Pick a Day

Music History Events: Odds And Ends

April 22, 1969 On the roof of Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row, London, John Lennon has his name legally changed from John Winston Lennon to John Ono Lennon.

April 22, 1969 The Carpenters sign with A&M Records.

March 25, 1969 John & Yoko's week-long Bed-In for Peace begins in The Netherlands.

March 23, 1969 Countering the counter-culture, about 30,000 people attend the "Rally For Decency" in Miami after Jim Morrison was charged with indecent exposure in the city. Celebrities at the event included Kate Smith, Jackie Gleason, The Lettermen and Anita Bryant.

January 31, 1969 Billy Preston signs with Apple Records.

August 12, 1968 The New Yardbirds, later to be known as Led Zeppelin, begin their first rehearsal beneath a record store at 22 Gerrard Street in Westminster, London, performing a cover of the old Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio number "Train Kept A-Rollin'."

July 28, 1968 The Beatles hold their "Mad Day Out," an all-day group photography session across London, which produces most of their well-known latter-day photographs, including the cover of Life and the inside gatefold of their Beatles 1967-1970 album.

July 15, 1968 The Beatles' new enterprise, Apple, enters its new corporate headquarters on 3 Savile Row, London, later the site of their famous "rooftop concert."

May 31, 1968 While recording vocals for "Revolution," John Lennon does some improvised ranting that is later used in the head-scratching "Revolution 9."

May 4, 1968 Twiggy, one of the first English "supermodels," catches an 18-year-old Welsh singer named Mary Hopkin on the BBC-TV talent show Opportunity Knocks. She calls her friend Paul McCartney, who eventually signs Hopkin to Apple and has her record "Those Were The Days" as her first single.

April 24, 1968 The newly formed Apple Records - a label founded by The Beatles - takes a pass on signing the relatively unknown David Bowie, sending his manager a stock rejection letter ("we don't feel he's what we're looking for at the moment").

April 19, 1968 George Harrison and John Lennon, fearing that their instructor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is a fraud and has been preying on women at his meditation camp in India, leave the retreat two weeks early and distance themselves from the Maharishi. Harrison though, remains dedicated to the concept of Transcendental Meditation.

March 19, 1968 Donovan travels to India to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

March 8, 1968 Promoter Bill Graham's East Coast version of the Fillmore, his legendary San Francisco rock ballroom, opens in the East Village section of New York City. Dubbed, appropriately enough, the Fillmore East, its first show features Big Brother & the Holding Company, Albert King, and Tim Buckley.

February 19, 1968 Gerry Marsden (of Gerry and the Pacemakers fame) begins a 3 1/2 year run in the stage production of Charlie Girl in London's West End

February 18, 1968 Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, along with their female companions, head to Rishikesh, India, to join the other two members of The Beatles in studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

February 15, 1968 John Lennon and George Harrison of The Beatles depart for India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Later joined by Paul and Ringo, they write some songs for the White Album during the retreat.

February 10, 1968 The Beatles turn over operations of their fan club and American business affairs to their Apple Corps company in London.

December 31, 1967 Sonny and Cher are suddenly disinvited to appear at tomorrow's Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, after publicly backing the "Sunset Strip Rioters," teenagers protesting the city's new curfew.

December 25, 1967 Paul McCartney announces his engagement to Jane Asher (they break up eight months later without ever getting married).

December 23, 1967 John Lennon makes the first contact with his estranged father, Alf, in years: After hearing that he's taken ill, John sends him a get well note and a car so that he can visit his famous son.

December 16, 1967 The Rolling Stones announce that they have signed Mick Jagger's girlfriend, Marianne Faithfull as the first act on their new Mother Earth record label.

November 17, 1967 Davy Jones of The Monkees opens a boutique called Zilch I, named after a Monkees song, in New York's Greenwich Village.

November 7, 1967 Elton John, still going by his given name of Reg Dwight, and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin sign their first major publishing deal. Their parents are there to witness the signing, as both are still minors.

November 5, 1967 Tired of his latest hobby, Elvis Presley auctions off several items of horse-riding paraphernalia at his Circle G ranch in Horn Lake, Mississippi. 2,000 fans attend the auction.

October 17, 1967 The Beatles attend a small, quiet memorial service for their manager Brian Epstein, held at the New London Synagogue in St. John's Wood (near the Abbey Road Studios).

October 7, 1967 Promoter Sid Bernstein, who had promoted The Beatles at their first two Shea Stadium concerts, offers one million dollars to the group, who is retired from the road, to perform a third concert there. They refuse.

September 29, 1967 John Lennon flips on the radio while working on "I Am The Walrus" and hears a BBC broadcast of the Shakespeare play King Lear, which he decides to mix into the song.

September 1, 1967 The Beatles meet up at Paul McCartney's house in London to decide what to do following the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. They decide to be their own managers, and McCartney takes the lead on most business decisions. With hefty responsibilities outside of music, things get tense and the group breaks up two years later.

August 24, 1967 John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they attend his lecture at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, London. They later travel to India and study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi, an experience that informs many of their songs on The White Album.