1973 in music
See also: 1972 in music, other events of 1973, 1974 in music and the list of 'years in music'.
Events
- January 9 - Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug bust, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to tour the Orient.
- January 14 - Elvis Presley's Aloha From Hawaii television special is seen around the world by more than 1 billion viewers
- January 14 - Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh is arrested for drug possession in California.
- January 18 - The Rolling Stones benefit concert for Nicaraguan earthquake victims raises over $350,000. (Mick Jagger adds $150,000 of his own money to the total in May). On December 22, 1972, an earthquake destroyed Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
- January 30 - Kiss performs their first concert, at the Coventary Club in Queens.
- February 14 - David Bowie collapses from exhaustion after a performance at New York's Madison Square Garden
- March 1 - The New York Joffrey Ballet's Deuce Coupe Ballet opens. The ballet is set entirely around music by The Beach Boys.
- March 5 - Jimi Hendrix's personal manager, Michael Jeffrey, is killed in a plane crash. Jeffrey was travelling from Majorca to England. All passengers on board the plane were killed.
- March 6 - The New York Office of the US Immigration Department cancels John Lennon's visa extension, after it having been granted five days earlier.
- March 7 - The director of talent acquistion at Columbia Records, John Hammond suffers a non-fatal heart attack following a performance by one of his most recent finds, Bruce Springsteen.
- March 8 - Paul McCartney is fined $240 after pleading guilty to charges of growing marijuana outside his Scottish farm.
- March 24 - Lou Reed is bitten by a fan during a concert in Buffalo, New York.
- April 3 - Capitol Records releases two greatest hits collections, The Beatles /1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970, commonly referred to as the Red and Blue albums.
- April 16 - Paul McCartney's first television special, James Paul McCartney airs. The special includes performances by McCartney and Wings.
- Opening of CBGB's
- May 9 - Mick Jagger adds $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by the Rolling Stones' January 18th benefit concert for the victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake.
- film The Sting revives interest in the ragtime music of Scott Joplin
- Television forms
- Journey forms
- KISS forms
- AC/DC forms
- U.F.O. makes contact to Chrysalis Records
- The Ronettes break up, and Ronnie Bennett begins a solo career
Albums Released
- Brothers and Sisters - The Allman Brothers Band
- Life in a Tin Can - The Bee Gees
- Paris 1919 - John Cale
- Now and Then - The Carpenters
- The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff
- Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper
- Made in Japan - Deep Purple
- Desperado - The Eagles
- Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack
- Angel Clare - Art Garfunkel
- Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
- Flying Teapot - Gong
- Angel's Egg - Gong
- Call Me - Al Green
- Head Hunters - Herbie Hancock
- A Passion Play - Jethro Tull
- Piano Man - Billy Joel
- Don't Shoot I'm Only the Piano Player - Elton John
- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
- Raw Power - Iggy & the Stooges
- Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin
- Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd - Lynyrd Skynyrd (debut)
- Catch a Fire - Bob Marley and the Wailers
- Burnin' - Bob Marley and the Wailers
- Red Rose Speedway - Paul McCartney & Wings
- Aloha from Hawaii Via Sattelite - Elvis Presley
- Bean Blossom - Bill Monroe
- New York Dolls - New York Dolls
- Let Me Be There - Olivia Newton-John
- Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
- GP and Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
- The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
- Sweet Revenge - John Prine
- Queen - Queen (debut)
- Ragas - Ravi Shankar
- Berlin - Lou Reed
- For Your Pleasure - Roxy Music
- There Goes Rhymin' Simon - Paul Simon
- Goats Head Soup - Rolling Stones
- Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey - Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band (debut)
- The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle - Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band
- Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan
- Fresh Spinners - Sly & the Family Stone
- Raw Power - The Stooges
- Closing Time - Tom Waits
- Quadrophenia - The Who
- Innervisions - Stevie Wonder
Top Hits
- "Loves Me Like a Rock" - Paul Simon (with The Dixie Hummingbirds)
- "Kodachrome" - Paul Simon
- "American Tune" - Paul Simon
- "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" - Paul Simon
- "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John
- "Playground in My Mine" - Clint Holmes
- "Superstition" - Stevie Wonder
- "Do It Again" - Steely Dan
- "You're So Vain" - Carly Simon
- "Me and Mrs. Jones" - Billy Paul
- "Will It Go Around in Circles" - Billy Preston
- "Photograph" - Ringo Starr
- "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" - Jim Croce
- "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting" - Elton John
- "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John
- "Live and Let Die" - The Wings
- "Kodachrome" - Paul Simon
- "Touch Me in the Morning" - Diana Ross
- "Midnight Train to Georgia" - Gladys Knight
- "Ramblin' Man" - Allman Brothers Band
- "Smoke on the Water" - Deep Purple
- "The Most Beautiful Girl" - Charlie Rich
- "Keep On Truckin'" - Eddie Kendricks
- "Delta Dawn" - Helen Reddy
- "Killing Me Softly with His Song" - Roberta Flack
- "Higher Ground" - Stevie Wonder
- "You're So Vain" - Carly Simon
- "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" - Jim Croce
- "My Love" - Paul McCartney & Wings
- "Why Me" - Kris Kristofferson
- "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye
- "Tie a Yellow Ribbon around the Old Oak Tree" - Tony Orlando & Dawn
- "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - Elton John
- "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin
For a more complete list of hits by month, see here.
Births
- ? - Marco Peña and Kris Roe, The Ataris
- January 10 - Aerle Taree, Arrested Development
- April 29 - Mike Hogan, The Cranberries
- June 9 - Wes Scantlin, Puddle Of Mudd
- July 5 - Bengt Lagerberg, The Cardigans
- July 25 - Ladybug, Digable Planets
- July 29 - Wanya Morris, Boyz II Men
Deaths
- January 23 - Kid Ory
- March 5 - Michael Jeffrey, Jimi Hendrix's personal manager
- March 8 - Ron Pigpen McKernan, The Grateful Dead, stomach hemorrhage
- September 19 - Gram Parsons
- October 16 - Gene Krupa
- November 27 - Frank Christian
- December 31 - Emile Christian
- - Bobby Darin