Issued on Dec. 11, 1970, ‘Plastic Ono Band’ found John Lennon confronting demons, talismans and heroes – but he never rocked harder than he does here.

The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman probably thought less about today’s anniversary – he left the group he co-founded on Dec. 9, 1992 – than most fans.

A deeper dive actually finds more similarities than you might expect between Bad Company and Foreigner.

Steve Cropper discusses a session where John Lennon, who’d be murdered on Dec. 8, 1980, showed off a riff he’d saved just for Booker T. and the MGs.

‘Band on the Run,’ released on Dec. 5, 1973, pushes Paul McCartney to new places, as he incorporates every part of his pop genius.

‘Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House,’ issued on Dec. 2, 2008, presents Neil Young before he rose to solo stardom. But you’d never know it.

The Doobie Brothers’ ‘Minute by Minute,’ released on Dec. 1, 1978, features most people’s favorite Michael McDonald-era song. But mine’s not “What a Fool Believes.”

This Dennis DeYoung-led track illustrates all that Styx aspired to on the way to becoming one of the biggest late-1970s arena rock bands.

Eddie Van Halen must have been paying close attention to Steve Hackett’s unique approach to the song, released in November 1971 on Genesis’ ‘Nursery Cryme.’

Pity the poor Brits, who didn’t initially receive the full 11-song U.S. version of the Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ released on Nov. 27, 1967.