Greetings from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge, where we enrich your lives by making sure you have all the pertinent details required to win a musical trivia contest.

Here’s today’s lesson!

December 11, 1960: Aretha Franklin gives her first live performance at the Village Vanguard in New York city.

December 11, 1961: Motown Records has it’s first #1 hit on the Top 100 with Please Mr. Postman by the Marvelettes.

Also on this day, Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii goes to #1.

December 11, 1965: The Velvet Underground plays its first live gig when they open for a group called The Myddle Class in the auditorium of Summit High School in New Jersey.

December 11, 1966: Elton John’s band, Bluesology, opens for Little Richard in London. Elton would later say: “When I saw Little Richard standing on top of the piano, all lights, sequins, and energy, I decided there and then that I was going to be a rock and roll piano player.”

December 11, 1968: The Rolling Stones record their Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus TV special, then proceed to bury it for nearly 30 years.

December 11, 1970: John Lennon releases his first solo album, titled John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

December 11, 1972: Genesis plays its first US concert ever at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

December 11, 1988: Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and Don Henley perform at a Roy Orbison tribute concert at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

December 11, 1990: Led Zeppelin IV is certified Diamond with sales of 10 million in the US.

Born On This Day

December 11, 1926: Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born in Anton, Alabama. Willie Mae was the first to record Hound Dog, the song that would later be made famous by Elvis Presley.

And that is just about it from the College of Rock n’ Roll Knowledge for this fine day!