This Date In Music History- April 23

In 1949, "Tell Me So," by the Orioles, entered the R&B chart. It will be their second #1 hit in less than a year.

'Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie Together in Concert,' a live collaboration between two generations of folk-music legends, was released in 1975. It will be followed by another, 'Precious Friends,' in 1982.

The late Roy Orbison ("Oh, Pretty Woman") was born in 1936. His haunting voice has graced some of the most extraordinary songs of the rock era, including the 1961 No. 1 "Running Scared."

The late Ray Peterson ("Tell Laura I Love Her") was born in 1935.

Peter Ham of Badfinger ("Baby Blue") committed suicide in London in 1975. He wrote the classic song "Without You" with 'finger bassist Tom Evans. Evans also took his life after becoming frustrated with his career.

Cass Elliot collapses before a scheduled performance on NBC-TV's "Tonight Show", 1974

In 1956, Elvis Presley, accompanied by Bill Black and Scotty Moore, made his Las Vegas debut at the New Frontier Hotel when he opened for the Freddie Martin Orchestra and comedian Shecky Greene. Despite having "Heartbreak Hotel" at the top of the charts, Elvis was not well-received by the middle-aged audience. Management of the Frontier was so unimpressed, they gave Elvis his walking papers after one week of a two-week engagement. Presley wouldn't play Las Vegas again for almost 13 years.

Jan & Dean recorded their No. 1 "Surf City" in 1963. Brian Wilson appears on backing vocals.

Bruce Springsteen defends the beleaguered Dixie Chicks in 2003, who suffered a backlash after criticizing George W. Bush. In a statement, he declared, "To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech. For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American."

Harold Arlen died at age 81 in 1986. The pianist wrote pop standards like "Get Happy," and "Stormy Weather" with lyricist Ted Koehler. He also penned the song "Over the Rainbow."

A song called "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles was released in America on the Decca label in 1962. It was the first commercial release anywhere in the world to carry The Beatles name. John Lennon would later say "It's just Tony Sheridan singing with us banging in the background. They're flogging it, but I wish they'd just shut up! It's terrible! It could be anybody." The mono 45 failed to chart on Billboard or Cashbox.

In 1960, in Caversham, England, a very young John Lennon and Paul McCartney performed together as the Nerk Twins.

In 1995, the Sunday Times of London reported that a Liverpool man, Peter Hodgson, had found a tape in his attic containing 16 of The Beatles' earliest recordings made in 1959. The session included "Hello Little Girl", a Lennon-McCartney composition that the Beatles never recorded commercially and Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So". The tape had been made on a reel-to-reel recorder that Hodgson's father had lent to Paul McCartney.