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role The Beatles
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1963--The Beatles perform a night show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. They had traveled back to Liverpool from London in terrible conditions: the windshield of their van had shattered, and assistant road manager Mal Evans, the driver, had to drive back to Liverpool in bitterly cold weather, while The Beatles had to lay on top of one another in the back of the van to conserve warmth. They arrive at the Cavern Club just in time for their performance. Road manager, Neil Aspinall, was sick and had not made the trip down to London.

1964--The Beatles perform two shows at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, France. After the night’s final show, John Lennon and Paul McCartney concoct an inane song for Billy J. Kramer, One And One Is Two. John quips: “Billy J. is finished when he records this song.” Kramer agreed. He refused to record it.

1969--Release of Cream's farewell LP, Goodbye. On the album is the song Badge, which was co-written by Eric Clapton and George Harrison. The song's instrumental section is used again by Harrison for his song Here Comes the Sun. Harrison plays guitar on Badge, using the name L'Angelo Misterioso. Clapton will later play the song during his January 13, 1973, comeback concert at London's Rainbow Theatre. The song was named when Clapton misread a notation Harrison had made on the lyric sheet: it said "bridge," but Clapton read it as "badge." [Note: two sources, including Bill Harry's The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, state that Eric Clapton and George Harrison played Badge together on stage at the London Rainbow Theatre in 1971, but this appears to be an error. Also, there exists another version of how the song was named, that it was Ringo Starr who misread the notation and gave the song its name].

1969--The Beatles (with Billy Preston) in the recording studio (Apple Studios, London). They record ten takes of Get Back. The tape operator for this session is Alan Parsons.

1971--Richard Williams of The Times reviews the album All Things Must Pass. He said: “Of all The Beatles solo albums to date, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass makes far and away the best listening, perhaps because it is the one which most nearly continues the tradition they began eight years ago. Harrison’s light has been hidden under the egos of McCartney and Lennon. But from time to time there have been hints on several of their albums that he was more than he was being allowed to be.”

1973--Neil Young is handed a piece of paper while on stage in New York and reads out the message that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam. The audience goes crazy for ten minutes. Neil resumes the show and plays Southern Man.

1974--No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: You're Sixteen by Ringo Starr. Former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney sings a brief solo on the song.

1976--In New York, Judge Thomas Grisea declares a mistrial in the Morris Levy publishing rights case against John Lennon, when a lawyer shows the jury a copy of the 1968 Two Virgins album sleeve. The judge calls this “purely prejudicial” and demands that the case continue without a jury.

1984--UK release of the John Lennon / Yoko Ono LP Milk and Honey (Polydor). Songs: [John] I'm Stepping Out, I Don't Wanna Face It, Nobody Told Me, Borrowed Time, (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess, and Grow Old With Me; [Yoko] Sleepless Night, Don't Be Scared, O'Sanity, Your Hands, Let Me Count the Ways, and You're the One. Recorded during the Double Fantasy sessions.

1986--The members of the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are inducted during ceremonies at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. And the winners are: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Disc Jockey Alan Freed, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, and Elvis Presley. Julian and Sean Lennon present the award commemorating Elvis Presley's induction. They read a letter that John Lennon had written praising Elvis.

1989--US release of the Traveling Wilburys single/CD single/cassette End of the Line / Congratulations (Wilbury).

1989--UK re-release of The Beatles' singles on 3-inch CDs: I Want to Hold Your Hand / This Boy, Can't Buy Me Love / You Can't Do That (Parlophone).

2001--George Harrison's remastered All Things Must Pass CDs are released in the US.

2001--Beatles producer, George Martin, breaks ground on a new cultural and recording center on the Caribbean island of Monserrat.

For more day-by-day history go to HistoryUnlimited.net