Week In Review
May 6, 2010
Bell-Drell Bustup … Tripping Turtles … Keefe Konks Crown …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1824, one of the world's best-loved pieces of music, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, is performed for the first time …
1911, Robert Johnson is born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi … probably the most influential bluesman to emerge in the 20th century, his songs and riffs have become a foundation for the genre …
1944, country singer Jimmie Davis becomes governor of Louisiana … his most famous composition, "You Are My Sunshine," will become the state song …
1960, Neil Sedaka's "Stairway to Heaven" peaks at #9 on the Billboard pop chart … the teen-romance ditty has nothing whatever to do with Led Zep's later hit of the same name …
1963, The Rolling Stones cut their first 45, a cover of a Chuck Berry obscurity "Come On" …
1965, while toying with a newly acquired fuzz box in a Florida hotel room, Keith Richards comes up with the riff that will later become the hook in "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" …
1967, Archie Bell, leader of The Drells, is drafted into the army where he'll soon be performing for Uncle Sam in Vietnam … exactly a year later, while his infectious hit "Tighten Up" rides the top of the pop chart, Bell languishes in a VA hospital recovering from his wounds …
1969, at the invitation of First Daughter Tricia Nixon, the Turtles perform at Tricky Dick's White House … singer Mark Volman is so happy to be there he reportedly falls off the stage five times … legend has it that the band spent the night smoking spliffs in the Lincoln Bedroom …
1973, Paul Simon starts his first solo tour following his divorce from Art Garfunkel …
1981, reggae star Bob Marley succumbs to cancer …
1983, having blown all the money his 1979 million-selling Bat Out of Hell album had garnered, Marvin Lee Aday, better known to fans as Meat Loaf, files for bankruptcy …
1990, Tom Waits is awarded 2.3 million bucks by a jury in a suit against Frito-Lay, who brazenly ripped off Waits' vocal and songwriting style for a Doritos ad … the decision will be appealed and wind up at an appeals court in January 1993, where Frito-Lay will finally be forced to cough up the money …
1991, Ozzy Osbourne wins a court case in which a couple of Macon, Georgia, parents blamed their son's suicide on Ozzy's music … Bushwick Bill of the rap group The Geto Boys takes a bullet in the face from his girlfriend … the 4-1/2 foot-tall rapper winds up losing his eye after threatening the woman's three-month-old son, then handing her a loaded .22, saying he wants to die …
1994, Tupac Shakur goes to jail for a couple weeks as a result of his 1993 attack on Allen Hughes, the director of the movie Menace II Society in which Shakur had a part … the rapper was cut from the production …
1995, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray reunite to play a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan in the late guitar slinger's home town of Austin, Texas … all five had appeared with SRV at his last show on August 26, 1990, just before he took that fateful helicopter ride …
1998, in perhaps the most unlikely pairing since Hendrix opened for the Monkees, Jimmy Page duets on Saturday Night Live with rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs … the pair perform "Come With Me," featuring a sampled guitar riff from Zep's "Kashmir" …
2000, a federal appeals court gives Michael Bolton the thumbs down when he tries to weasel out of a $5.4 million jury award levied against him for ripping off the Isley Brothers' "Love is a Wonderful Thing" in his song of the same name …
2002, Dionne Warwick is arrested at Miami International Airport when she attempts to smuggle 11 joints aboard a plane in her carry-on bag …
2006, after holding out for three years, Red Hot Chili Peppers agrees to post its catalog on the iTunes website … the deal includes the band's latest 28-song double CD, Stadium Arcadium that can be downloaded for $19.90 … after spending 736 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon enjoys another 759 weeks on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart … that adds up to a staggering 1,500 weeks total … the nearest competitor is Bob Marley's Legend … but it's years behind, having notched a mere 845 weeks … Keith Richards undergoes surgery in New Zealand for a head injury sustained while scaling a palm tree in Fiji trying to retrieve coconuts …
2007, indie label Kill Rock Stars issues a two-disc compilation of mostly unreleased material by the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith … titled New Moon, the CD set includes tracks recorded between 1994 and 1997 … Smith's body bearing two stab wounds was discovered at his L.A. home in October 2003 … although the cause of death was widely reported as suicide, the coroner never established that … it's official: British band New Order, which arose from the ashes of post-punk band Joy Division in the early 1980s, has broken up according to a web posting by the group's bass player … Sammy Hagar reaps a cool $80 million when he sells off his majority interest in the Cabo Wabo tequila brand to Campari/Skyy Spirits … that should keep his margarita glass well salted …
2009, the album Playing for Change debuts at #10 on the Billboard album chart … the record is the work of L.A. engineer Mark Johnson, who spent four years circling the globe with a digital recording rig, capturing performances of classic tunes like Bob Marley's "One Love" by street musicians … back in the studio, Johnson edited the performances together to create seamless songs that took YouTube by storm followed by a theatrically released documentary … TV producer Norman Lear, who saw the doc at the Tribeca Film Festival, is impressed enough to release the CD through his Concord Music Group … Bob Dylan is spotted on a public tour of John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool that's now a museum to the late Beatle … a staff member recalls that Dylan "seemed to enjoy his visit, really poring over the books and photos; [he] found the kitchen fascinating, commenting that it reminded him of his own upbringing" … Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell tears a calf muscle mid-set in Atlanta … recalling the injury Farrell says "It felt like a knot exploded and went in two directions, like a rubber band" … like a trooper, Farrell finishes the set before having his leg examined … "There was this hot male nurse, and my wife came along—it was pretty kinky. We should've shot a porn" … Farrell acknowledges he's blown off his doctor's orders by getting rid of the prescribed crutches, "But I am following his advice and taking all the great meds!"… and in other medically related news this week, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan is successfully operated on for a malignant bladder tumor … the surgery interrupts the band's months-long European stadium tour that is set to resume June 8 …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 6: singer Peggy Lee (1920), Chicago bluesman Eddie C. Campbell (1939), Herb Cox of the Cleftones (1939), Mungo Jerry keyboardist Colin Earl (1942), Bob Seger (1945), Robbie McIntosh of Average White Band (1950), Davey Johnstone of Elton John's band (1951), Billy Burnette of Fleetwood Mac (1954), John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants (1960), Mark Ryan of Hootie and the Blowfish (1967)
May 7: Johannes Brahms (1833), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840), jazz/pop singer Teresa Brewer (1931), Beatles' publicist Derek Taylor (1932), Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin (1939), Johnny Maestro of The Crests (1939), Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls (1945), Bill Dannoff of Starland Vocal Band (1946), folksinger Janis Ian (1951), Whitesnake axeman Bernie Marsden (1951), Marty Wilson-Piper of The Church (1959), Motörhead's Phil Campbell (1961)
May 8: jazz pianist Mary Lou Willams (1910), blues legend Robert Johnson (1911), Top 40 radio format pioneer Todd Storz (1924), Ricky Nelson (1940), frat party scenemaker John Fred (1941), Paul Samwell-Smith of The Yardbirds (1943), Toni Tennille of the Captain and Tennille (1943), Chris Frantz of Talking Heads (1951), Phillip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire (1951), Alex Van Halen (1955), Dave Rowntree of Blur (1964), Savage Garden's Darren Hayes (1972), Latino pop star Enrique Iglesias (1975)
May 9: country singer Hank Snow (1914), Nokie Edwards of The Ventures (1935), Dave Prater of Sam and Dave (1937), Sonny Curtis of The Crickets (1937), Pete Birrell of Freddie and The Dreamers (1941), pop singer Tommy Roe (1942), Ritchie Furay of Buffalo Springfield and Poco (1944), Blood, Sweat and Tears' Steve Katz (1945), Billy Joel (1949), Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode (1962), Paul Heaton of The Housemartins (1962)
May 10: Fred Astaire (1899), country pioneer "Mother" Maybelle Carter (1909), session guitarist Bert Weedon (1920), Cliff Goldsmith of The Olympics (1925), Fats Domino (1929), New Orleans singer Larry Williams (1935), soul singer Arthur Alexander (1940), Texas rockabilly figure "Groovy" Joe Poovey (1941), Danny Rapp of Danny & The Juniors (1941), Donovan born Donovan Phillip Leitch (1946), Graham Goldman of 10cc (1946), Traffic's Dave Mason (1947), prolific reggae drummer Sly Dunbar (1952), Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie (1957), Bono born Paul Hewson (1960), Krist Novoselic of Nirvana (1965), Young MC (1967), Jason Dalyrimple of Soul for Real (1980)
May 11: Irving Berlin (1888), British blues diva Beryl Bryden (1920), record exec Ewart Abner (1923), Who manager Kit Lambert (1935), jazz pianist-composer Carla Bley (1938), Eric Burdon of The Animals and War (1941), Les Chadwick of Gerry and the Pacemakers (1943), Arnie Silver of The Dovells (1943), Art of Noise's Jonathan Jeczalik (1955)
May 12: Burt Bacharach (1928), The Cardinals' Leon Hardy (1932), Jayotis Washington of The Persuasions (1941), New Wave singer Ian Dury (1942), singer-songwriter Billy Swan (1942), Ian McLagan of Small Faces (1945), Steve Winwood (1948), Billy Squier (1950), Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn (1955), Black Sabbath singer Ray Gillen (1959), Billy Duffy of The Cult (1961)
Departures:
May 6: Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Ean Evans (2009), guitarist Stephen Bruton (2009), Chicago harp player Carey Bell (2007), Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens (2006), jazz pianist Hilton Ruiz (2006), jazz guitarist Barney Kessel (2004), Otis Blackwell, writer of "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up" (2002), Clarence Paul of The "5" Royales (1995), guitarist Billy Johnson of The Moonglows (1987), Skatalites leader Don Drummond (1969)
May 7: country singer Eddie Rabbit (1998), Alphonso Howell of The Sensations (1998), Cult drummer Nigel Preston (1992), Pacific Gas and Electric singer Charles Allen (1990)
May 8: country star Eddie Arnold (2008), Phil Spector's chief engineer Larry Levine (2008), Abbey Road cover photographer Iain Macmillan (2006), jazz yodeler Leon Thomas (1999), Ronald Koal of Ronald Koal and the Trillionaires (1993), pianist Rudolf Serkin (1991), disco record exec Neil Bogart (1982), English R&B trailblazer Graham Bond (1974)
May 9: songwriter Shel Silverstein (1999), blues harpist Lester Butler (1998), cowboy-chic tailor Nudie Cohn (1984)
May 10: jazz pianist John Hicks (2006), Colombian singer Soraya (2006), confidante to the stars and Astral Studios mogul Burnetta "Bunny" Jones (1998)
May 11: original Rush drummer John Rutsey (2008), Philadelphia International artist and producer John Whitehead (2004), Noel Redding (2003), Chess Records singer-guitarist Danny Overbea (1994), Bob Marley (1981), banjo star Lester Flatt (1979)
May 12: jazz clarinetist John LaPorta (2004), MOR star Perry Como (2001), sax man "Big" John Greer (1972)
Re:Chas's Music Column - Bumber December Issue W/E 15th, 22nd & 29thr
willem wrote:
Hi Willem, parts are cut and paste some of it is edited. Just depends on the various sources I have.
Chas respect to you,,but i hope it's just cut and paste,,wish we could do that on the strings,,,great work man,,,G'' weekend to you,,i think when we have sunday to enjoy you people must to work it's monday then?//
Hi Willem, parts are cut and paste some of it is edited. Just depends on the various sources I have.
