Birthday Highlight

Al Green is 74 today. Born in Forrest City, Ark., Green is best known for recording a string of soul hits in the early 1970s, including "Tired of Being Alone", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together", which was a No. 1 single in 1972. Al Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, where he is described as "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music."

Also, Today In:

1965 - The Beatles recorded the song "Help!" during an evening recording session at Abbey Road in London.

1966 - The Beatles win their first Grammy Awards, taking Best New Artist and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for "A Hard Day's Night". Record of the Year went to The Girl From Ipanema by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.

1968 - Bobby Goldsboro started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Honey."

1971 - The Rolling Stones released Brown Sugar, the first record on their own label, Rolling Stones Records, which introduced the iconic licking-tongue-and-lips logo.

1974 - Elton John went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Bennie And The Jets", his second U.S. No. 1.

1974 - Paul McCartney's Band On The Run went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. It was McCartney's third U.S. No. 1, and it went on to sell more than 6 million copies worldwide.

1985 - USA for Africa started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "We Are The World."

1993 - The first "Aerosmith Day" was observed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

2004 - Pixies returned to the stage after 12 years with a 27-song set at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis.

2009 - A jury finds the now 69-year-old Phil Spector guilty of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of the actress Lana Clarkson.

2012 - Five of Tom Petty's guitars were stolen from a soundstage in Culver City, Calif., where Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, were rehearsing for an upcoming tour. The stolen gear included a 1967 Blonde Rickenbacker, a 1967 Epiphone Sheridan, a 1965 Gibson SG TV Jr., a Fender Broadcaster and a Dusenberg Mike Campbell Model, which belonged to Campbell himself. Petty was offering a "no questions asked" reward bounty of $7,500 to anyone with information leading to the guitars' recovery. The instruments were recovered four days later, and a private security guard was arrested in connection with the theft.

2019 - English keyboardist and guitarist Paul Raymond died at age 73. He joined Plastic Penny in the early 60s as their keyboardist, vocalist, and replaced Christine McVie in British blues band Chicken Shack. He first joined UFO in 1976 and played with the band during four different stints, he was a regular in the UFO lineup since 2003. Raymond had also worked with Michael Schenker in MSG.

Birthdays:

Max Weinberg, the drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, is 69.

Blondie keyboardist and songwriter Jimmy Destri is 66.

Original Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak was born today in 1962.

Marc Ford of The Black Crowes is 54.

Lou Bega 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.