On this day in 1971 David Bowie released his Hunky Dory album as he began to solidify his Ziggy Stardust image. A Classic Rocker who would later become almost as famous as Bowie played keyboards on that album. Who was it?

Answer: Rick Wakeman

Here’s the rest of today’s Rock N’ Roll Diary!

• 1971: David Bowie releases the “Hunky Dory” album in the U.S. It becomes his first collection of songs to make it onto the American charts and is the first of four albums from Bowie to chart in the U.S.
• 1982: The Who perform what was supposed to be its final North American concert at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. The band returned, however, in 1989.
• 1986: On the way to recording the BBC-TV show “The Tube,” The McCartneys’ car bursts into flames – Paul and Linda escape unhurt. Also in ’86, members of the disbanded Doobie Brothers reunite for a children’s hospital benefit. Four months later, the band regrouped and began performing reunion shows.
• 2000: Bruce Springsteen and other artists perform the 1st of two benefit concerts at the Convention Center in Asbury Park. The money goes to several charities.
• 2002: The film This is Spinal Tap is chosen by the National Film Registry for historical preservation. The Library of Congress chose the entries, which picked the movies that it saw as, quote, “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

Because of course, who thinks of classic moments in American cinema history without thinking of the historical, cultural and aesthetic genius of amps that go to 11?

From the WZLX ticket stash… Bob Seger was at the Fenway Theatre in 1971…And in 1978 George Thorogood and the Destroyers played the Paradise.