The audience that went wouldn't have known what hit them lolThanks Chas, it must have been an interesting show : Jimmy and the Monkeys
Marc
Re:Chas's Music Column - Bumber December Issue W/E 15th, 22nd & 29thr
Week In Review
July 15, 2010
Elvis drops in … Clapton gets Creamed … Zappa gives birth to Valley Girl …
1953, a young sideburned truck driver—last name of Presley—drops in at the Memphis Recording Service studio, plunks down his four bucks, and records "My Happiness" as a gift for his mother …
1954, Elvis is back in Sun Studios to record the first commercially-available Elvis single, "That's Alright Mama" … that same week, Presley turns up at the grand opening of a Memphis drugstore where he performs on the back of a flatbed truck …
1958, following a backstage fight between a member of The Drifters and the manager of New York's Apollo Theater, the group's manager, George Treadwell, fires the entire lineup, then recruits the members of the opening act, The Five Crowns, to become a new incarnation of The Drifters with Ben E. King handling lead vocals … this is one more chapter in a bewildering history during which rival groups billed as The Drifters will tour simultaneously and band rosters will change dozens of times …
1960, Duane Eddy appears on Dick Clark's prime time show and performs a work in progress, "Ramrod" … the appearance spurs orders for 150,000 copies, but there's no way to fill them since the record hasn't been finished … producer Lee Hazelwood hits the studio and adds sax and vocal overdubs so the single can be rushed to the pressing plant … it later turns out that the remix probably doesn't include Eddy on guitar … the twangalicious work having been done by studio vet Al Casey …
1963, The Essex score a #1 R&B hit with "Easier Said Than Done" … it'll later clinch the top spot on the pop chart too … all the members of the group are active Marines and they have to get the Corps' approval to tour behind their hit …
1964, The Rolling Stones cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" makes it to number 48 on the chart … it is the first in their long line of hits …
1965, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is released … it turns out to be his biggest hit ever, climbing to number two on the U.S. pop chart …
1966, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker get together to form one of rock's most celebrated trios, Cream … 50-year-old crooner Frank Sinatra marries Mia Farrow, 30 years his junior …
1968, Jane Asher calls it quits with Paul McCartney … the announcement that they are no longer engaged is made on the British television show Dee Time while McCartney, who hasn't been told yet, is watching … Asher came home unexpectedly one night to find Paul with another woman … Asher left the home soon after … despite this occurrence, Asher and McCartney are seen together in public appearances … however, the relationship is acknowledged over when McCartney shows up alone at the Yellow Submarine premiere …
1968, the album In-a-Gadda-da-Vida from Iron Butterfly debuts on the U.S. charts … the title track, clocking in at a whopping 17 minutes, features one of the longest drum solos in rock history … according to producer Jim Hilton, the song's title results from singer Doug Ingle's slurred pronunciation of "In Our Garden of Eden" when he was asked for the name of a new song the band was rehearsing … the producer jotted the title down phonetically … Hilton recollects "I felt it was more interesting and a lot more mystical than the straight title … the band thought I had lost my mind, but it was too late to change it, I had already given my OK on the cover for printing" …
1970, British pop star Arthur Brown is held overnight in a Sicilian jail and faces a prison sentence of up to five years after being charged with committing obscene acts in a public place … Brown was performing at the Palermo Pop Festival when he inexplicably stripped naked on stage in front of 15,000 people … the crowd throws things at him and he is arrested and put in solitary confinement for four days … while in solitary, he receives a petition signed by 200 locals requesting that he leave Italy and never return …
1972, a bomb explodes near a Rolling Stones equipment truck in Montreal … the bomb was placed under a ramp and blows the cones out of a lot of PA cabs … nobody is hurt, it's never determined who placed the bomb … and the show goes on as planned …
1974, John Lennon is given two months to leave the United States by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who have denied him an extension on his visa, supposedly because he pled guilty to a pot charge in England in 1968 … it will be revealed later that he is under surveillance by the FBI … Joey Ramone slides out from behind the drum kit and steps up to the mic to assume vocal duties for The Ramones …
1978, as Bob Dylan leaves England after completion of his U.K. tour, over 200,000 gather at Blackbushe Airport to see him off …
1982, Moon Unit Zappa, still a young teenager, makes her debut with dad, Frank, recording "Valley Girl," which becomes FZ's highest-charting single at #32 and wins Grammy nominations for father and daughter alike …
1986, the film Sid and Nancy premieres at the Limelight Club in London … the film relates the mostly true biographical tale of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen … the raw, dark film culminates in the stabbing death of Nancy, Sid's arrest for suspicion of murder, and his heroin OD shortly thereafter …
1987, Guns N' Roses debut album, Appetite For Destruction, is released … while it is known as a landmark album now, it won't start moving significant units or receiving much airplay until MTV puts the video for "Sweet Child o' Mine" into heavy rotation nearly a year later … after the ballad shoots to the top of the charts, the original lead single from the album "Welcome to the Jungle" is re-released and hits the top ten … the top-ten hit "Paradise City" soon follows, as do sold-out arena tours, classic rock star excess, and truckloads of intra-band conflict …
1988, a California appeals court puts the quash on the old "let's-blame-our-child's-suicide-on-a-rock-band" game when it upholds a lower court's decision dismissing a suit against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS … the suit held Ozzy and CBS responsible for the death of a teen who committed suicide after listening to Osbourne's "Suicide Solution" …
1989, Venice, Italy, is overrun by 200,000 loonies who show up in town for a free Pink Floyd concert and annoy the locals with noise, littering, and drug use …
1991, former Guns N' Roses drummer, Steven Adler, files suit against the band, claiming they peer-pressured him into heroin addiction, then ousted him from the band when he entered a rehab program … eventually, Adler will accept an out-of-court settlement to the tune of 2.5 million bucks …
1995, a bear-bone flute is found in an archaeological dig in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia … at an estimated 45,000 years old, it is the oldest musical instrument ever found …
1996, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin loses his gig with the Smashing Pumpkins after he ODs on smack with touring percussionist-keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in a New York hotel room … Melvoin dies and Chamberlin is told to take a hike … he will not rejoin the band until 1999 … Chamberlin has already been booted for a short time on this tour after having overdosed in Thailand and again in Portugal …
2002, Bob Seger wins the Port Huron to Mackinac Island Sailboat Race, his second sailing title in two years …
2004, singer Linda Ronstadt not only gets booed, she gets the boot after lauding filmmaker Michael Moore and his new movie Fahrenheit 9/11 during a performance at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino …
2006, Rolling Stone Keith Richards receives a pardon from the state of Arkansas over a 31-year-old conviction for reckless driving …
2007, Prince angers the music industry and stirs up trouble among British retailers by giving away his new album with a tabloid newspaper for a weekend …
2008, Billy Joel plays the first of two rock shows to be held at Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets scheduled for demolition after the baseball season … backed by a 26-piece band and joined by guests John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Tony Bennett, and Don Henley, Joel puts on a show that runs over three hours … tickets for the show attended by 55,000 sell in 48 minutes …
2009, two workers die after a stage erected for a Madonna concert collapses …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 15: Cowboy Copas, country singing star who died in the same plane as Patsy Cline (1913), Motown house drummer William "Benny" Benjamin (1925), singer-actress Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (1932), soul star Millie Jackson (1944), guitarist (and son of actress Loretta Young) Peter Lewis of Moby Grape (1945), singer-songwriter-producer Linda Ronstadt (1946), flamboyant New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale Jr. (1952), guitarist for .38 Special Jeff Carlisi (1952), Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis (1956), instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani (1956)
July 16: Sollie McElroy of The Flamingos (1934), soul songstress Denise LaSalle (1939), Ruben Blades (1948), Stewart Copeland (1952), Ed Kowalczyk of Live (1971)
July 17: Texas R&B singer Peppermint Harris (1925), Spencer Davis (1941), The Sweet's Mick Tucker (1948), Black Sabbath's Terry "Geezer" Butler (1949), Nicolette Larson (1952), Doobie Brother Chet McCracken (1952), Phoebe Snow (1952), JC of PM Dawn (1973)
July 18: Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929), Papa Dee Allen of War (1931), Dion DiMucci (1937), Rolling Stones pianist-road manager Ian Stewart (1938), Brian Auger (1939), Martha Reeves (1941), Tim Lynch of The Flamin' Groovies (1946), Golden Earring's Caesar Zuiderwijk (1950), Ricky Skaggs (1954), drummer Terry Chambers of XTC (1955), Pearl Jam's Jack Irons (1962), Tony Fagenson of Eve 6 (1962)
July 19: ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1902), singer-guitarist Buster Benton (1932), Bo Diddley's fellow guitarist-vocalist Lady Bo born Peggy Jones (1940), pop singer Vikki Carr (1941), Clarence White of The Byrds (1944), Average White Band's Alan Gorrie (1946), Bobby Neal of the Stone Canyon Band (1947), Brian May (1947), The Eagles' Bernie Leadon (1947), Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux (1948), Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952), Kevin Haskins of Love & Rockets (1960)
July 20: Buddy Knox (1933), Kim Carnes (1945), The Moody Blues' John Lodge (1945), Carlos Santana (1947), Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French (1954), Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols (1956), Simple Minds' Mick McNeil (1958), Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave (1964), Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam (1966), Vitamin C (1972)
July 21: Floyd McDaniel (1915), Kay Starr (1922), R&B saxophonist Plas Johnson (1931), offbeat pop producer–artist–impresario Kim Fowley (1939), Cat Stevens a.k.a. Yusuf Islam (1947), Al Di Meola (1954), bassist Howie Epstein of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1955), Emerson Hart of Tonic (1969)
Departures:
July 15: rapper Too Poetic, born Anthony Berkeley (2001), Bizarros drummer Rick Garberson (1979)
July 16: singer and radio star Jo Stafford (2008), agent-manager Don Arden (2007), salsa singer Celia Cruz (2003), Styx drummer John Panozzo (1996), Sun Records' Bill Justis (1982), Harry Chapin (1981), Peter Cowap of Herman's Hermits (1977)
July 17: Gordon Waller of '60s duo Peter & Gordon (2009), opera singer Teresa Stich-Randell (2007), Paul Young of Mike and the Mechanics (2000), Marc Hunter of Dragon (1998), Hendrix manager Chas Chandler (1996), blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes (1983), sax giant John Coltrane (1967), "Lady Day" Billie Holiday (1959), harpin' bluesman Henry Strong (1954)
July 18: tenor Jerry Hadley (2007), Haroon Shamsher of Joi (1999), Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico, born Christa Päffgen (1988), bandleader Jimmy Liggins (1983), Hi Records owner Joe Cuoghi (1970), Bobby Fuller (1966)
July 19: highlife bandleader Emmanuel Tettey "E.T." Mensah (1996), R&B sax man Red Prysock (1993)
July 20: guitarist-producer-songwriter Artie Traum (2008), singer-guitarist Buster Benton (2007), musician-music executive-manager Jim Tyrrell (1998), recording engineer Gary Kellgren (1977), Roy Hamilton (1969)
July 21: art director of Yellow Submarine Heinz Edelman (2009), New Riders of the Purple Sage co-founder John "Marmaduke" Dawson (2009), agent-manager Don Arden (2007), English bluesman Long John Baldry (2005), film composer Jerry Goldsmith (2004), gospel singer O'Landa Draper (1998), Colonel Tom Parker (1997), Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia, founder of Cannibal and The Headhunters (1996), arranger-songwriter Bert Keyes (1980)
July 15, 2010
Elvis drops in … Clapton gets Creamed … Zappa gives birth to Valley Girl …
1953, a young sideburned truck driver—last name of Presley—drops in at the Memphis Recording Service studio, plunks down his four bucks, and records "My Happiness" as a gift for his mother …
1954, Elvis is back in Sun Studios to record the first commercially-available Elvis single, "That's Alright Mama" … that same week, Presley turns up at the grand opening of a Memphis drugstore where he performs on the back of a flatbed truck …
