DJ Fred’s Rock N Roll Factoids For December 10th [VIDEOS]

Good Vibrations, Brian Wilson's masterpiece, hit #1 on this day in 1966. Did you ever wonder how he  came up with the premise of the song?  No?  Well, we're gonna tell you anyway.

One day, little Brian's mama told him that dogs could pick up on bad vibrations from people, and that they would then bark.  Wilson would take that idea and turn it into a song, a song that apparently not many dogs barked at.

It was another music tragedy on this date in 1967 when soul singer Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash. Otis and his band had just performed live on a local TV show the day before.  The plane crashed into the icy waters of Madison at 3:28pm, killing numerous musicians on board.  Everyone died except the trumpet player.  So kids, learn to blow.

On this day in 1971 Frank Zappa was pushed off the stage by a jealous boyfriend while performing at the Rainbow Theatre in London.  Zappa was severely injured and had to spend the next half year in a wheel chair.  His larynx was crushed in the episode, which believe it or not caused his voice to drop even further.

In 1999 Rick Danko died in his sleep at his home near Woodstock, New York. Danko was the bass player for The Band, which started out as Bob Dylan's back up band and quickly turned into an American institution.

On this date in 2004, a microphone that Elvis Presley had used in the 1950s for the Louisiana Hayride shows sold for over $37,000 at auction.  The buyer didn't seem to care that the mic was covered in residue leftover from jelly donuts. Five years later another lucky buyer would literally pick up a clump of hair that once originated on the King's head.  Lucky guy.

It was on this date in 2007 that the surviving members of Led Zeppelin would get together for the first time in nineteen years at London's O2 Arena. The show had to be postponed three weeks because Jimmy Page had injured his pinky finger.  Jason Bonham filled on the drums for his late father.  Robert Plant nutted up and sang old songs for a few glorious hours.