History Highlight:

Today in 2017, guitarist Jim Fuller from The Surfaris died at age 69. The Surfaris had the 1963 U.S. No. 2 and U.K. No. 3 single 'Wipe Out' and Fuller was known as the "Godfather" of surf music, a Californian instrumental music. With his Fender guitar he contributed to the popularity of Fender instruments.

Also, Today In:

1966 - The Rolling Stones went into RCA's Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles to begin work on the album Aftermath.

1966 - Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay formed Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles.

1967 - In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, The Animals refused to play a slated concert unless they were paid up front. Consequently, more than 3,000 fans in the audience broke into a riot, causing about $5,000 in damages.

1972 - Harry Nilsson snagged a Gold record for Nilsson Schmilsson, the best-selling album of his career; it featured "Without You," "Jump Into The Fire" and "Coconut." The album performed well at the 1973 Grammy Awards, earning a nomination for Album of the Year, while "Without You", a Badfinger cover, won a Nilsson a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1973 - The Grammy Awards were held at the Tennessee Theatre in Nashville. The Album Of The Year award went to George Harrison's The Concert For Bangladesh, and the band America were named Best New Artist.

1982 - The reformed Mamas & Papas, with original members John Phillips and Denny Doherty — joined by Phillips' daughter MacKenzie (also known for her work on TV's One Day at a Time) and Spanky McFarlane of Spanky & Our Gang — played the first show of their brief reunion tour.

1995 - R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry underwent surgery to halt bleeding caused by a brain aneurysm. The operation was a success, but he still felt it was best that he retire from the band.

1995 - Foo Fighters made their live debut during a benefit show at The Satyricon in Portland, Ore.

2009 - To celebrate the release of U2's twelfth studio album and their appearance every night for a week on The Late Show with David Letterman, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg temporarily renamed part of 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan "U2 Way".

2013 - American musician and tenor singer Bobby Rogers died aged 73. He was a member of The Miracles who with Smokey Robinson had the 1970 UK & US No.1 single 'Tears of a Clown'. Rogers was a part-time Motown songwriter; his most notable composition with bandmate Smokey Robinson, was The Temptations' first hit single, 'The Way You Do the Things You Do. Rogers also co-wrote The Temptations' 1965 hit 'My Baby.'

2017 - American jazz ukulele musician Lyle Ritz died at the age of 87. As a session musician on the bass guitar he joined the Wrecking Crew - a group of studio musicians in the Los Angeles recording industry. Ritz compiled over 5,000 recording credits including such notable tracks as Herb Alpert's 'A Taste of Honey', The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'', and The Beach Boys 'Good Vibrations.'

Birthdays:

Robyn Hitchcock is 67.

Ira Glass, host of NPR's This American Life, is 61.

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