NOV 14-20: Historic events from The Beatles, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Nirvana and Tom Petty
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NOVEMBER 15, 1969: PAUL IS DEAD THEORY
Two years after their release, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour returned to the Billboard charts.
With the great Paul Is Dead theory gathering momentum, people were buying the albums to scour the covers and lyrics for clues to “prove” the theory.
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NOVEMBER 17, 1994: BOB DYLAN’S UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE
Dylan’s MTV Unplugged appearance occurred over two nights at Sony Music Studios in New York.
With a setlist dominated by classic tracks, the only new song in the set was “Dignity”.
“Dignity”, an outtake from Oh Mercy (1989), was released on Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 3 two days before the the Unplugged shows.
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NOVEMBER 18, 1978: 52ND STREET IS #1
52nd Street contained two of Billy Joel’s biggest singles: “My Life” (#3) and “Big Shot” (#14).
The album would spend the rest of 1978 (seven consecutive weeks) at #1.
52nd Street would go on to sell 7 million copies in the US.
NOVEMBER 18, 1993: NIRVANA’S UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE
Nirvana’s performance on MTV’s Unplugged is one of the finest in the series.
The set was dominated by album tracks and lesser known covers, with the only Nirvana hit being “Come As You Are”.
The live album was released in November ’94, and earned the band their only Grammy: Best Alternative Music Performance
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NOVEMBER 19, 1994: DAVE GROHL & THE HEARTBREAKERS
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were without a drummer when they were booked for their 5th SNL appearance.
Heartbreakers drummer, Stan Lynch, had quit the band a month and a half earlier.
Petty tapped (former) Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl for the gig, and offered him a permanent job afterwards.
After careful consideration, they both agreed Grohl needed to focus his burgeoning talent on his own project, which would come to be known as Foo Fighters.