1958, following a backstage fight between a member of The Drifters and the manager of New York's Apollo Theater, the group's manager, George Treadwell, fires the entire lineup, then recruits the members of the opening act, The Five Crowns, to become a new incarnation of The Drifters with Ben E. King handling lead vocals … this is one more chapter in a bewildering history during which rival groups billed as The Drifters will tour simultaneously and band rosters will change dozens of times …
1960, Duane Eddy appears on Dick Clark's prime time show and performs a work in progress, "Ramrod" … the appearance spurs orders for 150,000 copies, but there's no way to fill them since the record hasn't been finished … producer Lee Hazelwood hits the studio and adds sax and vocal overdubs so the single can be rushed to the pressing plant … it later turns out that the remix probably doesn't include Eddy on guitar … the twangalicious work having been done by studio vet Al Casey …
1963, The Essex score a #1 R&B hit with "Easier Said Than Done" … it'll later clinch the top spot on the pop chart too … all the members of the group are active Marines and they have to get the Corps' approval to tour behind their hit …
1964, The Rolling Stones cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" makes it to number 48 on the chart … it is the first in their long line of hits …
1965, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is released … it turns out to be his biggest hit ever, climbing to number two on the U.S. pop chart …
1966, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker get together to form one of rock's most celebrated trios, Cream … 50-year-old crooner Frank Sinatra marries Mia Farrow, 30 years his junior …
1968, Jane Asher calls it quits with Paul McCartney … the announcement that they are no longer engaged is made on the British television show Dee Time while McCartney, who hasn't been told yet, is watching … Asher came home unexpectedly one night to find Paul with another woman … Asher left the home soon after … despite this occurrence, Asher and McCartney are seen together in public appearances … however, the relationship is acknowledged over when McCartney shows up alone at the Yellow Submarine premiere …
1968, the album In-a-Gadda-da-Vida from Iron Butterfly debuts on the U.S. charts … the title track, clocking in at a whopping 17 minutes, features one of the longest drum solos in rock history … according to producer Jim Hilton, the song's title results from singer Doug Ingle's slurred pronunciation of "In Our Garden of Eden" when he was asked for the name of a new song the band was rehearsing … the producer jotted the title down phonetically … Hilton recollects "I felt it was more interesting and a lot more mystical than the straight title … the band thought I had lost my mind, but it was too late to change it, I had already given my OK on the cover for printing" …
1970, British pop star Arthur Brown is held overnight in a Sicilian jail and faces a prison sentence of up to five years after being charged with committing obscene acts in a public place … Brown was performing at the Palermo Pop Festival when he inexplicably stripped naked on stage in front of 15,000 people … the crowd throws things at him and he is arrested and put in solitary confinement for four days … while in solitary, he receives a petition signed by 200 locals requesting that he leave Italy and never return …
1972, a bomb explodes near a Rolling Stones equipment truck in Montreal … the bomb was placed under a ramp and blows the cones out of a lot of PA cabs … nobody is hurt, it's never determined who placed the bomb … and the show goes on as planned …
1974, John Lennon is given two months to leave the United States by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who have denied him an extension on his visa, supposedly because he pled guilty to a pot charge in England in 1968 … it will be revealed later that he is under surveillance by the FBI … Joey Ramone slides out from behind the drum kit and steps up to the mic to assume vocal duties for The Ramones …
1978, as Bob Dylan leaves England after completion of his U.K. tour, over 200,000 gather at Blackbushe Airport to see him off …
1982, Moon Unit Zappa, still a young teenager, makes her debut with dad, Frank, recording "Valley Girl," which becomes FZ's highest-charting single at #32 and wins Grammy nominations for father and daughter alike …
1986, the film Sid and Nancy premieres at the Limelight Club in London … the film relates the mostly true biographical tale of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen … the raw, dark film culminates in the stabbing death of Nancy, Sid's arrest for suspicion of murder, and his heroin OD shortly thereafter …
1987, Guns N' Roses debut album, Appetite For Destruction, is released … while it is known as a landmark album now, it won't start moving significant units or receiving much airplay until MTV puts the video for "Sweet Child o' Mine" into heavy rotation nearly a year later … after the ballad shoots to the top of the charts, the original lead single from the album "Welcome to the Jungle" is re-released and hits the top ten … the top-ten hit "Paradise City" soon follows, as do sold-out arena tours, classic rock star excess, and truckloads of intra-band conflict …
1988, a California appeals court puts the quash on the old "let's-blame-our-child's-suicide-on-a-rock-band" game when it upholds a lower court's decision dismissing a suit against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS … the suit held Ozzy and CBS responsible for the death of a teen who committed suicide after listening to Osbourne's "Suicide Solution" …
1989, Venice, Italy, is overrun by 200,000 loonies who show up in town for a free Pink Floyd concert and annoy the locals with noise, littering, and drug use …
1991, former Guns N' Roses drummer, Steven Adler, files suit against the band, claiming they peer-pressured him into heroin addiction, then ousted him from the band when he entered a rehab program … eventually, Adler will accept an out-of-court settlement to the tune of 2.5 million bucks …
1995, a bear-bone flute is found in an archaeological dig in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia … at an estimated 45,000 years old, it is the oldest musical instrument ever found …
1996, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin loses his gig with the Smashing Pumpkins after he ODs on smack with touring percussionist-keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in a New York hotel room … Melvoin dies and Chamberlin is told to take a hike … he will not rejoin the band until 1999 … Chamberlin has already been booted for a short time on this tour after having overdosed in Thailand and again in Portugal …
2002, Bob Seger wins the Port Huron to Mackinac Island Sailboat Race, his second sailing title in two years …
2004, singer Linda Ronstadt not only gets booed, she gets the boot after lauding filmmaker Michael Moore and his new movie Fahrenheit 9/11 during a performance at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino …
2006, Rolling Stone Keith Richards receives a pardon from the state of Arkansas over a 31-year-old conviction for reckless driving …
2007, Prince angers the music industry and stirs up trouble among British retailers by giving away his new album with a tabloid newspaper for a weekend …
2008, Billy Joel plays the first of two rock shows to be held at Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets scheduled for demolition after the baseball season … backed by a 26-piece band and joined by guests John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Tony Bennett, and Don Henley, Joel puts on a show that runs over three hours … tickets for the show attended by 55,000 sell in 48 minutes …
2009, two workers die after a stage erected for a Madonna concert collapses …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 15: Cowboy Copas, country singing star who died in the same plane as Patsy Cline (1913), Motown house drummer William "Benny" Benjamin (1925), singer-actress Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (1932), soul star Millie Jackson (1944), guitarist (and son of actress Loretta Young) Peter Lewis of Moby Grape (1945), singer-songwriter-producer Linda Ronstadt (1946), flamboyant New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale Jr. (1952), guitarist for .38 Special Jeff Carlisi (1952), Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis (1956), instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani (1956)
July 16: Sollie McElroy of The Flamingos (1934), soul songstress Denise LaSalle (1939), Ruben Blades (1948), Stewart Copeland (1952), Ed Kowalczyk of Live (1971)
July 17: Texas R&B singer Peppermint Harris (1925), Spencer Davis (1941), The Sweet's Mick Tucker (1948), Black Sabbath's Terry "Geezer" Butler (1949), Nicolette Larson (1952), Doobie Brother Chet McCracken (1952), Phoebe Snow (1952), JC of PM Dawn (1973)
July 18: Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929), Papa Dee Allen of War (1931), Dion DiMucci (1937), Rolling Stones pianist-road manager Ian Stewart (1938), Brian Auger (1939), Martha Reeves (1941), Tim Lynch of The Flamin' Groovies (1946), Golden Earring's Caesar Zuiderwijk (1950), Ricky Skaggs (1954), drummer Terry Chambers of XTC (1955), Pearl Jam's Jack Irons (1962), Tony Fagenson of Eve 6 (1962)
July 19: ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1902), singer-guitarist Buster Benton (1932), Bo Diddley's fellow guitarist-vocalist Lady Bo born Peggy Jones (1940), pop singer Vikki Carr (1941), Clarence White of The Byrds (1944), Average White Band's Alan Gorrie (1946), Bobby Neal of the Stone Canyon Band (1947), Brian May (1947), The Eagles' Bernie Leadon (1947), Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux (1948), Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952), Kevin Haskins of Love & Rockets (1960)
July 20: Buddy Knox (1933), Kim Carnes (1945), The Moody Blues' John Lodge (1945), Carlos Santana (1947), Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French (1954), Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols (1956), Simple Minds' Mick McNeil (1958), Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave (1964), Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam (1966), Vitamin C (1972)
July 21: Floyd McDaniel (1915), Kay Starr (1922), R&B saxophonist Plas Johnson (1931), offbeat pop producer–artist–impresario Kim Fowley (1939), Cat Stevens a.k.a. Yusuf Islam (1947), Al Di Meola (1954), bassist Howie Epstein of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1955), Emerson Hart of Tonic (1969)
Departures:
July 15: rapper Too Poetic, born Anthony Berkeley (2001), Bizarros drummer Rick Garberson (1979)
July 16: singer and radio star Jo Stafford (2008), agent-manager Don Arden (2007), salsa singer Celia Cruz (2003), Styx drummer John Panozzo (1996), Sun Records' Bill Justis (1982), Harry Chapin (1981), Peter Cowap of Herman's Hermits (1977)
July 17: Gordon Waller of '60s duo Peter & Gordon (2009), opera singer Teresa Stich-Randell (2007), Paul Young of Mike and the Mechanics (2000), Marc Hunter of Dragon (1998), Hendrix manager Chas Chandler (1996), blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes (1983), sax giant John Coltrane (1967), "Lady Day" Billie Holiday (1959), harpin' bluesman Henry Strong (1954)
July 18: tenor Jerry Hadley (2007), Haroon Shamsher of Joi (1999), Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico, born Christa Päffgen (1988), bandleader Jimmy Liggins (1983), Hi Records owner Joe Cuoghi (1970), Bobby Fuller (1966)
July 19: highlife bandleader Emmanuel Tettey "E.T." Mensah (1996), R&B sax man Red Prysock (1993)
July 20: guitarist-producer-songwriter Artie Traum (2008), singer-guitarist Buster Benton (2007), musician-music executive-manager Jim Tyrrell (1998), recording engineer Gary Kellgren (1977), Roy Hamilton (1969)
July 21: art director of Yellow Submarine Heinz Edelman (2009), New Riders of the Purple Sage co-founder John "Marmaduke" Dawson (2009), agent-manager Don Arden (2007), English bluesman Long John Baldry (2005), film composer Jerry Goldsmith (2004), gospel singer O'Landa Draper (1998), Colonel Tom Parker (1997), Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia, founder of Cannibal and The Headhunters (1996), arranger-songwriter Bert Keyes (1980)
Week In Review
July 22, 2010
Dylan Goes Electric … Lennon Goes Green … Go Spitzer …
1958, from the Dangers of Rock & Roll Department: researchers at Esso oil company warn drivers that tuning into rock music on your car radio is bad for mileage … the infectious beat causes you to lead-foot the gas pedal …
1959, Seth Lover, working for Gibson guitars, is granted patent #2,896,491 by the U.S. Patent Office for his "magnetic pickup for stringed musical instrument," better known as the humbucker pickup … the patent was applied for on June 22, 1955 … Gibson added the new pickups to its electric solidbody and archtop guitars in 1957, including the Les Paul … during late 1957, a small black decal with gold lettering was added to the underside of the pickup that read "Patent Applied For" … (today, PAF pickups are the most collectible and desirable pickups, fetching upwards of $1,000 each among vintage guitar collectors) … by mid-to-late 1962, Gibson changed the pickup decal to read "Patent No. 2,737,842" … interestingly enough, the patent number listed on the decal was not for Seth's pickup design but was for Les Paul's trapeze tailpiece … not one to raise a legal fuss, apparently Seth really is a Lover, not a fighter …
1965, the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival turns surly and Pete Seeger seems especially incensed, threatening to take an axe to PA cables, when Bob Dylan, backed by a pickup band composed of Paul Butterfield Blues Band personnel, delivers an abbreviated electrified set … the performance is met with a mixture of applause and booing … Dylan promptly leaves the stage only to be coaxed back to perform a couple of acoustic tunes with just his harp and guitar … the cause of the audience's hostility is the subject of dispute … some maintain that folk purists in the crowd were put off by Dylan's conversion to rock while others maintain that a highly distorted PA was to blame …
