December 5
1960 – The Beatles
Paul McCartney and Pete Best were arrested for pinning a condom to a brick wall and then igniting it. The two were told to leave Germany and The Beatles returned home, discouraged.
1964 – Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene star of the NBC TV show Bonanza was at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Ringo”, making him the second Canadian (after Paul Anka) to have a US No.1 single. The song was a No.22 hit in the UK.
1968 – The Rolling Stones
The release of The Rolling Stones’ new album Beggars Banquet was celebrated at a party in London. A food fight with custard pies was the highlight of the event that went on without an ill Keith Richards. The original cover for the LP was in the form of a plain white invitation but was later changed.
December 6
1949 – Leadbelly
American blues artist, Leadbelly died. Huddie William Ledbetter wrote many songs including “Goodnight Irene”, “Cotton Fields”, “The Rock Island Line”, and “The Midnight Special”. Leadbelly was jailed several times for fights and knife-related incidents, he was once jailed for shooting a man dead during an argument over a woman.
1966 – The Beatles
The Beatles recorded Christmas and New Year’s greetings for pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. Both stations were broadcasting from ships anchored off the British coastline.
1972 – Keith Richards
While reading the morning newspaper in Nice, France, Rolling Stone Keith Richards was surprised to learn that arrest warrants had been issued for him and his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg for drug possession.
December 7
1967 – Otis Redding
Otis Redding went into the studio to record “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”. The song went on to be his biggest hit. Redding didn’t see its release; he was killed three days later in a plane crash. Redding wrote the first verse of the song, under the abbreviated title ‘Dock of the Bay”, on a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito, California a short time after his appearance at The Monterey Pop Festival. Redding’s familiar whistling, heard before the song’s fade was the singer fooling around, he had intended to return to the studio at a later date to add words in place of the whistling.
December 8
1963 Frank Sinatra Jr.
Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes.
December 9
1966 – Cream
Supergroup Cream released their debut studio album Fresh Cream in the UK. The three-piece of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker also released their second single ‘” Feel Free” on the same day.
1988 – Neil Diamond
According to a poll released in the US, the music of Neil Diamond was favored as the best background music for sex, Beethoven was the second choice and Luther Vandross was voted third.
December 10
1965 – David Bowie
18-year-old David Bowie recorded “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” at Pye Studios, London, England, which was later released as a single under the name David Bowie with The Lower Third. It became the first David Bowie record to be released in the US as well as the first time the name “Bowie” appeared under the songwriter’s credit.
2009 – Paul McCartney
In an interview with Q magazine, Paul McCartney was asked if his marriage to Heather Mills was the worst mistake of his life. He replied “OK, yeah. I suppose that has to be the prime contender.” The divorce settlement had cost McCartney £24m ($38.9m), plus annual payments for his daughter, Beatrice.
1989 – Led Zeppelin
The Recording Industry Association of America certified four Led Zeppelin albums as multi-platinum: Presence (2 million), Led Zeppelin (4 million), Physical Graffiti (4 million), and In Through The Out Door (5 million).