Week In Review
May 13, 2010
Pete's In The Pokey … Rubin's In Big Money … Meg Set To Re-Marry …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1933, knowing he will soon die of tuberculosis and wanting to provide for his family, Jimmy Rodgers, aka the Singing Brakeman and the Blue Yodeler, begins his final recording sessions with Peer records … Rodgers is accompanied by a nurse throughout the sessions and rests on a cot between songs … he dies two days after laying down his last tracks …
1945, the first album chart debuts in the U.S. … albums consist of collections of 78rpm discs that usually come in a box or sleeved binder …
1955, on the second night of a back-to-back engagement at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, Elvis Presley sparks the first riot of his burgeoning career with the phrase, "Girls, I'll see you backstage" … the female portion of the 14,000-strong audience goes into such a frenzy that the once-and-future King's clothes and shoes are torn from his body as he tries to escape … after witnessing the event Colonel Tom Parker is convinced of Elvis' marketability …
1956, Buddy Holly gets fitted for his first pair of contact lenses … as fate would have it, the creator of the Elvis Costello look can't stand the eye irritation and sticks with his trademark spectacles …
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from his second wife … six months after marrying his third wife, and second cousin, Myra Gale Brown … it's a big week for R&B as The Clovers sign with Poplar Records after seven years with Atlantic … The Drifter's classic "Drip Drop" is released, and Jerry Butler & the Impressions make their recording debut with "For Your Precious Love" …
1960, instead of touring as the backup band for Billy Fury, the job they had been offered, The Silver Beatles wind up on tour in Scotland this week with Johnny Gentle, a Liverpool pop singer … feeling it beneath their dignity, the members use fake names for the tour … Paul becomes Paul Ramone (a surname later appropriated by four Forest Hills, Queens, punks in the mid-70s), George becomes Carl Harrison (a nod to Carl Perkins), and Stu Sutcliffe temporarily becomes Stu deStael …
1964, a Shreveport, LA radio station proclaims Elvis Presley Week … they feature a Presley song every hour and give away Presley albums and singles … it is all in a failed attempt to counter the attention being given to The Beatles …
1965, FBI agents drop in on Wand Records … they are investigating the song "Louie Louie" as recorded by The Kingsmen to determine just what the lyrics really are … the FBI's report concludes that no obscene lyrics can be distinguished and that much of the song is unintelligible gibberish …
1967, Brian Wilson shelves his opus magnum album Smile that he's previously referred to as his "teenage symphony to God" … its non-release spurs decades of speculation over what tracks would have been released, in what order, and how great the album may or may not have been … a newly recorded version will appear in 2004 …
1968, disavowing the Beatles' discipleship at the feet of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, John Lennon says, "We made a mistake. He's human like the rest of us." …
1969, a fire breaks out in a grocery store next to the Fillmore East while The Who are playing there … one of New York's finest in plain clothes mounts the stage with the intent of grabbing the mike to warn the crowd of the fire … Pete Townshend mistakes the cop for an over-enthusiastic fan and aggressively ejects him from the stage … when the word finally gets out over the PA, the crowd thinks it's a hoax until the cops forcibly remove Townshend from the stage … he spends the night in the Big Apple pokey for his mistake …
1978, Philips announces it will launch the Compact Disc with digital recording and playback systems … in 1982 Japan receives the first CDs … a year later in Europe and the U.S., CD players are selling for $1,000 … Iggy Pop's new LP is T.V. Eye, recorded live the previous year with David Bowie playing keyboards on several tunes …
1979, Patti Smith tells the New York Daily News that she's relocating her base of musical operations from NYC to Detroit where she'll live with her new beau (and future husband) Fred Smith, former guitarist with MC5 … her frank appraisal of what she's leaving behind: "I really have no patience at all for so much of the crap in the punk rock scene … all this sh** sticking safety pins in cheeks and all the f***ing violence, I feel, is just a style and fad." …
1980, a Memphis court indicts Dr. George C. Nichopoulos on 14 counts of overprescribing drugs to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, plus nine other patients … in 1977, Dr. Nick prescribed 10,000 hits of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones for Presley … the indictment results in 22 years of legal wrangling and, ultimately, the end of Dr. Nick's medical career … INXS debuts in their native Australia with the single "Simple Simon" … Devo's third LP Freedom of Choice features what will become their most well-known song, "Whip It" …
1981, Toni Basil's new single is "Mickey" … its high-school cheerleader video goes into heavy rotation on MTV … all together now: "Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey." … formerly, Toni was an assistant choreographer and dancer on Shindig and The T.A.M.I Show, and later choreographs videos and shows for The Talking Heads, David Bowie, Bette Midler, and Tina Turner, and is a guest judge on seasons four and five of So You Think You Can Dance … as an actress she appears in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces …
1986, Elvis Costello and Pogues singer-bassist Cait O'Riordan take the matrimonial plunge … their marriage comes on the heels of Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, the Pogues' latest release …
1990, Elton John plays at the Taj Mahal … that is, the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City … the occasion is the Donald Trump-owned casino's grand opening …
1993, Barry White, Bette Midler, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers all appear as guest voices for their respective cartoon counterparts on the season finale of The Simpsons …
2000, The Artist announces that he will reclaim the name Prince, ending a seven-year period during which his legal name was an unpronounceable symbol … he originally changed his name June 7, 1993 … the symbol, which is an amalgam of the male, female, and soapstone alchemy symbols, is retained as a logo …
2004, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco completes a stint in rehab to kick an addiction to painkillers he developed while battling migraines … Tweedy's stay had forced the band to cancel a handful of tour dates, including a stop at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California … two weeks after he checks out of the Chicago-area treatment center the band will hit the road to tour behind the group's fifth album A Ghost Is Born …
2006, Rolling Stone reports that music downloads are up 83 percent for the year and digital downloading has become a significant piece of the pie, accounting for 14 percent of music sales … Paul McCartney and Heather Mills announce that their four-year marriage is splitsville and they will separate … in an announcement, the couple states, "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways" …
2007, 79-year-old Fats Domino plays his first gig since Hurricane Katrina struck the Big Easy … his 30-minute set at Tipitina's reprises all his big hits including "I'm Walkin'" and "Blueberry Hill" … while rounding up film footage of The Who for a planned documentary about the seminal band, filmmaker Murray Lerner turns up film shot at their legendary Live at Leeds show … a former Leeds University student found it literally at the bottom of a barrel … the movie, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is released in the fall … Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray and guitarist John LeCompt are summarily canned … LeCompt reports on his blog that he was fired on the phone by frontwoman Amy Lee who later posts a comment on the band website, "Evanescence is alive and well. [John and Rocky] were ready to move on." … Midas-touch producer Rick Rubin cuts a deal with Columbia Records in which he assumes co-chairmanship of the company while also bringing his imprint, American Recordings, into the Columbia fold … a master at working both sides of the street, Rubin's deal allows him to continue to produce records for artists on other major labels …
2008, after issuing his recent work on Rhino and Nonesuch, former Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson returns to Capitol Records for the release of his new album, That Lucky Old Sun, his first studio album since 2004's Gettin' In Over My Head …
2009, after a three-decade performance hiatus in the U.S., Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, plays a show at the El Rey Theatre in L.A … White Stripes drummer Meg White is engaged to marry Jackson Smith, son of Patti Smith and the late Fred "Sonic" Smith of MC5 … Bob Dylan's 33rd studio album, Together Through Life, debuts in the top slot on the Billboard album chart … in doing so, Dylan unseats Neil Diamond as the oldest artist to accomplish this feat …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 13: editor of the Schwann Catalog William Schwann (1913), Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (1926), The Weavers’ Fred Hellerman (1927), Harold Winley of The Clovers (1933), Ritchie Valens born Richard Valenzuela (1941), Mary Wells (1943), Carolyn Franklin (1944), harp player "Magic" Dick Salwitz of The J. Geils Band (1945), bassist Danny Klein of The J.Geils Band (1946), Peter "Overend" Watts of Mott the Hoople (1947), Stevie Wonder born Steveland Morris (1950), Danny Kirwan of Fleetwood Mac (1950), Paul Thompson of Roxy Music (1951), Darius Carlos Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish (1966)
May 14: Bobby Darin born Walden Robert Cassotto (1936), songwriter Ed Labunski (1937), Jack Bruce of Cream (1943), Derek Leckenby of Herman's Hermits (1943), Gene Cornish of The Rascals (1945), David Byrne (1952), Ian Astbury of The Cult (1962), C.C. DeVille of Poison (1962), Mike Inez of Alice in Chains (1966), Fabrice "Fab" Morvan of Milli Vanilli (1966), Danny Wood of New Kids on the Block (1969), Freaky Tah of The Lost Boyz (1971), Natalie Appleton of All Saints (1973), R&B singer Shanice (1973)
May 15: country singer Eddy Arnold (1918), Joe Cuoghi, owner of Hi Records (1922), folk singer Utah Phillips (1935), singer-guitarist Trini Lopez (1937), country singer K.T. Oslin (1942), Graham Goble of the Little River Band (1947), Brian Eno (1948), Dennis Fredericksen of Toto (1951), Dwight Twilly Band drummer-singer Phil Seymour (1952), Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame (1953), Prince Be of PM Dawn (1970), Ahmet Zappa (1974)
May 16: flamboyant pianist Liberace (1919), jazz singer Betty Carter (1930), The Diamonds' Ted Kowalski (1931), singer Kripp Johnson of The Del-Vikings (1933), jazz drummer Billy Cobham (1944), guitarist Robert Fripp (1946), Darrell Sweet, drummer with Nazareth (1947), The Chiffons' Barbara Lee (1947), Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic (1965), Janet Jackson (1966), New Edition's Ralph Tresvant (1968)
May 17: composer Erik Satie (1866), guitarist Malcolm Hale of Spanky And Our Gang (1941), R&B pianist-vocalist-author Sonny Knight (1934), roots musician Taj Mahal (1942), singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester (1944), drummer Bill Bruford (1949), George Johnson of The Brothers Johnson (1953), Iron Maiden's Paul Di'anno (1958), singer-songwriter Enya, born Eithne N' Bhraonáin (1961), Page McConnell of Phish (1963), Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese (1964), Trent Reznor (1965), Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block (1970), Kandi Burruss of R&B girl group Xscape (1976)
May 18: Kansas City blues shouter "Big" Joe Turner (1911), crooner Perry Como (1918), Glenn Hardin of The Crickets (1939), T Rex bass player Bobby Del Din (1942), Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys (1948), Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman (1949), country singer George Strait (1952)
May 19: U.K. pop star Alma Cogan (1932), Pete Townshend (1945), Phil Rudd of AC/DC (1946), Blood, Sweat and Tears saxophonist Gregory Herbert (1947), ZZ Top's Dusty Hill (1949), Joey Ramone (1951), Grace Jones (1952), Heaven 17's Martyn Ware (1956), Ian Harvie of Del Amitri (1962), Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base (1972)
Departures:
May 13: session trumpeter Floyd Arceneaux (1992), Bob Wills (1975)
May 14: jazz musician Charles "Buddy" Montgomery, brother of Monk and Wes Montgomery (2009), bluegrass singer-guitarist Jimmy Martin (2005), Frank Sinatra (1998), Rudy West of The Five Keys (1998), Keith Relf of the Yardbirds (1976)
May 15: Star Trek TV theme composer Alexander "Sandy" Courage (2008), Rob Gretton, manager of Joy Division and New Order (1999), Frederick Van Pallandt, half of the Danish duo Nina and Frederick (1994), Barbara Alston of The Crystals (1992), Paul Wilson, baritone singer with The Flamingoes (1988)
May 16: Clifford Antone, owner of Antone's, the Austin club where SRV got his start (2006), '60s soul singer Marv Johnson (1993), song and dance man Sammy Davis Jr. (1990), pianist, arranger, and producer Ernie Freeman (1981), songwriter Arthur Gunter (1976)
May 17: Lawrence "Ramrod" Shurtliff, longtime Grateful Dead roadie (2006), Bon Jovi producer Bruce Fairbairn (1999), Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1996), bandleader Lawrence Welk (1992), Roy Montrell, guitarist with Fats Domino's band (1979)
May 18: jazz drum titan Elvin Jones (2004), influential reggae producer Augusto Pablo (1999), Robert Carr of the duo Robert & Johnny (1993), John Fenton, singer with The Diamonds (1982), Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis (1980), composer Gustav Mahler (1911)
May 19: Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers (2006), Harold Kelling, guitarist with The Hampton Grease Band (2005), blues singer Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore (2004), singer-violinist Freyda Epstein of Trapezoid (2003), jazz singer Susannah McCorkle (2001), gospel and soul singer Odia Coates (1991), Ron Wilson, cousin of The Beach Boy Wilsons and member of The Surfaris (1989), Gene Mumford, lead singer of Billy Ward & The Dominos (1977), tenor sax master Coleman Hawkins (1969), composer Charles Ives (1954)
May 13, 2010
Pete's In The Pokey … Rubin's In Big Money … Meg Set To Re-Marry …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1933, knowing he will soon die of tuberculosis and wanting to provide for his family, Jimmy Rodgers, aka the Singing Brakeman and the Blue Yodeler, begins his final recording sessions with Peer records … Rodgers is accompanied by a nurse throughout the sessions and rests on a cot between songs … he dies two days after laying down his last tracks …
1945, the first album chart debuts in the U.S. … albums consist of collections of 78rpm discs that usually come in a box or sleeved binder …
1955, on the second night of a back-to-back engagement at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, Elvis Presley sparks the first riot of his burgeoning career with the phrase, "Girls, I'll see you backstage" … the female portion of the 14,000-strong audience goes into such a frenzy that the once-and-future King's clothes and shoes are torn from his body as he tries to escape … after witnessing the event Colonel Tom Parker is convinced of Elvis' marketability …