1968, after sustaining heavy losses and being forced by neighboring businesses to remove the psychedelic mural adorning its exterior walls, The Beatles shut down their Apple Boutique in London … a near-riot ensues when the shop's stock is given away to the public … The Byrds begin a tour of South Africa minus Gram Parsons, who quit the band in protest of its playing in a country that promotes Apartheid—state sponsored segregation …
1973, a rock show at Watkins Glen racetrack in upstate New York pulls in a record 600,000 fans to see The Band, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead …
1976, John Lennon receives his green card from U.S. immigration authorities more than three years after he was ordered to leave the country …
1977, John Bonham and Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant are charged with assault after a backstage fight with employees of the promoter at a U.S. concert … Judas Priest begins its first U.S. tour in Oakland, CA as the opening act for Led Zeppelin …
1980, Back In Black, the new album from AC/DC, is released … it's the band's first album with new singer Brian Johnson … Johnson joined the band after the untimely, alcohol-driven death of singer Bon Scott, and the album is a tribute of sorts to the fallen rocker … released just five months after Scott's death, the disc races up the charts … by 1997 it will have sold 16 million copies in the U.S. alone …
1988, Def Leppard's Hysteria finally reaches No. 1 after 49 weeks on the U.S. album chart …
1990, a wrongful death trial involving Judas Priest opens in Reno, NV … parents charge in a lawsuit that the band's Stained Class album contained subliminal messages that drove two teenagers to attempt suicide … the judge clears the group …
1992, after complaining that the food backstage isn't suitable for Labelle's labonza, Patti abruptly pulls the plug on her concert in Warwick, Rhode Island … Bruce Springsteen opens his first U.S. tour since 1988 in New Jersey (natch) at The Meadowlands entertainment complex … he and the E-Street Band will play 11 sold-out concerts in the 21,000-seat Brendan Byrne arena, with some of the shows going until one in the morning … it's good to be the Boss …
1993, UB40 hits the top spot on the U.S. singles chart with "Can't Help Falling In Love" and also goes to No.1 on the U.K. album chart with Promises and Lies …
1995, The Ramones release their fourteenth and final studio album, Adios Amigos …
1998, Aerosmith cancels the first 13 dates of its U.S. tour after drummer Joey Kramer suffers second-degree burns in a freak gas-station fire … this is the second crimp in the band's tour plans … in April dates had to be scrapped on account of Steven Tyler's knee injury and subsequent surgery … this same week, Toad The Wet Sprocket, after 12 years and six albums, finally croaks …
2000, the Aiken County, SC, sheriff's office finally catches up with James Brown who's been overseas at a gig … utility worker Russell Eubanks has filed a complaint that Brown threatened him by brandishing a steak knife when Eubanks came to Brown's home to respond to a power-outage report …
2003, singer Chino Moreno of The Deftones pulls a groin muscle during a particularly energetic set on the Summer Sanitarium tour … after consulting a doctor, the band announces they will miss the Sanitarium stop in Minnesota and two club dates in South Dakota and Montana … the hope is that a few days' rest will allow the singer to perform at the next Sanitarium stop in Denver later that week …
2005, in a settlement over payola charges brought by crusading New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment coughs up $10 million … Spitzer's investigation reveals that the label had plied major stations with cash and gifts in return for airplay of its releases … Spitzer presented evidence in the form of dozens of emails in which the record company solicited airplay in return for payola … one particularly damning message from an Epic record plugger inquired of a Clear Channel programmer, "What do I have to do to get Audioslave on WKSS this week?!!?. Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen!!!" … also this week, an unnamed bidder coughs up $1.1 million for a scrap of paper on which John Lennon had scrawled the lyrics for "All You Need is Love" in preparation for the Beatles' 1966 BBC satellite broadcast … Lennon had tossed the sheet following the show and it was retrieved by a BBC employee … during the same auction a pair of Lennon's specs go for $98,000 … the former lead singer of the Motown act Martha Reeves and The Vandellas is qualified to appear on the ballot in her bid for a seat on Detroit's city council … says Reeves, "Summer's here and it's time to run." … she will ultimately win and Detroit's voters will dance in the streets …
2006, Kazaa, the file-sharing website, settles with major record companies for $115 million … the site announces it plans to relaunch as a legal purveyor of downloads … Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen fire off a letter to actor Luke Wilson charging that his brother Owen has misappropriated the name of a character from their song "Cousin Dupree" for the movie You, Me and Dupree in which Wilson's Dupree character is a couch-hopping loser … the letter, posted on the Steely Dan website, warns Wilson that "There are some pretty heavy people who are upset about this whole thing and we can't guarantee what kind of heat little Owen may be bringing down on himself" … the letter goes on to suggest that Wilson should make an appearance at a Dan concert and apologize to their fans … they also invite him to bring his bongos and sit in … the tongue-in-cheek feud continues when Wilson fires back, "I have never heard the song 'Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, HEY 19." … the long-running Brit TV pop music show Top of the Pops poops out … the show had aired on the Beeb continuously since 1964 … Lance Bass of 'NSync devastates countless fans of the boy-band singer when he announces that he is not only happy, but gay … says Bass, "I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life." … Los Lonely Boys bassist Joey "JoJo" Garza is busted for assault and pot possession when cops are called to an Austin, Texas, hotel over a noise complaint … after they find Carina Lyn, Garza's fiancée, scratched on an arm and shoulder, they lodge charges though the woman denies there was an assault …
2007, Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen … the 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter says he plans to submit his thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," at Imperial College London within the next two weeks … May was an astrophysics student at Imperial when Queen, which included Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, was formed in 1970 … he dropped his doctoral pursuit when the glam rock band blew up … after Mercury's death in 1991, May recorded several solo albums, including 1998's Another World, but his interest in astronomy continued and he co-wrote the book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe …
2008, Frank Zappa is honored with a Berlin street named after him … rapper Lil Wayne is sued by ABKCO Music, which owns the rights to the Stones' song "Play With Fire" after he releases his mashup "Playing With Fire" without the publisher's approval … rapper 50 Cent sues Taco Bell for a cool $4 million after the fast-food chain uses his name in an ad offering him $10,000 to change his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent …
2009, Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss, and Charley Price pay a call on the Obama White House for a country concert … recalling the visit Paisley says, "I just wandered around looking at the paintings. Then I went into the bathroom and swiped the paper towels with the White House insignias" … class act all the way there, Brad …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 22: 1940s-50s pop singer Margaret Whiting (1924), jazz bassist Keter Betts (1928), George Clinton (1940), Thomas Wayne (1940), teen idol Bobby Sherman (1944), Supertramp's Richard Davies (1944), Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes (1944), Don Henley of The Eagles (1947), Indigo Girl Emily Saliers (1963), Pat Badger of Extreme (1967), Rufus Wainwright (1973), Daniel Jones of Savage Garden (1973)
July 23: Cleve Duncan of The Penguins (1935), Joe Santollo of The Duprees (1943), Tony Joe White (1943), Dino Danelli of The Young Rascals (1945), Andy Mackay of Roxy Music (1946), David Essex (1947), Keith Ferguson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1947), Blair Thornton of BTO (1950), Depeche Mode's Martin Gore (1961), Tim Kellett of Simply Red (1964), Slash (1965), Sam Watters of Color Me Badd (1970), Alison Krauss (1971), Chad Gracey of Live (1973), Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child (1980)
July 24: Rudy Collins of The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet (1934), country singer Pam Tillis, daughter of Mel Tillis (1957), Paul Geary of Extreme (1961), Jennifer Lopez (1970), Mecca of Digable Planets (1973), Lynval Golding, guitarist for The Specials (1951), bassist Heinz Burt of The Tornados (1942), Barbara Love of The Friends Of Distinction (1941)
July 25: Rudy West, lead singer of The Five Keys (1932), Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton (1941), Bruce Woodley of The Seekers (1942), Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds (1943), Santana percussionist Jose "Chepito" Areas (1946), singer-songwriter Steve Goodman (1948), Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire (1951), Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth (1958)
July 26: jazz drummer Louie Bellson (1924), Darlene Love of The Blossoms (1938), Bobby Hebb, best known for his hit "Sunny" (1938), Mick Jagger (1943), Roger Taylor of Queen (1949), Gary Cherone of Extreme (1961), Headliner (Tim Barnwell) of Arrested Development (1967)
July 27: country yodeler Elton Britt (1927), Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows (1928), Nick Reynolds of The Kingston Trio (1933), Elsbearry Hobbs of The Drifters (1936), country-pop crossover singer, Bobbie Gentry (1944), Al Ramsey of Gary Lewis and the Playboys (1946), singer Maureen McGovern (1949), drummer Simon Kirke of Bad Company (1949), Karl Mueller of Soul Asylum (1963), Rex Brown of Pantera (1964), guitarist-singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield (1967), singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Yorn (1974)
July 28: megaphone crooner of the '30s, Rudy Vallee (1901), blind flamenco singer Dolores Alcantara (1908), Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough (1930), George Cummings of Dr. Hook (1938), blues/rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield (1944), Rick Wright of Pink Floyd (1945), singer Jonathan Edwards (1946), Steve Peregrine-Took of T.Rex, born Steve Porter (1949), guitarist Steve Morse (1954)
Departures:
July 22: jazz guitarist Joe Beck (2008), tenor sax man Illinois Jacquet (2004), singer Tamara Danz (1996), keyboardist Rob Collins of The Charlatans (1996), Chords singer Jimmy Keyes (1995), doo-wop, jazz, and R&B performer Floyd McDaniel (1995), country-pop singer Larry Finnegan (1973)
July 23: songwriter Ron Miller (2007), Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (1993), actor-singer Bert Summer (1990), Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux (1980)
July 24: British solo act and songwriter Jerry Lordan (1995), KC-based R&B singer Priscilla Bowman (1988), Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edgar Winter (1972)
July 25: bop saxophonist Johnny Griffin (2008), Erik Braunn of Iron Butterfly (2003), jazz guitarist Tal Farlow (1998), country music star Charlie Rich (1995), producer Alex Sadkin (1987), albino blues pianist Piano Red, born William Lee Perryman (1985), blues singer Big Mama Thornton (1984)
July 26: Chico Ryan, bassist for Sha-Na-Na (1998), composer Evelyn Levine (1996), '60s soul singer Mary Wells (1992), Grateful Dead keyboard player Brent Mydland (1990)
July 27: Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson (2001), saxophonist Harold Land (2001), Harry "Sweets" Edison, trumpeter-arranger-composer with Count Basie (1999), Bobby Day, aka Robert James Byrd Sr., who had a hit with "Rockin' Robin" (1990), Cliff Burton of Metallica (1986), blues guitarist Lightnin' Slim, born Otis Hicks (1974)
July 28: South African mbaqanga singer Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde (1999), Margie Ganser of The Shangi-Las (1996), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Eddie Hinton (1995), Johann Sebastian Bach (1750)
July 22, 2010
Dylan Goes Electric … Lennon Goes Green … Go Spitzer …
1958, from the Dangers of Rock & Roll Department: researchers at Esso oil company warn drivers that tuning into rock music on your car radio is bad for mileage … the infectious beat causes you to lead-foot the gas pedal …
1959, Seth Lover, working for Gibson guitars, is granted patent #2,896,491 by the U.S. Patent Office for his "magnetic pickup for stringed musical instrument," better known as the humbucker pickup … the patent was applied for on June 22, 1955 … Gibson added the new pickups to its electric solidbody and archtop guitars in 1957, including the Les Paul … during late 1957, a small black decal with gold lettering was added to the underside of the pickup that read "Patent Applied For" … (today, PAF pickups are the most collectible and desirable pickups, fetching upwards of $1,000 each among vintage guitar collectors) … by mid-to-late 1962, Gibson changed the pickup decal to read "Patent No. 2,737,842" … interestingly enough, the patent number listed on the decal was not for Seth's pickup design but was for Les Paul's trapeze tailpiece … not one to raise a legal fuss, apparently Seth really is a Lover, not a fighter …
