This Week in Music History: Crazy Waxed…Moon Splashed…Fans Hosed…Jagger Shot
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of August 18
1947: Keith Moon is born in Wembley, England…though often remembered for his hard boozing, drum-kit smashing, and general hooliganism, Moon was among the first rock drummers to go far beyond the role of a mere timekeeper…on classic Who tracks like "I Can See for Miles" Moon's escalating rolls and cymbal crashes served as counterpoints to Pete Townshend's towering power chords…
1961: Patsy Cline records her signature song, “Crazy”…the country star is on crutches, recovering from a recent car wreck in which she’d sailed through the windshield…broken ribs that are still healing make it tough for Patsy to hit the high notes…
1962: The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit is “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva…the singer, a former babysitter for the husband and wife songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, achieves Cinderella-like stardom after the couple ask her to cut a demo of the song…Grand Funk and Kylie Minogue will also chart with their covers of the tune in 1974 and 1988 respectively…
1963: Stevie Wonder becomes the first artist to notch a No. 1 album and single in the same week…his LP Little Stevie Wonder: The 12 Year Old Genius spawns the single “Fingertips Part 2”…featuring the prodigy blowing some very funky harmonica, it becomes the first ever live single to go to No. 1…
1965: A couple of hundred unruly rock 'n' rollers are drenched with a fire hose after they overrun barricades while waiting to get into a TV studio for a Rolling Stones appearance in Manchester…
1966: The Beatles arrive in New York for a concert at Shea Stadium...a couple of girls threaten to jump from a hotel ledge unless they see the group...they get to see some cops instead and are charged with disorderly conduct…
1967: The New York Times reports on the new noise-reduction system for records and tapes pioneered by the Dolby brothers...drummers everywhere pan the system as a cymbal killer…meanwhile The Beatles enjoy their 14th No. 1 hit on the US pop chart with “All You Need is Love”…the single includes backing vocals by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, and Marianne Faithfull…
1968: Responding to a study reporting damage to the ears of guinea pigs subjected to loud music, New York disco owner Steve Paul quips, "Should a major increase in guinea pig attendance occur at The Scene, we'll certainly bear their comfort in mind"…this same week Who drummer Keith Moon caps a truly bacchanalian 21st birthday bash by driving a Rolls Royce into the pool at a Holiday Inn in Flint, MI...though Moon biographer Tony Fletcher in his book, Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend maintains it never a happened, Who vocalist Roger Daltrey begs to differ saying, "I saw it. We paid the bill (for the damages). It was $50,000. It's vague now, but I just remember the car in the pool. And the chaos. And Keith being rushed off to the dentist after being arrested because he knocked his front tooth out... But then I read in the biography that never happened, so maybe I've been living someone else's life, I don't know"…
1969: Mick Jagger is accidentally shot in the hand during the filming of Ned Kelly in Australia...his wound is not serious…the film production is further troubled when Jagger’s main squeeze, Marianne Faithfull, who’s been cast to the play the female lead, ODs on sleeping pills as her relationship with Mick sours…this is also the week Miles Davis goes into the studio in New York for the first sessions of the landmark album Bitches Brew with a who's who band of future fusion greats…
1970: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s LP Cosmos’ Factory begins a nine-week run at the top of the album chart…the title refers to the warehouse where frontman John Fogerty rigorously rehearsed the band, leading drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford to start calling it the “factory”…this same week the original Velvet Underground lineup performs for the last time at New York club Max’s Kansas City…Lou Reed will take up a day job for the next couple of years typing for his father’s business at $40 a week…
1975: Queen begin recording “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Rockfield Studio One in Monmouth, Wales...by completion, four additional studios are used making it one of the most expensive singles ever produced...the 30-second operatic sequence takes three weeks to record with 180 overdubbed voices...the vocal harmonies are duplicated so many times that the original vocal parts are eight generations down...the original 24-track tape becomes so worn out it has to be copied to a fresh 24-track tape…
1976: Variety reports that Marvin Gaye is facing jail time in L.A. for unpaid alimony and child support…
1977: It's a black day at Graceland when more than 75,000 people gather to lay the King to rest...Elvis Presley is entombed near his mother in a marble mausoleum in Memphis at Forest Hill Cemetery...the day before the funeral,FTD sells more flowers than they have for any other single event…this same week The Sex Pistols embark on an undercover British tour as The Spots…the name is an acronym for Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly…
1980: 1,400 Alice Cooper fans in Toronto take umbrage when the original make-up rocker gets sick and can't make the show...they throw a big stinkin' riot in protest…
1981: Some simpering loser whose name we won’t mention is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of John Lennon…
1983: Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis the fifth, Shawn Stevens, is found dead, the result of a methadone OD…
1986: New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi release their album, Slippery When Wet, which will peak at No.1 on the US charts and sell over 28 million copies worldwide…hit singles off the LP include “You Give Love A Bad Name” and “Livin’ On A Prayer”…also this week, drummer Rick Allen performs his first live show with Def Leppard since losing an arm in a 1984 car wreck…he uses a specially engineered electronic drum kit with a foot-operated snare drum…
1990: A Nevada court exonerates metal band Judas Priest in a $6.2 million civil suit filed by the parents of two youths who committed suicide in 1985, allegedly as a result of listening to the band's records…
1994: Drummer Dave Abbruzzese is dismissed from Pearl Jam…the band tells the media he left to pursue music studies, but Abbruzzese maintains he was fired for reasons unknown… fans speculate that singer Eddie Vedder was unhappy with the drummer’s embrace of the band's superstardom, something the other members are less comfortable with …
1995: Singer Natalie Merchant becomes the first guest on Elektra's new online chat site…the former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman later says she won't make a habit of virtual chatting as it hurts her eyes and would make her feel lonely when her computer's off…aah, the innocence of those early web days…
1997: Promoting their upcoming Bridges to Babylon Tour, the Rolling Stones show up for a media event at the Brooklyn Bridge in a red '55 Cadillac with Mick at the wheel…this same week a 50-mile section of Interstate 65 in Alabama is dedicated as the Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway…
2004: The U.S. Court of Appeals rules that file sharing services such as Grokster and StreamCast do not bear responsibility for user’s illegal activities...the ruling puts a crimp in the RIAA’s attacks on peer-to-peer services that enable the dissemination of MP3s...instead the recording industry will have to go after individual violators of copyright laws...also this week, Queen becomes the first band to have a rock album legally released in Iran...the album is a compilation of the band’s hits...Queen’s vocalist Freddie Mercury was of Iranian extraction…
2005: A tearful Courtney Love is yet again ordered into rehab by a judge after a court-ordered drug test comes up positive...this same week charges by a makeup artist claiming that Snoop Dogg drugged and raped her following a Jimmy Kimmel Live taping in 2003 are dropped… a Dogg spokesman says there was no payoff to the plaintiff…
2006: Unable to pay its bills, Tower Records has its water shut off by the major record labels who refuse to ship new product...the 89-store chain that previously went through a 2004 restructuring bankruptcy will soon shut down...this same week In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan disses modern recording methods saying, “ I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really.” Responding to the question of illegal music downloads, he says, “Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway. You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious…There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like...static."…
2007: British neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse postpones her planned U.S. tour three weeks before the kickoff...word has it she needs to kick alcohol and drug dependencies...meanwhile officials of Britains O2 Arena are told off for permitting Ron Wood and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones to light up onstage in violation of the country’s strict new anti-smoking laws…also this week, Queen guitarist Brian May receives an astronomy doctorate—36 years after starting his thesis…the 60-year-old, rocker, who handed in his 48,000-word thesis earlier this month, says, "You can call me Dr May!"…
2008: The Democratic National Convention in Denver takes on the look of a Lollapalooza show as dozens of top-flight acts descend on the Mile-High City in support of Barack Obama…artists include Melissa Etheridge, Dave Matthews Band, David Crosby and Graham Nash, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Stevie Wonder, and Daughtry…in other political developments, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart send a cease-and-desist order to John McCain’s campaign after their hit “Barracuda” is played at the GOP’s convention in St. Paul upon the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate … in a statement the band says, “The Republican campaign did not ask permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission…Palin’s high school nickname was Sarah Barracuda…
2009: With a deepening economic recession, touring acts are dropping prices to fill seats … stars like Aerosmith, Kid Rock, and No Doubt are pushing lawn seats for a paltry $10 and even pop phenom Miley Cyrus fills the seats at a Memphis venue by blowing out tickets at $15.75 a pop …
2010: French perfume maker Etat Libre D'Orange announces a partnership with The Sex Pistols to market a scent that recalls the punk era…the fragrance comes in packaging that borrows graphics from the punk band’s first single “God Save the Queen”…company executives say, "to wear this scent, you must resist tradition, fight conformity, and disregard aromatic conventions."…personally, we’re scared to sniff it…
2013: In the Department of Would You Like Chips with That?…following Beyonce’s performance at the V Festival, a British fast food chicken joint called Nando’s fills an order for the singer’s entourage consisting of 48 whole chickens, 24 tubs of coleslaw, 58 chicken wing platters, and 48 orders of chips…the tab is nearly £1,500…
This Week’s Hatches
August 18: lyricist Otto Harbach (1873), folk singer Cisco Houston (1918), singer for The Move Carl Wayne (1944), singer Sarah Dash of Labelle (1945), singer Barbara Harris of The Toys (1945), Split Enz bassist Nigel Griggs (1949), Dennis Elliott of Foreigner (1950), John Rees of Men At Work (1951), bassist and singer Marvin Isley of the Isley Brother (1953), Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier (1956), guitarist and vocalist Ron Strykert of Men at Work (1957), Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters (1967), rapper, singer, songwriter Everlast, born Erik Schrody (1969) , Richard James of Aphex Twin (1971), multi-instrumentalist and singer Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire (1977)
August 19: Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers (1913), jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles (1918), pop and country singer Johnny Preston (1939), Cream drummer Ginger Baker (1939), reggae singer Johnny Nash (1940), vocalist Billy J. Kramer of the Dakotas (1943), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple (1945), bassist John Deacon of Queen (1951), country singer Lee Ann Womack (1966), rapper Nate Dogg born Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (1969), Technotronic DJ MC Eric (1970), rapper Lil’ Romeo (1989)
August 20: jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden (1905), country star Jim Reeves (1924), jazz guitarist Jimmy Raney (1927), Paul Robi of The Platters (1931), pedal steel maestro “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow (1934), bluesman J.J. Malone (1935), country singer-songwriter Justin Tubb (1935), Ralph “Pee Wee” Middlebrooks of The Ohio Players (1939), Tom Coster of Santana (1941), soul man Isaac Hayes (1942), John Povey of The Pretty Things (1942), James Pankow of Chicago (1947), Led Zep singer Robert Plant (1948), Thin Lizzy singer and bassist Phil Lynott (1951), Rudy Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers (1952), Doug Fieger of The Knack (1952), Americana singer/guitarist John Hiatt (1952), heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell, born Darrell Lance Abbott (1966), Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit (1970), pop singer Demi Lovato (1992)
August 21: bandleader and pianist William "Count" Basie (1904), big band singer Savannah Churchill (1920), gospel singer Clara Ward (1924), songwriter Carolyn Leigh (1926), singer Kenny Rogers (1938), Nashville guitarist James Burton (1939), Harold W. Reid of The Statler Brothers (1939), Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (1952), Joe Strummer of The Clash (1952), drummer Steve Smith of Journey (1954), Budgie born Pete Clark of Siouxsie and the Banshees (1957), System of a Down singer Serj Tankian (1967), Liam Howlett of Prodigy (1971), country guitarist Sam McGee (1975), singer Melissa Schuman of Dream (1984)
August 22: composer Achille-Claude Debussy (1862), classic blues singer Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey (1910), R&B bandleader and pianist Sonny Thompson (1916), primal Mississippi bluesman John Lee Hooker (1917), bluesman Carolina Slim born Edward P. Harris (1923), Bob Flanigan of The Four Freshmen (1926), producer and songwriter Jerry Capehart (1928), rockabilly pioneer Dale Hawkins (1936), “Godfather of Go-Go”, Chuck Brown (1936), Freddie Milano of Dion and The Belmonts (1939), singer Jackie DeShannon (1944), Donna Godchaux of The Grateful Dead (1947), guitarist and singer Carl Giammarese of The Buckinghams (1947), Teresa Davis of The Emotions (1950), rock bassist and singer Glenn Hughes (1951), Pere Ubu guitarist Peter Laughner (1952), country chirper and writer Holly Dunn (1957), Kim Sledge of Sister Sledge (1958), Ian Mitchell of The Bay City Rollers (1958), Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (1958), Debbi Peterson of The Bangles (1961), Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears (1961), singer-songwriter Tori Amos (1963), James DeBarge of DeBarge (1963), Layne Staley of Alice in Chains (1967), Matchbox Twenty's drummer Paul Doucette (1972), Howie Dorough of Backstreet Boys (1973)
August 23: song and dance man Gene Kelly (1912), country singer Tex Williams (1917), Rudy Lewis of The Drifters (1936), Jamaican producer Bunny Lee (1941), Ramon Phillips of The Nashville Teens (1941), British singer and songwriter Roger Greenaway (1942), Who drummer Keith Moon (1947), singer Rick Springfield (1949), Jim Sohns of Shadows of Knight (1949), Jim Jamison of Survivor (1951), Dean DeLeo of the Stone Temple Pilots (1961), Colin Angus of The Shamen (1961), The Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder (1962), Cedella Marley of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers (1967), Shifty Shellshock aka Seth Binzer of Crazy Town (1974), Strokes singer-songwriter Julian Casablancas (1978), Sky Blu aka Skyler Austen Gordy of LMFAO (1986)
August 24: bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1905), jump blues singer Wynonie Harris (1915), country songwriter Fred Rose (1917), Louis Teicher of Ferrante and Teicher (1924), William Winfield of The Harptones (1929), David Frieberg of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1938), guitarist Mason Williams (1938), Ernest Wright of Little Anthony and the Imperials (1939), rock promoter and manager Tony Secunda (1940), pop singer Jimmy Soul (1942), Joe Chambers of The Chambers Brothers (1942), Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina (1943), drummer Jim Capaldi of Traffic (1944), Malcolm Duncan of Average White Band (1945), Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep (1945), James Gang drummer and organist Jim Fox (1947), Heart's Mike DeRosier (1951), bassist Juan Nelson (1958), bassist Mark Bedford of Madness (1961), John Bush of Anthrax (1963), Pebbles born Perri McKissack (1964), metal guitarist Andreas Kisser of Sepultura (1968)
This Week’s Dispatches
August 18: blues and R&B pianist Michael M. Jones (1984), psychedelic concert poster artist Rick Griffin (1981), session pianist Richard Tee (1993), Leonard “Chick” Carbo of The Spiders (1998), Belgian impresario and concert promoter Freddy Cousaert (1998), bluegrass picker Charlie Waller (2004), film composer Elmer Bernstein (2004), Pervis Jackson of The Spinners (2008)
August 19: blues legend Blind Willie McTell (1959), rockabilly star Dorsey Burnette (1979), jazz sax player and organist Guy Durosier (1999), soul singer Betty Everett (2001), Culture singer Joseph Hill (2006), sax player LeRoi Moore of The Dave Matthews Band (2008), singer Michael Been of The Call (2010)
August 20: jazz trumpeter Thad Jones (1986), steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys (1988), rock singer Rio Reiser (1996), Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan (1999), session keyboard and bass player Larry Knechtel (2009)
August 21: gospel, doo-wop, and blues singer, Alden Bunn AKA Tarheel Slim (1977), synth pioneer Robert Moog (2005), punk rock producer Jerry Finn 2008), Nashville session drummer Buddy Harman (2008), doo-wop singer Johnny Carter of The Flamingos and The Dells (2009)
August 22: bluesman John Lee Granderson (1979), Chicago blesman Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1987), honky-tonk legend Floyd Tillman (2003), drummer Bruce Gary (2006) Ralph Young of the Sandler-Young singing duo (2008), songwriter Jerry Leiber (2011), songwriter Nick Ashford (2011)
August 23: songwriter Oscar Hammerstein II (1960), Skinny Puppy drummer Dwayne Goettel (1995), Eleanor Guest of Gladys Knight and The Pips (1997), jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (2006), jazz multi-instrumentalist Byard Lancaster (2012)
August 24:trumpeter and singer Louis Prima (1978), bluesman L.C. Greene (1985), Motown session drummer Larry Londin (1992), Jesse Bolian of The Artistics (1994), Billy Joel’s bassist Doug Stegmeyer (1995), producer and arranger Gene Page (1998)
Re:Chas's Music Column - Bumber December Issue W/E 15th, 22nd & 29thr
This Week in Music History: Beatles Meet the King…Izzy Deplaned…Slipknot’s Big Night
Posted on Sunday, 24 August 2014 14:08.
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of August 25
1949: Hank Williams records his classic weeper “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die”…inspired by his troubled marriage, Williams originally intended to speak rather than sing the lyrics…
1958: Eddie Cochran’s biggest hit, “Summertime Blues,” enters the Billboard Top 100, where it will peak at #8 and sell over a million copies...much covered by others, it will be a No. 1 hit for country artist Alan Jackson and sell beaucoup singles in versions by The Who and Blue Cheer…this same week the doo-wopping Elegants score the No. 1 single with “Little Star,” their reworking of a Mozart lullaby…one-hit wonders, their star will soon fade…
1963: “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes hits the charts...the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys—a touch of it in can perhaps be heard in Brian’s own “Good Vibrations”…
1964: Following their show at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the Beatles meet and hang out with Bob Dylan in a New York hotel where he introduces them to marijuana…
1965: Taking a break from their U.S. tour, The Beatles hang out at a Byrds recording session, then later that day meet Elvis at the King’s Beverly Hills mansion…the Fab Four are underwhelmed by his personality with John Lennon remarking shortly after, “Where’s Elvis? It was like meeting Engelbert Humperdinck”…
1966: The Beatles play their last date in front of a sold-out paid audience of 25,000 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park…unlike the crowd, the Fab Four know it’s the last time they’ll appear on a concert stage and take photos between songs…during this tour the band has not played a single song off their newly released Revolver LP, and end the show with Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” a set-list staple going back to their Hamburg days…
1967: The Beatles take a break from touring and recording to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Wales…the lads will later become disenchanted with the roly-poly Indian guru…this same week Beatles manager Brian Epstein dies from an overdose of sleeping pills…
1968: The Beatles release the single “Hey Jude” which eclipses “Like a Rolling Stone” as the longest single to receive airplay by nearly a minute at 7:06...it is the first release from newly formed Apple Records and becomes The Beatles biggest hit, going to No 1 around the world...the recording took two days and involved a 36-piece orchestra that also provided hand claps and sang the na-na-nahs on the fadeout...the epic ballad begins with Paul McCartney playing the piano and ends with 50 layered instruments, including the symphony…
1969: The Rolling Stones’ single “Street Fighting Man” is released…written by Mick Jagger after attending a tumultuous anti-Vietnam War protest at the U.S. embassy in London, it’s the Stones’ most overtly political song to date…the single never gets above #48 on the U.S. pop chart as many radio stations refuse to play it…
1970: Duane Allman begins sessions as a member of Derek & The Dominos...Eric Clapton praises Allman as the catalyst in a double-album project that wraps in just 10 days producing Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, one the most acclaimed rock albums of all time…this same week The Kinks’ transvestite-themed single “Lola” is released...the song, which revived the band’s flagging popularity, was inspired by their manager’s drunken club experience unknowingly dancing with a she-man...Ray Davies had to re-record the line "You drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola" at the last minute over trademark concerns with the original, "…it tastes just like Coca-Cola"...Lola reappears in “Paranoia,” a later Kinks tune…
1971: Paul McCartney's jaunty single "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is the No. 1 pop hit of the week…the former Beatle reveals that he actually had an Uncle Albert who used to get drunk and quote the Bible…
1976: Boston releases their self-titled debut album...it spawns three hit singles and shoots to the top of the charts and remains the fastest-selling debut albums of all time until it’s finally unseated by Whitney Houston’s debut LP in 1986...ironically, 1986 is the same year Boston finally releases its third album, their release cycle slowed by guitarist Tom Scholz’s momentum-killing perfectionist leanings...by this time most of the band, including Sib Hashian and his afro have left the band in frustration…in this same week a court rules that George Harrison “subconsciously” plagiarized “He’s So Fine,” a 1963 hit for girl group The Chiffons, in writing his song “My Sweet Lord”…after much legal wrangling, payment is made ten years later…to cash in on the controversy, The Chiffons issue their cover of “My Sweet Lord” and Harrison records “This Song” expressing his frustration over the case…
1977: Three people are nabbed in Memphis for attempting to steal the remains of Elvis...to foil further attempts, the late King is moved from the cemetery to a more secure resting place at Graceland…
1986: Paul Simon releases his landmark album Graceland…featuring a host of top South African artists, the record gives a big surge to world music sales…
1987: CBS Records ships a record-setting 2.25 million pre-ordered copies of Michael Jackson’s latest LP, Bad, to stores…it will sell 13 million worldwide…a huge number for any other artist, it’s a bit of a disappointment in the wake of Thriller and its 35 million in sales…
1989: Izzy Stradlin of Guns N’ Roses is arrested in Phoenix for causing a public disturbance...he was on a flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis when the plane made an unscheduled landing in Phoenix just to dump him off...he had verbally abused a flight attendant, urinated on the floor, and smoked in the non-smoking section of the plane...Izzy was apparently angry about the long potty queue…
1990: The world of rock and modern blues takes a big hit when Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a Wisconsin helicopter crash that also takes the lives of three members of Eric Clapton's entourage…
1991: Pearl Jam releases their first LP, Ten…it will sell more than 13 million copies and spin off three hit singles, “Alive,” “Even Flow,” and “Jeremy”…
1993: An acetate recording of a Beatles performance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club fetches £16,500 at Christies in London…it’s a record price for such a recording…
1994: Jimmy Buffett crashes his seaplane during takeoff in Nantucket, Mass…he safely swims away from the wreckage…
1996: Isaac Hayes, who co-wrote the soul classic “Soul Man,” sends a letter of protest to Senator Bob Dole’s presidential campaign telling them to quit parodying the song with their version that goes, “I’m a Dole Man”…
2000: Slipknot raises hell at the Kerrang Awards, smashing glasses, trashing a mic, tossing a monitor off the stage, and setting their table alight…they win three awards including one for best live act…
2002: Eminem draws boos at the MTV Video Music Awards after he calls Moby a girl and tries to pick a fight with the diminutive techno popper ... Moby had called the rapper's music misogynistic and homophobic...M also mixes it up with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog after Triumph tells the crowd "Eminem should lighten up. I mean, my mom was a b*tch too, but I don't go writing songs about it." ...
2003: Two hundred fans are ejected from the Charlotte, North Carolina Ozzfest for alcohol and drug use...the show started at around 10 am and the first group of partied-out attendees is booted out just after noon, proving Ozzy fans are not into pacing themselves…
2004: The British medical journal Thorax warns music fans that listening to ultra-powerful music systems in cars can cause collapsed lungs…this was the fate of a 19-year-old in Bristol youth who suffered the injury while listening to a 1000-watt system stuffed into his Fiat Panda…
2005: New Orleans R&B great Fats Domino is rescued after trying to ride out Hurricane Katrina in his home…
2006: Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton undergoes treatment for throat cancer forcing him to sit out the first half of the band's Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he has missed any shows in the band's history...longtime band friend David Hull fills in until his return....also this week, the British press reports on the contract riders for touring musicians: Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue; The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur; Meat Loaf needs a mask and one small tank of oxygen; David Bowie asks that his dressing room temperature be between 14c and 18c; Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room and Mick Jagger requires an onstage teleprompter loaded with the lyrics to all songs and the name of the city he’s performing in…
2007: The Stones wrap their Bigger Bang tour having grossed $558 million and eclipsing the record formerly held by U2’s 2005 Vertigo tour that brought in a paltry $389 million...commenting on the end of the long-running tour, Mick Jagger acknowledges, “I’m sort of glad it’s done. I need to do some resting.”…this same week rapper Lil Wayne is sued for $1 million by a woman who says she was crushed by the crowd at a concert after a large sum of cash was tossed into the audience…
2008: A blogger who posted nine unreleased songs from the forthcoming Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy recording sessions online is arrested for violating a three-year-old law that prohibits such leaks…according to Kevin Cogill’s girlfriend, the cops “... let me get him a shirt and shoes without laces before they took him away”…Cogill is a former employee of Universal Records’ distribution department …
2009: the Los Angeles County coroner rules Michael Jackson's death was a homicide…the finding leads to criminal charges against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died…this same week Noel Gallagher abruptly quits Oasis just before a gig in France saying he cannot work any longer with his brother Liam…the move comes after many well-publicized fraternal battles between the brothers and previous band breakups…
2011: Elvis’s estate announces a suit against his former record company seeking payment for income produced by new media like ring tones and entertainment apps…
2013: Miley Cyrus’s risque performance at the MTV VMAs wearing a nude outfit and dirty dancing with Robin Thicke draws the ire of the Parents Television Council, which says the show was definitely not suitable for the 14-year-olds that its rating permitted…her performance is one of the most-watched clips on YouTube in coming days…this same week, 96-year-old Fred Stobaugh’s song, “Oh Sweet Lorraine,” a tribute to his recently deceased wife, is the No. 7 hit on iTunes’ Top 10…it also captures 1.7 million YouTube views…
This Week’s Hatches
August 25: multi-instrumentalist Charlie Burse of The Memphis Jug Band (1901), composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918), jazz sax player Wayne Shorter (1933), Walter Williams of The O'Jays (1942), jazz guitar phenom Pat Martino (1944), Tavares drummer Francis Donia (1945), Kiss bassist and singer Gene Simmons (1949), Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford (1951), guitarist and keyboardist Bob Mayo (1951), Elvis Costello born Declan McManus (1954), roots reggae singer Junior Delgado (1958), singer Billy Ray Cyrus (1961), Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard (1962), Candida Doyle of Pulp (1963), Gits singer Mia Zapata (1965), DJ Terminator X aka Norman Rogers of Public Enemy (1966), country chirper Jo Dee Messina (1969)
August 26: jazz singer Jimmy “ Mr. Five by Five” Rushing (1903), drummer Jet Black aka Brian Duffy of The Stranglers (1938), Nik Turner of Hawkwind (1940), Chris Curtis of The Searchers (1941), Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson (1948), Bill and Dick Cowsill of The Cowsills (1950), Bill Rush of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (1952), jazz sax man Branford Marsalis (1960), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966), Dan Vickrey of Counting Crows (1966), Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (1967), drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt (1969)
August 27: saxophone great Lester "Pres" Young (1909), bluegrass guitarist Carter Stanley (1925), harpist, keyboardist, and widow of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane (1937), Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1939), jazz and rock guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1940), Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille (1942), Jeff Cook of Alabama (1949), Willy DeVille of Mink DeVille (1950), Kevin Kavanaugh of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (1951), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (1953), Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (1956), gospel singer Yolanda Adams (1962), Tony Kanal of No Doubt (1970), rapper Ma$e born Mason Durrell Betha (1977), Jon Siebels of Eve 6 (1979), Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld (1979), R&B singer Mario (Barrett) (1986)
August 28: John Perkins of The Crew Cuts (1931), drummer Clem Cattini of The Tornadoes (1939), pop singer/actor David Soul (1943), drummer Danny Seraphine of Chicago (1948), guitarist Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers (1949), Fairport Convention drummer Martin Lamble (1949), Wayne Osmond of The Osmonds (1951), John Rees of Men At Work (1951), country star Shania Twain (1965), actor and musician Jack Black (1969), country singer LeAnn Rimes (1982), singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine (1986)
August 29: bluesman Jimmy Bell (1910), pioneering jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920), jazz and R&B singer Dinah Washington (1924), gospel singer Marion Williams (1927), country singer Jimmy C. Newman (1927), multi-instrumentalist Dick Halligan of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Sterling Morrison of the Velvet Underground (1944), Chris Copping of Procol Harum (1945), Patrick Woodward of Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band (1948), Dave Jenkins of Pablo Cruise (1949), Rick Downey of Blue Oyster Cult (1953), punk rocker G.G. Allin (1956), Cocteau Twins' singer Elizabeth Fraser (1958), Michael Jackson (1958), rock guitarist Tony MacAlpine (1960), drummer Chris Gorman of Belly (1967), singer-bassist Me'shell NdegeOcello (1969), Carl Martin of Shai (1970), guitarist Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty (1975), David Desrosiers of Simple Plan (1980)
August 30: blues pianist Mercy Dee Walton (1915), country great Kitty Wells (1919), vaudeville-blues singer Olive Brown (1922), John McNally of The Searchers (1931), bluesman Luther "Georgia Snake Boy" Johnson (1934), John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas (1935), bluesman "Spider" John Koerner (1938), influential BBC radio DJ John Peel (1939), guitarist Mick Moody of Whitesnake and Juicy Lucy (1950), Horace Panter of General Public (1953), Sir Horace Gentleman of The Specials (1954), drummer Martin Jackson of Swing Out Sister (1958), drummer Nicky Hammerhead (1960), Gwar guitarist Dave Brockie (1963), remixer and DJ Paul Oakenfold (1963), Rich Cronin of LFO (1974), Panic! at the Disco guitarist George Ross III (1986)
August 31: jazz pianist Todd Rhodes (1900), tunesmith Alan Jay Lerner (1918), Jerry Allison of The Crickets (1939), Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (1940), Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac (1945), Van Morrison (1945), bluesman Son Bonds (1947), Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions
(1948), Gina Schock of The Go-Go's (1957), Squeeze singer-songwriter Glenn Tilbrook (1957), Tony DeFranco of The DeFranco Family (1959), blues/rock guitarist Chris Whitley (1960), singer Debbie Gibson (1970), Craig Nicholls of The Vines (1977)
This Week’s Dispatches
August 25: bandleader Stan Kenton (1979), Rob Fisher of Naked Eyes and Climie Fisher (1999), composer and record producer Jack Nitzsche (2000), R&B star Aaliyah (2001)
August 26: honkin’ R&B sax man Jimmy Forrest (1980), Lee Hays of The Weavers (1981), bluesman “Professor Eddie Lusk (1992), Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule bassist Allen Woody (2000) singer-songwriter Laura Branigan (2004), Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich (2009)
August 27: Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1967), Bob Scholl of The Mello-Kings (1975), rap artist and DJ with KRS-One Scott LaRock (1987), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990)
August 28: rockabilly artist and songwriter Ronnie Self (1981), producer Guy Stevens (1981), Gene Knight of The Showmen (1992), CBGB’s founder Hilly Kristal (2007), Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein (2009)
August 29: influential bluesman Jimmy Reed (1976), country star Archie Campbell (1987), record store mogul “Waxie Maxie” Silverman (1989), rockabilly pioneer Wee Willie Williams (1999), Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards (2011)
August 30: jazz drummer Philly Joe Jones (1985), War percussionist Papa Dee Allen (1988), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1995), Swedish producer Denniz Pop aka Dag Volle (1998), jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (2006), jazz vocalist Chris Connor (2009)
August 31: British rocker and Ziggy Stardust inspiration Vince Taylor (1991), songwriter Harold Clayton (2000), jazz vibes man and bandleader Lionel Hampton (2002), Move singer Carl Wayne (2004), cajun artist Joe Barry (2004)
Posted on Sunday, 24 August 2014 14:08.
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of August 25
1949: Hank Williams records his classic weeper “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die”…inspired by his troubled marriage, Williams originally intended to speak rather than sing the lyrics…
1958: Eddie Cochran’s biggest hit, “Summertime Blues,” enters the Billboard Top 100, where it will peak at #8 and sell over a million copies...much covered by others, it will be a No. 1 hit for country artist Alan Jackson and sell beaucoup singles in versions by The Who and Blue Cheer…this same week the doo-wopping Elegants score the No. 1 single with “Little Star,” their reworking of a Mozart lullaby…one-hit wonders, their star will soon fade…
1963: “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes hits the charts...the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys—a touch of it in can perhaps be heard in Brian’s own “Good Vibrations”…
1964: Following their show at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the Beatles meet and hang out with Bob Dylan in a New York hotel where he introduces them to marijuana…
1965: Taking a break from their U.S. tour, The Beatles hang out at a Byrds recording session, then later that day meet Elvis at the King’s Beverly Hills mansion…the Fab Four are underwhelmed by his personality with John Lennon remarking shortly after, “Where’s Elvis? It was like meeting Engelbert Humperdinck”…
1966: The Beatles play their last date in front of a sold-out paid audience of 25,000 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park…unlike the crowd, the Fab Four know it’s the last time they’ll appear on a concert stage and take photos between songs…during this tour the band has not played a single song off their newly released Revolver LP, and end the show with Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” a set-list staple going back to their Hamburg days…
1967: The Beatles take a break from touring and recording to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Wales…the lads will later become disenchanted with the roly-poly Indian guru…this same week Beatles manager Brian Epstein dies from an overdose of sleeping pills…
1968: The Beatles release the single “Hey Jude” which eclipses “Like a Rolling Stone” as the longest single to receive airplay by nearly a minute at 7:06...it is the first release from newly formed Apple Records and becomes The Beatles biggest hit, going to No 1 around the world...the recording took two days and involved a 36-piece orchestra that also provided hand claps and sang the na-na-nahs on the fadeout...the epic ballad begins with Paul McCartney playing the piano and ends with 50 layered instruments, including the symphony…
1969: The Rolling Stones’ single “Street Fighting Man” is released…written by Mick Jagger after attending a tumultuous anti-Vietnam War protest at the U.S. embassy in London, it’s the Stones’ most overtly political song to date…the single never gets above #48 on the U.S. pop chart as many radio stations refuse to play it…
1970: Duane Allman begins sessions as a member of Derek & The Dominos...Eric Clapton praises Allman as the catalyst in a double-album project that wraps in just 10 days producing Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, one the most acclaimed rock albums of all time…this same week The Kinks’ transvestite-themed single “Lola” is released...the song, which revived the band’s flagging popularity, was inspired by their manager’s drunken club experience unknowingly dancing with a she-man...Ray Davies had to re-record the line "You drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola" at the last minute over trademark concerns with the original, "…it tastes just like Coca-Cola"...Lola reappears in “Paranoia,” a later Kinks tune…
1971: Paul McCartney's jaunty single "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is the No. 1 pop hit of the week…the former Beatle reveals that he actually had an Uncle Albert who used to get drunk and quote the Bible…
1976: Boston releases their self-titled debut album...it spawns three hit singles and shoots to the top of the charts and remains the fastest-selling debut albums of all time until it’s finally unseated by Whitney Houston’s debut LP in 1986...ironically, 1986 is the same year Boston finally releases its third album, their release cycle slowed by guitarist Tom Scholz’s momentum-killing perfectionist leanings...by this time most of the band, including Sib Hashian and his afro have left the band in frustration…in this same week a court rules that George Harrison “subconsciously” plagiarized “He’s So Fine,” a 1963 hit for girl group The Chiffons, in writing his song “My Sweet Lord”…after much legal wrangling, payment is made ten years later…to cash in on the controversy, The Chiffons issue their cover of “My Sweet Lord” and Harrison records “This Song” expressing his frustration over the case…
1977: Three people are nabbed in Memphis for attempting to steal the remains of Elvis...to foil further attempts, the late King is moved from the cemetery to a more secure resting place at Graceland…
1986: Paul Simon releases his landmark album Graceland…featuring a host of top South African artists, the record gives a big surge to world music sales…
1987: CBS Records ships a record-setting 2.25 million pre-ordered copies of Michael Jackson’s latest LP, Bad, to stores…it will sell 13 million worldwide…a huge number for any other artist, it’s a bit of a disappointment in the wake of Thriller and its 35 million in sales…
1989: Izzy Stradlin of Guns N’ Roses is arrested in Phoenix for causing a public disturbance...he was on a flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis when the plane made an unscheduled landing in Phoenix just to dump him off...he had verbally abused a flight attendant, urinated on the floor, and smoked in the non-smoking section of the plane...Izzy was apparently angry about the long potty queue…
1990: The world of rock and modern blues takes a big hit when Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a Wisconsin helicopter crash that also takes the lives of three members of Eric Clapton's entourage…
1991: Pearl Jam releases their first LP, Ten…it will sell more than 13 million copies and spin off three hit singles, “Alive,” “Even Flow,” and “Jeremy”…
1993: An acetate recording of a Beatles performance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club fetches £16,500 at Christies in London…it’s a record price for such a recording…
1994: Jimmy Buffett crashes his seaplane during takeoff in Nantucket, Mass…he safely swims away from the wreckage…
1996: Isaac Hayes, who co-wrote the soul classic “Soul Man,” sends a letter of protest to Senator Bob Dole’s presidential campaign telling them to quit parodying the song with their version that goes, “I’m a Dole Man”…
2000: Slipknot raises hell at the Kerrang Awards, smashing glasses, trashing a mic, tossing a monitor off the stage, and setting their table alight…they win three awards including one for best live act…
2002: Eminem draws boos at the MTV Video Music Awards after he calls Moby a girl and tries to pick a fight with the diminutive techno popper ... Moby had called the rapper's music misogynistic and homophobic...M also mixes it up with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog after Triumph tells the crowd "Eminem should lighten up. I mean, my mom was a b*tch too, but I don't go writing songs about it." ...