1956, Buddy Holly gets fitted for his first pair of contact lenses … as fate would have it, the creator of the Elvis Costello look can't stand the eye irritation and sticks with his trademark spectacles …
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from his second wife … six months after marrying his third wife, and second cousin, Myra Gale Brown … it's a big week for R&B as The Clovers sign with Poplar Records after seven years with Atlantic … The Drifter's classic "Drip Drop" is released, and Jerry Butler & the Impressions make their recording debut with "For Your Precious Love" …
1960, instead of touring as the backup band for Billy Fury, the job they had been offered, The Silver Beatles wind up on tour in Scotland this week with Johnny Gentle, a Liverpool pop singer … feeling it beneath their dignity, the members use fake names for the tour … Paul becomes Paul Ramone (a surname later appropriated by four Forest Hills, Queens, punks in the mid-70s), George becomes Carl Harrison (a nod to Carl Perkins), and Stu Sutcliffe temporarily becomes Stu deStael …
1964, a Shreveport, LA radio station proclaims Elvis Presley Week … they feature a Presley song every hour and give away Presley albums and singles … it is all in a failed attempt to counter the attention being given to The Beatles …
1965, FBI agents drop in on Wand Records … they are investigating the song "Louie Louie" as recorded by The Kingsmen to determine just what the lyrics really are … the FBI's report concludes that no obscene lyrics can be distinguished and that much of the song is unintelligible gibberish …
1967, Brian Wilson shelves his opus magnum album Smile that he's previously referred to as his "teenage symphony to God" … its non-release spurs decades of speculation over what tracks would have been released, in what order, and how great the album may or may not have been … a newly recorded version will appear in 2004 …
1968, disavowing the Beatles' discipleship at the feet of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, John Lennon says, "We made a mistake. He's human like the rest of us." …
1969, a fire breaks out in a grocery store next to the Fillmore East while The Who are playing there … one of New York's finest in plain clothes mounts the stage with the intent of grabbing the mike to warn the crowd of the fire … Pete Townshend mistakes the cop for an over-enthusiastic fan and aggressively ejects him from the stage … when the word finally gets out over the PA, the crowd thinks it's a hoax until the cops forcibly remove Townshend from the stage … he spends the night in the Big Apple pokey for his mistake …
1978, Philips announces it will launch the Compact Disc with digital recording and playback systems … in 1982 Japan receives the first CDs … a year later in Europe and the U.S., CD players are selling for $1,000 … Iggy Pop's new LP is T.V. Eye, recorded live the previous year with David Bowie playing keyboards on several tunes …
1979, Patti Smith tells the New York Daily News that she's relocating her base of musical operations from NYC to Detroit where she'll live with her new beau (and future husband) Fred Smith, former guitarist with MC5 … her frank appraisal of what she's leaving behind: "I really have no patience at all for so much of the crap in the punk rock scene … all this sh** sticking safety pins in cheeks and all the f***ing violence, I feel, is just a style and fad." …
1980, a Memphis court indicts Dr. George C. Nichopoulos on 14 counts of overprescribing drugs to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, plus nine other patients … in 1977, Dr. Nick prescribed 10,000 hits of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones for Presley … the indictment results in 22 years of legal wrangling and, ultimately, the end of Dr. Nick's medical career … INXS debuts in their native Australia with the single "Simple Simon" … Devo's third LP Freedom of Choice features what will become their most well-known song, "Whip It" …
1981, Toni Basil's new single is "Mickey" … its high-school cheerleader video goes into heavy rotation on MTV … all together now: "Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey." … formerly, Toni was an assistant choreographer and dancer on Shindig and The T.A.M.I Show, and later choreographs videos and shows for The Talking Heads, David Bowie, Bette Midler, and Tina Turner, and is a guest judge on seasons four and five of So You Think You Can Dance … as an actress she appears in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces …
1986, Elvis Costello and Pogues singer-bassist Cait O'Riordan take the matrimonial plunge … their marriage comes on the heels of Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, the Pogues' latest release …
1990, Elton John plays at the Taj Mahal … that is, the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City … the occasion is the Donald Trump-owned casino's grand opening …
1993, Barry White, Bette Midler, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers all appear as guest voices for their respective cartoon counterparts on the season finale of The Simpsons …
2000, The Artist announces that he will reclaim the name Prince, ending a seven-year period during which his legal name was an unpronounceable symbol … he originally changed his name June 7, 1993 … the symbol, which is an amalgam of the male, female, and soapstone alchemy symbols, is retained as a logo …
2004, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco completes a stint in rehab to kick an addiction to painkillers he developed while battling migraines … Tweedy's stay had forced the band to cancel a handful of tour dates, including a stop at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California … two weeks after he checks out of the Chicago-area treatment center the band will hit the road to tour behind the group's fifth album A Ghost Is Born …
2006, Rolling Stone reports that music downloads are up 83 percent for the year and digital downloading has become a significant piece of the pie, accounting for 14 percent of music sales … Paul McCartney and Heather Mills announce that their four-year marriage is splitsville and they will separate … in an announcement, the couple states, "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways" …
2007, 79-year-old Fats Domino plays his first gig since Hurricane Katrina struck the Big Easy … his 30-minute set at Tipitina's reprises all his big hits including "I'm Walkin'" and "Blueberry Hill" … while rounding up film footage of The Who for a planned documentary about the seminal band, filmmaker Murray Lerner turns up film shot at their legendary Live at Leeds show … a former Leeds University student found it literally at the bottom of a barrel … the movie, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is released in the fall … Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray and guitarist John LeCompt are summarily canned … LeCompt reports on his blog that he was fired on the phone by frontwoman Amy Lee who later posts a comment on the band website, "Evanescence is alive and well. [John and Rocky] were ready to move on." … Midas-touch producer Rick Rubin cuts a deal with Columbia Records in which he assumes co-chairmanship of the company while also bringing his imprint, American Recordings, into the Columbia fold … a master at working both sides of the street, Rubin's deal allows him to continue to produce records for artists on other major labels …
2008, after issuing his recent work on Rhino and Nonesuch, former Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson returns to Capitol Records for the release of his new album, That Lucky Old Sun, his first studio album since 2004's Gettin' In Over My Head …
2009, after a three-decade performance hiatus in the U.S., Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, plays a show at the El Rey Theatre in L.A … White Stripes drummer Meg White is engaged to marry Jackson Smith, son of Patti Smith and the late Fred "Sonic" Smith of MC5 … Bob Dylan's 33rd studio album, Together Through Life, debuts in the top slot on the Billboard album chart … in doing so, Dylan unseats Neil Diamond as the oldest artist to accomplish this feat …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 13: editor of the Schwann Catalog William Schwann (1913), Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (1926), The Weavers’ Fred Hellerman (1927), Harold Winley of The Clovers (1933), Ritchie Valens born Richard Valenzuela (1941), Mary Wells (1943), Carolyn Franklin (1944), harp player "Magic" Dick Salwitz of The J. Geils Band (1945), bassist Danny Klein of The J.Geils Band (1946), Peter "Overend" Watts of Mott the Hoople (1947), Stevie Wonder born Steveland Morris (1950), Danny Kirwan of Fleetwood Mac (1950), Paul Thompson of Roxy Music (1951), Darius Carlos Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish (1966)
May 14: Bobby Darin born Walden Robert Cassotto (1936), songwriter Ed Labunski (1937), Jack Bruce of Cream (1943), Derek Leckenby of Herman's Hermits (1943), Gene Cornish of The Rascals (1945), David Byrne (1952), Ian Astbury of The Cult (1962), C.C. DeVille of Poison (1962), Mike Inez of Alice in Chains (1966), Fabrice "Fab" Morvan of Milli Vanilli (1966), Danny Wood of New Kids on the Block (1969), Freaky Tah of The Lost Boyz (1971), Natalie Appleton of All Saints (1973), R&B singer Shanice (1973)
May 15: country singer Eddy Arnold (1918), Joe Cuoghi, owner of Hi Records (1922), folk singer Utah Phillips (1935), singer-guitarist Trini Lopez (1937), country singer K.T. Oslin (1942), Graham Goble of the Little River Band (1947), Brian Eno (1948), Dennis Fredericksen of Toto (1951), Dwight Twilly Band drummer-singer Phil Seymour (1952), Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame (1953), Prince Be of PM Dawn (1970), Ahmet Zappa (1974)
May 16: flamboyant pianist Liberace (1919), jazz singer Betty Carter (1930), The Diamonds' Ted Kowalski (1931), singer Kripp Johnson of The Del-Vikings (1933), jazz drummer Billy Cobham (1944), guitarist Robert Fripp (1946), Darrell Sweet, drummer with Nazareth (1947), The Chiffons' Barbara Lee (1947), Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic (1965), Janet Jackson (1966), New Edition's Ralph Tresvant (1968)
May 17: composer Erik Satie (1866), guitarist Malcolm Hale of Spanky And Our Gang (1941), R&B pianist-vocalist-author Sonny Knight (1934), roots musician Taj Mahal (1942), singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester (1944), drummer Bill Bruford (1949), George Johnson of The Brothers Johnson (1953), Iron Maiden's Paul Di'anno (1958), singer-songwriter Enya, born Eithne N' Bhraonáin (1961), Page McConnell of Phish (1963), Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese (1964), Trent Reznor (1965), Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block (1970), Kandi Burruss of R&B girl group Xscape (1976)
May 18: Kansas City blues shouter "Big" Joe Turner (1911), crooner Perry Como (1918), Glenn Hardin of The Crickets (1939), T Rex bass player Bobby Del Din (1942), Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys (1948), Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman (1949), country singer George Strait (1952)
May 19: U.K. pop star Alma Cogan (1932), Pete Townshend (1945), Phil Rudd of AC/DC (1946), Blood, Sweat and Tears saxophonist Gregory Herbert (1947), ZZ Top's Dusty Hill (1949), Joey Ramone (1951), Grace Jones (1952), Heaven 17's Martyn Ware (1956), Ian Harvie of Del Amitri (1962), Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base (1972)
Departures:
May 13: session trumpeter Floyd Arceneaux (1992), Bob Wills (1975)
May 14: jazz musician Charles "Buddy" Montgomery, brother of Monk and Wes Montgomery (2009), bluegrass singer-guitarist Jimmy Martin (2005), Frank Sinatra (1998), Rudy West of The Five Keys (1998), Keith Relf of the Yardbirds (1976)
May 15: Star Trek TV theme composer Alexander "Sandy" Courage (2008), Rob Gretton, manager of Joy Division and New Order (1999), Frederick Van Pallandt, half of the Danish duo Nina and Frederick (1994), Barbara Alston of The Crystals (1992), Paul Wilson, baritone singer with The Flamingoes (1988)
May 16: Clifford Antone, owner of Antone's, the Austin club where SRV got his start (2006), '60s soul singer Marv Johnson (1993), song and dance man Sammy Davis Jr. (1990), pianist, arranger, and producer Ernie Freeman (1981), songwriter Arthur Gunter (1976)
May 17: Lawrence "Ramrod" Shurtliff, longtime Grateful Dead roadie (2006), Bon Jovi producer Bruce Fairbairn (1999), Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1996), bandleader Lawrence Welk (1992), Roy Montrell, guitarist with Fats Domino's band (1979)
May 18: jazz drum titan Elvin Jones (2004), influential reggae producer Augusto Pablo (1999), Robert Carr of the duo Robert & Johnny (1993), John Fenton, singer with The Diamonds (1982), Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis (1980), composer Gustav Mahler (1911)
May 19: Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers (2006), Harold Kelling, guitarist with The Hampton Grease Band (2005), blues singer Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore (2004), singer-violinist Freyda Epstein of Trapezoid (2003), jazz singer Susannah McCorkle (2001), gospel and soul singer Odia Coates (1991), Ron Wilson, cousin of The Beach Boy Wilsons and member of The Surfaris (1989), Gene Mumford, lead singer of Billy Ward & The Dominos (1977), tenor sax master Coleman Hawkins (1969), composer Charles Ives (1954)
Week In Review
May 20, 2010
6 or 7 Miles High … Petty Theft … Stapp Dancing With The Law …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1954, Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" is released … however, it will not be successful until 1955, when it is featured on the soundtrack of the movie Blackboard Jungle … Robert Allen Zimmerman celebrates his bar mitzvah … Robert will go on to achieve fame as Bob Dylan …
1955, Ruth Brown's signature song, "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," is banned in Britain by the BBC on the grounds that it might encourage wife beaters … Chuck Berry records his first single, "Ida Red" … during the session, producer Leonard Chess wants a name change … the new name is "Maybellene," inspired by a Chess secretary's makeup case …
1956, upon his return to England following a U.S. tour, bandleader Ted Heath observes: "Rock 'n' roll is mainly performed by colored people for colored people and is therefore unlikely to prove popular in Britain." …
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis makes his English debut … his tour is canceled when the British press reports that Lewis has just married his 14-year-old cousin …
1964, Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" charts for the first time … playing harmonica on the recording is an unknown British singer named Rod Stewart …
1965, "You Really Got Me" takes on new meaning for the Kinks … upon finishing the aforementioned song at Cardiff's Capitol Theater, Dave Davies insults Mick Avory and kicks over his drum kit as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in Taunton, apparently won by Mick … the normally mild-mannered Avory responds by giving Davies a thorough pranging about the head and ears with his hi-hat pedal … Davies is knocked unconscious, requiring 16 stitches to fix the kinks in his melon … Avery flees, hiding out for days to avoid arrest for Grievous Bodily Harm … to placate the police, Avory later claims that it's all part of a new act in which band members would bludgeon each other with their instruments …
