“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by the massively popular grunge band Nirvana was released on September 10,
1991. This song was somewhat of an anthem for teenage angst and defined the entire genre of the 90’s.
Nirvana continues to be a widely popular band to this day and remain a favorite of guitar players.
BORN THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Otis Redding: September 9, 1941 (singer-songwriter, R&B)
Bruce Palmer: September 9, 1946 (bass, Buffalo Springfield)
John McFee: September 9, 1950 (guitar, The Doobie Brothers)
Michael Buble: September 9, 1975 (jazz vocalist)
Joe Perry: September 10, 1950 (guitarist, Aerosmith)
John Martyn: September 11, 1948 (singer-songwriter)
Tommy Shaw: September 11, 1953 (vocals and guitar, Styx)
Victor Wooten: September 11, 1964 (funk bassist)
Harry Connick Jr: September 11, 1967 (jazz vocalist)
Barry White: September 12, 1944 (singer-songwriter, R&B)
Neil Peart: September 12, 1952 (drums, Rush)
Steve Gaines: September 14, 1949 (guitar, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Paul Kossoff: September 14, 1950 (guitar, Free)
DIED THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Ernie Ball: September 9, 2004 (music entrepreneur)
Peter Tosh: September 11, 1987 (guitar and keyboard, Bob Marley and the Wailers)
Johnny Cash: September 12, 2003 (singer-songwriter)
Tupac Shakur: September 13, 1996
Rick Wright: September 15, 2008 (keyboards, Pink Floyd)
MUSIC RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS
Sam and Dave, “Soul Man” was released: September 9, 1967
John Lennon, Imagine was released: September 9, 1971
The Eagles, “Witchy Woman” was released: September 9, 1972
The Who’s LP Who Are You enters the charts: September 9, 1978
Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” is certified gold: September 10, 1975
Bob Dylan, Hard Rain was released: September 10, 1976
Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is released: September 10, 1991
The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” is certified gold: September 11, 1967
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here was released: September 12, 1975
Santana’s LP Santana hits #1: September 13, 1969
Bruce Springsteen’s LP Born To Run enters the charts: September 13, 1975
Big Brother and the Holding Company’s LP Cheap Thrills enters the charts: September 14, 1968
Eric Clapton’s “I Shot The Sheriff” hits #1: September 14, 1974
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Elvis makes his Ed Sullivan Show debut, playing his songs “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Love Me Tender”, and
“Ready Teddy” – September 9, 1956
Rod Stewart records his very first single, which was a cover of the Willie Dixon-penned tune “Good
Morning Little School Girl”. The cut featured future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on bass –
September 10, 1964
The BBC bans the song “Star Star” by The Rolling Stones. The song used a dirty phrase in the chorus. 12
times. – September 10, 1973
The band the New York Dolls break up: September 10, 1974
Bing Crosby invites David Bowie to make a very special appearance on his annual Christmas TV special.
He suggested that the pair sing a duet. Bowie agreed, and the two wound up filming an incredible
rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” mashed up with Bowie’s original composition “Peace on Earth” –
September 10, 1977
The Who play their first concert without Keith Moon, who died the previous year. To fill in, the band
gets ex-Faces drummer Kenny Jones. He eventually becomes Moon’s permanent replacement –
September 11, 1979
The practice of “Payola” is banned by the FCC. The controversial Payola practice involved the act of
paying DJ’s to play specific songs. This became a huge scandal involving such well-respected DJ’s as Dick
Clark and Alan Freed: September 13, 1960
Rolling Stone magazine reports that Pete Townshend of The Who is working on something called a “rock
opera”, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a musical utilizing rock music rather than classical or
traditional standard pop music. The topic of the rock opera was to be a boy who was dead, dumb and
blind but who excelled at the game of Pinball. This, of course, would turn into the legendary album and
show Tommy – September 14, 1968
Jim Morrison, who is supposed to perform with The Doors that night, collapses on stage during the
opening band’s set – that happened to be Jefferson Airplane, by the way. Morrison had been binge
drinking and smoking hashish for days when he collapsed. The Doors are forced to go onstage as a trio –
September 15, 1968
Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997,” rewritten and rerecorded with new lyrics paying tribute to the
recently-deceased Princess Di, sells a record 600,000 copies in one day in Britain alone. It would go on to
become the biggest-selling single of all time: September 15, 1997
