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Today in rock history: on this date in 1963, Bob Dylan said no to television show host Ed Sullivan. Dylan was scheduled to appear on the popular weekly live performance show that would later help launch the careers in the States of both The Beatles and The Doors, The Ed Sullivan Show. Dylan, however, was not keen on being told which songs to perform. Bob planned on performing "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" which criticized the US military and segregation but the TV network felt like those topics were too controversial for prime time television and asked him to replace that song with another. "'No, this is what I want to do. If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show' Dylan replied and walked out after rehearsing for his appearance.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1975, Jefferson Starship treated their New York City fans to a free concert at Central Park. Over 60,000 fans showed up for the show but they left behind a hefty cleaning bill. The band and the local sponsors for the show, radio station WNEW-FM, were stuck paying a fee of over $15,000 for clean up and repair costs.
\\<\/iframe\>Today in rock history: on this date in 1967, one of the greatest debut albums of all time was released first in the UK and then later here in the States. Are You Experienced, the first album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was released to an unsuspecting world who would soon take note of the young masterful guitarist. His unique approach on guitar was complemented by a fantastic singing voice. Hendrix was all the rage around England with members of The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones singing his praises after witnessing his dynamic onstage presence around London area clubs at the time. The release of this superb album helped spread the word about the young phenom guitarist and the pair of ace musicians backing him, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. Featuring Hendrix classics like "Foxy Lady", "Fire" and "Red House", the album had slight variations in both cover artwork and track listings. The US version (released in August 1967) also included "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze". An absolute classic album that served as the introduction for this all too important rock figure to the music world.