1966, Bob Dylan, accompanied by members of what will later become The Band, rocks Royal Albert Hall … the show turns up on white-jacketed bootleg LPs, becoming a hot item among Dylan fans … the Byrd's single "Eight Miles High" is banned by some radio stations because of the lyrics' alleged drug references … as it turns out, Gene Clark, who wrote the song, claimed it was inspired by an airplane flight … according to Clark, airliners fly at six or seven miles up, but eight miles high just sounded better …
1967, Jimi Hendrix signs with Reprise Records, his first recording deal with a major American company … Australia's Easybeats reach number 16 on the U.S. charts with "Friday On My Mind" … the band is led by founder-guitarist George Young, who must have greatly influenced his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus … although the Easybeats had bigger hits Down Under, their downfall, due to management hassles, personnel changes, and yes, dope, places them squarely in the one-hit-wonder department in the U.S …
1970, The Grateful Dead play at the Hollywood Rock Festival in England … it's their first concert outside of the U.S …
1973, Deep Purple releases "Smoke on the Water" … its signature seven-note guitar riff played in parallel fourths becomes an essential repertoire item for garage-band pickers worldwide …
1974, more than a thousand people receive medical care and a 14-year-old girl dies when fans run amok at a London concert starring teen idol David Cassidy …
1981, "All Those Years Ago," George Harrison's tribute to John Lennon, charts for the first time … Ringo Starr and Paul and Linda McCartney are also on the recording …
1989, for failing to produce songs under a 1985 contract, Roy Orbison's estate is sued by the late rocker's music publisher …
1992, Boyz II Men tour manager Khalil Rountree is shot and killed in a Chicago hotel …
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley are secretly married in the Dominican Republic … she sues for divorce 20 months later citing irreconcilable differences …
1998, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee draws a six-month jail sentence for kicking his soon-to-be ex-wife Pamela Anderson Lee … Lee is ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and donate $5,000 to a shelter for battered women …
1999, when they learn that Queen Elizabeth II will be on hand, British punk band Manic Street Preachers turn down an opportunity to play a concert commemorating the opening of Wales' parliament … the band has sworn to never play for the monarchy …
2000, Tom Petty files for bankruptcy protection … dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records, Petty refused to simply be transferred to another record label without his consent … he held fast to his principles for nine long months, which eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy …
2001, country diva Loretta Lynn opens her Coal Miner's Daughter Museum in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee … it's packed with 18,000 square feet of memorabilia gathered by the singer during her four-decade career …
2004, officials in South Carolina pardon "The Godfather of Soul," James Brown for a laundry list of crimes, including drugs and weapons offenses dating back to the 1980s … after copping a plea to being under the influence of a controlled substance, Courtney Love is ordered to enter a drug-rehab program … during a humanitarian tour in Africa, the Canadian band Sum 41 is overrun by the Congo's ongoing civil war … the rockers hide out in a hotel bathroom near the Rwandan border … after seven hours they make their escape in a tank …
2005, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor backs out of performing at the MTV Movie Awards after the network says he can't use an untouched image of President George W. Bush as a backdrop … says Reznor, "We were set to perform "The Hand That Feeds" with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W Bush as the backdrop. Apparently the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me." … sporting a giant afro, producer Phil Spector appears in L.A. Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson … the judge rules that four earlier incidents in which the producer is alleged to have pointed guns at women could be admitted into evidence …
2006, Madonna opens her Confessions world tour in Los Angeles … tickets are sold out in minutes in North America, Europe, and Asia, resulting in new dates being added … the tour will gross more than $260 million—the biggest take in history by a female artist …
2007, a charge against former Creed frontman Scott Stapp stemming from an apparent confrontation with his wife is reduced to a misdemeanor … Stapp had been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony after he threw a bottle of Orangina at his wife and missed … Stapp will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing … apparently, with his alleged history of drug abuse, Stapp is expected to do quite well on the test, but according to authorities, he'll have to make every answer count since there won't be any extra credit … Stapp's former band, Creed, sold more than 25 million records in the United States … he has since launched a solo career … of course, now with his wife on edge and the random alcohol and drug testing, we wonder what Scott will use to prime his creative engines for takeoff when he … you know … flies solo …
2008,The Grateful Dead donate thousands of artifacts to the University of California at Santa Cruz for a planned Dead research center … at a press conference announcing the gift, Dead drummer Mickey Hart jokingly warns curators not to lick any envelopes or touch the stuff without gloves …
2009, Ozzy Osbourne sues Tony Iommi over rights to Black Sabbath's name … Iommi, who registered the Black Sabbath trademark in the U.S. in 2000, claims in a counter-suit that co-founders Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward legally relinquished rights to the band's name in the 1980s … Osbourne believes all four original members should share Black Sabbath's name equally … "I hope," he says, "that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way." …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 20: Vic Ames of the Ames Brothers (1926), singer-pianist Shorty Long of The Inkspots (1940), Jill Jackson aka Paula of Paul and Paula (1942), Joe Cocker (1944), Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian La Pier (1946), Jimmie Henderson of Black Oak Arkansas (1954), The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin (1958), Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills (1960), Haircut 100's Nick Heyward (1961), Tom Garman of Belly (1966), Busta Rhymes (1972), Naturi Naughton of 3LW (1984)
May 21: pianist-composer Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904), Tejano pioneer Lydia Mendoza (1916), King Records producer-songwriter Henry Glover (1921), Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers (1941), Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster (1943), Hilton Valentine of The Animals (1943), T-Rex bass player Steve Currie (1947), Bill Champlin of Chicago (1947)
May 22: composer Richard Wagner (1813), Jimmy Keyes, first tenor with The Chords (1930), Jackie Landry of The Chantels (1941), lyricist and Elton John collaborator, Bernie Taupin (1950), Morrissey of The Smiths (1959), Jesse Valenzuela of The Gin Blossoms (1962), singer-songwriter Johnny Gill of New Edition (1966), Dan Roberts of Crash Test Dummies (1967)
May 23: Vee-Jay Records founder Jimmy Bracken (1908), singer-dancer Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (1910), jazz clarinetist-composer-bandleader Artie Shaw (1910), avant-garde jazz keyboardist Sun Ra, born Herman Blount (1914), R&B songwriter Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (1918), flashy R&B singer Billy Wright (1918), bluesman Arthur Gunter (1926), singer-actress Rosemary Clooney (1928), synth pioneer Robert Moog (1934), Jim Mankey of Concrete Blond (1955), Phil Selway of Radiohead (1967), R&B artist Maxwell, born Gerald Maxwell Rivera (1972), singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher (1974)
May 24: novelty tunesmith Nervous Norvus, born James Drake (1912), Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman (1941), Derek Quinn of Freddie & the Dreamers (1942), R&B and soul singer Patti LaBelle (1942), Sarah Dash of Labelle (1942), Steve Upton of Wishbone Ash (1946), Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult (1947), singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash (1955), rapper Heavy D, born Dwight Myers (1967), Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes (1969), country wunderkind Billy Gilman (1988)
May 25: record store founder "Waxie Maxie" Silverman (1910), avant-garde composer-percussionist Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin (1916), Buddy Holly's producer Norman Petty (1927), R&B singer Donnie Elbert (1936), Levon Helm of The Band (1942), Ray Innes of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1942), country music artist Jessi Colter, born Miriam Johnson Eddy (1943), John "Poli" Palmer of Family (1943), Garry Peterson of The Guess Who (1945), Mitch Margo of The Tokens (1947), Klaus Meine of The Scorpions (1948), Stevie Nicks (1948), Hank Williams Jr. (1949), Verden Allen of Mott the Hoople (1949), mod/punk singer-songwriter Paul Weller (1958), rocker Lenny Kravitz (1964), singer-rapper-songwriter Lauryn Hill (1975)
May 26: blues singer Mamie Smith (1883), Al Jolson (1886), Miles Davis (1926), guitarist Mick Ronson (1946), Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff (1967)
Departures:
May 20: Italian pianist Renato Carosone (2001), blues harp player Willie Foster (2001), David Platz, head of Essex Music (1994), vocalist Rudy Lewis of The Drifters (1964)
May 21: Nicholas Dante co-author of "A Chorus Line" (1991), music industry entrepreneur Morris Levy (1990)
May 22: Everybody lives!
May 23: folk singer Utah Phillips (2008), session guitarist Mike Farrell (2000), Jimmy Fernandez, bassist with God Machine (1994), jazz guitarist Joe Pass (1994), Craig Pike, bassist for Iggy Pop (1993), Will Sin of the Scottish synth band The Shamen, born William Sinnot (1991)
May 24: Wilco singer-songwriter Jay Bennett (2009), smooth jazz bassist and NBA basketball star Wayman Tisdale (2009), Franco-American bebopper Barney Wilen (1996), Gene Clark of The Byrds (1991), Duke Ellington (1974), slide guitar ace Elmore James (1967)
May 25: album photographer David Gahr (2008), Bradley Nowell, lead singer and guitarist of Sublime (1996), funk and jazz guitarist Eric Gale (1994), surf music producer Gary Usher (1990), jazz and blues pianist Lloyd Glenn (1985), New Orleans R&B star Roy Brown (1981), bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson, born Aleck Ford Miller (1965)
May 26: television theme composer Earle Harry Hagen (2008), ska pioneer Desmond Dekker (2006), African guitarist Matima Kinuani Mpiosso (1996), William Powell, singer with The Ojays (1994), jazz and rock guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1994), bluesman "Reverend" Robert Wilkins (1987), R&B star Little Willie John, born William Edgar John (1968)
May 20, 2010
6 or 7 Miles High … Petty Theft … Stapp Dancing With The Law …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1954, Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" is released … however, it will not be successful until 1955, when it is featured on the soundtrack of the movie Blackboard Jungle … Robert Allen Zimmerman celebrates his bar mitzvah … Robert will go on to achieve fame as Bob Dylan …
1955, Ruth Brown's signature song, "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," is banned in Britain by the BBC on the grounds that it might encourage wife beaters … Chuck Berry records his first single, "Ida Red" … during the session, producer Leonard Chess wants a name change … the new name is "Maybellene," inspired by a Chess secretary's makeup case …
1956, upon his return to England following a U.S. tour, bandleader Ted Heath observes: "Rock 'n' roll is mainly performed by colored people for colored people and is therefore unlikely to prove popular in Britain." …
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis makes his English debut … his tour is canceled when the British press reports that Lewis has just married his 14-year-old cousin …
1964, Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" charts for the first time … playing harmonica on the recording is an unknown British singer named Rod Stewart …
1965, "You Really Got Me" takes on new meaning for the Kinks … upon finishing the aforementioned song at Cardiff's Capitol Theater, Dave Davies insults Mick Avory and kicks over his drum kit as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in Taunton, apparently won by Mick … the normally mild-mannered Avory responds by giving Davies a thorough pranging about the head and ears with his hi-hat pedal … Davies is knocked unconscious, requiring 16 stitches to fix the kinks in his melon … Avery flees, hiding out for days to avoid arrest for Grievous Bodily Harm … to placate the police, Avory later claims that it's all part of a new act in which band members would bludgeon each other with their instruments …
1966, Bob Dylan, accompanied by members of what will later become The Band, rocks Royal Albert Hall … the show turns up on white-jacketed bootleg LPs, becoming a hot item among Dylan fans … the Byrd's single "Eight Miles High" is banned by some radio stations because of the lyrics' alleged drug references … as it turns out, Gene Clark, who wrote the song, claimed it was inspired by an airplane flight … according to Clark, airliners fly at six or seven miles up, but eight miles high just sounded better …
1967, Jimi Hendrix signs with Reprise Records, his first recording deal with a major American company … Australia's Easybeats reach number 16 on the U.S. charts with "Friday On My Mind" … the band is led by founder-guitarist George Young, who must have greatly influenced his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus … although the Easybeats had bigger hits Down Under, their downfall, due to management hassles, personnel changes, and yes, dope, places them squarely in the one-hit-wonder department in the U.S …
1970, The Grateful Dead play at the Hollywood Rock Festival in England … it's their first concert outside of the U.S …
1973, Deep Purple releases "Smoke on the Water" … its signature seven-note guitar riff played in parallel fourths becomes an essential repertoire item for garage-band pickers worldwide …
1974, more than a thousand people receive medical care and a 14-year-old girl dies when fans run amok at a London concert starring teen idol David Cassidy …
1981, "All Those Years Ago," George Harrison's tribute to John Lennon, charts for the first time … Ringo Starr and Paul and Linda McCartney are also on the recording …
1989, for failing to produce songs under a 1985 contract, Roy Orbison's estate is sued by the late rocker's music publisher …
1992, Boyz II Men tour manager Khalil Rountree is shot and killed in a Chicago hotel …
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley are secretly married in the Dominican Republic … she sues for divorce 20 months later citing irreconcilable differences …
