On this day October 14 in Rock history:

1962 - At a time when political correctness had not been thought of, 42-year-old actor Rex Allen sees his recording of "Don't Go Near The Indians" peak at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song tells the story of a young man who disobeys his father's advice and falls in love with a beautiful Native American girl, only to find out that she is his biological sister.

1967 - After fifteen straight weeks at the top of the Billboard Top LPs chart, The Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is knocked out of the number one spot by Bobbie Gentry's LP, "Ode To Billie Joe".

The Bee Gees scored their first UK #1 with "Massachusetts", which would go on to sell over five million copies worldwide. Robin Gibb would later admit that he and his brothers had never actually been to Massachusetts when they recorded the song, they just liked the sound of the name.

1969 - Mowtown Records released "Someday We'll Be Together", by Diana Ross And The Supremes. Although the record was promoted as the final Supremes' song to feature Diana Ross, she was the only member of the group to actually sing on the recording. Neither Mary Wilson or Cindy Birdsong contributed. The background vocals were provided entirely by session singers Merry Clayton, Julia Waters Tillman, and Maxine Waters Willard, alongside producer Johnny Bristol.

1970 - President Richard Nixon hosted a White House conference for radio executives to address youth drug abuse following the recent deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Nixon urged broadcasters to voluntarily screen Rock lyrics and ban songs promoting illegal drug use. This pressure eventually led the FCC to warn stations, prompting widespread soft-banning of several prominent tracks.

1971 - Music publishing firm Arco Industries files a $500,000 dollar lawsuit against Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty, claiming that his song "Travelin' Band" contains substantial material copied from Little Richard's "Good Golly, Miss Molly". The suit was eventually settled out of court, with the publisher being granted a share of the song's future royalties.

1972 - Michael Jackson's song "Ben", from the movie of the same name, reaches number one on Billboard's Pop chart and #7 in the UK. It's the third hit in a year for the 14-year-old singer.

Joe Cocker and members of his touring band were arrested for marijuana possession in Adelaide, Australia. Rather than facing jail time, Cocker pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a $300 fine. Although he was initially allowed to continue his tour, a subsequent hotel altercation in Melbourne prompted the Australian government to issue a 48-hour deportation order, forcing him out of the country.

1975 - Columbia Records releases Art Garfunkel's second solo album, "Breakaway". It features three Top 40 singles: "I Only Have Eyes for You" (US #18, UK #1), "Break Away" (US #39) and the Simon & Garfunkel reunion duet, "My Little Town" (US #9). The LP would peak at #7 on both the UK's Official Album Chart and Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart. It would be certified Gold in Britain for sales of over 100,000 and Platinum in America for moving one million units.

1977 - Bing Crosby died of heart failure at the age of 74. He was a popular crooner and actor in the 1930s, '40s and '50s who placed two songs in the Billboard Top 40 during the Rock era, "True Love" (#3 in 1956) and "Around The World" (#25 in 1957). His rendition of "White Christmas" holds the record for the biggest selling song in the world, with sales of over fifty million copies.

Linda Ronstadt sings the US National Anthem at Dodger Stadium to open the third game of the World Series against the New York Yankees. Standing alone on the field, Ronstadt wore jeans and a blue satin Dodgers warmup jacket that had been gifted to her by manager Tommy Lasorda. She would wear a similar satin athletic jacket, roller skates, and short shorts on the cover of her multi-platinum 1978 album, "Living in the USA".

Casablanca Records starts shipping "Alive II" by KISS. Recorded during the band's August 26–28 shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California, the album would rise to #7 in America and be certified Double Platinum in February, 1996. In the UK, the LP stalled at #60.

1978 - All four solo albums by the members of KISS break through Billboard's Top 100. Gene Simmons effort will prove to be the highest charting at #22, followed by Ace Freshly at #26, then Paul Stanley at #40 and Peter Criss at #43.

1983 - Cyndi Lauper's debut album, "She's So Unusual" is released by Portrait Records. The LP would rise to #4 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and #16 on the UK Official Albums Chart. Five singles would be issued from the collection, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (US #2), "Time After Time" (US #1), "She Bop" (US #3), "All Through The Night" (US #5) and "Money Changes Everything" (US #27).

Motown Records releases Lionel Richie's second solo album, "Can't Slow Down". It will top the charts in both the US and the UK, and contains the hit singles "All Night Long (All Night)" (US #1, UK #2) and "Hello" (US #1, UK #1). The LP would go on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 1985 ceremony.