This Day in History: 2024-12-04

DECEMBER 4^th

“Alive!” is the fourth straight KISS album to go gold. 1975

Rod Stewart’s “A Night On The Town,” with the chart topping single, “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),” lands at #2 on the U.S. album chart. 1976

Coldplay roll out “A Head Full Of Dreams.” The group’s seventh album features Beyonce, Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Merry Clayton (who sang on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”). It peaks at #2 on the Billboard 200. 2015

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Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson enters the world. Despite the group’s early “surf” image Dennis is the only member who actually rides the waves. 1944

Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington has a birthday. 1951

Million-dollar quartet. Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins sing together (Gospel, Country and pop songs) for the only time at Sun Studios in Memphis. Somebody takes a picture but nobody thinks to record the session until later – after Johnny Cash’s wife pulls him away to do some Christmas shopping. 1956

“Beatles For Sale,” the fourth studio album by the Fab Four, is released in the U.K.  It goes to #1 and stays there for eleven weeks.  Eight of the album’s tracks later appeared on “Beatles ‘65” in North America. 1964

Written by Folk great Pete Seger with words adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Byrds sit at #1 (deservedly so) with “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Now “The Wonder Years” have a theme song. 1965

Your tax dollars hard at work. President Richard Nixon, Vice-President Spiro Agnew and forty U.S. governors lock themselves in a room to determine the cause of the “generation gap.” The session yields little though the politicians get to listen to hours of Rock music with anti-establishment lyrics. 1969

Sly & The Family Stone are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Family Affair.” 1971

On the Lake Geneva shoreline. The Montreux Casino in Switzerland, where Deep Purple is scheduled to record, burns down during a Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention concert. The incident is immortalized in Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.” 1971

Life Of Agony singer Mina Caputo is born in Brooklyn. 1973

Following drummer John Bonham’s death, Led Zeppelin’s surviving members decide to disband. 1980

Pancreatic cancer takes the life of music innovator and free thinker, Frank Zappa, at age 52. 1993

KoЯn’s “Issues” is the #1 album on the Billboard 200.  It sells almost 575,000 copies in its first six days of release.  1999

Nickelback take home three trophies at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. They earn Artist Duo/Group of the Year, Hot 100 Artist Duo/Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year (“All the Right Reasons”). Three Days Grace are awarded Rock Single of the Year for “Animal I Have Become.” 2006

A page of Paul McCartney’s working lyrics for the Beatles tune “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (on the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album) nets $192,000 at Christie’s memorabilia auction in New York. A ‘68 Fender Stratocaster guitar once owned by Jimi Hendrix goes for $168,000. A handwritten poem by late Jim Morrison (The Doors) sells for $50,400. 2006

The three disc “Live Earth — The Concerts For A Climate In Crisis,” is released in North America. It has performances from the 7/7/07 international concert series to raise awareness about global warming. Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Metallica and the Smashing Pumpkins are featured. 2007

Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh, the surviving members of The Eagles, are among the honorees at the Kennedy Center Honors for influencing American culture.  2016

Ace Frehley (ex-Kiss) and Ed Roland (Collective Soul) are among the musicians taking part in the return of Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding charity show in Phoenix. The event raises $660,000, a record, for Alice Cooper’s Rock Teen Centers. The ’20 show was cancelled due to COVID-19. 2021