1998, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee draws a six-month jail sentence for kicking his soon-to-be ex-wife Pamela Anderson Lee … Lee is ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and donate $5,000 to a shelter for battered women …
1999, when they learn that Queen Elizabeth II will be on hand, British punk band Manic Street Preachers turn down an opportunity to play a concert commemorating the opening of Wales' parliament … the band has sworn to never play for the monarchy …
2000, Tom Petty files for bankruptcy protection … dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records, Petty refused to simply be transferred to another record label without his consent … he held fast to his principles for nine long months, which eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy …
2001, country diva Loretta Lynn opens her Coal Miner's Daughter Museum in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee … it's packed with 18,000 square feet of memorabilia gathered by the singer during her four-decade career …
2004, officials in South Carolina pardon "The Godfather of Soul," James Brown for a laundry list of crimes, including drugs and weapons offenses dating back to the 1980s … after copping a plea to being under the influence of a controlled substance, Courtney Love is ordered to enter a drug-rehab program … during a humanitarian tour in Africa, the Canadian band Sum 41 is overrun by the Congo's ongoing civil war … the rockers hide out in a hotel bathroom near the Rwandan border … after seven hours they make their escape in a tank …
2005, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor backs out of performing at the MTV Movie Awards after the network says he can't use an untouched image of President George W. Bush as a backdrop … says Reznor, "We were set to perform "The Hand That Feeds" with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W Bush as the backdrop. Apparently the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me." … sporting a giant afro, producer Phil Spector appears in L.A. Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson … the judge rules that four earlier incidents in which the producer is alleged to have pointed guns at women could be admitted into evidence …
2006, Madonna opens her Confessions world tour in Los Angeles … tickets are sold out in minutes in North America, Europe, and Asia, resulting in new dates being added … the tour will gross more than $260 million—the biggest take in history by a female artist …
2007, a charge against former Creed frontman Scott Stapp stemming from an apparent confrontation with his wife is reduced to a misdemeanor … Stapp had been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony after he threw a bottle of Orangina at his wife and missed … Stapp will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing … apparently, with his alleged history of drug abuse, Stapp is expected to do quite well on the test, but according to authorities, he'll have to make every answer count since there won't be any extra credit … Stapp's former band, Creed, sold more than 25 million records in the United States … he has since launched a solo career … of course, now with his wife on edge and the random alcohol and drug testing, we wonder what Scott will use to prime his creative engines for takeoff when he … you know … flies solo …
2008,The Grateful Dead donate thousands of artifacts to the University of California at Santa Cruz for a planned Dead research center … at a press conference announcing the gift, Dead drummer Mickey Hart jokingly warns curators not to lick any envelopes or touch the stuff without gloves …
2009, Ozzy Osbourne sues Tony Iommi over rights to Black Sabbath's name … Iommi, who registered the Black Sabbath trademark in the U.S. in 2000, claims in a counter-suit that co-founders Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward legally relinquished rights to the band's name in the 1980s … Osbourne believes all four original members should share Black Sabbath's name equally … "I hope," he says, "that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way." …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 20: Vic Ames of the Ames Brothers (1926), singer-pianist Shorty Long of The Inkspots (1940), Jill Jackson aka Paula of Paul and Paula (1942), Joe Cocker (1944), Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian La Pier (1946), Jimmie Henderson of Black Oak Arkansas (1954), The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin (1958), Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills (1960), Haircut 100's Nick Heyward (1961), Tom Garman of Belly (1966), Busta Rhymes (1972), Naturi Naughton of 3LW (1984)
May 21: pianist-composer Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904), Tejano pioneer Lydia Mendoza (1916), King Records producer-songwriter Henry Glover (1921), Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers (1941), Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster (1943), Hilton Valentine of The Animals (1943), T-Rex bass player Steve Currie (1947), Bill Champlin of Chicago (1947)
May 22: composer Richard Wagner (1813), Jimmy Keyes, first tenor with The Chords (1930), Jackie Landry of The Chantels (1941), lyricist and Elton John collaborator, Bernie Taupin (1950), Morrissey of The Smiths (1959), Jesse Valenzuela of The Gin Blossoms (1962), singer-songwriter Johnny Gill of New Edition (1966), Dan Roberts of Crash Test Dummies (1967)
May 23: Vee-Jay Records founder Jimmy Bracken (1908), singer-dancer Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (1910), jazz clarinetist-composer-bandleader Artie Shaw (1910), avant-garde jazz keyboardist Sun Ra, born Herman Blount (1914), R&B songwriter Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (1918), flashy R&B singer Billy Wright (1918), bluesman Arthur Gunter (1926), singer-actress Rosemary Clooney (1928), synth pioneer Robert Moog (1934), Jim Mankey of Concrete Blond (1955), Phil Selway of Radiohead (1967), R&B artist Maxwell, born Gerald Maxwell Rivera (1972), singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher (1974)
May 24: novelty tunesmith Nervous Norvus, born James Drake (1912), Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman (1941), Derek Quinn of Freddie & the Dreamers (1942), R&B and soul singer Patti LaBelle (1942), Sarah Dash of Labelle (1942), Steve Upton of Wishbone Ash (1946), Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult (1947), singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash (1955), rapper Heavy D, born Dwight Myers (1967), Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes (1969), country wunderkind Billy Gilman (1988)
May 25: record store founder "Waxie Maxie" Silverman (1910), avant-garde composer-percussionist Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin (1916), Buddy Holly's producer Norman Petty (1927), R&B singer Donnie Elbert (1936), Levon Helm of The Band (1942), Ray Innes of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1942), country music artist Jessi Colter, born Miriam Johnson Eddy (1943), John "Poli" Palmer of Family (1943), Garry Peterson of The Guess Who (1945), Mitch Margo of The Tokens (1947), Klaus Meine of The Scorpions (1948), Stevie Nicks (1948), Hank Williams Jr. (1949), Verden Allen of Mott the Hoople (1949), mod/punk singer-songwriter Paul Weller (1958), rocker Lenny Kravitz (1964), singer-rapper-songwriter Lauryn Hill (1975)
May 26: blues singer Mamie Smith (1883), Al Jolson (1886), Miles Davis (1926), guitarist Mick Ronson (1946), Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff (1967)
Departures:
May 20: Italian pianist Renato Carosone (2001), blues harp player Willie Foster (2001), David Platz, head of Essex Music (1994), vocalist Rudy Lewis of The Drifters (1964)
May 21: Nicholas Dante co-author of "A Chorus Line" (1991), music industry entrepreneur Morris Levy (1990)
May 22: Everybody lives!
May 23: folk singer Utah Phillips (2008), session guitarist Mike Farrell (2000), Jimmy Fernandez, bassist with God Machine (1994), jazz guitarist Joe Pass (1994), Craig Pike, bassist for Iggy Pop (1993), Will Sin of the Scottish synth band The Shamen, born William Sinnot (1991)
May 24: Wilco singer-songwriter Jay Bennett (2009), smooth jazz bassist and NBA basketball star Wayman Tisdale (2009), Franco-American bebopper Barney Wilen (1996), Gene Clark of The Byrds (1991), Duke Ellington (1974), slide guitar ace Elmore James (1967)
May 25: album photographer David Gahr (2008), Bradley Nowell, lead singer and guitarist of Sublime (1996), funk and jazz guitarist Eric Gale (1994), surf music producer Gary Usher (1990), jazz and blues pianist Lloyd Glenn (1985), New Orleans R&B star Roy Brown (1981), bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson, born Aleck Ford Miller (1965)
May 26: television theme composer Earle Harry Hagen (2008), ska pioneer Desmond Dekker (2006), African guitarist Matima Kinuani Mpiosso (1996), William Powell, singer with The Ojays (1994), jazz and rock guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1994), bluesman "Reverend" Robert Wilkins (1987), R&B star Little Willie John, born William Edgar John (1968)
Week In Review
June 3, 2010
Grand Funk Sells Out … Elvis Stamped Out … Sinead Comes Out …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis' producer, Sam Phillips, forces the rocker to sign an apologetic letter to his fans … Phillips then runs it as a full-page ad in Billboard trying in vain to bolster Lewis' plummeting reputation in the fallout from his marriage to 14-year-old second-cousin Myra … the letter doesn't help much … the Killer's career will remain in the toilet until he reinvents himself as a country star in the 1960s …
1964, Ringo Starr comes down with acute tonsillitis days before a Beatles world tour is to begin … his replacement is session drummer Jimmy Nichol who thereby becomes a Beatle for 11 days …
1965, The Yardbirds' "For Your Love" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #84 … the song stays on the charts for 12 weeks, peaking at #6 … the record marks Eric Clapton's last session with a band he feels is growing too pop …
1969, multi-instrumentalist-turned-druggy and founder of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, announces he's leaving the band because he doesn't agree with its musical direction … word is The Stones have had their fill of Jones and probably forced him out since drugging and mental instability have prevented The Stones from touring the U.S. … hot blues guitarist Mick Taylor has already been lined up to fill the position and steps in as soon as Jones steps out … within three weeks Jones will be found dead on the bottom of his pool … years later The Stones will joke about pranks played on him, such as having Jones record overdubs with no tape running … Tommy, The Who's rock opera, hits #2 in the U.K. and #4 in the U.S. … Blind Faith makes its live debut at a free concert in London's Hyde Park … an estimated 150,000 people attend the show … the group, consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, will disband the following October after a U.S. tour that Winwood describes as "vulgar, crude, disgusting (and) lacking in integrity" …
1972, Grand Funk Railroad sells out its concert at Shea Stadium within 72 hours … this breaks the previous box-office record there, held by The Beatles …
1974, king of the big keyboard sound, Rick Wakeman, parts ways with Yes to pursue a solo career … he will rejoin the band for 1977's Going for the One, setting the pattern for decades of on-again/off-again relations … this same day, the Who sells out a four-night stand at Madison Square Garden in three days, two months before the show … in the innocent world of 1974, that's a big deal …
1979, Chuck Berry performs for President Jimmy Carter at the White House … just a month later he'll be sentenced to four months on tax evasion charges …
1988, a birthday bash held in London for Nelson Mandela features performers Stevie Wonder, Dire Straits, and Simple Minds …
1990, 25 years to the day after their father Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys owned the top of the pops with "Help Me Rhonda," Wilson Phillips, the trio composed of Carnie and Wendy Wilson together with Chynna Phillips, owns the same spot on the Top 100 chart with their single, "Hold On" …
1991, Bruce Springsteen weds singer-songwriter Patti Scialfa, who has been singing backup vocals with the Boss' E-Street Band for the past four years …
1992, after more than one million votes on the Elvis likeness to be used on a postage stamp are received, Priscilla Presley announces from the Graceland lawn that the '50s-era King prevailed … fans had a choice between the young Elvis and the portly, chops-bearing King in his Vegas years … young Elvis took home 851,200 votes while the Vegas King garnered 277,723 …
1994, Falcons wide receiver Andre Rison's Atlanta mansion burns to the ground … it's later determined that his girlfriend Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of the R&B girl group TLC committed the arson in a fit of pique …
1998, a judge in the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court hears opening arguments in a suit brought by '60s girl group The Ronettes against their former producer, Phil Spector, charging him with breaching their 34-year-old contract by failing to pay royalties … in 2002 the reclusive studio guru is finally ordered to pay the girls $2.9 million plus interest … meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Sir Paul McCartney is joined by his former bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr as well as Pete Townshend, Elton John, and other rock luminaries to mourn the death of Linda McCartney … attendees at the private service held at St. Martin in the Fields church in London sing "Let it Be" and the Brodsky Quartet performs "The Lovely Linda" and "Calico Skies," songs Sir Paul wrote for his late wife …
2000, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood enters Priory Clinic, a rehab center in London, to deal with his alcohol addiction … Sinead O'Connor outs herself in an article that appears in Curve magazine …
2003, singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, notable for his hook-ridden melodies and outsized proboscis, manages to break that organ when he walks into a bedroom wall at his Palm Springs, California, home … evincing a sense of humor in recalling the accident, Manilow says, "I veered to the left instead of the right and slammed right into the wall. I may have to have my nose fixed and, with this nose, it's going to require major surgery." … Chester Bennington, lead singer for Linkin Park, is hospitalized with severe back and abdominal pains in Los Angeles … plans for festival dates in Europe are scrapped as a result … early reports indicate Led Zeppelin's three-disc live album How the West Was Won will debut at #1 on the U.S. album chart … rapper 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' ends up at #2 …
2006, multi-platinum songstress Norah Jones has been signed to appear in the movie My Blueberry Nights… the film will open to unanimously harsh reviews …
2008, Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, reports his ashes were stolen from her Los Angeles home … AC/DC's next studio album will be exclusively sold at Wal-Mart stores in the United States, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
