Historic events this week from Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Walsh and Dire Straits

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MAY 12, 1967: JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE’S DEBUT ALBUM

One of the greatest debut albums of all time, Are You Experienced sold a million copies within months of its release due to instant classics such as “Purple Haze”, “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Fire”, and “Foxey Lady.”

Shortly after the album’s release, the Experience were back in the studio to record Axis: Bold as Love, which was released in December of the same year.

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MAY 12, 1972: ROLLING STONES RELEASE EXILE ON MAIN ST.
One of the best rock and blues-based albums of the 70s was panned by critics upon its release.

…IT DIDN’T SELL PARTICULARLY WELL AT THE BEGINNING, AND IT WAS ALSO PRETTY MUCH UNIVERSALLY PANNED. BUT WITHIN A FEW YEARS THE PEOPLE WHO HAD WRITTEN THE REVIEWS SAYING IT WAS A PIECE OF CRAP WERE EXTOLLING IT AS THE BEST FRIGGING ALBUM IN THE WORLD.

KEITH RICHARDS FROM THE BOOK ACCORDING TO THE ROLLING STONES

Featuring “Tumbling Dice”, the album sold 500,000 copies in its first 18 days.

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MAY 12, 1973: HOUSES OF THE HOLY IS #1

Led Zeppelin’s fifth album wasted no time going Gold, having sold 500,000 copies in less than two weeks.

A month later, it would begin a two week reign at #1 on the charts, before being unseated by a Beatles compilation (1967-1970, “The Blue Album”).

Houses of the Holy contains the classic rock radio staples, “Dancing Days”, “Over the Hills and Far Away” and “D’Yer Mak’er.”

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MAY 13, 1994: SOUNDGARDEN RELEASE “BLACK HOLE SUN”
Soundgarden scored their first of six #1 singles with the release of “Black Hole Sun.”

“Black Hole Sun” would spend 7 total weeks at #1 and earn the band a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

After Chris Cornell’s passing, the song’s lyrics “No one sings like you anymore”, have become a lasting tribute to the vocalist.

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MAY 15, 1975: FLEETWOOD MAC’S FIRST SHOW WITH LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & STEVIE NICKS
Sixteen months after releasing their Buckingham Nicks album, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks officially joined Fleetwood Mac.

They made their live debut in El Paso, TX to kick off the 1975-76 Fleetwood Mac Tour.

The 18-song set included most of the then-upcoming Fleetwood Mac (“white album”) and three songs from the Buckingham Nicks album.

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MAY 16, 1978: JOE WALSH RELEASES BUT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS…
Joe Walsh’s fourth solo album, But Seriously, Folks… is his highest charting solo album (#8).

Best known for the single “Life’s Been Good”, the album was certified Platinum in August 1978.

The album features contributions from Eagles bandmates Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit and Don Felder.

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MAY 17, 1985: DIRE STRAITS’ BROTHERS IN ARMS

Dire Straits’ penultimate album, Brothers in Arms, was a huge one.

Containing the singles “So Far Away”, “Walk of Life” and “Money for Nothing”, the album went to #1 all over the world on its way to selling 30 million copies worldwide.