On this day the 1st of December

1969: Magic Sam, American blues guitarist and singer (b. 1937) died. No blues guitarist better represented the adventurous modern sound of Chicago's West side more proudly than Sam Maghett. He died tragically young (at age 32 of a heart attack), just as he was on the brink of climbing the ladder to legitimate stardom, but Magic Sam left behind a thick legacy of bone-cutting blues that remains eminently influential around his old stomping grounds to this day.

Arthur "Blind" Blake (born 1896) died on this day December 1, 1934. He was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for numerous recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932.

1959: Chuck Berry met a young lady named Janice Escalante in Juarez, Mexico (his band has a show in El Paso that night). After learning she was a runaway, Berry invites her on the tour and takes her back to St. Louis to work at his restaurant. Bad move: she's just 14, which puts Berry in violation of a law against transporting minors across state lines. He would be arrested and serve 20 months in jail.

December 1956: The rock and roll film “Shake, Rattle and Roll” premiered in USA.

1st Dec 1957, Buddy Holly and the Crickets appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show', performing 'That'll Be The Day' and 'Peggy Sue'. Sam Cooke was also a guest on the same show performing 'You Send Me'.

1987, A Kentucky teacher lost her appeal in the US Supreme Court over her sacking after showing Pink Floyd's film The Wall to her class. The court decided that the film was not suitable for minors with its bad language and sexual content.

2013, Australian artist, cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker Martin Sharp died from emphysema aged 71. Sharp was called Australia's foremost pop artist.His psychedelic posters of Bob Dylan, Donovan and others, rank as classics of the genre. Martin co-wrote one of Cream's best known songs, ‘Tales of Brave Ulysses’, created the cover art for Cream's Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire albums, and in the 1970s became a champion of singer Tiny Tim.

On this daythe 2nd of December

1986 : Jerry Lee Lewis checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction to painkillers.

December 2 1967: Jimmie Rodgers ( not the Chicago bluesman or 'The Singing Brakeman' but Jimmie of 'Honey combe' and 'Kisses sweeter than wine' fame) was found in his car with a fractured skull after a serious accident. He recovered from the auto accident, but his singing career ended.

2nd Dec 2006, Dutch singer Mariska Veres from Shocking Blue died of cancer at the age of 59. Had the 1970 US No.1 & UK No.8 single 'Venus', (later covered by girl group of Bananarama).

Dec 2nd 2008, American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist Odetta died of heart disease age 77. She influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. Time magazine included her song 'Take This Hammer' on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs. Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music.

On this day the 3rd of December

On this day back in 1927 Texas born Blind Willie Johnson recorded in Dallas, TX. These and all of his subsequent recordings blurred the lines between blues and gospel music.

Back in 1976 during the Pink Floyd’s shoot for their Animals album cover, a 40-foot inflatable pig being photographed at Battersea Power Station broke free. Pilots in the London area wre warned of a pig loose in the skies, which reaches a height of 18,000 feet before coming down in Kent. It was later deployed by the RAF over Syria in the offensive against ISIS.

Back in 1965, Rolling Stone Keith Richards was knocked unconscious by an electric shock on stage at the Memorial Hall In Sacramento, California, when his guitar made contact with his microphone. Keith has been the same ever since!

On this day the 4th of December

Back in 1956, the so-called 'Million Dollar Quartet' impromptu jam session took place at Sun Studios in Memphis with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. The famous photo actually cropped out a girl Elvis was dating at the time.  Below is the uncropped photo with Marilyn Evans sitting on the piano. Jerry thought she was a bit old to be a girl-friend. Johnny and Carl thought she should be sitting on them instead. Elvis, protective of Marilyn and as a ploy said ‘here fellas let me show you something on the piano!’

Dec 4 1971: During a Frank Zappa concert, the Montreaux Casino in Switzerland catches fire when someone fires a flare gun, inspiring Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." Deep Purple were there to record their album Machine Head the following day, but ended up using the Grand Hotel and including the song as a last-minute addition.