June 3: Memphis Minnie, gritty-voiced blues singer with a percussive guitar style (1896), Jimmy Rogers, guitarist with Muddy Waters (1924), June Abbit aka Joe Abbit, Sr. of The 5 Royales (1932), Curtis Mayfield (1942), Michael Clark, drummer with The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds (1943), John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (1946), Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople (1946), Byrds drummer Michael Clarke (1946), Dave Alexander, Stooges bassist (1947), T. Rex percussionist Mickey Finn (1947), Suzi Quatro (1950), Deniece Williams (1951), Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell (1952), David Cole, producer of C+C Music Factory (1962), Kerry King of Slayer (1964), Phish bassist Mike Gordon (1965), No Mercy's Ariel (1971), Cuban jazz musician Gabriel Hernandez (1971)
June 4: Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta (1937), Roger Ball of Average White Band (1944), Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon (1945), Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas (1945), El DeBarge (1961), Brian McKnight (1969), Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band (1974)
June 5: jazz pianist Pete Jolly (1932), Floyd Butler of The Friends of Distinction (1941), Freddie Stone of Sly & The Family Stone (1946), Badfinger's Tom Evans (1947), Laurie Anderson (1947), keyboardist Frank Esler-Smith of Air Supply (1948), soul singer Ronnie Dyson (1950), Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden (1952), Peter Erskine (1954), Kenny G (1956), Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs (1956), Mark Wahlberg (1971), Aaron "P-Nut" Wills of 311 (1974), Sebastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan (1981)
June 6: Chess Records session drummer S.P. Leary (1930), Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops (1936), Gary U.S. Bonds (1939), The Byrds' Clarence White (1944), Tom Araya, lead vocalist-bassist of Slayer (1961), James Schaffer of Korn (1970)
June 7: Dean Martin (1917), Welsh crooner Tom Jones (1940), Steve Torbert of New Riders of the Purple Sage (1948), Prince born Prince Roger Nelson (1958), Ecstacy of Whodini (1964), Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots (1966), Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers (1967)
June 8: Nancy "Boots" Sinatra (1940), Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1940), Jesse Bolian of the Artistics (1941), Jon Lord of Deep Purple (1941), Three Dog Night's Chuck Negron (1942), Boz Scaggs (1944), Uriah Heep's Mick Box (1947), Bonnie Tyler aka Gaynor Hoskins (1953), Simply Red's Mick Hucknall (1960), Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes (1962), Rob Pilatus of the faux pop duo Milli Vanilli (1965), Alex Band of The Calling (1981)
June 9: songwriter Cole Porter (1891), Les Paul born Lester Polfus (1915), R&B singer and Russian roulette-ist Johnny Ace born John Marshall Alexander Jr. (1929), operatic soul singer Jackie Wilson (1934), Wild Jimmy Spruill (1934), Deep Purple's Jon Lord (1941), Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell (1947), Dean Felber of Hootie & The Blowfish (1967), Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket (1967)
Departures:
June 3: blues belter Koko Taylor (2009), Louis Prima saxman Sam Butera (2009), Richard Sohl of The Patti Smith Group (1990), The Duprees' Joe Santollo (1981), rock journalist Ralph Gleason (1975), Mississippi Fred McDowell (1971)
June 4: folk singer John Hartford (2001), Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces (1997), Herman's Hermits guitarist Lek Leckenby (1994), Stiv Bators of Dead Boys (1990), jazz-blues pianist Todd Rhodes (1965)
June 5: guitarist Robert Quine (2004), Ramones founder and bassist Dee Dee Ramone (2002), singer Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme (1999), Ernie Wilkins, jazz saxophonist and arranger for Count Basie (1999), pop and country singer Conway Twitty born Harold Lloyd Jenkins (1993), Tejano accordionist Narciso Martinez (1992), ex-Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1990), bluesman "Sleepy" John Estes (1977)
June 6: Billy Preston (2006), former Animals keyboardist Dave Rowberry (2003), Pariah bassist Sims Ellison (1995), smooth saxophonist Stan Getz (1991), British Decca A&R man Dick Rowe (1986)
June 7: Tommy Perkins of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (2003), James Eugene "Rosy" McHargue, singer and reedman for the Benny Goodman Orchestra (1999), Schwann Recording Catalog editor William Schwann (1998), producer-songwriter Jerry Capehart (1998)
June 8: jazz vocalist Nellie Lutcher (2007), guitar and amp builder to the stars Dan Armstrong (2004), punker Root Boy Slim (1993), session drummer Yogi Horton (1987), blues and jazz shouter Jimmy "Mr. Five-By-Five" Rushing (1972)
June 9: folksinger Walter Pardon (1996), '60s R&B singer Arthur Alexander (1993), jazz and blues singer Clarence "Big" Miller (1992)
June 3, 2010
Grand Funk Sells Out … Elvis Stamped Out … Sinead Comes Out …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1958, Jerry Lee Lewis' producer, Sam Phillips, forces the rocker to sign an apologetic letter to his fans … Phillips then runs it as a full-page ad in Billboard trying in vain to bolster Lewis' plummeting reputation in the fallout from his marriage to 14-year-old second-cousin Myra … the letter doesn't help much … the Killer's career will remain in the toilet until he reinvents himself as a country star in the 1960s …
1964, Ringo Starr comes down with acute tonsillitis days before a Beatles world tour is to begin … his replacement is session drummer Jimmy Nichol who thereby becomes a Beatle for 11 days …
1965, The Yardbirds' "For Your Love" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #84 … the song stays on the charts for 12 weeks, peaking at #6 … the record marks Eric Clapton's last session with a band he feels is growing too pop …
1969, multi-instrumentalist-turned-druggy and founder of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, announces he's leaving the band because he doesn't agree with its musical direction … word is The Stones have had their fill of Jones and probably forced him out since drugging and mental instability have prevented The Stones from touring the U.S. … hot blues guitarist Mick Taylor has already been lined up to fill the position and steps in as soon as Jones steps out … within three weeks Jones will be found dead on the bottom of his pool … years later The Stones will joke about pranks played on him, such as having Jones record overdubs with no tape running … Tommy, The Who's rock opera, hits #2 in the U.K. and #4 in the U.S. … Blind Faith makes its live debut at a free concert in London's Hyde Park … an estimated 150,000 people attend the show … the group, consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, will disband the following October after a U.S. tour that Winwood describes as "vulgar, crude, disgusting (and) lacking in integrity" …
1972, Grand Funk Railroad sells out its concert at Shea Stadium within 72 hours … this breaks the previous box-office record there, held by The Beatles …
1974, king of the big keyboard sound, Rick Wakeman, parts ways with Yes to pursue a solo career … he will rejoin the band for 1977's Going for the One, setting the pattern for decades of on-again/off-again relations … this same day, the Who sells out a four-night stand at Madison Square Garden in three days, two months before the show … in the innocent world of 1974, that's a big deal …
1979, Chuck Berry performs for President Jimmy Carter at the White House … just a month later he'll be sentenced to four months on tax evasion charges …
1988, a birthday bash held in London for Nelson Mandela features performers Stevie Wonder, Dire Straits, and Simple Minds …
1990, 25 years to the day after their father Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys owned the top of the pops with "Help Me Rhonda," Wilson Phillips, the trio composed of Carnie and Wendy Wilson together with Chynna Phillips, owns the same spot on the Top 100 chart with their single, "Hold On" …
1991, Bruce Springsteen weds singer-songwriter Patti Scialfa, who has been singing backup vocals with the Boss' E-Street Band for the past four years …
1992, after more than one million votes on the Elvis likeness to be used on a postage stamp are received, Priscilla Presley announces from the Graceland lawn that the '50s-era King prevailed … fans had a choice between the young Elvis and the portly, chops-bearing King in his Vegas years … young Elvis took home 851,200 votes while the Vegas King garnered 277,723 …
1994, Falcons wide receiver Andre Rison's Atlanta mansion burns to the ground … it's later determined that his girlfriend Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of the R&B girl group TLC committed the arson in a fit of pique …
1998, a judge in the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court hears opening arguments in a suit brought by '60s girl group The Ronettes against their former producer, Phil Spector, charging him with breaching their 34-year-old contract by failing to pay royalties … in 2002 the reclusive studio guru is finally ordered to pay the girls $2.9 million plus interest … meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Sir Paul McCartney is joined by his former bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr as well as Pete Townshend, Elton John, and other rock luminaries to mourn the death of Linda McCartney … attendees at the private service held at St. Martin in the Fields church in London sing "Let it Be" and the Brodsky Quartet performs "The Lovely Linda" and "Calico Skies," songs Sir Paul wrote for his late wife …
2000, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood enters Priory Clinic, a rehab center in London, to deal with his alcohol addiction … Sinead O'Connor outs herself in an article that appears in Curve magazine …
2003, singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, notable for his hook-ridden melodies and outsized proboscis, manages to break that organ when he walks into a bedroom wall at his Palm Springs, California, home … evincing a sense of humor in recalling the accident, Manilow says, "I veered to the left instead of the right and slammed right into the wall. I may have to have my nose fixed and, with this nose, it's going to require major surgery." … Chester Bennington, lead singer for Linkin Park, is hospitalized with severe back and abdominal pains in Los Angeles … plans for festival dates in Europe are scrapped as a result … early reports indicate Led Zeppelin's three-disc live album How the West Was Won will debut at #1 on the U.S. album chart … rapper 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' ends up at #2 …
2006, multi-platinum songstress Norah Jones has been signed to appear in the movie My Blueberry Nights… the film will open to unanimously harsh reviews …
2008, Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, reports his ashes were stolen from her Los Angeles home … AC/DC's next studio album will be exclusively sold at Wal-Mart stores in the United States, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
June 3: Memphis Minnie, gritty-voiced blues singer with a percussive guitar style (1896), Jimmy Rogers, guitarist with Muddy Waters (1924), June Abbit aka Joe Abbit, Sr. of The 5 Royales (1932), Curtis Mayfield (1942), Michael Clark, drummer with The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds (1943), John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (1946), Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople (1946), Byrds drummer Michael Clarke (1946), Dave Alexander, Stooges bassist (1947), T. Rex percussionist Mickey Finn (1947), Suzi Quatro (1950), Deniece Williams (1951), Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell (1952), David Cole, producer of C+C Music Factory (1962), Kerry King of Slayer (1964), Phish bassist Mike Gordon (1965), No Mercy's Ariel (1971), Cuban jazz musician Gabriel Hernandez (1971)
June 4: Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta (1937), Roger Ball of Average White Band (1944), Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon (1945), Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas (1945), El DeBarge (1961), Brian McKnight (1969), Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band (1974)
June 5: jazz pianist Pete Jolly (1932), Floyd Butler of The Friends of Distinction (1941), Freddie Stone of Sly & The Family Stone (1946), Badfinger's Tom Evans (1947), Laurie Anderson (1947), keyboardist Frank Esler-Smith of Air Supply (1948), soul singer Ronnie Dyson (1950), Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden (1952), Peter Erskine (1954), Kenny G (1956), Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs (1956), Mark Wahlberg (1971), Aaron "P-Nut" Wills of 311 (1974), Sebastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan (1981)
June 6: Chess Records session drummer S.P. Leary (1930), Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops (1936), Gary U.S. Bonds (1939), The Byrds' Clarence White (1944), Tom Araya, lead vocalist-bassist of Slayer (1961), James Schaffer of Korn (1970)
June 7: Dean Martin (1917), Welsh crooner Tom Jones (1940), Steve Torbert of New Riders of the Purple Sage (1948), Prince born Prince Roger Nelson (1958), Ecstacy of Whodini (1964), Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots (1966), Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers (1967)
June 8: Nancy "Boots" Sinatra (1940), Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1940), Jesse Bolian of the Artistics (1941), Jon Lord of Deep Purple (1941), Three Dog Night's Chuck Negron (1942), Boz Scaggs (1944), Uriah Heep's Mick Box (1947), Bonnie Tyler aka Gaynor Hoskins (1953), Simply Red's Mick Hucknall (1960), Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes (1962), Rob Pilatus of the faux pop duo Milli Vanilli (1965), Alex Band of The Calling (1981)
June 9: songwriter Cole Porter (1891), Les Paul born Lester Polfus (1915), R&B singer and Russian roulette-ist Johnny Ace born John Marshall Alexander Jr. (1929), operatic soul singer Jackie Wilson (1934), Wild Jimmy Spruill (1934), Deep Purple's Jon Lord (1941), Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell (1947), Dean Felber of Hootie & The Blowfish (1967), Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket (1967)
Departures:
June 3: blues belter Koko Taylor (2009), Louis Prima saxman Sam Butera (2009), Richard Sohl of The Patti Smith Group (1990), The Duprees' Joe Santollo (1981), rock journalist Ralph Gleason (1975), Mississippi Fred McDowell (1971)
June 4: folk singer John Hartford (2001), Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces (1997), Herman's Hermits guitarist Lek Leckenby (1994), Stiv Bators of Dead Boys (1990), jazz-blues pianist Todd Rhodes (1965)
June 5: guitarist Robert Quine (2004), Ramones founder and bassist Dee Dee Ramone (2002), singer Mel "The Velvet Fog" Torme (1999), Ernie Wilkins, jazz saxophonist and arranger for Count Basie (1999), pop and country singer Conway Twitty born Harold Lloyd Jenkins (1993), Tejano accordionist Narciso Martinez (1992), ex-Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1990), bluesman "Sleepy" John Estes (1977)
June 6: Billy Preston (2006), former Animals keyboardist Dave Rowberry (2003), Pariah bassist Sims Ellison (1995), smooth saxophonist Stan Getz (1991), British Decca A&R man Dick Rowe (1986)
June 7: Tommy Perkins of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (2003), James Eugene "Rosy" McHargue, singer and reedman for the Benny Goodman Orchestra (1999), Schwann Recording Catalog editor William Schwann (1998), producer-songwriter Jerry Capehart (1998)
