This Date In Music History- October 20

Birthdays:

Jay Siegel of the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight") was born in 1939.

It's Snoop Dogg's birthday (1972).

Tom Petty ("Refugee")is 55.

Wanda Jackson ("Right Or Wrong") turns 71.

History:

Led Zeppelin’s concert documentary, ‘The Song Remains the Same,' premiered in New York in 1976.

In 1979,'The Long Run' (by the Eagles) began its yearlong run on the charts, including nine weeks at #1—one more week than Hotel California's reign at the top.

Bill Haley, Pat Boone and Elvis Presley all appeared together in concert at a Cleveland High School in 1955 (the concert was filmed for a documentary of Cleveland DJ Bill Randle but never released).

John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their "Wedding Album" LP in 1969 (with a photo of their own wedding cake and a copy of their marriage certificate included). Highlights included the cut "John and Yoko," in which the couple yell each other's name for 25 minutes.

The Rolling Stones had the number 1 song in the US in 1973 with "Angie.” It made #5 in the UK. It is often reported that the song was written about David Bowie's wife at the time, the former Angela Barnett, but many reliable sources say that the song is really about Anita Pallenberg, the long-time love of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

In 2005, Jazz vocalist and pianist Shirley Horn died of diabetes complications in Washington, D.C., aged 71. In a career lasting five decades, she worked with Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and Wynton Marsalis.

The Elvis Presley film "G.I. Blues" premiered in 1960.

In 1977, three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, his sister Cassie Gaines (one of three backing singers) and manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed in a plane crash en route from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The remaining members, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson were seriously injured, but all recovered. The band was finished for ten years, until the survivors invited Ronnie's younger brother Johnny to join them in a reunion concert in 1987.

The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" was released in 1962. It will become their second consecutive Billboard #1 hit.

"The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, reached the top of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in 1962. This novelty song, which was recorded in less than two hours, has become an annual favorite.

In 1969, The Who played the first of six nights at New York's Filmore East performing a two-hour show featuring the songs from 'Tommy.'

The Police made their US debut at C.B.G.B.S, New York in 1978. The trio had flown on low cost tickets with Laker Airtrain from the UK, carrying their instruments as hand luggage.

In 1960, Roy Orbison had his first UK No.1 single with 'Only The Lonely.' The song was turned down by The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, so Orbison decided to record the song himself.

US country singer, songwriter Merle Travis died at age 65 in 1983. Invented the first solid body electric guitar. Wrote 'Sixteen Tons' 1955 US No.1 for Ernie Ford.