History Highlight:

Today in 1968, The Band released their debut album Music From Big Pink. The music was composed partly in "Big Pink," a house shared by the Band's Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson in West Saugerties, N.Y. Many musicians have commented how Music From Big Pink profoundly affected their own writing style and career paths: Eric Clapton said it was the album that caused him to quit Cream and pursue the styles of Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos and his debut solo album; and Roger Waters has called it "the second most influential record in the history of rock and roll" after Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and that it "affected Pink Floyd deeply, deeply, deeply."

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis Presley appeared on NBC- TV's The Steve Allen Show and performed "Hound Dog" — to a live hound dog.

1963 - The Beatles taped "She Loves You" and "I'll Get You" at EMI Studios in London. The former would be released six weeks later, on Aug. 23, and become the group's first million-selling hit.

1975 - David Bowie began filming in rural Northern New Mexico in his first starring film role as The Man Who Fell To Earth.

2004 - Glen Campbell began serving 10 nights in jail along with two years of probation for a November 2003 drink-driving, hit-and-run collision. He was also sentenced to 75 hours of community service and was fined $900.

2005 - American R&B and soul singer-songwriter Luther Vandross died at the age of 54 at the JFK Medical Center in New Jersey, two years after suffering a major stroke.

2009 - The week after Michael Jackson's death, The King Of Pop dominated the Top 10 of Billboard's album chart. Collectively, Jackson's solo albums sold 415,000 copies for the week, 58 percent of which were digital downloads. The week before his death, Jackson's titles sold a combined 10,000 units.

Birthdays:

Debbie Harry of Blondie is 71.

Fred Schneider of the B-52's is 65.

Dan Aykroyd is 64.

Missy Elliott is 45.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.