June 8: jazz vocalist Nellie Lutcher (2007), guitar and amp builder to the stars Dan Armstrong (2004), punker Root Boy Slim (1993), session drummer Yogi Horton (1987), blues and jazz shouter Jimmy "Mr. Five-By-Five" Rushing (1972)
June 9: folksinger Walter Pardon (1996), '60s R&B singer Arthur Alexander (1993), jazz and blues singer Clarence "Big" Miller (1992)
Week In Review
June 10, 2010
A Wolf is Born … Sukiyaki Makes a Splash … Beatles Uncovered …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1910, Chester Burnett is born in rural White Station, Mississippi … later known as Howlin' Wolf, he'll become legendary for his huge, raw voice and matching physique … one of the pioneers of electric blues, Wolf will exert a powerful influence on many British blues musicians and his songs such as "Spoonful," "Smoke Stack Lightning," and "Little Red Rooster" will be covered by a generation of rockers including The Stones …
1949, Hank Williams makes a big impression at his Grand Ole Opry debut, earning an unprecedented six encores from the Nashville crowd …
1957, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" hits the C&W charts for Jerry Lee Lewis … the record will ease over onto the pop chart within a week to become a crossover hit …
1964, in the midst of an American tour, The Rolling Stones spend $2,500 in airfares to get back to England in order to play a date at Oxford's Magdalen College that was committed to a year earlier … the gig pays $170 …
1965, it is announced that The Beatles will receive MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) medals from Queen Elizabeth in October … in the controversy that ensues, some previous recipients return their awards … in 1969 John Lennon will return his medal, symbolizing his opposition to Britain's support of the U.S. in Vietnam …
1963, Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" hits number one on the U.S. pop chart … it is the first and last Japanese song to do so …
1966, The Beatles record "Rain," using a reversed-tape effect for the first time … it's the same technique that will later incite "Paul-is-dead" rumors … this same week, rumors of Roger Daltrey's death are greatly exaggerated as European radios spew misinformation after Pete Townshend is injured in a car wreck … also this week, The Beatles album Yesterday … And Today is released by Capitol with a cover showing the Fab Four in butcher's smocks amidst bloody cuts of meat and dismembered baby dolls … assembled from B-sides and album leftovers, it is the last American LP created without the group's direct consent … after a wave of negative reaction, Capitol scrambles to replace the cover with a tamer one … a new band photo is pasted over the original on thousands of already manufactured copies … the only U.S. Beatles album to show a loss on Capitol's books, it makes lots of money for record collectors over the years while lots of fans will ruin their album jackets attempting to peel off the replacement picture …
1970, one of America's most important roots-music figures dies from his injuries a year after being struck by a car … New Orleans jazz and blues singer and guitarist Lonnie Johnson was among the earliest players to use an electric guitar … he worked with some of the biggest names in popular music including Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong but had dropped out of sight by the 1960s when he enjoyed a revival after being discovered working as a hotel janitor … Johnson was recruited to tour Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival where he would win over a new generation of fans in the late 1960s …
1971, police panic when gate crashers start climbing over fences at a Jethro Tull concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside Denver … they drop tear gas from helicopters resulting in a general riot with lots of injuries … averting disaster, Jethro Tull comes onstage in the middle of the ruckus after the opening act has fled and plays their entire show while choking on tear-gas fumes … Red Rocks says there'll be no more rock concerts held there, a decision that is later reversed …
1972, one of America's most lilting pop voices is silenced when singer Clyde McPhatter dies of a heart attack at 39 after years of hard living … McPhatter was signed by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records after leaving Billy Ward and the Dominoes to become the lead singer of the newly formed Drifters … this lineup (there would be many) enjoys several big hits including a doo-wop version of "White Christmas" that prominently features his tenor … after leaving the Drifters in the mid-'50s, McPhatter will have sporadic success as a solo act, but his career is undermined by alcoholism …
1977, Alice Cooper's boa constrictor, a major component of the shock-rocker's stage schtick, dies after being bitten by a rat intended as the snake's snack … Joe Strummer and Topper Headon of The Clash are each fined $8 by a London judge for spray-painting the band's name on a wall … a couple of days later they're back in front of another London magistrate, this time for having pinched a pillow case from a Holiday Inn … the fine is stiffer: $170 apiece …
1982, James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders dies in his sleep of a cocaine and heroin overdose in London at the age of 25 … ironically, the guitarist was among band members who had voted out bass player Pete Farndon for drug abuse a mere two days earlier … after Honeyman-Scott's death, frontwoman Chrissie Hynde pens the tune "Back on the Chain Gang" as a tribute to him … the song will go on to be one of the band's biggest hits … a year later Farndon will also die from drug-related causes … Mick Jagger is knighted by Queen Elizabeth … no romantic entanglements are reported …
1986, Jerry Garcia goes into a five-day diabetic coma requiring the Dead to cancel shows … three Ozzie Osbourne fans die when they plunge from a balcony at a Long Beach, California, concert …
1988, Nirvana's debut album, Bleach, is released … the name comes from ubiquitous street posters warning junkies to bleach their works … this same week, in a marriage of mud and metal, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe weds mud-pit wrassler Sharisse Rudell … now there's a honeymoon we all would have liked to get in on …
1992, a judge in L.A. dismisses a $25 million palimony suit brought by model Kelly Emberg against Rod Stewart … she charges that they had lived together in a marital-like state between 1985 and 1990 and had a child together … despite their current contretemps, sources close to Emberg report that she still thinks Rod is sexy …
1991, Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks is arrested on a bench warrant for $26,000 in overdue child support while attending the funeral of his former bandmate David Ruffin … Kendricks will die the following year …
1994, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff is found slumped over her bathtub, dead of a heroin overdose … next to her body is a cosmetic bag with more than just lipstick inside … tragically, this occurs on the eve of her move back to Minneapolis to escape Seattle's too-easy-to-cop drug scene … Pfaff dies just two months after Kurt Cobain ended his life … it's been a swell couple of months for Courtney Love …
1995, 90 minutes before he's to perform at a Texas police convention, country star Ty Herndon is busted by an undercover cop for drug possession … he will plead guilty … in other concert news, Pearl Jam begins its Ticketmaster Monopoly tour … the band will, with mixed results, use a mail-order ticket service instead of Ticketmaster distribution … PJ is frustrated by Ticketmaster's attempts to raise prices above their mandated $20 price tag … the band accuses the ticket giant of monopolizing the concert ticket industry and the U.S. Justice Department later investigates … guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament testify before a House subcommittee to no avail …
2003, Adam Ant is busted for stripping off his clothes in a London café after smashing his neighbors' windows with stones …
2004, following a layoff of 1,000 employees in March, Warner Music Group announces that it's cutting its artist roster by nearly one-half in the face of a continuing soft market for music … Iggy Pop and The Stooges are reported to be working on songs for their first new studio record in 31 years … Pop speculates that they may record the album in Los Angeles noting, "That will torture me deeply" … after complaining about what he believes to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, David Bowie receives an emergency angioplasty to deal with a severely blocked artery …
2005, after deliberating for 32 hours, a California jury finds Michael Jackson not guilty of child molestation charges …
2006, Despite having a #1 album with Taking the Long Way Home, The Dixie Chicks are having trouble selling seats in some venues for their summer tour … it is believed anger over Chicks singer Natalie Maines' criticism of George W. Bush in 2003 is behind the sluggish box office … Jacob the Jeweler aka Jacob Abarov, purveyor of bling to hip-hop's glitterati, is busted by the Feds on charges of money laundering in a case that also includes drug peddling by the Black Mafia Family of Detroit … he will be sentenced to 30 months in federal slam and ordered to pay a $2 million fine …
2008, while touring Europe, Bob Dylan tells The London Times he supports Barack Obama's run for the White House … the historically apolitical Dylan says, "Right now, America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to." … Rolling Stone names Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" the all-time greatest guitar record … Jimi's "Purple Haze" and Cream's "Crossroads" place second and third respectively …
2009, Green Day's album, 21st Century Breakdown, sells more than 450,000 copies in its first three weeks making it one of the few bright spots in the midst of declining CD sales … notably, the stellar sales do not arise from an exclusive big-box store deal as have other recent hits whose distribution was limited to stores like Wal-Mart or Target …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
June 10: Chester Burnett aka Howlin' Wolf (1910), Judy Garland (1922), The Shirelle's Shirley Alston (1941), Skyliners vocalist Janet Vogel (1942), The Move's Rick Price (1944), Will Shatter of Flipper (1956), Kim and Kelley Deal of The Breeders (1961), Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins (1964), Darren Robinson of The Fat Boys (1967), Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey of K-Ci & Jo-Jo (1971), country star Faith Evans (1973), Lemisha Grinsted of 702 (1973)
June 11: boogie-woogie pianist Clarence "Pine Top" Smith (1904), country vocalist Jud Strunk (1936), Joe DiNicola of Joey Dee and the Starlighters (1940), The Pretty Things' Skip Allen (1948), Frank Beard of ZZ Top (1949), Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special (1952), Joey Santiago of The Pixies (1965), Dan Lavery of Tonic (1969)
June 12: bandleader Archie Bleyer (1909), R&B bassist Eddie Williams of Johnny Moore and The Three Blazers (1912), pioneer rockabilly Charlie Feathers (1932), keyboardist Chick Corea (1941), British folksinger-songwriter Roy Harper (1941), Reg Presley of The Troggs (1943), Brad Delp of Boston (1951), Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick (1951), bassist Pete Farndon of The Pretenders (1952), John Linnell of They Might Be Giants (1959), Michael Hausman of 'til tuesday (1960), Grandmaster Dee of Whodini (1962), Bobby Sheehan of Blues Traveler (1968), Bardi Martin of Candlebox (1969), blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd (1977), Robyn (1979)
June 13: Bobby Freeman of "Do You Wanna Dance" fame (1940), Arlester "Dyke" Christian of Dyke and the Blazers (1943), John Kahn of the Jerry Garcia Band (1947), troubled British singer-songwriter Nick Drake (1948), Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook (1949), Howard Leese of Heart (1951), James Smith of The Stylistics (1951), Bo Donaldson (1954), Godsmack's Robbie Merrill (1963), Paul DeLisle of Smash Mouth (1963), Soren Rasted of Aqua (1969), Rivers Cuomo of Wheezer (1970), Raz B of B2K (1985)
June 14: folk singer and actor Burl Ives (1909), pianist Cy Coleman (1929), Motown sax man Junior Walker (1931), Muff Winwood, bassist for The Spencer Davis Group (1943), Rod Argent of the Zombies (1945), Alan White of Yes (1949), gender-bending popster Boy George (1961), Chris DeGarmo of Queensryche (1963), British pop diva Billie Myers (1971)
June 15: jazz pianist Jaki Byard (1922), Nigel Pickering of Spanky & Our Gang (1929), Waylon Jennings (1937), singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941), Doug Roberts of Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs (1941), French pop singer Johnny Halliday (1943), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Eddie Hinton (1944), British folk singer Ian Matthews (1946), Noddy Holder of Slade (1946), Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply (1949), Steve Walsh of Kansas (1951), country-pop singer Terri Gibbs (1954), Garry Roberts of Boomtown Rats (1954), drummer Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche (1963), Michael Britt of Lonestar (1966), Ice Cube (1969), Dryden Mitchell of Alien Ant Farm (1976) guitarist Billy Martin of Good Charlotte (1981)
June 16: lyricist Ben Raleigh (1913), honkin' saxophonist Lucky Thompson (1924), jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd (1925), Motown songwriter-producer Lamont Dozier (1941), Eddie Levert of the O'Jays (1942), Pete Rivera of Rare Earth (1945), James Smith of the Stylistics (1950), pop singer Gino Vanelli (1952), Tupac Shakur (1971)
Departures:
June 10: Ray Charles (2004), Steve Sanders of The Oak Ridge Boys (1998), Alan Blakely of the Tremoloes (1996), Jimmy Weston of the Danleers (1993), The Shirelles' Addie "Mickey" Harris (1982), organist Earl Grant (1970)
June 11: A.R.E. Weapons guitarist Ryan Noel (2004)
June 12: Danny Davis of The Nashville Brass (2008), drummer Matthew Fletcher of Heavenly (1996), the "Vee" in Vee-Jay Records, Vivian Carter (1989), jazz legend Jimmy Dorsey (1957)
June 13: Southern blues guitarist John Campbell (1993), bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman (1986), reedman Charles Miller of War (1980), Clyde McPhatter (1972)
June 14: Ventures bassist Bob Bogle (2009), flamenco singer Delores Alcantara (1999), bluesman Rory Gallagher (1995), composer Henry Mancini (1994), Brenda Payton of Brenda and the Tabulations (1992), songwriter-producer Cliff Goldsmith (1991), drummer Pete DeFreitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (1989), jump blues singer Wynonie Harris (1969)
June 15: Lew Chudd, founder of Imperial Records (1998), Ella Fitzgerald (1996), tour musician Kin Vassy (1994), jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery (1968)
June 16: Ben Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2004), The Savages singer Screaming Lord Sutch born David Edward Sutch (1999), Dr. Hook drummer John Wolters (1997), Kristen Pfaff of Hole (1994), John Jordan of The Four Vagabonds (1988), James Honeyman-Scott (1982), Warren Ryanes of The Monotones (1982), Don Robey, founder of Peacock Records (1975), pioneer electric guitarist Lonnie Johnson (1970), Jack McFadden, Nashville manager of Buck Owens (1968)
June 10, 2010