2003: Two hundred fans are ejected from the Charlotte, North Carolina Ozzfest for alcohol and drug use...the show started at around 10 am and the first group of partied-out attendees is booted out just after noon, proving Ozzy fans are not into pacing themselves…
2004: The British medical journal Thorax warns music fans that listening to ultra-powerful music systems in cars can cause collapsed lungs…this was the fate of a 19-year-old in Bristol youth who suffered the injury while listening to a 1000-watt system stuffed into his Fiat Panda…
2005: New Orleans R&B great Fats Domino is rescued after trying to ride out Hurricane Katrina in his home…
2006: Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton undergoes treatment for throat cancer forcing him to sit out the first half of the band's Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he has missed any shows in the band's history...longtime band friend David Hull fills in until his return....also this week, the British press reports on the contract riders for touring musicians: Ozzy Osbourne insists on an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor at each venue; The Beach Boys require a licensed masseur; Meat Loaf needs a mask and one small tank of oxygen; David Bowie asks that his dressing room temperature be between 14c and 18c; Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room and Mick Jagger requires an onstage teleprompter loaded with the lyrics to all songs and the name of the city he’s performing in…
2007: The Stones wrap their Bigger Bang tour having grossed $558 million and eclipsing the record formerly held by U2’s 2005 Vertigo tour that brought in a paltry $389 million...commenting on the end of the long-running tour, Mick Jagger acknowledges, “I’m sort of glad it’s done. I need to do some resting.”…this same week rapper Lil Wayne is sued for $1 million by a woman who says she was crushed by the crowd at a concert after a large sum of cash was tossed into the audience…
2008: A blogger who posted nine unreleased songs from the forthcoming Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy recording sessions online is arrested for violating a three-year-old law that prohibits such leaks…according to Kevin Cogill’s girlfriend, the cops “... let me get him a shirt and shoes without laces before they took him away”…Cogill is a former employee of Universal Records’ distribution department …
2009: the Los Angeles County coroner rules Michael Jackson's death was a homicide…the finding leads to criminal charges against the doctor who was with the pop star when he died…this same week Noel Gallagher abruptly quits Oasis just before a gig in France saying he cannot work any longer with his brother Liam…the move comes after many well-publicized fraternal battles between the brothers and previous band breakups…
2011: Elvis’s estate announces a suit against his former record company seeking payment for income produced by new media like ring tones and entertainment apps…
2013: Miley Cyrus’s risque performance at the MTV VMAs wearing a nude outfit and dirty dancing with Robin Thicke draws the ire of the Parents Television Council, which says the show was definitely not suitable for the 14-year-olds that its rating permitted…her performance is one of the most-watched clips on YouTube in coming days…this same week, 96-year-old Fred Stobaugh’s song, “Oh Sweet Lorraine,” a tribute to his recently deceased wife, is the No. 7 hit on iTunes’ Top 10…it also captures 1.7 million YouTube views…
This Week’s Hatches
August 25: multi-instrumentalist Charlie Burse of The Memphis Jug Band (1901), composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918), jazz sax player Wayne Shorter (1933), Walter Williams of The O'Jays (1942), jazz guitar phenom Pat Martino (1944), Tavares drummer Francis Donia (1945), Kiss bassist and singer Gene Simmons (1949), Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford (1951), guitarist and keyboardist Bob Mayo (1951), Elvis Costello born Declan McManus (1954), roots reggae singer Junior Delgado (1958), singer Billy Ray Cyrus (1961), Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard (1962), Candida Doyle of Pulp (1963), Gits singer Mia Zapata (1965), DJ Terminator X aka Norman Rogers of Public Enemy (1966), country chirper Jo Dee Messina (1969)
August 26: jazz singer Jimmy “ Mr. Five by Five” Rushing (1903), drummer Jet Black aka Brian Duffy of The Stranglers (1938), Nik Turner of Hawkwind (1940), Chris Curtis of The Searchers (1941), Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson (1948), Bill and Dick Cowsill of The Cowsills (1950), Bill Rush of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (1952), jazz sax man Branford Marsalis (1960), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966), Dan Vickrey of Counting Crows (1966), Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (1967), drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt (1969)
August 27: saxophone great Lester "Pres" Young (1909), bluegrass guitarist Carter Stanley (1925), harpist, keyboardist, and widow of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane (1937), Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1939), jazz and rock guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1940), Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille (1942), Jeff Cook of Alabama (1949), Willy DeVille of Mink DeVille (1950), Kevin Kavanaugh of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (1951), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (1953), Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (1956), gospel singer Yolanda Adams (1962), Tony Kanal of No Doubt (1970), rapper Ma$e born Mason Durrell Betha (1977), Jon Siebels of Eve 6 (1979), Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld (1979), R&B singer Mario (Barrett) (1986)
August 28: John Perkins of The Crew Cuts (1931), drummer Clem Cattini of The Tornadoes (1939), pop singer/actor David Soul (1943), drummer Danny Seraphine of Chicago (1948), guitarist Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers (1949), Fairport Convention drummer Martin Lamble (1949), Wayne Osmond of The Osmonds (1951), John Rees of Men At Work (1951), country star Shania Twain (1965), actor and musician Jack Black (1969), country singer LeAnn Rimes (1982), singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine (1986)
August 29: bluesman Jimmy Bell (1910), pioneering jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920), jazz and R&B singer Dinah Washington (1924), gospel singer Marion Williams (1927), country singer Jimmy C. Newman (1927), multi-instrumentalist Dick Halligan of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Sterling Morrison of the Velvet Underground (1944), Chris Copping of Procol Harum (1945), Patrick Woodward of Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band (1948), Dave Jenkins of Pablo Cruise (1949), Rick Downey of Blue Oyster Cult (1953), punk rocker G.G. Allin (1956), Cocteau Twins' singer Elizabeth Fraser (1958), Michael Jackson (1958), rock guitarist Tony MacAlpine (1960), drummer Chris Gorman of Belly (1967), singer-bassist Me'shell NdegeOcello (1969), Carl Martin of Shai (1970), guitarist Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty (1975), David Desrosiers of Simple Plan (1980)
August 30: blues pianist Mercy Dee Walton (1915), country great Kitty Wells (1919), vaudeville-blues singer Olive Brown (1922), John McNally of The Searchers (1931), bluesman Luther "Georgia Snake Boy" Johnson (1934), John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas (1935), bluesman "Spider" John Koerner (1938), influential BBC radio DJ John Peel (1939), guitarist Mick Moody of Whitesnake and Juicy Lucy (1950), Horace Panter of General Public (1953), Sir Horace Gentleman of The Specials (1954), drummer Martin Jackson of Swing Out Sister (1958), drummer Nicky Hammerhead (1960), Gwar guitarist Dave Brockie (1963), remixer and DJ Paul Oakenfold (1963), Rich Cronin of LFO (1974), Panic! at the Disco guitarist George Ross III (1986)
August 31: jazz pianist Todd Rhodes (1900), tunesmith Alan Jay Lerner (1918), Jerry Allison of The Crickets (1939), Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (1940), Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac (1945), Van Morrison (1945), bluesman Son Bonds (1947), Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions
(1948), Gina Schock of The Go-Go's (1957), Squeeze singer-songwriter Glenn Tilbrook (1957), Tony DeFranco of The DeFranco Family (1959), blues/rock guitarist Chris Whitley (1960), singer Debbie Gibson (1970), Craig Nicholls of The Vines (1977)
This Week’s Dispatches
August 25: bandleader Stan Kenton (1979), Rob Fisher of Naked Eyes and Climie Fisher (1999), composer and record producer Jack Nitzsche (2000), R&B star Aaliyah (2001)
August 26: honkin’ R&B sax man Jimmy Forrest (1980), Lee Hays of The Weavers (1981), bluesman “Professor Eddie Lusk (1992), Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule bassist Allen Woody (2000) singer-songwriter Laura Branigan (2004), Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich (2009)
August 27: Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1967), Bob Scholl of The Mello-Kings (1975), rap artist and DJ with KRS-One Scott LaRock (1987), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990)
August 28: rockabilly artist and songwriter Ronnie Self (1981), producer Guy Stevens (1981), Gene Knight of The Showmen (1992), CBGB’s founder Hilly Kristal (2007), Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein (2009)
August 29: influential bluesman Jimmy Reed (1976), country star Archie Campbell (1987), record store mogul “Waxie Maxie” Silverman (1989), rockabilly pioneer Wee Willie Williams (1999), Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards (2011)
August 30: jazz drummer Philly Joe Jones (1985), War percussionist Papa Dee Allen (1988), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1995), Swedish producer Denniz Pop aka Dag Volle (1998), jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (2006), jazz vocalist Chris Connor (2009)
August 31: British rocker and Ziggy Stardust inspiration Vince Taylor (1991), songwriter Harold Clayton (2000), jazz vibes man and bandleader Lionel Hampton (2002), Move singer Carl Wayne (2004), cajun artist Joe Barry (2004)
This Week in Music History: Ray Gets Funky…Jerry Lee Auditions…Elton Pans Gen X
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of September 1
1948: Sonny Til & the Orioles’ “It’s Too Soon To Know You” moves onto the charts...the song will reach #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart...it is the first time a black group singing doo-wop reaches a high position on the pop chart…
1952: Atlantic Records buys Ray Charles’ contract from Swing Time Records where he’s been putting out mellow and jazzy Nat “King” Cole-influenced singles…encouraged by Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler, Brother Ray’s records will get a whole lot funkier as he moves towards a style that melds raw soul and gospel influences, culminating in hits like “What I Say” that sell briskly to both black and white fans…
1954: Elvis gets a cool reception from the conservative Grand Ole Opry crowd in Nashville during his first show there…Opry manager Jim Denny tells the young rockabilly artist he should go back to driving a truck…
1955: Elvis buys his mama a pink Cadillac…
1956: Jerry Lee Lewis shows up at Sun Records in Memphis wanting an audition but owner Sam Phillips is on vacation in Florida…the 19-year-old Lewis cuts some rocking demos that Phillips will hear on his return…stardom is weeks away for the flame-haired rockabilly singer-pianist…
1962: The Beatles hit Abbey Road recording studio for the first time, laying down “Love Me Do” in 16 takes with Andy White on drums...exactly six years later, Eric Clapton lays down one of the most famous solos ever on the George Harrison song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the studio…
1965: During a Rolling Stones appearance on the British TV pop music show Ready, Steady, Go! Mick Jagger and Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham perform a parody of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe"...
1966: folk-rocker Donovan makes it to the peak of pop with "Sunshine Superman," featuring one Jimmy Page on guitar…
1967: The Beatles meet at Paul McCartney's London house in the wake of manager Brian Epstein’s death…they decide to postpone a planned trip to India and instead begin production of the Magical Mystery Tour movie…
1968: Ray Charles’ backup singers, The Raelettes, quit the boss en masse over a wage dispute and band rules they consider unfair…
1975: guitarist Steve Anderson notches a new endurance record for picking by going at it without a break for 114 hours, 7 minutes…
1976: Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled LP reaches No. 1 on the album chart this week… the record’s been on the chart for 13 months, relentlessly working its way toward the top…
1977: Elton John reviews Generation X's debut single "Your Generation" for a British newspaper…he dismisses the song as "really dreadful garbage. The Ramones do this sort of thing so much better"...
1978: Who drummer Keith Moon succumbs to an overdose of the drug Heminevrin prescribed to combat his alcoholism...an autopsy reveals that he’d washed down 32 of the pills with champagne...his death occurs in the same New York apartment in which Mama Cass of The Mamas & The Papas met her demise from a heart attack in 1974…
1979: U2 releases its first-ever record, an EP titled “U2-3” in a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered records sold exclusively in Ireland…
1983: The Clash expel lead guitarist Mick Jones saying he has “drifted apart” from the rest of the band musically…
1984: Tina Turner enjoys her first No. 1 solo pop hit with “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”…originally written for Jimmy Cliff who rejected it, disco diva Donna Summer also passed on the song before Tina made it her own…
1985: The top three positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart are all occupied by songs from movies with John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" from St. Elmo's Fire in first place, Huey Lewis's "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future in the runner-up position, while Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" from the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome holds down the third slot…
1990: The Cure launch a pirate radio station beamed at London to publicize the release of the remix album Mixed Up...but the station soon goes off the air after being beset by technical difficulties and having a powerful BBC signal cover up its broadcasts…
1991: Former Tina Turner svengali Ike Turner is released from prison after an 18-month stretch on assorted charges…he tells Variety that he has bought $11 million in cocaine during his misspent yet musically productive life…
1995: Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” goes to No. 1 on the pop chart…written by R. Kelly, the song sets a 37-year-old record by becoming the first single to debut at the top of the chart…
1997: Pat Smear announces he will no longer be a Foo Fighter and that Franz Stahl will take his place…
1999: Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx is arrested at a show in Raleigh, N.C. and charged with felony rioting and three counts of misdemeanor inciting to riot, assault, and disorderly conduct ... the charges stem from bad behavior at a Greensboro, N.C. concert in 1997...Sixx allegedly assaulted a security guard and encouraged fans to riot...also this week, the Virgin Megastore website melts down in the face of unprecedented traffic caused by a half-price sale…
2000: In a then-radical marketing ploy that since has become common, The Doobie Brothers offer 15 new tracks for free download to launch their latest album, Sibling Rivalry...this same week Timothy Commerford, bassist for Rage Against The Machine, is sentenced to time served by a New York court after pleading guilty to assault and disorderly conduct...the charges stem from Commerford’s antics at the MTV Video Music Awards during which he scaled a tall stage set from which he was forcibly removed by the cops…
2001: System Of A Down throws a free concert for its fans in L.A. to celebrate the release of their album Toxicity...the event turns into a full-blown riot as the stage is destroyed and the band’s gear disappears…six arrests are made and an ambulance crew treats minor injuries sustained by a handful of cops and fans…
2004: A Cincinnati court rules that artists should pay for every sample they use...previously courts had held that as long as short samples could not be identified licensing was unnecessary...ironically, a two-second sample of a Funkadelic record in NWA's "100 Miles and Runnin" was at the heart of the ruling...Funkadelic and Parliament leader and founder George Clinton has historically been supportive of sampling having produced two albums titled Sample Some of Dis and Sample Some of Dat, that allows remixers to use Clinton’s music with no legal strings attached…
2005: Getting back to basics, The Rolling Stones release A Bigger Bang, their first studio album in eight years...the 16 new Jagger-Richards songs are a mix of stripped-down rockers and country-tinged ballads and there’s nary a guest star in sight…
2006: Isley Brothers singer Ronald Isley gets a three-year stretch for what the court calls a “pathological” evasion of taxes…he’s also ordered to cough up $3.1 million in back taxes and penalties…
This Week’s Hatches
September 1: Tommy Evans of The Drifters (1927), country singer Boxcar Willie born Lecil Travis Martin (1931), honky tonk and rock ‘n’ roll singer Conway Twitty born Harold Jenkins (1933), Archie Bell of Archie Bell & The Drells (1944), Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees (1946), drummer Greg Errico of Sly & The Family Stone (1948), bassist Bruce Foxton of The Jam (1955), Miami Sound Machine’s Gloria Estefan (1957), DJ Spigg Nice of Lost Boyz (1970), Scissor Sisters bassist Baby Daddy aka Scott Hoffman (1976), Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman (1984)
September 2: composer and conductor Hugo Montenegro (1925), jazz pianist and bandleader Horace Silver (1928), R&B singer Bobby Purify (1939), Sam Gooden of The Impressions (1939), pop singer Jimmy Clanton (1940), Rosalind Ashworth of Martha and The Vandellas (1943), soul and R&B artist Joe Simon (1943), keyboardist and singer Billy Preston (1946), keyboardist Marty Greb of The Buckinghams (1946), drummer Richard Coughlan of Caravan (1947), Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (1947), violinist Mik Kaminski of E.L.O. (1951), Simply Red's Fritz McIntyre (1956), Steve Porcaro of Toto (1957), Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs (1958), Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares (1966), K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci (1969), bassist Phil Lipscomb of Taproot (1976), drummer Spencer Scott of Panic! at the Disco (1987)
September 3: boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis (1905), blues pianist Memphis Slim born Peter Chatman (1915), country singer Hank Thompson (1925), country singer Tompall Glaser (1933), influential Texas blues guitarist Freddie King (1934), Creation singer Kenny Pickett (1942), Al Jardine of The Beach Boys (1942), Walter Scott of The Whispers (1943), Greg Leeds of The Walker Brothers (1944), George Biondi of Steppenwolf (1945), Thin Lizzy's Eric Bell (1947), Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols (1955), Perry Bamonte of The Cure (1960), Jonathan Segal of Camper Van Beethoven (1963), singer-songwriter Jennifer Paige (1973), bassist Jay “Cone” McCaslin of Sum 41 (1980)
September 4: soul and R&B guitarist “Lightning Bug” Rhodes, George Lanuid of The Crescendos (1939), Merald Knight of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1942), masterful guitarist Danny Gatton (1945), Greg Elmore and Gary Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1946), Ronald LaPread of The Commodores (1950), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Wayne Perkins (1951), Martin Chambers of the Pretenders (1951), singer Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. (1956), Minutemen drummer George Hurley (1958), Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (1960), bassist Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls (1963), Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera (1970), Pussycat Dolls singer Carmit Bachar (1974), Dan Miller of O-Town (1980), Beyoncé Knowles (1981), Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm (1981)
September 5: Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim (1907), doo- wopper Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1911), guitarist Willie Woods of Junior Walker & The Allstars (1936), singer-songwriter and Kingston Trio member John Stewart (1939), renegade country singer-songwriter David Allan Coe (1935), Al "Year of the Cat" Stewart (1945), country rocker Clarence White (1946), Freddie Mercury of Queen (1946), drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles (1946), singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (1946), David "Clem" Clempson of Humble Pie/Colosseum (1949), Racer X bassist Juan Alderete (1963), Terry Ellis of En Vogue (1966), Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine (1968), Dweezil Zappa (1969)
September 6: bluesman Jimmy Reed (1925), horn player Dave Bargeron of Blood Sweat & Tears (1942), androgynous disco star Sylvester aka Sylvester James (1947), lead guitarist of Kool & the Gang Claydes Charles Smith (1948), Bad Manners singer Buster Bloodvessel born Douglas Trendle (1958), Pal Waaktaar of A-Ha (1961), Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis (1961), Alice in Chains singer William DuVall (1967), CeCe Pensiton (1969), singer Macy Gray (1969), Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries (1971), Nina Persson of The Cardigans (1974), rapper N.O.R.E. (1976), rapper Foxy Brown (1978), Motion City drummer Tony Thaxton (1978)
September 7: Western swing pioneer Milton Brown (1907), pianist Arthur Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher (1921), tenor sax master Sonny Rollins (1930), gifted blues and R&B guitarist and singer “Little” Milton Campbell (1934), rock pioneer Buddy Holly (1936), Roger Waters of Pink Floyd (1943), bassist Jim Gault of Continental Drift (1943), Alfa Anderson of Chic (1946), disco diva Gloria Gaynor (1946), frontwoman Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (1951), singer Marc Hunter of Dragon (1953), keyboardist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1953), session guitarist Chuck Beattie (1954), singer and pianist Michael Feinstein (1956), singer Jermaine Stewart (1957), Margot Chapman of Starland Vocal Band (1957), Brad Houser of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (1960), Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore (1961), Social Distortion bassist (1963), Lush drummer Chris Acland (1966), DJ David Guetta (1967), Chad Sexton of 311 (1970), Atmosphere rapper Slug (1972), Eazy-E aka Eric Wright of N.W.A. (1973)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 1: gospel/R&B singer Joseph Hutchinson (1981), composer Vagn Holmboe (1996), Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (2001) bluesman R.L. Burnside (2005), bassist Barry Cowsill (2005), Echo and The Bunnymen keyboardist Jake Brockman (2009), songwriter Hal David (2012)
September 2: composer Otto Luening (1996), violinist Cyril Reuben (1996), sax player Jay Migliori (2001), avant-garde sax player Dewey Redman 2006), Elton John keyboardist Guy Babylon (2006), Starship guitarist Mark Abrahamian (2012)
September 3: Canned Heat singer, guitarist and harp player Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (1970), studio engineer Keith Harwood (1977), Count Basie drummer Jo Jones (1985), soul singer Major Lance (1994), songwriter and producer Billy Davis (2004), ELO cellist Mike Edwards (2010)
September 4: Country songstress and songwriter Dottie West (1990), jazz saxophonist Charlie Barnet (1991), founder of Shadowfax Chuck Greenberg (1995), bassist David Brown of Santana (2000)
September 5: jazz guitarist George Barnes (1977), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1978), drummer for Ian Dury and the Blockheads Charlie Charles (1990), conductor Georg Solti (1997), R&B pianist Sonny Knight (1998), swamp-boogie queen Katie Webster (1999), co-founder of Atari Teenage Riot, Carl Crack (2001), Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins (2006), pop and country singer Joe South (2012)
September 6: folk and blues singer Josh White (1964), Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (1990), session pianist Nicky Hopkins (1994), country bassist Roy Husky Jr. (1997)
September 7: Who drummer Keith Moon (1978), composer Niccolo Castiglioni (1996), soul singer Erma Franklin (2002), singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (2003)
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of September 1
1948: Sonny Til & the Orioles’ “It’s Too Soon To Know You” moves onto the charts...the song will reach #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart...it is the first time a black group singing doo-wop reaches a high position on the pop chart…
1952: Atlantic Records buys Ray Charles’ contract from Swing Time Records where he’s been putting out mellow and jazzy Nat “King” Cole-influenced singles…encouraged by Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler, Brother Ray’s records will get a whole lot funkier as he moves towards a style that melds raw soul and gospel influences, culminating in hits like “What I Say” that sell briskly to both black and white fans…
1954: Elvis gets a cool reception from the conservative Grand Ole Opry crowd in Nashville during his first show there…Opry manager Jim Denny tells the young rockabilly artist he should go back to driving a truck…
1955: Elvis buys his mama a pink Cadillac…
1956: Jerry Lee Lewis shows up at Sun Records in Memphis wanting an audition but owner Sam Phillips is on vacation in Florida…the 19-year-old Lewis cuts some rocking demos that Phillips will hear on his return…stardom is weeks away for the flame-haired rockabilly singer-pianist…
1962: The Beatles hit Abbey Road recording studio for the first time, laying down “Love Me Do” in 16 takes with Andy White on drums...exactly six years later, Eric Clapton lays down one of the most famous solos ever on the George Harrison song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the studio…
1965: During a Rolling Stones appearance on the British TV pop music show Ready, Steady, Go! Mick Jagger and Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham perform a parody of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe"...
1966: folk-rocker Donovan makes it to the peak of pop with "Sunshine Superman," featuring one Jimmy Page on guitar…
1967: The Beatles meet at Paul McCartney's London house in the wake of manager Brian Epstein’s death…they decide to postpone a planned trip to India and instead begin production of the Magical Mystery Tour movie…
1968: Ray Charles’ backup singers, The Raelettes, quit the boss en masse over a wage dispute and band rules they consider unfair…
1975: guitarist Steve Anderson notches a new endurance record for picking by going at it without a break for 114 hours, 7 minutes…
1976: Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled LP reaches No. 1 on the album chart this week… the record’s been on the chart for 13 months, relentlessly working its way toward the top…
1977: Elton John reviews Generation X's debut single "Your Generation" for a British newspaper…he dismisses the song as "really dreadful garbage. The Ramones do this sort of thing so much better"...
1978: Who drummer Keith Moon succumbs to an overdose of the drug Heminevrin prescribed to combat his alcoholism...an autopsy reveals that he’d washed down 32 of the pills with champagne...his death occurs in the same New York apartment in which Mama Cass of The Mamas & The Papas met her demise from a heart attack in 1974…
1979: U2 releases its first-ever record, an EP titled “U2-3” in a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered records sold exclusively in Ireland…
1983: The Clash expel lead guitarist Mick Jones saying he has “drifted apart” from the rest of the band musically…
1984: Tina Turner enjoys her first No. 1 solo pop hit with “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”…originally written for Jimmy Cliff who rejected it, disco diva Donna Summer also passed on the song before Tina made it her own…
1985: The top three positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart are all occupied by songs from movies with John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" from St. Elmo's Fire in first place, Huey Lewis's "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future in the runner-up position, while Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" from the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome holds down the third slot…
1990: The Cure launch a pirate radio station beamed at London to publicize the release of the remix album Mixed Up...but the station soon goes off the air after being beset by technical difficulties and having a powerful BBC signal cover up its broadcasts…
1991: Former Tina Turner svengali Ike Turner is released from prison after an 18-month stretch on assorted charges…he tells Variety that he has bought $11 million in cocaine during his misspent yet musically productive life…
1995: Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” goes to No. 1 on the pop chart…written by R. Kelly, the song sets a 37-year-old record by becoming the first single to debut at the top of the chart…
1997: Pat Smear announces he will no longer be a Foo Fighter and that Franz Stahl will take his place…
1999: Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx is arrested at a show in Raleigh, N.C. and charged with felony rioting and three counts of misdemeanor inciting to riot, assault, and disorderly conduct ... the charges stem from bad behavior at a Greensboro, N.C. concert in 1997...Sixx allegedly assaulted a security guard and encouraged fans to riot...also this week, the Virgin Megastore website melts down in the face of unprecedented traffic caused by a half-price sale…
2000: In a then-radical marketing ploy that since has become common, The Doobie Brothers offer 15 new tracks for free download to launch their latest album, Sibling Rivalry...this same week Timothy Commerford, bassist for Rage Against The Machine, is sentenced to time served by a New York court after pleading guilty to assault and disorderly conduct...the charges stem from Commerford’s antics at the MTV Video Music Awards during which he scaled a tall stage set from which he was forcibly removed by the cops…
2001: System Of A Down throws a free concert for its fans in L.A. to celebrate the release of their album Toxicity...the event turns into a full-blown riot as the stage is destroyed and the band’s gear disappears…six arrests are made and an ambulance crew treats minor injuries sustained by a handful of cops and fans…
2004: A Cincinnati court rules that artists should pay for every sample they use...previously courts had held that as long as short samples could not be identified licensing was unnecessary...ironically, a two-second sample of a Funkadelic record in NWA's "100 Miles and Runnin" was at the heart of the ruling...Funkadelic and Parliament leader and founder George Clinton has historically been supportive of sampling having produced two albums titled Sample Some of Dis and Sample Some of Dat, that allows remixers to use Clinton’s music with no legal strings attached…
2005: Getting back to basics, The Rolling Stones release A Bigger Bang, their first studio album in eight years...the 16 new Jagger-Richards songs are a mix of stripped-down rockers and country-tinged ballads and there’s nary a guest star in sight…
2006: Isley Brothers singer Ronald Isley gets a three-year stretch for what the court calls a “pathological” evasion of taxes…he’s also ordered to cough up $3.1 million in back taxes and penalties…
This Week’s Hatches
September 1: Tommy Evans of The Drifters (1927), country singer Boxcar Willie born Lecil Travis Martin (1931), honky tonk and rock ‘n’ roll singer Conway Twitty born Harold Jenkins (1933), Archie Bell of Archie Bell & The Drells (1944), Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees (1946), drummer Greg Errico of Sly & The Family Stone (1948), bassist Bruce Foxton of The Jam (1955), Miami Sound Machine’s Gloria Estefan (1957), DJ Spigg Nice of Lost Boyz (1970), Scissor Sisters bassist Baby Daddy aka Scott Hoffman (1976), Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman (1984)
September 2: composer and conductor Hugo Montenegro (1925), jazz pianist and bandleader Horace Silver (1928), R&B singer Bobby Purify (1939), Sam Gooden of The Impressions (1939), pop singer Jimmy Clanton (1940), Rosalind Ashworth of Martha and The Vandellas (1943), soul and R&B artist Joe Simon (1943), keyboardist and singer Billy Preston (1946), keyboardist Marty Greb of The Buckinghams (1946), drummer Richard Coughlan of Caravan (1947), Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (1947), violinist Mik Kaminski of E.L.O. (1951), Simply Red's Fritz McIntyre (1956), Steve Porcaro of Toto (1957), Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs (1958), Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares (1966), K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci (1969), bassist Phil Lipscomb of Taproot (1976), drummer Spencer Scott of Panic! at the Disco (1987)
September 3: boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis (1905), blues pianist Memphis Slim born Peter Chatman (1915), country singer Hank Thompson (1925), country singer Tompall Glaser (1933), influential Texas blues guitarist Freddie King (1934), Creation singer Kenny Pickett (1942), Al Jardine of The Beach Boys (1942), Walter Scott of The Whispers (1943), Greg Leeds of The Walker Brothers (1944), George Biondi of Steppenwolf (1945), Thin Lizzy's Eric Bell (1947), Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols (1955), Perry Bamonte of The Cure (1960), Jonathan Segal of Camper Van Beethoven (1963), singer-songwriter Jennifer Paige (1973), bassist Jay “Cone” McCaslin of Sum 41 (1980)
September 4: soul and R&B guitarist “Lightning Bug” Rhodes, George Lanuid of The Crescendos (1939), Merald Knight of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1942), masterful guitarist Danny Gatton (1945), Greg Elmore and Gary Duncan of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1946), Ronald LaPread of The Commodores (1950), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Wayne Perkins (1951), Martin Chambers of the Pretenders (1951), singer Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. (1956), Minutemen drummer George Hurley (1958), Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (1960), bassist Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls (1963), Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera (1970), Pussycat Dolls singer Carmit Bachar (1974), Dan Miller of O-Town (1980), Beyoncé Knowles (1981), Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm (1981)
September 5: Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim (1907), doo- wopper Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1911), guitarist Willie Woods of Junior Walker & The Allstars (1936), singer-songwriter and Kingston Trio member John Stewart (1939), renegade country singer-songwriter David Allan Coe (1935), Al "Year of the Cat" Stewart (1945), country rocker Clarence White (1946), Freddie Mercury of Queen (1946), drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles (1946), singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (1946), David "Clem" Clempson of Humble Pie/Colosseum (1949), Racer X bassist Juan Alderete (1963), Terry Ellis of En Vogue (1966), Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine (1968), Dweezil Zappa (1969)
September 6: bluesman Jimmy Reed (1925), horn player Dave Bargeron of Blood Sweat & Tears (1942), androgynous disco star Sylvester aka Sylvester James (1947), lead guitarist of Kool & the Gang Claydes Charles Smith (1948), Bad Manners singer Buster Bloodvessel born Douglas Trendle (1958), Pal Waaktaar of A-Ha (1961), Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis (1961), Alice in Chains singer William DuVall (1967), CeCe Pensiton (1969), singer Macy Gray (1969), Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries (1971), Nina Persson of The Cardigans (1974), rapper N.O.R.E. (1976), rapper Foxy Brown (1978), Motion City drummer Tony Thaxton (1978)
September 7: Western swing pioneer Milton Brown (1907), pianist Arthur Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher (1921), tenor sax master Sonny Rollins (1930), gifted blues and R&B guitarist and singer “Little” Milton Campbell (1934), rock pioneer Buddy Holly (1936), Roger Waters of Pink Floyd (1943), bassist Jim Gault of Continental Drift (1943), Alfa Anderson of Chic (1946), disco diva Gloria Gaynor (1946), frontwoman Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (1951), singer Marc Hunter of Dragon (1953), keyboardist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1953), session guitarist Chuck Beattie (1954), singer and pianist Michael Feinstein (1956), singer Jermaine Stewart (1957), Margot Chapman of Starland Vocal Band (1957), Brad Houser of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (1960), Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore (1961), Social Distortion bassist (1963), Lush drummer Chris Acland (1966), DJ David Guetta (1967), Chad Sexton of 311 (1970), Atmosphere rapper Slug (1972), Eazy-E aka Eric Wright of N.W.A. (1973)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 1: gospel/R&B singer Joseph Hutchinson (1981), composer Vagn Holmboe (1996), Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (2001) bluesman R.L. Burnside (2005), bassist Barry Cowsill (2005), Echo and The Bunnymen keyboardist Jake Brockman (2009), songwriter Hal David (2012)
September 2: composer Otto Luening (1996), violinist Cyril Reuben (1996), sax player Jay Migliori (2001), avant-garde sax player Dewey Redman 2006), Elton John keyboardist Guy Babylon (2006), Starship guitarist Mark Abrahamian (2012)
September 3: Canned Heat singer, guitarist and harp player Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (1970), studio engineer Keith Harwood (1977), Count Basie drummer Jo Jones (1985), soul singer Major Lance (1994), songwriter and producer Billy Davis (2004), ELO cellist Mike Edwards (2010)
September 4: Country songstress and songwriter Dottie West (1990), jazz saxophonist Charlie Barnet (1991), founder of Shadowfax Chuck Greenberg (1995), bassist David Brown of Santana (2000)
September 5: jazz guitarist George Barnes (1977), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1978), drummer for Ian Dury and the Blockheads Charlie Charles (1990), conductor Georg Solti (1997), R&B pianist Sonny Knight (1998), swamp-boogie queen Katie Webster (1999), co-founder of Atari Teenage Riot, Carl Crack (2001), Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins (2006), pop and country singer Joe South (2012)
September 6: folk and blues singer Josh White (1964), Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (1990), session pianist Nicky Hopkins (1994), country bassist Roy Husky Jr. (1997)
September 7: Who drummer Keith Moon (1978), composer Niccolo Castiglioni (1996), soul singer Erma Franklin (2002), singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (2003)
This Week in Music History: Anthem Born…Helter Skeltered…CSNY Shamed…Stones Unmasked
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of September 8
1814: Francis Scott Key pens the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner"...the song will be adopted as the U.S. national anthem more than 100 years later and continues to be among the most badly butchered vocal exercises to this day…
1955: Little Richard records “Tutti Frutti” in New Orleans at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios...backing musicians included Huey Smith (”Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu”) on piano, Lee Allen on tenor sax, and Earl Palmer drums, all part of Fat Domino’s band…
1957: Jackie Wilson, former Dominoes lead singer signs a solo deal with Brunswick Records...later dubbed ”Mr. Excitement,” he goes on to score 54 chart hits including the highly energized “Lonely Teardrops” and “Higher and Higher”…
1958: The first stereo records and phonographs hit the marketplace...demo records simulating planes taking off and ping pong balls caroming between the left and right speakers become all the rage…
1960: The FCC bans payola—the pervasive practice of record companies making payments to radio DJs to spin their releases…payola resurfaces four decades later when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer collects hefty fines from all the major labels for engaging in the pay-to-play game…
1963: Paul McCartney and John Lennon play their partly finished “I Wanna Be Your Man” for the Rolling Stones during a Stones gig at Studio 51 Jazz Club in London…the Stones will record the song ahead of The Beatles…featuring Brian Jones slide work and Bill Wyman’s propulsive bass, the song will be an early hit for the Stones peaking at No. 12 on the British pop chart…Lennon later dismisses the tune as “a throwaway”…
1964: Rod Stewart cuts his first single—the blues chestnut “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”…future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones plays on the session… this same week, a pair of enterprising Beatles fans pack themselves into a carton marked “Beatles Fan Mail” and arrange to have it delivered to the Baltimore Civic Center where the Fab Four are appearing...their plot is foiled when the girls are discovered by guards checking deliveries…
1965: An ad in Variety announces auditions for the new TV show The Monkees...would-be Monkees who fail to make the cut include Stephen Stills, Danny Hutton later of Three Dog Night, songwriter Paul Williams, and Charles Manson…also this week, The Toys, a New York-based girl group, scores a #2 pop hit with “Lover’s Concerto”...the song is based on a Bach minuet…
1966: After scoring hits in the guise of a crooner and rock ‘n’ roller, Bobby Darin reinvents himself as a folk singer with the release of “If I Were a Carpenter”...the Tim Hardin tune reinvigorates Darin’s flagging career…
1967: The Beatles form an electronics company called Fiftyshapes Ltd. to bankroll the development of cutting-edge gear such as a 72-track recorder and invisible acoustic baffles around Ringo’s drum kit…charmed by Beatles hanger-on John Alexis Mardas (Magic Alex) who promises to deliver these inventions and much more, The Beatles investment goes straight down the toilet…years later, George Harrison calls the venture "the biggest disaster of all time"…
1968: An art installation titled “John by Yoko—Yoko by John” goes on display in the garden of England’s Coventry Cathedral...the exhibit features two acorns planted in white pots and an iron seat from which spectators may view the exhibit and “feel things grow”...this same week Roy Orbison’s home in Hendersonville, Tennessee burns down while he’s touring England…his two oldest sons die in the fire…also this week, The Beatles track “Helter Skelter” is recorded at Abbey Road…John Lennon plays bass and honks on a sax, roadie Mal Evans extracts squeals from a trumpet, Paul McCartney sings the larynx-shredding vocal, and George Harrison runs around the studio with a flaming ashtray held aloft…
1969: During Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s set at the Big Sur Festival, a heckler loudly disses the band for being rich rock stars...Stills, wearing a flamboyant fur coat, leaps off the stage, chases the heckler down, and administers a pounding while from the stage, David Crosby pleads for “Peace and love, peace and love”...Stills gets back onstage and reflects, “Y’know, we think about what that guy was saying, and we look at these coats and these pretty guitars and fancy cars and say, ‘Wow man, what am I doin’?’”…
1973: The BBC bans The Rolling Stones’ single “Star Star” from the air due to repeated F-bombs in its chorus…
1974: Eric Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “I Shot the Sheriff” goes to the top of the pop chart…the single helps build the audience for reggae begun by the soundtrack to the Jimmy Cliff movie, The Harder They Come…
1981: Pink Floyd begin production on the film version of The Wall…meanwhile in Worcester, Mass., The Rolling Stones, billed as Little Boy Blue & the Cockroaches, play a pre-tour warm-up show at a local club …when word leaks about the band’s real identity, 4,000 fans descend on the 350-person venue…
1982: The gospel musical Your Arms are Too Short to Box with God opens on Broadway...co-starring Al Green and Patti LaBelle, the show is scheduled to run for 30 performances but is extended to 80 after garnering rave reviews and big box office…
1984: MTV holds its first Video Music Awards ceremony at New York's Radio City Music Hall...the show is co-hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd and honors the top music videos of the year...the event is conceived as a hip alternative to the Grammys...winners are awarded Moon Man trophies that depict an astronaut with an American flag, one of the network's earliest icons…
1987: Peter Tosh, former member of Bob Marley’s backup band The Wailers, is shot to death during a home-invasion robbery in Kingston…this same week Peter Gabriel scores big at MTV’s VMAs winning best video, best male video, best concept video, best special effects and five other awards for his innovative “Sledgehammer” video…
1988: Guns N' Roses’ “Sweet Child O' Mine” begins a two week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart…it’s the band’s first chart topper…
1991: As a publicity stunt, Alice Cooper sells copies of his new album Hey Stoopid in New York’s Times Square for 99 cents a pop…Cooper is up against Nirvana’s single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” also released this week…at a Geffen Records launch party the band is kicked out for starting a food fight… the surprise hit helps drive their LP Nevermind to the top of the album chart early in the next year…
1992: Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic knocks himself unconscious during the VMAs when a miscalculated toss of his instrument results in it crashing down on his head…
1993: The movie What's Love Got to Do With It opens to solid box office...the biopic is based on Tina Turner's tell-all biography, I Tina, that details her stormy relationship with ex-husband Ike...an anticipated counter-biography, I Ike, never materializes…
1995: Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles' classic "Getting Better" sell for a cool $250,000 at a Sotheby's auction…
1996: Walmart refuses to carry Sheryl Crow’s second album because the song “Love is a Good Thing” includes the lyrics, "Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/With a gun they bought at the Walmart discount stores"…also this week, Tupac Shakur, the frequently shot rapper Tupac Shakur expires in a Las Vegas intensive care ward following a drive-by shooting six days earlier…
1998: Bushwick Bill, formerly of the rap ensemble Geto Boys, sues the act’s label, Rap-A-Lot Records alleging that three of the company’s employees held him at gunpoint then beat and kicked him in order to dissuade the three-foot, eight-inch rapper from breaking his recording contract…
1999: Record mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs is ordered to attend an anger management class after being convicted of attacking the president of Interscope Records, Steve Stoute…
2000: The soundtrack for Almost Famous is released...it’s notable for including four vintage Led Zeppelin tracks—a first for any soundtrack...Robert Plant and Jimmy Page agree to the tunes’ inclusion after falling in love with Cameron Crowe’s filmed semi-autobiographical remembrance of a rock journalist in the ‘70s…
2002: Kurt Cobain’s childhood home sells on eBay for $210,000…the house had been appraised at $52,660 in 2000…this same week former Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson starts his new gig as an airline pilot for Astraeus…
2003: The notoriously quarrelsome Pixies announce they will reunite for the first time in over a decade for a world tour…meanwhile, David Bowie headlines the first ever interactive concert in which his performance is beamed to theaters around the world with fans being able to talk to Bowie and request songs…and also this week, Walmart says it won’t stock The Darkness LP Permission to Land on account of the woman’s derriere prominently featured on the cover…
2004: A jet-lagged Elton John, set upon by Taiwanese paparazzi, has a hissy fit calling them “rude, vile pigs!”…this same week Aretha Franklin announces a handful of shows in L.A. and Las Vegas…they will be her first west coast shows in 20 years due to a severe fear of flying...the Queen of Soul announces that she and her entourage will travel in a three-bus caravan...a source close to the singer is quoted as saying, “Her albums don’t sell like they used to—she’s got to tour”...
