from the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this day: August 8
1960: Decca Records in England refuses to release Ray Peterson’s latest single, “Tell Laura I Love Her,” going so far as to throwing away 25,000 pressings of the teen-tragedy song, reason being they felt was “too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility.” A cover by Rick Valance proves them wrong by going straight to No. 1.
1969: Photographer Iain MacMillan shoots the cover for what would be the Beatles’ last recorded album, Abbey Road, just outside the studios where the band recorded most of their classic songs. The photo, which merely shows the band crossing the street while walking away from the studio, has become iconic in its own right, and provides “Paul is dead” enthusiasts with several erroneous “clues” to his “death,” speculation aroused noting Paul is seen barefooted in the photo. (Supposedly, to some, this shoe-less posturing by Paul represents death, but McCartney doused on the theorists by stating it was a hot day). The shoot, which lasts ten minutes, produces six shots, from which Paul picked the shot for the LP cover.
1970: At Philadelphia’s Mount Lawn Cemetery, Janis Joplin purchases a headstone for her idol, Bessie Smith, the famous African-American blues singer who died from injuries suffered in a 1937 car crash – after being refused in a all-whites only hospital. (Bessie’s widower refused to purchase a head stone for her).
1975: Hank Williams, Jr., falls 500 feet down Ajax Mountain near Missoula, MT, sustaining critical injuries exposing a part of his brain and keeping him in and out of hospitals for the next two years. The resultant facial scars would inspire his trademark look, “hat, beard, and shades.”
1983: Herold Melvin and three members of the Blue Notes are arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlanta City.
1986: David Crosby (The Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash fame) is released from prison after only serving only eight months of his original five-year sentence for cocaine and firearms possession.
2005: Two jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial tell NBC-TV’s Today that they have come to regret their ruling of “not guilty.”
Deaths: Cannonball Adderley; 1975.
Releases: ‘Revolver,’ (LP) Beatles; 1966. “Eleanor Rigby,” The Beatles; 1965. “Looking Out My Back Door,” Creedence Clearwater Revival; 1970.
Recording: “Blue Angel,” Roy Orbison; 1960. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “The End,” The Beatles; 1969.
Charts: 1953: “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You),” Les Paul and Mary Ford; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1960: “Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” Brian Hyland; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1970: ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,’ (LP) Blood, Sweat & Tears; hits No. 1 on the LP chart.
Certifications: 1974: ‘461 Ocean Boulevard,’ (LP) Eric Clapton; certified gold by the RIAA. 1974: “Feel Like Making Love,” Roberta Flack; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day… 
