Pick a Day

Music History Events: Legal Issues

March 26, 1970 Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary is arrested in Washington, DC for taking "immoral liberties" with a 14-year-old girl (he pleads guilty and spends three months in jail).

February 28, 1970 Led Zeppelin perform in Denmark as "The Nobs" after Eva von Zeppelin, a relative of the late airship designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, threatens to sue.

February 27, 1970 Jefferson Airplane is fined $1,000 for onstage profanity in Oklahoma City.

January 31, 1970 In New Orleans, the Grateful Dead are arrested for possession of LSD and barbiturates, an incident which would inspire one of their most famous songs, "Truckin'." (Apparently the band had run afoul of mob interests in Texas, and the mob alerted the NOPD. This explains lines like "Houston, too close to New Orleans" and "Set up, like a bowling pin.")

January 23, 1970 Judy Collins is refused permission to sing testimony at the infamous "Chicago 7" trial.

January 16, 1970 John Lennon's "Bag One" exhibit at the Arts Gallery in London is closed down by Scotland Yard. The original Lennon lithographs in the exhibit are ruled obscene. Eight prints are confiscated.

January 7, 1970 Max Yasgur, whose farm in upstate New York hosted the original Woodstock Festival, is sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighboring farmers.

November 11, 1969 En route to a to a Rolling Stones concert, Jim Morrison of The Doors is arrested by the FBI for drunk and disorderly behavior and interfering with the flight of an aircraft in Phoenix, Arizona, after a flight attendant on his trip from Los Angeles accuses him of attacking and sexually harassing her. Morrison and his flight companion, American actor Tom Baker, spend the night in the local jail but are released the next day on $2,500 bail. The charges are later dropped.

October 23, 1969 Columbia Records announces its intention to prosecute the purveyors of Great White Way, an unauthorized collection of unreleased Bob Dylan demos that is often considered the first "bootleg" record.

August 1, 1969 Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is indicted in Los Angeles for failing to perform his required community service hours, which were imposed upon him after he refused to be drafted as a conscientious objector; rather than the janitorial duty he was sentenced to at LA County Hospital, Wilson taught music classes there instead.

July 22, 1969 Aretha Franklin, struggling with the breakup of her marriage, is arrested for causing a disturbance in an incident at a Detroit parking lot.

May 28, 1969 Mick Jagger and girlfriend Marianne Faithfull are arrested in their London home on charges of marijuana possession, but released on 50 pounds' bail.

May 16, 1969 Jack Casady, bassist for Jefferson Airplane, is arrested in New Orleans for possession of marijuana and given a suspended sentence of two-and-a-half years.

May 16, 1969 During The Who's set at the Fillmore East in New York, a plainclothes policeman rushes the stage to tell the audience that a fire has broken out, but guitarist Pete Townshend, figuring him for a rabid fan, kicks him off. Literally. The guitarist is arrested onstage and later charged $30.

May 3, 1969 Canadian customs officials arrest Jimi Hendrix after finding heroin in his bag (he is acquitted in court).

March 31, 1969 George Harrison and his wife Pattie appear in court in Surrey, England, to answer recent charges of marijuana resin possession. Both are fined 250 pounds.

March 12, 1969 Infamous London police officer Det. Sgt. Norman Pilcher, well-known for singling out and busting rock stars, enters George Harrison's house in Esher, Surrey, England and arrests the Beatle and his wife Pattie for possession of marijuana (specifically, cannabis resin).

January 18, 1969 Former Beatles drummer Pete Best wins a defamation suit against his former group. Best sued over remarks Ringo made in an interview implying that he was kicked out of the band because of drug use.

November 29, 1968 For his cannabis possession charge, John Lennon is fined $360 in a London court. The judge believes John's explanation that he no longer uses marijuana and had merely forgotten about the stash. Wife Yoko Ono is entirely cleared of charges. Lennon is the first Beatle to be charged with such a crime.

November 28, 1968 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear at the Marylebone Magistrates' Court, London, to answer charges of cannabis resin posession. Lennon pleads guilty and is fined 150 pounds and 20 guineas.

October 2, 1968 Motown sues their most prolific songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, for their refusal to write more songs until their royalty rate is increased. The trio are eventually released from the label and go on to start their own Invictus and Hot Wax labels.

September 5, 1968 Tiny Tim sues Bouget Records, his first label, for releasing some of his early recordings without permission.

March 20, 1968 Eric Clapton jams with Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Jim Messina and Richie Furay at the Topanga Canyon home of Stills' girlfriend. Neighbors call the cops, and all but Stills (who escapes through a window) are charged with suspicion of marijuana use. Clapton beats the rap; Young, Messina and Furay are found guilty and fined.

February 4, 1968 US Attorney General John Mitchell receives a secret memo from Senator Strom Thurmond, in which Thurmond suggests deporting John Lennon due to his antiwar stance.

January 28, 1968 Jim Morrison (of The Doors) is arrested after threatening a security guard at an adult movie theater.

December 12, 1967 A London Appeals Court quashes the 9-month sentence The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones had received for marijuana possession after hearing from psychiatrists who diagnose him with suicidal tendencies.

October 30, 1967 Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones pleads guilty to drug possession and gets a nine-month prison sentence.

October 7, 1967 After a London hotel accuses The Mamas & The Papas' Cass Elliot of running out on her bill, the singer is jailed overnight and strip-searched, forcing the cancellation of both an upcoming gig and television appearance.

October 2, 1967 The entire Grateful Dead are arrested for marijuana possession in San Francisco.

June 29, 1967 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones are both found guilty on drug charges and sentenced in a London court; Richards gets one year, Jagger three months. Neither serve any time as an appeals court throws out the Richards conviction and reduces Jagger's sentence to probation.