March 1971

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  1
A bomb planted in protest of the American invasion of Laos explodes at the Capitol building and destroys a U.S. Senate bathroom, though an early warning ensures no one is hurt. The Weather Underground claims responsibility.
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On the same day that the Rolling Stones announce their upcoming move to France, they also begin a ten-day tour of the United Kingdom.
 5
A fabulous night of soul and R&B at the Fillmore West becomes two LP's: Aretha Franklin, King Curtis and the Kingpins and the Tower of Power open a three-night stand that is chronicled on Franklin's Aretha Live at the Fillmore West and Curtis' King Curtis and the Kingpins Live at the Fillmore West LPs. Ray Charles makes a guest appearance on Franklin's set.

Badfinger, whose current hit is "No Matter What," begins its first American tour, of twenty cities, in Toledo, Ohio.

The FCC announces that it will pursue punitive action against radio stations broadcasting songs that present drug use in a positive light.
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In his first professional defeat, Muhammad Ali loses a 15-round decision against heavyweight contender Joe Frazier in New York City.

The counterculture- produced Radio Hanoi debuts its broadcast to U.S. forces in Vietnam with Jimi Hendrix's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and includes programming supplied by political activist Abbie Hoffman, journalist John Gabree and poet John Giomo.
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First it was the Monkees, then the Archies, now the Partridge Family. On this date, TV's fictional first family of rock receives a gold record for the song "Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted," the second of their five Top Twenty hits. The Partridge Family television sitcom aired from 1970 to 1974, and starred David Cassidy and his stepmother, Shirley Jones.
 12
John Lennon's increasing political awareness is reflected in his followup to "Working Class Hero," the plainly spoken "Power to the People," which he recorded with a New York Band, Elephant's Memory. The song is released on this date, and hits #11, making it his biggest solo hit up to this point.
 13
Billboard reports that ex-Ronette Ronnie Spector is recording her first solo album at London's Abbey Road Studios with her husband, Phil Spector, producing and ex-Beatle George Harrison contributing songs. Other musicians playing in the recording sessions include Leon Russell and Klaus Voorman. The first single, "Try Some Buy Some," will be released on the Beatles' Apple label.

The Allman Brothers Band records its breakthrough album, Live at Fillmore East. Other selections recorded at the Fillmore will be included on future albums, like "Mountain Jam" from Eat a Peach, released after Duane Allman's death in 1972.
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Bob Dylan records "Watchin' the River Flow" with Leon Russell playing piano, whichis released as a single and is later included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II.

The Thirteenth Annual Grammy Award Winners are announced and the big winners are "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists, Best Engineered Record, Best Contemporary Song), the Carpenters (Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Group) for "(They Long To Be) Close To You," Aretha Franklin (Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Female, for "Don't Play That Song") and B.B. King (Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Male, for "The Thrill Is Gone.") The Beatles' Let It Be wins for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special, and Miles Davis' seminal album Bitches Brew wins for Best Jazz Performance, Large Group or Soloist with Large Group.
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As of today, Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda- Da-Vida has been on the charts for 138 weeks and sold more than 3 million copies.
21
Don Drummond, leader and trombonist of the seminal ska group the Skatellites, dies in a Jamaican insane asylum. Once considered a leading jazz trombonist as well as one of the premiere instrumentalists of Jamaican music, Drummond had been found guilty of murdering his common-law wife, and was placed in Kingston's Bellevue Asylum.

In light of the public's and the government's growing awareness of environmental issues, the second annual Earth Day is observed.
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Harold McNair, reed-playing sessionman from England (Ginger Baker's Air Force, Donovan) dies of lung cancer.

The Rolling Stones tape a live performance at the Marquee Club for television. Although the program later aired in Europe, British television has no interest in it whatsoever.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer record their third album, Pictures at an Exhibition, live at Newcastle City Hall in Britain. Besides their interpretation of the title piece (the classical work by the Russian composer Moussorgsky), Pictures also includes a toungue-in-cheek rendering of "Nut Rocker," a pastiche of themes from Tchikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" and a hit for B. Bumble and the Stingers nine years earlier, wich becomes a minor hit for ELP in 1972.
 27
The New York Times reports that New York radio station WNBC has banned the song "One Toke over the Line" by Brewer and Shipley becuase of its alleged drug references. other stations arond the country follow suit. Tom Shipley, composer of the song, is outraged. "In this electronic age, pulling a record because of its lyrics is likethe burning of books in the Thirties."
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After a highly publicized court-martial, the U.S. Army finds Lieutenant William Calley guilty of the 1968 premeditated killings of 22 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai and sentences him to life imprisonment. In an unusually unifed outcry for clemency, government supporters defend Calley's actions and antiwar factions see him as a scapegoat for government policy . President Nixon agrees to review the case. Calley, the only person convicted for the massacre (although other army officiers were charged and tried), is eventually sentenced to ten years in prison.
  


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