On this day December 29 in Rock history:

1963 -  The Weavers, who at one time were America's most popular Folk group, give their farewell concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The group had hits in the late '40s and early '50s with songs like "Goodnight Irene" and "On Top of Old Smokey".

Johnny Tillotson's "Talk Back Trembling Lips" becomes the tenth of his fourteen Billboard Top 40 hits when it peaks at #7 during a ten week stay. He, along with many others, would soon be overwhelmed by teen audiences' preference for English music that the press would dub "The British Invasion."

1964 -   The Liverpool Youth Employment Service announced that some applicants were finding it difficult to get jobs because their Beatle style haircuts and clothing were unacceptable to employers.

1965 -   Two members of The Sir Douglas Quintet, Doug Sahm and Frank Morin, along with a third suspect, were arrested by Corpus Christi police for possession of marijuana. When they came to trial on March 23rd, 1966, all of them wore dark suits, black oxfords, ties and dress shirts and two of them wore their hair quite short. As all three were legally classified as youthful offenders, they were placed on probation by Judge Reynaldo G. Garza who told them, "I'm glad you cut your hair. I saw your pictures in the paper when you were arrested and I don't go for that stuff."

1966 -   The Jimi Hendrix Experience made their debut on the UK TV show Top Of The Pops, performing "Hey Joe". The following January the song will enter the UK Top 10, peaking at #6. Although it failed to chart Stateside, the tune was ranked at #201 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.

1967 -   Singer, guitarist and songwriter Dave Mason quits Traffic, one of the UK's most popular and lucrative Rock bands, to embark on a solo career. He would go on to be moderately successful, placing eight albums on the Billboard 200 between 1970 and 1978, after which he released seven LPs that failed to chart.

1968 -   The first big Rock festival held on the east coast, The Miami Festival, gets under way in Hallandale, Florida. Tickets sell for six and seven dollars and 100,000 people turn out for the three day event. Those appearing include the hottest acts of the day, Jose Feliciano, Procol Harem, Three Dog Night, Chuck Berry, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, Canned Heat and Joni Mitchell.

1973 -   Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle" rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a two week stay. The 30-year-old singer had been killed in a plane crash the previous September 20th after promising his wife Ingrid that he would take some time off to spend with his family.

1974 -   While vacationing with his son Julian and companion May Pang at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, John Lennon added his signature to those of George, Paul and Ringo on a pile of documents dissolving The Beatles' partnership. "Take out your camera," he told May before calling his own attorney, Harold Seider, to go over some final points. Pang would later recall, "When John hung up the phone, he looked wistfully out the window. I could almost see him replaying the entire Beatles experience in his mind."

1980 -   40-year-old singer / songwriter Tim Hardin died of a heroin overdose in his Hollywood apartment. He is best remembered for "If I Were a Carpenter" (a hit for Bobby Darin in 1966 and The Four Tops in 1968) and "Reason to Believe" (a hit for Rod Stewart in 1971).

1982 -   Jamaica issues a Bob Marley commemorative stamp in honor of the late Reggae star. Marley ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide.

1985 -   Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley announced the birth of their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. Her middle name was to honor Ray Charles.