AUG 29 – SEP 4: Historic events this week from The Beatles, Nirvana and The Rolling Stones
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AUGUST 29, 1966: THE BEATLES\’ FINAL PAID PERFORMANCE
The Beatles performed their last paid concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
They played 11 songs in 30 minutes.
The average ticket price was $5.50.
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AUGUST 30, 1992: NIRVANA HEADLINES READING FESTIVAL
Nirvana headlined Reading Festival in front of 50,000 fans.
The legendary performance would be widely bootlegged until its eventual release on CD/DVD 17 years later.
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AUGUST 31, 1973: ROLLING STONES RELEASE GOATS HEAD SOUP
The Rolling Stones\’ Goats Head Soup continued their streak of US #1 albums by spending 4 weeks at the top.
The album\’s biggest single, \”Angie\”, would spend a week at #1 in October. The single would go on to sell a million copies alone.
With 3 million sold in the US, Goats Head Soup was their biggest selling album until Some Girls was released in 1978.
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SEPTEMBER 4, 1968: RINGO RETURNS TO THE BEATLES
During tense \”White Album\” sessions, Ringo quit the band after McCartney was too critical of his drumming on \”Back in the USSR\”.
During his absence, the Beatles would record and complete \”Back in the USSR\” and \”Dear Prudence\”.
After receiving a telegram from the band pleading for him to return, Ringo arrived at the studio to find flowers on his drum kit.
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SEPTEMBER 4, 1968: \”STREET FIGHTING MAN\” IS BANNED
The Stones classic was released shortly before the violent confrontation in Chicago between police and anti-war demonstrators.
Fearing \”Street Fighting Man\” would encourage further violence, Chicago radio stations banned the song from their playlists.
\”I\’m rather pleased to hear they have banned (the song), as long as it\’s still available in the shops. The last time they banned one of our records in America, it sold a million.\”
— Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Off the Record