December 4th 1961: Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl” was released.

On this day the 5th of December

December 5, 1791. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died a pauper at age 35 in Vienna, Austria. He had become seriously ill and rapidly declined, leading to speculation that he had been poisoned, although this was later proven false. During his brief life, he created over 600 musical compositions and is widely considered one of the finest composers who ever lived.

1899: Blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson (II) born Alex Miller in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. This was the date he claimed he was born, but his headstone (erected 12 years after his death) reads March 11, 1908.

5th Dec 1932, Born on this day, American musician, singer and songwriter Richard Penniman, (Little Richard) who had the 1956 US No. 6 & 1957 UK No.3 single 'Long Tall Sally', plus over 10 other US & UK Top 40 singles. His music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk and helped shape rhythm and blues for generations to come.

5th Dec 1938, Born on this day, JJ Cale, US guitarist, singer songwriter. Songs written by Cale that have been covered by other musicians include 'After Midnight' by Eric Clapton, Phish and Jerry Garcia, 'Cocaine' by Eric Clapton, 'Clyde' by Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook, and 'Call Me the Breeze' by Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare and Eric Clapton. Cale died on 26th July 2013 of a heart attack.

5th December 1969: The Rolling Stones released Let It Bleed. Let It Bleed was the Stones' last album to be released in an official mono version, which is rare and highly sought-after today. The album was released as an LP record, reel to reel tape, audio cassette and 8-track cartridge in 1969 and as a remastered CD in 1986. It was the first studio album to be released following Brian Jones departure from the band and subsequent death, it includes his replacement, 20 year old guitarist Mick Taylor. Like Beggars Banquet it was produced by Jimmy Miller and it’s also similar in that both sides of the LP open with two stone cold classics, “Gimme Shelter”, with Merry Clayton’s amazing backing vocal, and “Midnight Rambler”, songs that have been a part of Stones live shows for the last four decades. In another similarity to the band’s previous studio album it also featured a blues cover, this time, “Love in Vain”, written by Robert Johnson. The last track on the record is the ambitious and very different “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” featuring the London Bach Choir. What a terrible cover! Apparently it was a cake baked by the queen of British TV cookery shows, Delia Smith. I've improved it by adding tomato sauce.

On this day the 6th of December

1949: Lead Belly, [Huddie William Ledbetter], blues singer, died at age 64

1969 : The Rolling Stones headline the Altamont concert at a speedway in California. It's a free event with Jefferson Airplane and Santana also on the bill, but it turns violent when the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang kill a crowd member. The concert is documented in The Stones movie Gimme Shelter.

6th Dec: 1975, Rev Charles Boykin of Tallahassee, Florida organised the burning of Elton John and The Rolling Stones records, claiming they were sinful. Boykin was reacting to the results from a survey that said, 984 of the 1,000 local unmarried mothers had sex when listening to rock music.

6th Dec 1988, American singer songwriter Roy Orbison died of a heart attack aged 52. Scored the 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'Pretty Woman', plus over 20 US & 30 UK Top 40 singles including ‘Only the Lonely’ and ‘Crying’. Formed his first band The Wink Westerners in 1949, was a member of The Traveling Wilburys (known as Lefty Wilbury) with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty and had the 1988 UK No.21 single 'Handle With Care'. Orbison endured a great deal of tragedy in his life. His first wife, Claudette died in a motorcycle accident in 1966 and two of his three sons, died in a house fire.

6th Dec 2013, The electric guitar played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was sold at auction in New York for a record $965,000. The Fender Stratocaster had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for 48 years after Dylan left it on a private plane.

On this day the 7th of December

1956 : Rock! Rock! Rock!, one of the earliest Rock and Roll movies, opened in theaters. The film featured the popular disc jockey Alan Freed along with Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers and Lavern Baker.

7th Dec 1967, 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.

7th Dec 1977, Inventor Dr Peter Carl Goldmark was killed in a car crash aged 71. Goldmark invented the long-playing microgroove record in 1945 that went on to revolutionise the way people listened to music.