1965, the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival turns surly and Pete Seeger seems especially incensed, threatening to take an axe to PA cables, when Bob Dylan, backed by a pickup band composed of Paul Butterfield Blues Band personnel, delivers an abbreviated electrified set … the performance is met with a mixture of applause and booing … Dylan promptly leaves the stage only to be coaxed back to perform a couple of acoustic tunes with just his harp and guitar … the cause of the audience's hostility is the subject of dispute … some maintain that folk purists in the crowd were put off by Dylan's conversion to rock while others maintain that a highly distorted PA was to blame …
1968, after sustaining heavy losses and being forced by neighboring businesses to remove the psychedelic mural adorning its exterior walls, The Beatles shut down their Apple Boutique in London … a near-riot ensues when the shop's stock is given away to the public … The Byrds begin a tour of South Africa minus Gram Parsons, who quit the band in protest of its playing in a country that promotes Apartheid—state sponsored segregation …
1973, a rock show at Watkins Glen racetrack in upstate New York pulls in a record 600,000 fans to see The Band, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead …
1976, John Lennon receives his green card from U.S. immigration authorities more than three years after he was ordered to leave the country …
1977, John Bonham and Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant are charged with assault after a backstage fight with employees of the promoter at a U.S. concert … Judas Priest begins its first U.S. tour in Oakland, CA as the opening act for Led Zeppelin …
1980, Back In Black, the new album from AC/DC, is released … it's the band's first album with new singer Brian Johnson … Johnson joined the band after the untimely, alcohol-driven death of singer Bon Scott, and the album is a tribute of sorts to the fallen rocker … released just five months after Scott's death, the disc races up the charts … by 1997 it will have sold 16 million copies in the U.S. alone …
1988, Def Leppard's Hysteria finally reaches No. 1 after 49 weeks on the U.S. album chart …
1990, a wrongful death trial involving Judas Priest opens in Reno, NV … parents charge in a lawsuit that the band's Stained Class album contained subliminal messages that drove two teenagers to attempt suicide … the judge clears the group …
1992, after complaining that the food backstage isn't suitable for Labelle's labonza, Patti abruptly pulls the plug on her concert in Warwick, Rhode Island … Bruce Springsteen opens his first U.S. tour since 1988 in New Jersey (natch) at The Meadowlands entertainment complex … he and the E-Street Band will play 11 sold-out concerts in the 21,000-seat Brendan Byrne arena, with some of the shows going until one in the morning … it's good to be the Boss …
1993, UB40 hits the top spot on the U.S. singles chart with "Can't Help Falling In Love" and also goes to No.1 on the U.K. album chart with Promises and Lies …
1995, The Ramones release their fourteenth and final studio album, Adios Amigos …
1998, Aerosmith cancels the first 13 dates of its U.S. tour after drummer Joey Kramer suffers second-degree burns in a freak gas-station fire … this is the second crimp in the band's tour plans … in April dates had to be scrapped on account of Steven Tyler's knee injury and subsequent surgery … this same week, Toad The Wet Sprocket, after 12 years and six albums, finally croaks …
2000, the Aiken County, SC, sheriff's office finally catches up with James Brown who's been overseas at a gig … utility worker Russell Eubanks has filed a complaint that Brown threatened him by brandishing a steak knife when Eubanks came to Brown's home to respond to a power-outage report …
2003, singer Chino Moreno of The Deftones pulls a groin muscle during a particularly energetic set on the Summer Sanitarium tour … after consulting a doctor, the band announces they will miss the Sanitarium stop in Minnesota and two club dates in South Dakota and Montana … the hope is that a few days' rest will allow the singer to perform at the next Sanitarium stop in Denver later that week …
2005, in a settlement over payola charges brought by crusading New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment coughs up $10 million … Spitzer's investigation reveals that the label had plied major stations with cash and gifts in return for airplay of its releases … Spitzer presented evidence in the form of dozens of emails in which the record company solicited airplay in return for payola … one particularly damning message from an Epic record plugger inquired of a Clear Channel programmer, "What do I have to do to get Audioslave on WKSS this week?!!?. Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen!!!" … also this week, an unnamed bidder coughs up $1.1 million for a scrap of paper on which John Lennon had scrawled the lyrics for "All You Need is Love" in preparation for the Beatles' 1966 BBC satellite broadcast … Lennon had tossed the sheet following the show and it was retrieved by a BBC employee … during the same auction a pair of Lennon's specs go for $98,000 … the former lead singer of the Motown act Martha Reeves and The Vandellas is qualified to appear on the ballot in her bid for a seat on Detroit's city council … says Reeves, "Summer's here and it's time to run." … she will ultimately win and Detroit's voters will dance in the streets …
2006, Kazaa, the file-sharing website, settles with major record companies for $115 million … the site announces it plans to relaunch as a legal purveyor of downloads … Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen fire off a letter to actor Luke Wilson charging that his brother Owen has misappropriated the name of a character from their song "Cousin Dupree" for the movie You, Me and Dupree in which Wilson's Dupree character is a couch-hopping loser … the letter, posted on the Steely Dan website, warns Wilson that "There are some pretty heavy people who are upset about this whole thing and we can't guarantee what kind of heat little Owen may be bringing down on himself" … the letter goes on to suggest that Wilson should make an appearance at a Dan concert and apologize to their fans … they also invite him to bring his bongos and sit in … the tongue-in-cheek feud continues when Wilson fires back, "I have never heard the song 'Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, HEY 19." … the long-running Brit TV pop music show Top of the Pops poops out … the show had aired on the Beeb continuously since 1964 … Lance Bass of 'NSync devastates countless fans of the boy-band singer when he announces that he is not only happy, but gay … says Bass, "I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life." … Los Lonely Boys bassist Joey "JoJo" Garza is busted for assault and pot possession when cops are called to an Austin, Texas, hotel over a noise complaint … after they find Carina Lyn, Garza's fiancée, scratched on an arm and shoulder, they lodge charges though the woman denies there was an assault …
2007, Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen … the 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter says he plans to submit his thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud," at Imperial College London within the next two weeks … May was an astrophysics student at Imperial when Queen, which included Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, was formed in 1970 … he dropped his doctoral pursuit when the glam rock band blew up … after Mercury's death in 1991, May recorded several solo albums, including 1998's Another World, but his interest in astronomy continued and he co-wrote the book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe …
2008, Frank Zappa is honored with a Berlin street named after him … rapper Lil Wayne is sued by ABKCO Music, which owns the rights to the Stones' song "Play With Fire" after he releases his mashup "Playing With Fire" without the publisher's approval … rapper 50 Cent sues Taco Bell for a cool $4 million after the fast-food chain uses his name in an ad offering him $10,000 to change his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent …
2009, Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss, and Charley Price pay a call on the Obama White House for a country concert … recalling the visit Paisley says, "I just wandered around looking at the paintings. Then I went into the bathroom and swiped the paper towels with the White House insignias" … class act all the way there, Brad …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 22: 1940s-50s pop singer Margaret Whiting (1924), jazz bassist Keter Betts (1928), George Clinton (1940), Thomas Wayne (1940), teen idol Bobby Sherman (1944), Supertramp's Richard Davies (1944), Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes (1944), Don Henley of The Eagles (1947), Indigo Girl Emily Saliers (1963), Pat Badger of Extreme (1967), Rufus Wainwright (1973), Daniel Jones of Savage Garden (1973)
July 23: Cleve Duncan of The Penguins (1935), Joe Santollo of The Duprees (1943), Tony Joe White (1943), Dino Danelli of The Young Rascals (1945), Andy Mackay of Roxy Music (1946), David Essex (1947), Keith Ferguson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1947), Blair Thornton of BTO (1950), Depeche Mode's Martin Gore (1961), Tim Kellett of Simply Red (1964), Slash (1965), Sam Watters of Color Me Badd (1970), Alison Krauss (1971), Chad Gracey of Live (1973), Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child (1980)
July 24: Rudy Collins of The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet (1934), country singer Pam Tillis, daughter of Mel Tillis (1957), Paul Geary of Extreme (1961), Jennifer Lopez (1970), Mecca of Digable Planets (1973), Lynval Golding, guitarist for The Specials (1951), bassist Heinz Burt of The Tornados (1942), Barbara Love of The Friends Of Distinction (1941)
July 25: Rudy West, lead singer of The Five Keys (1932), Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton (1941), Bruce Woodley of The Seekers (1942), Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds (1943), Santana percussionist Jose "Chepito" Areas (1946), singer-songwriter Steve Goodman (1948), Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire (1951), Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth (1958)
July 26: jazz drummer Louie Bellson (1924), Darlene Love of The Blossoms (1938), Bobby Hebb, best known for his hit "Sunny" (1938), Mick Jagger (1943), Roger Taylor of Queen (1949), Gary Cherone of Extreme (1961), Headliner (Tim Barnwell) of Arrested Development (1967)
July 27: country yodeler Elton Britt (1927), Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows (1928), Nick Reynolds of The Kingston Trio (1933), Elsbearry Hobbs of The Drifters (1936), country-pop crossover singer, Bobbie Gentry (1944), Al Ramsey of Gary Lewis and the Playboys (1946), singer Maureen McGovern (1949), drummer Simon Kirke of Bad Company (1949), Karl Mueller of Soul Asylum (1963), Rex Brown of Pantera (1964), guitarist-singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield (1967), singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Yorn (1974)
July 28: megaphone crooner of the '30s, Rudy Vallee (1901), blind flamenco singer Dolores Alcantara (1908), Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough (1930), George Cummings of Dr. Hook (1938), blues/rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield (1944), Rick Wright of Pink Floyd (1945), singer Jonathan Edwards (1946), Steve Peregrine-Took of T.Rex, born Steve Porter (1949), guitarist Steve Morse (1954)
Departures:
July 22: jazz guitarist Joe Beck (2008), tenor sax man Illinois Jacquet (2004), singer Tamara Danz (1996), keyboardist Rob Collins of The Charlatans (1996), Chords singer Jimmy Keyes (1995), doo-wop, jazz, and R&B performer Floyd McDaniel (1995), country-pop singer Larry Finnegan (1973)
July 23: songwriter Ron Miller (2007), Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (1993), actor-singer Bert Summer (1990), Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux (1980)
July 24: British solo act and songwriter Jerry Lordan (1995), KC-based R&B singer Priscilla Bowman (1988), Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edgar Winter (1972)
July 25: bop saxophonist Johnny Griffin (2008), Erik Braunn of Iron Butterfly (2003), jazz guitarist Tal Farlow (1998), country music star Charlie Rich (1995), producer Alex Sadkin (1987), albino blues pianist Piano Red, born William Lee Perryman (1985), blues singer Big Mama Thornton (1984)
July 26: Chico Ryan, bassist for Sha-Na-Na (1998), composer Evelyn Levine (1996), '60s soul singer Mary Wells (1992), Grateful Dead keyboard player Brent Mydland (1990)
July 27: Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson (2001), saxophonist Harold Land (2001), Harry "Sweets" Edison, trumpeter-arranger-composer with Count Basie (1999), Bobby Day, aka Robert James Byrd Sr., who had a hit with "Rockin' Robin" (1990), Cliff Burton of Metallica (1986), blues guitarist Lightnin' Slim, born Otis Hicks (1974)
July 28: South African mbaqanga singer Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde (1999), Margie Ganser of The Shangi-Las (1996), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Eddie Hinton (1995), Johann Sebastian Bach (1750)
Week In Review
July 29, 2010
The Beatles Play For The Queen … MTV Signs On … New Kids Get Ripped Off …
1937, the legendary Golden Gate Quartet cuts a mind-blowing 14 gospel tracks in two hours during a Charlotte, North Carolina, recording session …
