The Beatles play their only New Orleans concert
About 12,000 fans packed City Park Stadium for the only concert the Beatles ever played in New Orleans, and roughly 700 of them stormed the field mid-set before police cleared it, as The Beatles Bible records.
Earlier that day the Beatles met Fats Domino and collected keys to the city, capping a stop that lasted barely 24 hours.
The Allman Brothers Band play Mercer University
The Allman Brothers Band played the campus of Mercer University in Macon, the Georgia town they had just made home, working through early staples like It's Not My Cross to Bear, as setlist.fm records.
Their debut album was still weeks from release, but the twin guitars and twin drums were already locked in.
The Beatles record I Will for the White Album
Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr worked through 67 takes of McCartney's ballad I Will in Studio Two at Abbey Road, with George Harrison absent, as The Beatles Bible logs.
The same late session produced Step Inside Love and the loose scrap Can You Take Me Back, a stray minute that reached the final Beatles album.
Are You Experienced enters the US album chart
The US edition of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's debut Are You Experienced entered the Billboard Top LPs chart, led by its opening track Purple Haze, as Wikipedia records.
It stayed on the chart for 106 weeks, 27 of them in the top 40, and gave American listeners their first full dose of Hendrix's psychedelic rock.
The Grateful Dead headline the Avalon Ballroom
The Grateful Dead played the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco under the Family Dog banner, one of the 1966 shows later pressed onto the rough albums Vintage Dead and Historic Dead, as Dead.net lists.
Their set leaned on blues and jug-band tunes like Cold Rain and Snow, the raw material they were stretching into long psychedelic rock jams.
Duke Ellington premieres his first Sacred Concert
Duke Ellington and his orchestra gave the first performance of his Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, filmed for broadcast by KQED, as KQED recounts.
Ellington built the program around the spiritual Come Sunday and later called the Sacred Concerts the most important work he had done, a late turn that carried jazz into the liturgy.
The Dean Martin Show premieres on NBC
NBC launched The Dean Martin Show, the loose cue-card variety hour that would run nine seasons, with Frank Sinatra as the first guest, as Wikipedia notes.
Its theme was Martin's 1964 hit Everybody Loves Somebody, and the show kept his brand of easy listening pop in front of a mass audience through the rock era.
The Beatles play their only New Orleans concert
About 12,000 fans packed City Park Stadium for the only concert the Beatles ever played in New Orleans, and roughly 700 of them stormed the field mid-set before police cleared it, as The Beatles Bible records.
Earlier that day the Beatles met Fats Domino and collected keys to the city, capping a stop that lasted barely 24 hours.
Shindig! premieres on ABC
ABC aired the first episode of Shindig!, a fast-moving rock and pop showcase built by British producer Jack Good, as Ultimate Classic Rock recounts.
Sam Cooke headlined the premiere with Tennessee Waltz and Blowin' in the Wind, bringing soul to primetime alongside the Everly Brothers and the Righteous Brothers.
The Beach Boys release the Surfer Girl album
Capitol Records released Surfer Girl, the third Beach Boys album and the first to credit Brian Wilson as sole producer, as Wikipedia notes.
It also brought Al Jardine back in place of David Marks, and it pushed the group's surf rock toward the studio craft of Wilson's later work.
Cliff Richard and the Shadows release Nine Times Out of Ten
Columbia released Nine Times Out of Ten, a Cliff Richard and the Shadows single that reached number three on the UK chart and earned a silver disc, as Wikipedia notes.
Richard and his band were Britain's biggest homegrown rock act, holding the ground the British Invasion groups would take worldwide four years later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in 1960s music on September 16?
September 16 produced ten verified music events across the decade, headlined by the Beatles' only concert in New Orleans in 1964.
The same date carried the Beach Boys' Surfer Girl album, the ABC debut of Shindig!, Duke Ellington's first Sacred Concert, and the US chart entry of Are You Experienced.
Where did the Beatles play in New Orleans?
The Beatles played City Park Stadium on September 16, 1964, their only concert in New Orleans.
About 12,000 fans attended, and roughly 700 broke onto the field before police restored order.
Why is the Beach Boys' Surfer Girl album important?
Surfer Girl, released September 16, 1963, was the first Beach Boys album to credit Brian Wilson as sole producer.
It signaled the studio control that would lead to Pet Sounds three years later.
Who performed on the first episode of Shindig?
Sam Cooke headlined the first Shindig! on September 16, 1964, singing Tennessee Waltz and Blowin' in the Wind.
The Everly Brothers and the Righteous Brothers also performed on the premiere.
What was Duke Ellington's first Sacred Concert?
It was a program of religious jazz that Duke Ellington premiered at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on September 16, 1965.
Built around the spiritual Come Sunday, it was filmed by KQED, and Ellington called the Sacred Concerts the most important work he had done.