November 28, 1974: Elton John & John Lennon at The Garden On Thanksgiving

November 28, 1974: On Thanksgiving night, close to the height of his musical talent, fame and charisma, Elton John rocked Madison Square Garden in New York with considerable gusto. But that, by itself, wouldn't have put this concert on this blog.

At the end of the show, Elton brought on a special guest. He had made a bet with an old friend, former Beatle John Lennon, that if John's song "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," on which Elton had sung backup, hit Number 1 in the U.S., John would join him for this show. It did.

John kept his word, and the audience, totally unaware that he was coming, gave the building its greatest ovation ever, with the possible exception of the one when Willis Reed limped onto the court for the New York Knicks before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals.

Together, the Walrus and the Rocket Man played 3 songs: "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," Elton's reworking of John's Beatle classic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and a song John introduced as being "by an old friend named Paul": "I Saw Her Standing There."

Those 3 songs -- possibly the inspiration for Lorne Michaels' never-accepted (except by George alone) invitation for the Beatles to reunite for 3 songs, getting paid $3,000, on Saturday Night Live in 1976 -- made this show a legend.

That, and the fact that it was John's last concert appearance of any kind. In 1982, referencing flower gardens and, perhaps, also Madison Square Garden, Elton had a hit with "Empty Garden (Hey, Hey, Johnny)":

And I've been knocking

but no one answers.

And I've been knocking

for most of the day.

Oh, and I've been calling:

Oh, hey, hey, Johnny

can you come out to play?

*

November 28, 1974, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins, 24-23 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. This was the Clint Longley Game, and I have a separate entry for it.

And the Denver Broncos beat the Detroit Lions, 31-27. This was the Lions' last game at Tiger Stadium. They played their last 2 regular-season games on the road, did not make the Playoffs, and moved into the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac, Michigan the next season.

There was one college football game that day, and, at the time, it was a major rivalry. Penn State, then ranked Number 10 in the country beat the 18th-ranked University of Pittsburgh, 31-18 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Since Pitt joined the Big East Conference in 1991, Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993, and especially since Pitt switched to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013, this rivalry has not been played annually anymore.

In recent times, to avoid losing television viewers to football, the NBA and the NHL usually don't play on Thanksgiving Day. However, there were 2 games in the NBA. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 110-103 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 88-85 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

And 1 game was played in the American Basketball Association. The Kentucky Colonels beat the Virginia Squires, 108-95 at The Scope in Norfolk.

There was 1 game in the NHL, and Detroit was involved, but not at home. The Detroit Red Wings lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. There were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The Vancouver Blazers beat the Toronto Toros, 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Indianapolis Racers, 7-5 at the new Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Houston Aeros beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* And the Chicago Cougars beat the San Diego Mariners, 3-2 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).