May 24
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David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs (1974): Bowie released his eighth studio album,
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The Rolling Stones Release "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968): The Stones released this legendary track as a single in the UK. Keith Richards played it on an acoustic guitar tuned to open D, using a capo. To get that distinct, heavily distorted, metallic crunch, he stood in front of a portable Philips cassette recorder and pushed the tiny built-in microphone into total acoustic overload. He then played the recording back through a studio extension speaker. Furthermore, the thick, driving bassline on the track isn't Bill Wyman—it was played by Mick Jagger
May 25
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The Who and Led Zeppelin Share a Bill (1969): In a legendary, one-time-only concert billing, a young Led Zeppelin opened for The Who at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland. Remarkably, the tickets for the event accidentally misspelled the openers as "Lead Zeppelin."
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Keith Moon’s Final Show (1978): The Who played a private concert in London specifically to be filmed for their career-spanning documentary The Kids Are Alright. It tragically turned out to be iconic drummer Keith Moon's final live performance with the band.
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1965 The legendary American blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II died on this day. He spent his final years touring the UK, heavily influencing young British rock bands like The Animals, The Yardbirds, and Led Zeppelin. Sonny Boy was famous for his eerie, supernatural premonitions. A few days before his death in Arkansas, he walked into a local radio station, stared at his friends, and calmly stated that he was going to "spook" them all very soon. He went home, lay down, and passed away quietly in his sleep. When his close friend and bluesman Big Joe Williams went to his apartment to check on him, he found Sonny Boy's famous briefcase full of harmonicas and a half-empty bottle of whiskey sitting on the kitchen table.
May 26
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John and Yoko's Bed-In Begins (1969): John Lennon and Yoko Ono kicked off their famous eight-day "Bed-In for Peace" in Room 1742 of the Hotel La Reine Elizabeth in Montreal. It was during this event that they recorded the anthem "Give Peace a Chance" right in the hotel room.
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1973 On this day, Mott the Hoople began a highly unusual recording session for their album Mott. To escape the 90% British income tax brackets of the 1970s, the band fled to the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Because there were no professional recording studios on the island at the time, they had to lease a massive, drafty, historic holiday manor. They parked the Island Studios Mobile Unit truck in the driveway, snaked hundreds of feet of microphone cables through the open windows, and recorded their gritty rock tracks while sitting on ancient, velvet living room furniture.
May 31
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The Who Break the Sound Barrier (1976): Playing a massive open-air concert at the Charlton Athletic Grounds in England, The Who officially entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest rock band ever recorded, with their gargantuan PA system measuring a staggering 120 decibels.
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Steely Dan Releases The Royal Scam (1976): The Dan released their masterful fifth studio album, featuring some of Larry Carlton's finest guitar work on tracks like "Kid Charlemagne" and "Haitian Divorce."