2005: Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen sues his former business manager alleging that Kelley Lynch defrauded Cohen of more than $5 million…he is awarded $9 million in damages by an L.A. court but is never able to collect on the judgment…in 2012 Lynch is imprisoned for 18 months for violating a court order prohibiting her from contacting Cohen…the singer tells the court, "It gives me no pleasure to see my onetime friend shackled to a chair in a court of law, her considerable gifts bent to the services of darkness, deceit, and revenge. It is my prayer that Ms. Lynch will take refuge in the wisdom of her religion, that a spirit of understanding will convert her heart from hatred to remorse, from anger to kindness, from the deadly intoxication of revenge to the lowly practices of self-reform."…
2006: Athens, Georgia music fans get an unexpected thrill when R.E.M. shows up unannounced at a fundraiser at the 40 Watt Club...drummer Bill Berry, who split from the band in 1997 to become a gentleman farmer, rejoins his bandmates to rip through a set of faves...this same week former Orleans guitarist John Hall who scored an ‘80s hit with “Still the One” wins the New York Democratic primary congressional election...no word on what his campaign theme might be, but we could hazard a guess...
2007: Kid Rock is cited by police for misdemeanor battery after a tussle with Tommy Lee in the audience at the MTV VMAs…both Lee and Kid Rock are ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson, who was a presenter at the show…
2008: R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s Rickenbacker guitar is ripped off following a Helsinki gig … a generous reward is offered for the axe that has been a mainstay of band’s studio and live dates since the early 1980s…also this week, Journey hits the tour circuit with a new singer they found on YouTube … but the vocalist, Arnel Pineda, a native of the Philippines, is having no fun…when the new lineup debuts in Chile before a crowd of 30,000 Pineda comes down with a serious case of stage fright and it is only after a gentle push from guitarist Neal Schon that he takes the stage…
2009: Fans around the world queue up at record outlets to get their hands on the newly remastered Beatles back catalog…aside from the 14 individual album reissues, shoppers spring for two different $200 box sets…EMI ships five million discs and sees 235,000 of them sold in the first two days, giving the faltering CD business a much-needed boost…this same week Kanye West apologizes for interrupting Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the VMAs…Kanye had spoiled the star's big moment by grabbing the mic to tell the crowd “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”…
2010: Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber narrowly escapes arrest after pelting Maryland State Police with water balloons before a state fair concert…
This Week’s Hatches
September 8: composer Antonin Dvorak (1841), "The Singing Brakeman" Jimmie Rodgers (1897), country star Patsy Cline (1932), Dante Drowty of Dante & The Evergreens (1941), Brian Cole of The Association (1942), Sal Spampinato of The Beau Brummels (1942), keyboard and harp player with The Grateful Dead, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (1945), singer Cathy Jean (1945), bassist/singer Kelly Groucutt of E.L.O. (1945), Atlanta Rhythm Section's Dean Daughtry (1946), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1946), David Lewis of Atlantic Starr (1958), singer-songwriter Aimee Mann (1960), David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals (1960), singer Neko Case (1970), drummer and frontman of Mastodon Troy Sanders (1973), Keane drummer Richard Hughes (1975), singer Pink born Alecia Moore (1979), Swedish DJ and producer Tim Bergling aka Avicii (1989)
September 9: R&B and blues record label owner Jules Bihari (1913), Jake Carey of The Flamingos (1926), master jazz drummer Elvin Jones (1927), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1940), soul singing great Otis Redding (1941), singer Inez Foxx (1942), Luther Simmons of The Main Ingredient (1942), Iron Butterfly's organist and vocalist Doug Ingle (1945), Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (1946), Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics (1952), Doobie Brothers guitarist John McFee (1953), singer Michael Buble (1975), James Tapp AKA rapper Soulja Slim (1977), electronic musician/remixer/producer Stuart Price (1977)
September 10: New Orleans R&B star Roy Brown (1925), vibist Roy Ayers (1940), Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night (1942), singer Jose Feliciano (1945), drummer Don Powell of Slade (1946), Barry Barlow of Jethro Tull (1949), Aerosmith's Joe Perry (1950), Peter Tolson of The Pretty Things (1951), Johnny Fingers of Boomtown Rats (1956), T’Pau vocalist Carol Decker (1957), Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama (1958), Cracker's Dave Lowrey (1960), Bush drummer Robin Goodridge (1966), rap pioneer Big Daddy Kane (1968), bassist Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance (1980), Kings of Leon guitarist Matthew Followill (1984)
September 11: bluesman Barbecue Bob (1902), tenor sax player Bobby Fields (1928), Bernie Dwyer of Freddie And The Dreamers (1940), drummer Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead (1943), monster fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke (1945), Dennis Tufano of The Buckinghams (1946), percussionist Richard Jaeger (1947), British guitarist-singer-songwriter John Martyn (1948), guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx (1953), session guitarist and member of the Late Night with David Letterman band Hiram Bullock (1955), drummer Jon Moss of Culture Club (1957), The Mekons guitarist Jon Langford (1957), Style Council keyboardist Mick Talbot (1958), bassist Victor Wooten (1964), Moby born Richard Melville Hall (1965), singer and pianist Harry Connick, Jr. (1967), Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein (1969), guitarist/vocalist Richard Ashcroft of The Verve (1971), rapper Ludacris (1977), Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland (1977), Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (1981)
September 12: jug band musician Gus Cannon (1883), singer Maurice Chevalier (1883), blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander (1900), country singing star George Jones (1931), Warren Corbin of The Cleftones (1939), Redbone guitarist Tony Bellamy (1940), singer Maria Muldaur (1943), disco star Barry White (1944), The Foundations vocalist Colin Young (1944), Blue Cheer singer and bassist Dickie Peterson (1946), Iron Butterfly singer Darryl DeLoach (1947), Ali-Ollie Woodson of The Temptations (1951), Gerry Beckley of America (1952), Rush drummer Neil Peart (1952), keyboardist Barry Andrews of XTC (1956), Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson (1956), Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (1957), keyboardist and bandleader Ben Folds (1966), Larry LaLonde of Primus (1968), country singer Jennifer Nettles (1974)
September 13: swing sax player Chu Berry (1908), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1911), blues singer and pianist Charles Brown (1913), Peruvian singer Yma Sumac (1922), jazz singer Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme (1925), New Orleans singer Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1931), soul and gospel singer Judy Clay (1938), Dave Quincy of Manfred Mann's Earth Band (1939), producer and arranger Gene Page (1940), singer David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1941), Ray Elliott of Them (1943), guitarist Les Harvey of Stone the Crows (1944), Chicago bassist Peter Cetera (1945), Randy Jones of The Village People (1952), producer Don Was (1952), Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Metallica (1961), drummer Zak Starkey (1965), Steve Perkins of Jane's Addiction (1967), Judas Priest singer Tim Owens (1967), singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977)
September 14: composer Johann Michael Haydn (1737), country songwriter Mae Boren Axton (1914), influential New Orleans piano man Archibald born Leon T. Gross (1916), Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez (1918), Captain Beefheart guitarist Alex St. Clair (1941), Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew (1946), MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith (1948), Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines (1949), Free guitarist Paul Kossoff (1950), drummer/bassist of The Cowsills Barry Cowsill (1954), Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (1955), A-Ha vocalist Morten Harket (1959), Everclear's Craig Montoya (1970), Mark Webber of Pulp (1970), Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis (1971), rapper Nas born Nasir Jones (1972), Ashley Roberts The Pussycat Dolls (1981), neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse (1983)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 8: rapper Cowboy aka Robert Wiggins of The Furious Five (1989), For Squirrels singer and songwriter Jack Vigliatura and bassist Bill White (1995), Beatles publicist Derek Taylor (1997), Lyte Funky Ones lead singer Rich Cronin (2010)
September 9: Sandra Tilley of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1981), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1996), songwriter and record company executive Dick Heard (1998), singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti (1998), guitar builder and Slinkys creator Ernie Ball (2004), Outlaws/Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Hughie Thomasson (2007)
September 10: zydeco accordionist Beau Jocque (1999), versatile blues, cajun, jazz, and R&B guitarist, vocalist, and fiddler Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (2005)
September 11: Peter Tosh of The Wailers (1987), Rabeez born Raymond Barbieri of Warzone (1997), lyricist Fred Ebb (2004), jazz pianist-composer Joe Zawinul (2007), New Orleans funk and soul keyboardist Wilson “Willie Tee” Turbinton (2007), percussionist Ramiro Musotto (2009), author/punk rocker Jim Carroll (2009), R&B singer Carlton “King” Coleman (2010)
September 12: blues guitarist Frank Stokes (1955), rapper Tupac Shakur (1996), ABBA manager-producer Stig Andersson (1997), sax man Stanley Turrentine (2000), Johnny Cash (2003), Nashville session drummer Kenny Buttrey (2004), R&B singer and James Brown bandleader Bobby Byrd (2007), Grand Ole Opry star Charlie Walker (2008)
September 13: conductor Leopold Stokowski (1977), jazz singer Helen Humes (1981), Atlanta R&B singer and songwriter Titus Turner (1984)
September 14: bluesman Walter “Furry” Lewis (1981), Latin bandleader Perez Prado (1989), soaring New Orleans R&B vocalist Johnny Adams (1998)
The Events That Rocked Music—The Week of September 8
1814: Francis Scott Key pens the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner"...the song will be adopted as the U.S. national anthem more than 100 years later and continues to be among the most badly butchered vocal exercises to this day…
1955: Little Richard records “Tutti Frutti” in New Orleans at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios...backing musicians included Huey Smith (”Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu”) on piano, Lee Allen on tenor sax, and Earl Palmer drums, all part of Fat Domino’s band…
1957: Jackie Wilson, former Dominoes lead singer signs a solo deal with Brunswick Records...later dubbed ”Mr. Excitement,” he goes on to score 54 chart hits including the highly energized “Lonely Teardrops” and “Higher and Higher”…
1958: The first stereo records and phonographs hit the marketplace...demo records simulating planes taking off and ping pong balls caroming between the left and right speakers become all the rage…
1960: The FCC bans payola—the pervasive practice of record companies making payments to radio DJs to spin their releases…payola resurfaces four decades later when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer collects hefty fines from all the major labels for engaging in the pay-to-play game…
1963: Paul McCartney and John Lennon play their partly finished “I Wanna Be Your Man” for the Rolling Stones during a Stones gig at Studio 51 Jazz Club in London…the Stones will record the song ahead of The Beatles…featuring Brian Jones slide work and Bill Wyman’s propulsive bass, the song will be an early hit for the Stones peaking at No. 12 on the British pop chart…Lennon later dismisses the tune as “a throwaway”…
1964: Rod Stewart cuts his first single—the blues chestnut “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”…future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones plays on the session… this same week, a pair of enterprising Beatles fans pack themselves into a carton marked “Beatles Fan Mail” and arrange to have it delivered to the Baltimore Civic Center where the Fab Four are appearing...their plot is foiled when the girls are discovered by guards checking deliveries…
1965: An ad in Variety announces auditions for the new TV show The Monkees...would-be Monkees who fail to make the cut include Stephen Stills, Danny Hutton later of Three Dog Night, songwriter Paul Williams, and Charles Manson…also this week, The Toys, a New York-based girl group, scores a #2 pop hit with “Lover’s Concerto”...the song is based on a Bach minuet…
1966: After scoring hits in the guise of a crooner and rock ‘n’ roller, Bobby Darin reinvents himself as a folk singer with the release of “If I Were a Carpenter”...the Tim Hardin tune reinvigorates Darin’s flagging career…
1967: The Beatles form an electronics company called Fiftyshapes Ltd. to bankroll the development of cutting-edge gear such as a 72-track recorder and invisible acoustic baffles around Ringo’s drum kit…charmed by Beatles hanger-on John Alexis Mardas (Magic Alex) who promises to deliver these inventions and much more, The Beatles investment goes straight down the toilet…years later, George Harrison calls the venture "the biggest disaster of all time"…
1968: An art installation titled “John by Yoko—Yoko by John” goes on display in the garden of England’s Coventry Cathedral...the exhibit features two acorns planted in white pots and an iron seat from which spectators may view the exhibit and “feel things grow”...this same week Roy Orbison’s home in Hendersonville, Tennessee burns down while he’s touring England…his two oldest sons die in the fire…also this week, The Beatles track “Helter Skelter” is recorded at Abbey Road…John Lennon plays bass and honks on a sax, roadie Mal Evans extracts squeals from a trumpet, Paul McCartney sings the larynx-shredding vocal, and George Harrison runs around the studio with a flaming ashtray held aloft…
1969: During Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s set at the Big Sur Festival, a heckler loudly disses the band for being rich rock stars...Stills, wearing a flamboyant fur coat, leaps off the stage, chases the heckler down, and administers a pounding while from the stage, David Crosby pleads for “Peace and love, peace and love”...Stills gets back onstage and reflects, “Y’know, we think about what that guy was saying, and we look at these coats and these pretty guitars and fancy cars and say, ‘Wow man, what am I doin’?’”…
1973: The BBC bans The Rolling Stones’ single “Star Star” from the air due to repeated F-bombs in its chorus…
1974: Eric Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “I Shot the Sheriff” goes to the top of the pop chart…the single helps build the audience for reggae begun by the soundtrack to the Jimmy Cliff movie, The Harder They Come…
1981: Pink Floyd begin production on the film version of The Wall…meanwhile in Worcester, Mass., The Rolling Stones, billed as Little Boy Blue & the Cockroaches, play a pre-tour warm-up show at a local club …when word leaks about the band’s real identity, 4,000 fans descend on the 350-person venue…
1982: The gospel musical Your Arms are Too Short to Box with God opens on Broadway...co-starring Al Green and Patti LaBelle, the show is scheduled to run for 30 performances but is extended to 80 after garnering rave reviews and big box office…
1984: MTV holds its first Video Music Awards ceremony at New York's Radio City Music Hall...the show is co-hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd and honors the top music videos of the year...the event is conceived as a hip alternative to the Grammys...winners are awarded Moon Man trophies that depict an astronaut with an American flag, one of the network's earliest icons…
1987: Peter Tosh, former member of Bob Marley’s backup band The Wailers, is shot to death during a home-invasion robbery in Kingston…this same week Peter Gabriel scores big at MTV’s VMAs winning best video, best male video, best concept video, best special effects and five other awards for his innovative “Sledgehammer” video…
1988: Guns N' Roses’ “Sweet Child O' Mine” begins a two week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart…it’s the band’s first chart topper…
1991: As a publicity stunt, Alice Cooper sells copies of his new album Hey Stoopid in New York’s Times Square for 99 cents a pop…Cooper is up against Nirvana’s single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” also released this week…at a Geffen Records launch party the band is kicked out for starting a food fight… the surprise hit helps drive their LP Nevermind to the top of the album chart early in the next year…
1992: Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic knocks himself unconscious during the VMAs when a miscalculated toss of his instrument results in it crashing down on his head…
1993: The movie What's Love Got to Do With It opens to solid box office...the biopic is based on Tina Turner's tell-all biography, I Tina, that details her stormy relationship with ex-husband Ike...an anticipated counter-biography, I Ike, never materializes…
1995: Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles' classic "Getting Better" sell for a cool $250,000 at a Sotheby's auction…
1996: Walmart refuses to carry Sheryl Crow’s second album because the song “Love is a Good Thing” includes the lyrics, "Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/With a gun they bought at the Walmart discount stores"…also this week, Tupac Shakur, the frequently shot rapper Tupac Shakur expires in a Las Vegas intensive care ward following a drive-by shooting six days earlier…
1998: Bushwick Bill, formerly of the rap ensemble Geto Boys, sues the act’s label, Rap-A-Lot Records alleging that three of the company’s employees held him at gunpoint then beat and kicked him in order to dissuade the three-foot, eight-inch rapper from breaking his recording contract…
1999: Record mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs is ordered to attend an anger management class after being convicted of attacking the president of Interscope Records, Steve Stoute…
2000: The soundtrack for Almost Famous is released...it’s notable for including four vintage Led Zeppelin tracks—a first for any soundtrack...Robert Plant and Jimmy Page agree to the tunes’ inclusion after falling in love with Cameron Crowe’s filmed semi-autobiographical remembrance of a rock journalist in the ‘70s…
2002: Kurt Cobain’s childhood home sells on eBay for $210,000…the house had been appraised at $52,660 in 2000…this same week former Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson starts his new gig as an airline pilot for Astraeus…
2003: The notoriously quarrelsome Pixies announce they will reunite for the first time in over a decade for a world tour…meanwhile, David Bowie headlines the first ever interactive concert in which his performance is beamed to theaters around the world with fans being able to talk to Bowie and request songs…and also this week, Walmart says it won’t stock The Darkness LP Permission to Land on account of the woman’s derriere prominently featured on the cover…
2004: A jet-lagged Elton John, set upon by Taiwanese paparazzi, has a hissy fit calling them “rude, vile pigs!”…this same week Aretha Franklin announces a handful of shows in L.A. and Las Vegas…they will be her first west coast shows in 20 years due to a severe fear of flying...the Queen of Soul announces that she and her entourage will travel in a three-bus caravan...a source close to the singer is quoted as saying, “Her albums don’t sell like they used to—she’s got to tour”...
2005: Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen sues his former business manager alleging that Kelley Lynch defrauded Cohen of more than $5 million…he is awarded $9 million in damages by an L.A. court but is never able to collect on the judgment…in 2012 Lynch is imprisoned for 18 months for violating a court order prohibiting her from contacting Cohen…the singer tells the court, "It gives me no pleasure to see my onetime friend shackled to a chair in a court of law, her considerable gifts bent to the services of darkness, deceit, and revenge. It is my prayer that Ms. Lynch will take refuge in the wisdom of her religion, that a spirit of understanding will convert her heart from hatred to remorse, from anger to kindness, from the deadly intoxication of revenge to the lowly practices of self-reform."…
2006: Athens, Georgia music fans get an unexpected thrill when R.E.M. shows up unannounced at a fundraiser at the 40 Watt Club...drummer Bill Berry, who split from the band in 1997 to become a gentleman farmer, rejoins his bandmates to rip through a set of faves...this same week former Orleans guitarist John Hall who scored an ‘80s hit with “Still the One” wins the New York Democratic primary congressional election...no word on what his campaign theme might be, but we could hazard a guess...
2007: Kid Rock is cited by police for misdemeanor battery after a tussle with Tommy Lee in the audience at the MTV VMAs…both Lee and Kid Rock are ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson, who was a presenter at the show…
2008: R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s Rickenbacker guitar is ripped off following a Helsinki gig … a generous reward is offered for the axe that has been a mainstay of band’s studio and live dates since the early 1980s…also this week, Journey hits the tour circuit with a new singer they found on YouTube … but the vocalist, Arnel Pineda, a native of the Philippines, is having no fun…when the new lineup debuts in Chile before a crowd of 30,000 Pineda comes down with a serious case of stage fright and it is only after a gentle push from guitarist Neal Schon that he takes the stage…
2009: Fans around the world queue up at record outlets to get their hands on the newly remastered Beatles back catalog…aside from the 14 individual album reissues, shoppers spring for two different $200 box sets…EMI ships five million discs and sees 235,000 of them sold in the first two days, giving the faltering CD business a much-needed boost…this same week Kanye West apologizes for interrupting Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the VMAs…Kanye had spoiled the star's big moment by grabbing the mic to tell the crowd “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”…
2010: Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber narrowly escapes arrest after pelting Maryland State Police with water balloons before a state fair concert…
This Week’s Hatches
September 8: composer Antonin Dvorak (1841), "The Singing Brakeman" Jimmie Rodgers (1897), country star Patsy Cline (1932), Dante Drowty of Dante & The Evergreens (1941), Brian Cole of The Association (1942), Sal Spampinato of The Beau Brummels (1942), keyboard and harp player with The Grateful Dead, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (1945), singer Cathy Jean (1945), bassist/singer Kelly Groucutt of E.L.O. (1945), Atlanta Rhythm Section's Dean Daughtry (1946), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1946), David Lewis of Atlantic Starr (1958), singer-songwriter Aimee Mann (1960), David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals (1960), singer Neko Case (1970), drummer and frontman of Mastodon Troy Sanders (1973), Keane drummer Richard Hughes (1975), singer Pink born Alecia Moore (1979), Swedish DJ and producer Tim Bergling aka Avicii (1989)
September 9: R&B and blues record label owner Jules Bihari (1913), Jake Carey of The Flamingos (1926), master jazz drummer Elvin Jones (1927), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1940), soul singing great Otis Redding (1941), singer Inez Foxx (1942), Luther Simmons of The Main Ingredient (1942), Iron Butterfly's organist and vocalist Doug Ingle (1945), Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (1946), Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics (1952), Doobie Brothers guitarist John McFee (1953), singer Michael Buble (1975), James Tapp AKA rapper Soulja Slim (1977), electronic musician/remixer/producer Stuart Price (1977)
September 10: New Orleans R&B star Roy Brown (1925), vibist Roy Ayers (1940), Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night (1942), singer Jose Feliciano (1945), drummer Don Powell of Slade (1946), Barry Barlow of Jethro Tull (1949), Aerosmith's Joe Perry (1950), Peter Tolson of The Pretty Things (1951), Johnny Fingers of Boomtown Rats (1956), T’Pau vocalist Carol Decker (1957), Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama (1958), Cracker's Dave Lowrey (1960), Bush drummer Robin Goodridge (1966), rap pioneer Big Daddy Kane (1968), bassist Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance (1980), Kings of Leon guitarist Matthew Followill (1984)
September 11: bluesman Barbecue Bob (1902), tenor sax player Bobby Fields (1928), Bernie Dwyer of Freddie And The Dreamers (1940), drummer Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead (1943), monster fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke (1945), Dennis Tufano of The Buckinghams (1946), percussionist Richard Jaeger (1947), British guitarist-singer-songwriter John Martyn (1948), guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx (1953), session guitarist and member of the Late Night with David Letterman band Hiram Bullock (1955), drummer Jon Moss of Culture Club (1957), The Mekons guitarist Jon Langford (1957), Style Council keyboardist Mick Talbot (1958), bassist Victor Wooten (1964), Moby born Richard Melville Hall (1965), singer and pianist Harry Connick, Jr. (1967), Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein (1969), guitarist/vocalist Richard Ashcroft of The Verve (1971), rapper Ludacris (1977), Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland (1977), Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (1981)
September 12: jug band musician Gus Cannon (1883), singer Maurice Chevalier (1883), blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander (1900), country singing star George Jones (1931), Warren Corbin of The Cleftones (1939), Redbone guitarist Tony Bellamy (1940), singer Maria Muldaur (1943), disco star Barry White (1944), The Foundations vocalist Colin Young (1944), Blue Cheer singer and bassist Dickie Peterson (1946), Iron Butterfly singer Darryl DeLoach (1947), Ali-Ollie Woodson of The Temptations (1951), Gerry Beckley of America (1952), Rush drummer Neil Peart (1952), keyboardist Barry Andrews of XTC (1956), Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson (1956), Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (1957), keyboardist and bandleader Ben Folds (1966), Larry LaLonde of Primus (1968), country singer Jennifer Nettles (1974)
September 13: swing sax player Chu Berry (1908), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1911), blues singer and pianist Charles Brown (1913), Peruvian singer Yma Sumac (1922), jazz singer Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme (1925), New Orleans singer Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1931), soul and gospel singer Judy Clay (1938), Dave Quincy of Manfred Mann's Earth Band (1939), producer and arranger Gene Page (1940), singer David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1941), Ray Elliott of Them (1943), guitarist Les Harvey of Stone the Crows (1944), Chicago bassist Peter Cetera (1945), Randy Jones of The Village People (1952), producer Don Was (1952), Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Metallica (1961), drummer Zak Starkey (1965), Steve Perkins of Jane's Addiction (1967), Judas Priest singer Tim Owens (1967), singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977)
September 14: composer Johann Michael Haydn (1737), country songwriter Mae Boren Axton (1914), influential New Orleans piano man Archibald born Leon T. Gross (1916), Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez (1918), Captain Beefheart guitarist Alex St. Clair (1941), Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew (1946), MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith (1948), Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines (1949), Free guitarist Paul Kossoff (1950), drummer/bassist of The Cowsills Barry Cowsill (1954), Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (1955), A-Ha vocalist Morten Harket (1959), Everclear's Craig Montoya (1970), Mark Webber of Pulp (1970), Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis (1971), rapper Nas born Nasir Jones (1972), Ashley Roberts The Pussycat Dolls (1981), neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse (1983)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 8: rapper Cowboy aka Robert Wiggins of The Furious Five (1989), For Squirrels singer and songwriter Jack Vigliatura and bassist Bill White (1995), Beatles publicist Derek Taylor (1997), Lyte Funky Ones lead singer Rich Cronin (2010)
September 9: Sandra Tilley of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1981), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1996), songwriter and record company executive Dick Heard (1998), singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti (1998), guitar builder and Slinkys creator Ernie Ball (2004), Outlaws/Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Hughie Thomasson (2007)
September 10: zydeco accordionist Beau Jocque (1999), versatile blues, cajun, jazz, and R&B guitarist, vocalist, and fiddler Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (2005)
September 11: Peter Tosh of The Wailers (1987), Rabeez born Raymond Barbieri of Warzone (1997), lyricist Fred Ebb (2004), jazz pianist-composer Joe Zawinul (2007), New Orleans funk and soul keyboardist Wilson “Willie Tee” Turbinton (2007), percussionist Ramiro Musotto (2009), author/punk rocker Jim Carroll (2009), R&B singer Carlton “King” Coleman (2010)
September 12: blues guitarist Frank Stokes (1955), rapper Tupac Shakur (1996), ABBA manager-producer Stig Andersson (1997), sax man Stanley Turrentine (2000), Johnny Cash (2003), Nashville session drummer Kenny Buttrey (2004), R&B singer and James Brown bandleader Bobby Byrd (2007), Grand Ole Opry star Charlie Walker (2008)
September 13: conductor Leopold Stokowski (1977), jazz singer Helen Humes (1981), Atlanta R&B singer and songwriter Titus Turner (1984)
September 14: bluesman Walter “Furry” Lewis (1981), Latin bandleader Perez Prado (1989), soaring New Orleans R&B vocalist Johnny Adams (1998)
This Week in Music History: Door Floored…Who Drained…Kiss Uncovered…Willie Waylaid