1955, Ted McCarty, working for Gibson, is given patent #2,714,326 by the U.S. Patent Office for his design for "Stringed Musical Instrument Of The Guitar Type And Combined Bridge And Tailpiece Therefor," the one-piece adjustable bridge/tailpiece for the Gibson Les Paul solidbody guitar …
1956, the Platters become the first black group to have a number-one pop hit when "My Prayer" reaches the top spot on the Billboard chart …
1958, The Teddy Bears' aching teen ballad "To Know Him is To Love Him" is released … a singer in the group, Phil Spector produces the session … the song title is reportedly taken from his late father's headstone … Billboard publishes its first Hot 100 chart … Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" nails the top spot …
1960, when the scheduled vocalist fails to show for a recording session, producer Ike Turner presses his wife Tina into service on the track, "A Fool in Love" … much sampled by modern hip-hop and R&B acts, the single will be the first of 20 Hot 100 hits produced by the contentious couple … this same day future soul star Aretha Franklin cuts her first secular sides …
1965, The Beatles' second feature film, Help, debuts in London with that pretty nice girl Queen Elizabeth in attendance …
1966, Bob Dylan suffers major injuries when the brakes on his Triumph motorcycle lock up near his home in Woodstock, New York … though the exact nature of his injuries are never disclosed, it is clear that he suffered a broken neck and used his lengthy convalescence to marshal his artistic resources … reflecting on the wreck later, Dylan says, "When I had that motorcycle accident … I woke up and caught my senses, I realized that I was just workin' for all these leeches. And I really didn't want to do that." …
1967, Pandora's Box, the hippie nightspot on the Sunset Strip, feels the wrath of the wrecking ball in the wake of teenage riots the previous year … local politicos say the club played a big role in turning West Hollywood into a teenage wasteland … a fan stows away on The Monkees' tour plane … the girl's father vows to have charges brought against the band for transporting a minor across state lines …
1968, The Beatles enter the studio to cut "Hey Jude" … the song will top the Hot 100 Chart for nine weeks and become The Beatles' biggest hit …
1969, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is indicted for draft-dodging after he fails to show up for work as a hospital orderly in lieu of military service …
1971, George Harrison organizes the Concert for Bangladesh to help war victims of the South Asian country … the stellar lineup includes Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members of Badfinger …
1975, Robert Plant and his family are injured in an auto wreck on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes …
1979, a benefit is held this week for the widow and children of late Little Feat singer Lowell George … members of Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Nicolette Larson, Emmylou Harris, and Bonnie Raitt are among the performers … George died of an accidental overdose while on tour with Little Feat a month earlier …
1980, the FBI arrests John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas on cocaine charges … he is later sentenced to five years hard time but dodges prison by delivering 250 hours of anti-drug lectures as an alternative sentence …
1981, MTV bursts onto the airwaves by broadcasting The Buggles' somewhat prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star" …
1984, Prince's album Purple Rain begins a 24-week run at the top of the album charts … the album will sell 10 million copies …
1990, during a New Kids on the Block concert in Montreal, armed robbers make off with souvenir-stand proceeds totaling $260,000 …
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley announce they were secretly married in the Dominican Republic 11 weeks earlier … the union will last for 21 months …
1996, Aerosmith cans their manager Tim Collins saying they're tired of constant pressure to get involved in social causes he's committed to … Oasis roadie James Hunter is crushed to death when he's caught between a forklift and truck …
1998, in San Fernando, California, Grammy-winning gospel singer Sandra Crouch is ordained as a minister of the Christ Memorial Church … ordained by her twin brother Andrae, also a gospel star, the pair defy Church of God in Christ rules that forbid female ministers …
1999, after running into legal roadblocks, the leading record labels drop their suit against Diamond Multimedia, makers of the Rio MP3 music player … they had charged that the device would encourage online piracy …
2001, rap group D12 executes a brutal attack on Detroit rap rivals Esham and T.N.T. during a Warped Tour stop in Camden, New Jersey … T.N.T. is bruised and cut while Esham suffers a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, concussion, and hearing damage … D12 is promptly kicked off the tour … that same day in L.A., 300 fortunate Foo Fighters fans are treated to a rare club gig when the band plays the legendary Troubador … attendees are chosen from entries emailed to the Fighters' website …
2004, Simon and Garfunkel play a free concert in Rome for 600,000 lucky Italians …
2005, newly-unearthed documents relating to Mick Jagger's drug bust in 1969 reveal that the Stones singer had alleged he was framed and that a cop planted heroin in his home offering to quash the charges if Jagger paid £1,000 … at the time his allegations were swept aside and he was ultimately fined £200 for pot possession …
2006, a court awards Jimi Hendrix's stepsister control of the late great guitarist's estate, cutting out his brother Leon … this comes after years of legal wrangling between the family members … Bono, along with five partners, buys a 40-percent stake in Forbes magazine for a reported $250-300 million … A 30-year-old man is beaten to death at the Atlanta stop of the ironically titled Family Values tour led by Korn … the victim was attempting to protect a pregnant friend from two unruly fans … a suspect is arrested a week later … in England the long-running Brit TV pop music show Top of the Pops breathes its last gasp … the show had aired on the BBC continuously since 1964 … on the domestic dissolution front, Travis Barker files a divorce suit against Shanna Moakler, his wife of two years and former Miss USA … and keeping up with the Barkers, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes and his missus, actress Kate Hudson, file for divorce …
2007, when a ballsy female concertgoer reaches out and grabs Tim McGraw's nether regions at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, his missus, Faith Hill, tells the errant fan in no uncertain terms that that sort of behavior is frowned upon in them there parts (no pun intended) …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 29: revolutionary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian (1916), guitar amp maker Jim Marshall (1929), Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon (1946), Geddy Lee (1953), Patti Scialfa of the E Street Band (1956), John Sykes of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy (1959), country singer Martina McBride (1966), Chris Gorman of Belly (1967), Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men (1972)
July 30: blistering blues guitarist Buddy Guy (1936), Paul Anka (1941), saxophonist David Sanborn (1945), Marc Bolan (1947), The Sweet's Andy Scott (1949), Stewart Copeland (1952), Rat Scabies of The Damned, born Chris Miller (1957), Kate Bush (1958), Brad Hargraves of Third Eye Blind (1972)
July 31: Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac (1946), Karl Green of Herman's Hermits (1946), singer Gary Lewis (1946), ELO's Hugh MacDowell (1953), Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets (1957), Bill Berry of R.E.M. (1958), Norman Cook of The Housemartins (1963), Fatboy Slim (1963), Coldplay's Will Champion (1978)
August 1: Francis Scott Key (1778), Piano Slim aka Robert T. Smith (1928), Ramblin' Jack Elliot born Elliott Charles Adnopoz (1931), Jerry Garcia (1942), Geoff Britton of Wings (1943), Boz Burrell of Bad Company (1946), Rick Anderson of The Tubes (1947), Rick Coonce of The Grass Roots (1947), Tommy Bolin (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), BTO's Tim Bachman (1951), bluesman Robert Cray (1953), Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (1960), Public Enemy's Chuck D (1960), Coolio (1963), Adam Duritz of Counting Crows (1964), Ashley Angel of O-Town (1981)
August 2: big band singer Helen Morgan (1900), "Big" Walter Price (1917), country singer Hank Walters (1933), country star Hank Cochran (1935), Garth Hudson of The Band (1937), Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1939), Doris Coley Kenner of The Shirelles (1941), guitarist Larry Coryell (1943), steel guitarist Hank DeVito (1948), guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low (1948), Fat Larry (1949), Ted Turner of Wishbone Ash (1950), Clive Wright of Cock Robin (1953), Apollonia born Patricia Kotero (1961), Pete De Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (1961), Zelma Davis of C+C Music Factory (1970)
August 3: Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence (1910), Tony Bennett (1926), blues harp player Alex Randall (1934), Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires (1935), Roscoe Mitchell of The Art Ensemble of Chicago (1940), Beverly Lee of The Shirelles (1941), B. B. Dickerson of War (1949), John Graham of Earth, Wind & Fire (1951) guitarist Steve Hillage (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), James Hetfield of Metallica (1963), Ed Roland of Collective Soul (1963), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966)
August 4: Louis Armstrong (1901), Frankie Ford (1939), David Carr of The Fortunes (1940), Timi Yuro (1940), Klaus Schultze of Tangerine Dream (1947), Paul Layton of The New Seekers (1947), Clannad's Máire Ní Bhraonáin (1952), Mark O'Connor (1962), Paul Reynolds of A Flock of Seagulls (1962), Jody Turner of Rock Goddess (1963), Immature's Marques Houston (1981)
Departures:
July 29: jazz bassist Art Davis (2007), Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites (2005), Al McKibbon, jazz bassist with Dizzy Gillespie (2005), Anita Carter of the Carter Sisters (1999), Rare Earth percussionist Eddie Guzman (1993), pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake (1988), Gordon Mills, manager and songwriter for Tom Jones (1986), singer Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas (1979)
July 30: swing & bebop saxophonist Eli "Lucky" Thompson (2005), Sun Studios founder Sam Phillips (2003), Rob Jones of Wonder Stuff (1993), sax man Donald Myrick (1993), guitarist and vocalist Glenn Goins (1978)
July 31: Jim Reeves (1964), Jim Reeves' pianist-manager Dean Manuel (1964)
August 1: Irish singer Tommy Makem of The Clancy Brothers (2007), pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1997), Joe "The Honeydripper" Liggins (1987), rockabilly pioneer Johnny Burnette (1964)
August 2: Ron Towson of The 5th Dimension (2001), Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1997), Motown bassist James Jamerson (1983), former Pink Floyd road manager Peter "Puddy" Watts (1976), Brian Cole of The Association (1972)
August 3: Arthur Lee (2006), reedman Bob Tate (1993), Don Lang of The Frantic Five (1992), Richard Nickens of The Eldorados (1991)
August 4: Lee Hazlewood (2007), classical and rock violinist Monroe Clark (2006), R&B/blues singer-guitarist "Little" Milton Campbell (2005), jazz singer Jeri Southern (1991), pop impresario Larry Parnes (1989)
July 29, 2010
The Beatles Play For The Queen … MTV Signs On … New Kids Get Ripped Off …
1937, the legendary Golden Gate Quartet cuts a mind-blowing 14 gospel tracks in two hours during a Charlotte, North Carolina, recording session …
1955, Ted McCarty, working for Gibson, is given patent #2,714,326 by the U.S. Patent Office for his design for "Stringed Musical Instrument Of The Guitar Type And Combined Bridge And Tailpiece Therefor," the one-piece adjustable bridge/tailpiece for the Gibson Les Paul solidbody guitar …
1956, the Platters become the first black group to have a number-one pop hit when "My Prayer" reaches the top spot on the Billboard chart …
1958, The Teddy Bears' aching teen ballad "To Know Him is To Love Him" is released … a singer in the group, Phil Spector produces the session … the song title is reportedly taken from his late father's headstone … Billboard publishes its first Hot 100 chart … Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" nails the top spot …
1960, when the scheduled vocalist fails to show for a recording session, producer Ike Turner presses his wife Tina into service on the track, "A Fool in Love" … much sampled by modern hip-hop and R&B acts, the single will be the first of 20 Hot 100 hits produced by the contentious couple … this same day future soul star Aretha Franklin cuts her first secular sides …
1965, The Beatles' second feature film, Help, debuts in London with that pretty nice girl Queen Elizabeth in attendance …
1966, Bob Dylan suffers major injuries when the brakes on his Triumph motorcycle lock up near his home in Woodstock, New York … though the exact nature of his injuries are never disclosed, it is clear that he suffered a broken neck and used his lengthy convalescence to marshal his artistic resources … reflecting on the wreck later, Dylan says, "When I had that motorcycle accident … I woke up and caught my senses, I realized that I was just workin' for all these leeches. And I really didn't want to do that." …
1967, Pandora's Box, the hippie nightspot on the Sunset Strip, feels the wrath of the wrecking ball in the wake of teenage riots the previous year … local politicos say the club played a big role in turning West Hollywood into a teenage wasteland … a fan stows away on The Monkees' tour plane … the girl's father vows to have charges brought against the band for transporting a minor across state lines …
