Historic events this week from Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rod Stewart and more
OCTOBER 13, 2016: BOB DYLAN WINS NOBEL PRIZE
Bob Dylan made history by becoming the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize for Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
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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, 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.
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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 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 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.