On this day the 8th of December

1980: John Lennon was murdered (shot 4 times) in front of the Dakota building in New York City , by Mark David Chapman. He had been in the recording studio that evening working on a single by Yoko Ono called "Walking on thin ice".

1962 : Legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed appeared at his payola trial in New York City and testified to receiving money from labels to play their records on the air. He was found guilty, fined $300, and given six months probation, but the irreparable damage to his career has been done.


8th Dec 1947, Born on this day, Gregg Allman, keyboards, guitar, vocals, The Allman Brothers Band (1973 US No.12 single 'Ramblin Man'). Allman was referred to as a Southern rock pioneer and received numerous awards, including several Grammys. Following a series of health problems, including hepatitis C and a 2010 liver transplant, Allman died at his home in Richmond Hill, Georgia, on May 27, 2017, due to complications of liver cancer.

On this day the 9th of December

1967 : Jim Morrison was arrested at a concert in New Haven, Connecticut, after a police officer found him backstage with a young girl and maced him. An enraged Morrison took to the stage and went on a rant about the incident during "Back Door Man," at which point three cops arrested him, marking the first time a rock star was arrested mid-performance.

Dec 9th 1988, According to a poll released in the US, the music of Neil Diamond was favoured as the best background music for sex, Beethoven was the second choice and Luther Vandross was voted third.
Neil Diamond: ...Cracklin' Rosey get on board!
Beethoven ...Opus 68: Symphony No. 6 in F major
Luther Vandross ...Here and Now (followed by) ...Never Too Much

On this day the 10th of December

10th Dec 1949, Fats Domino recorded his first tracks for Imperial Records. One of those songs was called ‘The Fat Man’, which later became his nickname.

1967: American soul singer, songwriter Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash, aged 26. Redding and his band had made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local ‘Upbeat’ television show the previous day. The plane carrying Otis Redding and his band crashed at 3.28.pm into icy waters of Lake Monoma near Madison. Redding was killed in the crash along with members from the The Bar-Kays, Jimmy King, Ron Caldwell, Phalin Jones and Carl Cunningham. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only person to survive the crash.

On this day the 11th of December

1964: Soul singer Sam Cooke was shot dead at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. Bertha Franklin, manager of the motel, told police that she shot and killed Cooke in self-defense because he had attacked her. Police found Cooke's body in Franklin's apartment-office, clad only in a sports jacket and shoes, but no shirt, pants or underwear. The shooting was ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide.

On this day the 12th of December

1978: Clifton Chenier, US accordionist (Bayou Blues), died at 53

2007: Ike Turner died of a cocaine overdose in San Marcos, California, at age 76. He was also struggling with emphysema and cardiovascular disease.

1957, Still married to his first wife Jane Mitcham, Jerry Lee Lewis secretly married his 13-year old second cousin Myra Gale Brown. Lewis's personal life was hidden from the public until a May 1958 British tour where Ray Berry, a news agency reporter at London's Heathrow Airport learned about Lewis's third wife. The publicity caused an uproar and the tour was cancelled after only three concerts.

On this day the 13th of December

13th December 1961: The Beatles signed with manager Brian Epstein.

On this day the 13th of December back in 1966 Jimi Hendrix recorded "Foxy Lady."

13 December 1975 HORSES by PATTI SMITH released on Arista Records. Producer: John Cale
Horses is the debut studio album by American musician Patti Smith. Already an accomplished writer and artist, Patti Smith became rock's most original frontwoman with the release of Horses in 1975. “Gloria” and “Land” transform '60s garage anthems into writhing, impassioned expressions of punk freedom.

