History Highlight:

Today in 1969, The Beatles recorded the basic track and John Lennon's vocal of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" at Trident Studios in London. The song closes side one on the Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. It's an unusual Beatles composition because of its length (nearly eight minutes), few lyrics (the title makes up most of the lyrics, aside from two more phrases; only 14 different words are sung), a three-minute descent through repeated guitar chords, and abrupt ending. It is one of the last songs that the Beatles mixed as a group.

Also, Today In:

1962 - Elvis Presley was at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Rock-A- Hula Baby / Can't Help Falling In Love." The tracks were from his latest film "Blue Hawaii" and became the singer's tenth U.K. No. 1.

1963 - The Beatles formed their Northern Songs Ltd. publishing company. The company would later be purchased by Michael Jackson in 1985 for $47 million.

1968 - Genesis released their debut single, "The Silent Sun". The song was a fusion of folk & pop, a far cry from the progressive rock they would later be known for.

1969 - T. Rex kicked off their tour of the U.K. at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Their opening act on this night was David Bowie performing a one-man mime act.

1975 - Grand Funk Railroad peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with their cover of "Some Kind of Wonderful" which was their third top ten single in the U.S.

1986 - MTV dedicated a full 22 hours broadcast to The Monkees, showing all 45 episodes of the original The Monkees TV series.

1987 - Andy Warhol, the artist who painted the album cover of The Velvet Underground's debut album and designed the cover of The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers died after a gallbladder operation in New York City. He was 58 years old.

1989 - At the 31st Grammy Awards held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Jethro Tull won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental for their album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica who were widely expected to win.

1993 - Radiohead released Pablo Honey.

1997 - The Spice Girls started a four week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Wannabe", the first U.K. act to score a No. 1 for over 18 months.

Birthdays:

Ernie K-Doe, R&B singer who had a 1961 U.S. No. 1 single with "Mother-in-Law", was born today in 1936.

James Blunt is 42.

Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's is 37.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, and Wikipedia.