December 13, 2000 – After former Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore delivers his concession speech to George W. Bush in Washington, D.C., he holds a party in his home with a performance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  It features guest appearances by Jon Bon Jovi and Stevie Wonder and others. Petty performs “I Won’t Back Down” with Jon … Continue reading CDJ Today: December 13 in Classic Rock →

November 10, 2002 – On the Simpsons episode “How I Spent My Strummer Vacation,” Homer spends a week at a Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp run by big name recording artists including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, and Brian Setzer.  The first rule of the camp: There are no rules! Second rule: No outside … Continue reading CDJ Today: November 10 in Classic Rock →

October 20, 1977 – It’s one of the saddest days in rock history as Lynyrd Skynyrd loses three of their band members when their plane crashes in a swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi.  Singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, his sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray … Continue reading CDJ Today: October 20 in Classic Rock →

October 19, 1979 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release their breakthrough album Damn the Torpedoes.  It goes on to sell two million copies in the U.S. October 19, 1977 – Lynyrd Skynyrd play their last show together in Greenville, South Carolina, prior to the plane crash that would kill three of their members. Nazareth is the opening act.  This was the … Continue reading CDJ Today: October 19 in Classic Rock →

October 18, 1974 – Al Green’s ex-girlfriend bursts into his bathroom and pours a pot of boiling grits in the tub, burning him badly, before going to the next room and killing herself with his gun. It leaves Green with severe burns that require months of hospitalization and also spurs him to focus his career on Gospel music and preaching … Continue reading CDJ Today: October 18 in Classic Rock →

Fleetwood Mac has added one last massive, blowout show to their world tour. The rock legends have announced that they will close out their year-long world tour with an epic final show at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on November 16. Tickets for the show are on sale now. The band’s current lineup, which … Continue reading Fleetwood Mac Adds Epic Final Show to World Tour →

September 7, 1968 – Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham make their live debut as Led Zeppelin (but are billed as The Yardbirds) at Gladsaxe Teen Club in a suburb on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Around 1,200 people attend the show. The band is later billed as “The New Yardbirds,” before choosing the … Continue reading CDJ Today: September 7 in Classic Rock →

This extraordinary film is a must see.  The trailer (you can watch it below) will immediately get you hooked. Laurel canyon, for those that don’t know, is a central thoroughfare that runs from the Sunset Strip up through the Hollywood Hills to Mulholland Drive and then down again, pouring out into the San Fernando Valley.  … Continue reading Echo In The Canyon – Mighty Big Echo! →

I was recently listening to my Tom Petty Mojo album, really digging it, and felt the need for more Tom Petty.  I was searching YouTube and came across a most incredible interview.  It’s not an interview really, just the meeting of two friends, Garry Shandling and Tom Petty.  It’s them just talking shop, but the … Continue reading Enjoying Tom Petty — More To Hear, More To Know! →

June 2, 1978 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers make their American television debut on The Midnight Special. June 2, 1989 – Bill Wyman (52) of the Rolling Stones secretly marries Mandy Smith (19). They had been dating since she was 13 and he was 47.  Just prior to the couple being divorced in 1993, things got even stranger when Wyman’s oldest … Continue reading CDJ Today: June 2 in Classic Rock →