In 1989, 23 people were arrested after several thousand fans without tickets tried to crash a Grateful Dead concert at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.
In 1989, Pepsi-Cola dismissed Madonna as a spokesperson after her "Like a Prayer" video was called "blasphemous" by the Vatican.
In 1991, Paul McCartney taped an episode of MTV's acoustic music program "Unplugged."
In 1993, Ray Charles became the first performer to have hits on Billboard's charts in five different decades when his version of Leon Russell's "A Song For You" entered the R&B singles chart. His first appearance on the R&B chart was in 1949 with the Maxin Trio's "Confession Blues."
In 1994, a Nirvana and Hole tour was cancelled, possibly (but not confirmed) due to Kurt Cobain's drug addiction.
In 1996, Paul McCartney said again that there was no interest in reforming the Beatles.
In 1996, Jerry Garcia's ashes are spread in the Ganges River in India by his widow, Deborah, and Bob Weir.
In 2001, blues singer/guitarist/harmonicist Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey died of prostate cancer at 74.
In 2007, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards denied that he snorted the ashes of his late father during a drugs binge. Jane Rose, Richards' manager, told MTV News the remarks were made ‘in jest’, and she could not believe they had been taken seriously. Richards had said in an interview with the NME: ‘He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.’ But NME interviewer Mark Beaumont was convinced that Richards was not joking when speaking to him about the alleged incident. ‘He did seem to be quite honest about it. There were too many details for him to be making it up,’ he later told BBC news.
In 2008, with her 18th chart-topping hit, "Touch My Body," 38 year old Mariah Carey passed Elvis Presley for the most number one songs on the Billboard singles chart, placing her second only to The Beatles.
In 2011, Adele broke the record for the longest time at #1 in the UK album chart by a female solo artist after her second album, '21' spent 10 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. The previous record was held by Madonna with her first greatest hits record, 'The Immaculate Collection,' in 1990.