1968, The Beatles enter the studio to cut "Hey Jude" … the song will top the Hot 100 Chart for nine weeks and become The Beatles' biggest hit …
1969, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is indicted for draft-dodging after he fails to show up for work as a hospital orderly in lieu of military service …
1971, George Harrison organizes the Concert for Bangladesh to help war victims of the South Asian country … the stellar lineup includes Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members of Badfinger …
1975, Robert Plant and his family are injured in an auto wreck on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes …
1979, a benefit is held this week for the widow and children of late Little Feat singer Lowell George … members of Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Nicolette Larson, Emmylou Harris, and Bonnie Raitt are among the performers … George died of an accidental overdose while on tour with Little Feat a month earlier …
1980, the FBI arrests John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas on cocaine charges … he is later sentenced to five years hard time but dodges prison by delivering 250 hours of anti-drug lectures as an alternative sentence …
1981, MTV bursts onto the airwaves by broadcasting The Buggles' somewhat prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star" …
1984, Prince's album Purple Rain begins a 24-week run at the top of the album charts … the album will sell 10 million copies …
1990, during a New Kids on the Block concert in Montreal, armed robbers make off with souvenir-stand proceeds totaling $260,000 …
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley announce they were secretly married in the Dominican Republic 11 weeks earlier … the union will last for 21 months …
1996, Aerosmith cans their manager Tim Collins saying they're tired of constant pressure to get involved in social causes he's committed to … Oasis roadie James Hunter is crushed to death when he's caught between a forklift and truck …
1998, in San Fernando, California, Grammy-winning gospel singer Sandra Crouch is ordained as a minister of the Christ Memorial Church … ordained by her twin brother Andrae, also a gospel star, the pair defy Church of God in Christ rules that forbid female ministers …
1999, after running into legal roadblocks, the leading record labels drop their suit against Diamond Multimedia, makers of the Rio MP3 music player … they had charged that the device would encourage online piracy …
2001, rap group D12 executes a brutal attack on Detroit rap rivals Esham and T.N.T. during a Warped Tour stop in Camden, New Jersey … T.N.T. is bruised and cut while Esham suffers a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, concussion, and hearing damage … D12 is promptly kicked off the tour … that same day in L.A., 300 fortunate Foo Fighters fans are treated to a rare club gig when the band plays the legendary Troubador … attendees are chosen from entries emailed to the Fighters' website …
2004, Simon and Garfunkel play a free concert in Rome for 600,000 lucky Italians …
2005, newly-unearthed documents relating to Mick Jagger's drug bust in 1969 reveal that the Stones singer had alleged he was framed and that a cop planted heroin in his home offering to quash the charges if Jagger paid £1,000 … at the time his allegations were swept aside and he was ultimately fined £200 for pot possession …
2006, a court awards Jimi Hendrix's stepsister control of the late great guitarist's estate, cutting out his brother Leon … this comes after years of legal wrangling between the family members … Bono, along with five partners, buys a 40-percent stake in Forbes magazine for a reported $250-300 million … A 30-year-old man is beaten to death at the Atlanta stop of the ironically titled Family Values tour led by Korn … the victim was attempting to protect a pregnant friend from two unruly fans … a suspect is arrested a week later … in England the long-running Brit TV pop music show Top of the Pops breathes its last gasp … the show had aired on the BBC continuously since 1964 … on the domestic dissolution front, Travis Barker files a divorce suit against Shanna Moakler, his wife of two years and former Miss USA … and keeping up with the Barkers, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes and his missus, actress Kate Hudson, file for divorce …
2007, when a ballsy female concertgoer reaches out and grabs Tim McGraw's nether regions at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, his missus, Faith Hill, tells the errant fan in no uncertain terms that that sort of behavior is frowned upon in them there parts (no pun intended) …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 29: revolutionary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian (1916), guitar amp maker Jim Marshall (1929), Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon (1946), Geddy Lee (1953), Patti Scialfa of the E Street Band (1956), John Sykes of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy (1959), country singer Martina McBride (1966), Chris Gorman of Belly (1967), Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men (1972)
July 30: blistering blues guitarist Buddy Guy (1936), Paul Anka (1941), saxophonist David Sanborn (1945), Marc Bolan (1947), The Sweet's Andy Scott (1949), Stewart Copeland (1952), Rat Scabies of The Damned, born Chris Miller (1957), Kate Bush (1958), Brad Hargraves of Third Eye Blind (1972)
July 31: Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac (1946), Karl Green of Herman's Hermits (1946), singer Gary Lewis (1946), ELO's Hugh MacDowell (1953), Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets (1957), Bill Berry of R.E.M. (1958), Norman Cook of The Housemartins (1963), Fatboy Slim (1963), Coldplay's Will Champion (1978)
August 1: Francis Scott Key (1778), Piano Slim aka Robert T. Smith (1928), Ramblin' Jack Elliot born Elliott Charles Adnopoz (1931), Jerry Garcia (1942), Geoff Britton of Wings (1943), Boz Burrell of Bad Company (1946), Rick Anderson of The Tubes (1947), Rick Coonce of The Grass Roots (1947), Tommy Bolin (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), BTO's Tim Bachman (1951), bluesman Robert Cray (1953), Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (1960), Public Enemy's Chuck D (1960), Coolio (1963), Adam Duritz of Counting Crows (1964), Ashley Angel of O-Town (1981)
August 2: big band singer Helen Morgan (1900), "Big" Walter Price (1917), country singer Hank Walters (1933), country star Hank Cochran (1935), Garth Hudson of The Band (1937), Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1939), Doris Coley Kenner of The Shirelles (1941), guitarist Larry Coryell (1943), steel guitarist Hank DeVito (1948), guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low (1948), Fat Larry (1949), Ted Turner of Wishbone Ash (1950), Clive Wright of Cock Robin (1953), Apollonia born Patricia Kotero (1961), Pete De Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (1961), Zelma Davis of C+C Music Factory (1970)
August 3: Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence (1910), Tony Bennett (1926), blues harp player Alex Randall (1934), Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires (1935), Roscoe Mitchell of The Art Ensemble of Chicago (1940), Beverly Lee of The Shirelles (1941), B. B. Dickerson of War (1949), John Graham of Earth, Wind & Fire (1951) guitarist Steve Hillage (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), James Hetfield of Metallica (1963), Ed Roland of Collective Soul (1963), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966)
August 4: Louis Armstrong (1901), Frankie Ford (1939), David Carr of The Fortunes (1940), Timi Yuro (1940), Klaus Schultze of Tangerine Dream (1947), Paul Layton of The New Seekers (1947), Clannad's Máire Ní Bhraonáin (1952), Mark O'Connor (1962), Paul Reynolds of A Flock of Seagulls (1962), Jody Turner of Rock Goddess (1963), Immature's Marques Houston (1981)
Departures:
July 29: jazz bassist Art Davis (2007), Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites (2005), Al McKibbon, jazz bassist with Dizzy Gillespie (2005), Anita Carter of the Carter Sisters (1999), Rare Earth percussionist Eddie Guzman (1993), pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake (1988), Gordon Mills, manager and songwriter for Tom Jones (1986), singer Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas (1979)
July 30: swing & bebop saxophonist Eli "Lucky" Thompson (2005), Sun Studios founder Sam Phillips (2003), Rob Jones of Wonder Stuff (1993), sax man Donald Myrick (1993), guitarist and vocalist Glenn Goins (1978)
July 31: Jim Reeves (1964), Jim Reeves' pianist-manager Dean Manuel (1964)
August 1: Irish singer Tommy Makem of The Clancy Brothers (2007), pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1997), Joe "The Honeydripper" Liggins (1987), rockabilly pioneer Johnny Burnette (1964)
August 2: Ron Towson of The 5th Dimension (2001), Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1997), Motown bassist James Jamerson (1983), former Pink Floyd road manager Peter "Puddy" Watts (1976), Brian Cole of The Association (1972)
August 3: Arthur Lee (2006), reedman Bob Tate (1993), Don Lang of The Frantic Five (1992), Richard Nickens of The Eldorados (1991)
August 4: Lee Hazlewood (2007), classical and rock violinist Monroe Clark (2006), R&B/blues singer-guitarist "Little" Milton Campbell (2005), jazz singer Jeri Southern (1991), pop impresario Larry Parnes (1989)
Week In Review
August 5, 2010
Electric Guitar Patented … Studio Subs for Love … The Herd Not Heard …
1927, bluesman Texas Alexander records "Range In My Kitchen Blues" for Paramount Records in New York City …
1937, George Beauchamp is granted patent #2,089,171 by the U.S. Patent Office for an "Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument" … the original "frying pan" electric guitar … George was a Hawaiian musician living in Los Angeles … Bunny Berrigan and his orchestra record the jazz standard, "I Can't Get Started" … the chord changes from this oft-covered tune become a staple for bebop musicians a decade later …
1949, Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five record "Saturday Night Fish Fry," an influential proto-rock song …
1957, John Lennon and his band The Quarry Men play their debut date at Liverpool's Cavern Club, a venue devoted to jazz and skiffle … after the band performs "Come Go With Me," "Hound Dog," and "Blue Suede Shoes," irate club owner Alan Sytner sends a note up to the stage reading, "Cut out the bloody rock!" … so it was back to standard skiffle fare such as "Rock Island Line" and "Midnight Special" … in 1997, the five original Quarry Men (besides Lennon) will reunite for some gigs: Len Garry, formerly on tea-chest bass, will have moved to guitar and lead vocals; Rod Davis, originally on banjo, will have moved to guitar; drummer Colin Hanton; washboard player Pete Shotton, who retired in 2000; and guitarist Eric Griffiths, who will die in 2005 …
1960, 25,000 copies of the death-rock single "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson are destroyed by Decca Records after a critic deems the song "too tasteless and vulgar for English sensibility" … it is interesting to speculate what that critic may have made of Ozzy Osbourne or the Sex Pistols a little later on …
1962, "Your Heart Belongs to Me" by the Supremes debuts on the Hot 100 chart … it's the first of their eventual 47 hits …
1964, Rod Stewart makes his television debut singing with the Hootchie Coochie Men on the British show The Beat Room … The Rolling Stones know they have arrived when they get the chance to hang out with two of their idols, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, while recording at Chicago's Chess studios … the band's name resulted from a tune by Muddy …
1965, singer-organist Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five suffers two fractured ribs when he's pulled off the stage by an enthusiastic fan …
1967, Beatle George Harrison hangs out at a love-in in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park … he's less than enchanted recalling "It was full of hideous, spotty little teenagers. It turned me off to the whole thing" … recording sessions resume for the classic Love album Forever Changes … sessions that began in June were marked with bickering and personnel changes that resulted in the producer bringing in session musicians from L.A.'s "The Wrecking Crew" to record backing tracks for three tunes … properly chastened, the band members went back to work …
1968, performing at England's National Jazz and Blues Festival, Jerry Lee Lewis whips the crowd into a frenzy that begins to turn violent … three rockers leave with bleeding mouths, a stage assistant loses four teeth, and thanks to a six-inch scaffold coupling pin being thrown through the bass drum of Andrew Steele, his band The Herd, doesn't get heard … fearing a full-scale riot, officials ask Lewis to leave the stage … "I don't care about you all dancing on the stage,'' Lewis tells his fans, "but some of these people do." … interestingly, The Herd's lead guitarist is none other than a young Peter Frampton, who later splits from the band after a long hitless spell to form Humble Pie with Steve Marriott … this same week, the record industry marks its first billion-dollar year several years ahead of expectations …
1969, photographer Ian Macmillan gets on a stepladder in the middle of London's Abbey Road to snap The Beatles as they stride across the zebra crossing … several crossings and six pictures later, the session is over … Paul picks the best one, which ends up as the cover for Abbey Road … because The Fabs (as George called them) are so famous, no other graphics are used …
1970, Janis Joplin springs for a headstone to mark Bessie Smith's grave … the blues singer was one of her idols … four days later she makes her last concert performance at Harvard Stadium …
