Events in Music
Music Premiere
Dec 1 Burt Bacharach and Hal David's musical "Promises, Promises", based on the 1960 Billy Wider film "The Apartment", opens at Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 1,281 performances, wins a Grammy and 2 Tony Awards
Music Concert
Dec 3 Elvis Presley's Comeback Special airs on NBC, his 1st live performance in seven years, re-launching his singing career
Beggar's Banquet
Dec 6 Decca Records releases Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" in UK, the last during Brian Jones' lifetime (US release the next day)
- Dec 7 London Records releases Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" in US, the last during Brian Jones' lifetime
Music History
Dec 12 Rolling Stones film TV show "Rock and Roll Circus"- guest performers include The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono; the program never airs aired
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dec 16 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres at the Odeon Leicester Square theater, London
- Dec 18 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres in NYC
- Dec 21 David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) premiere together in California
#1 in the Charts
Dec 21 Glen Campbell's album "Wichita Lineman" goes to #1 in the US
- Dec 26 Led Zeppelin's concert debut in Denver as opener for Vanilla Fudge
Music History
Dec 28 100,000 attend Miami Pop Festival; performers included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Mothers of Invention; Chuck Berry; John Lee Hooker; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown; and Blues Image,
- Dec 28 Beatles' "White Album" goes #1 & stays #1 for 9 weeks
My Way
Dec 30 Frank Sinatra first records "My Way" with lyrics were written by Paul Anka and based on the French song "Comme d'habitude"
Birthdays in Music
- Dec 2 Nate Mendel, American bassist (Foo Fighters), born in Richland, Washington
- Dec 3 Montell Jordan [Barnett], American R&B singer, record producer ("This Is How We Do It"), and pastor, born in Los Angeles, California
- Dec 9 Brian Lane Bell, American guitarist, and singer-songwriter Weezer; The Relationship), born in Iowa City, Iowa
- Dec 9 Michael Foster, American drummer (Firehouse - "Love of a Lifetime"), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Dec 12 Tatianna, Spanish singer (Baile Commigo, Chicad de Hoy), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Dec 18 Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer (Más), born in Madrid, Spain
- Dec 23 Quincy Jones III, Swedish-American musician, born in Wimbledon, London
- Dec 24 Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist, born in Texas
- Dec 24 Tariq Hussain, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Splat; Brasstronaut), born in Cowansville, Quebec
- Dec 29 Carlo Ponti, Jr., Italian orchestral conductor and son of Carlo Ponti & Sophia Loren, born in Geneva, Switzerland
Deaths in Music
- Dec 1 Dario Moreno, Turkish-Jewish singer (b. 1921)
- Dec 13 Siegfried Reda, German church musician and composer, dies at 52
- Dec 20 Max Brod, Czech-born Israeli composer, writer and biographer of Kafka, dies at 84
- Dec 31 George Lewis [Joseph Zenon], American jazz clarinetist and bandleader (Bunk Johnson; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; "Burgundy Street Blues"), dies at 68
- Dec 31 Sabin Drăgoi, Romanian composer, dies at 74
Composers
Drummers
Guitarists
Pianists
Singers
Songwriters