1972

The Duke Ellington Orchestra plays at The Rainbow Grill, New York City, USA.

Arthur Lee 'Red' Smiley of Reno and Smiley dies aged 46 as a result of diabetes.

David Crosby is recording tracks for his solo debut album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California.

Pink Floyd spend the second of three days rehearsing a new suite of music which will become their album Dark Side Of The Moon, at The Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London, UK.

Traffic play at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, supported by Mother Earth and J.J.Cale.

Black Sabbath play at the Town Hall, Oxford, UK, supported by Wild Turkey.

Black Sabbath play at the Market Hall, Carlisle, UK, supported by Wild Turkey.

Hawkwind, Man, Brinsley Schwarz and Magic Michael play in the Greasy Truckers’ Party at the Roundhouse, London, UK. During the gig, Hawkwind record the track Silver Machine, which will become their biggest hit single.

Cat Mother and The All-Night Newsboys play at The Corn Exchange, Devizes, supported by Jimmy and Vella.

Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn Jr. is born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He will find success, and provoke considerable controversy, as rapper Common.

At the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in The Felt Forum, New York City, USA, Carole King wins Record Of The Year for It’s Too Late, Song Of The Year for You’ve Got A Friend, Album of The Year for Tapestry, plus Best Female Vocal Performance. Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers is Best R’n’B Song. James Taylor scoops the Best Pop Vocal Grammy. The Beatles are given a NARAS Trustee Award in recognition of their ‘outstanding talent, originality and music creativity’.

Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band play in The Bataclan, Paris, France, Europe.

Tony Christie releases a new single, Don't Go to Reno, in the UK.

Marc Bolan appears on the London Weekend Television tv series Music In The Round, filmed at The Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, London, UK.

Little Bitty Pretty One by The Jackson 5, including Michael Jackson, enters both the Billboard US Pop Singles and Black Singles charts simultaneously. It will peak at No13 in the Pop chart and No8 in the Black chart.

A highlight of the last day of the Great Western Express Festival near Lincoln, England, UK, Europe, is the first major performance by Roxy Music. Deejay for the event is John Peel, and other acts appearing today include Jackson Heights, Vinegar Joe, Genesis, The Sutherland Brothers, Atomic Rooster, Status Quo, Don McLean, Legs Larry Smith with Mimms and Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Sha Na Na, Humble Pie, Joe Cocker, Curtiss Maldoon and Jade Warrior.

Michael Jackson's third solo single, I Wanna be Where You Are, on Motown Records, enters the Billboard Top 40 singles chart in the USA, where it will peak at No16, during a nine-week run.

Led Zeppelin play to a capacity crowd of 16,000 on the first of two nights at Nassau County Coliseum, Uniondale, New York State.

Led Zeppelin play at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

Acker Bilk plays in an NSPCC Charity fund-raising concert at The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.

Country Joe McDonald plays the last of six nights at The Boarding House, San Francisco, California, USA.

David Cassidy plays the second of two nights at The Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane play in the Schaefer Music Festival at Wollman Skating Rink, Central Park, New York City, USA, supported by Bette Midler.

Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Peter Fampton and others spend the second of two days filming for a comedy-horror movie called Count Downe, at Surrey Docks, London. For this day's shoot, Keith Moon of The Who has been replaced by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.

The Jackson 5, including Michael Jackson, play at the Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, Missouri.

Black Sabbath play at Minneapolis Armory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, supported by Gentle Giant.

The hit single Backstabbers by The O'Jays is awarded a Gold Disc in the USA by the R.I.A.A.

David Bowie releases a new album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, in the USA.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer (E.L.P.) are awarded a US gold disc by the R.I.A.A. for the album Trilogy.

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin is born in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. He will find success as producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri.

Swedish pop group Bjorn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid record Contemplation for Polar Music. The track is never used but the quartet will eventually find fame as Abba.

The Temptations release a new single, Papa Was A Rollin' Stone, on Gordy Records in the USA. On the same day, David Bowie has a sell-out at his first show in Carnegie Hall, New York City, USA.

Duke Ellington plays at a private party in the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel, Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio.

Bukka White, Big Joe Williams, Big Mama Thornton, Robert Pete Williams, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, Johnny Young, W.D.Kent, Billy Davenport, T-bone Walker, Jimmy Rogers, Lightnin' Slim, Whispering Smith and The Jimmy Dawkins Chicago Blues Band play in the American Folk Blues Festival '72 at The Circus-Krone-Bau, Munich, Germany, Europe.

It is reported in Rolling Stone magazine that Sly Stone, of San Francisco band Sly And The Family Stone, has signed a lucrative new recording contract with Columbia Records.

Carl Terrell Mitchell is born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He will find success as rapper Twista, and will secure the Guinness World Records title of fastest rapper in 1992, being able to pronounce 11.2 syllables per second.

Led Zeppelin play at The Dome, Brighton, UK.

Led Zeppelin play the second of two nights at Alexandra Palace, London, England, UK, Europe.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk plays at The Village Vanguard, Greenwich Village, New York City, USA.

Joni Mitchell scores her first chart entry when You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio enters the Billbaord Hot 100 Singles Chart in the USA, where it will peak at No25 during an eight-week run. The song features Graham Nash playing harmonica.