1973, Stevie Wonder is seriously injured in North Carolina when the auto in which he's riding is hit by logs rolling off a truck … he emerges from a coma after four days sans his sense of smell …
1974, in Beverly Hills, J. Geils Band lead singer Peter Wolf marries actress Faye Dunaway … their union will end in 1979 …
1975, Hank Williams Jr. tumbles 500 feet down a Montana mountain … after two year's worth of surgeries he will resume his career …
1978, Muddy Waters plays for President Jimmy Carter at the White House …
1979, The Knack starts a five-week hold on the top spot of the U.S. album charts with Get The Knack … this triggers an anti-Knack backlash that will hasten the group's demise …
1980, The Plasmatics show that was to feature an exploding car at the London's Hammersmith Odeon is canceled after fire inspectors watch a demonstration and find that safety techniques are inadequate …
1985, introduced to the benefits of owning publishing rights by friend Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson purchases the ATV music catalog that includes 251 Lennon/McCartney songs at auction for $47.5 million … McCartney and Yoko Ono had attempted to purchase the songs only to be outbid by Jackson … McCartney and Jackson's friendship ends promptly as a result … Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon nearly drowns after his yacht capsizes during a race off the coast of England …
1986, David Crosby is released from prison after doing time on drug and weapon charges …
1991, a group called On A Friday plays at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford, England … they will soon change their name to Radiohead …
1992, citing a sore throat, Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses cuts short the band's set in Montreal … many of the 55,000 fans in attendance riot … this is a fitting end to a concert in which Metallica also cuts their set short after singer James Hetfield suffers third-degree burns from a pyro effect …
1994, the Woodstock '94 festival in Saugerties, New York, includes performances from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Aerosmith, and Nine Inch Nails … the crowd of 30,000 endures the same rain and resulting mud as the original event …
1996, former Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil runs into trouble at an Indiana club date … after starting the show four hours late, Neil pulls the plug after just three songs saying he is feeling ill and suggests that the audience of "rednecks" doesn't appreciate his talent … a riot by 500 surly ticket holders is narrowly averted by the prompt arrival of the cops … after touring as part of the sixth annual Lollapalooza festival, The Ramones soldier on to Los Angeles to perform their 2,263rd and final show …
2000, the Jimi Hendrix estate successfully evicts the holder of the web domain jimihendrix.com …
2003, during a radio interview, Ted Nugent says that the people of Illinois are "spineless, apathetic, embarrassing wimps" for their lack of involvement in their state government … Nugent's comments result from his displeasure over the state's gun laws … despite his scorn, Nugent will play the Illinois State Fair later in the day … fortunately for the Motor City Madman, the audience is apparently a bunch of embarrassing wimps who are too spineless and apathetic to demand refunds …
2005, Leonard Cohen files a suit against his former business manager charging that Kelley Lynch ripped him off for $5 million from 1994 through 1999 while Cohen was chilling in a Buddhist center … FCC chairman Kevin Martin announces that his agency is investigating payola by record labels in the wake of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's settlement of $10 million with New York over charges that the company plied key radio stations with lavish gifts and money to get its releases played … the list of artists who benefitted from Sony's generosity include Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Gretchen Wilson, Audioslave, and Celine Dion …
2008, the format of Rolling Stone magazine is downsized from large-format pages to a traditional magazine size to spur lagging sales … singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who has a long history of supporting liberal causes, files suit against presidential candidate John McCain and the Ohio Republican Party for using his 1977 hit "Running on Empty" without permission … The Allman Brothers sue Universal Music Group for more than $10 million charging that they are owed royalties on downloads and CD sales of material they cut on the Capricorn label between 1969 and 1980 … The Police cap their 150-show world tour with a two-hour tour de force at Madison Square Garden … the first Police tour in 20 years, it started shakily and gained momentum as it went along … reflecting on the early shows, drummer Stewart Copeland is brutally frank, "At the beginning, we were crap. Each one of us had our own opinion of what was wrong … which could be summed up as 'the other two guys'" …
2009, Eddie Van Halen is reported to be mending from surgery intended to deal with severe pain in his left hand … it is estimated that healing will be a four to six-month process …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 5: jazz singer Jeri Southern (1926), Vern Gosdin (1934), R&B vocalist Damita Jo (1940), guitarist Lenny Breau (1941), percussionist Airto Moreira (1941), sax player Rick Huxley of The Dave Clark Five (1942), country star Sammi Smith (1943), Rick Derringer of The McCoys (1947), Gregory Leskew of Guess Who (1947), Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister (1954), Pat Smear of Foo Fighters (1959), Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive (1959), Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys (1964)
August 6: Delta bluesman Willie Brown (1900), The Ravens' Jimmy Ricks (1924), jazz bassist Charlie Haden (1937), Isaac Hayes (1938), Judy Craig of The Chiffons (1946), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (1948), Pat McDonald of Timbuk 3 (1951), Randy DeBarge (1958), singer-songwriter Elliot Smith (1969), Geri Halliwell a.k.a. Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls (1972)
August 7: multi-instrumentalist jazz bandleader Benny Carter (1907), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1910), pianist Mose Vinson (1917), lyricist Felice Bryant (1925), The Platters' Herb Reed (1931), multi-instrumentalist jazz titan Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936), Magic Slim—born Morris Holt (1937), pop vocalist Ron Holden (1939), B.J. Thomas (1942), Alfa Anderson of Chic (1946), Rodney Crowell (1950), bassist-songwriter Andy Fraser of Free (1952), Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden—not THE Bruce Dickinson (1958), Jacqui O'Sullivan of Bananarama (1960), Ian Dench of EMF (1964), Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses (1964)
August 8: bandleader Lucky Millender (1900), honky-tonk vocalist Webb Pierce (1921), blues and jazz singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), blues singer Al King (1923), Sonny Til of The Orioles (1925), Mel Tillis (1932), pedal steel player extraordinaire Pete Drake (1932), Joe Tex (1933), pop singer Connie Stevens (1938), Philip E. Balsley of the Statler Brothers (1939), John "Jay" David of Dr. Hook (1942), English guitar virtuoso John Renbourn (1944), The Grateful Dead's Ron "Pig Pen" McKernan (1946), Airrion Love of The Stylistics (1949), Stax-Volt drummer Willie Hall (1950), Madness guitarist Chris Foreman (1955), Ali Score of Flock of Seagulls (1956), Dennis Drew of 10,000 Maniacs (1957), Ricki Rockett of Poison (1959), U2's The Edge a.k.a. David Evans (1961), Kool Moe Dee (1962), Aaron Abeyta of NOFX (1965), Creed singer Scott Stapp (1973), JC Chasez of *NSYNC (1976), Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees (1976)
August 9: barrelhouse pianist Robert Shaw (1908), string band musician Odell Thompson (1911), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1913), Bill Henderson of The Spinners (1939), jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette (1942), Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring (1946), Barbara Mason (1947), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1955), rapper Kurtis Blow (1959), Aimee Mann (1960), Whitney Houston (1963), Arion Salazar of Third Eye Blind (1970)
August 10: Leo Fender (1909), country singer-sausage king Jimmy Dean (1928), bluegrass ace Jimmy Martin (1929), country-pop entertainer Larry Finnegan (1938), Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (1940), Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes (1947), Ian Anderson (1947), Patti Austin (1948), INXS drummer Jon Farriss (1961), singer Neneh Cherry (1964), Todd Nichols of Toad The Wet Sprocket (1967), Michael Bivins of New Edition (1968), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (1977)
August 11: Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1942), David Box—a Buddy Holly soundalike who ironically also died in a plane crash (1943), Jim Kale of Guess Who (1943), Eric Carmen (1949), Joe Jackson (1955), Bragi Olafsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), guitarist Charlie Sexton (1968), Chris "Mack Daddy" Kelly of Kriss Kross (1968), Ali of A Tribe Called Quest (1970), J-Boog of B2K (1985)
Departures:
August 5: bassist Randy Hobbs of The McCoys and Johnny Winter (1993), drummer Jeff Porcaro of Toto (1992), N'awlins bluesman Isidore "Tuts" Washington (1984), avant-garde bassist George Scott (1980), The Who's first manager Pete Meadon (1978), country guitarist Luther Perkins (1968), one-man blues band Joe Hill Louis (1957)
August 6: Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti (2007), jazz bassist Keter Betts (2005), legendary Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer (2005), Rick James (2004), guitarist Tommy Mottola (2004), the U.K.'s answer to Louis Armstrong, Nat Gonella (1998), new wave singer Klaus Nomi (1983), blueswoman Memphis Minnie (1973), trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke (1931)
August 7: country guitarist William "Billy" Byrd (2001), harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler (2001), record store mogul Sam Goody (1991), R&B chanteuse Esther Phillips (1984), Homer a.k.a. Henry Haynes of Homer & Jethro (1971)
August 8: pianist Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan (2006), alto sax man Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (1975)
August 9: composer David Raskin (2004), Drowning Pool's Dave Williams (2002), producer Bob Herbert (1999), Jerry Garcia (1995), New Orleans session sax man Clarence Ford (1994), reggae singer Wilfred "Jackie" Edwards (1992), Brandon Mitchell, rapper with Wreckx-N-Effects (1990), trumpet player Bill Chase (1974), Lillian Roxon, one of rock's first music critics (1973), Joe Gilbert of Joe and Eddie (1966)
August 10: singer-songwriter-soul man Isaac Hayes (2008), Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser (2002), Bill Baker of The Five Satins (1994), New Orleans sax man Clarence Ford (1994), Ed Roberts of Ruby And The Romantics (1993), jazz singer Ernestine Allen (1992), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1965), blues diva Lucille Bogan of "Shave 'em Dry" infamy (1948)
August 11: pedal steel player Don Helms (2008), singer-talk show host Mike Douglas (2006), conductor Rafael Kubelick (1996), The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1996), bandleader-pianist Sonny Thompson (1989), Percy Mayfield—one day short of his 64th birthday (1984)
August 5, 2010
Electric Guitar Patented … Studio Subs for Love … The Herd Not Heard …
1927, bluesman Texas Alexander records "Range In My Kitchen Blues" for Paramount Records in New York City …
1937, George Beauchamp is granted patent #2,089,171 by the U.S. Patent Office for an "Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument" … the original "frying pan" electric guitar … George was a Hawaiian musician living in Los Angeles … Bunny Berrigan and his orchestra record the jazz standard, "I Can't Get Started" … the chord changes from this oft-covered tune become a staple for bebop musicians a decade later …
1949, Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five record "Saturday Night Fish Fry," an influential proto-rock song …
1957, John Lennon and his band The Quarry Men play their debut date at Liverpool's Cavern Club, a venue devoted to jazz and skiffle … after the band performs "Come Go With Me," "Hound Dog," and "Blue Suede Shoes," irate club owner Alan Sytner sends a note up to the stage reading, "Cut out the bloody rock!" … so it was back to standard skiffle fare such as "Rock Island Line" and "Midnight Special" … in 1997, the five original Quarry Men (besides Lennon) will reunite for some gigs: Len Garry, formerly on tea-chest bass, will have moved to guitar and lead vocals; Rod Davis, originally on banjo, will have moved to guitar; drummer Colin Hanton; washboard player Pete Shotton, who retired in 2000; and guitarist Eric Griffiths, who will die in 2005 …
1960, 25,000 copies of the death-rock single "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson are destroyed by Decca Records after a critic deems the song "too tasteless and vulgar for English sensibility" … it is interesting to speculate what that critic may have made of Ozzy Osbourne or the Sex Pistols a little later on …
1962, "Your Heart Belongs to Me" by the Supremes debuts on the Hot 100 chart … it's the first of their eventual 47 hits …
1964, Rod Stewart makes his television debut singing with the Hootchie Coochie Men on the British show The Beat Room … The Rolling Stones know they have arrived when they get the chance to hang out with two of their idols, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, while recording at Chicago's Chess studios … the band's name resulted from a tune by Muddy …
