Historic events this week from Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan and Meat Loaf

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OCTOBER 15, 1973: NEIL YOUNG RELEASES TIME FADES AWAY
The critically acclaimed and widely-bootlegged album consisted of previously unreleased songs.

Young calls it his worst album due to an uncomfortable tour plagued by illness, a band member quitting mid-tour, and dealing with the death of guitarist and friend, Danny Whitten.

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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.

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OCTOBER 16, 2020: THE MASSIVE WILDFLOWERS REISSUE
The long-rumored reissue of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers arrived 26 years after the album’s initial release.

A couple tracks were used for the She’s the One soundtrack in 1996, and the previously unreleased “There Goes Angela” and “Leave Virginia Alone” were issued ahead of Wildflowers being reissued.

The massive Wildflowers & All the Rest is available in 2CD, 4CD, 5CD, 3LP and a staggering 9LP Ultra Deluxe Limited Edition.

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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.

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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.