April 29th
1976 Bruce Springsteen jumps the fence at Graceland in an attempt to meet Elvis Presley.
Security guards catch him. Springsteen tells them who he is but the guards are unimpressed and escort ‘The Boss’ off the premises without ever meeting ‘The King’. This comes after Springsteen has appeared on both the covers of Time and Newsweek.
If they had met it probably would have been awkward. With his “Born To Run” album Springsteen established himself as a major force in Rock. Meanwhile, Elvis is in a steep decline. The power and passion that fueled his remarkable comeback had dissipated.
The remainder of the decade wouldn’t be kind to either. Legal snafus with a former manager sidelines Springsteen for an extended period while drug abuse claims Elvis sixteen months later.
1981 “Fair Warning, “Van Halen’s fourth studio album, drops.
Even though the set sells more than 2 million copies, it’s viewed as a commercial disappointment. Later, Esquire lists “Fair Warning” as one of the 75 Albums Every Man Should Own.
2014 The Quiet Riot documentary “Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back” debuts.
The film, which was made possible by a Kickstarter campaign, revolves around drummer Frankie Banali’s struggles to keep the group going following the ’07 drug overdose death of frontman Kevin DuBrow.
MORE TODAY IN ROCK…
1947 Draggin’ the line. Tommy James (Thomas Gregory Jackson) is born in Dayton, OH. He is the leader of the Shondells who eventually become Tommy James & The Shondells.
1962 Only four years after being banished from the U.K. because he’d married his thirteen-year old cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis returns for a triumphant tour.
1979 Van Halen unleash “Dance The Night Away.” It becomes the band’s first song to crack the Top 40, peaking at #15.
1993 Guitar great and David Bowie sideman (“Ziggy Stardust” era) Mick Ronson dies of liver cancer at age 46.
1999 Mötley Crüe state that drummer Tommy Lee has quit the band to spend time with his family and work on a new group called Methods of Mayhem. He rejoins Mötley Crüe in ‘04.
2002 A car crash ten days earlier in Orlando involving vocalist Scott Stapp forces the cancellation of the final twenty dates on Creed’s Weathered Tour. Stapp suffers neck and back injuries.
2003 Pearl Jam buy a 14-hundred square-mile area of rainforest in Madagascar to offset the 57-hundred tons of greenhouse gas emissions they estimate their latest North American tour had incurred.
2008 Mudcrutch’s self-titled debut is out. The band is Tom Petty’s pre-Heartbreakers unit. According to Petty, the album “has an edgy Country-Rock feel.”
2009 Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler headlines the Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp in Hollywood. Tyler tells singers to find the passion in the music. “It’s all about singing something in a way that nobody has ever done it before,” he explains. The camp’s itinerary includes a recording session at Capitol Studios and a live performance at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip.
2015 My Morning Jacket announce the launch of a philanthropic effort. “The Waterfall Project supports and promotes engagement around causes we hold dear,” the band writes in a statement. “The Waterfall will focus on supporting and amplifying environment and climate issues.”
2016 Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and his celebrity lookalike, actor/comedian Will Ferrell, host the all-star Red Hot Benefit Comedy + Music Show & Quinceanera. The charity event at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium.
2023 Metallica’s “72 Seasons” debuts at #2 in the U.S. Selling 146,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release “72 Seasons’ marks the band’s 12th Top 10-charting album. It is second only to Country singer Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing At A Time,” which is in its seventh consecutive week at the top.
2023 Neil Young is one of many who play during Country legend Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl. Backed by Promise of the Real, the band featuring Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah, as well as his Buffalo Springfield/CSNY bandmate Stephen Stills, Young performs “Long May You Run,” Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” and “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?” featuring Nelson himself.
2023 Five Dinger Death Punch bail on the first of a handful of shows as the support act on Metallica’s European trek. The band states that singer Ivan Moody’s recovery from hernia surgery injury “proved more challenging than initially thought.”