1965, singer-organist Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five suffers two fractured ribs when he's pulled off the stage by an enthusiastic fan …
1967, Beatle George Harrison hangs out at a love-in in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park … he's less than enchanted recalling "It was full of hideous, spotty little teenagers. It turned me off to the whole thing" … recording sessions resume for the classic Love album Forever Changes … sessions that began in June were marked with bickering and personnel changes that resulted in the producer bringing in session musicians from L.A.'s "The Wrecking Crew" to record backing tracks for three tunes … properly chastened, the band members went back to work …
1968, performing at England's National Jazz and Blues Festival, Jerry Lee Lewis whips the crowd into a frenzy that begins to turn violent … three rockers leave with bleeding mouths, a stage assistant loses four teeth, and thanks to a six-inch scaffold coupling pin being thrown through the bass drum of Andrew Steele, his band The Herd, doesn't get heard … fearing a full-scale riot, officials ask Lewis to leave the stage … "I don't care about you all dancing on the stage,'' Lewis tells his fans, "but some of these people do." … interestingly, The Herd's lead guitarist is none other than a young Peter Frampton, who later splits from the band after a long hitless spell to form Humble Pie with Steve Marriott … this same week, the record industry marks its first billion-dollar year several years ahead of expectations …
1969, photographer Ian Macmillan gets on a stepladder in the middle of London's Abbey Road to snap The Beatles as they stride across the zebra crossing … several crossings and six pictures later, the session is over … Paul picks the best one, which ends up as the cover for Abbey Road … because The Fabs (as George called them) are so famous, no other graphics are used …
1970, Janis Joplin springs for a headstone to mark Bessie Smith's grave … the blues singer was one of her idols … four days later she makes her last concert performance at Harvard Stadium …
1973, Stevie Wonder is seriously injured in North Carolina when the auto in which he's riding is hit by logs rolling off a truck … he emerges from a coma after four days sans his sense of smell …
1974, in Beverly Hills, J. Geils Band lead singer Peter Wolf marries actress Faye Dunaway … their union will end in 1979 …
1975, Hank Williams Jr. tumbles 500 feet down a Montana mountain … after two year's worth of surgeries he will resume his career …
1978, Muddy Waters plays for President Jimmy Carter at the White House …
1979, The Knack starts a five-week hold on the top spot of the U.S. album charts with Get The Knack … this triggers an anti-Knack backlash that will hasten the group's demise …
1980, The Plasmatics show that was to feature an exploding car at the London's Hammersmith Odeon is canceled after fire inspectors watch a demonstration and find that safety techniques are inadequate …
1985, introduced to the benefits of owning publishing rights by friend Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson purchases the ATV music catalog that includes 251 Lennon/McCartney songs at auction for $47.5 million … McCartney and Yoko Ono had attempted to purchase the songs only to be outbid by Jackson … McCartney and Jackson's friendship ends promptly as a result … Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon nearly drowns after his yacht capsizes during a race off the coast of England …
1986, David Crosby is released from prison after doing time on drug and weapon charges …
1991, a group called On A Friday plays at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford, England … they will soon change their name to Radiohead …
1992, citing a sore throat, Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses cuts short the band's set in Montreal … many of the 55,000 fans in attendance riot … this is a fitting end to a concert in which Metallica also cuts their set short after singer James Hetfield suffers third-degree burns from a pyro effect …
1994, the Woodstock '94 festival in Saugerties, New York, includes performances from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Aerosmith, and Nine Inch Nails … the crowd of 30,000 endures the same rain and resulting mud as the original event …
1996, former Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil runs into trouble at an Indiana club date … after starting the show four hours late, Neil pulls the plug after just three songs saying he is feeling ill and suggests that the audience of "rednecks" doesn't appreciate his talent … a riot by 500 surly ticket holders is narrowly averted by the prompt arrival of the cops … after touring as part of the sixth annual Lollapalooza festival, The Ramones soldier on to Los Angeles to perform their 2,263rd and final show …
2000, the Jimi Hendrix estate successfully evicts the holder of the web domain jimihendrix.com …
2003, during a radio interview, Ted Nugent says that the people of Illinois are "spineless, apathetic, embarrassing wimps" for their lack of involvement in their state government … Nugent's comments result from his displeasure over the state's gun laws … despite his scorn, Nugent will play the Illinois State Fair later in the day … fortunately for the Motor City Madman, the audience is apparently a bunch of embarrassing wimps who are too spineless and apathetic to demand refunds …
2005, Leonard Cohen files a suit against his former business manager charging that Kelley Lynch ripped him off for $5 million from 1994 through 1999 while Cohen was chilling in a Buddhist center … FCC chairman Kevin Martin announces that his agency is investigating payola by record labels in the wake of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's settlement of $10 million with New York over charges that the company plied key radio stations with lavish gifts and money to get its releases played … the list of artists who benefitted from Sony's generosity include Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Gretchen Wilson, Audioslave, and Celine Dion …
2008, the format of Rolling Stone magazine is downsized from large-format pages to a traditional magazine size to spur lagging sales … singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who has a long history of supporting liberal causes, files suit against presidential candidate John McCain and the Ohio Republican Party for using his 1977 hit "Running on Empty" without permission … The Allman Brothers sue Universal Music Group for more than $10 million charging that they are owed royalties on downloads and CD sales of material they cut on the Capricorn label between 1969 and 1980 … The Police cap their 150-show world tour with a two-hour tour de force at Madison Square Garden … the first Police tour in 20 years, it started shakily and gained momentum as it went along … reflecting on the early shows, drummer Stewart Copeland is brutally frank, "At the beginning, we were crap. Each one of us had our own opinion of what was wrong … which could be summed up as 'the other two guys'" …
2009, Eddie Van Halen is reported to be mending from surgery intended to deal with severe pain in his left hand … it is estimated that healing will be a four to six-month process …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 5: jazz singer Jeri Southern (1926), Vern Gosdin (1934), R&B vocalist Damita Jo (1940), guitarist Lenny Breau (1941), percussionist Airto Moreira (1941), sax player Rick Huxley of The Dave Clark Five (1942), country star Sammi Smith (1943), Rick Derringer of The McCoys (1947), Gregory Leskew of Guess Who (1947), Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister (1954), Pat Smear of Foo Fighters (1959), Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive (1959), Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys (1964)
August 6: Delta bluesman Willie Brown (1900), The Ravens' Jimmy Ricks (1924), jazz bassist Charlie Haden (1937), Isaac Hayes (1938), Judy Craig of The Chiffons (1946), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (1948), Pat McDonald of Timbuk 3 (1951), Randy DeBarge (1958), singer-songwriter Elliot Smith (1969), Geri Halliwell a.k.a. Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls (1972)
August 7: multi-instrumentalist jazz bandleader Benny Carter (1907), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1910), pianist Mose Vinson (1917), lyricist Felice Bryant (1925), The Platters' Herb Reed (1931), multi-instrumentalist jazz titan Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936), Magic Slim—born Morris Holt (1937), pop vocalist Ron Holden (1939), B.J. Thomas (1942), Alfa Anderson of Chic (1946), Rodney Crowell (1950), bassist-songwriter Andy Fraser of Free (1952), Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden—not THE Bruce Dickinson (1958), Jacqui O'Sullivan of Bananarama (1960), Ian Dench of EMF (1964), Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses (1964)
August 8: bandleader Lucky Millender (1900), honky-tonk vocalist Webb Pierce (1921), blues and jazz singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), blues singer Al King (1923), Sonny Til of The Orioles (1925), Mel Tillis (1932), pedal steel player extraordinaire Pete Drake (1932), Joe Tex (1933), pop singer Connie Stevens (1938), Philip E. Balsley of the Statler Brothers (1939), John "Jay" David of Dr. Hook (1942), English guitar virtuoso John Renbourn (1944), The Grateful Dead's Ron "Pig Pen" McKernan (1946), Airrion Love of The Stylistics (1949), Stax-Volt drummer Willie Hall (1950), Madness guitarist Chris Foreman (1955), Ali Score of Flock of Seagulls (1956), Dennis Drew of 10,000 Maniacs (1957), Ricki Rockett of Poison (1959), U2's The Edge a.k.a. David Evans (1961), Kool Moe Dee (1962), Aaron Abeyta of NOFX (1965), Creed singer Scott Stapp (1973), JC Chasez of *NSYNC (1976), Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees (1976)
August 9: barrelhouse pianist Robert Shaw (1908), string band musician Odell Thompson (1911), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1913), Bill Henderson of The Spinners (1939), jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette (1942), Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring (1946), Barbara Mason (1947), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1955), rapper Kurtis Blow (1959), Aimee Mann (1960), Whitney Houston (1963), Arion Salazar of Third Eye Blind (1970)
August 10: Leo Fender (1909), country singer-sausage king Jimmy Dean (1928), bluegrass ace Jimmy Martin (1929), country-pop entertainer Larry Finnegan (1938), Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (1940), Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes (1947), Ian Anderson (1947), Patti Austin (1948), INXS drummer Jon Farriss (1961), singer Neneh Cherry (1964), Todd Nichols of Toad The Wet Sprocket (1967), Michael Bivins of New Edition (1968), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (1977)
August 11: Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1942), David Box—a Buddy Holly soundalike who ironically also died in a plane crash (1943), Jim Kale of Guess Who (1943), Eric Carmen (1949), Joe Jackson (1955), Bragi Olafsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), guitarist Charlie Sexton (1968), Chris "Mack Daddy" Kelly of Kriss Kross (1968), Ali of A Tribe Called Quest (1970), J-Boog of B2K (1985)
Departures:
August 5: bassist Randy Hobbs of The McCoys and Johnny Winter (1993), drummer Jeff Porcaro of Toto (1992), N'awlins bluesman Isidore "Tuts" Washington (1984), avant-garde bassist George Scott (1980), The Who's first manager Pete Meadon (1978), country guitarist Luther Perkins (1968), one-man blues band Joe Hill Louis (1957)
August 6: Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti (2007), jazz bassist Keter Betts (2005), legendary Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer (2005), Rick James (2004), guitarist Tommy Mottola (2004), the U.K.'s answer to Louis Armstrong, Nat Gonella (1998), new wave singer Klaus Nomi (1983), blueswoman Memphis Minnie (1973), trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke (1931)
August 7: country guitarist William "Billy" Byrd (2001), harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler (2001), record store mogul Sam Goody (1991), R&B chanteuse Esther Phillips (1984), Homer a.k.a. Henry Haynes of Homer & Jethro (1971)
August 8: pianist Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan (2006), alto sax man Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (1975)
August 9: composer David Raskin (2004), Drowning Pool's Dave Williams (2002), producer Bob Herbert (1999), Jerry Garcia (1995), New Orleans session sax man Clarence Ford (1994), reggae singer Wilfred "Jackie" Edwards (1992), Brandon Mitchell, rapper with Wreckx-N-Effects (1990), trumpet player Bill Chase (1974), Lillian Roxon, one of rock's first music critics (1973), Joe Gilbert of Joe and Eddie (1966)
August 10: singer-songwriter-soul man Isaac Hayes (2008), Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser (2002), Bill Baker of The Five Satins (1994), New Orleans sax man Clarence Ford (1994), Ed Roberts of Ruby And The Romantics (1993), jazz singer Ernestine Allen (1992), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1965), blues diva Lucille Bogan of "Shave 'em Dry" infamy (1948)
August 11: pedal steel player Don Helms (2008), singer-talk show host Mike Douglas (2006), conductor Rafael Kubelick (1996), The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1996), bandleader-pianist Sonny Thompson (1989), Percy Mayfield—one day short of his 64th birthday (1984)
Prompted by the entry on Axl Rose, just got through a book on the band Guns n' Roses. Seems that concerts starting several hours late and then finishing abruptly as Axl stormed off the stage were very common. Ah...the wild men of rock.