November 9

 

Rock journalism was born today in 1967 when the first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine was published in San Francisco, with John Lennon on the cover, launching the publication that would become the authoritative voice on popular music and culture for decades to come…

 

We remember Creedence Clearwater Revival's rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty on his birthday today in 1941, the older brother whose solid foundation supported John's songs before leaving the band and dying from AIDS-related tuberculosis in 1990, forever overshadowed by his more famous sibling…

 

Beatles history pivoted today in 1961 when manager-to-be Brian Epstein saw the Fab Four for the first time at a lunchtime show at Liverpool's Cavern Club, beginning the relationship that would transform four scruffy rockers into the world's biggest band…

 

Led Zeppelin's golden god Robert Plant married his first wife Maureen today in 1968 in London, beginning the union that would produce three children and eventually end in divorce as the pressures of rock stardom and tragedy took their toll…

 

Art met rock today in 1966 when John Lennon visited Yoko Ono's exhibition at London's Indica Gallery and climbed a ladder to read the word "Yes" through a magnifying glass, beginning the controversial relationship that would transform both their lives and help break up the Beatles…

 

Country's outlaw faced the taxman's wrath on this day in 1990 when the IRS seized Willie Nelson's bank accounts and real estate holdings to pay off a $16 million tax debt, forcing the Red Headed Stranger to record 'The IRS Tapes' to help settle his obligations…

 

We remember folk music's conscience Mary Travers on her birthday today in 1937, the Peter, Paul and Mary member whose powerful voice and activism made the trio the most commercially successful folk act of the 1960s before her death from leukemia in 2009.