History Highlight:

Today in 2015, Minnesota band Low released their 11th studio album, Ones and Sixes. The album was recorded at Justin Vernon's April Base studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where Low worked with producer and engineer BJ Burton. "We've been able to work with a lot of great people," Low frontman Alan Sparhawk told The Current during a studio session recorded just days after the album’s release. "That, in a lot of ways, is sort of a key. You kind of always need to find a new way, a new filter to try to see what you do will end up being." Drummer Mimi Parker added, “We did branch out and do a little electronic drums sometimes because there's so much cool stuff out there that sounds really, really great. … Working with BJ, he kind of has his ear to that type of stuff, so we knew that he would really be willing and able to incorporate different sounds than we would normally use ourselves." Ones and Sixes includes the tracks “What Part of Me,” “Congregation,” and “No Comprende.”

Also, Today In: 

1952 - Producer Ahmet Ertegun began recording his newest signing, 21-year-old Ray Charles, at Atlantic Records on West 56th Street in New York City. 

1965 - The Beatles started a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Help!, the group's sixth U.S. chart topper. 

1970 - NME’s Keith Allston met with Jimi Hendrix, for what would turn out to be the artist’s final interview. In the article, Hendrix spoke about a new musical phase, even detailing collaborations with Miles Davis and Paul McCartney. 

1971 - The animated Jackson Five series premiered on ABC. 

1973 - Bruce Springsteen releases his second album, The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle. 

1976 - KC and the Sunshine Band went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "(Shake Shake Shake), Shake Your Booty," the group's third No. 1 hit. 

1977 - One of the strangest pairings in the history of music turned out surprisingly well when David Bowie and Bing Crosby recorded their duet of "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth." It was broadcast in December on Bing's posthumous TV special, A Merrie Olde Christmas, and later released on disc. 

1979 - The Who made their first appearance in the U.S. without their late, great drummer, Keith Moon. Replacing him at the Passaic, N.J., gig was ex-Small Faces and Faces drummer Kenney Jones. 

1979 - Foreigner released their third studio album, Head Games. It features the singles "Dirty White Boy," "Head Games," "Women," "Love on the Telephone," and "I'll Get Even with You.”

1982 - John "Cougar" Mellencamp had two singles in the U.S. Top Ten as well as the No. 1 album. The singles "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good" were at Numbers 4 and 8, respectively, while Mellencamp's album American Fool was at No. 1 for the first of nine weeks, and it was the best selling album of 1982. 

1982 - Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" reached its chart peak of No. 32 on the Hot 100. It's the only Top 40 hit for the eccentric singer, who releases over 60 albums in his lifetime. His daughter, Moon Unit Zappa, plays the Valley Girl in the song. 

1987 - Peter Gabriel's video of "Sledgehammer" was deemed best of the year by MTV. 

1990 - Warrant released their second studio album, Cherry Pie. It features the hit title track and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

1990 - FireHouse released their self-titled debut album, FireHouse. It features the singles "Shake & Tumble," "Don't Treat Me Bad," "Love of a Lifetime," and "All She Wrote."

1993 - Mariah Carey started an eight-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Dreamlover." 

1995 - Blur released their fourth studio album, The Great Escape. It features “Country House,” “The Universal,” and “Charmless Man.”

1996 - Noel Gallagher walked out on Oasis halfway through an American tour after a fight with his brother, Liam, in a Charlotte, N.C., hotel. Noel flew back to London the following day. 

2000 - Goldfrapp released their debut studio album, Felt Mountain. It features “Lovely Head,” “Utopia,” and “Human.”

2000 - Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow release a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" as a duet. The single reaches No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for a week and also appears in the 2000 film Duets, which stars the pair. 

2001 - Jay-Z released his sixth studio album, The Blueprint. It features the singles "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Girls, Girls, Girls," and "Song Cry."

2001 - The Microphones released their third studio album, The Glow Pt. 2. It includes tracks like "I Want Wind to Blow," "The Moon," and "I Felt Your Shape," and is widely regarded as a landmark in lo-fi and experimental indie music.

2001 - Bob Dylan released his thirty-first studio album, Love and Theft. It features songs such as "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum," "Mississippi," and "Summer Days," blending blues, rockabilly, and folk influences.

2001 - They Might Be Giants released their eighth studio album, Mink Car. It includes the singles "Bangs," "Man, It's So Loud in Here," and "Cyclops Rock," showcasing the band's eclectic pop style.

2001 - The Moldy Peaches released their self-titled debut album, The Moldy Peaches.

2001 - Ben Folds released his debut solo studio album, Rockin' the Suburbs. It features the singles "Rockin' the Suburbs," "Still Fighting It," and "Zak and Sara."

2001 - Nickelback released their third studio album, Silver Side Up. It features the singles "How You Remind Me," "Too Bad," and "Never Again." 

2001 - Walking to work as a comic-book illustrator in New York, Gerard Way witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The day's events inspired him to start a band, which became My Chemical Romance.

2001 - Rhett Miller of the band Old 97’s was living three blocks from the World Trade Center in New York and was forced to flee his home during the September 11 attacks. He wrote about the experiences in a journal, which were published in The Atlantic magazine 10 years later.

2006 - The Fratellis released their debut studio album, Costello Music. It features the singles "Henrietta," "Chelsea Dagger," "Whistle for the Choir," "Flathead," "Baby Fratelli," and "Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes."

2007 - Kanye West released his third studio album, Graduation. It features the singles "Can't Tell Me Nothing," "Stronger," "Good Life," "Flashing Lights," and "Homecoming."

2009 - Punk musician Jim Carroll died of heart attack in Manhattan, New York City, at age 60. 

2009 - Muse released their fifth studio album, The Resistance. It features the title track, “Uprising,” “Undisclosed Desires,” and “Exogenesis: Symphony.”

2012 - The Avett Brothers released their seventh studio album, The Carpenter. It features the singles "Live and Die" and "February Seven."

2014 - Cosimo Matassa, who recorded Little Richard and Fats Domino at his New Orleans studio, dies at age 88. 

2014 - Songwriter, singer, manager, and record producer Bob Crewe died at age 83. Crewe wrote a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons, including "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", and "Rag Doll". He also had hit recordings with Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow and others. 

2019 - Songwriter and artist Daniel Johnston died of a suspected heart attack at his home in Texas at the age of 58. Kurt Cobain once described him as 'the best songwriter on earth' and famously wore one of Johnston's t-shirts to the 1992 MTV Awards. Other musicians who have covered Johnston's songs include Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens and Yo La Tengo. 

2020 - The Flaming Lips released their 16th studio album, American Head.

2020 - Toots Hibbert, frontman of the legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals, died at the age of 77. Hibbert was one of Jamaica’s most influential musicians, helping to popularize reggae in the 1960s with songs like “Pressure Drop,” “Monkey Man,” and “Funky Kingston.” Hibbert was such a seminal figure in the rise of reggae music that he is widely recognized as the artist that coined the term in the first place, via his 1968 single, “Do The Reggay.” 

Birthdays: 

Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead is 82.

Jazz guitarist Leo Kottke is 80.

Dennis Tufano of the Buckinghams is 79.

John Martyn was born today in 1948.

Tommy Shaw of Styx is 72.

Moby is 60. 

Harry Connick Jr. is 58. 

Taraji P. Henson is 55.

Richard Ashcroft of The Verve is 54.  

Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland is 48. 

Ludacris is 48. 

Charles Kelley of Lady A is 44.

Kygo is 34.

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