On this day the 14th of December

Back in 1959 Ohio State University Research Centre issued a report showing that rock and roll is the overwhelming favourite music of people aged 14-18. However, most over the age of eighteen who were polled considered it their least favourite form of music. In 2009 the same folks were surveyed again. Those people in the former ‘14-18 group’ still rated rock and roll as their favourite music. Those in the former ‘over the age of eighteen’ group could not be surveyed because most had passed on or could not be located. Conclusion? Half a century of rock and roll keeps you kickin’!
Footnote: In the follow up 2009 survey some in the former ‘over the age of eighteen’ group could not be surveyed because of incarceration for adult delinquency.

December 14th 1963: Dinah Washington died of a drug overdose at the age of 39. She had 34 top 10 hits on the Billboard R&B charts.

On this day the 15th of December

Back in 1988, for his interstate car chase and numerous drug, firearms, and assault offenses, James Brown is sentenced to six and one-half years in a South Carolina prison. He would serve a little more than two.


December 15th 1944: A single-engine plane carrying U.S. Army Major Glenn Miller disappeared in thick fog over the English Channel while en route to Paris. The true fate of the plane and its passengers has never been determined.

On this day the 16th of December

December 16 1770.  Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. He created powerful, emotional music and is widely consider the greatest orchestral composer who ever lived. He suffered from hearing loss before he was 30 and by the time of his last (Ninth) symphony, he was completely deaf. In 1824, he conducted the Ninth Symphony at its world premiere in Vienna although he was unable to hear either the orchestra or the applause. In all, he composed nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, five piano concerti, 17 string quartets, ten sonatas for violin and piano, the opera Fidelio, the Mass in C Major, Missa Solemnis, and other chamber music.

December 16th 1907: Eugene H. Farrar became the first singer to broadcast on radio. He sang from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.

1960: 17-year-old George Harrison was deported from Germany for being too young to perform with The Beatles.

On this day the 17th of December

December 17th 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight.

1975: [Theodore Roosevelt] Hound Dog Taylor, American Chicago blues guitarist and singer, died of lung cancer at 60

1982, American Delta blues musician and songwriter Big Joe Williams died in Macon, Mississippi aged 79. Wrote 'Baby Please Don't Go', a 1965 UK Top 10 for Them, (featuring Van Morrison).

On this day the 18th December

Will Shade died 18th September 1966 in Memphis, Tennessee. William Shade, Jr., known as Will Shade, was a Memphis blues musician, best known for his leadership of the Memphis Jug Band. Shade first heard what would eventually be known as jug band music on records by a Louisville group called the Dixieland Jug Blowers in 1925. Shade himself played guitar; harmonica; and a "bullfiddle," a standup bass concocted from a garbage can, a broom handle, and a string. He made sure his copyright wound up on certain songs if at all possible, although not everyone agrees with the result. The jug band classic "Stealin'" is case in point; it is likely to appear with a Shade credit, but many blues scholars say this is a case of stealing "Stealin'." If he had heard the cover version of this song eventually done by British art rock band Uriah Heep, perhaps Shade would have left his name off the song after all.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was invented in 1939 by Chicago copywriter Robert L. May for a booklet given away to customers by his employer, the Montgomery Ward department stores. May asked his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, to put the story to music and lyrics. The result was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which was a radio hit for cowboy singer Gene Autry in 1949.

On this day the 19th of December

Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson, American blues singer and guitarist, died at the age of 36 in Chicago at 10:00 a.m. on December 19, 1929, of what his death certificate said was "probably acute myocarditis". For many years, rumors circulated that a jealous lover had poisoned his coffee, but a more likely explanation is that he died of a heart attack after becoming disoriented during a snowstorm. Some have said that he died of a heart attack after being attacked by a dog in the middle of the night. The book Tolbert's Texas claimed that he was killed while being robbed of a large royalty payment by a guide escorting him to Union Station to catch a train home to Texas. Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by the pianist William Ezell.

Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (later Wortham Black Cemetery). Far from being kept clean, his grave was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas historical marker was erected in the general area of his plot, the precise location of which is unknown. By 1996, the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, and a new granite headstone was erected in 1997. In 2007, the cemetery's name was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery, and his gravesite is kept clean by a cemetery committee in Wortham, Texas.

