1912, Born on this day, Woodrow Wilson ‘Woody’ Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma. Guthrie was a folk singer and songwriter in the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his ‘Dust Bowl Ballads’ and protest songs. One of his best known songs, This Land is Your Land, was written as a protest answer to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America. His work was a major influence on a whole generation of folk and rock musicians, including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.  He frequently performed with a guitar with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on it. Guthrie had the neurodegenerative disorder Huntingon’s Disease, which took his life on October 3rd 1967.

1958, The Quarrymen, featuring future Beatles John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, along with John “Duff” Lowe on piano and Colin Hanton on drums, recorded a vanity disc at a electronics shop studio owned by a man named Percy Phillips. The band recorded ‘That’ll Be The Day’ and ‘In Spite Of Danger’ in one take each.

1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions made their live debut supporting Wayne County at The Garden, Penzance, Cornwall, England.

Roughly 5 months later, he performed on SNL and famously stopped the planned song Less than Zero, and launched into Radio Radio.  This got him banned from the show for more than 12 years.

Sources: This Day in Music.com; Wikipedia; YouTube