1981 Ernie Freeman, a pianist known for R&B and pop arrangements from the '50s through the '70s, dies at a heart attack at age 58. Won Grammy awards for his arrangements of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
1980 Paul McCartney releases McCartney II, which like his first solo album issued 10 years earlier, was recorded at his home studio with Paul playing every instrument. Forty years later, he does it again with McCartney III.
1980 Elvis Presley's doctor, George Nichopoulous, is arrested for abusing his licence to prescribe controlled drugs. Nichopoulous wrote Elvis prescriptions for over 10,000 doses of narcotics in 1977, the year Elvis died). He is acquitted, but in 1992 the Tennessee Medical Board revokes his license.
1980 The Carpenters' last TV special, Music, Music, Music, airs on ABC. Guest stars include Ella Fitzgerald, John Davidson, and Nelson Riddle.
1980 Alabama release their first RCA Nashville single, "Tennessee River," which becomes their first #1 hit on the Country chart.
1978 Joe Walsh releases his fourth album, But Seriously, Folks..., where he indulges in an underwater meal in the artwork.More
1976 Mayor James H. McGee declares today "Ohio Players Day" in the band's hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
1974 Queen cut their first US tour short when guitarist Brian May comes down with hepatitis. They return to action November 30, touring behind their third album, Sheer Heart Attack.
1970 Randy Bachman leaves The Guess Who to produce an album for Winnipeg band Brave Belt, which he eventually joins. At the suggestion of Neil Young, Bachman recruits fellow Winnipeg bassist and vocalist C.F. Turner, and the band Bachman-Turner Overdrive is born.
1970 Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane is arrested on charges of drug possession in his Bloomington, Minnesota, hotel room after police find him smoking pot. His eventual punishment in a $100 fine.
1970 The Who release their acclaimed album Live At Leeds in America. It was recorded three months earlier at the University of Leeds in England.
1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young land their first US #1 album when Deja Vu hits the top spot. Tracks include "Teach Your Children," "Our House" and "Woodstock," a song written about the festival by Joni Mitchell.
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.
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.
1968 Ralph Tresvant (lead singer of New Edition) is born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.