On this day January 17 in Rock history:

1960   Nearly twenty million people watch Cliff Richard and The Shadows perform on the UK's Sunday Night At The London Palladium, where the singer is presented with a Gold record for his hit, "Living Doll".

1963 -   Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart perform together for the first time at London's Marquee Jazz Club.

1967 -   40-year-old David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo for The Beatles' "Penny Lane" at Abbey Road Studios in London. He was paid 27 pounds, 10 shillings ($42) for his performance. In August, 1987, the trumpet he used was sold at a Sotheby's auction for $10,846.

London's Daily Mail newspaper runs an article that said in part, "There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire, or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey. If Blackburn is typical, there are two million holes in Britain's roads and 300,000 in London." That quirky snippet helped inspire John Lennon to mention it in "A Day In The Life", which he and the rest of The Beatles would record just days later. Released as a single in the UK only, the song would be certified Silver on March 11, 2022 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams exceeding 200,000 units.

1970 -   Billy Stewart, who reached the Billboard Top 40 four times, including the #10 hit "Summertime" in 1966, was killed along with three members of his band when his car ran off the road and plunged into a river. He was 32.

1971 -   Marvin Gaye sang the American national anthem at Superbowl V in Miami.

1972 -   A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The remaining length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church. In 1976, Elvis released an album called "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee", which was recorded at his home studio at Graceland.

1974 -   Dino Martin, of Dino, Desi and Billy and son of crooner Dean Martin, is arrested for possession of eight machine-guns and a 14-foot antitank gun. He is arraigned and released the next day on $5,000 bail. He was eventually found guilty, placed on probation, and paid a small fine.

1976 -   Barry Manilow had the number one record in the US with "I Write The Songs". Although he wrote many of his hits, he didn't write this one. Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys did and Manilow has always been quick to point out that fact. At the following Grammy Awards, the tune was voted Song Of The Year.

1981 -   Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" marked its fifth consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song also topped the Hot 100 for two weeks and went on to sell more than three million copies in the United States. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected "Celebration" for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

1983 -   The rise in popularity of Country music was evident at The American Music Awards, where Kenny Rogers took home three citations, Willie Nelson was given two, and Alabama was named Favorite Band.