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Hendrix, Beatles, Elvis memorabilia up for auction - A guitar burned onstage by Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles' first contract with Brian Epstein are up for sale Thursday, and auctioneers predict bidding could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. [ Read More ]

Paul McCartney looking for new place in NYC - Paul McCartney is looking for another New York City apartment. Sources say Paul, who has had a place on West 54th Street since the 1980s, which he last shared with Heather Mills, has been searching close to Nancy Shevell's residence. Says a real-estate insider, "I think he just wants to rid himself of the Heather factor." [ Read More ]

Bob Dylan brings a simplified, still-rich palette to Santa Monica - Dylan knows that music goes places that words can't, and that subtle shift in focus didn't make his Civic Center performance any less compelling. [ Read More ]

Today in Music History...
1997 - At this year's MTV Video Music Awards, Bruce Springsteen joins the Wallflowers onstage to sing "One Headlight."

1996 - In London, Cat Stevens has his first autograph-signing session since converting to Islam in 1977. Too bad he's only signing copies of The Life of the Last Prophet, a spoken-word album praising Allah.

1993 - Paula Abdul hosts an AIDS awareness television special, In a New Light '93.

1986 - Gregg Allman is arrested on charges of drunk driving in Florida. He had only recently gotten his license back after a five-year suspension.

1980 - Yes sell out three nights at New York's Madison Square Garden. This edition of the band boasts Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, but no Jon Anderson.

1978 - The Grateful Dead's Labor Day concert at New Jersey's Giants Stadium attracts 66,000 people.

1976 - Abba - in what will become a very frequent achievement - top the British singles chart with "Dancing Queen."

1971 - The New York Times reports that Sly Stone is being sued by his landlord because he has attracted "loud, noisy, boisterous persons." Paul McCartney tops the singles chart with "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey."

1970 - George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord." The song becomes his first solo No. 1 single, but in 1976, it's declared that he subconsciously plagiarized the Chiffons' "He's So Fine." The Rolling Stones release their definitive live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. Altogether now, "Charlie's good tonight, innee?"

1969 - If you tuned into The Tonight Show to see the Youngbloods ("Get Together"), you'd be disappointed. Johnny Carson says, "They complained about the set, the lighting, the sound, the show - everything. So we wiped their noses, told them they'd been in show business a day and a half, and sent them home."

1968 - The Rolling Stones' latest single, "Street Fighting Man," is banned in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention is being held, because of its political content.

1966 - No. 1 on the pop chart are the Supremes with "You Can't Hurry Love."

1965 - Now that's what I call a chart: Today at No. 1 are the Beatles with "Help!" No. 2 is Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." At No. 8 is James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"; at No. 16 is Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Tracks of My Tears"; and at No. 21 is Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour." Class. The Rolling Stones play a concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before flying early the next day to Los Angeles so they can record "Get Off of My Cloud." The Who stop by London's Battersea Dog's Home to buy a guard dog. When they come out, the quartet discover that their equipment van has been stolen.

1962 - The Beatles convene at EMI's Abbey Road Studio to record with producer George Martin for the first time. Things get off to a bad start when Martin tries to force them to learn Mitch Murray's song "How Do You Do It." When they say they have material just as good, he makes them play "Love Me Do" 16 times. They finally succeed in recording that and five other songs, including "P.S. I Love You."

1959 - Bobby Darin is riding high with "Mack the Knife." But not in New York, where WCBS bans the song following the fatal stabbing of two teenagers by 17-year-old Salvador Agron. The crime later inspired Paul Simon's ill-fated musical The Capeman.

1957 - Baltimore's WJZ-TV premieres The Buddy Deane Show, later to be satirized in the John Waters film Hairspray. Deane's music program became so popular that when he invites the audience to call in to speak to one of his celebrity guests, the incoming calls nearly bring down the Baltimore phone system.

1951 - Martin Chambers, the original drummer with the Pretenders, is born in Hereford, England.

1946 - Quicksilver Messenger Service see two members born today. In San Diego, it's guitarist Gary Duncan. At the Coronado Naval Air Station in California, it's drummer Greg Elmore.

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Beatles' LOVE documentary to open film festival in Montreal - A film about the making of Cirque du Soleil's Beatles LOVE show opens the Focus section of the 37th Festival du nouveau cinéma, Oct. 8 to 19. All Together Now melds archival footage and interviews with the remaining Beatles, their wives, George and Gilles Martin to trace the evolution of the landmark Las Vegas production. [ Read More ]

Springsteen ends world tour at Harley celebration - Bruce Springsteen ends world tour in Milwaukee, politically toned down but revved up. [ Read More ]

Today in Music History...
2003 - The Rolling Stones celebrate a year of being on the road promoting their 40 Licks compilation with a gig in Glasgow, Scotland.

1992 - David Bowie becomes the first person in four years to appear on the cover of Architectural Digest.

1976 - The Grateful Dead, the Marshall Tucker Band, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage play before a crowd of 110,000 in Old Bridge, N.J.

