Today in Rock and Roll History

2012 - Booker T and the MG's
Donald Dunn, bassist with Booker T and the MG's died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. Booker T and the MG's scored the 1962 US No.3 single 'Green Onions', and the 1969 UK No.4 single 'Time Is Tight'.

May 13, 1977 Epic Records release.

2015 - B.B. King
Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist B.B. King died in his sleep aged 89 from a series of small strokes caused by type 2 diabetes. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time, Rolling Stone magazine placed him behind only Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

1971 - Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Crosby Stills Nash & Young scored their second US No.1 album with 4 Way Street. The live album featured recordings from shows at The Fillmore East, New York, and The Forum, Los Angeles.

1976 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the US album chart with Black And Blue, the group's sixth US No.1 album. The band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor featured the hit 'Fool To Cry'.

45 years of Ronnie being a Stone.

2020 - Phil May
Phil May, the frontman of The Pretty Things, died aged 75 after suffering complications from emergency hip surgery. The Pretty Things were cited as an influence by a wide range of artists from David Bowie to Jimi Hendrix to Kasabian.

1966 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's iconic Blonde On Blonde album was released, reaching No.9 in the US charts and No.3 in the UK. Rock's first double album, and Dylan's seventh studio effort, it was recorded with Al Kooper, Robbie Robertson and Nashville country music session players, and had what Dylan later called ‘that wild mercury sound’.

1996 - Johnny Guitar Watson
US blues guitarist Johnny Guitar Watson died of a heart attack while on tour in Yokohama, Japan. According to eyewitness reports, he collapsed mid guitar solo. His last words were "ain't that a bitch." His ferocious 'Space Guitar' single of 1954 pioneered guitar feedback and reverb.

2016 - Guy Clark
American Texas country and folk singer, songwriter Guy Clark died in Nashville following a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett and many other artists.

1966 - Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson
During his 1966 world tour, Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson from The Band were filmed singing several songs in a hotel room in Glasgow, Scotland, the footage turning up in the film Eat The Document. The film was originally commissioned for the ABC television series Stage '66, but after Dylan edited the film himself ABC rejected it as 'incomprehensible for a mainstream audience'.

2017 - The Killers
It was announced that The Killers' 'Mr Brightside' was the most-streamed song released before 2010 in the UK. The 2004 single was streamed 26 million times last year, beating any other song released before 2010, according to music industry body the BPI.

1973 - Paul Simon
Paul Simon released the single 'Kodachrome' named after the Kodak 35mm film Kodachrome which became a No.2 hit in the US. It was not released as a single in Britain, because the BBC would not play the trademarked name.

1978 - Dire Straits
Dire Straits released their first major label single 'Sultans Of Swing', recorded on a £120 budget. The song was first recorded as a demo at Pathway Studios, North London, in July 1977, and quickly acquired a following after it was put on rotation at Radio London.

1969 - Peter Cetera
While watching a baseball game in Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Peter Cetera of Chicago was set upon by four Marines (because they didn't like the length of his hair). They broke his jaw, resulting in the singer spending two days in intensive care.

May 21st
1955 - Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry recorded 'Maybellene' at Universal Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois. The song adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune 'Ida Red' is said to be one of the first rock and roll songs. The track became Berry's debut single release in July of this year where it peaked at No.5 on the US chart.

1970 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the protest single Ohio, written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, when unarmed college students were shot by the Ohio National Guard. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

1971 - Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye released his eleventh studio album What's Going On. The concept album consisting of nine songs tells the story from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing only hatred, suffering, and injustice. What's Going On is regarded as one of the landmark recordings in pop music history, and one of the greatest albums of the 20th century.

1983 - David Bowie
David Bowie went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Let's Dance', featuring blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was Bowie's first single to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic. The music video was made by David Mallet on location in Australia including a bar in Carinda in New South Wales, featured Bowie playing with his band while impassively watching an Aboriginal couple’s struggles against metaphors of Western cultural imperialism.

May 24th
1963 - Elmore James
US blues guitarist and singer Elmore James died of a heart attack aged 45. James wrote 'Shake Your Money Maker', which was covered by Fleetwood Mac in 1968. Known as "The King of the Slide Guitar", James influenced Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Keith Richards.

1970 - Peter Green
Guitarist and founding member Peter Green played his last gig with Fleetwood Mac when they appeared at the Bath Festival, Somerset, England.

I couldn't find a FM clip from that show, but here is Peter with a few of his friends. Dates are wonky.