Years later, Dylan would say Holly’s spirit was with him…..

On January 31, 1959

Seventeen-year-old Robert Zimmerman drove from Hibbing to the Duluth Armory to see Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform on this day in 1959. The youth soon to become Bob Dylan stood close, absorbing the music by another small-town boy playing the guitar and singing. Three days later, Holly was dead in a plane crash.
Years later, Dylan would say Holly‘s spirit was with him as he wrote songs for his album “Time Out of Mind.” “I was 3 feet away from him, and he looked at me,” Dylan said as he accepted a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1998. “I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way.”

 

Buddy Holly and the Crickets made an appearance on the Arthur Murray Dance Party on December 29, 1957

On the Rooftop

On January 30, 1969…

On the roof of their own Apple Studios in London, the Beatles gave their last public live performance. They performed “Get Back”, “Don’t Let Me Down”, “I’ve Got A Feeling”,  “One After 909”, and  “Dig A Pony”. They did more than one run through of several of the songs. The performance came to an abrupt end after 42 minutes when police shut it down. There were complaints from a nearby shop owner.

Watch it here:

A lot  of this session was commercially used  in the Let It Be film and on the Get Back (unissued) and Let It Be albums.

More details and a rather thorough run down of the event  here.

Jailhouse Rock!

“Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley became the first single to enter the UK pop chart at #1 on January 25, 1958.

It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was released as a 45 rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley’s motion picture, Jailhouse Rock.

“Jailhouse Rock, as sung by Elvis Presley is #67 on Rolling Stone‘s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time^[1]. It was also named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

B-side	“Treat Me Nice“
Released	September 24, 1957
Format	45 rpm single, 78 rpm single
Recorded	April 30 1957
Genre	Rock and roll
Writer(s)	Leiber/Stoller
Producer	Leiber/Stoller

Cafe Wha?

On January 24,1961, Bob Dylan performed in New York for the first time at Cafe Wha?. He played  a short set of Woody Guthrie songs. He then proceeded to ask audience for a place to spend the night.

Over the ensuing months, Zimmerman would become a staple of Café Wha? And Robert’s status as a folk legend would begin to build as the man originally known as Robert Zimmerman would be transformed into Bob Dylan (named after his idol, poet Dylan Thomas). Others would later follow in Dylan’s footsteps at Café Wha? as this small club began to be recognized as one of the top havens for musical talent during the 1960s.

Ramblin’ Round (Rare Minnesota Hotel Tape 1961) – Bob Dylan

A discussion on Dylan’s arival in NYC.