October 1973

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The cream of the Bay Area's rock talent gets together for a performance to benefit from a "friend" named Badger. Promoter Bill Graham is upset, becuase Badger turns out to be a member of the Hell's Angels who needs some legal aid. Graham is well known to be no fan of the outlaw motorcycle gang.
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Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young perform together for the first time in two years -- unofficially. The concert, held at San Francisco's Winterland ballroom, is actually a Stephen Stills and Manassas show, but first Graham Nash and David Crosby walk on stage, and then later are joined by Neil Young for a fifty-minute set.
 5
Marijuana decriminalization begins: Oregon removes criminal penalties for possession of less than an ounce of pot.
 6
The Yom Kippur War erupts as Israel battles Syria on the Golan Heights and Egypt along the Suez Canal. Within days, Israeli forces will come within 20 miles of Damascus, engaging Iraqi and Syrian forces, and will encircle Egyptian units on the far side of the canal. Jordan and Saudi Arabia will contribute forces to the Arab effort; the U.S. will counter Soviet and North Korean aid to Arab states with a large airlift of arms to Israel and a boycott of Arab oil. By Oct. 24, hostilities abate as Israel and Syria, but not Egypt, accept a UN cease-fire.
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Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorce after six years of marriage. She is awarded a sizable amount of property; $725,000 and an additional $4,200 a month for the support of their five-year-old daughter; half the proceeds from the planned sale of an L.A. home; and five percent of the total outstanding stock in two publishing companies. The couple emerge from a Santa Monica, California, courthouse arm in arm, kiss and depart separately.
 10
After two weeks of hearings before a Baltimore grand jury, Vice President Spiro Agnew pleads no contest to one couint of tax evasion during his terms as Maryland governor and resigns from office. His replacement, Congressman Gerald Ford of Michigan, receives congressional approval on Nov. 27.
 11
"Hello, Hello" -- again: Rolling Stone reports that the Sopwith Camel, one of Frisco's good-vibes bands of the mid-Sixties, have reformed. The group's already recorded an LP: The Miraculous Hump Returns from the Moon. The Camel's lineup is unchanged, except for the addition of a keyboardist.
 12
Elton John gets a gold record for his ambitious two-record Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, his third consecutive Number One LP. The album holds at the top spot for two months.
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The Supreme Court decides, by a 7-2 vote, to refuse to review a 1971 Federal Communications directive that broadcasters, in effect, censor from the airwaves songs with drug-oriented lyrics. The two dissenting votes are cast by Justices William J. Brennan and William O. Douglas, who says, "The government cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, require a broadcaster to censor its music."
 16
Legendary jazz drummer Gene Krupa dies.
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David Bowie releases Pin-Ups, a collection of mid-Sixties cover versions including the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind, the Merseybeats' "Sorrow" and two numbers by the Who. Posing next to Bowie on the cover is model Twiggy.
 20
The Rolling Stones have their first Number One ballad, "Angie," a song that sparks rumors that it's a love song from Jagger to David Bowie's wife, Angela.

President Nixon fires Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus (and accepts the subsequent resignation of Attorney General Elliot Richardson) for not supporting his refusal to submit any White House tapes to the Watergate investigations. Within days of this "Saturday Night Massacre," the House introduces eight impeachment resolutions, and Nixon finally agrees to give the tapes to Judge Sirica.
21
Three hundred Louisiana state troopers are dispatched to the Day in the Sun rock concert at Southland Dragway, where they make over 100 arrests, most for alleged possession of cannabis. According to Sheriff Charlton P. Rozards, gunfire at the fringe of the crowd of about 7,500 and a rock-and-bottle throwing incident led to the early closing of the concert. he blames the disturbance on "a group of bad eggs from out of town on drugs."

The Oakland A's defeat the New York Mets in seven games and win their second consecutive World Series.
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Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho receive Nobel Peace Prizes for their efforts in securing the Jan. 28 cease-fire agreement, but Tho declines his in light of continuing hostilities. A day earlier, South Vietnam revealed that it had accrued more than 48,000 casualties on both sides since the truce began, including almost 1,700 civilians; the U.S. will report the next day that North Vietnam had maneuvered an additional 70,000 troops into South Vietnam during that time.
 24
The world's most famous backup singer, Art Garfunkel, receives a gold album for his first solo effort, Angel Clare, which contains the biggest hit of his career, Jimmy Webb's "All I Know."

Kieth Richards is fined $500 and is given conditional discharges on four drug charges and three firearms offenses following trial in Marlborough Street Magistrate Court. Actress Anita Pallenberg, arrested with Richards back on June 26 when police raided their Chelsea home, is given a conditional discharge for possesion of twenty-five Mandrax tablets. Just ten days earlier, both were fines $1,000 in France for possession of controlled substances, that also from an earlier bust.
 25
John Lennon sues the U.S. government, maintaining that wiretaps and surveillance were employed against him and his attorney, Leon Wildes. The suit claims that as a result, his appeal applications in his fight against deportation were prejudged by U.S. officials.
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The Who's latest masterwork, Quadrophenia, goes gold. More cohesive than the more celebrated Tommy, Quadrophenia tells the story of this four-sided band, using the mod era of England as a backdrop, and with each band member being given his own musical theme, which is reprised at points throughout. Quadrophenia will later be turned into a film.
 30
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John Lennon releases the Mind Games LP and the title track as a single. Both become his most popular records in quite some time, the album reaching #9, the single, #18. The same day, Ringo Starr's Ringo is released.
  


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