1970 - According to Rolling Stone Bob Dylan's "Great White Wonder" bootleg has sold more than 350,000 copies. Canned Heat guitarist Alan Wilson dies in mysterious circumstances in Topanga Canyon, Calif. The Dave Clark Five are now just Dave Clark. The band breaks up today, according to Rolling Stone, having scored eight top 10 hits, including "Bits and Pieces." In divorce proceedings between Marianne Faithfull and her husband, John Dunbar, Mick Jagger is cited as a reason for their marriage's deterioration.

1967 - The Anni-Frid Four, featuring future Abba singer Anni-Frid Lynstad, win a talent contest on the Swedish TV show Hyland's Corner, performing their single "A Day Off." She's later signed to EMI.

1966 - At No. 1 today is Donovan with "Sunshine Superman." The Four Tops enter the singles chart with "Reach Out I'll Be There." The song eventually becomes their second chart-topper.

1955 - Although Bill Haley & the Comets quickly became one of the biggest acts in the U.S. with "Rock Around the Clock," they were terrified of flying. So the band turns down $2,000 to tour Australia.

1948 - Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer is born in Flint, Mich.

1942 - Beach Boy Al Jardine is born rather far from the surf in Lima, Ohio.

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Rock Hall will honor music innovator Les Paul - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will pay tribute to the "father of the electric guitar" this fall. [ Read More ]

Singer-actor Jerry Reed dies at the age of 71 - Jerry Reed, a singer who appeared in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, has died of complications from emphysema at age 71, his longtime booking agent said Tuesday. [ Read More ]

British museum buys Rolling Stones' lips artwork - Mick Jagger's pout is officially fit for a museum. [ Read More ]

Neil Young adds dates, looks toward Bridge School benefit - Neil Young has added a few dates to his upcoming fall tour, and has apparently has settled on dates for his annual Bridge School Benefit show in Northern California. [ Read More ]

Paul's new love song to Nancy - According to the Daily Express, Paul McCartney has composed a song for Nancy Shevell, who he has been seeing since last year. A source said, "Paul has written a song about his relationship with Nancy, which is expected to be on his new album next year. The title isn't known yet but it's obviously going to be pretty romantic." [ Read More ]

Brian Wilson opens up about life, lyrics on new CD - Brian Wilson's new homage to the 60's starts with an even earlier touchstone. "I always liked that song," he says of That Lucky Old Sun, first popularized in 1949 by Frankie Laine. "A couple of years ago, I went to the record store, got Louis Armstrong's version, brought it home and learned it. I rearranged it and taught it to my band." [ Read More ]

Today in Music History...
1993 - At the MTV Video Music Awards, Neil Young joins Pearl Jam to perform "Rockin' in the Free World."

1989 - The Cars' Ric Ocasek marries supermodel Paulina Porizkova as guys everywhere ask, "Why?"

1988 - The Amnesty International Human Rights Now tour kicks off in London's Wembley Stadium, starring Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman.

1978 - George Harrison marries Olivia Trinidad Arias, a secretary with his Dark Horse record label. Teddy Pendergrass illustrates how smooth he is by holding a "Ladies Only" concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. The lover man makes sure everyone in the audience gets a white chocolate lollipop shaped like a teddy bear.

1975 - It isn't easy trying to turn a ticketed festival into a free one. Some 500 ticketless fans hoping to see Jefferson Starship and the Doobie Brothers storm the gates of Syracuse, N.Y.'s Great American Music Fair. Rocks and bottles are thrown, and 60 people are eventually arrested.

1972 - Gilbert O'Sullivan is still at No. 1 with "Alone Again (Naturally)," but at No. 2 are the Hollies with "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)."

1971 - The Rolling Stones are reported to be suing their former managers Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton. The band accuses the pair of withholding royalties from it during its time on the Decca record label. Former Grateful Dead manager Lenny Hart is arrested and charged with embezzling $70,000 from the band. The same day, the band release their second live album, titled Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead changed the title after the record company refused to release something called Starf*ck.

1970 - Genesis run an advertisement for a drummer in the English magazine Melody Maker. Former child actor-turned-skins beater Phil Collins answers and convinces the band to hire him by revealing that he played bongos on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass.

1965 - The Rolling Stones appear on British TV's Ready Steady Go! Mick Jagger and Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham perform a skit in which they duet on Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe." The Beatles release "Yesterday." The Paul McCartney song becomes one of the world's most-played records. That evening the band plays the Cow Palace in Daly City, Calif., enduring the usual audience bum rush at the stage.

1943 - Rosalyn Ashford, best known as one of the Vandellas behind Martha Reeves, is born in Detroit.

1940 - Teen idol Jimmy Clanton ("Just a Dream") is born in Baton Rouge, La.

1939 - Bobby Purify of the soul duo James & Bobby Purify ("I'm Your Puppet") is born in Tallahassee, Fla., some five years before his younger brother.