14 September 2014 16:39.
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 15
1915: Before an invitation-only audience, Thomas Edison demonstrates the lifelike sound of his Diamond Disk Phonograph…when Christine Miller stops singing along with a recording of the same aria, the audience is stunned to realize the phonograph mirrors the sound that had been coming out of Miller’s mouth…
1958: The Isley Brothers score their first chart hit with "Shout"…it'll be followed by 41 more Top 100 singles over the next 38 years as the brothers continually reshape their sound to suit popular tastes…
1960: Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” goes to No. 1 on the pop chart and sets off an international dance craze…originally written and recorded by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters who had a modest hit with it, Ballard was unavailable to play Dick Clark’s popular American Bandstand TV show and Clark had Checker record the tune since his voice was similar to Ballard’s…
1961: The Pendletones, a vocal group from suburban L.A. track their first single, “Surfin’”…the song fixes the template for the group’s biggest hits as they morph into The Beach Boys…
1963: The Beatles first U.S. single, “She Loves You” is released on tiny Swan Records…it makes no impression, receiving little airplay and selling just 1000 copies until 1964 when the U.S. is swept up in Beatlemania and it becomes a No 1 hit…
1965: 8-track players are introduced as an option in the latest autos...notable for their low fidelity and tendency to eat their closed-loop tapes, they will give way to superior cassette-based players in the 1970s…
1967: An Ed Sullivan Show producer tells The Doors they’ll need to change the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher” in their hit “Light My Fire” due to its perceived drug reference…after some argument the band appears to relent…during the performance however, Jim Morrison sings the original line and the band never plays the show again…
1968: The Doors are obliged to perform as a trio at an Amsterdam show after frontman Jim Morrison collapses while dancing during The Jefferson Airplane’s set…
1969: Though the late 1960s are generally seen as a high-water mark in pop music, you couldn't prove it by the pop chart with The Archies' bubblegum ditty "Sugar Sugar" reigning supreme…meanwhile rumors swirl in the media about Paul McCartney’s death in a Scottish auto wreck the previous November…in reality Macca is vacationing in Kenya with main squeeze Jane Asher…
1970: 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix dies in a basement bedroom at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill Gate, London ...the room is rented to Monika Dannemann who later claims that she and Jimi were to be married ...he has taken about nine hits of quinalbarbitone and is already quite dead when the medics arrive despite Danneman's later claims that he had been alive at that time ...the coroner's report cites "inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication" as the cause of death ...in 1993 the investigation into Hendrix's death is reopened by Scotland Yard in order to clear up discrepancies as to how and when the ambulance was called...Danneman is vilified in books and other media and in 1996 commits suicide after losing a libel case brought by Kathy Etchingham, who originally reopened the Hendrix case…this same week Black Sabbath releases its second album, Paranoid, featuring “War Pigs” and “Iron Man,” which will become heavy metal classics…
1971: The Who release their only U.K. No. 1 album Who’s Next…the cover depicts the group walking away from a concrete pillar on which they’ve just apparently urinated…the shoot photographer later reveals several band members were unable to produce the necessary fluid and rain water poured from a film canister was used to fake the effect…
1973: Talented singer/songwriter and guitarist Gram Parsons who helped move The Byrds in a country-inflected direction dies of a drug overdose…his casket will be hijacked by two members of his road crew who, in keeping with a pact allegedly made with Parsons, attempt to cremate his body on a funeral pyre in California’s Joshua Tree Monument…spotted by the fire department, the fire is extinguished before the body is fully cremated…this same week Jim Croce, who’s big break came with machismo songs "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," meets his fate in a twin-engine prop plane when it hits a tree on takeoff in Louisiana, killing everyone aboard including his guitarist Maury Muehleisen…
1975: Pink Floyd releases Wish You Were Here, the band’s ninth LP…dealing with themes surrounding the mental decline of former band mate Syd Barrett and the business side of rock, the record quickly tops U.S. and U.K. sales charts where it will remain for 84 weeks…on the other side of the pond, Bob Dylan releases his religion-infused album Slow Train Coming that includes the Grammy-winning single “Gotta Serve Somebody”…some fans are turned off by Dylan’s new-found spirituality…
1977: Marc Bolan of T. Rex is killed in SW London when his girlfriend, soul singer Gloria Jones, crashes their Mini GT into a tree…afraid of a premature death, the glam-rock pioneer never learned to drive though he wrote a number of songs in which cars and car parts are mentioned…as a measure of his respect in the music business, Bolan’s funeral is attended by Les Paul, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and Rod Stewart among other luminaries…
1978: The video for Queen’s “Bicycle Race” is filmed at England’s Wimbledon Stadium…it features 65 nude models cavorting on bikes…when the rental company providing the bicycles gets wind of the shoot details, it demands payment to replace all the saddles…
1979: The Sugarhill Gang's “Rapper's Delight” is released…considered the first song to popularize hip-hop, the song's opening lyric goes, "I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop".…
1980: Bob Marley collapses while running in New York’s Grand Central Park…tests reveal he has cancer…he will sucumb to the disease the following May…
1983: Kiss appears on MTV minus their trademark makeup...the band has already lost original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss and is seeking to reinvent itself for the '80s...the ploy seems to work as their next release, Lick it Up, becomes their first platinum album in four years…
1987: Jaco Pastorius dies of a skull fracture after a tussle with a Florida nightclub bouncer…the brilliant bassist was dogged by drug and mental health problems through much of his life…
1990: the Tennessee Department of Labor slaps Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park with a $20,000 fine...the singer whose hit song "9 to 5" complained about an overbearing boss, had been overworking teenage staff members at the park…Steve Miller’s 1974 single “The Joker” enjoys a rebirth when it hits the top of the U.K. pop chart after being used in a Levi’s ad…the song’s lyrics are rife with references to earlier Miller songs as well as a handful of doo-wop oldies and includes the invented word “pompatus” that resulted from Miller’s mis-hearing of another made-up word from The Medallions’ “The Letter”…
1991: Guns N’ Roses releases Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II...the albums are at times a departure from the raw, riff-laden rock of the band's debut, Appetite for Destruction, with songs like the epic ballad "November Rain" and "Don't Cry" showing the band's softer side...the albums will both go platinum within two months, and secure GNR’s place as the biggest rock band on the planet until Nirvana’s Nevermind arrives weeks later…
1992: Radiohead’s single “Creep” is released but fails to chart…it still shows up on many critics’ lists of best songs at year’s end…
1996: The crowd at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry witness an historic moment when Hank Williams III makes his debut there…he's the son of Hank Williams Jr. and grandson of the legendary Hank Williams…he wears a fringed black shirt his granddaddy wore in the same venue and sings several of the senior Williams' hits…
1998: Together for the first time in 24 years, the members of '70s British rock band Mott The Hoople reunite to perform at the Virgin Megastore in London…
2004: Denver police arrest a man for criminal impersonation and theft after he walks into a local bank claiming to be Mike McCready of Pearl Jam... he tries to sell fictional $1,000 tickets for a mere 20 bucks to an upcoming PJ benefit concert... an employee of the bank calls her husband, a big Pearl Jam fan to tell him about the tickets ... the savvy fan has heard of the scam and has his wife call the law...the man had apparently pulled the scam in Vegas, New York, Miami, and New Mexico despite looking nothing like McCready...also this week, reflecting on Duran Duran’s reunion, John Taylor observes, “ There are difficult bastards everywhere in life, so why not just stick with the ones you know?”…
2005: INXS announces they have hired a former Canadian Elvis impersonator, J.D. Fortune, to replace former frontman Michael Hutchence who committed suicide in 1997…
2006: When Willie Nelson’s tour bus is pulled over in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, for a routine inspection, the cops find a pound and a half of pot and a stash of ‘shrooms...Willie and four members of his entourage are cited for possession...also this week, in a year of lackluster record sales, Beyoncé offers a bit of comfort to the industry when her new album, B’day, goes straight to the top of the chart and moves more than 540,000 copies...and on the other side of the Atlantic, three bad boys of rock, Pete Doherty of Babyshambles, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, and Tom Chaplin of Keane—residents at London's Priory rehab treatment center—are reported to be jamming together...this despite Hawkins having referred earlier to Doherty as being "a talentless waste of skin"...apparently their shared rehab has healed old wounds...the ever-inventive British tabloids dub the trio the"Arctic Junkies"...
2007: In a vigorously promoted feud in which rappers Kanye West and 50 Cent release new albums on the same day, the two rap stars go head to head over record sales with the two appearing in boxer-like stances on the cover of Rolling Stone...the ensuing sales battle is one sided: West’s Graduation with 957,000 copies sold trounces Fiddy’s mere 691,000 copies of Curtis…
2008: Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein both receive serious burns when the Learjet 60 they’re riding in crashes during takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina …
2009: Food poisoning causes Leonard Cohen to collapse mid-song at a Spanish concert…
2011: R.E.M. exit stage left after 31 years, 15 studio albums, nine compilation albums, one soundtrack and 64 singles…
2013: Internet music service Spotify takes heat from artists complaining about miserly royalty payments…high profile artists like Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Atoms for Peace raise questions about the service’s business model…
This Week’s Hatches
September 15: pioneering country singer-songwriter Roy Acuff (1903), DJ and novelty singer Vic Venus (1928), sax man and bandleader Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (1928), Les Braid of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1937), bassist Lee Dorman of Iron Butterfly (1942), ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert (1946), sax player George Howard of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes (1957), DJ Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature (1969), Mitch Dorge of Crash Test Dummies (1960), Ivette Sosa of Eden’s Crush (1976), Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson (1977), OneRepublic guitarist Zach Filkins ( 1978)
September 16: girl-group record label owner Florence Greenberg (1913), organist and “Godfather of Exotica” Korla Pandit (1921), blues titan B. B. King (1925), blues drummer Fred Below (1926), Joe Butler of The Lovin’ Spoonful (1941), Bernie Calvert of The Hollies (1944), Betty Kelly of Martha and The Vandellas (1944), drummer Kenney Jones of The Small Faces and The Who (1948), David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers (1950), Ron Blair of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1952), Colin Newman of Wire (1954), Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones (1956), bassist Dave "Blood" Schulthise of The Dead Milkmen (1956), Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine (1961), singer-songwriter Richard Marx (1963), singer Marc Anthony (1968), singer Tina Barrett of S Club 7 (1976), Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan (1979), rapper Flo Rida (Tramar Lacel Dillard) of 2 Live Crew (1979), Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers (1992)
September 17: masterful country singer-songwriter Hank Williams (1923), rockabilly bassist Bill Black (1926), Jeanine Deckers aka The Singing Nun (1933), LaMonte McLemore of The 5th Dimension (1939), Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1947), James Gang bassist Dale Peters (1947), Fee Waybill of The Tubes (1950), Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde (1951), Budgie drummer Steve Williams (1953), singer BeBe Winans (1962), Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian (1968), Vinnie Brown of Naughty By Nature (1970), Maile Misajon of Eden's Crush (1976), bassist Jonathan Walker of Panic! at the Disco (1985)
September 18: jazz vocalist Teddi King (1929), pop singer Jimmie Rodgers (1933), pop singer Frankie Avalon (1940), Kerry Livgren of Kansas (1949), bassist Dee Dee Ramone born Douglas Colvin (1951), Cutting Crew drummer Martin Beedle (1961), Joanne Catherall of Human League (1962), Ian Spice of Breathe (1966), Ricky Bell of Bell Biv Devoe (1967)
September 19: velvet-toned pop and R&B singer Brook Benton (1931), Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1934), Nick Massi of The Four Seasons (1935), Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers (1940), songwriter Paul Williams (1940), “Mama” Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas (1941), soul singer Freda Payne (1945), singer-songwriter David Bromberg (1945), Status Quo drummer John Coghlan (1946), Lol Creme of 10cc (1947), musician and producer Daniel Lanois (1951), Nile Rodgers of Chic (1952), Lita Ford of The Runaways (1958), Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker (1963), country singer Trisha Yearwood (1964), saxophonist Candy Dulfer (1969), Maroon 5 drummer Ryan Dusick (1977)
September 20: pop singer Gogi Grant (1924), Bobby Nunn of The Coasters (1925), New Orleans R&B singer Eddie Bo (1930), respected funk and jazz guitarist Eric Gale (1938), Sweet Pea Atkinson of Was Not Was (1945), Michael Oldroyd of Manfred Mann's Earth Band (1946), Styx bassist and drummer John and Chuck Panozzo (1948), singer and sax player Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1957), Furious Five rapper Cowboy aka Robert Wiggins (1960), David Hemingway of The Housemartins (1960), Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (1966), Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden (1968), drummer Rick Woolstenhulme of Lifehouse (1979),
September 21: composer Gustav Holst (1874), jazz drummer Chico Hamilton (1921), singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934), Memphis pop singer Dickey Lee (Lipscomb) (1936), respected Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood (1943), Don Felder of The Eagles (1947), Phil Taylor of Motorhead (1954), singer Corinne Drewery of Swing Out Sister (1959), country singer Faith Hill (1967), Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart (1967), drummer Jon Brooks of The Charlatans (1968), Trugoy aka David Jude of De La Soul (1968), Oasis singer Liam Gallagher (1972), Korn drummer David Silveria (1972), bassist Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit (1977), singer-songwriter Jason Derulo (1989)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 15: jazz pianist Bill Evans (1980), Johnny Ramone born John Cummings (2004), keyboardist Rick Wright of Pink Floyd (2008)
September 16: classic blues queen Mamie Smith (1945), Leroy Griffin of The Nutmegs (1966), Marc Bolan of T. Rex (1977), opera diva Maria Callas (1977), admired Columbia producer Tom Wilson (1978), Izora Armstead of The Weather Girls (2004), Motown writer Norman Whitfield (2008), Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary (2009), blues harp player and singer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (2011) vocalist Jackie Lomax (2013)
September 17: Dave Patillo of The Red Caps (1967), MC5 singer Rob Tyner (1991)
September 18: country blues harmonica player Will Shade (1966), Jimi Hendrix (1970), jump blues singer Roy Milton (1983), Motown arranger and session keyboardist Earl Van Dyke (1992), jazz and R&B singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1997), R&B singer-songwriter Charlie Foxx (1998), country singer Marvin Rainwater (2013)
September 19: country-rock great Gram Parsons (1973), contemporary Christian singer Rich Mullins (1997), singer-songwriter Ed Cobb (1999), Aussie country singer Slim Dusty (2003), singer Skeeter Davis (2004), Motown writer-producer (2005), rock sax player Danny Flores of “Tequila” fame (2006), admired New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer (2008), half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher, Arthur Ferrante (2009)
September 20: country artist Red Foley (1968), singer-songwriter Jim Croce and his guitarist Maury Muehleisen (1973), singer-songwriter Steve Goodman (1984), Steve Miller Band drummer Tim Davis (1988), composer Jule Styne (1994), punk rocker Nick Traina of Link 80 and Knowledge (1997), Texas swing singer Don Walser (2006)
September 21: Delta blues musician Bo Carter (1964), brilliant fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (1987), former Fender CEO William “Bill” Schultz (2006), King Crimson and Bad Company bassist and singer Raymond “Boz” Burrell (2006), Atomic Rooster guitarist John Du Cann (2011)
14 September 2014 16:39.
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 15
1915: Before an invitation-only audience, Thomas Edison demonstrates the lifelike sound of his Diamond Disk Phonograph…when Christine Miller stops singing along with a recording of the same aria, the audience is stunned to realize the phonograph mirrors the sound that had been coming out of Miller’s mouth…
1958: The Isley Brothers score their first chart hit with "Shout"…it'll be followed by 41 more Top 100 singles over the next 38 years as the brothers continually reshape their sound to suit popular tastes…
1960: Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” goes to No. 1 on the pop chart and sets off an international dance craze…originally written and recorded by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters who had a modest hit with it, Ballard was unavailable to play Dick Clark’s popular American Bandstand TV show and Clark had Checker record the tune since his voice was similar to Ballard’s…
1961: The Pendletones, a vocal group from suburban L.A. track their first single, “Surfin’”…the song fixes the template for the group’s biggest hits as they morph into The Beach Boys…
1963: The Beatles first U.S. single, “She Loves You” is released on tiny Swan Records…it makes no impression, receiving little airplay and selling just 1000 copies until 1964 when the U.S. is swept up in Beatlemania and it becomes a No 1 hit…
1965: 8-track players are introduced as an option in the latest autos...notable for their low fidelity and tendency to eat their closed-loop tapes, they will give way to superior cassette-based players in the 1970s…
1967: An Ed Sullivan Show producer tells The Doors they’ll need to change the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher” in their hit “Light My Fire” due to its perceived drug reference…after some argument the band appears to relent…during the performance however, Jim Morrison sings the original line and the band never plays the show again…
1968: The Doors are obliged to perform as a trio at an Amsterdam show after frontman Jim Morrison collapses while dancing during The Jefferson Airplane’s set…
1969: Though the late 1960s are generally seen as a high-water mark in pop music, you couldn't prove it by the pop chart with The Archies' bubblegum ditty "Sugar Sugar" reigning supreme…meanwhile rumors swirl in the media about Paul McCartney’s death in a Scottish auto wreck the previous November…in reality Macca is vacationing in Kenya with main squeeze Jane Asher…
1970: 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix dies in a basement bedroom at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill Gate, London ...the room is rented to Monika Dannemann who later claims that she and Jimi were to be married ...he has taken about nine hits of quinalbarbitone and is already quite dead when the medics arrive despite Danneman's later claims that he had been alive at that time ...the coroner's report cites "inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication" as the cause of death ...in 1993 the investigation into Hendrix's death is reopened by Scotland Yard in order to clear up discrepancies as to how and when the ambulance was called...Danneman is vilified in books and other media and in 1996 commits suicide after losing a libel case brought by Kathy Etchingham, who originally reopened the Hendrix case…this same week Black Sabbath releases its second album, Paranoid, featuring “War Pigs” and “Iron Man,” which will become heavy metal classics…
1971: The Who release their only U.K. No. 1 album Who’s Next…the cover depicts the group walking away from a concrete pillar on which they’ve just apparently urinated…the shoot photographer later reveals several band members were unable to produce the necessary fluid and rain water poured from a film canister was used to fake the effect…
1973: Talented singer/songwriter and guitarist Gram Parsons who helped move The Byrds in a country-inflected direction dies of a drug overdose…his casket will be hijacked by two members of his road crew who, in keeping with a pact allegedly made with Parsons, attempt to cremate his body on a funeral pyre in California’s Joshua Tree Monument…spotted by the fire department, the fire is extinguished before the body is fully cremated…this same week Jim Croce, who’s big break came with machismo songs "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," meets his fate in a twin-engine prop plane when it hits a tree on takeoff in Louisiana, killing everyone aboard including his guitarist Maury Muehleisen…
1975: Pink Floyd releases Wish You Were Here, the band’s ninth LP…dealing with themes surrounding the mental decline of former band mate Syd Barrett and the business side of rock, the record quickly tops U.S. and U.K. sales charts where it will remain for 84 weeks…on the other side of the pond, Bob Dylan releases his religion-infused album Slow Train Coming that includes the Grammy-winning single “Gotta Serve Somebody”…some fans are turned off by Dylan’s new-found spirituality…
1977: Marc Bolan of T. Rex is killed in SW London when his girlfriend, soul singer Gloria Jones, crashes their Mini GT into a tree…afraid of a premature death, the glam-rock pioneer never learned to drive though he wrote a number of songs in which cars and car parts are mentioned…as a measure of his respect in the music business, Bolan’s funeral is attended by Les Paul, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, and Rod Stewart among other luminaries…
1978: The video for Queen’s “Bicycle Race” is filmed at England’s Wimbledon Stadium…it features 65 nude models cavorting on bikes…when the rental company providing the bicycles gets wind of the shoot details, it demands payment to replace all the saddles…
1979: The Sugarhill Gang's “Rapper's Delight” is released…considered the first song to popularize hip-hop, the song's opening lyric goes, "I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop".…
1980: Bob Marley collapses while running in New York’s Grand Central Park…tests reveal he has cancer…he will sucumb to the disease the following May…
1983: Kiss appears on MTV minus their trademark makeup...the band has already lost original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss and is seeking to reinvent itself for the '80s...the ploy seems to work as their next release, Lick it Up, becomes their first platinum album in four years…
1987: Jaco Pastorius dies of a skull fracture after a tussle with a Florida nightclub bouncer…the brilliant bassist was dogged by drug and mental health problems through much of his life…
1990: the Tennessee Department of Labor slaps Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park with a $20,000 fine...the singer whose hit song "9 to 5" complained about an overbearing boss, had been overworking teenage staff members at the park…Steve Miller’s 1974 single “The Joker” enjoys a rebirth when it hits the top of the U.K. pop chart after being used in a Levi’s ad…the song’s lyrics are rife with references to earlier Miller songs as well as a handful of doo-wop oldies and includes the invented word “pompatus” that resulted from Miller’s mis-hearing of another made-up word from The Medallions’ “The Letter”…
1991: Guns N’ Roses releases Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II...the albums are at times a departure from the raw, riff-laden rock of the band's debut, Appetite for Destruction, with songs like the epic ballad "November Rain" and "Don't Cry" showing the band's softer side...the albums will both go platinum within two months, and secure GNR’s place as the biggest rock band on the planet until Nirvana’s Nevermind arrives weeks later…
1992: Radiohead’s single “Creep” is released but fails to chart…it still shows up on many critics’ lists of best songs at year’s end…
1996: The crowd at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry witness an historic moment when Hank Williams III makes his debut there…he's the son of Hank Williams Jr. and grandson of the legendary Hank Williams…he wears a fringed black shirt his granddaddy wore in the same venue and sings several of the senior Williams' hits…
1998: Together for the first time in 24 years, the members of '70s British rock band Mott The Hoople reunite to perform at the Virgin Megastore in London…
2004: Denver police arrest a man for criminal impersonation and theft after he walks into a local bank claiming to be Mike McCready of Pearl Jam... he tries to sell fictional $1,000 tickets for a mere 20 bucks to an upcoming PJ benefit concert... an employee of the bank calls her husband, a big Pearl Jam fan to tell him about the tickets ... the savvy fan has heard of the scam and has his wife call the law...the man had apparently pulled the scam in Vegas, New York, Miami, and New Mexico despite looking nothing like McCready...also this week, reflecting on Duran Duran’s reunion, John Taylor observes, “ There are difficult bastards everywhere in life, so why not just stick with the ones you know?”…
2005: INXS announces they have hired a former Canadian Elvis impersonator, J.D. Fortune, to replace former frontman Michael Hutchence who committed suicide in 1997…
2006: When Willie Nelson’s tour bus is pulled over in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, for a routine inspection, the cops find a pound and a half of pot and a stash of ‘shrooms...Willie and four members of his entourage are cited for possession...also this week, in a year of lackluster record sales, Beyoncé offers a bit of comfort to the industry when her new album, B’day, goes straight to the top of the chart and moves more than 540,000 copies...and on the other side of the Atlantic, three bad boys of rock, Pete Doherty of Babyshambles, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, and Tom Chaplin of Keane—residents at London's Priory rehab treatment center—are reported to be jamming together...this despite Hawkins having referred earlier to Doherty as being "a talentless waste of skin"...apparently their shared rehab has healed old wounds...the ever-inventive British tabloids dub the trio the"Arctic Junkies"...
2007: In a vigorously promoted feud in which rappers Kanye West and 50 Cent release new albums on the same day, the two rap stars go head to head over record sales with the two appearing in boxer-like stances on the cover of Rolling Stone...the ensuing sales battle is one sided: West’s Graduation with 957,000 copies sold trounces Fiddy’s mere 691,000 copies of Curtis…
2008: Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein both receive serious burns when the Learjet 60 they’re riding in crashes during takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina …
2009: Food poisoning causes Leonard Cohen to collapse mid-song at a Spanish concert…
2011: R.E.M. exit stage left after 31 years, 15 studio albums, nine compilation albums, one soundtrack and 64 singles…
2013: Internet music service Spotify takes heat from artists complaining about miserly royalty payments…high profile artists like Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Atoms for Peace raise questions about the service’s business model…
This Week’s Hatches
September 15: pioneering country singer-songwriter Roy Acuff (1903), DJ and novelty singer Vic Venus (1928), sax man and bandleader Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (1928), Les Braid of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1937), bassist Lee Dorman of Iron Butterfly (1942), ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert (1946), sax player George Howard of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes (1957), DJ Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature (1969), Mitch Dorge of Crash Test Dummies (1960), Ivette Sosa of Eden’s Crush (1976), Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson (1977), OneRepublic guitarist Zach Filkins ( 1978)
September 16: girl-group record label owner Florence Greenberg (1913), organist and “Godfather of Exotica” Korla Pandit (1921), blues titan B. B. King (1925), blues drummer Fred Below (1926), Joe Butler of The Lovin’ Spoonful (1941), Bernie Calvert of The Hollies (1944), Betty Kelly of Martha and The Vandellas (1944), drummer Kenney Jones of The Small Faces and The Who (1948), David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers (1950), Ron Blair of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1952), Colin Newman of Wire (1954), Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones (1956), bassist Dave "Blood" Schulthise of The Dead Milkmen (1956), Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine (1961), singer-songwriter Richard Marx (1963), singer Marc Anthony (1968), singer Tina Barrett of S Club 7 (1976), Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan (1979), rapper Flo Rida (Tramar Lacel Dillard) of 2 Live Crew (1979), Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers (1992)
September 17: masterful country singer-songwriter Hank Williams (1923), rockabilly bassist Bill Black (1926), Jeanine Deckers aka The Singing Nun (1933), LaMonte McLemore of The 5th Dimension (1939), Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1947), James Gang bassist Dale Peters (1947), Fee Waybill of The Tubes (1950), Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde (1951), Budgie drummer Steve Williams (1953), singer BeBe Winans (1962), Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian (1968), Vinnie Brown of Naughty By Nature (1970), Maile Misajon of Eden's Crush (1976), bassist Jonathan Walker of Panic! at the Disco (1985)
September 18: jazz vocalist Teddi King (1929), pop singer Jimmie Rodgers (1933), pop singer Frankie Avalon (1940), Kerry Livgren of Kansas (1949), bassist Dee Dee Ramone born Douglas Colvin (1951), Cutting Crew drummer Martin Beedle (1961), Joanne Catherall of Human League (1962), Ian Spice of Breathe (1966), Ricky Bell of Bell Biv Devoe (1967)
September 19: velvet-toned pop and R&B singer Brook Benton (1931), Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1934), Nick Massi of The Four Seasons (1935), Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers (1940), songwriter Paul Williams (1940), “Mama” Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas (1941), soul singer Freda Payne (1945), singer-songwriter David Bromberg (1945), Status Quo drummer John Coghlan (1946), Lol Creme of 10cc (1947), musician and producer Daniel Lanois (1951), Nile Rodgers of Chic (1952), Lita Ford of The Runaways (1958), Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker (1963), country singer Trisha Yearwood (1964), saxophonist Candy Dulfer (1969), Maroon 5 drummer Ryan Dusick (1977)
September 20: pop singer Gogi Grant (1924), Bobby Nunn of The Coasters (1925), New Orleans R&B singer Eddie Bo (1930), respected funk and jazz guitarist Eric Gale (1938), Sweet Pea Atkinson of Was Not Was (1945), Michael Oldroyd of Manfred Mann's Earth Band (1946), Styx bassist and drummer John and Chuck Panozzo (1948), singer and sax player Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1957), Furious Five rapper Cowboy aka Robert Wiggins (1960), David Hemingway of The Housemartins (1960), Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (1966), Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden (1968), drummer Rick Woolstenhulme of Lifehouse (1979),
September 21: composer Gustav Holst (1874), jazz drummer Chico Hamilton (1921), singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934), Memphis pop singer Dickey Lee (Lipscomb) (1936), respected Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood (1943), Don Felder of The Eagles (1947), Phil Taylor of Motorhead (1954), singer Corinne Drewery of Swing Out Sister (1959), country singer Faith Hill (1967), Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart (1967), drummer Jon Brooks of The Charlatans (1968), Trugoy aka David Jude of De La Soul (1968), Oasis singer Liam Gallagher (1972), Korn drummer David Silveria (1972), bassist Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit (1977), singer-songwriter Jason Derulo (1989)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 15: jazz pianist Bill Evans (1980), Johnny Ramone born John Cummings (2004), keyboardist Rick Wright of Pink Floyd (2008)
September 16: classic blues queen Mamie Smith (1945), Leroy Griffin of The Nutmegs (1966), Marc Bolan of T. Rex (1977), opera diva Maria Callas (1977), admired Columbia producer Tom Wilson (1978), Izora Armstead of The Weather Girls (2004), Motown writer Norman Whitfield (2008), Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary (2009), blues harp player and singer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (2011) vocalist Jackie Lomax (2013)
September 17: Dave Patillo of The Red Caps (1967), MC5 singer Rob Tyner (1991)
September 18: country blues harmonica player Will Shade (1966), Jimi Hendrix (1970), jump blues singer Roy Milton (1983), Motown arranger and session keyboardist Earl Van Dyke (1992), jazz and R&B singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1997), R&B singer-songwriter Charlie Foxx (1998), country singer Marvin Rainwater (2013)
September 19: country-rock great Gram Parsons (1973), contemporary Christian singer Rich Mullins (1997), singer-songwriter Ed Cobb (1999), Aussie country singer Slim Dusty (2003), singer Skeeter Davis (2004), Motown writer-producer (2005), rock sax player Danny Flores of “Tequila” fame (2006), admired New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer (2008), half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher, Arthur Ferrante (2009)
September 20: country artist Red Foley (1968), singer-songwriter Jim Croce and his guitarist Maury Muehleisen (1973), singer-songwriter Steve Goodman (1984), Steve Miller Band drummer Tim Davis (1988), composer Jule Styne (1994), punk rocker Nick Traina of Link 80 and Knowledge (1997), Texas swing singer Don Walser (2006)
September 21: Delta blues musician Bo Carter (1964), brilliant fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (1987), former Fender CEO William “Bill” Schultz (2006), King Crimson and Bad Company bassist and singer Raymond “Boz” Burrell (2006), Atomic Rooster guitarist John Du Cann (2011)
This Week in Music History: Daltrey Decks Moon…Troubled Tours…The Cost of Silence
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 22
1953: In what is now considered the golden age of vocal groups, seven of the R&B chart's top 10 positions are occupied by doo-wop acts including The Orioles, The Clovers, The “5” Royales, The Royals, The Spaniels, The Dominoes, and The Coronets…
1954: Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips secures his place in rock ‘n’ roll history when he spins a test pressing of Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right” on radio station WHBQ…it’s the first time an Elvis record hits the airwaves…
1957: Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” ascends to the top of the singles chart…the title comes from a line John Wayne utters in the movie The Searchers, a favorite flick of Buddy and his backup band, The Crickets…
1956: Elvis Presley’s much-anticipated single, “Love Me Tender,” notches a music biz record when advance orders for the record top one million…
1961: The Greenbriar Boys begin a two-week residency at New York’s Gerde’s Folk City…the opening act is Bob Dylan…
1962: The Springfields are the first British vocal act to score a U.S. Top 20 hit with their single "Silver Threads and Golden Needles"…their lead singer is Mary O'Brien who will later enjoy a major solo career using the stage name Dusty Springfield…this same week, Elvis is invited to perform for the royal family in England but manager Tom Parker declines saying The King is busy with movie commitments…the real reason: Parker’s an illegal Dutch immigrant to the U.S. who's afraid he won’t be allowed back in if he leaves the country…
1963: "She Loves You" is played by influential DJ Murray “The K” Kaufman on station WINS in New York...it’s the first time a Beatles song is played on U.S. airwaves...Murray becomes a staunch Beatles supporter, helping to break them in America…
1964: The Temptations record the single “My Girl,” which includes one of the most memorable bass lines in all of pop…it’s played with Motown’s monster bassist James Jamerson…it will become one of the most covered tunes ever…
1965: Proto-hippie San Francisco band The Great Society featuring the powerful pipes of frontwoman Grace Slick makes its debut at The Coffee Gallery in North Beach…she’ll soon bail to join The Jefferson Airplane…this same week in Denmark, Roger Daltrey gets canned when he decks The Who drummer Keith Moon…Daltrey gets his gig back the next day…
1966: The Yardbirds, with lead guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page embark on a British tour with the Rolling Stones and Ike and Tina Turner…
1969: The Band releases their self-titled album that will peak at No. 9 on the album chart…it features songs that sound like they could have been written in the 19th century, including the mournful “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”…in 2009 the LP will be enshrined in National Recording Registry…
1974: Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh dies at an L.A. party when he snorts a lethal dose of heroin believing it to be cocaine…Cher, a fellow attendee, keeps Macintosh's bandmate Alan Gorrie, who had made the same mistake, conscious until paramedics arrive…
1975: Soul singer Jackie Wilson suffers a heart attack in mid-performance at the Latin Casino in Camden, N.J. ... dubbed "Mr. Excitement," the singer falls off the stage and strikes his head on the concrete floor causing permanent brain damage...he lapses into a coma and spends the rest of his life hospitalized until death overtakes him in 1984...the soul group The Spinners donate $60,000 for his medical care but much of that money is consumed in lawyer's fees due to relatives tussling over control of Wilson's estate …the singer is laid to rest in an unmarked grave...the Wilson family will be haunted by tragedy...son Jackie Jr. was killed in 1970 during a burglary, daughter Sandra died of a heart attack in 1977, and daughter Jacqueline was shot to death in a 1987 drive-by shooting…
1976: British bobbies take The Runaways into custody following the disappearance of a hair dryer from a hotel room…this same week A&M Records files suit against George Harrison for being two months late in delivering an album…
1980: David Bowie makes his Broadway debut playing the title character in The Elephant Man…this week also marks the death of Auburn “Pat Hare…the blues guitarist had a fiery temper and worked with some of the biggest names in blues including Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf…his heavily distorted power chords anticipated heavy metal…one of Hare’s records, “Gonna Murder My Baby,” proved prophetic…he died in prison while serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend and a policeman…
1982: The first compact discs and players hit the market in Japan...a joint venture between Sony and Philips, the CD will become the dominant musical format within five years…
1985: The first Farm Aid concert is held in Illinois…the star-studded lineup of country acts draws 80,000 fans…organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, proceeds are intended to help struggling family farms…
1986: Metallica bassist Cliff Burton is killed when the Danish tour bus he’s riding in skids on ice and crashes…Burton, who was asleep at the time of the wreck, had drawn cards to win what was perceived as the cushiest bunk aboard…during the accident he’s thrown from the bus, which then rolls over him…
1988: Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" becomes the first a capella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100…the single will land George Bush the elder in hot water when he uses it in his presidential campaign without permission…
1991: Garth Brooks’ album Ropin' the Wind debuts at number one on the Billboard Pop chart....it is the first country album to do that…
1993: Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler settles his lawsuit with his former band for $2.5 million just before the case goes to the jury, this despite having signed an agreement in 1990 giving up his partnership interest in the band…during the trial, guitarist Slash had testified that Adler had signed the agreement while he was "strung out"…Adler had been booted from the band when he couldn't kick his heroin habit…five years to the day later, Adler is back in court, this time for sentencing on charges of having beaten two women he dated as well as violating probation on an earlier domestic case…he gets 150 days jail time…
1995: Upon landing in New York, The Charlatans are welcomed by 24 cops after the band is accused of being obnoxiously drunk, trying to alter the plane’s flight plan, spitting, and screwing around with the in-flight TV monitors…
1996: Smashing Pumpkins get off to a delayed tour start…the band needed extra time to integrate former Filter drummer Matt Walker and former Frogs' keyboardist Dennis Flemion…the pair replace former keyboards player Jonathan Melvoin who died three months earlier from a heroin OD and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin who was canned following a drug bust…leader Billy Corgan later acknowledges the replacements were a bad idea that hurt the band’s music and reputation...in 1999 a rehabilitated Chamberlin will rejoin the Pumpkins…
1997: Wearing a white cowboy hat, Bob Dylan performs his “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in Bologna, Italy with an apparently bored Pope John Paul II looking on…in New York, the Audio Engineering Society unveils the new DVD Audio format…
1998: Hard rock act White Zombie calls it a night…
1999: Diana Ross is taken into custody at London's Heathrow airport after a tussle with a female security officer…she is later cautioned and released…
2002: Mike Batt of The Planets settles a lawsuit filed by the John Cage Trust for “an undisclosed six-figure sum”...at issue is one minute of silence on the band’s latest CD Classical Grafitti...the avant-garde composer’s estate claimed Batt plagiarized Cage’s 1952 composition “4’33,” which consists of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence when he credited his piece, ”A One Minute Silence,” to “Batt/Cage”...
