Today in Rock History... [05.22]

1914 -- Jazz visionary Sun Ra is born in Birmingham, Ala. The visionary part is that he said he came from Saturn. The reality is his name was Herman Sonny Blount.

1954 -- Bob Dylan, or rather Robert Zimmerman, celebrates his bar mitzvah. He was actually born on May 24.

1955 -- Cuddly pianist Fats Domino finds his concert in Bridgeport, Conn., has been canceled because police fear a rock 'n' roll riot.

1958 -- As Jerry Lee Lewis begins a British tour, accompanied by his fourteen-year-old wife (and third cousin), Myra -- a scandal erupts over his marriage , as well as his two prior divorces. Lewis is booed offstage, the tour is canceled after three shows, and he returns to the U.S. to find himself mired in controversy.

1966 -- Castilles record That's What You Get in New Jersey. It is never released. Nothing special, except the band included sixteen-year-old Bruce Springsteen.

1966 -- When a Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge) was a hit.

1971 -- The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers tops the American albums chart.

1974 -- A performance in Cambridge, Massachusetts, inspires music journalist Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll's future—and its name is Bruce Springsteen."


1980 -- Five Jimi Hendrix gold discs are stolen from Electric Ladyland studios in Los Angeles

1981 -- Bob Marley's funeral takes place in Jamaica

1999 -- New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena sells out of tickets for 15 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band shows there. The concerts set a record for number of shows during a single arena stay.

2000 -- Steely Dan receive the Founders Award for a lifetime of songwriting at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. "When you start getting awards, you start feeling old," groans Dan guitarist Walter Becker.

2005 -- Oasis top the UK singles chart with "Lyla."