A Wolf is Born … Sukiyaki Makes a Splash … Beatles Uncovered …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1910, Chester Burnett is born in rural White Station, Mississippi … later known as Howlin' Wolf, he'll become legendary for his huge, raw voice and matching physique … one of the pioneers of electric blues, Wolf will exert a powerful influence on many British blues musicians and his songs such as "Spoonful," "Smoke Stack Lightning," and "Little Red Rooster" will be covered by a generation of rockers including The Stones …
1949, Hank Williams makes a big impression at his Grand Ole Opry debut, earning an unprecedented six encores from the Nashville crowd …
1957, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" hits the C&W charts for Jerry Lee Lewis … the record will ease over onto the pop chart within a week to become a crossover hit …
1964, in the midst of an American tour, The Rolling Stones spend $2,500 in airfares to get back to England in order to play a date at Oxford's Magdalen College that was committed to a year earlier … the gig pays $170 …
1965, it is announced that The Beatles will receive MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) medals from Queen Elizabeth in October … in the controversy that ensues, some previous recipients return their awards … in 1969 John Lennon will return his medal, symbolizing his opposition to Britain's support of the U.S. in Vietnam …
1963, Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" hits number one on the U.S. pop chart … it is the first and last Japanese song to do so …
1966, The Beatles record "Rain," using a reversed-tape effect for the first time … it's the same technique that will later incite "Paul-is-dead" rumors … this same week, rumors of Roger Daltrey's death are greatly exaggerated as European radios spew misinformation after Pete Townshend is injured in a car wreck … also this week, The Beatles album Yesterday … And Today is released by Capitol with a cover showing the Fab Four in butcher's smocks amidst bloody cuts of meat and dismembered baby dolls … assembled from B-sides and album leftovers, it is the last American LP created without the group's direct consent … after a wave of negative reaction, Capitol scrambles to replace the cover with a tamer one … a new band photo is pasted over the original on thousands of already manufactured copies … the only U.S. Beatles album to show a loss on Capitol's books, it makes lots of money for record collectors over the years while lots of fans will ruin their album jackets attempting to peel off the replacement picture …
1970, one of America's most important roots-music figures dies from his injuries a year after being struck by a car … New Orleans jazz and blues singer and guitarist Lonnie Johnson was among the earliest players to use an electric guitar … he worked with some of the biggest names in popular music including Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong but had dropped out of sight by the 1960s when he enjoyed a revival after being discovered working as a hotel janitor … Johnson was recruited to tour Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival where he would win over a new generation of fans in the late 1960s …
1971, police panic when gate crashers start climbing over fences at a Jethro Tull concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside Denver … they drop tear gas from helicopters resulting in a general riot with lots of injuries … averting disaster, Jethro Tull comes onstage in the middle of the ruckus after the opening act has fled and plays their entire show while choking on tear-gas fumes … Red Rocks says there'll be no more rock concerts held there, a decision that is later reversed …
1972, one of America's most lilting pop voices is silenced when singer Clyde McPhatter dies of a heart attack at 39 after years of hard living … McPhatter was signed by Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records after leaving Billy Ward and the Dominoes to become the lead singer of the newly formed Drifters … this lineup (there would be many) enjoys several big hits including a doo-wop version of "White Christmas" that prominently features his tenor … after leaving the Drifters in the mid-'50s, McPhatter will have sporadic success as a solo act, but his career is undermined by alcoholism …
1977, Alice Cooper's boa constrictor, a major component of the shock-rocker's stage schtick, dies after being bitten by a rat intended as the snake's snack … Joe Strummer and Topper Headon of The Clash are each fined $8 by a London judge for spray-painting the band's name on a wall … a couple of days later they're back in front of another London magistrate, this time for having pinched a pillow case from a Holiday Inn … the fine is stiffer: $170 apiece …
1982, James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders dies in his sleep of a cocaine and heroin overdose in London at the age of 25 … ironically, the guitarist was among band members who had voted out bass player Pete Farndon for drug abuse a mere two days earlier … after Honeyman-Scott's death, frontwoman Chrissie Hynde pens the tune "Back on the Chain Gang" as a tribute to him … the song will go on to be one of the band's biggest hits … a year later Farndon will also die from drug-related causes … Mick Jagger is knighted by Queen Elizabeth … no romantic entanglements are reported …
1986, Jerry Garcia goes into a five-day diabetic coma requiring the Dead to cancel shows … three Ozzie Osbourne fans die when they plunge from a balcony at a Long Beach, California, concert …
1988, Nirvana's debut album, Bleach, is released … the name comes from ubiquitous street posters warning junkies to bleach their works … this same week, in a marriage of mud and metal, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe weds mud-pit wrassler Sharisse Rudell … now there's a honeymoon we all would have liked to get in on …
1992, a judge in L.A. dismisses a $25 million palimony suit brought by model Kelly Emberg against Rod Stewart … she charges that they had lived together in a marital-like state between 1985 and 1990 and had a child together … despite their current contretemps, sources close to Emberg report that she still thinks Rod is sexy …
1991, Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks is arrested on a bench warrant for $26,000 in overdue child support while attending the funeral of his former bandmate David Ruffin … Kendricks will die the following year …
1994, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff is found slumped over her bathtub, dead of a heroin overdose … next to her body is a cosmetic bag with more than just lipstick inside … tragically, this occurs on the eve of her move back to Minneapolis to escape Seattle's too-easy-to-cop drug scene … Pfaff dies just two months after Kurt Cobain ended his life … it's been a swell couple of months for Courtney Love …
1995, 90 minutes before he's to perform at a Texas police convention, country star Ty Herndon is busted by an undercover cop for drug possession … he will plead guilty … in other concert news, Pearl Jam begins its Ticketmaster Monopoly tour … the band will, with mixed results, use a mail-order ticket service instead of Ticketmaster distribution … PJ is frustrated by Ticketmaster's attempts to raise prices above their mandated $20 price tag … the band accuses the ticket giant of monopolizing the concert ticket industry and the U.S. Justice Department later investigates … guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament testify before a House subcommittee to no avail …
2003, Adam Ant is busted for stripping off his clothes in a London café after smashing his neighbors' windows with stones …
2004, following a layoff of 1,000 employees in March, Warner Music Group announces that it's cutting its artist roster by nearly one-half in the face of a continuing soft market for music … Iggy Pop and The Stooges are reported to be working on songs for their first new studio record in 31 years … Pop speculates that they may record the album in Los Angeles noting, "That will torture me deeply" … after complaining about what he believes to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, David Bowie receives an emergency angioplasty to deal with a severely blocked artery …
2005, after deliberating for 32 hours, a California jury finds Michael Jackson not guilty of child molestation charges …
2006, Despite having a #1 album with Taking the Long Way Home, The Dixie Chicks are having trouble selling seats in some venues for their summer tour … it is believed anger over Chicks singer Natalie Maines' criticism of George W. Bush in 2003 is behind the sluggish box office … Jacob the Jeweler aka Jacob Abarov, purveyor of bling to hip-hop's glitterati, is busted by the Feds on charges of money laundering in a case that also includes drug peddling by the Black Mafia Family of Detroit … he will be sentenced to 30 months in federal slam and ordered to pay a $2 million fine …
2008, while touring Europe, Bob Dylan tells The London Times he supports Barack Obama's run for the White House … the historically apolitical Dylan says, "Right now, America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to." … Rolling Stone names Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" the all-time greatest guitar record … Jimi's "Purple Haze" and Cream's "Crossroads" place second and third respectively …
2009, Green Day's album, 21st Century Breakdown, sells more than 450,000 copies in its first three weeks making it one of the few bright spots in the midst of declining CD sales … notably, the stellar sales do not arise from an exclusive big-box store deal as have other recent hits whose distribution was limited to stores like Wal-Mart or Target …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
June 10: Chester Burnett aka Howlin' Wolf (1910), Judy Garland (1922), The Shirelle's Shirley Alston (1941), Skyliners vocalist Janet Vogel (1942), The Move's Rick Price (1944), Will Shatter of Flipper (1956), Kim and Kelley Deal of The Breeders (1961), Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins (1964), Darren Robinson of The Fat Boys (1967), Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey of K-Ci & Jo-Jo (1971), country star Faith Evans (1973), Lemisha Grinsted of 702 (1973)
June 11: boogie-woogie pianist Clarence "Pine Top" Smith (1904), country vocalist Jud Strunk (1936), Joe DiNicola of Joey Dee and the Starlighters (1940), The Pretty Things' Skip Allen (1948), Frank Beard of ZZ Top (1949), Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special (1952), Joey Santiago of The Pixies (1965), Dan Lavery of Tonic (1969)
June 12: bandleader Archie Bleyer (1909), R&B bassist Eddie Williams of Johnny Moore and The Three Blazers (1912), pioneer rockabilly Charlie Feathers (1932), keyboardist Chick Corea (1941), British folksinger-songwriter Roy Harper (1941), Reg Presley of The Troggs (1943), Brad Delp of Boston (1951), Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick (1951), bassist Pete Farndon of The Pretenders (1952), John Linnell of They Might Be Giants (1959), Michael Hausman of 'til tuesday (1960), Grandmaster Dee of Whodini (1962), Bobby Sheehan of Blues Traveler (1968), Bardi Martin of Candlebox (1969), blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd (1977), Robyn (1979)
June 13: Bobby Freeman of "Do You Wanna Dance" fame (1940), Arlester "Dyke" Christian of Dyke and the Blazers (1943), John Kahn of the Jerry Garcia Band (1947), troubled British singer-songwriter Nick Drake (1948), Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook (1949), Howard Leese of Heart (1951), James Smith of The Stylistics (1951), Bo Donaldson (1954), Godsmack's Robbie Merrill (1963), Paul DeLisle of Smash Mouth (1963), Soren Rasted of Aqua (1969), Rivers Cuomo of Wheezer (1970), Raz B of B2K (1985)
June 14: folk singer and actor Burl Ives (1909), pianist Cy Coleman (1929), Motown sax man Junior Walker (1931), Muff Winwood, bassist for The Spencer Davis Group (1943), Rod Argent of the Zombies (1945), Alan White of Yes (1949), gender-bending popster Boy George (1961), Chris DeGarmo of Queensryche (1963), British pop diva Billie Myers (1971)
June 15: jazz pianist Jaki Byard (1922), Nigel Pickering of Spanky & Our Gang (1929), Waylon Jennings (1937), singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941), Doug Roberts of Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs (1941), French pop singer Johnny Halliday (1943), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Eddie Hinton (1944), British folk singer Ian Matthews (1946), Noddy Holder of Slade (1946), Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply (1949), Steve Walsh of Kansas (1951), country-pop singer Terri Gibbs (1954), Garry Roberts of Boomtown Rats (1954), drummer Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche (1963), Michael Britt of Lonestar (1966), Ice Cube (1969), Dryden Mitchell of Alien Ant Farm (1976) guitarist Billy Martin of Good Charlotte (1981)
June 16: lyricist Ben Raleigh (1913), honkin' saxophonist Lucky Thompson (1924), jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd (1925), Motown songwriter-producer Lamont Dozier (1941), Eddie Levert of the O'Jays (1942), Pete Rivera of Rare Earth (1945), James Smith of the Stylistics (1950), pop singer Gino Vanelli (1952), Tupac Shakur (1971)
Departures:
June 10: Ray Charles (2004), Steve Sanders of The Oak Ridge Boys (1998), Alan Blakely of the Tremoloes (1996), Jimmy Weston of the Danleers (1993), The Shirelles' Addie "Mickey" Harris (1982), organist Earl Grant (1970)
June 11: A.R.E. Weapons guitarist Ryan Noel (2004)
June 12: Danny Davis of The Nashville Brass (2008), drummer Matthew Fletcher of Heavenly (1996), the "Vee" in Vee-Jay Records, Vivian Carter (1989), jazz legend Jimmy Dorsey (1957)
June 13: Southern blues guitarist John Campbell (1993), bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman (1986), reedman Charles Miller of War (1980), Clyde McPhatter (1972)
June 14: Ventures bassist Bob Bogle (2009), flamenco singer Delores Alcantara (1999), bluesman Rory Gallagher (1995), composer Henry Mancini (1994), Brenda Payton of Brenda and the Tabulations (1992), songwriter-producer Cliff Goldsmith (1991), drummer Pete DeFreitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (1989), jump blues singer Wynonie Harris (1969)
June 15: Lew Chudd, founder of Imperial Records (1998), Ella Fitzgerald (1996), tour musician Kin Vassy (1994), jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery (1968)
June 16: Ben Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2004), The Savages singer Screaming Lord Sutch born David Edward Sutch (1999), Dr. Hook drummer John Wolters (1997), Kristen Pfaff of Hole (1994), John Jordan of The Four Vagabonds (1988), James Honeyman-Scott (1982), Warren Ryanes of The Monotones (1982), Don Robey, founder of Peacock Records (1975), pioneer electric guitarist Lonnie Johnson (1970), Jack McFadden, Nashville manager of Buck Owens (1968)
Thanks Chas, it is funny that the Beatles created an event when they received the medal from the Queen in 65 but 20 years later for the Rolling Stone, it was already accepted in peoples mind that you did not need to a Lord to contribute to the country.
Marc
Marc
Yeah Marc, the Stones were the bad boys of music back in the old days so it wouldn't have been 'proper' for her Majesty to endorse their music then. John returning his OBE due to Britains support of the Vietnam business did not go down well I can recall whatsoever.