2003: Media report on notable tour contract riders by some major acts that include: Limp Bizkit requires all their dressing-room lamps be dimmable…Mariah Carey can only handle 'bendy' straws—the straight ones won’t do…Van Halen asks that back-stage celery is trimmed and not peeled…and The Red Hot Chili Peppers need a meditation room with a selection of aromatherapy candles…
2004: British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens is sent back to London by U.S. immigration officials after his New York-bound flight is diverted to Maine…the singer, a convert to Islam who now goes by the name Yusuf Islam, is refused entry "based on national security grounds"…this same week, Dolly Parton who is considering breast-reduction surgery complains, “My boobs are killing me and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer.”…
2006: a slew of new MP3 players are introduced including Microsoft’s Zune and the Sansa Rhapsody in an attempt to unseat Apples hegemony of the portable player market...none of them will gain a meaningful foothold…this same week, singer Marianne Faithfull puts a hold on her world tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer...in other troubled-tour news, following a six-month hiatus prompted by Steven Tyler’s surgery for a broken blood vessel in his larynx and bassman Tom Hamilton’s chemo treatments for throat cancer, Aerosmith reunites for a show at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts...it’s been a tough year for the band with Tyler slicing his hand while opening a suitcase as well as announcing that he is battling hepatitis C…
2007: It’s reported that director Martin Scorsese is working on a documentary about George Harrison and will have the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the late Beatle’s widow, Olivia...this same week, after the jury fails to come in with a verdict, the judge declares a mistrial and producer Phil Spector goes free on having murdered starlet Lana Clarkson in 2003...the L.A. County prosecutor’s office vows he will try the case again…
2008: In a real turnabout, Metallica fans ask the veteran heavy metalists to turn it down… in recording the band’s latest album, Death Magnetic, the sound was cranked and compressed so severely that the CD is riddled with distortion…11,000 fans sign an online petition asking the band to remix and reissue the album…this same week, working on his next gazillion dollars, Jay-Z launches his new label, StarRoc Records…
2011: At 85, singer Tony Bennett becomes the oldest artist to enjoy a No 1 album with his Duets II that includes songs with Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse…
2012: Mumford & Sons’ second LP, Babel, debuts at No. 1 on both the UK and US charts and becomes one of fastest-selling releases of the year…
This Week’s Hatches
September 22: British singer Mike Patto (1942), David Coverdale of Whitesnake (1948), Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass (1953), pop singer Debby Boone (1956), Australian singer and author Nick Cave (1957), Peter Jones of Public Image Ltd (1957), guitarist Joan Jett (1961), rapper Mystikal, (Michael Tyler) (1975)
September 23: R&B bandleader Tiny Bradshaw (1905), Sun Records’ Marion Keisker (1917), blues guitarist and harp player Joe Hill Louis (1921), hugely influential jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926), jazz bassist Jimmy Woode (1928), Wally Whyton of The Vypers (1929), American original Ray Charles (1930), underappreciated blues guitar player and singer Fenton Robinson (1935), blues, rock, and jazz guitarist Roy Buchanan (1939), singer and songwriter Charlie Foxx (1939), British one-man blues band Duster Bennett (1943), singer Julio Iglesias (1943), singer Toni Basil (1943), Wallace and Walter Scott of The Whispers (1943), songwriter, producer, and session pianist Don Grolnick (1947), Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf (1947), Allman Brothers guitarist Dan Toler (1948), Bruce Springsteen (1949), Mad Season bassist John Saunders (1954)
September 24: jazz singer Herb Jeffries (1915), jazz trumpeter Fats Navarro (1923), gospel, doo-wop, and blues singer Allen Bunn (1924), Carl Feaster of The Chords (1930), actor, songwriter and crooner Anthony Newley (1931), The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1933), James “Shep” Sheppard of The Heartbeats and Shep & The Limelites (1935), session sax man Steve Douglas (1938), Barbara Allbut of The Angels (1940), Phyllis Allbut of The Angels (1942), Linda (Eastman) McCartney (1942), Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers (1942), Carson Osten of The Nazz and Utopia (1946), Morphine multi-instrumentalist and instrument inventor Mark Sandman (1952), Marty Cintron III of No Mercy (1971), The Verve drummer Peter Salisbury (1971)
September 25: Delta bluesman Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes (1935), Joseph Russell of The Persuasions (1939), soul singer Wade Flemons (1940), The Association singer and guitarist Gary Alexander (1943), John Locke of Spirit (1943), Onnie Mcintyre of Average White Band (1945), Bryan MacLean of Love (1946), Iron Butterfly bassist Jerry “The Bear” Penrod (1946), singer, songwriter, and producer Cecil Womack of The Valentinos (1947), Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin (1955), guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (1969), bassist Richie Edwards of The Darkness (1974)
September 26: session guitarist and songwriter Rene Hall (1912), country and pop singer Marty Robbins (1925), pop singer Julie London (1926), The Youngbloods drummer Joe Bauer (1941), British singer and keyboardist Georgie Fame (1943), Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry (1945), country singer Lynn Anderson (1947), pop singer and actress Olivia Newton-John (1946), Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos (1954), Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship (1954), singer Darby Crash of The Germs (1958), singer Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl (1962), Cindy Herron of En Vogue (1965), Blind Melon frontman Shannon Hoon (1967), Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men (1972), pop singer Christina Milian (1981)
September 27: influential jazz pianist Bud Powell (1924), Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius (1936), Randy Bachman of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (1943), singer Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) (1947), Greg Ham of Men At Work (1953), in-demand reggae bassist Robbie Shakespeare (1953), singer and actor Shaun Cassidy (1958), Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind (1966), Mark Calderon of Color Me Badd (1970), rapper Lil Wayne, (Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.) (1982), singer Avril Lavigne (1984)
September 28: TV show host Ed Sullivan (1902), Mississippi bluesman Houston Stackhouse (1910), country singer-songwriter Tommy Collins (1930), founder of The Hutchinson Sunbeams and The Emotions Joseph Hutchinson (1931), Chicago blues belter Koko Taylor (1935), soul singer and former Drifter Ben E. King (1938), Nick Nicholas of Steppenwolf (1943), UK pop singer Helen Shapiro (1946), Iron Butterfly guitarist Danny Weis (1948), 10cc drummer Paul Burgess (1950), harmonica virtuoso and longtime Steve Miller sideman Norton Buffalo (1951), jazz pianist Kenny Kirkland (1955), Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1959), pop singer Jennifer Rush (1960), Marilyn Manson drummer Kenny Wilson (Ginger Fish) (1966), rapper Young Jeezy, (Jay Jenkins) (1977), Melody Thornton of The Pussycat Dolls (1984), teen pop singer Hilary Duff (1987)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 22: songwriter Harry Warren (1981), big band singer Connie Haines (2008), pop singer Eddie Fisher (2010)
September 23:Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh (1974), Mississippi blues singer and guitarist Houston Stackhouse (1980), Piedmont blues guitarist Etta Baker (2006), blues harpist Gary Primich (2007)
September 24: singer Ruth Etting (1978), singer-songwriter Matthew Jay (2003), Solar Records founder Dick Griffey (2010)
September 25: Led Zep’s hard-hitting, influential drummer John Bonham (1980), Steven Canaday of Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1999), singer Jamie Lyons The Music Explosion (2006), pop singer Andy Williams (2012)
September 26: “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith (1937), pianist and writer Arnold Shaw (1989), jazz singer Betty Carter (1998), eclectic British vocalist Robert Palmer (2003), guitarist Shawn Lane (2003)
September 27: Wings and Thunderclap Newman guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1979), Metallica bassist Cliff Burton (1986), rockabilly guitarist Paul Burlison of The Rock and Roll Trio (2003), Pink Floyd manager Bryan Morrison (2008), pop singer R.B. Greaves (2012)
September 28: Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (1968), Merseybeat bandleader Rory Storm (1972), influential jazz bandleader and trumpeter Miles Davis (1991), D.O.A. drummer Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery (1994), Marcells singer Allen Johnson (1995), Greenwich Village folkie Bob Gibson (1996), club DJ Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) (2009)
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 22
1953: In what is now considered the golden age of vocal groups, seven of the R&B chart's top 10 positions are occupied by doo-wop acts including The Orioles, The Clovers, The “5” Royales, The Royals, The Spaniels, The Dominoes, and The Coronets…
1954: Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips secures his place in rock ‘n’ roll history when he spins a test pressing of Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right” on radio station WHBQ…it’s the first time an Elvis record hits the airwaves…
1957: Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” ascends to the top of the singles chart…the title comes from a line John Wayne utters in the movie The Searchers, a favorite flick of Buddy and his backup band, The Crickets…
1956: Elvis Presley’s much-anticipated single, “Love Me Tender,” notches a music biz record when advance orders for the record top one million…
1961: The Greenbriar Boys begin a two-week residency at New York’s Gerde’s Folk City…the opening act is Bob Dylan…
1962: The Springfields are the first British vocal act to score a U.S. Top 20 hit with their single "Silver Threads and Golden Needles"…their lead singer is Mary O'Brien who will later enjoy a major solo career using the stage name Dusty Springfield…this same week, Elvis is invited to perform for the royal family in England but manager Tom Parker declines saying The King is busy with movie commitments…the real reason: Parker’s an illegal Dutch immigrant to the U.S. who's afraid he won’t be allowed back in if he leaves the country…
1963: "She Loves You" is played by influential DJ Murray “The K” Kaufman on station WINS in New York...it’s the first time a Beatles song is played on U.S. airwaves...Murray becomes a staunch Beatles supporter, helping to break them in America…
1964: The Temptations record the single “My Girl,” which includes one of the most memorable bass lines in all of pop…it’s played with Motown’s monster bassist James Jamerson…it will become one of the most covered tunes ever…
1965: Proto-hippie San Francisco band The Great Society featuring the powerful pipes of frontwoman Grace Slick makes its debut at The Coffee Gallery in North Beach…she’ll soon bail to join The Jefferson Airplane…this same week in Denmark, Roger Daltrey gets canned when he decks The Who drummer Keith Moon…Daltrey gets his gig back the next day…
1966: The Yardbirds, with lead guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page embark on a British tour with the Rolling Stones and Ike and Tina Turner…
1969: The Band releases their self-titled album that will peak at No. 9 on the album chart…it features songs that sound like they could have been written in the 19th century, including the mournful “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”…in 2009 the LP will be enshrined in National Recording Registry…
1974: Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh dies at an L.A. party when he snorts a lethal dose of heroin believing it to be cocaine…Cher, a fellow attendee, keeps Macintosh's bandmate Alan Gorrie, who had made the same mistake, conscious until paramedics arrive…
1975: Soul singer Jackie Wilson suffers a heart attack in mid-performance at the Latin Casino in Camden, N.J. ... dubbed "Mr. Excitement," the singer falls off the stage and strikes his head on the concrete floor causing permanent brain damage...he lapses into a coma and spends the rest of his life hospitalized until death overtakes him in 1984...the soul group The Spinners donate $60,000 for his medical care but much of that money is consumed in lawyer's fees due to relatives tussling over control of Wilson's estate …the singer is laid to rest in an unmarked grave...the Wilson family will be haunted by tragedy...son Jackie Jr. was killed in 1970 during a burglary, daughter Sandra died of a heart attack in 1977, and daughter Jacqueline was shot to death in a 1987 drive-by shooting…
1976: British bobbies take The Runaways into custody following the disappearance of a hair dryer from a hotel room…this same week A&M Records files suit against George Harrison for being two months late in delivering an album…
1980: David Bowie makes his Broadway debut playing the title character in The Elephant Man…this week also marks the death of Auburn “Pat Hare…the blues guitarist had a fiery temper and worked with some of the biggest names in blues including Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf…his heavily distorted power chords anticipated heavy metal…one of Hare’s records, “Gonna Murder My Baby,” proved prophetic…he died in prison while serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend and a policeman…
1982: The first compact discs and players hit the market in Japan...a joint venture between Sony and Philips, the CD will become the dominant musical format within five years…
1985: The first Farm Aid concert is held in Illinois…the star-studded lineup of country acts draws 80,000 fans…organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, proceeds are intended to help struggling family farms…
1986: Metallica bassist Cliff Burton is killed when the Danish tour bus he’s riding in skids on ice and crashes…Burton, who was asleep at the time of the wreck, had drawn cards to win what was perceived as the cushiest bunk aboard…during the accident he’s thrown from the bus, which then rolls over him…
1988: Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" becomes the first a capella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100…the single will land George Bush the elder in hot water when he uses it in his presidential campaign without permission…
1991: Garth Brooks’ album Ropin' the Wind debuts at number one on the Billboard Pop chart....it is the first country album to do that…
1993: Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler settles his lawsuit with his former band for $2.5 million just before the case goes to the jury, this despite having signed an agreement in 1990 giving up his partnership interest in the band…during the trial, guitarist Slash had testified that Adler had signed the agreement while he was "strung out"…Adler had been booted from the band when he couldn't kick his heroin habit…five years to the day later, Adler is back in court, this time for sentencing on charges of having beaten two women he dated as well as violating probation on an earlier domestic case…he gets 150 days jail time…
1995: Upon landing in New York, The Charlatans are welcomed by 24 cops after the band is accused of being obnoxiously drunk, trying to alter the plane’s flight plan, spitting, and screwing around with the in-flight TV monitors…
1996: Smashing Pumpkins get off to a delayed tour start…the band needed extra time to integrate former Filter drummer Matt Walker and former Frogs' keyboardist Dennis Flemion…the pair replace former keyboards player Jonathan Melvoin who died three months earlier from a heroin OD and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin who was canned following a drug bust…leader Billy Corgan later acknowledges the replacements were a bad idea that hurt the band’s music and reputation...in 1999 a rehabilitated Chamberlin will rejoin the Pumpkins…
1997: Wearing a white cowboy hat, Bob Dylan performs his “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in Bologna, Italy with an apparently bored Pope John Paul II looking on…in New York, the Audio Engineering Society unveils the new DVD Audio format…
1998: Hard rock act White Zombie calls it a night…
1999: Diana Ross is taken into custody at London's Heathrow airport after a tussle with a female security officer…she is later cautioned and released…
2002: Mike Batt of The Planets settles a lawsuit filed by the John Cage Trust for “an undisclosed six-figure sum”...at issue is one minute of silence on the band’s latest CD Classical Grafitti...the avant-garde composer’s estate claimed Batt plagiarized Cage’s 1952 composition “4’33,” which consists of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence when he credited his piece, ”A One Minute Silence,” to “Batt/Cage”...
2003: Media report on notable tour contract riders by some major acts that include: Limp Bizkit requires all their dressing-room lamps be dimmable…Mariah Carey can only handle 'bendy' straws—the straight ones won’t do…Van Halen asks that back-stage celery is trimmed and not peeled…and The Red Hot Chili Peppers need a meditation room with a selection of aromatherapy candles…
2004: British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens is sent back to London by U.S. immigration officials after his New York-bound flight is diverted to Maine…the singer, a convert to Islam who now goes by the name Yusuf Islam, is refused entry "based on national security grounds"…this same week, Dolly Parton who is considering breast-reduction surgery complains, “My boobs are killing me and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer.”…
2006: a slew of new MP3 players are introduced including Microsoft’s Zune and the Sansa Rhapsody in an attempt to unseat Apples hegemony of the portable player market...none of them will gain a meaningful foothold…this same week, singer Marianne Faithfull puts a hold on her world tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer...in other troubled-tour news, following a six-month hiatus prompted by Steven Tyler’s surgery for a broken blood vessel in his larynx and bassman Tom Hamilton’s chemo treatments for throat cancer, Aerosmith reunites for a show at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts...it’s been a tough year for the band with Tyler slicing his hand while opening a suitcase as well as announcing that he is battling hepatitis C…
2007: It’s reported that director Martin Scorsese is working on a documentary about George Harrison and will have the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the late Beatle’s widow, Olivia...this same week, after the jury fails to come in with a verdict, the judge declares a mistrial and producer Phil Spector goes free on having murdered starlet Lana Clarkson in 2003...the L.A. County prosecutor’s office vows he will try the case again…
2008: In a real turnabout, Metallica fans ask the veteran heavy metalists to turn it down… in recording the band’s latest album, Death Magnetic, the sound was cranked and compressed so severely that the CD is riddled with distortion…11,000 fans sign an online petition asking the band to remix and reissue the album…this same week, working on his next gazillion dollars, Jay-Z launches his new label, StarRoc Records…
2011: At 85, singer Tony Bennett becomes the oldest artist to enjoy a No 1 album with his Duets II that includes songs with Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse…
2012: Mumford & Sons’ second LP, Babel, debuts at No. 1 on both the UK and US charts and becomes one of fastest-selling releases of the year…
This Week’s Hatches
September 22: British singer Mike Patto (1942), David Coverdale of Whitesnake (1948), Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass (1953), pop singer Debby Boone (1956), Australian singer and author Nick Cave (1957), Peter Jones of Public Image Ltd (1957), guitarist Joan Jett (1961), rapper Mystikal, (Michael Tyler) (1975)
September 23: R&B bandleader Tiny Bradshaw (1905), Sun Records’ Marion Keisker (1917), blues guitarist and harp player Joe Hill Louis (1921), hugely influential jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926), jazz bassist Jimmy Woode (1928), Wally Whyton of The Vypers (1929), American original Ray Charles (1930), underappreciated blues guitar player and singer Fenton Robinson (1935), blues, rock, and jazz guitarist Roy Buchanan (1939), singer and songwriter Charlie Foxx (1939), British one-man blues band Duster Bennett (1943), singer Julio Iglesias (1943), singer Toni Basil (1943), Wallace and Walter Scott of The Whispers (1943), songwriter, producer, and session pianist Don Grolnick (1947), Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf (1947), Allman Brothers guitarist Dan Toler (1948), Bruce Springsteen (1949), Mad Season bassist John Saunders (1954)
September 24: jazz singer Herb Jeffries (1915), jazz trumpeter Fats Navarro (1923), gospel, doo-wop, and blues singer Allen Bunn (1924), Carl Feaster of The Chords (1930), actor, songwriter and crooner Anthony Newley (1931), The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1933), James “Shep” Sheppard of The Heartbeats and Shep & The Limelites (1935), session sax man Steve Douglas (1938), Barbara Allbut of The Angels (1940), Phyllis Allbut of The Angels (1942), Linda (Eastman) McCartney (1942), Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers (1942), Carson Osten of The Nazz and Utopia (1946), Morphine multi-instrumentalist and instrument inventor Mark Sandman (1952), Marty Cintron III of No Mercy (1971), The Verve drummer Peter Salisbury (1971)
September 25: Delta bluesman Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes (1935), Joseph Russell of The Persuasions (1939), soul singer Wade Flemons (1940), The Association singer and guitarist Gary Alexander (1943), John Locke of Spirit (1943), Onnie Mcintyre of Average White Band (1945), Bryan MacLean of Love (1946), Iron Butterfly bassist Jerry “The Bear” Penrod (1946), singer, songwriter, and producer Cecil Womack of The Valentinos (1947), Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin (1955), guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (1969), bassist Richie Edwards of The Darkness (1974)
September 26: session guitarist and songwriter Rene Hall (1912), country and pop singer Marty Robbins (1925), pop singer Julie London (1926), The Youngbloods drummer Joe Bauer (1941), British singer and keyboardist Georgie Fame (1943), Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry (1945), country singer Lynn Anderson (1947), pop singer and actress Olivia Newton-John (1946), Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos (1954), Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship (1954), singer Darby Crash of The Germs (1958), singer Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl (1962), Cindy Herron of En Vogue (1965), Blind Melon frontman Shannon Hoon (1967), Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men (1972), pop singer Christina Milian (1981)
September 27: influential jazz pianist Bud Powell (1924), Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius (1936), Randy Bachman of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (1943), singer Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) (1947), Greg Ham of Men At Work (1953), in-demand reggae bassist Robbie Shakespeare (1953), singer and actor Shaun Cassidy (1958), Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind (1966), Mark Calderon of Color Me Badd (1970), rapper Lil Wayne, (Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.) (1982), singer Avril Lavigne (1984)
September 28: TV show host Ed Sullivan (1902), Mississippi bluesman Houston Stackhouse (1910), country singer-songwriter Tommy Collins (1930), founder of The Hutchinson Sunbeams and The Emotions Joseph Hutchinson (1931), Chicago blues belter Koko Taylor (1935), soul singer and former Drifter Ben E. King (1938), Nick Nicholas of Steppenwolf (1943), UK pop singer Helen Shapiro (1946), Iron Butterfly guitarist Danny Weis (1948), 10cc drummer Paul Burgess (1950), harmonica virtuoso and longtime Steve Miller sideman Norton Buffalo (1951), jazz pianist Kenny Kirkland (1955), Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1959), pop singer Jennifer Rush (1960), Marilyn Manson drummer Kenny Wilson (Ginger Fish) (1966), rapper Young Jeezy, (Jay Jenkins) (1977), Melody Thornton of The Pussycat Dolls (1984), teen pop singer Hilary Duff (1987)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 22: songwriter Harry Warren (1981), big band singer Connie Haines (2008), pop singer Eddie Fisher (2010)
September 23:Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh (1974), Mississippi blues singer and guitarist Houston Stackhouse (1980), Piedmont blues guitarist Etta Baker (2006), blues harpist Gary Primich (2007)
September 24: singer Ruth Etting (1978), singer-songwriter Matthew Jay (2003), Solar Records founder Dick Griffey (2010)
September 25: Led Zep’s hard-hitting, influential drummer John Bonham (1980), Steven Canaday of Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1999), singer Jamie Lyons The Music Explosion (2006), pop singer Andy Williams (2012)
September 26: “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith (1937), pianist and writer Arnold Shaw (1989), jazz singer Betty Carter (1998), eclectic British vocalist Robert Palmer (2003), guitarist Shawn Lane (2003)
September 27: Wings and Thunderclap Newman guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1979), Metallica bassist Cliff Burton (1986), rockabilly guitarist Paul Burlison of The Rock and Roll Trio (2003), Pink Floyd manager Bryan Morrison (2008), pop singer R.B. Greaves (2012)
September 28: Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (1968), Merseybeat bandleader Rory Storm (1972), influential jazz bandleader and trumpeter Miles Davis (1991), D.O.A. drummer Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery (1994), Marcells singer Allen Johnson (1995), Greenwich Village folkie Bob Gibson (1996), club DJ Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) (2009)
BBC Rocks…SNL Highs and Lows…Adios Janis & Jimi…Catchy Decoded
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 29
1944: Dinah Shore’s “I’ll Walk Alone” moves to the top spot on the American singles chart...it is the first-ever number-one U.S. hit for a female artist…
1947: Bing Crosby’s Philco Radio Time is broadcast using a magnetic tape recording made six weeks earlier…it’s the first such use of tape for broadcasting in the U.S., replacing the noisy transcription discs with their four-minute time limit…Hitler’s Germany had been broadcasting tape-delayed programs all during World War II using Magnetophon tape recorders…at the end of the war, an enterprising G.I. brought the technology to the States…Crosby’s show was recorded on the Ampex Model 200, the American version of the Magnetophon…
1954: Singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” Elvis makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry…he gets a lukewarm response from the hard-core country crowd…
1959: Berry Gordy’s new Motown Records scores its first pop chart success with The Miracles’ “Bad Girl”…struggling to the #93 spot on the Top 100 chart, the doo-wop-flavored tune will become a classic of that genre while future Motown hits will mostly feature faster, poppier tempos…another entry on the pop chart this week is “Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs that will wind up in the top slot…with a running time of 1:37 it has the distinction of being the shortest chart topper in history…
1962: Bob Dylan plays a showcase at Carnegie Hall before a “crowd” of 53…
1965: Bob Dylan’s back at Carnegie Hall with a new backup band…composed of four Canadians and a drummer from Arkansas, the band, which formerly backed rockabilly Ronnie Hawkins and toured as Levon and the Hawks will soon become much better known as The Band…
1967: The previously sedate British Broadcasting Company discovers rock and launches its new BBC Radio 1 service…the first song played is The Move’s “Flowers in the Rain” spun by DJ Tony Blackburn formerly of Radio Caroline—one of the offshore operations shut down by the UK government…this same day The Beatles new John Lennon song “I Am the Walrus” is mixed at Abbey Road…it includes the sound of a radio being tuned to several stations then coming to rest on a BBC production of King Lear…when Lennon learns that that a teacher at his old primary school is having students analyze Beatles' lyrics, he adds a verse of nonsense words…this same week police raid the Grateful Dead house in Haight Ashbury...Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir are arrested along with band manager Danny Rifkin and six friends… though they had no warrant, the cops knock down the front door then confiscate pot, money and records belonging to the band as well as the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization whose office is part of this den of iniquity...after everyone has been bailed out the next morning, the band hosts a press conference in their living room...Rifkin is asked by a reporter how long it took for the manager to grow his hair long, Rifkin produces a large, frothy bowl of whipped cream, which he says has been reserved for the first reporter to ask a stupid question...when the reporter cringes, Rifkin relents…
1970: Janis Joplin is found dead in her room at Hollywood’s Landmark Hotel, the victim of a heroin overdose...she had just finished recording her second solo album, Pearl...she was only 27 years old…this same day, Jimi Hendrix is laid to rest in Seattle… mourners include Miles Davis, Eric Burdon, Johnny Winter and members of Derek and the Dominoes…
1975: Drummer Al Jackson Jr. is shot to death in his Memphis home...the pulse of Booker T. & The MGs—the Stax Records house band—-Jackson played on dozens of soul hits...police initially suspect Jackson's wife who had shot him the previous July...the case remains unsolved…
1976: Jerry Lee Lewis nearly lives up to his nickname while taking a little target practice at a soda bottle with his .357 magnum...The Killer completely misses the bottle instead shooting his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, twice in the chest...Owens lives to sue Lewis, who is charged with shooting a firearm within city limits...it’s Jerry Lee’s 41st birthday…
1978: Members of Aerosmith bail 30 fans out of jail after they’re busted for smoking pot at an Indiana Aerosmith concert…
1986: CBS news anchor Dan Rather is attacked while walking down Park Avenue in New York by a mentally unstable citizen who asks over and over "Kenneth, what's the frequency?"....his assailant is a diagnosed psychotic who suspects the media of beaming hostile messages at him, and wants Rather to tell him the frequency being used in the nefarious plot...nearly ten years later R.E.M. will write a song loosely based on the event titled "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"…
1989: Neil Young appears on Saturday Night Live and delivers an incendiary version of "Rockin' In The Free World”...the performance will make the 25th SNL Anniversary list of all-time best musical guest appearances...focused, raw, and electric, critics hail it as one of the most intense live television performances ever and proclaim Young to be “back”...from where, no one knows …meanwhile out west, in the midst of a motorcycle trip from L.A., Bruce Springsteen jams on some rock ‘n’ roll classics with the house band at Matt’s Saloon in Prescott, Arizona…learning about a barmaid’s medical bills, The Boss chips in $100,000…
1990: Record store owner Charles Freeman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is convicted on obscenity charges for selling the 2 Live Crew rap album Nasty As They Wanna Be...he is fined $2,000…
1991: Following the theft of Michael Jackson's crystal-beaded glove from the Motown Museum in Detroit, rapper M.C. Hammer offers a $50,000 reward for the relic's return…
1992: Sinead O’Connor puts a serious crimp in her career when she appears on Saturday Night Live…after singing an acapella version of Bob Marley’s “War” in which she inserts a verse about sexual abuse in the Catholic church, the Irish singer tears up a photo of Pope John Paul II and says, “Fight the real enemy”…the studio audience goes dead quiet and NBC cuts to a commercial…the network is fined $2.5 million by the FCC…
1993: B-52’s singer Kate Pierson is charged with criminal mischief and trespassing for her involvement in an anti-fur protest at the New York offices of fashion magazine Vogue…
1994: Versatile guitarist Danny Gatton who is much respected by fellow musicians. commits suicide in the face of financial problems and after being dropped by Elektra Records…
1995: Mariah Carey’s single “Fantasy” debuts at No. 1 on the pop chart—a first for a female act…
1997: A Wu-Tang fan files suit after Method Man leaps off the stage and lands on her, knocking her unconscious....the fan, Juanita Evans, says she was distracted by Redman and therefore didn't see the flying Method Man…
1998: A truckload of big-name musicians appear on The Drew Carey Show in an episode titled “La Ramada Vida”...they all appear as themselves trying out for lead guitarist of Carey's band...contenders include Joey Ramone, Slash, Dusty Hill, Roy Clark, Jonny Lang, Lisa Loeb, Matthew Sweet, Dave Mustaine, Rick Nielsen and Joe Walsh…
2002: Robbie Williams signs with EMI Records for an unprecedented £80 million… asked what he plans to do with all that cash, the hugely popular singer-songwriter says, “I’m going to count it”…
2004: Proving that rockers are really kids at heart, Wilco, Motörhead, Avril Lavigne, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, and Ween contribute tunes to the soundtrack for the film SpongeBob SquarePants...all the artists cranked out new songs for the film except weird-pop wizards Ween, who merely select a song from their water-centric 1997 album The Mollusk…meanwhile in London, an American collector pays $215,000 for a custom-built drum kit that had belonged to Keith Moon…
2006: Elton John is joined by, among others, Elvis Costello, Moby, Liv Tyler, and Neil Young in a fundraiser for his AIDS charity...Young wows the crowd with an acoustic set that includes a duet with John on “Your Song”...also this week, Lindsey Buckingham releases Under the Skin to critical acclaim, it’s his first solo album in 14 years …
2007: Bruce Springsteen gives his hometown supporters a thrill when he and the E Street Band play a rehearsal show at the diminutive Asbury Park Convention Hall as a warm-up for a world tour...The Boss warns the crowd that “There may be some mistakes. But I doubt it.”...also this week, Village Music in Mill Valley, California closes its doors after a run of nearly 60 years...beloved by record collectors for its hard-to-find rock, jazz, blues, and country records and memorabilia, the store has fallen victim to the changing face of music retailing...in its final days, B.B. King, an avid collector, makes a tour detour in order to visit the shop one last time...in 1995 Elvis Costello calls Village Music "the greatest record collecting store in the world" in the liner notes to his 1995 album, Kojak Variety…
2008: One of the last artists to resist making his music downloadable throws in the towel when Rahpsody.com begins offering Kid Rock’s catalog online …
2011: In a study of the catchiest songs of all time, musicologist Dr. Alisun Pawley identifies four common traits: long and detailed musical phrases, multiple pitch changes in the song's hook, male vocalists, and high male voices making a noticeable vocal effort…Pawley’s catchiest song ever?…Queen’s “We are the Champions”…
2012: Lisa Marie Presley is spotted in East Sussex, England serving up fish and chips from a food truck called Mr. Chippy…Presley, a recent immigrant to the UK, is keen to experience life as it’s lived by the British according to the owner of the van…
This Week’s Hatches
September 29: cowboy singer and media tycoon Gene Autry (1907), Bill Haley and the Comets guitarist Franny Beecher (1921), the indestructible Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), blues man Joe “Guitar” Hughes (1937), jazz and fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (1942), Manuel Fernandez of Los Bravos (1943), songwriter Tommy Boyce (1944), Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), guitarist Mike Pinera of Iron Butterfly (1948), Suzzy Roche of The Roches (1956), Mick Harvey of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1958), Les Claypool of Primus (1963), Iain Baker of Jesus Jones (1965), Suede singer Brett Anderson (1967), Brad Smith of Blind Melon (1968), Matt and Luke Goss of boy band Bros (1968), singer Donald DeGrate (DeVante Swing) of Jodeci (1969), Melody Thornton of The Pussycat Dolls (1984), Paramore guitarist Josh Farro (1987)
September 30: jazz drummer Buddy Rich (1907), singer Cissy Houston (1930), blues and soul singer Z.Z. Hill (1935), crooner Johnny Mathis (1930), soul singer Cissy Houston (1933), singer Frankie Lymon (1942), drummer Dewey Martin of Buffalo Springfield (1942), producer Gus Dudgeon (1942), Marilyn McCoo of The 5th Dimension (1943), Sylvia Peterson of The Chiffons (1946), Marc Bolan of T. Rex (1947), John Lombardo of 10,000 Maniacs (1952), R&B artist Patrice Rushen (1954), jazz-pop singer/songwriter Basia Trzetrzelewska (1954), guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish (1964), Robby Takac of The Goo Goo Dolls (1964), multi-instrumentalist Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons (1986)
October 1: violinist Vladimir Horowitz (1904), actor and singer Richard Harris (1930), much admired Texas blues guitar slinger Albert Collins (1932), actor and singer Julie Andrews (1935), singer and drummer with The Capitols Sam George (1942), Herb Fame of R&B duo Peaches and Herb (1942), Jerry Martini of Sly & the Family Stone (1943), Herbert “Toubo” Rhoad of The Persuasions (1944), singer Scott McKenzie (1944), Barbara Parritt of The Toys (1944), R&B singer-songwriter Donnie Hathaway (1945), singer Jane Dornacker of The Tubes (1947), Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash (1947), guitarist Rob Davis of Mud (1947), Cyril Neville of The Neville Brothers (1948), Cub Koda of Brownsville Station (1948), Howard Hewett of Shalamar (1957), Senegalese world music star Youssou N'Dour (1959), Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra (1968), Xscape's LaTocha Scott (1974), Suede guitarist Richard Oakes (1976), UK rapper Dizzee Rascal (Dylan Kwabena Mills) (1985)
October 2: Lolly Vegas of Redbone (1939), Ron Meagher of The Beau Brummels (1941), singer-songwriter Don McLean (1945), Ron Griffiths of Badfinger (1946), Richard Hell of The Voidoids (1949), guitarist Mike Rutherford of Genesis (1950), Sting (Gordon Sumner) (1951), The Diamonds’ David Somerville (1953), Philip Oakey of Human League (1955), soul singer Freddie Jackson (1956), pop singer Robbie Nevil (1958), Siggi Baldursson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Claude McKnight of Take 6 (1962), singer and guitarist Sean McDonald of Surgery (1965), Bud Gaugh of Sublime (1967), singer-songwriter Damon Gough aka Badly Drawn Boy (1969), teen pop singer Tiffany (1971)
October 3: R&B pianist and saxophonist Monk Higgins (1930), rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran (1938), singer Chubby Checker (1941), Antonio Martinez of Los Bravos (1945), Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (1948), Styx guitarist John Curulewski (1950), sax player Ronnie Laws (1950), master of the Stratocaster Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954), Allman Bros. and Gov’t Mule bassist Allen Woody (1955), Belly bassist Gail Greenwood (1960), Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee (1962), Gwen Stefani (1969), Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys (1971), neo soul singer India.Arie (1975), pop singer Ashlee Simpson (1984)
October 4: pop and country singer Leroy Van Dyke (1929), yodeling jazz vocalist Leon Thomas (1937), Orlons singer Marlena Easley (1944), bassist Jim Fielder of the Mothers Of Invention and Blood Sweat & Tears (1947), bluesman Keb' Mo' AKA Kevin Moore (1951), Barbara K. MacDonald of Timbuk 3 (1958), Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys (1959), Cuban-American singer Jon Secada (1962), Katina Sergeevna of Tatu (1984)
October 5: blues musician Little Hat Jones (1899), rockabilly musician Billy Lee Riley (1933), Israeli musician Abi Ofarim (1937), Carlo Mastrangelo of Dion and the Belmonts (1938), Richard Street of The Temptations (1942), Steve Miller (1943), keyboardist Richard Kermode (1946), Sweet singer Brian Connolly (1945), Brian Johnson of AC/DC (1947), reggae singer Delroy Wilson (1948), Lucius Ross of Funkadelic (1948), Russell Mael of Sparks (1948), country rocker B.W. Stevenson (1949), Eddie Clarke of Motorhead (1950), Irish singer and activist Bob Geldof (1954), Madness singer and sax player Lee Thompson (1957), Counting Crows guitarist David Bryson (1961), Colin Meloy of The Decemberists (1974), Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine (1978), Paul Thomas of Good Charlotte (1980), Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud (1985)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 29: Canadian musician Dallas Green (1980), underappreciated soul singer Vernon “Geater” Davis (1984), country singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury (2002), New York DJ Scott Muni (2004), R&B and hip-hop singer Sylvia Robinson (2011)
September 30: pop vocalist and former Mrs. Les Paul, Mary Ford (1977), disco-era songwriter Paul Jabara (1992), Texas rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Dawson (2003), lyricist Jacques Levy (2004), Moonglows singer Prentiss Barnes (2006)
October 1: Stax Records drummer Al Jackson Jr. (1975), balladeer with The Moments and Ray, Goodman & Brown, Harry Ray (1992), Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (2004), Kingston Trio founding member Nick Reynolds (2008)
October 2: New Orleans blues and R&B pianist and singer Pleasant “Cousin Joe” Joseph (1989), B.B. King band sax player Evelyn Young (1990), cowboy singer Gene Autry (1998), turban-wearing organist Korla Pandit (1998), British session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan (2012)
October 3: folksinger Woody Guthrie (1967), blues pioneer Skip James (1969), blues singer Victoria Spivey (1973), Cars bassist Ben Orr (2000), vocalist Darryl DeLoach of Iron Butterfly (2002), saxophonist Eddie Platt (2010)
October 4: drummer and singer Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1986), influential Atlanta DJ “Daddy” Zenas Sears (1988), Village People singer Ray Stephens (1990), pop singer J. Frank Wilson (1991), R&B singer Varetta Dillard (1993), Telecaster master Danny Gatton (1994), country fiddler Jerry Rivers (1996), bebop trumpeter Art Farmer (1998), Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins (2005), Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa (2009)
