October 12 Rock And Roll History

We've got great rock history facts (and a featured song video) right here!

On this day in 1962, The Beatles opened for one of their idols, Little Richard, in New Brighton Towne in Liverpool. They were still a relatively unknown group at this time. 

In 1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their first major concert in Paris, France. There were 14,500 people in the audience. The British press referred to Hendrix as "The Wild Man of Pop.”

In 1968, Big Brother and the Holding Company's "Cheap Thrills" went to #1 on the Billboard album chart. Selling over a million copies, it was the most successful album of the year. It was preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2013, having been called "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In 1979, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull suffers a minor injury during a concert at Madison Square Garden. An audience member threw a rose in his direction, and one of the thorns pierced his eye. Two dates were canceled before the band was able to continue performing.

Also in 1979, Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk," was released. The album cost over $1 million to record. The double LP reached #4 in the U.S. and sold over two million copies. There were two top 10 singles off the album: "Sara" and "Tusk." It did a little better in the U.K., reaching #1 and going platinum.

In 1994, Pink Floyd played the first of a 15 nights at Earls Court in London. Less than a minute after the band started playing, a scaffolding stand holding 1,200 fans collapsed and hundreds of people came tumbling 20 feet to the ground. It took over an hour to free everyone from the scaffolding. 96 people were injured, 36 of which had to be taken to the hospital. Some were treated for injuries to their backs, necks, and ribs. The band sent an apology note and free T-shirt to everyone who had been sitting in the faulty stand.

In 1996 on this day, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a documentary about the band, was released. It had been filmed in December of 1968, but wasn't released until almost 28 years later due to the fact that the Stones felt that they had been overshadowed by the Who.

And in 1997, John Denver's small, handmade airplane ran out of gas and crashed near Monterey Bay, CA, killing the 53-year-old artist.