1966 in music

Events

• January 3 - Hullabaloo[?] shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out".
• January 8 - Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who
• January 14 - Young singer David Jones changes his last name to Bowie to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees
• January 17 - Simon and Garfunkel release Sounds of Silence, which hits #21 on Billboard charts
• January 21 - Beatle George Harrison marries fashion model Patti Boyd[?]. The couple met on the set of the Beatles' first movie, A Hard Day's Night.
• February 19 - Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company[?] with Janis Joplin perform at the Fillmore[?]
• March 3 - Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay form Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles, California.
• March 4 - The Beatles' John Lennon is quoted in the London newspaper, The Evening Standard as saying that the band was now more popular than Jesus. Beatles protests and record burnings follow in the Southern US's "Bible Belt".
• March 6 - In the UK, 5,000 fans of the Beatles sign a petition urging British Prime minister Harold Wilson to reopen Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club.
• April 12 - In Los Angeles, California, Jan Berry[?], of Jan and Dean, crashes his Corvette into a truck that is parked on Whittier Boulevard. Berry suffers total physical paralysis for over a year as well as extensive brain damage.
• May 1 - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the Who perform at the New Musical Express' poll winners' show in London.
• July 2 - The Beatles become the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall[?] in Tokyo. The performance ignited a lot of protest from local citizens who felt that it was inappropriate for a rock and roll band to play at Budokan.
• July 29 - Bob Dylan is involved in a motorcycle accident
• August 11 - John Lennon holds a press conference in Chicago, Illinois to apologize for his remarks the previous March. "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better."
• August 29 - The Beatles perform their last official concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California
• September - George Harrison travels to India for 6 weeks to study sitar with Ravi Shankar
• October 10 - Simon and Garfunkel release Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, which hits #4 on Billboard charts

• Gram Parsons' musical career begins
• Charley Pride[?]'s musical career begins
• Freddie King[?]'s musical career begins
• Neil Young's musical career begins
• Wishbone Ash forms
• The Crystals break up
• Gerry & the Pacemakers break up

Albums Released

• Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
• Revolver - The Beatles
• Days of Future Passed[?] - The Moody Blues
• East-West[?] - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
• Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Simon and Garfunkel
• A Quick One - The Who
• The Orbison Way[?] - Roy Orbison

Top Hits

• "The Ballad of the Green Berets" - Sgt. Barry Sadler[?] (the Top Song of 1966, according to Billboard)
• "Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys
• "Paperback Writer" - The Beatles
• "Yellow Submarine" - The Beatles
• "Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles
• "Reach Out And I'll Be There" - The Four Tops
• "Hey Joe" - Jimi Hendrix
• "This Ole Heart Of Mine" - The Isley Brothers
• "Summer In The City" - Lovin' Spoonful
• "Monday Monday" - The Mamas and Papas
• "Last Train To Clarksville" - The Monkees
• "Winchester Cathedral" - New Vaudeville Band[?]
• "Kicks" - Paul Revere & the Raiders[?]
• "Gloria" - Shadows of Knight[?]
• "The Sounds Of Silence" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "Homeward Bound" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "I Am A Rock" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "The Dangling Conversation" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "A Hazy Shade Of Winter" - Simon and Garfunkel
• "You Keep Me Hanging On" - The Supremes
• "Wild Thing" - The Troggs
• "Good Lovin'" - The Young Rascals
• "Dizzy" - Tommy Roe[?]

Births

• January 4 - Deanna Carter[?]
• January 5 - Kate Schellenbach[?], Luscious Jackson[?]
• January 8 - Andrew Wood[?], Mother Love Bone
• January 12 - Rob Zombie, White Zombie
• January 16 - Maxine Jones[?], En Vogue[?]
• January 20 - Wes King[?], guitarist, singer
• February 2 - Robert DeLeo[?], Stone Temple Pilots
• February 6 - Rick Astley[?]
• February 9 - Rachel Bolan, Skid Row
• March 3 - Tone-Loc[?]
• March 10 - Edie Brickell[?]
• March 18 - Jerry Cantrell[?], Alice In Chains
• March 23 - Marti Pellow[?], Wet Wet Wet
• April 13 - Marc Ford[?], The Black Crowes
• May 13 - Darius Rucker[?], Hootie & The Blowfish[?]
• May 16 - Janet Jackson
• May 16 - Krist Novoselic, Nirvana
• May 26 - Tommy Stewart[?], Godsmack
• July 15 - Jason Bonham[?], Jimmy Page
• July 20 - Stone Gossard[?], Pearl Jam
• September 5 - Terry Ellis[?], En Vogue[?]
• September 10 - Robin Goodridge[?], Bush
• September 20 - Nuno Bettancourt[?], Extreme[?]
• October 18 - Tim Cross[?], Sponge
• October 31 - King Ad-Rock[?], The Beastie Boys
• November 17 - Jeff Buckley
• November 23 - Charlie Grover[?], Sponge
• November 24 - Joseph Run Simmons[?], Run D.M.C.
• November 25 - Stacy Lattislaw[?]
• December 8 - Sinead O'Connor
• December 20 - Chris Robinson, The Black Crowes
• December 29 - Dexter Holland of The Offspring
• ? - Chris Reece[?], Social Distortion

Deaths

• June 1 - Papa Jack Laine
• October 29 - Wellman Braud
• December - Carter Stanley[?], half of The Stanley Brothers[?]

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Grammy Awards of 1966

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1966