This Week In Music

1963 The Beatle's fifth British single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was released. The record sold one million copies, making it their second million seller. It was released in the US on December 26th and spent seven weeks at #1.

The Elvis movie Fun in Acapulco, co-starring Ursula Andress, was released. Notable for Ursula only.

1964 Three years after he wrote "Crazy" for Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson made his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, when he opened for Roger Miller.

1969 Simon & Garfunkel's first TV special airs, but their sponsor, AT&T, backs out when they learn that the duo plan to show footage of Bobby Kennedy's funeral march and clips of the Vietnam War

1976 Bob Marley narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when seven gunman sprayed bullets into his Kingston, Jamaica home, where he and the Wailers were rehearsing. He had become unpopular in some circles because of his influence on local politicians. He moved to Miami Florida soon after the incident. The gunmen were never caught.

1979 Anita Pallenburg, common-law wife of Rolling Stone Keith Richards, was cleared of murder charges in the shooting death of her young male companion, whose body had been found in her New York State home.

1981 The British Phonographic Industry, with the endorsement of rock stars like Elton John, Gary Numan, Cliff Richard, 10cc and the Boomtown Rats, places advertisements in the British press claiming, "Home taping is wiping out music.

2001 Beatles' guitarist George Harrison passed away on November 29th at the age of 58, while resting at a friend's home in Los Angeles. The news came as a shock to the world, despite Harrison's much-chronicled cancer treatments. Speaking outside his home in St John's Wood, London, Paul McCartney said: 'I am devastated and very very sad'. Ringo Starr, speaking from Vancouver, Canada said: 'We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter. We all miss George. He was the only one who held on to most of his integrity.