On this day back in1955 Carl Perkins recorded the hit "Blue Suede Shoes."

On this day the 20th of December

On this day back in 1957 Elvis Presley received his U.S. Army draft notice.

2006 : Nearly forty years after it was recorded, Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher is awarded 40% of the songwriting credit for "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by a London court.

On this day the 20th of December back in 1967 Jethro Tull was formed. Their first big hit was a horse drawn seed drill.

On this day the 21st of December

1992: Albert King, US blues singer/guitarist (Crosscut Saw), died at 71

2014: Joe Cocker dies of lung cancer at age 70 at his home in Colorado.

On this day back in 1970 Elvis Presley went to the White House to volunteer his services to U.S. President Nixon on fighting the nation's drug problems. He gave Nixon a chrome-plated Colt .45 and Tricky Dick gave Elvis a Narcotics Bureau badge. Elvis was able to procure his drugs a lot easier after that.

On this day the 22nd of December

1939: Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer/composer, died at 53

Joe Strummer frontman of the British punk band The Clash, "London Calling", "Should I Stay or Should I Go", "Rock the Casbah" died on this day the 22nd of December back in 2002. Age at Death: 50. Cause of Death: Cardiac arrest.

On this day back in 1971 Ike and Tina Turner were robbed of $86,000 when a suitcase was stolen containing concert receipts. Ike wasn't too fussed until he realised he had stashed a kilo of coke in the case as well.

On this day the 23rd of December

December 23, 1888 Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his left ear during a fit of depression.

Back in 1991 James Brown sued the producers of the movie The Commitments claiming his name and likeness were used without his permission. Brown claimed that one of the characters too closely resembled him! He lost the case five years later. It took lawyers that long to pick the difference?

Back in 1987, failing to stop Pink Floyd from using the name to tour without him, ex-member Roger Waters instead settles for receiving royalties whenever his image was used in any Floyd promotion. From that point on this was the publicity shot used.

Thinking that Waters was a bit of an ass, they then decided on another publicity shot.

The most important invention of the 20th century?
December 23, 1947. The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley, who shared the Nobel Prize for their invention which sparked a worldwide revolution in electronics. The transistor went on to replace bulky vacuum tubes and mechanical relays. The invention revolutionized the world of electronics and became the basic building block upon which all modern computer technology rests.

On this day the 24th of December

Back in 1972 Manfred Mann played a gig in Miami, the concert was cut short when nearby residents complained about the noise, ticket holders rioted when Miami police cut the power and the concert ended prematurely. In 1973 Manfred Mann went acoustic. Their return Miami performance ended in a riot when concert goers complained they couldn’t hear them. Miami police didn’t attend fearing reprisals again from The Electricians Union. Nearby residents thought it was time to move out!

December 24th 1978: Bjorn Ulvaeus & Agnetha Falkstad (both of ABBA) announced their seperation and that they were filing for divorce.

On this day the 25th of December

25 December 1925 and 26th January 1926
Blind Lemon Jefferson is first recorded. He will become the dominant blues figure of the late 1920s and the first star of the folk blues. It was in 1925 that a Texas talent scout finally made a demo recording of Jefferson and sent it to Mayo Williams at Paramount Records in Chicago. Jefferson was soon (circa 12/25 and 1/26) brought to Chicago to record for the first time.

Bit of Xmas cheer for you! On this day back in 1954 up and coming R&B star Johnny Ace was killed when he shoots himself backstage between sets at a concert in Houston. His song Pledging My Love becomes a hit after his death. Big Mama Thornton's bass player Curtis Tillman, witnessed the event, said, "I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded…see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’

December 25 2006 James Brown, age 73, died of congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia.

December 25 2008 Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer in Weston, Connecticut, at age 81.

December 25 2008 Bluesman Robert Ward died from a culmination of health issues, including two strokes, in Dry Branch, Georgia, at age 70. He was founding the Ohio Untouchables, the band that later would become the Ohio Players. He played the guitar with a unique tone soaked in vibrato coming from the Magnatone amplifier.

