1970 in music

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Events

• Charles Wuorinen, aged 32, becomes the youngest composer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
• January 3 - Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees.
• January 7 - Max Yasgur, owner of the New York farm where the 1969 Woodstock Festival was held, is sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighboring farmers
• January 14 - Diana Ross performs with the Supremes for the last time at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.
• January 16 - John Lennon's London Art gallery exhibit of lithographs, Bag One, is shut down by Scotland Yard for displaying "erotic lithographs"
• January 24 - James Shep Sheppard, of The Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites, is found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway
• January 26 - Simon and Garfunkel release their final album together, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The title track and album stay #1 on the Billboard charts for six weeks and go on to win a record six Grammys at the 13th Grammy Awards, including "Record of the Year," "Song of the Year," and "Album of the Year."
• January 28 - The newly formed group Band of Gypsies breaks up when guitarist Jimi Hendrix walks out after playing just two songs, telling the audience "I'm sorry we just can't get it together".
• February 11 - The film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr premieres in New York City. The film's soundtrack album, including Badfinger's "Come and Get It," (which is written and produced by Paul McCartney), is also released on Apple Records.
• February 11 - John Lennon pays £1,344 in fines for 96 people who had protested against the South African rugby team playing in Scotland.
• February 14 - The Who records Live At Leeds in Yorkshire, England
• February 17 - Joni Mitchell announces that she is retiring from live performances, following her show at London's Royal Albert Hall. Mitchell would be back performing concerts within a year.
• February 23 - Ringo Starr appears on the television show Laugh-In
• February 27 - Jefferson Airplane is fined $1,000 for using profanity during a concert in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• February 28 - Led Zeppelin performs in Copenhagen under the pseudonym The Nobs, due to threats of lawsuits from Count Evan von Zeppelin, descendant of airship designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin
• March 4 - Janis Joplin is fined $200 for using obscene language during a concert performance in Tampa, Florida
• March 6 - Cult leader and suspected murderer Charles Manson releases an album titled Lies to help finance his defense.
• March - Jim Morrison of The Doors is found guilty of indecent exposure and profanity because of his behavior during a March 1, 1969 concert. Morrison is sentenced to eight months of hard labor and a $500 fine.
• March 20 - David Bowie marries model Angela Barnett
• April 2 - The London Magistrate's Court hears arguments on John Lennon's indecency summons for his exhibition of erotic lithographs during his art exhibit on January 16
• April 3 - Minneapolis nightclub "the Depot" opens, eventually renamed to First Avenue.
• April 17 - Johnny Cash performs at the White House at the invitation of President Richard M. Nixon.
• April 20 - Paul McCartney's first solo album, McCartney is released.
• April 24 - Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is invited to a party at the White House by Tricia Nixon, daughter of US President Richard Nixon. Slick arrives at the party with Abbie Hoffman, who is on trial for conspiring to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hoffman is not allowed into the White House and leaves with Slick.
• May 15 - The Beatles' last LP, Let It Be, is released in the United States
• May 16 - Randy Bachman leaves The Guess Who to start up Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
• June 13 - "The Long and Winding Road" becomes the Beatles' last Number 1 song. http://www.beatles.com/html/thelongandwindingroad/
• July 26 - Guitarist Jimi Hendrix plays at his hometown of Seattle at Sicks Stadium where under the influence of drugs starts verbally abusing members of the audience.
• September 6 - During his final European tour, guitarist Jimi Hendrix is greeted by booing and jeering by German fans at his late appearance on stage and incoherent stage performance. Bassist Billy Cox quits the tour and heads back to the United States as a result.
• The Beatles break up. All four band members release solo albums.
• Simon and Garfunkel break up, and both members of the duo go on to solo careers.
• The Dave Clark Five break up
• Isle of Wight Festival
• Styx forms
• Jimmy Buffett begins recording
• Paul Davis begins recording
• The Monkees disband
• Eric Clapton leaves Blind Faith for a solo career
• Dalida leaves Barclay Records for Orlando Records
• Ocean forms