History Highlight:

Today in 1969, The Beatles started work on the John Lennon song "Come Together," at Abbey Road studios in London. The song is the opening track on the album Abbey Road, and reached the top of the charts in the U.S. and peaked at No. 4 in the U.K. There are a few different theories on what the song is referring to - it has been speculated that each verse refers cryptically to one of the Beatles, or that Lennon was painting a sardonic self-portrait, and also that Lennon was inspired by Timothy Leary's campaign for governor of California against Ronald Reagan, which promptly ended when Leary was sent to prison for possession of marijuana.

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis Presley was termed "the most controversial entertainer since Liberace" by Billboard. On the same day, Elvis was booked for three appearances on Ed Sullivan's widely watched Sunday-night variety program, even though Sullivan had declared Elvis and his gyrating hips would never be welcomed back.

1971 - Carole King received a Gold record plaque for Tapestry, which featured "It's Too Late," "I Feel The Earth Move," "You've Got A Friend" and "So Far Away."

1973 - Jim Croce started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." Croce was killed in a plane crash three months later.

1987 - Guns N' Roses released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, on Geffen Records. It featured the singles "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child o' Mine," and "Paradise City." The album has garnered worldwide sales in excess of 28 million, 18 million of which were sold in the U.S., making it the all-time, best-selling debut album in America.

1989 - Performing on the Club MTV tour at a stop in Bristol, Connecticut, Milli Vanilli's tracks went screwy when they tried to lip-synch to the song "Girl You Know It's True". As the line "girl you know it's..." repeated over and over, the duo panicked and scurried off stage. It would later be revealed that they didn't sing on their album.

1990 - Pink Floyd's The Wall was presented live on the site of the former Berlin Wall, performed by Roger Waters and friends, including The Band, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Paul Carrack, Sinéad O'Connor, The Scorpions and others.

1994 - Oasis played their first-ever U.S. show as part of the New Music Seminar at The Wetlands music club in New York City.

1997 - As the forerunner of a new era of women in rock, Jewel became the first Atlantic Records artist to grace the cover of TIME magazine.

2001 - Madonna kicked off the North American leg of her 47-date Drowned World Tour at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. It was her first world tour in eight years and would eventually go on to gross more than $75 million.

Birthdays:

Legendary American vocalist Kay Starr was born today in 1922. Billie Holiday once famously called Starr "the only white woman who could sing the blues."

Kim Fowley, best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s, was born today in 1939.

Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage name, Cat Stevens, is 68.

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