Today in Music: a look back at pop music

(May 3)

Today's birthdays include trumpeter Hank Lawson, in 1911; composer Betty Comden in 1915 (age 88); Pete Seeger, who was born in 1919 (age 84); Joe Ames of the Ames Brothers in 1924 (age 79); James Brown, in 1928 (age 75); Dave Dudley in 1928 (age 75); Englebert Humperdinck in 1936 (age 67); Frankie Valli in 1937 (age 66); Peter Staples of the Troggs in 1944 (age 59); Christopher Cross in 1951 (age 52); Mary Hopkin in 1952 (age 51); bassist Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon in 1953 (age 50); and Soft Cell keyboardist David Ball in 1959 (age 44).

Today's musical milestones:

In 1968, the Beach Boys launched a U.S. tour, on which their co-headliner was the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

In 1969, Jimi Hendrix was arrested on heroin possession charges at Toronto International Airport. He was freed on $10,000 bail.

In 1972, in one of the most bizarre incidents in rock history, Stone the Crows guitarist Les Harvey was electrocuted by a poorly grounded microphone on stage during a show in Swansea, Wales. He was 25. His death was witnessed by -- among others -- his girlfriend, the group's vocalist Maggie Bell.

In 1976, Paul McCartney and Wings opened the "Wings Over America" tour in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1986, Dolly Parton opened her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Fork, Tenn.

In 1991, Gov. Ann Richards proclaimed it ZZ Top Day in Texas.

Also in 1991, singer Andy Williams married his longtime girlfriend Debby Hass in New York.

In 1994, the Rolling Stones announced plans for a world concert tour to promote the band's "Voodoo Lounge" album.

Also in 1994, Michael Bolton charged that a Los Angeles jury decision that he and a co-writer stole the Isley Brothers song "Love Is A Wonderful Thing" was racially motivated.

And in 1994, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks were the big winners at the 29th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Los Angeles. Brooks didn't attend the ceremonies. He was in Nashville with his wife as she gave birth to the couple's second child -- another girl.

In 1995, Paul McCartney's 17-year-old son, James, broke his ankle when his Range Rover overturned near his dad's farm southeast of London.

In 1996, Hootie and the Blowfish's second album, "Fairweather Johnson," debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top-200 album chart.

In 1997, the Wallflowers performed a concert in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Cafe to raise money for the "Give Kids The World" charity.

In 2000, Metallica's Lars Ulrich showed up with the band's lawyer at the San Mateo, Calif., offices of Napster, Inc., to deliver 13 boxes of documents they claimed identified more than 300,000 Napster users who are violating copyright law. Metallica was suing Napster for providing the file-sharing software that allowed users to download music off the Internet.

Today's musical quiz:

There's an art gallery in New York City named after a Carly Simon song. True? Answer: Yes. Riverrun art gallery is named after Simon's Oscar-winning tune "Let The River Run."