Music Almanac: October 26

Birthdays

• 1911 - Mahalia Jackson (d. 1972)
• 1929 - Neal Matthews, Jr. (Jordanaires) (d. 2000)
• 1936 - Al Casey (d. 2006)
• 1944 - Mike Piano (Sandpipers) (68)
• 1944 - Alan Henderson (Them) (68)
• 1946 - Keith Hopwood (Herman's Hermits) (66)
• 1951 - Bootsy Collins (61)
• 1951 - Maggie Roche (Roches) (61)
• 1952 - David Was (born David Weiss) (Was (Not Was)) (60)
• 1953 - Keith Strickland (B-52's) (59)
• 1963 - Natalie Merchant (49)
• 1967 - Keith Urban (45)
• 1978 - Mark Barry (BBMak) (34)
• 1981 - Guy Sebastian (31)

Deaths

• 1994 - Wilbert Harrison - Stroke (65)
• 1999 - Hoyt Axton - Heart attack (61)

Bill Haley in Germany (1958)

On This Day

• 1958 - Bill Haley & the Comets played the first Rock and Roll show in Germany. 7,000 turned out and it ended in a riot.
• 1959 - The Everly Brothers said they were thinking of leaving Cadence Records for RCA or Warner Brothers.
• 1961 - Bob Dylan signed with Columbia Records.
• 1963 - Bob Dylan sold out Carnegie Hall. He had played at the venue for 53 people just one year before.
• 1965 - The Beatles are given their MBE's by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.
• 1970 - A wake was held for Janis Joplin in San Alselmo, CA. The singer left $2,500 in her will for the celebration should she pass away.
• 1970 - The Rolling Stones were sued by the mother of the man killed by the Hells Angels at Altamont.
• 1978 - The Police played their first U.S. show at the Rat Club in Boston.
• 1980 - Paul Kantner suffered a stroke during a Jefferson Starship recording session. He eventually recovered after two weeks in the hospital.
• 1984 - John D. McCollum, 19, committed suicide after listening to Ozzy Osbourne records all day. His death would kick off a landmark court case over whether music can lead to violence and suicides.
• 1991 - Ozzy Osbourne broke his foot while performing in Chicago.
• 1992 - Pearl Jam set a record for the time by selling 950,000 copies of Vs. in the first week.
• 1993 - The Catholic Church of Puerto Rico protested the upcoming concert by Madonna by asking members to tie black ribbons in trees.
• 1998 - The RIAA loses its battle to have MP3 devices banned.
• 1998 - Marilyn Manson opened their Mechanical Animals tour in Kansas City, MO.
• 1998 - It was announced that Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Roberta Peters and Fats Domino would receive the 1998 National Medal of Honor.
• 2000 - The attorney-general of the province of Ontario asked the federal government to not allow Eminem to enter the country for a tour based on hate speech.
• 2000 - Capitol Records through a huge party for Garth Brooks to honor his being the first artist to sell 100 million albums in a decade and have four 10 million sellers.
• 2001 - Courtney Love played her first solo show in Ventura, CA.
• 2007 - TI was released on $3 million bail to await trial on a charge of unlawful possession of firearms, machine guns and silencers.
• 2007 - Britney Spears was relieved of hit-and-run charges after she compensated the other driver. She still faced charges of driving without a license.

Marriages

• 1969 - Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter
• 2002 - Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (98 Degrees)

Recorded

• 1936 - The Great Speckled Bird & The Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff (his first recording session)
• 1962 - Close Together, You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover, Soon Forgotten - Rollin' Stones (sic) (first recording session)
• 1962 - Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan (first session with a band)
• 1964 - Beatles for Sale - Beatles (last day of recording for the album)
• 1981 - Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie

Released

• 1973 - Mind Games - John Lennon (single)
• 1993 - World Gone Wrong - Bob Dylan