Music History on April 17

1st Unofficial Gold Record

1912 1st unofficial gold record (Al Jolson's "Ragging The Baby To Sleep")

  • 1964 Albert Hague and Marty Brill's musical "Cafe Crown", starring Theodore Bikel, opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 3 performances

Fade Out-Fade In

1968 Betty Comden & Adolph Green and Jule Styne's musical "Fade Out-Fade In", featuring Carol Burnett, Dick Shawn, and Tina Louise, closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 271 performances

  • 1969 The Band (formerly The Hawks), perform their 1st concert, at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California

McCartney

1970 Paul McCartney releases his 1st solo album "McCartney"

  • 1977 Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's musical "I Love My Wife" opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 857 performances
  • 1979 Brian Clark's stage drama "Whose Life is it Anyway?" starring Tom Conti and Phillip Bosco, and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, opens at the Trafalgar Theatre, NYC; runs for 223 performances, winning Conti a Tony Award

Music History

1981 Carl Gottlieb's movie "Caveman", starring Ringo Starr, Shelley Long, Barbara Bach, Dennis Quaid, Jack Gilford, and John Matuszak premieres

Music History

1982 Country music legend Johnny Cash hosts Saturday Night Live, participates in skits, performs medley of hits; Elton John is additional musical guest

  • 1994 "Little More Magic" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 30 performances
  • 1994 "Twilight - Los Angeles 1992" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 72 performances

Music Concert

1999 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Don Henley, Ricky Martin and Charles Aznavour

Music Concert

2014 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, Bruno Mars, Jennifer Hudson, and Bryn Terfel

Music History

2015 American jazz composer and saxophonist John Coltrane is awarded a posthumous Special Citation by the Pulitzer Prize board

Homecoming

2019 Beyoncé releases a live album of her 2018 Coachella performance on the same day as her Netflix documentary "Homecoming"