December 25 1907 Jazz singer Cab Calloway was born Cabell Calloway III in Rochester, New York. He would grow up in Baltimore, Maryland and not the Roman Catholic orphanage in The Blues Brothers movie.

On this day the 26th of December

26th December 1999 Curtis Mayfield died of complications from diabetes in Roswell, Georgia, at age 57. In 1990, Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed onstage at a concert in Brooklyn. Though he could no longer play guitar, let alone move his body below the neck, he refused to give up, recording his final album, New World Order, in a wheelchair.

On this day back in 1939 W.C. Handy recorded the classic "St. Louis Blues."

On this daythe 27th of December

27th Dec 2008 Delaney Bramlett (of the '70s blues-rock duo Delaney & Bonnie) died from complications of gall bladder surgery at age 69.

The story behind Chuck Berry’s song Too Much Monkey Business!
Onb this day back in 1989 Chuck Berry was sued by the former cook of his restaurant ''The Southern Air'', in Wentzville, Missouri who claimed Berry installed hidden cameras in the ladies restrooms and collected the videos. Over 200 former customers took part in a class action suit against Berry, which is eventually settled out of court.

The story behind Chuck Berry’s song Brown Eyed Handsome Man!
It was later discovered that Berry had also installed hidden cameras in the men’s restrooms also.

On this day the 28th of December

On this day back in 1928 the last recording of Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues" was made. She was accompanied by Georgia Tom, playing mellow piano in the background and the whining bottleneck guitar by Tampa Red. When they sang Big Feeling Blues in sombre, resigned tones it marked both the end of Ma Rainey‘s recording career and the achievements of a new generation of blues singers who anticipated the trends of the 1930s.
Rainey's recordings and performances were extremely popular among black audiences, particularly in the south. After reaching the height of her popularity in the late '20s, Rainey's career faded away by the early '30s as female blues singing became less popular with the blues audience. She retired from performing in 1933, settling down in her hometown of Columbus. In 1939, Rainey died of a heart attack.

Back in1976 Freddie King died at the age of 42. Near-constant touring took its toll on King and in 1976 he began suffering stomach ulcers. His health quickly deteriorated and he died on December 28th.

In 1969 Freddie signed with Leon Russell's new label Shelter Records. Leon flew Freddie and the studio crew to Chicago and recorded Freddie's 1971 album "Getting Ready" at the old Chess Records studio. The release of "Getting Ready" produced Freddie's signature blues/rock hit "Going Down". At this time he played a Gibson ES-355 guitars using a plastic thumb pick and a metal index-finger pick to achieve an aggressive finger attack, a style he learned from Jimmy Rogers.

On this day the 29th of December

1946 : Marianne Faithfull is born in Hampstead, London, England. Co-wrote the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine" while in a relationship with frontman Mick Jagger. Keith Richards said they were a great pair. Not Marianne and Mick. Marianne's!

29th Dec 1980 Folk musician Tim Hardin, who wrote the hit "If I Were a Carpenter," died of a heroin overdose at age 39.

On this day the 30th of December

Back in 1999 George Harrison and his wife were attacked in their home during a robbery. Though, Harrison was stabbed in the chest four times, he and his wife were able to subdue the assailant until police arrived.

30th December 1946 Punk rock icon Patti Smith was born in Chicago.

30th December 2010: Disco performer Bobby Farrell (Boney M) died of heart failure at age 61 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the anniversary of Rasputin's death. (The notorious adviser to the tragic Romanovs was murdered in Saint Petersburg in 1916 and was also the subject of Boney M's hit single, "Rasputin.")

On this day the 31th of December

On this day back in 1969 Jimi Hendrix introduced his new Band of Gypsys at a show at the Fillmore East in New York. Parts of that show and the show on January 1 were recorded and later released as the live album "Band of Gypsys."

On this day back in 1985 Ricky Nelson and six others died in an airplane crash near DeKalb, TX. A fire had broken out on the plane.

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