October 5: The Temptations' Eddie Kendricks (1992), Australian glam-rock singer William Shakespeare (2010), acoustic guitar virtuoso Bert Jansch (2011)
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of September 29
1944: Dinah Shore’s “I’ll Walk Alone” moves to the top spot on the American singles chart...it is the first-ever number-one U.S. hit for a female artist…
1947: Bing Crosby’s Philco Radio Time is broadcast using a magnetic tape recording made six weeks earlier…it’s the first such use of tape for broadcasting in the U.S., replacing the noisy transcription discs with their four-minute time limit…Hitler’s Germany had been broadcasting tape-delayed programs all during World War II using Magnetophon tape recorders…at the end of the war, an enterprising G.I. brought the technology to the States…Crosby’s show was recorded on the Ampex Model 200, the American version of the Magnetophon…
1954: Singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” Elvis makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry…he gets a lukewarm response from the hard-core country crowd…
1959: Berry Gordy’s new Motown Records scores its first pop chart success with The Miracles’ “Bad Girl”…struggling to the #93 spot on the Top 100 chart, the doo-wop-flavored tune will become a classic of that genre while future Motown hits will mostly feature faster, poppier tempos…another entry on the pop chart this week is “Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs that will wind up in the top slot…with a running time of 1:37 it has the distinction of being the shortest chart topper in history…
1962: Bob Dylan plays a showcase at Carnegie Hall before a “crowd” of 53…
1965: Bob Dylan’s back at Carnegie Hall with a new backup band…composed of four Canadians and a drummer from Arkansas, the band, which formerly backed rockabilly Ronnie Hawkins and toured as Levon and the Hawks will soon become much better known as The Band…
1967: The previously sedate British Broadcasting Company discovers rock and launches its new BBC Radio 1 service…the first song played is The Move’s “Flowers in the Rain” spun by DJ Tony Blackburn formerly of Radio Caroline—one of the offshore operations shut down by the UK government…this same day The Beatles new John Lennon song “I Am the Walrus” is mixed at Abbey Road…it includes the sound of a radio being tuned to several stations then coming to rest on a BBC production of King Lear…when Lennon learns that that a teacher at his old primary school is having students analyze Beatles' lyrics, he adds a verse of nonsense words…this same week police raid the Grateful Dead house in Haight Ashbury...Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir are arrested along with band manager Danny Rifkin and six friends… though they had no warrant, the cops knock down the front door then confiscate pot, money and records belonging to the band as well as the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization whose office is part of this den of iniquity...after everyone has been bailed out the next morning, the band hosts a press conference in their living room...Rifkin is asked by a reporter how long it took for the manager to grow his hair long, Rifkin produces a large, frothy bowl of whipped cream, which he says has been reserved for the first reporter to ask a stupid question...when the reporter cringes, Rifkin relents…
1970: Janis Joplin is found dead in her room at Hollywood’s Landmark Hotel, the victim of a heroin overdose...she had just finished recording her second solo album, Pearl...she was only 27 years old…this same day, Jimi Hendrix is laid to rest in Seattle… mourners include Miles Davis, Eric Burdon, Johnny Winter and members of Derek and the Dominoes…
1975: Drummer Al Jackson Jr. is shot to death in his Memphis home...the pulse of Booker T. & The MGs—the Stax Records house band—-Jackson played on dozens of soul hits...police initially suspect Jackson's wife who had shot him the previous July...the case remains unsolved…
1976: Jerry Lee Lewis nearly lives up to his nickname while taking a little target practice at a soda bottle with his .357 magnum...The Killer completely misses the bottle instead shooting his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, twice in the chest...Owens lives to sue Lewis, who is charged with shooting a firearm within city limits...it’s Jerry Lee’s 41st birthday…
1978: Members of Aerosmith bail 30 fans out of jail after they’re busted for smoking pot at an Indiana Aerosmith concert…
1986: CBS news anchor Dan Rather is attacked while walking down Park Avenue in New York by a mentally unstable citizen who asks over and over "Kenneth, what's the frequency?"....his assailant is a diagnosed psychotic who suspects the media of beaming hostile messages at him, and wants Rather to tell him the frequency being used in the nefarious plot...nearly ten years later R.E.M. will write a song loosely based on the event titled "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"…
1989: Neil Young appears on Saturday Night Live and delivers an incendiary version of "Rockin' In The Free World”...the performance will make the 25th SNL Anniversary list of all-time best musical guest appearances...focused, raw, and electric, critics hail it as one of the most intense live television performances ever and proclaim Young to be “back”...from where, no one knows …meanwhile out west, in the midst of a motorcycle trip from L.A., Bruce Springsteen jams on some rock ‘n’ roll classics with the house band at Matt’s Saloon in Prescott, Arizona…learning about a barmaid’s medical bills, The Boss chips in $100,000…
1990: Record store owner Charles Freeman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is convicted on obscenity charges for selling the 2 Live Crew rap album Nasty As They Wanna Be...he is fined $2,000…
1991: Following the theft of Michael Jackson's crystal-beaded glove from the Motown Museum in Detroit, rapper M.C. Hammer offers a $50,000 reward for the relic's return…
1992: Sinead O’Connor puts a serious crimp in her career when she appears on Saturday Night Live…after singing an acapella version of Bob Marley’s “War” in which she inserts a verse about sexual abuse in the Catholic church, the Irish singer tears up a photo of Pope John Paul II and says, “Fight the real enemy”…the studio audience goes dead quiet and NBC cuts to a commercial…the network is fined $2.5 million by the FCC…
1993: B-52’s singer Kate Pierson is charged with criminal mischief and trespassing for her involvement in an anti-fur protest at the New York offices of fashion magazine Vogue…
1994: Versatile guitarist Danny Gatton who is much respected by fellow musicians. commits suicide in the face of financial problems and after being dropped by Elektra Records…
1995: Mariah Carey’s single “Fantasy” debuts at No. 1 on the pop chart—a first for a female act…
1997: A Wu-Tang fan files suit after Method Man leaps off the stage and lands on her, knocking her unconscious....the fan, Juanita Evans, says she was distracted by Redman and therefore didn't see the flying Method Man…
1998: A truckload of big-name musicians appear on The Drew Carey Show in an episode titled “La Ramada Vida”...they all appear as themselves trying out for lead guitarist of Carey's band...contenders include Joey Ramone, Slash, Dusty Hill, Roy Clark, Jonny Lang, Lisa Loeb, Matthew Sweet, Dave Mustaine, Rick Nielsen and Joe Walsh…
2002: Robbie Williams signs with EMI Records for an unprecedented £80 million… asked what he plans to do with all that cash, the hugely popular singer-songwriter says, “I’m going to count it”…
2004: Proving that rockers are really kids at heart, Wilco, Motörhead, Avril Lavigne, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, and Ween contribute tunes to the soundtrack for the film SpongeBob SquarePants...all the artists cranked out new songs for the film except weird-pop wizards Ween, who merely select a song from their water-centric 1997 album The Mollusk…meanwhile in London, an American collector pays $215,000 for a custom-built drum kit that had belonged to Keith Moon…
2006: Elton John is joined by, among others, Elvis Costello, Moby, Liv Tyler, and Neil Young in a fundraiser for his AIDS charity...Young wows the crowd with an acoustic set that includes a duet with John on “Your Song”...also this week, Lindsey Buckingham releases Under the Skin to critical acclaim, it’s his first solo album in 14 years …
2007: Bruce Springsteen gives his hometown supporters a thrill when he and the E Street Band play a rehearsal show at the diminutive Asbury Park Convention Hall as a warm-up for a world tour...The Boss warns the crowd that “There may be some mistakes. But I doubt it.”...also this week, Village Music in Mill Valley, California closes its doors after a run of nearly 60 years...beloved by record collectors for its hard-to-find rock, jazz, blues, and country records and memorabilia, the store has fallen victim to the changing face of music retailing...in its final days, B.B. King, an avid collector, makes a tour detour in order to visit the shop one last time...in 1995 Elvis Costello calls Village Music "the greatest record collecting store in the world" in the liner notes to his 1995 album, Kojak Variety…
2008: One of the last artists to resist making his music downloadable throws in the towel when Rahpsody.com begins offering Kid Rock’s catalog online …
2011: In a study of the catchiest songs of all time, musicologist Dr. Alisun Pawley identifies four common traits: long and detailed musical phrases, multiple pitch changes in the song's hook, male vocalists, and high male voices making a noticeable vocal effort…Pawley’s catchiest song ever?…Queen’s “We are the Champions”…
2012: Lisa Marie Presley is spotted in East Sussex, England serving up fish and chips from a food truck called Mr. Chippy…Presley, a recent immigrant to the UK, is keen to experience life as it’s lived by the British according to the owner of the van…
This Week’s Hatches
September 29: cowboy singer and media tycoon Gene Autry (1907), Bill Haley and the Comets guitarist Franny Beecher (1921), the indestructible Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), blues man Joe “Guitar” Hughes (1937), jazz and fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (1942), Manuel Fernandez of Los Bravos (1943), songwriter Tommy Boyce (1944), Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), guitarist Mike Pinera of Iron Butterfly (1948), Suzzy Roche of The Roches (1956), Mick Harvey of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1958), Les Claypool of Primus (1963), Iain Baker of Jesus Jones (1965), Suede singer Brett Anderson (1967), Brad Smith of Blind Melon (1968), Matt and Luke Goss of boy band Bros (1968), singer Donald DeGrate (DeVante Swing) of Jodeci (1969), Melody Thornton of The Pussycat Dolls (1984), Paramore guitarist Josh Farro (1987)
September 30: jazz drummer Buddy Rich (1907), singer Cissy Houston (1930), blues and soul singer Z.Z. Hill (1935), crooner Johnny Mathis (1930), soul singer Cissy Houston (1933), singer Frankie Lymon (1942), drummer Dewey Martin of Buffalo Springfield (1942), producer Gus Dudgeon (1942), Marilyn McCoo of The 5th Dimension (1943), Sylvia Peterson of The Chiffons (1946), Marc Bolan of T. Rex (1947), John Lombardo of 10,000 Maniacs (1952), R&B artist Patrice Rushen (1954), jazz-pop singer/songwriter Basia Trzetrzelewska (1954), guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish (1964), Robby Takac of The Goo Goo Dolls (1964), multi-instrumentalist Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons (1986)
October 1: violinist Vladimir Horowitz (1904), actor and singer Richard Harris (1930), much admired Texas blues guitar slinger Albert Collins (1932), actor and singer Julie Andrews (1935), singer and drummer with The Capitols Sam George (1942), Herb Fame of R&B duo Peaches and Herb (1942), Jerry Martini of Sly & the Family Stone (1943), Herbert “Toubo” Rhoad of The Persuasions (1944), singer Scott McKenzie (1944), Barbara Parritt of The Toys (1944), R&B singer-songwriter Donnie Hathaway (1945), singer Jane Dornacker of The Tubes (1947), Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash (1947), guitarist Rob Davis of Mud (1947), Cyril Neville of The Neville Brothers (1948), Cub Koda of Brownsville Station (1948), Howard Hewett of Shalamar (1957), Senegalese world music star Youssou N'Dour (1959), Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra (1968), Xscape's LaTocha Scott (1974), Suede guitarist Richard Oakes (1976), UK rapper Dizzee Rascal (Dylan Kwabena Mills) (1985)
October 2: Lolly Vegas of Redbone (1939), Ron Meagher of The Beau Brummels (1941), singer-songwriter Don McLean (1945), Ron Griffiths of Badfinger (1946), Richard Hell of The Voidoids (1949), guitarist Mike Rutherford of Genesis (1950), Sting (Gordon Sumner) (1951), The Diamonds’ David Somerville (1953), Philip Oakey of Human League (1955), soul singer Freddie Jackson (1956), pop singer Robbie Nevil (1958), Siggi Baldursson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Claude McKnight of Take 6 (1962), singer and guitarist Sean McDonald of Surgery (1965), Bud Gaugh of Sublime (1967), singer-songwriter Damon Gough aka Badly Drawn Boy (1969), teen pop singer Tiffany (1971)
October 3: R&B pianist and saxophonist Monk Higgins (1930), rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran (1938), singer Chubby Checker (1941), Antonio Martinez of Los Bravos (1945), Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (1948), Styx guitarist John Curulewski (1950), sax player Ronnie Laws (1950), master of the Stratocaster Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954), Allman Bros. and Gov’t Mule bassist Allen Woody (1955), Belly bassist Gail Greenwood (1960), Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee (1962), Gwen Stefani (1969), Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys (1971), neo soul singer India.Arie (1975), pop singer Ashlee Simpson (1984)
October 4: pop and country singer Leroy Van Dyke (1929), yodeling jazz vocalist Leon Thomas (1937), Orlons singer Marlena Easley (1944), bassist Jim Fielder of the Mothers Of Invention and Blood Sweat & Tears (1947), bluesman Keb' Mo' AKA Kevin Moore (1951), Barbara K. MacDonald of Timbuk 3 (1958), Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys (1959), Cuban-American singer Jon Secada (1962), Katina Sergeevna of Tatu (1984)
October 5: blues musician Little Hat Jones (1899), rockabilly musician Billy Lee Riley (1933), Israeli musician Abi Ofarim (1937), Carlo Mastrangelo of Dion and the Belmonts (1938), Richard Street of The Temptations (1942), Steve Miller (1943), keyboardist Richard Kermode (1946), Sweet singer Brian Connolly (1945), Brian Johnson of AC/DC (1947), reggae singer Delroy Wilson (1948), Lucius Ross of Funkadelic (1948), Russell Mael of Sparks (1948), country rocker B.W. Stevenson (1949), Eddie Clarke of Motorhead (1950), Irish singer and activist Bob Geldof (1954), Madness singer and sax player Lee Thompson (1957), Counting Crows guitarist David Bryson (1961), Colin Meloy of The Decemberists (1974), Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine (1978), Paul Thomas of Good Charlotte (1980), Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud (1985)
This Week’s Dispatches
September 29: Canadian musician Dallas Green (1980), underappreciated soul singer Vernon “Geater” Davis (1984), country singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury (2002), New York DJ Scott Muni (2004), R&B and hip-hop singer Sylvia Robinson (2011)
September 30: pop vocalist and former Mrs. Les Paul, Mary Ford (1977), disco-era songwriter Paul Jabara (1992), Texas rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Dawson (2003), lyricist Jacques Levy (2004), Moonglows singer Prentiss Barnes (2006)
October 1: Stax Records drummer Al Jackson Jr. (1975), balladeer with The Moments and Ray, Goodman & Brown, Harry Ray (1992), Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (2004), Kingston Trio founding member Nick Reynolds (2008)
October 2: New Orleans blues and R&B pianist and singer Pleasant “Cousin Joe” Joseph (1989), B.B. King band sax player Evelyn Young (1990), cowboy singer Gene Autry (1998), turban-wearing organist Korla Pandit (1998), British session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan (2012)
October 3: folksinger Woody Guthrie (1967), blues pioneer Skip James (1969), blues singer Victoria Spivey (1973), Cars bassist Ben Orr (2000), vocalist Darryl DeLoach of Iron Butterfly (2002), saxophonist Eddie Platt (2010)
October 4: drummer and singer Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1986), influential Atlanta DJ “Daddy” Zenas Sears (1988), Village People singer Ray Stephens (1990), pop singer J. Frank Wilson (1991), R&B singer Varetta Dillard (1993), Telecaster master Danny Gatton (1994), country fiddler Jerry Rivers (1996), bebop trumpeter Art Farmer (1998), Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins (2005), Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa (2009)
October 5: The Temptations' Eddie Kendricks (1992), Australian glam-rock singer William Shakespeare (2010), acoustic guitar virtuoso Bert Jansch (2011)
Beatles Bob Born…Prince Pelted…Floyd Fans Fall…Sting Stung
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 6
1902: A group of Kalamazoo, Michigan businessmen bankroll the startup of the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. to mass produce the designs of luthier Orville Gibson…the company goes on to produce iconic instruments that will help shape the sound of popular music in the decades to come…
1957: While touring Australia, Little Richard announces his intention to give up rock and roll and “live for the Lord”…he flies to L.A. the following day and is baptized as a Seventh Day Adventist…he’ll abide by his decision performing only gospel songs for the next five years before resuming his rock ‘n’ rolling career…
1958: Eddie Cochran records the rockabilly anthem “C’mon Everybody”…the Sex Pistols will enjoy a hit with their cover in 1979…
1961: The Beatle haircut is born when Paul and John, who are celebrating John’s 21st birthday in Paris, meet up with Jurgen Vollmer, a friend from Hamburg who wears his hair brushed forward in a cut popular with French teens...the Beatles frontmen like the style and have Jurgen give them haircuts in their hotel room…
1962: Little Richard and Sam Cooke begin a European tour in England...playing keyboards is 16-year-old Billy Preston…acting as emcee is rockabilly star Gene Vincent of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" fame who isn’t allowed to perform because his work permit has expired...at later shows authorities decree Vincent can sing, but only in front of the stage, not on it...later that week the tour hits Liverpool where the Beatles are one of the opening acts…ardent fans of Little Richard, it’s reported that the Fab Four get along famously with the U.S. contingent…
1965: Paul McCartney’s ballad “Yesterday” notches its first of four weeks at the top of the U.S. singles chart…it marks The Beatles tenth No. 1 hit …oddly, the song isn’t released as a single in the UK until 1976…meanwhile, the Fab Four are in the studio tracking songs for their upcoming Rubber Soul LP…working on a new Lennon song called “This Bird Has Flown,” George Harrison lays down a sitar track to what will become better known as “Norwegian Wood”…
1967: David Crosby is bounced from The Byrds by leader Roger McGuinn after months of acrimony…Crosby has complained that some of his songs the band recorded weren’t being released—notably his “Triad,” about a relationship between two men and a woman…McGuinn calls it a “freak-out orgy tune”…Crosby takes the song to the Jefferson Airplane who will release their version on 1968’s Crown of Creation LP…The Byrds version is finally released in 1987…this same week The Jimi Hendrix Experience records a session in London for the BBC Radio show Top Gear…Stevie Wonder, who’s also a guest, jams with Jimi…anybody got a tape?—we’d love to hear that!…
1968: Fleetwood Mac are at CBS Studios in central London...the Sunday session begins with a recording of guitarist/leader Peter Green’s instrumental “Albatross”...the tune is reminiscent of Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” but features twin guitar harmonies by Green and Danny Kirwan over a gently loping bass by John McVie with Mick Fleetwood playing tom toms with mallets...the recording is an international hit and influences John Lennon in writing “Sun King” for The Beatles Abbey Road…this same week, Jose Feliciano performs a slow, bluesy version of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the World Series…traditionalists are outraged and some stations refuse to play the blind singer’s songs, putting a crimp in his career…
1969: Blues giant Muddy Waters suffers multiple fractures in a Tennessee car crash in which three others are killed...after two months he will emerge from the hospital hobbling on a cane, fingers too swollen and numb to play guitar…this same week, for the first time ever, the BBC’s Top of the Pops program refuses to play the No. 1 song, “Je T’aime... Moi Non Plus’”…the instrumental features the voices of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin apparently in the act of getting very intimate…
1970: The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber opens on Broadway to mixed reviews, harsh criticism from Webber, and condemnation from some religious groups…the show will close in 1973 after 711 performances…
1976: The Sex Pistols with producer Dave Goodman and engineer Hugh Padgham attempt to record their debut single “Anarchy In The U.K.”...unhappy with results, they try again a week later at Wessex Studios with Chris Thomas producing and Bill Price engineering...a key to the recording is the layering of Steve Jones’ guitar parts to create a roaring wall of sound...also this week, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured during an Aerosmith concert in Philadelphia when a fan throws a cherry bomb onto the stage…
1978: Billboard reports that Marvin Gaye has filed for bankruptcy with debts totalling $7 million…in New York, Sid Vicious calls the cops to say someone has killed his girlfriend in their Chelsea Hotel room…the Sex Pistol is arrested for the crime and is placed in a detox cell…he will die of a heroin OD before going to trial…
1981: Opening for Stones in L.A., the ever-controversial Prince, wearing bikini briefs and a trenchcoat, is chased off the stage in a hail of beer cans and boos…
1986: Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You” reaches number one this week...it makes her and brother Michael the first siblings to each have a number-one hit in the rock era…
1987: The three members of ZZ Top book their seats on the first passenger flight to the moon … at press time, they are still awaiting their confirmations…
1988: Pink Floyd’s monster album, Dark Side of the Moon finally falls off the Hot 200 album chart after a record-breaking run of 741 weeks…
1990: Members of the British alt-rock band The Stone Roses are fined $5,100 each after being convicted of trashing their former record company’s offices…Dave Grohl plays his first show with Nirvana at the North Shore Surf Club in Olympia, Washington…
1991: Apple computers settles a name-infringement lawsuit brought by the Beatles’ Apple Corp. for a reported $29 million—about 20 minutes worth of iPhone sales these days…
1993: Nirvana begins recording its third and final album, In Utero…Kurt Cobain originally wanted to call the record I Hate Myself and Want to Die…
1994: During the first of a 15-night series of Pink Floyd shows at Earl’s Court in London, seating holding 1,200 fans collapses sending 96 people to the hospital…the band sends everyone who was seated in the stands an apologetic note and tee shirt…
1995: Alanis Morissette's LP Jagged Little Pill goes to the top of the album chart and will go on to sell more than 30 million copies—a record for a female artist…
1996: Former Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin pleads guilty to disorderly conduct...the charges are related to fellow band member Jonathan Melvoin’s death from a heroin OD…
1997: Singer-songwriter John Denver dies when his experimental aircraft goes down in California’s Monterey Bay…
2001: U2 launches the third leg of its Elevation tour with a South Bend, Indiana, concert inviting the world to see and hear it for free...the performance is webcast on U2.com...13 years to the week later, in tandem with Apple’s iTunes, the band gives away its latest LP, Songs of Innocence…
2003: In a poll of Mojo magazine readers, the 1954 recording session that produced Elvis’s “That’s All Right” is named the most pivotal moment in rock history…runner up is Dylan’s 1965 switch from acoustic to electric music…coming in third is the 1977 release of the Clash’s first single, “White Riot”…
2004: Shock jock Howard Stern tells his 12 million listeners that in 2006 he will move over to Sirius Satellite Radio...the potty-mouthed broadcaster was dropped by six stations the previous April after Clear Channel Broadcasting was hit with $495,000 in FCC fines for Stern’s on-air transgressions…
2005: A recently discovered live recording of the Thelonious Monk Quartet featuring John Coltrane debuts in the #2 spot on the Billboard jazz chart...the tape of the 1957 Carnegie Hall performance was discovered in a dusty Library of Congress archive the previous January by a researcher...also this week, following protests by anti-violence groups, billboards promoting 50 Cents’ movie Get Rich or Die Tryin’ are taken down...they had depicted the rapper with a mic in one hand and a gun in the other…
2006: A victim of plummeting record sales, record retailer Tower Records is liquidated...3,000 employees in 20 states lose their jobs...also this week, Grace Slick is on hand to help California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger christen the first of a new fleet of Virgin Airlines planes with the moniker “Jefferson Airplane”...while the pair do the champagne thing, “White Rabbit” plays...commenting on the the name choice, Slick observes dryly that, “The Grateful Dead would’ve been a bad name, so they picked us.”...
2007: Radiohead releases its newest album, In Rainbows exclusively via online downloads, allowing fans to decide how much they’d like to pay for the music...a conventional CD release with added material is planned for the end of the year…this same week, Blender magazine names Sting as the world’s worst lyricist in their list of lame lyric-writers…his crimes include name-checking writer novelist Vladimir Nabokov, copping the bumper sticker sentiment “If you love someone set them free,” and ripping off the words of Shakespeare, St. Augustine and Chaucer…
2008: Robert Plant squashes rumors of a Led Zep reunion tour when he posts a statement on his website saying, “It’s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its ugly head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move on.” … apparently this word hasn’t reached Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham who are reported to be continuing rehearsals without Plant at the mic…
2009: Barbra Streisand’s CD Love is the Answer tops the album chart…it’s the ninth time the singer has achieved this, setting a record for female artists on the Billboard Hot 200 chart…
2010: The FBI seizes a set of John Lennon’s fingerprints from a New York memorabilia dealer who’s asking $100,00 for the card…the Bureau says it’s still government property and is investigating how the prints, which were provided when Lennon sought U.S. residency in 1976, fell into private hands…
2011: In a Rolling Stone poll, Starship's “We Built This City” is named the worst song of the 1980s…
2013: Annie Lennox tells the BBC that the sexualized imagery in modern pop videos is “dark” and “pornographic,” adding they should be rated in the same way as films…across the Atlantic, Paul McCartney gives a crowd of 3,000 New Yorkers in Times Square a thrill with a brief, unannounced concert from the back of a truck…
This Week’s Hatches
October 6: session guitarist Cliff White (1921), violinist Cyril Reuben (1926), R&B sax man Walter Kimble (1938), singer Millie Small (1948), reggae/pop singer Boney M aka Bobby Farrell (1949), Commodores guitarist Thomas McClary (1949), Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (1951), American Music Club drummer Tim Mooney (1958), David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (1964), alt rocker Matthew Sweet (1964), bassist Tommy Stinson of The Replacements (1966), Arcade Fire’s Will Butler (1982)
October 7: country music pioneer "Uncle" Dave Macon (1870), Count Basie band drummer Jo Jones (1911), pop singer Al Martino (1927), Colin Cooper of Climax Blues Band (1939), Martin Murray of The Honeycombs (1941), Tony Silvester of The Main Ingredient (1941), singer Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943), drummer Kevin Godley of 10cc (1945), David Hope of Kansas (1949), singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (1951), drummer Tico Torres of Bon Jovi (1953), singer Toni Braxton (1968), Radiohead's Thom Yorke (1968), Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy (1969), singer Alesha Dixon aka Mis-Teeq (1978)
October 8: composer Toru Takemitsu (1930), pedal steel maestro Pete Drake (1932), Doc Green of The Drifters (1934), Tornados guitarist George Bellamy (1940), Fred Cash of The Impressions (1940), guitarist Ray Royer of Procol Harum (1945), Redbone drummer Butch Rillera (1945), Tony Wilson of Hot Chocolate (1947), Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) of The Ramones (1948), Hamish Stewart of Average White Band (1949), Harry Bowens of Was Not Was (1949), Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool & The Gang (1950), Cliff Adams of Kool & The Gang (1952), blues revivalist Lonnie Pitchford (1955), Steve Perry of Cherry Poppin' Daddies (1963), Ramones bassist C.J. Ramone aka Christopher J. Ward (1965), New Jack Swing musician and producer Teddy Riley (1967), singer/songwriter/producer Bruno Mars (1985)
October 9: soul singer O.V. Wright (1939), John Lennon (1940), blues and soul singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron (1943), guitarist Pete Cosey (1943), Who bassist John Entwistle (1944), singer Nona Hendryx (1944), Mud singer Les Gray (1946), Jackson Browne (1948), Masque Club owner Brendan Mullen (1949), accordionist James Fearnley of The Pogues (1954), reggae singer Ini Kamoze (1957), Ministry frontman/guitarist Al Jourgensen (1958), P.J. (Polly) Harvey (1969), Sean Ono Lennon (1975), house music and footwork DJ Rashad Harden (1979)
October 10: composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), R&B singer-songwriter-pianist Ivory Joe Hunter (1914), adventursome bebop pianist Thelonious Monk (1917), pop singer "The Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson (1932), country chirper Dottie West (1932), Dennis D’Ell of The Honeycombs (1943), Alan Cartwright of Procol Harum (1945), Jerry Lacroix of Blood Sweat & Tears (1945), singer-songwriter John Prine (1946), guitarist Edward Freche (1947), singer-songwriter Midge Ure (1953), David Bowie (1955), singer David Lee Roth (1955), country singer Tanya Tucker (1958), singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959), Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1961), Pop Will Eat Itself drummer Graham Crabb (1964), Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin (1967), Michael Bivins of Bell Biv Devoe (1968), Nine Days' Vinnie Tattanelli (1972), singer-songwriter Matthew Jay (1978), singer Mýa (Marie Harrison) (1979)
October 11: jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey (1919), jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie 1941), drummer Gary Mallaber of The Steve Miller Band (1946), Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates (1949), sax player Andrew Woolfolk of Earth, Wind & Fire (1950), Haircut 100 drummer Blair Cunningham (1957), Scott Johnson of of The Gin Blossoms (1962), Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks (1962), rapper MC Lyte (1971)
October 12: composer Ralph Vaughan (1872), blues guitarist Nyles Jones aka Guitar Gabriel (1924), soul singer Sam Moore of Sam & Dave (1935), opera singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1941), Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt (1948), country harmonica player Terry McMillan (1953), singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (1955), Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (1955), David Letts of The Damned (1956), Garfield Bright of Shai (1969), Martie Maguire of Dixie Chicks (1969)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 6: R&B singer Smiley Lewis (1966), Australian rocker Johnny O’Keefe (1978), orchestra leader and composer Nelson Riddle (1985), Texas rockabilly singer “Groovey” Joe Poovey (1998), Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodriguez (1999)
October 7: pop and opera singer Mario Lanza (1959), Werner von Trapp of Sound of Music fame (2007), NRBQ guitarist Steve Ferguson (2009), gospel singer Albertina Walker (2010), Dixie Dregs keyboardist T Lavitz (2010), guitarist Philip Chevron of The Pogues (2013)
October 8: necro-rocker Jimmy Cross (1978), country/pop singer Harold Dorman (1988), Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps (1988), Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson (1990), jazz and R&B guitarist Oscar Moore (1991), Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein (2008), bassist Mikey Welsh of Weezer (2011)
October 9: gospel powerhouse Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1973), Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel (1978), R&B singer Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1992), vibes player Milt Jackson (1999)
October 10: R&B sax honker Earl Bostic (1965), Lennie Peters of Peters and Lee (1992), Darren Robinson aka The Human Beat Box of The Fat Boys (1995), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1999), Boyzone singer Stephen Gately (2009), soul giant Solomon Burke (2010), opera diva Joan Sutherland (2010)
October 11: beloved French songstress Edith Piaf (1963), BBC radio star Andy Stewart (1993), reggae pioneer Alton Ellis (2008)
October 12: rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent (1971), Ricky Wilson of The B52’as (1985), John Denver (1997), harp-playing bluesman Frank Frost (1999), songwriter Baker Knight (2005), Blue Cheer bassist Dickie Peterson (2009), Masque Club owner Brendan Mullen (2009)
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 6
1902: A group of Kalamazoo, Michigan businessmen bankroll the startup of the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. to mass produce the designs of luthier Orville Gibson…the company goes on to produce iconic instruments that will help shape the sound of popular music in the decades to come…
1957: While touring Australia, Little Richard announces his intention to give up rock and roll and “live for the Lord”…he flies to L.A. the following day and is baptized as a Seventh Day Adventist…he’ll abide by his decision performing only gospel songs for the next five years before resuming his rock ‘n’ rolling career…
1958: Eddie Cochran records the rockabilly anthem “C’mon Everybody”…the Sex Pistols will enjoy a hit with their cover in 1979…
1961: The Beatle haircut is born when Paul and John, who are celebrating John’s 21st birthday in Paris, meet up with Jurgen Vollmer, a friend from Hamburg who wears his hair brushed forward in a cut popular with French teens...the Beatles frontmen like the style and have Jurgen give them haircuts in their hotel room…
1962: Little Richard and Sam Cooke begin a European tour in England...playing keyboards is 16-year-old Billy Preston…acting as emcee is rockabilly star Gene Vincent of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" fame who isn’t allowed to perform because his work permit has expired...at later shows authorities decree Vincent can sing, but only in front of the stage, not on it...later that week the tour hits Liverpool where the Beatles are one of the opening acts…ardent fans of Little Richard, it’s reported that the Fab Four get along famously with the U.S. contingent…
1965: Paul McCartney’s ballad “Yesterday” notches its first of four weeks at the top of the U.S. singles chart…it marks The Beatles tenth No. 1 hit …oddly, the song isn’t released as a single in the UK until 1976…meanwhile, the Fab Four are in the studio tracking songs for their upcoming Rubber Soul LP…working on a new Lennon song called “This Bird Has Flown,” George Harrison lays down a sitar track to what will become better known as “Norwegian Wood”…
1967: David Crosby is bounced from The Byrds by leader Roger McGuinn after months of acrimony…Crosby has complained that some of his songs the band recorded weren’t being released—notably his “Triad,” about a relationship between two men and a woman…McGuinn calls it a “freak-out orgy tune”…Crosby takes the song to the Jefferson Airplane who will release their version on 1968’s Crown of Creation LP…The Byrds version is finally released in 1987…this same week The Jimi Hendrix Experience records a session in London for the BBC Radio show Top Gear…Stevie Wonder, who’s also a guest, jams with Jimi…anybody got a tape?—we’d love to hear that!…
1968: Fleetwood Mac are at CBS Studios in central London...the Sunday session begins with a recording of guitarist/leader Peter Green’s instrumental “Albatross”...the tune is reminiscent of Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” but features twin guitar harmonies by Green and Danny Kirwan over a gently loping bass by John McVie with Mick Fleetwood playing tom toms with mallets...the recording is an international hit and influences John Lennon in writing “Sun King” for The Beatles Abbey Road…this same week, Jose Feliciano performs a slow, bluesy version of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the World Series…traditionalists are outraged and some stations refuse to play the blind singer’s songs, putting a crimp in his career…
1969: Blues giant Muddy Waters suffers multiple fractures in a Tennessee car crash in which three others are killed...after two months he will emerge from the hospital hobbling on a cane, fingers too swollen and numb to play guitar…this same week, for the first time ever, the BBC’s Top of the Pops program refuses to play the No. 1 song, “Je T’aime... Moi Non Plus’”…the instrumental features the voices of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin apparently in the act of getting very intimate…
1970: The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber opens on Broadway to mixed reviews, harsh criticism from Webber, and condemnation from some religious groups…the show will close in 1973 after 711 performances…
1976: The Sex Pistols with producer Dave Goodman and engineer Hugh Padgham attempt to record their debut single “Anarchy In The U.K.”...unhappy with results, they try again a week later at Wessex Studios with Chris Thomas producing and Bill Price engineering...a key to the recording is the layering of Steve Jones’ guitar parts to create a roaring wall of sound...also this week, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured during an Aerosmith concert in Philadelphia when a fan throws a cherry bomb onto the stage…
1978: Billboard reports that Marvin Gaye has filed for bankruptcy with debts totalling $7 million…in New York, Sid Vicious calls the cops to say someone has killed his girlfriend in their Chelsea Hotel room…the Sex Pistol is arrested for the crime and is placed in a detox cell…he will die of a heroin OD before going to trial…
1981: Opening for Stones in L.A., the ever-controversial Prince, wearing bikini briefs and a trenchcoat, is chased off the stage in a hail of beer cans and boos…
1986: Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You” reaches number one this week...it makes her and brother Michael the first siblings to each have a number-one hit in the rock era…
1987: The three members of ZZ Top book their seats on the first passenger flight to the moon … at press time, they are still awaiting their confirmations…
1988: Pink Floyd’s monster album, Dark Side of the Moon finally falls off the Hot 200 album chart after a record-breaking run of 741 weeks…
1990: Members of the British alt-rock band The Stone Roses are fined $5,100 each after being convicted of trashing their former record company’s offices…Dave Grohl plays his first show with Nirvana at the North Shore Surf Club in Olympia, Washington…
1991: Apple computers settles a name-infringement lawsuit brought by the Beatles’ Apple Corp. for a reported $29 million—about 20 minutes worth of iPhone sales these days…
1993: Nirvana begins recording its third and final album, In Utero…Kurt Cobain originally wanted to call the record I Hate Myself and Want to Die…
1994: During the first of a 15-night series of Pink Floyd shows at Earl’s Court in London, seating holding 1,200 fans collapses sending 96 people to the hospital…the band sends everyone who was seated in the stands an apologetic note and tee shirt…
1995: Alanis Morissette's LP Jagged Little Pill goes to the top of the album chart and will go on to sell more than 30 million copies—a record for a female artist…
1996: Former Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin pleads guilty to disorderly conduct...the charges are related to fellow band member Jonathan Melvoin’s death from a heroin OD…
1997: Singer-songwriter John Denver dies when his experimental aircraft goes down in California’s Monterey Bay…
2001: U2 launches the third leg of its Elevation tour with a South Bend, Indiana, concert inviting the world to see and hear it for free...the performance is webcast on U2.com...13 years to the week later, in tandem with Apple’s iTunes, the band gives away its latest LP, Songs of Innocence…
2003: In a poll of Mojo magazine readers, the 1954 recording session that produced Elvis’s “That’s All Right” is named the most pivotal moment in rock history…runner up is Dylan’s 1965 switch from acoustic to electric music…coming in third is the 1977 release of the Clash’s first single, “White Riot”…
2004: Shock jock Howard Stern tells his 12 million listeners that in 2006 he will move over to Sirius Satellite Radio...the potty-mouthed broadcaster was dropped by six stations the previous April after Clear Channel Broadcasting was hit with $495,000 in FCC fines for Stern’s on-air transgressions…
2005: A recently discovered live recording of the Thelonious Monk Quartet featuring John Coltrane debuts in the #2 spot on the Billboard jazz chart...the tape of the 1957 Carnegie Hall performance was discovered in a dusty Library of Congress archive the previous January by a researcher...also this week, following protests by anti-violence groups, billboards promoting 50 Cents’ movie Get Rich or Die Tryin’ are taken down...they had depicted the rapper with a mic in one hand and a gun in the other…
2006: A victim of plummeting record sales, record retailer Tower Records is liquidated...3,000 employees in 20 states lose their jobs...also this week, Grace Slick is on hand to help California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger christen the first of a new fleet of Virgin Airlines planes with the moniker “Jefferson Airplane”...while the pair do the champagne thing, “White Rabbit” plays...commenting on the the name choice, Slick observes dryly that, “The Grateful Dead would’ve been a bad name, so they picked us.”...
