Music Concert
Jan 14 "Aloha from Hawaii", an Elvis Presley concert, becomes the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer
Elvis Presley
- Jan 30 Rock band Kiss plays their 1st show at the Coventry Club in Queens, NY
- Feb 2 "Midnight Special" rock music show debuts on NBC-TV
- Feb 3 Dr Hook's "Cover of "Rolling Stone"" enters Top 40 & peaks at #6
- Feb 4 "No, No Nanette" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 861 performances
- Feb 6 "Shelter" opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 31 performances
Music Concert
Feb 6 Drummer Buddy Rich plays influential performance at the Top of the Plaza, Richmond New York, later televised by PBS
Buddy Rich
Album Release
Feb 7 The Stooges release their 3rd album "Raw Power"
Iggy Pop
- Feb 13 Musical "El Grande de Coca-Cola" premieres in NYC
- Feb 19 "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" single released by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (Billboard Song of the Year 1973)
- Feb 25 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Little Night Music" premieres at Shubert Theatre in NYC (601 performances)
Music Awards
Feb 26 8th Academy of Country Music Awards: Merle Haggard and Donna Fargo win
Merle Haggard
- Mar 1 Robert Joffrey Dance Company opens
Album Release
Mar 1 Pink Floyd release their album "Dark Side of the Moon", since sold over 45 million copies
David Gilmour
Roger Waters
Event of Interest
Mar 8 Paul & Linda McCartney are fined £100 for growing cannabis
Linda McCartney
Event of Interest
Mar 27 Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) stopped for speeding and LSD possession
Jerry Garcia
Event of Interest
Apr 1 John Lennon and Yoko Ono form a new country with no laws or boundaries, called Nutopia, its national anthem is silence
John Lennon
Yoko Ono
- Apr 7 18th Eurovision Song Contest: Anne-Marie David for Luxembourg wins singing "Tu te reconnaitras" in Luxembourg
Music Recording
Apr 19 Barbra Streisand records "Between Yesterday & Tomorrow"
Barbra Streisand
- Apr 26 "2 Gentlemen of Verona" musical opens in London
Event of Interest
Apr 30 Paul McCartney releases "Red Rose Speedway" including "My Love"
Paul McCartney
Event of Interest
May 17 Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Love"
Stevie Wonder
Event of Interest
May 25 George Harrison releases "Give Me Love" in UK
George Harrison
- May 26 Beatles' "Beatles 1967-1970" album goes #1
- May 26 Funky Worm by Ohio Players hits #15
- May 26 Super Fly Meets Shaft by John & Ernest hits #31
- May 26 Tippett's 3rd Piano sonata premieres
- Jun 1 George Harrison's "Living in the Material World" goes gold
- Jun 1 Paul McCartney & Wings release "Live & Let Die"
- Jun 2 "Nash at Nine" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 21 performances
- Jun 3 "Smith" closes at Eden Theater NYC after 17 performances
Music Single
Jun 15 “Let’s Get It On” single released by Marvin Gaye (Billboard R&B Song of the Year 1973, #4 overall)
Marvin Gaye
Music Recording
Jun 17 Dolly Parton records her song "I Will Always Love You" (later huge hit for Whitney Houston) for RCA in Nashville
Dolly Parton
Whitney Houston
- Jun 22 George Harrison releases "Living in the Material World"
- Jun 23 "Cyrano" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 49 performances
- Jun 23 "Sugar" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 506 performances
- Jun 26 London production of musical "Grease" premieres
- Jul 1 "Jesus Christ Superstar" closes at Mark Hellinger NYC after 711 performances
- Jul 2 "You've Never Been This Far Before" single released by Conway Twitty (Billboard Song of the Year 1973)
Event of Interest
Jul 14 Phil Everly storms off stage declaring an end to Everly Brothers
Phil Everly
- Jul 15 Ray Davies announces his retirement from The Kinks then attempts suicide
- Jul 25 George Harrison pays £1,000,000 tax on his Bangladesh concert & album
Music Premiere
Jul 26 Peter Shaffer's musical "Equus" premieres in London
Peter Shaffer
- Jul 29 Led Zeppelin have more than $200,000 in cash stolen from a safety-deposit box at the New York Hilton
- Aug 6 Stevie Wonder involved in car crash, goes into a 4 day coma
- Aug 9 Guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell quit the Wings group founded by Paul McCartney
Event of Interest
Aug 18 Drummer Gene Krupa plays for the final time with the Benny Goodman Quartet
Benny Goodman
- Aug 19 Pirate World Music Radio (Holland) closes down after 10 years
- Aug 25 Butch Trucks, drummer of the Allman Brothers, breaks a leg in a car crash
- Aug 28 Bobby "Boris" Pickett's song "Monster Mash" goes gold
- Aug 28 "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple goes gold
- Aug 28 "Let's Get It On" 13th studio album by Marvin Gaye is released
- Sep 3 American golfer Billy Casper finishes at 20-under-par 264 to beat Australian Bruce Devlin by 1 stroke to win the Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open; his 50th PGA Tour title
- Sep 5 "Desert Song" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 15 performances
- Sep 16 "Desert Song" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 15 performances
- Sep 22 "A Little Night Music" opens at Majestic Theater on Broadway
- Sep 27 “The Way We Were” single released by Barbra Streisand (Billboard Song of the Year 1974)
- Sep 29 "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" by Looking Glass peaks at #33
- Sep 29 "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk peaks at #1
Album Release
Oct 5 "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" 7th studio album by Elton John is released
Elton John
Music Single
Oct 19 Ringo Starr releases music single "Photograph" in the UK
Ringo Starr
- Oct 24 John Lennon sues US government to admit FBI is tapping his phone
- Oct 26 Wings release "Helen Wheels"
- Nov 1 "Molly" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 68 performances
- Nov 2 "Barbra Streisand ...and Other Musical Instruments" airs on CBS TV
- Nov 10 "Ship Ahoy" album by The O'Jays is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1974)
Event of Interest
Nov 12 Dmitri Shostakovich's 14th String Quartet premieres
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Nov 13 "Gigi" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 103 performances
- Nov 14 "Good Evening" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 438 performances
- Nov 16 John Lennon releases "Mind Games" album
- Dec 5 Paul McCartney & Wings release album "Band on the Run" in the US
- Dec 7 Paul McCartney & Wings release "Band on the Run" in the UK
- Dec 8 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances
- Dec 9 "Pajama Game" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 65 performances
- Dec 19 "Molly" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 68 performances
Film Premier
Dec 25 "The Sting" directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford and music inspired by Scott Joplin premieres in Los Angeles and New York (Best Picture 1974)
