Historic events this week from Meat Loaf, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR and Jimi Hendrix
OCTOBER 16, 1968: ELECTRIC LADYLAND
The third and final album released in his lifetime, the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Electric Ladyland arrived when he was only 25 years old.
Spending two weeks at #1 in the US, Electric Ladyland features “Crosstown Traffic”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and the incendiary cover of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”.
In Rolling Stone’s 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Electric Ladyland was #53.
OCTOBER 16, 1972: CCR BREAKS UP
After a mere 5 years and 7 consecutive gold albums, CCR disbanded.
Infighting within the group caused Tom Fogerty to leave in 1970. John Fogerty disbanded the group 2 years later.
OCTOBER 17, 1977: LYNYRD SKYNYRD RELEASE STREET SURVIVORS
Street Survivors was an exciting step forward with the addition of guitarist Steve Gaines.
Tragically, the band’s infamous plane crash took the lives of Gaines and singer Ronnie Van Zant 3 days after the album’s release.
The album sold 500,000 copies in its first ten days.
OCTOBER 18, 1969: ROD STEWART JOINS THE FACES
After the Small Faces disbanded in 1969; Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones carried on as The Faces.
They added Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on guitar, and quickly got to work on their debut album, First Step.
The Small Faces & The Faces were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 2021, the three surviving original members (Kenney Jones, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart) reunited and have begun working on a new album.
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OCTOBER 20, 1979: DYLAN’S ONLY SNL APPEARANCE
In Saturday Night Live‘s history, Bob Dylan has been a musical guest only once.
He appeared on the program to promote his 19th studio album, Slow Train Coming.
He performed “When You Gonna Wake Up”, “I Believe in You”, and the Grammy-winning “Gotta Serve Somebody”.
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OCTOBER 21, 1977: MEAT LOAF’S BAT OUT OF HELL
Meat Loaf’s Todd Rundgren-produced debut album has sold 43 million worldwide thanks to top 40 hits “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”
After Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Bat Out of Hell is the 3rd longest charting studio album in the UK, having spent 522 total weeks on the UK charts.
OCTOBER 22, 1969: LED ZEPPELIN II
Led Zeppelin released their first two albums in 1969.
Their 12x Platinum sophomore album contained the classics “Whole Lotta Love”, “Heartbreaker” and “What Is and What Should Never Be”.
