Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s December 14th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting the day in 1999, Paul McCartney returned to perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, his first since 1963. Also joining Sir Paul was David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Ian Paice (Deep Purple). With only 300 fitting in the club, 4,000 more watch the show from a nearby park via a simulcast, and even MORE watch a webcast of the performance.
With birthdays, we have Cliff Williams of AC/DC!
We also have Music Journalist Lester Bangs and Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October!
Moving on to releases now, we got The Clash’s magnum opus London Calling in 1979!
Other releases include On the Third Day by ELO in 1973, You’re Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr in 1987 and Agent Provocateur from Foreigner in 1984!
We lost Ahmet Ertegun in 2006 at the age of 86. A co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ertegun was a hugely influential pioneer to the sound of genres like soul, R&B, and Rock. So influential in fact, that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (which he helped founded and served as chairman) dedicated their Lifetime Achievement Award to Ertegun.
And finally in 2004, the funeral for Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell took place at the Arlington Convention Center. Several thousand fans and family gathered to mourn the guitarist. Dimebag was buried in a KISS Kasket provided by Gene Simmons and Eddie Van Halen placed his original 1979 Charvel Bumblebee guitar, which featured on the back of Van Halen II. Dimebag had met with Eddie a few weeks prior and asked for a replica, Van Halen stated at the funeral that “Dime was an original and only an original deserves the original.”
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
