History Spotlight:

Merle Ronald Haggard was born on this day in 1937, and he also died on this day one year ago. Haggard was a country music legend, with 38 No. 1 hits on U.S. Country charts, 4 Grammys, 19 Academy of Country Music, 6 Country Music Association awards and well over 100 albums - studio albums, collaborations, gospel albums, Christmas albums, live albums and compilations. Haggard's son said Merle knew he was going to pass away on his birthday, and on Facebook he said "He loved everything about life and he loved that every one of you gave him a chance with his music. He wasn't just a country singer...he was the best country singer that ever lived."

Also, Today In:

1956 - Elvis Presley signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. Through a loan arrangement with Twentieth Century-Fox, Presley would go on to make his big-screen debut in November with the musical western Love Me Tender.

1966 - The first session of what would become The Beatles album Revolver started in the evening at Abbey Road studios London, with the recording of the basic track of "Tomorrow Never Knows."

1968 - Simon and Garfunkel went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with The Graduate.

1971 - The Rolling Stones unveil their new custom record label, Rolling Stones Records, which also features the group's new logo, the infamous tongue-and-lips "pop art" drawing created by London graphic artist John Pasche.

1974 - ABBA became European stars overnight when their composition "Waterloo" won the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The single became their first No. 1 hit in several countries, reached the U.S. Top 10, and went on to sell nearly six million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, it was chosen as the best song in the competition's history.

1983 - Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Interior, James Watt, cancels an appearance by The Beach Boys at Washington DC's Independence Day festivities, infamously stating that the band would attract "an undesirable element."

1998 - Wendy O. Williams, iconic frontwoman of The Plasmatics, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 48.

1998 - American country singer Tammy Wynette died aged 55. Known as the first lady of country music, Wynette scored 12 hit singles including "Stand By Your Man", and she sold more than 30 million records worldwide. She was married five times and once filed for bankruptcy. Wynette had the 1991 hit with The KLF, "Justified and Ancient", which became a No. 1 hit in 18 countries. We featured Wynette's track "Singing My Song" on Today's Random Vinyl.

2000 - An all-star tribute to Joni Mitchell was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City featuring performances by Elton John, Bryan Adams, Shawn Colvin, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Richard Thompson, k.d. Lang and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Birthdays:

Frank Black, aka Black Francis, is 51.

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