This Week in Music History

October 5th, 1967 – The Doors play the final show of a five night run at Steve Paul’s “The Scene” in New York City. Steve Paul, owner of The Scene, and notable as the one-time manager of Johnny Winter, refused to pay protection money to the Mafia. This was according to Sterling Morrison, then of the Velvet Underground, his refusal to pay resulted in fights being started at the club, placing its liquor license in jeopardy.

October 6th, 2007 – Bruce Springsteen is being sued for $850,000 by a man who claims he backed out of a contract to buy a horse named Pavarotti. Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa were both named in legal documents filed in Florida by Todd Minikus who claimed the couple pulled out of a deal to pay $650,000 for said horse.

October 7th, 1975 – John Lennon was finally given his ‘Green Card’ at a hearing in New York which overturned previous efforts by the Government to deport him. His 1968 arrest in Britain for possession of marijuana was the issue preventing his citizenship, but a three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled that this was “contrary to US ideas of due process and was invalid as a means of banishing the former Beatle from America.”

October 8th, 1992 - Stamps are issued by the USPS commemorating Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Otis Redding, along with other pop music legends.

October 9th, 1973 - After over six years of marriage, Elvis Presley and Priscilla finalized their divorce. The couple agreed to share custody of their daughter, and Priscilla was awarded property, $725,000 cash and $4,200 a month support. Originally she had asked for much less, but her lawyers convinced her into upping her demands, stating that a star of Elvis's stature could easily afford more for his ex-wife and daughter.

October 10th, 1970 - A song originally written for a bank advertisement makes its way to No.2 on the singles chart today. The Carpenters had re-recorded 'We've Only Just Begun,' first done by Freddie Allen. The successful ad played Allen's version over footage of a young couple getting married and was made for Crocker National Bank in California.

October 11th, 1989 - Michael Jackson attends a ceremony for the opening of the Michael Jackson Auditorium at his former elementary school in Hollywood, California. In 2003, when Jackson was on trial for suspicion of child molestation, and at the request of angry parents, school officials would cover over Jackson's name, leaving only "Auditorium" showing.