2007: Radiohead releases its newest album, In Rainbows exclusively via online downloads, allowing fans to decide how much they’d like to pay for the music...a conventional CD release with added material is planned for the end of the year…this same week, Blender magazine names Sting as the world’s worst lyricist in their list of lame lyric-writers…his crimes include name-checking writer novelist Vladimir Nabokov, copping the bumper sticker sentiment “If you love someone set them free,” and ripping off the words of Shakespeare, St. Augustine and Chaucer…
2008: Robert Plant squashes rumors of a Led Zep reunion tour when he posts a statement on his website saying, “It’s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its ugly head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move on.” … apparently this word hasn’t reached Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham who are reported to be continuing rehearsals without Plant at the mic…
2009: Barbra Streisand’s CD Love is the Answer tops the album chart…it’s the ninth time the singer has achieved this, setting a record for female artists on the Billboard Hot 200 chart…
2010: The FBI seizes a set of John Lennon’s fingerprints from a New York memorabilia dealer who’s asking $100,00 for the card…the Bureau says it’s still government property and is investigating how the prints, which were provided when Lennon sought U.S. residency in 1976, fell into private hands…
2011: In a Rolling Stone poll, Starship's “We Built This City” is named the worst song of the 1980s…
2013: Annie Lennox tells the BBC that the sexualized imagery in modern pop videos is “dark” and “pornographic,” adding they should be rated in the same way as films…across the Atlantic, Paul McCartney gives a crowd of 3,000 New Yorkers in Times Square a thrill with a brief, unannounced concert from the back of a truck…
This Week’s Hatches
October 6: session guitarist Cliff White (1921), violinist Cyril Reuben (1926), R&B sax man Walter Kimble (1938), singer Millie Small (1948), reggae/pop singer Boney M aka Bobby Farrell (1949), Commodores guitarist Thomas McClary (1949), Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (1951), American Music Club drummer Tim Mooney (1958), David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (1964), alt rocker Matthew Sweet (1964), bassist Tommy Stinson of The Replacements (1966), Arcade Fire’s Will Butler (1982)
October 7: country music pioneer "Uncle" Dave Macon (1870), Count Basie band drummer Jo Jones (1911), pop singer Al Martino (1927), Colin Cooper of Climax Blues Band (1939), Martin Murray of The Honeycombs (1941), Tony Silvester of The Main Ingredient (1941), singer Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943), drummer Kevin Godley of 10cc (1945), David Hope of Kansas (1949), singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (1951), drummer Tico Torres of Bon Jovi (1953), singer Toni Braxton (1968), Radiohead's Thom Yorke (1968), Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy (1969), singer Alesha Dixon aka Mis-Teeq (1978)
October 8: composer Toru Takemitsu (1930), pedal steel maestro Pete Drake (1932), Doc Green of The Drifters (1934), Tornados guitarist George Bellamy (1940), Fred Cash of The Impressions (1940), guitarist Ray Royer of Procol Harum (1945), Redbone drummer Butch Rillera (1945), Tony Wilson of Hot Chocolate (1947), Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) of The Ramones (1948), Hamish Stewart of Average White Band (1949), Harry Bowens of Was Not Was (1949), Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool & The Gang (1950), Cliff Adams of Kool & The Gang (1952), blues revivalist Lonnie Pitchford (1955), Steve Perry of Cherry Poppin' Daddies (1963), Ramones bassist C.J. Ramone aka Christopher J. Ward (1965), New Jack Swing musician and producer Teddy Riley (1967), singer/songwriter/producer Bruno Mars (1985)
October 9: soul singer O.V. Wright (1939), John Lennon (1940), blues and soul singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron (1943), guitarist Pete Cosey (1943), Who bassist John Entwistle (1944), singer Nona Hendryx (1944), Mud singer Les Gray (1946), Jackson Browne (1948), Masque Club owner Brendan Mullen (1949), accordionist James Fearnley of The Pogues (1954), reggae singer Ini Kamoze (1957), Ministry frontman/guitarist Al Jourgensen (1958), P.J. (Polly) Harvey (1969), Sean Ono Lennon (1975), house music and footwork DJ Rashad Harden (1979)
October 10: composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), R&B singer-songwriter-pianist Ivory Joe Hunter (1914), adventursome bebop pianist Thelonious Monk (1917), pop singer "The Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson (1932), country chirper Dottie West (1932), Dennis D’Ell of The Honeycombs (1943), Alan Cartwright of Procol Harum (1945), Jerry Lacroix of Blood Sweat & Tears (1945), singer-songwriter John Prine (1946), guitarist Edward Freche (1947), singer-songwriter Midge Ure (1953), David Bowie (1955), singer David Lee Roth (1955), country singer Tanya Tucker (1958), singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959), Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1961), Pop Will Eat Itself drummer Graham Crabb (1964), Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin (1967), Michael Bivins of Bell Biv Devoe (1968), Nine Days' Vinnie Tattanelli (1972), singer-songwriter Matthew Jay (1978), singer Mýa (Marie Harrison) (1979)
October 11: jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey (1919), jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie 1941), drummer Gary Mallaber of The Steve Miller Band (1946), Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates (1949), sax player Andrew Woolfolk of Earth, Wind & Fire (1950), Haircut 100 drummer Blair Cunningham (1957), Scott Johnson of of The Gin Blossoms (1962), Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks (1962), rapper MC Lyte (1971)
October 12: composer Ralph Vaughan (1872), blues guitarist Nyles Jones aka Guitar Gabriel (1924), soul singer Sam Moore of Sam & Dave (1935), opera singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1941), Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt (1948), country harmonica player Terry McMillan (1953), singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (1955), Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (1955), David Letts of The Damned (1956), Garfield Bright of Shai (1969), Martie Maguire of Dixie Chicks (1969)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 6: R&B singer Smiley Lewis (1966), Australian rocker Johnny O’Keefe (1978), orchestra leader and composer Nelson Riddle (1985), Texas rockabilly singer “Groovey” Joe Poovey (1998), Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodriguez (1999)
October 7: pop and opera singer Mario Lanza (1959), Werner von Trapp of Sound of Music fame (2007), NRBQ guitarist Steve Ferguson (2009), gospel singer Albertina Walker (2010), Dixie Dregs keyboardist T Lavitz (2010), guitarist Philip Chevron of The Pogues (2013)
October 8: necro-rocker Jimmy Cross (1978), country/pop singer Harold Dorman (1988), Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps (1988), Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson (1990), jazz and R&B guitarist Oscar Moore (1991), Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein (2008), bassist Mikey Welsh of Weezer (2011)
October 9: gospel powerhouse Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1973), Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel (1978), R&B singer Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1992), vibes player Milt Jackson (1999)
October 10: R&B sax honker Earl Bostic (1965), Lennie Peters of Peters and Lee (1992), Darren Robinson aka The Human Beat Box of The Fat Boys (1995), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1999), Boyzone singer Stephen Gately (2009), soul giant Solomon Burke (2010), opera diva Joan Sutherland (2010)
October 11: beloved French songstress Edith Piaf (1963), BBC radio star Andy Stewart (1993), reggae pioneer Alton Ellis (2008)
October 12: rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent (1971), Ricky Wilson of The B52’as (1985), John Denver (1997), harp-playing bluesman Frank Frost (1999), songwriter Baker Knight (2005), Blue Cheer bassist Dickie Peterson (2009), Masque Club owner Brendan Mullen (2009)
Daltrey Stutters…Slick Steps In…Axl’s Ultimatum
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 13
Roger Daltrey Grace Slick Axl Rose
1952: Blues belter Big Mama Thornton records her version of “Hound Dog”…it’ll become the first hit for the teenage songwriting team of Jerry Stoller and Mike Lieber who will go on to enjoy more than 70 chart hits…
1954: The Penguins record the doo-wop classic, “Earth Angel”…the song will provide the soundtrack for a million back-seat encounters…
1958: An article in Billboard reports that Phil Spector, the writer and arranger of the Teddy Bears’ hit “To Know Him is to Love Him,” is studying to be a court reporter . . . though the reclusive producer, famed for creating “wall of sound” recordings in the 1960s, never takes up that profession, his trials and ultimate conviction for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson will provide him with lots of courtroom experience…
1960: The future Beatles record together for the first time when Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison are called upon to provide backing for Lou Walters of The Hurricanes on his rendition of “Summertime”…also on hand providing the backbeat is Ringo Starr, the Hurricanes’ drummer…the single that ensues sinks without a trace…
1962: “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit...cannily released to coincide with Halloween, the novelty tune with a Boris Karloff-like spoken vocal will reappear on the charts in 1970 and 1973…meanwhile The Beatles are keeping up a torrid schedule in Liverpool…they wedge their debut on British TV’s People and Places show at a Manchester station between lunch and dinner sets at the Cavern Club in Liverpool…
1964: The Fab Four are still on a tear…taking a day off from touring, The Beatles complete six tracks for their next LP…songs include “I Feel Fine,” “Eight Days a Week,” ‘Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey,” “Mr. Moonlight’” and I'll Follow the Sun”…
1965: A San Francisco collective called The Family Dog presents a rock ‘n’ roll dance and concert at the Longshoremen’s Hall …on the bill for “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” are the Jefferson Airplane, the Charlatans, the Marbles, and The Great Society…meanwhile The Who record “My Generation” in London…singer Roger Daltrey later says he stuttered the lyric in order to get it to fit the rhythm… the BBC is reluctant to air the tune feeling it may offend stutterers…
1966: Grace Slick replaces expectant mother Signe Anderson in The Jefferson Airplane…she leaves her current band Great Society and brings along two songs that will soon be at the forefront of the San Francisco music scene: “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”…also this week, the Jimi Hendrix Experience plays its first ever gig at a concert in Paris supporting French pop star Johnny Hallyday . . . the Experience plays a 15-minute set of “Hey Joe” (soon to be their first single), “Killing Floor,” and soul standards “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “Respect,” and “Have Mercy”…
1967: the “tribal rock” musical Hair opens off-Broadway…
1968: The New Yardbirds, soon to become Led Zeppelin, plays its first British show at Surrey University…also this week, RCA releases Jose Feliciano’s bluesy rendition of “Star Spangled Banner”...the blind singer had been roundly booed for his performance of the song at a World Series game earlier that month..record buyers aren’t too thrilled either…sales are anemic…
1971: A crowd expecting ‘50s teen idol Rick Nelson to play all his old hits at a Madison Square Garden show turns surly when he insists on performing new material...the hostile reception is later memorialized in his song “Garden Party” that becomes a hit the following year...a line from the song goes, “If memories are all I’d sing, I’d rather drive a truck”...
1972: In the wake of weak sales of their latest album Mardi Gras and protests by band members over John Fogerty's lock on writing and publishing of Creedence Clearwater Revival's music, the band calls it quits...leader Fogerty goes on to a robust solo career while the rest of the Revivalists descend into relative obscurity...also this week, Chuck Berry scores his first and last #1 pop chart hit with “My Ding-a-Ling” a slightly salacious bit of silliness…
1973: The Stones’ “Angie” is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit...supposedly a paean to David Bowie’s missus, the song is covered by Tori Amos in the ‘90s…also this week, the Supreme Court refuses to review a Federal Communications Commission directive ordering broadcasters to censor songs with drug-oriented lyrics before airing them... it will be another three decades before the FCC becomes concerned over breasts…
1974: Soul singer Al Green is seriously burned when a disturbed girlfriend tosses a pot of boiling grits on him...the incident results in Green becoming a minister and leaving secular music behind...it will be 2003 before he releases another non-religious record...
1975: Neil Young undergoes surgery on his vocal chords...his recovery is slow and he is obliged to quit midway through his tour the following year with Stephen Stills due to the strain on his voice…
1976: Stevie Wonder's LP Songs In The Key Of Life, goes to No.1 on the US album chart, tracks like “Sir Duke,” “I Wish,” “Pastime Paradise” and “Isn't She Lovely” get heavy airplay…
1986: Eric Clapton and Keith Richards rock out at an affair honoring Chuck Berry on his 60th birthday..the proceedings will become the music doc Hail Hail! Rock & Roll…also this week, for the first time ever, three femme popsters hold down the first three positions on the pop chart…in order they are: Janet Jackson with her “When I Think of You,” “Typical Male” by Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”…
1988: UB40’s “Red Red Wine” is the Billboard No. 1 Pop Hit...the British group originally released the Neil Diamond-penned song in 1984 when it only managed to get to No. 34…
1989: Axl Rose announces during an LA show opening for The Stones that this will be the last GNR appearance unless certain band members get their sh*t together”… the sh*t in question being some serious heroin habits…
1991: John Mellencamp is hospitalized in Seattle after suffering a dizzy spell...a doctor later attributes his malady to “too much coffee, stress, and not enough breakfast”…
1992: Sinead O’Connor is booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden at a concert honoring Bob Dylan...the hostile crowd is reacting to the singer’s appearance two weeks earlier on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a picture of the Pope...also this week, country singer Lynn Anderson is sprung from a Nashville jail after doing two days for contempt of court...the sentence stemmed from cursing at her former husband in front of their teenage children…
1995: Paul and Linda McCartney provide the guest voices on Fox's The Simpsons in an episode called "Lisa the Vegetarian" …Macca agrees to perform on the condition that Lisa Simpson’s decision to become a vegetarian will be a permanent character change…
1996: Sting’s former financial adviser is sentenced to six years in the cooler for bilking the performer out of $9.4 million…
1997: Sir Paul McCartney receives six curtain calls at the Royal Albert Hall for the world premiere of his symphonic poem Standing Stone performed by the London Symphony...despite this acclaim, critics give the composition low marks saying it’s forgettable and dull…
1998: The Crossroads Center, a $6.5 million recovery center for drug addicts opens in Antigua...the facility is underwritten by Eric Clapton, a former heroin addict…
1999: Supernatural is the best-selling album...it’s the first No. 1 release for a Carlos Santana-led record in 28 years…
2002: The British band Muse brings a suit against Celine Dion seeking to prevent her from naming her new Las Vegas show “Muse”…says Muse singer Matt Bellamy, 'We don't want anyone to think we're Celine Dion's backing band.'…
2004: Eminem’s hit video “Just Lose It” shows the rapper impersonating Michael Jackson...he’s seen on a bed with young boys, with his hair ablaze, searching for his lost nose, and being vomited on…a Jackson spokesman complains, “It’s one thing to be spoofed, but Michael felt Eminem crossed the line.” …after an appeal from Jackson, BET agrees to stop airing the clip but MTV keeps it in heavy rotation...meanwhile Eric Clapton is clocked doing 134 MPH while driving his Porsche in France…he’ll pay a 750 euro fine and be banned from driving in France…
2005: Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is arrested in connection with the beating of six gay men in June 2004...Banton had a hit with the song, “Boom Bye Bye” whose lyrics talked about burning and shooting gays…this same week Rivers Cuomo, frontman for Weezer announces he’ll return to Harvard University to complete his last semester for a bachelor’s degree...Cuomo’s higher education had been interrupted a couple of times by touring and recording...
2006: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mounts an exhibit titled Revolution Rock: The Story of the Clash featuring 150 artifacts including lyric sheets and Joe Strummer’s well-worn Telecaster...also this week, after a protracted battle with its landlord, New York punk Mecca CBGB closes its doors forever...on hand to close the joint is Patti Smith who performs most of the songs from her 1975 Horses album...club owner Hilly Kristal who founded CBGB as a country venue in 1973 is offered a new location by the city of New York but passes on it saying renovation costs are too steep...talk persists about the club moving to Vegas together with much of its storied decorations and legendarily filthy basement toilets...and finally this week, Axl Rose’s manager, Merck Mercuriadis tells Rolling Stone that the much-anticipated Chinese Democracy album will be released before the year is out...word has it that the album is now in the mixing stage and has cost upward of $13 million so far...no one is holding their breath…
2007: Ron Wood’s autobiography, Ronnie: The Autobiography is released...in it he candidly addresses the demons he has faced, recalls the time he pulled a .44 Magnum on Keith Richards, and recounts salacious tales from life on the road as a Stone...this week former member of The Smiths and current Modest Mouse multi-instrumentalist Johnny Marr is appointed visiting professor at Salford University, near his home town of Manchester, England...he’ll teach classes about recording and pop music…meanwhile in the suburbs of Johannesburg, reggae star Lucky Dube is shot dead by carjackers…
2008: In their first gig together in four years, Grateful Dead alumni Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann play a benefit for Barack Obama at Penn State University…
2010: The famed Liberace Museum closes its doors for good amid financial problems…the monument to hardcore cheese and glitz had been a fixture in Las Vegas for 31 years…in a gloves-off interview with UK Radio Times magazine, Elton John describes today's songwriters as "pretty awful", pop music as "uninspiring" and talent shows like American Idol as "boring"…
2013: Madonna is banned from the Alamo movie theater in New York after she incessantly texted during a showing of 12 Years a Slave…
This Week’s Births
October 13: piano magician Art Tatum (1909), patriarch of the singing Osmond family George Osmond (1917), jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz (1927), pop singer Chris Farlowe (1940), Paul Simon (1941), Robert Lamm of Chicago (1944), Sammy Hagar (1947), John Ford Coley of England Dan & John Ford Coley (1948), guitarist Simon Nichol of Fairport Convention (1950), Marie Osmond (1959), R&B singer Ashanti (Douglas) (1980)
October 14: West Coast bluesman Jimmy Liggins (1922), ace session player Mickey”Guitar” Baker (1925), Sun Records music director Bill Justis (1926), New Orleans R&B vocalist Robert Parker (1930), singer-songwriter Barry McGuire (1935), Brit rocker Cliff Richard (1940), Billy Harrison of Them (1942), Colin Hodgkinson of Whitesnake (1945), Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward (1946), Dan McCafferty of Nazareth (1946), Detroit Emeralds guitarist and vocalist Ivory Tilmon (1948), Marcia Barrett aka Boney M (1948), Danish rocker Tommy Seebach (1949), Twisted Sister drummer Anthony Jude Pero (1958), Thomas Dolby (1958), Karyn White (1964), Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks (1974), Shaznay Lewis of All Saints (1975), Usher (1978)
October 15: jazz and blues singer Victoria Spivey (1906), R&B singer Marv Johnson (1938), singing Green Beret sergeant Barry Sadler (1939), Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters (1946), singer Chris De Burgh (1948), Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett (1963), Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5 (1968), Wendy Wilson of of Wilson Phillips (1969), rapper Ginuwine aka Elgin Lumpkin (1975)
October 16: Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams (1903), songwriter and producer Bert Kaempfert (1923), Velvet Underground singer Nico born Christa Paffgen (1938), Bachman Turner Overdrive bassist Fred Turner (1943), esteemed Muscle Shoals drummer David Hawkins (1945), Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead (1947), Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1959), Hüsker Dü guitarist Bob Mould (1960), Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea aka Michael Balzary (1962), Simon Bartholomew of The Brand New Heavies (1965), Chad Gray, lead vocalist for Mudvayne and Hellyeah (1971), John Mayer (1977)
October 17: jazz drummer Cozy Cole (1909), recording expert and entrepreneur John Mosley (1933), trombonist Rico Rodriguez of The Specials 1934), Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts (1941), pop singer Gary Puckett (1942), Jim Tucker of The Turtles (1946), Mike Hossack of The Doobie Brothers (1946), contemporary country star Alan Jackson (1958), Rene Dif of Acua (1967), reggae singer Ziggy Marley (1968), Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC (1971), Eminem aka Marshall Mathers (1972), Wyclef Jean (1972)
October 18: blues woman Jessie Mae Hemphill (1923), father of rock Chuck Berry (1926), Ronnie Bright of The Coasters (1938), Russ Giguere of The Association (1943), Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon (1947), singer-songwriter Laura Nyro (1947), drummer Keith Knudsen of The Doobie Brothers (1948), Joe Egan of Stealers Wheel (1949), trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (1961), metal bassist Dan Lilker (1964), Peter Svensson of The Cardigans (1974), Kaiser Chiefs bassist Simon Rix (1977), R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, (born Shaffer Chimere Smith) (1982)
October 19: bluesman Piano Red born William Lee Perryman (1911), Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm drummer Billy Gayles (1931), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1934), disco star George McCrae (1944), reggae star Peter Tosh (1944), country singer Jeannie C. Riley (1945), soul singer Gloria Jones (1945), Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid I(1946), Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics (1947), Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers (1948), Nino DeFranco of The DeFranco Family (1956), keyboardist Karl Wallinger of World Party (1957), singer Jennifer Holliday (1960), Dan “Woody” Woodgate of Madness (1960), Pras Michel of The Fugees 1972), Chevelle guitarist Pete Loeffler (1976)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 13: variety show host Ed Sullivan (1974), Shirley Brickley of The Orlons (1977), Wade Flemons of Earth Wind & Fire (1993), horn player for The Ohio Players Ralph “Pee Wee” Middlebrooks (1996), singer/actor Al Martino (2009)
October 14: crooner Bing Crosby (1977), composer Leonard Bernstein (1990), Tejano star Freddy Fender (2006)
October 15: songwriter Cole Porter (1964), country blues musician Gus Cannon (1979), Moonglows singer Bobby Lester (1980), pop and country vocalist and banjo player Jud Strunk (1981), cabaret and disco performer Tasha Thomas (1984), songwriter and musician Terry Gilkyson (1999)
October 16: Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess (1969), drumming great Gene Krupa(1973), jazz drummer Art Blakey (1990), blues singer Ella Mae Morse (1999), jazz singer Etta Jones (2001) songwriter Jay Livingston (2001)
October 17: R&B guitarist and bandleader Edgar V. Blanchard (1972), jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter (1984), singer Tennessee Ernie Ford (1991), Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva (1993), composer Berthold Goldschmidt (1996), Lush drummer Chris Acland (1996), songwriter Jay Livingston (2001), Derek Bell of The Chieftains (2002), pop singer Teresa Brewer (2007), Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops (2008), prolific session saxist Dennis Taylor (2010)
October 18: bluesman L.C. Williams (1960), songwriter Ed Labunski (1980), New Orleans studio saxman Lee Allen (1994), singer and actress Julie Andrews (2000). Broadway singer Gwen Verdon (2000), South African reggae star Lucky Dube (2007), soul singer Dee Dee Warwick (2008)
October 19: Mississippi bluesman Son House Born Eddie James House Jr. (1988), Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy (1989), jazz drummer Don Cherry (1995), Alice Cooper backup musician Glen Buxton (1997), harmonica great Snooky Pryor (2006), actor-singer-comedian Rudy Ray Moore (2008), TV theme songwriter Vic Mizzy (2009)
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 13
Roger Daltrey Grace Slick Axl Rose
1952: Blues belter Big Mama Thornton records her version of “Hound Dog”…it’ll become the first hit for the teenage songwriting team of Jerry Stoller and Mike Lieber who will go on to enjoy more than 70 chart hits…
1954: The Penguins record the doo-wop classic, “Earth Angel”…the song will provide the soundtrack for a million back-seat encounters…
1958: An article in Billboard reports that Phil Spector, the writer and arranger of the Teddy Bears’ hit “To Know Him is to Love Him,” is studying to be a court reporter . . . though the reclusive producer, famed for creating “wall of sound” recordings in the 1960s, never takes up that profession, his trials and ultimate conviction for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson will provide him with lots of courtroom experience…
1960: The future Beatles record together for the first time when Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison are called upon to provide backing for Lou Walters of The Hurricanes on his rendition of “Summertime”…also on hand providing the backbeat is Ringo Starr, the Hurricanes’ drummer…the single that ensues sinks without a trace…
1962: “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit...cannily released to coincide with Halloween, the novelty tune with a Boris Karloff-like spoken vocal will reappear on the charts in 1970 and 1973…meanwhile The Beatles are keeping up a torrid schedule in Liverpool…they wedge their debut on British TV’s People and Places show at a Manchester station between lunch and dinner sets at the Cavern Club in Liverpool…
1964: The Fab Four are still on a tear…taking a day off from touring, The Beatles complete six tracks for their next LP…songs include “I Feel Fine,” “Eight Days a Week,” ‘Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey,” “Mr. Moonlight’” and I'll Follow the Sun”…
1965: A San Francisco collective called The Family Dog presents a rock ‘n’ roll dance and concert at the Longshoremen’s Hall …on the bill for “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” are the Jefferson Airplane, the Charlatans, the Marbles, and The Great Society…meanwhile The Who record “My Generation” in London…singer Roger Daltrey later says he stuttered the lyric in order to get it to fit the rhythm… the BBC is reluctant to air the tune feeling it may offend stutterers…
1966: Grace Slick replaces expectant mother Signe Anderson in The Jefferson Airplane…she leaves her current band Great Society and brings along two songs that will soon be at the forefront of the San Francisco music scene: “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”…also this week, the Jimi Hendrix Experience plays its first ever gig at a concert in Paris supporting French pop star Johnny Hallyday . . . the Experience plays a 15-minute set of “Hey Joe” (soon to be their first single), “Killing Floor,” and soul standards “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “Respect,” and “Have Mercy”…
1967: the “tribal rock” musical Hair opens off-Broadway…
1968: The New Yardbirds, soon to become Led Zeppelin, plays its first British show at Surrey University…also this week, RCA releases Jose Feliciano’s bluesy rendition of “Star Spangled Banner”...the blind singer had been roundly booed for his performance of the song at a World Series game earlier that month..record buyers aren’t too thrilled either…sales are anemic…
1971: A crowd expecting ‘50s teen idol Rick Nelson to play all his old hits at a Madison Square Garden show turns surly when he insists on performing new material...the hostile reception is later memorialized in his song “Garden Party” that becomes a hit the following year...a line from the song goes, “If memories are all I’d sing, I’d rather drive a truck”...
1972: In the wake of weak sales of their latest album Mardi Gras and protests by band members over John Fogerty's lock on writing and publishing of Creedence Clearwater Revival's music, the band calls it quits...leader Fogerty goes on to a robust solo career while the rest of the Revivalists descend into relative obscurity...also this week, Chuck Berry scores his first and last #1 pop chart hit with “My Ding-a-Ling” a slightly salacious bit of silliness…
1973: The Stones’ “Angie” is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit...supposedly a paean to David Bowie’s missus, the song is covered by Tori Amos in the ‘90s…also this week, the Supreme Court refuses to review a Federal Communications Commission directive ordering broadcasters to censor songs with drug-oriented lyrics before airing them... it will be another three decades before the FCC becomes concerned over breasts…
1974: Soul singer Al Green is seriously burned when a disturbed girlfriend tosses a pot of boiling grits on him...the incident results in Green becoming a minister and leaving secular music behind...it will be 2003 before he releases another non-religious record...
1975: Neil Young undergoes surgery on his vocal chords...his recovery is slow and he is obliged to quit midway through his tour the following year with Stephen Stills due to the strain on his voice…
1976: Stevie Wonder's LP Songs In The Key Of Life, goes to No.1 on the US album chart, tracks like “Sir Duke,” “I Wish,” “Pastime Paradise” and “Isn't She Lovely” get heavy airplay…
1986: Eric Clapton and Keith Richards rock out at an affair honoring Chuck Berry on his 60th birthday..the proceedings will become the music doc Hail Hail! Rock & Roll…also this week, for the first time ever, three femme popsters hold down the first three positions on the pop chart…in order they are: Janet Jackson with her “When I Think of You,” “Typical Male” by Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”…
1988: UB40’s “Red Red Wine” is the Billboard No. 1 Pop Hit...the British group originally released the Neil Diamond-penned song in 1984 when it only managed to get to No. 34…
1989: Axl Rose announces during an LA show opening for The Stones that this will be the last GNR appearance unless certain band members get their sh*t together”… the sh*t in question being some serious heroin habits…
1991: John Mellencamp is hospitalized in Seattle after suffering a dizzy spell...a doctor later attributes his malady to “too much coffee, stress, and not enough breakfast”…
1992: Sinead O’Connor is booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden at a concert honoring Bob Dylan...the hostile crowd is reacting to the singer’s appearance two weeks earlier on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a picture of the Pope...also this week, country singer Lynn Anderson is sprung from a Nashville jail after doing two days for contempt of court...the sentence stemmed from cursing at her former husband in front of their teenage children…
1995: Paul and Linda McCartney provide the guest voices on Fox's The Simpsons in an episode called "Lisa the Vegetarian" …Macca agrees to perform on the condition that Lisa Simpson’s decision to become a vegetarian will be a permanent character change…
1996: Sting’s former financial adviser is sentenced to six years in the cooler for bilking the performer out of $9.4 million…
1997: Sir Paul McCartney receives six curtain calls at the Royal Albert Hall for the world premiere of his symphonic poem Standing Stone performed by the London Symphony...despite this acclaim, critics give the composition low marks saying it’s forgettable and dull…
1998: The Crossroads Center, a $6.5 million recovery center for drug addicts opens in Antigua...the facility is underwritten by Eric Clapton, a former heroin addict…
1999: Supernatural is the best-selling album...it’s the first No. 1 release for a Carlos Santana-led record in 28 years…
2002: The British band Muse brings a suit against Celine Dion seeking to prevent her from naming her new Las Vegas show “Muse”…says Muse singer Matt Bellamy, 'We don't want anyone to think we're Celine Dion's backing band.'…
2004: Eminem’s hit video “Just Lose It” shows the rapper impersonating Michael Jackson...he’s seen on a bed with young boys, with his hair ablaze, searching for his lost nose, and being vomited on…a Jackson spokesman complains, “It’s one thing to be spoofed, but Michael felt Eminem crossed the line.” …after an appeal from Jackson, BET agrees to stop airing the clip but MTV keeps it in heavy rotation...meanwhile Eric Clapton is clocked doing 134 MPH while driving his Porsche in France…he’ll pay a 750 euro fine and be banned from driving in France…
2005: Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is arrested in connection with the beating of six gay men in June 2004...Banton had a hit with the song, “Boom Bye Bye” whose lyrics talked about burning and shooting gays…this same week Rivers Cuomo, frontman for Weezer announces he’ll return to Harvard University to complete his last semester for a bachelor’s degree...Cuomo’s higher education had been interrupted a couple of times by touring and recording...
