This Week In Rock History

Happy Tuesday everybody. Sorry for the late start to the morning but its looking like my work load is going to get pretty crazy here in the next few weeks so I'll try and keep this as up to date as possible. But I'm just giving my three readers a warning in advance. 

Anyways back to the good stuff. The music. This week is a pretty historic week in music history. Too many moments to just choose one... so here it goes.

January 21, 1968" Jimi Hendrix records "All Along the Watchtower"

Known now as the greatest cover in recorded history. Hendrix's take on the Bob Dylan classic was not an easy feat. It was recorded over several days at Olympic Studios in London and word is that the sessions were so long and intense that Hendrix's bassist, Noel Redding quit half way through. 

January 19, 1971: Prosecutors for the Sharon Tate murder trial play the Beatles' White Album in the courtroom to determine if it incited Charles Manson and his followers to violence

Manson prided himself as the leader of the murderous Manson Family cult in the late 1960s. He often told his followers that a race war was underway, and he displayed his proof in an unexpected form: The Beatles White Album. Manson claimed that the album had "spoke" to him, especially the raucous jam "Helter Skelter" and the harmonies of "Piggies". 

January 20, 1982: Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat during a concert

At the Des Moines concert, a bat was hurled at Ozzy Osbournes feet where it laid stunned by the bright stage lights. Ozzy thinking it was made of rubber, bit it head off (a move he had perfected with a dove during a record label meeting in 1981) and learned quickly that it was real. He was quickly rushed to the hospital and treated for rabies. 

He described in his memoir, I am Ozzy:

"Immediately, though, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start my mouth was instantly full of this warm gloopy liquid, with the worst aftertaste you could ever imagine. I could feel it staining my teeth and running down my chin. Then the head in my mouth twitched. Oh fuck me, I thought. I didn't just go and eat a fucking bat, did I". 

..and there it is your week in music history. Have a good day my friends.