Historic events this week from Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Lennon, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits and The Beatles.
AUGUST 27, 1990: STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN DIES
SRV boarded a helicopter after an Alpine Valley show of classic songs including “Tightrope”, “Pride and Joy” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
Limited visibility, due to fog, resulted in the helicopter crashing shortly after takeoff.
He was 35.
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AUGUST 27, 1992: LENNON’S LYRICS FETCH $100,000
In 1986, the estate of Mal Evans, asst. to the Beatles, discovered John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics among Evans’ personal diaries.
Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for “A Day in the Life” sold at auction for $100,000 in 1992.
The lyrics found their way to the auction block again in 2010 where an anonymous buyer paid $1,200,000.
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AUGUST 30, 1992: NIRVANA HEADLINES READING FESTIVAL
Nirvana headlined Reading Festival in front of 50,000 fans.
The legendary performance would be widely bootlegged until its eventual release on CD/DVD 17 years later.
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AUGUST 31, 1973: ROLLING STONES RELEASE GOATS HEAD SOUP
The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup continued their streak of US #1 albums by spending 4 weeks at the top.
The album’s biggest single, “Angie”, would spend a week at #1 in October. The single would go on to sell a million copies alone.
With 3 million sold in the US, Goats Head Soup was their biggest selling album until Some Girls was released in 1978.
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AUGUST 31, 1985: DIRE STRAITS’ BROTHERS IN ARMS IS #1
Dire Straits’ penultimate studio album, Brothers in Arms, spent nine weeks at #1.
Brothers in Arms has sold 30 million copies worldwide thanks to strong singles like “So Far Away”, Walk of Life” and the Grammy-winning #1 hit “Money for Nothing.”
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SEPTEMBER 3, 1968: RINGO RETURNS TO THE BEATLES
During tense “White Album” sessions, Ringo quit the band after McCartney was too critical of his drumming on “Back in the USSR.”
During his absence, the Beatles would record and complete “Back in the USSR” and “Dear Prudence.”
After receiving a telegram from the band pleading for him to return, Ringo arrived at the studio to find flowers on his drum kit.