2006: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mounts an exhibit titled Revolution Rock: The Story of the Clash featuring 150 artifacts including lyric sheets and Joe Strummer’s well-worn Telecaster...also this week, after a protracted battle with its landlord, New York punk Mecca CBGB closes its doors forever...on hand to close the joint is Patti Smith who performs most of the songs from her 1975 Horses album...club owner Hilly Kristal who founded CBGB as a country venue in 1973 is offered a new location by the city of New York but passes on it saying renovation costs are too steep...talk persists about the club moving to Vegas together with much of its storied decorations and legendarily filthy basement toilets...and finally this week, Axl Rose’s manager, Merck Mercuriadis tells Rolling Stone that the much-anticipated Chinese Democracy album will be released before the year is out...word has it that the album is now in the mixing stage and has cost upward of $13 million so far...no one is holding their breath…
2007: Ron Wood’s autobiography, Ronnie: The Autobiography is released...in it he candidly addresses the demons he has faced, recalls the time he pulled a .44 Magnum on Keith Richards, and recounts salacious tales from life on the road as a Stone...this week former member of The Smiths and current Modest Mouse multi-instrumentalist Johnny Marr is appointed visiting professor at Salford University, near his home town of Manchester, England...he’ll teach classes about recording and pop music…meanwhile in the suburbs of Johannesburg, reggae star Lucky Dube is shot dead by carjackers…
2008: In their first gig together in four years, Grateful Dead alumni Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann play a benefit for Barack Obama at Penn State University…
2010: The famed Liberace Museum closes its doors for good amid financial problems…the monument to hardcore cheese and glitz had been a fixture in Las Vegas for 31 years…in a gloves-off interview with UK Radio Times magazine, Elton John describes today's songwriters as "pretty awful", pop music as "uninspiring" and talent shows like American Idol as "boring"…
2013: Madonna is banned from the Alamo movie theater in New York after she incessantly texted during a showing of 12 Years a Slave…
This Week’s Births
October 13: piano magician Art Tatum (1909), patriarch of the singing Osmond family George Osmond (1917), jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz (1927), pop singer Chris Farlowe (1940), Paul Simon (1941), Robert Lamm of Chicago (1944), Sammy Hagar (1947), John Ford Coley of England Dan & John Ford Coley (1948), guitarist Simon Nichol of Fairport Convention (1950), Marie Osmond (1959), R&B singer Ashanti (Douglas) (1980)
October 14: West Coast bluesman Jimmy Liggins (1922), ace session player Mickey”Guitar” Baker (1925), Sun Records music director Bill Justis (1926), New Orleans R&B vocalist Robert Parker (1930), singer-songwriter Barry McGuire (1935), Brit rocker Cliff Richard (1940), Billy Harrison of Them (1942), Colin Hodgkinson of Whitesnake (1945), Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward (1946), Dan McCafferty of Nazareth (1946), Detroit Emeralds guitarist and vocalist Ivory Tilmon (1948), Marcia Barrett aka Boney M (1948), Danish rocker Tommy Seebach (1949), Twisted Sister drummer Anthony Jude Pero (1958), Thomas Dolby (1958), Karyn White (1964), Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks (1974), Shaznay Lewis of All Saints (1975), Usher (1978)
October 15: jazz and blues singer Victoria Spivey (1906), R&B singer Marv Johnson (1938), singing Green Beret sergeant Barry Sadler (1939), Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters (1946), singer Chris De Burgh (1948), Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett (1963), Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5 (1968), Wendy Wilson of of Wilson Phillips (1969), rapper Ginuwine aka Elgin Lumpkin (1975)
October 16: Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams (1903), songwriter and producer Bert Kaempfert (1923), Velvet Underground singer Nico born Christa Paffgen (1938), Bachman Turner Overdrive bassist Fred Turner (1943), esteemed Muscle Shoals drummer David Hawkins (1945), Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead (1947), Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1959), Hüsker Dü guitarist Bob Mould (1960), Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea aka Michael Balzary (1962), Simon Bartholomew of The Brand New Heavies (1965), Chad Gray, lead vocalist for Mudvayne and Hellyeah (1971), John Mayer (1977)
October 17: jazz drummer Cozy Cole (1909), recording expert and entrepreneur John Mosley (1933), trombonist Rico Rodriguez of The Specials 1934), Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts (1941), pop singer Gary Puckett (1942), Jim Tucker of The Turtles (1946), Mike Hossack of The Doobie Brothers (1946), contemporary country star Alan Jackson (1958), Rene Dif of Acua (1967), reggae singer Ziggy Marley (1968), Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC (1971), Eminem aka Marshall Mathers (1972), Wyclef Jean (1972)
October 18: blues woman Jessie Mae Hemphill (1923), father of rock Chuck Berry (1926), Ronnie Bright of The Coasters (1938), Russ Giguere of The Association (1943), Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon (1947), singer-songwriter Laura Nyro (1947), drummer Keith Knudsen of The Doobie Brothers (1948), Joe Egan of Stealers Wheel (1949), trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (1961), metal bassist Dan Lilker (1964), Peter Svensson of The Cardigans (1974), Kaiser Chiefs bassist Simon Rix (1977), R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, (born Shaffer Chimere Smith) (1982)
October 19: bluesman Piano Red born William Lee Perryman (1911), Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm drummer Billy Gayles (1931), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1934), disco star George McCrae (1944), reggae star Peter Tosh (1944), country singer Jeannie C. Riley (1945), soul singer Gloria Jones (1945), Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid I(1946), Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics (1947), Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers (1948), Nino DeFranco of The DeFranco Family (1956), keyboardist Karl Wallinger of World Party (1957), singer Jennifer Holliday (1960), Dan “Woody” Woodgate of Madness (1960), Pras Michel of The Fugees 1972), Chevelle guitarist Pete Loeffler (1976)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 13: variety show host Ed Sullivan (1974), Shirley Brickley of The Orlons (1977), Wade Flemons of Earth Wind & Fire (1993), horn player for The Ohio Players Ralph “Pee Wee” Middlebrooks (1996), singer/actor Al Martino (2009)
October 14: crooner Bing Crosby (1977), composer Leonard Bernstein (1990), Tejano star Freddy Fender (2006)
October 15: songwriter Cole Porter (1964), country blues musician Gus Cannon (1979), Moonglows singer Bobby Lester (1980), pop and country vocalist and banjo player Jud Strunk (1981), cabaret and disco performer Tasha Thomas (1984), songwriter and musician Terry Gilkyson (1999)
October 16: Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess (1969), drumming great Gene Krupa(1973), jazz drummer Art Blakey (1990), blues singer Ella Mae Morse (1999), jazz singer Etta Jones (2001) songwriter Jay Livingston (2001)
October 17: R&B guitarist and bandleader Edgar V. Blanchard (1972), jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter (1984), singer Tennessee Ernie Ford (1991), Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva (1993), composer Berthold Goldschmidt (1996), Lush drummer Chris Acland (1996), songwriter Jay Livingston (2001), Derek Bell of The Chieftains (2002), pop singer Teresa Brewer (2007), Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops (2008), prolific session saxist Dennis Taylor (2010)
October 18: bluesman L.C. Williams (1960), songwriter Ed Labunski (1980), New Orleans studio saxman Lee Allen (1994), singer and actress Julie Andrews (2000). Broadway singer Gwen Verdon (2000), South African reggae star Lucky Dube (2007), soul singer Dee Dee Warwick (2008)
October 19: Mississippi bluesman Son House Born Eddie James House Jr. (1988), Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy (1989), jazz drummer Don Cherry (1995), Alice Cooper backup musician Glen Buxton (1997), harmonica great Snooky Pryor (2006), actor-singer-comedian Rudy Ray Moore (2008), TV theme songwriter Vic Mizzy (2009)
Expensive Vibrations…Jimi Nixes Nudes…Ashlee’s Syncing Feeling
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 20
Beach Boys Jimi Hendrix Ashlee Simpson
1908: Columbia Records takes out an ad in The Saturday Evening Post touting their new two-sided records…
1954: 50,000-watt Memphis radio station WDIA halts airplay on a list of singles deemed to have suggestive lyrics… included are the Drifters' "Honey Love" together with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie," not to mention its follow-up platter, "Annie Had a Baby"…
1956: "Love Me Tender" is the first song to enter the pop charts at #1...Elvis' slow dance tune also appears on the Country and Western and R&B charts,…
1960: Brenda Lee's "I Want to be Wanted" reaches #1 on the pop chart making this her third million-seller hit in a row…this same week, with folk music acts such as The Kingston Trio grabbing the ears, hearts, and wallets of LP buyers, Joan Baez releases her first long player…the 19-year-old singer recorded the collection of folk standards in a New York hotel room accompanied by her own guitar and that of Fred Hellerman…
1961: 20-year-old Bob Dylan records his eponymous debut album accompanied only by his guitar and harmonica...studio cost is a whopping $400...filling out the studio's tax reporting form, he lists his name as "Blind Boy Grunt"…
1962: Little Stevie Wonder cuts his first single...Steveland Morris Judkins doesn't score with this debut record, but the accolades are not far away...also this week, James Brown records a live show despite objections from King Records—an in-concert soul album has never been done before…Live at the Apollo, financed by Brown himself turns out to be among the Godfather of Soul’s most brilliant performances and the album goes on to sell millions…
1964: A London band known as the High Numbers is rejected after an audition with EMI...formerly known as The Who, the band has recently come under the influence of manager Pete Meaden who suggested the name change and dressed the boys in mod suits...Meaden's all wet, but the kids are alright...they'll soon assume their original name and climb to fame…meanwhile across the water, The Rolling Stones make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show while also triggering a full scale riot in the studio…although at the time Sullivan swears they won’t be back, the British bad boys will make a further five appearances on America’s most-watched variety show…
1966: The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” charts for the first time on its way to #1…the single is the result of six month’s work and 17 sessions in four different studios at a then-unprecedented cost of $16,000…
1968: The double LP Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is released sporting a cover emblazoned with 19 nude women…when both Hendrix and the public protest the cheesecake, Reprise Records produces a new cover with a stylized headshot of Jimi…critically the record leaves many reviewers dazed and confused…today it’s considered one of the most important releases of the rock era and perhaps Hendrix’s greatest recorded work…
1969: The uber-heavy LP Led Zeppelin II is released and will go on to sell more than 12 million copies in the US…credited as a Jimmy Page production, the guitarist worked closely with engineer Eddie Kramer and his bleeding-edge techniques that were sometimes challenged by primitive conditions as the record was tracked at studios in New York, London, L.A., Memphis, and Vancouver, the latter location lacking a proper headphone setup…remembering the recording of the swirling middle section of “Whole Lotta Love,” Kramer recalled, “…where everything is going bananas is a combination of Jimmy and myself just flying around on a small console twiddling every knob known to man."…
1970: A wake is held in California to celebrate the life of Janis Joplin who recently died from a drug OD…the event is funded with $2500 earmarked in the late singer’s will for such an occasion…guests, including Joplin’s closest friends and family, unwittingly chow down on brownies that have been laced with hash…
1973: John Lennon files suit against the U.S. government alleging that his phone was tapped by the FBI in an effort to deport the former Beatle…
1977: Lynyrd Skynyrd fans take a gut shot when band members Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant die along with three members of their entourage when the band’s chartered plane plunges into a swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi…the whole band is aboard and the surviving members are all injured...the band’s sixth album, Street Survivor, with a cover showing band members surrounded by flames was released just days before the disaster...the cover is subsequently changed…
1978: Sid Vicious attempts suicide in jail while awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend...he will get out and OD before he can be tried for the crime...also this week, Keith Richards receives a suspended sentence of one year after pleading guilty to heroin possession in Toronto...his sentence also requires that he play a charity concert for the blind…and finally this week, The Police make their U.S. debut playing CBGB’s in New York…working on a shoestring budget, the band flies in on no-frills Laker Airways with their instruments as carry-on baggage…
1988: After more than a decade of rancorous relations with John Fogerty, Fantasy Records files a suit claiming he plagiarized his own song, "Run Through the Jungle," during the composition of "The Old Man Down the Road"...it will be 1995 before a court decides that Fantasy is fantasizing…
1991: Legendary rock promoter Bill Graham dies in a helicopter mishap near Vallejo, California…he was flying home home after a Huey Lewis and The News show… just before boarding the helicopter, Graham is stopped by the News’ bass player Mario Cipollina, who, in a flash of clairvoyance, urges Graham to take a limo instead...after being reassured by the pilot, Graham decides on the flight... moments after takeoff, the helicopter’s rotors strike power lines and the craft plummets to the ground…
1995: Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is fined $141 for mooning the crowd at a Milwaukee show…also this week, Def Leppard earns a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by playing three gigs on three continents within 24 hours—the shows are in Tangier, London and Vancouver…talk about jet lag!…
1997: The Guinness Book of Records names Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind ‘97” the all-time biggest-selling single with sales of 31.8 million copies in under 40 days…the proceeds went to charities…meanwhile at a show in Michigan, Johnny Cash informs the crowd that he’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease after stumbling and falling while trying to grab a pick…
1998: The company with publishing rights to Alice Cooper’s "Eighteen" files suit against Cooper’s primary makeup-rock emulators, KISS, claiming they ripped off his song "Eighteen" with their song, "Dreamin’"…Cooper has nothing to do with it, and hasn’t even heard "Dreamin’" when the suit is filed…asked about the outcome years later, Cooper says, "I think we all forgot to show up at court. Paul Stanley bought me a cheeseburger to make up for the whole thing"…also this week, the record industry is dealt a blow when a federal judge refuses to issue an injunction preventing the sale of an early MP3 player…
2000: George Michael outbids Robbie Williams and Oasis’ Gallagher brothers to take home the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed “Imagine”…after shelling out £1.45m to own it, Michael says, “I know that when my fingers touch the keys of that Steinway, I will feel truly blessed. And parting with my money has never been much of a problem, just ask my accountant."…
2001: VH1 hosts its Concert for New York, which raises over $30 million for victims of 9/11 with performances by such heavy hitters as The Who, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elton John and Bon Jovi…
2002: A St. Louis judge dismisses a suit brought by piano man Johnnie Johnson seeking his share of royalties for more than 30 songs he says he co-wrote with his former boss, Chuck Berry…the court tells the pianist that the facts of the case are too old to be tried now…regardless of those facts, Johnson’s hard-driving piano licks were an unquestionable part of Berry’s popularity…
2003: Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith’s body is discovered at his L.A. home...although it’s widely reported as a suicide, the coroner never establishes the cause of death…
2004: Crusading New York Attorney general Eliot Spitzer announces that he has launched an investigation of payola practices in the music business...EMI, Warner Music Group, Sony-BMG, and Universal all receive subpoenas demanding they produce communications with independent record promoters, the middlemen paid by record companies to get airplay...Spitzer himself will suffer political destruction a few years later when he’s caught engaging in a different form of pay-to-play…also in New York this week, Ashlee Simpson dances a little jig then bolts offstage during a broadcast of Saturday Night Live after her pre-recorded vocal for the wrong song begins to play as she begins, ahem, performing…
2005: U2 guitarist the Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson Guitar and Guitar Center join forces to supply instruments to Gulf Coast musicians devastated by Hurricane Katrina...the two corporate partners pledge a minimum of $1 million…
2006: Neil Young’s 20th Bridge School acoustic concert features unusual performances typified by Trent Reznor playing unplugged in front of a string quartet...other headliners include The Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cutie, and Brian Wilson...Young sits in with and energizes many of the sets... also this week, Duran Duran guitarist and founder Andy Taylor splits from the band...a statement on its website says, “There is an unworkable gulf between us”...
2007: Wu-Tang rapper RZA comes out on top at the Hip-Hop Chess Federation tournament in San Francisco...commenting on his strategy, RZA intones, “When my queen comes out, she’s comin’ out to shake her ass”...meanwhile in India, 1,730 guitarists collectively play Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” breaking the previous mass-jam record held by 1,683 guitarists who played “Smoke on the Water” more or less together in Kansas City…
2008: A year after the release of its In Rainbows LP, which was offered online at any price the consumer cared to name, Radiohead announces that it sold three million copies—some of which resulted from retail store sales … the band also sold 100,000 copies of the deluxe version of the release which carried a hefty $81 price tag…
2009: Hip-hop star Lil Wayne draws an 8-month jail sentence on gun charges … they stem from an incident in 2007 when cops detected the scent of weed wafting from Wayne’s tour bus…
2012: According to Forbes magazine, dead musicians are still raking it in…Michael Jackson leads the pack with $145 million in earnings over the past year…Elvis ranks second with $55 million and Bob Marley comes in third with $17 million…
This Week’s Hatches
October 20: jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton (1890), guitarist Johnny Moore of The Three Blazers (1906), electric sax man Eddie Harris (1934), Jay Siegel of The Tokens (1939), Ten Years after drummer Ric Lee (1945), Foreigner keyboards player Alan Greenwood (1951), Tom Petty (1953), harmonica player Mark Feltham (1955), Level 42 bassist/singer Mark King (1958), drummer for The Lemonheads David Ryan (1964), drummer and vocalist Jim Sonefeld of Hootie & the Blowfish (1964), Norman Blake of Teenage Fan Club (1965), rapper Snoop Dogg born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (1971), Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nicholas Hodgson (1977), Snow Patrol bassist Paul Wilson (1978)
October 21: salsa queen Celia Cruz (1924), music artist manager Jo Lustig (1925), Derek Bell of The Chieftains (1935), Manfred Mann (1940), Booker T and the MGs guitarist Steve Cropper (1941), guitarist Elvin Bishop (1942), Ron Elliott of The Beau Brummels (1943), Cramps founder and punk pioneer Lux Interior (1946), trumpeter Lee Loughnane of Chicago (1946), Faces bassist Tetsu Yamauchi, (1947), John 'Rabbit' Bundrick of Free (1948), Grateful Dead keyboardist Brent Mydland (1951), Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's (1953), Toto guitarist Steve Lukather (1957), early NYC rapper Harold “Whiz Kid” McGuire (1961), Tony Mortimer of East 17 (1971)
October 22: ‘60s rocker Bobby Fuller (1943), Mountain guitarist Leslie West (1945), Stiv Bator of the Dead Boys (1949), reggae singer Shaggy born Orville Richard Burrell (1968), Zachary Hanson of the brother-band Hanson (1985)
October 23: rockabilly artist Johnny Carroll (1937), Freddie Marsden of Gerry & The Pacemakers (1940), Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich (1940), Barbara Hawkins of The Dixie Cups (1943), Michael “Wurzel” Burston of Motorhead (1945) bassist Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie (1947), country star Dwight Yoakam (1953), rock parodist Weird Al Yankovic (1959), Buddy Holly soundalike David Box (1964), Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo (1964)
October 24: brilliant country blues harmonica player Sonny Terry (1911), R&B singer and pianist Willie Mabon (1925), Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman (1936), Santo Farina of Santo and Johnny (1937), Ted Templeman of Harpers Bizarre (1944), Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton (1946), bandleader Edgar Broughton (1947), Mott the Hoople drummer Dale Griffin (1948), Alonza Bevan of Kula Shaker (1970), Ben Gillies of Silverchair (1979), R&B singer-songwriter Monica, born Monica Denise Arnold (1980), rapper Drake aka Aubrey Drake Graham (1986)
October 25: influential New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer (1924), innovative producer Tom Dowd (1925), singer Helen Reddy (1941), vocalist Jon Anderson of Yes (1944), Taffy Danoff of Starland Vocal Band (1944), Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton (1948), Television guitarist Richard Lloyd (1951), Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs (1957), Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett (1959), Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer (and Will Ferrell lookalike) Chad Smith (1962), Arrested Development rapper Speech born Todd Thomas (1968), Barenaked Ladies guitarist Ed Robertson (1970), singer Katy Perry (1984), singer-songwriter and producer Ciara Princess Harris (1985)
October 26: Herman’s Hermits guitarist Keith Hopwood (1946), funk bassist Bootsy Collins (1951), Maggie Roche of The Roches (1951), David Was of Was Not Was (1952), B-52’s multi-instrumentalist Keith Strickland (1953), Steve Wren of Then Jericho (1962), frontwoman Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs (1963), UK remixer and producer Judge Jules (1965), country singer Keith Urban (1967), Mark Barry of BBMak (1978)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 20: blues musician “Crying” Sam Collins (1949), Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977), country singer and monster guitar picker Merle Travis (1983), Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon (1995), jazz vocalist and pianist Shirley Horn (2005), bassist Paul Raven of Ministry, Prong, and Killing Joke (2007), Slits singer Ari Up (2010)
October 21: rural bluesman Barbecue Bob (1931), rockabilly guitarist and brother of Carl, Jay Perkins (1958), Elvis’ bass player Bill Black (1965), Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine (1997), singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (2003), former J Church frontman Lance Hahn (2007), jazz trumpeter Donald Ayler (2007), concert promoter Sid Bernstein (2013)
October 22: barrelhouse pianist Walter Davis (1963), ‘60s pop singer Tommy Edwards (1969), former Tubes singer Jane Dornacker (1986), Scottish folk revivalist and songwriter Ewan MacColl (1989), Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller (1994)
October 23: singer Al Jolson (1950), Leonard Lee of Shirley and Lee (1976), soul singer Ted Taylor (1988)
October 24: gospel-trained crooner Joe Henderson (1964), bassist Kim Gardner of Ashton Gardner & Dyke (2001), Runaways drummer Sandy West (2004), album cover designer Phil Hayes (2005), versatile keyboardist Merl Saunders (2008)
October 25: The Heavy Metal Kids singer Gary Holton (1985), R&B/jazz saxophonist Willis “Gator” Jackson (1987), Johnnie Richardson of Johnnie and Joe (1988), Margo Sylvia of The Tune Weavers (1991), country singer Roger Miller (1992), bassist Howard Blauvelt (1993), Ruby and the Romantics singer George Lee (1994), Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs drummer William Martin (2000), actor and singer Richard Harris (2002), BBC DJ John Peel (2004), reggae vocalist Gregory Isaacs (2010)
October 26: UK pop star Alma Cogan (1966), blues and R&B singer Wilbert Harrison (1994), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1999), Natina Reed of Blaque (2012), reggae singer Tony Brevett of The Melodians (2013)
Historic Events that Rocked Music—The Week of October 20
Beach Boys Jimi Hendrix Ashlee Simpson
1908: Columbia Records takes out an ad in The Saturday Evening Post touting their new two-sided records…
1954: 50,000-watt Memphis radio station WDIA halts airplay on a list of singles deemed to have suggestive lyrics… included are the Drifters' "Honey Love" together with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie," not to mention its follow-up platter, "Annie Had a Baby"…
1956: "Love Me Tender" is the first song to enter the pop charts at #1...Elvis' slow dance tune also appears on the Country and Western and R&B charts,…
1960: Brenda Lee's "I Want to be Wanted" reaches #1 on the pop chart making this her third million-seller hit in a row…this same week, with folk music acts such as The Kingston Trio grabbing the ears, hearts, and wallets of LP buyers, Joan Baez releases her first long player…the 19-year-old singer recorded the collection of folk standards in a New York hotel room accompanied by her own guitar and that of Fred Hellerman…
1961: 20-year-old Bob Dylan records his eponymous debut album accompanied only by his guitar and harmonica...studio cost is a whopping $400...filling out the studio's tax reporting form, he lists his name as "Blind Boy Grunt"…
1962: Little Stevie Wonder cuts his first single...Steveland Morris Judkins doesn't score with this debut record, but the accolades are not far away...also this week, James Brown records a live show despite objections from King Records—an in-concert soul album has never been done before…Live at the Apollo, financed by Brown himself turns out to be among the Godfather of Soul’s most brilliant performances and the album goes on to sell millions…
1964: A London band known as the High Numbers is rejected after an audition with EMI...formerly known as The Who, the band has recently come under the influence of manager Pete Meaden who suggested the name change and dressed the boys in mod suits...Meaden's all wet, but the kids are alright...they'll soon assume their original name and climb to fame…meanwhile across the water, The Rolling Stones make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show while also triggering a full scale riot in the studio…although at the time Sullivan swears they won’t be back, the British bad boys will make a further five appearances on America’s most-watched variety show…
1966: The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” charts for the first time on its way to #1…the single is the result of six month’s work and 17 sessions in four different studios at a then-unprecedented cost of $16,000…
1968: The double LP Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is released sporting a cover emblazoned with 19 nude women…when both Hendrix and the public protest the cheesecake, Reprise Records produces a new cover with a stylized headshot of Jimi…critically the record leaves many reviewers dazed and confused…today it’s considered one of the most important releases of the rock era and perhaps Hendrix’s greatest recorded work…
1969: The uber-heavy LP Led Zeppelin II is released and will go on to sell more than 12 million copies in the US…credited as a Jimmy Page production, the guitarist worked closely with engineer Eddie Kramer and his bleeding-edge techniques that were sometimes challenged by primitive conditions as the record was tracked at studios in New York, London, L.A., Memphis, and Vancouver, the latter location lacking a proper headphone setup…remembering the recording of the swirling middle section of “Whole Lotta Love,” Kramer recalled, “…where everything is going bananas is a combination of Jimmy and myself just flying around on a small console twiddling every knob known to man."…
1970: A wake is held in California to celebrate the life of Janis Joplin who recently died from a drug OD…the event is funded with $2500 earmarked in the late singer’s will for such an occasion…guests, including Joplin’s closest friends and family, unwittingly chow down on brownies that have been laced with hash…
1973: John Lennon files suit against the U.S. government alleging that his phone was tapped by the FBI in an effort to deport the former Beatle…
1977: Lynyrd Skynyrd fans take a gut shot when band members Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant die along with three members of their entourage when the band’s chartered plane plunges into a swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi…the whole band is aboard and the surviving members are all injured...the band’s sixth album, Street Survivor, with a cover showing band members surrounded by flames was released just days before the disaster...the cover is subsequently changed…
1978: Sid Vicious attempts suicide in jail while awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend...he will get out and OD before he can be tried for the crime...also this week, Keith Richards receives a suspended sentence of one year after pleading guilty to heroin possession in Toronto...his sentence also requires that he play a charity concert for the blind…and finally this week, The Police make their U.S. debut playing CBGB’s in New York…working on a shoestring budget, the band flies in on no-frills Laker Airways with their instruments as carry-on baggage…
1988: After more than a decade of rancorous relations with John Fogerty, Fantasy Records files a suit claiming he plagiarized his own song, "Run Through the Jungle," during the composition of "The Old Man Down the Road"...it will be 1995 before a court decides that Fantasy is fantasizing…
1991: Legendary rock promoter Bill Graham dies in a helicopter mishap near Vallejo, California…he was flying home home after a Huey Lewis and The News show… just before boarding the helicopter, Graham is stopped by the News’ bass player Mario Cipollina, who, in a flash of clairvoyance, urges Graham to take a limo instead...after being reassured by the pilot, Graham decides on the flight... moments after takeoff, the helicopter’s rotors strike power lines and the craft plummets to the ground…
1995: Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is fined $141 for mooning the crowd at a Milwaukee show…also this week, Def Leppard earns a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by playing three gigs on three continents within 24 hours—the shows are in Tangier, London and Vancouver…talk about jet lag!…
1997: The Guinness Book of Records names Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind ‘97” the all-time biggest-selling single with sales of 31.8 million copies in under 40 days…the proceeds went to charities…meanwhile at a show in Michigan, Johnny Cash informs the crowd that he’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease after stumbling and falling while trying to grab a pick…
1998: The company with publishing rights to Alice Cooper’s "Eighteen" files suit against Cooper’s primary makeup-rock emulators, KISS, claiming they ripped off his song "Eighteen" with their song, "Dreamin’"…Cooper has nothing to do with it, and hasn’t even heard "Dreamin’" when the suit is filed…asked about the outcome years later, Cooper says, "I think we all forgot to show up at court. Paul Stanley bought me a cheeseburger to make up for the whole thing"…also this week, the record industry is dealt a blow when a federal judge refuses to issue an injunction preventing the sale of an early MP3 player…
2000: George Michael outbids Robbie Williams and Oasis’ Gallagher brothers to take home the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed “Imagine”…after shelling out £1.45m to own it, Michael says, “I know that when my fingers touch the keys of that Steinway, I will feel truly blessed. And parting with my money has never been much of a problem, just ask my accountant."…
2001: VH1 hosts its Concert for New York, which raises over $30 million for victims of 9/11 with performances by such heavy hitters as The Who, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elton John and Bon Jovi…
2002: A St. Louis judge dismisses a suit brought by piano man Johnnie Johnson seeking his share of royalties for more than 30 songs he says he co-wrote with his former boss, Chuck Berry…the court tells the pianist that the facts of the case are too old to be tried now…regardless of those facts, Johnson’s hard-driving piano licks were an unquestionable part of Berry’s popularity…
2003: Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith’s body is discovered at his L.A. home...although it’s widely reported as a suicide, the coroner never establishes the cause of death…
2004: Crusading New York Attorney general Eliot Spitzer announces that he has launched an investigation of payola practices in the music business...EMI, Warner Music Group, Sony-BMG, and Universal all receive subpoenas demanding they produce communications with independent record promoters, the middlemen paid by record companies to get airplay...Spitzer himself will suffer political destruction a few years later when he’s caught engaging in a different form of pay-to-play…also in New York this week, Ashlee Simpson dances a little jig then bolts offstage during a broadcast of Saturday Night Live after her pre-recorded vocal for the wrong song begins to play as she begins, ahem, performing…
2005: U2 guitarist the Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson Guitar and Guitar Center join forces to supply instruments to Gulf Coast musicians devastated by Hurricane Katrina...the two corporate partners pledge a minimum of $1 million…
2006: Neil Young’s 20th Bridge School acoustic concert features unusual performances typified by Trent Reznor playing unplugged in front of a string quartet...other headliners include The Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cutie, and Brian Wilson...Young sits in with and energizes many of the sets... also this week, Duran Duran guitarist and founder Andy Taylor splits from the band...a statement on its website says, “There is an unworkable gulf between us”...
2007: Wu-Tang rapper RZA comes out on top at the Hip-Hop Chess Federation tournament in San Francisco...commenting on his strategy, RZA intones, “When my queen comes out, she’s comin’ out to shake her ass”...meanwhile in India, 1,730 guitarists collectively play Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” breaking the previous mass-jam record held by 1,683 guitarists who played “Smoke on the Water” more or less together in Kansas City…
2008: A year after the release of its In Rainbows LP, which was offered online at any price the consumer cared to name, Radiohead announces that it sold three million copies—some of which resulted from retail store sales … the band also sold 100,000 copies of the deluxe version of the release which carried a hefty $81 price tag…
2009: Hip-hop star Lil Wayne draws an 8-month jail sentence on gun charges … they stem from an incident in 2007 when cops detected the scent of weed wafting from Wayne’s tour bus…
2012: According to Forbes magazine, dead musicians are still raking it in…Michael Jackson leads the pack with $145 million in earnings over the past year…Elvis ranks second with $55 million and Bob Marley comes in third with $17 million…
This Week’s Hatches
October 20: jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton (1890), guitarist Johnny Moore of The Three Blazers (1906), electric sax man Eddie Harris (1934), Jay Siegel of The Tokens (1939), Ten Years after drummer Ric Lee (1945), Foreigner keyboards player Alan Greenwood (1951), Tom Petty (1953), harmonica player Mark Feltham (1955), Level 42 bassist/singer Mark King (1958), drummer for The Lemonheads David Ryan (1964), drummer and vocalist Jim Sonefeld of Hootie & the Blowfish (1964), Norman Blake of Teenage Fan Club (1965), rapper Snoop Dogg born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (1971), Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nicholas Hodgson (1977), Snow Patrol bassist Paul Wilson (1978)
October 21: salsa queen Celia Cruz (1924), music artist manager Jo Lustig (1925), Derek Bell of The Chieftains (1935), Manfred Mann (1940), Booker T and the MGs guitarist Steve Cropper (1941), guitarist Elvin Bishop (1942), Ron Elliott of The Beau Brummels (1943), Cramps founder and punk pioneer Lux Interior (1946), trumpeter Lee Loughnane of Chicago (1946), Faces bassist Tetsu Yamauchi, (1947), John 'Rabbit' Bundrick of Free (1948), Grateful Dead keyboardist Brent Mydland (1951), Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's (1953), Toto guitarist Steve Lukather (1957), early NYC rapper Harold “Whiz Kid” McGuire (1961), Tony Mortimer of East 17 (1971)
October 22: ‘60s rocker Bobby Fuller (1943), Mountain guitarist Leslie West (1945), Stiv Bator of the Dead Boys (1949), reggae singer Shaggy born Orville Richard Burrell (1968), Zachary Hanson of the brother-band Hanson (1985)
October 23: rockabilly artist Johnny Carroll (1937), Freddie Marsden of Gerry & The Pacemakers (1940), Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich (1940), Barbara Hawkins of The Dixie Cups (1943), Michael “Wurzel” Burston of Motorhead (1945) bassist Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth and Humble Pie (1947), country star Dwight Yoakam (1953), rock parodist Weird Al Yankovic (1959), Buddy Holly soundalike David Box (1964), Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo (1964)
October 24: brilliant country blues harmonica player Sonny Terry (1911), R&B singer and pianist Willie Mabon (1925), Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman (1936), Santo Farina of Santo and Johnny (1937), Ted Templeman of Harpers Bizarre (1944), Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton (1946), bandleader Edgar Broughton (1947), Mott the Hoople drummer Dale Griffin (1948), Alonza Bevan of Kula Shaker (1970), Ben Gillies of Silverchair (1979), R&B singer-songwriter Monica, born Monica Denise Arnold (1980), rapper Drake aka Aubrey Drake Graham (1986)
October 25: influential New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer (1924), innovative producer Tom Dowd (1925), singer Helen Reddy (1941), vocalist Jon Anderson of Yes (1944), Taffy Danoff of Starland Vocal Band (1944), Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton (1948), Television guitarist Richard Lloyd (1951), Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs (1957), Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett (1959), Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer (and Will Ferrell lookalike) Chad Smith (1962), Arrested Development rapper Speech born Todd Thomas (1968), Barenaked Ladies guitarist Ed Robertson (1970), singer Katy Perry (1984), singer-songwriter and producer Ciara Princess Harris (1985)
October 26: Herman’s Hermits guitarist Keith Hopwood (1946), funk bassist Bootsy Collins (1951), Maggie Roche of The Roches (1951), David Was of Was Not Was (1952), B-52’s multi-instrumentalist Keith Strickland (1953), Steve Wren of Then Jericho (1962), frontwoman Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs (1963), UK remixer and producer Judge Jules (1965), country singer Keith Urban (1967), Mark Barry of BBMak (1978)
This Week’s Dispatches
October 20: blues musician “Crying” Sam Collins (1949), Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977), country singer and monster guitar picker Merle Travis (1983), Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon (1995), jazz vocalist and pianist Shirley Horn (2005), bassist Paul Raven of Ministry, Prong, and Killing Joke (2007), Slits singer Ari Up (2010)
October 21: rural bluesman Barbecue Bob (1931), rockabilly guitarist and brother of Carl, Jay Perkins (1958), Elvis’ bass player Bill Black (1965), Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine (1997), singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (2003), former J Church frontman Lance Hahn (2007), jazz trumpeter Donald Ayler (2007), concert promoter Sid Bernstein (2013)
October 22: barrelhouse pianist Walter Davis (1963), ‘60s pop singer Tommy Edwards (1969), former Tubes singer Jane Dornacker (1986), Scottish folk revivalist and songwriter Ewan MacColl (1989), Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller (1994)
October 23: singer Al Jolson (1950), Leonard Lee of Shirley and Lee (1976), soul singer Ted Taylor (1988)
October 24: gospel-trained crooner Joe Henderson (1964), bassist Kim Gardner of Ashton Gardner & Dyke (2001), Runaways drummer Sandy West (2004), album cover designer Phil Hayes (2005), versatile keyboardist Merl Saunders (2008)
October 25: The Heavy Metal Kids singer Gary Holton (1985), R&B/jazz saxophonist Willis “Gator” Jackson (1987), Johnnie Richardson of Johnnie and Joe (1988), Margo Sylvia of The Tune Weavers (1991), country singer Roger Miller (1992), bassist Howard Blauvelt (1993), Ruby and the Romantics singer George Lee (1994), Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs drummer William Martin (2000), actor and singer Richard Harris (2002), BBC DJ John Peel (2004), reggae vocalist Gregory Isaacs (2010)
October 26: UK pop star Alma Cogan (1966), blues and R&B singer Wilbert Harrison (1994), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1999), Natina Reed of Blaque (2012), reggae singer Tony Brevett of The Melodians (2013)