Week In Review
February 14, 2010
The Beatles Get Sick In The Studio … The Glimmer Twins Get Busted … Dark Side Of The Moon Debuts …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1904, Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly opens in Milan …
1946, Freddie Slack and Ella Mae Morse record "House of Blue Lights" … the song will later be recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, the Flamin' Groovies, and George Thorogood & The Destroyers …
1954, bluesman Joe Turner cuts "Shake, Rattle & Roll" six months before Bill Haley's version is released … the cover blows up into a giant hit …
1955, Richard Wayne Penniman, soon to be famous as Little Richard, sends his first audition tape to Specialty Records …
1963, The Beatles cut their first album at Abbey Road Studios in a single 10-hour session that cost $600 … the lads are all suffering from colds and John is losing his voice by the time they track "Twist and Shout" … all the tunes are from their set list at the Cavern Club as producer George Martin is intent on capturing the Fab Four with a live vibe … the resulting tracks will be released in the U.S. as Introducing … The Beatles …
1965, The Who audition for the BBC's Light Programme … though they ultimately make the show by a vote of four to three, one of the judges intones that they are "Overall not very original and below standard" … another judge deems them "ponderous and unentertaining" … and you thought American Idol was brutal! …
1967, working on a tip, British police raid a party at Redlands, the English estate of Keith Richards, searching for illegal drugs … police find amphetamine pills in singer Mick Jagger's coat and charge him with possession … Richards is charged with allowing his home to be used for drug-taking and a third guest is charged with heroin possession … Richards spends one night in jail, Jagger gets two … at trial four months later, both Stones are found guilty and given stiff sentences … The London Times gets behind the two rockers, questioning the severity of the sentences in a series of editorials … due to the media pressure, Richard's conviction is quashed on appeal and Jagger's prison sentence is reduced to a conditional discharge … Aretha Franklin records her hit single "Respect" at New York's Atlantic Studios … written by Otis Redding, the record will sell over a million copies and top the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks on its way to becoming both an American classic and Aretha's biggest hit …
1969, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan enter a Nashville recording studio together for a session that yields the duet "Girl from the North Country" …
1972, upon arriving in Singapore to kick off their first Pacific tour, the members of Led Zeppelin are denied entry because of their long hair … the hairstyles are viewed as a threat to the conservative government's campaign to reduce the influence of Western culture on its citizens … the band is not permitted to exit the plane and is forced to return to London immediately … the tour begins later in the week in Perth, Australia … Pink Floyd premieres Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics live in London during a four-day engagement … a year later the band will release the material as the album The Dark Side of the Moon …
1975, Cher's eponymous TV show debuts a year after her divorce from Sonny Bono … the premiere episode's guests include Elton John, Bette Midler, and comedian Flip Wilson … Cher's exposed navel generates much press … the show will last only one season …
1976, Fleetwood Mac begin recording Rumours in Sausalito, California … beset by relationship problems between John and Christine McVie as well as between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the group manages to funnel their personal angst into song and onto tape … one year later, between the alleged instances of drug abuse, navel-gazing, and general mucking about—for example, taking a whole month to record a bass drum track—the group finally releases the album in February 1977 …
1982, the 300-pound marble slab that marks the grave of former Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant is stolen in Orange Park, Florida … it is recovered by police two weeks later in a dry riverbed nearby …
1984, Jerry Lee Lewis surrenders to the feds to answer charges of tax evasion … he will later be acquitted …
1986, in an odd pop-culture pairing, Culture Club singer Boy George guest stars on an episode of the popular TV show The A-Team … in the episode, Boy is mistakenly booked as country singer Cowboy George at one of the toughest dance halls in the West … Culture Club performs …
1988, a 12-year-old Mötley Crüe fan in Florida sets his legs on fire while emulating a stunt seen in the group's "Live Wire" video … Mötley Crüe issues a statement saying the stunt should not be tried at home …
1990, Ike Turner is given a four-year prison sentence for a number of cocaine-possession offenses … Aerosmith appear as themselves on Saturday Night Live's "Wayne's World" … they play the "Wayne's World" theme with Garth (Dana Carvey) sitting in on drums … host Tom Hanks plays a roadie making a mic check: "sibilance, sibilance" …
1992, Vince Neil is fired as Mötley Crüe's lead singer after recording sessions for a new album turn ugly … he is replaced by John Corabi, formerly of The Scream … the resulting album, Mötley Crüe, goes on to be a commercial disappointment for the band … Neil will reunite with the Crüe in 1997 …
1997, U2 announces its upcoming Popmart Tour from where else? K-Mart, of course … the band's press conference, held in the lingerie department of a Manhattan K-Mart, is a raucous affair, including a performance of the B-side "Holy Joe" as well as the lowdown on the high-tech tour, which will include a giant lemon mirrorball, a 12-foot stuffed olive on a 100-foot toothpick, a towering 100-foot golden arch, and the world's largest-ever LED screen … guitarist The Edge tells reporters "We believe in kitsch. That's what we are up to at the moment." … on the subject of pop, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and his wife Debbie Rowe, welcome their first child at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles … the child is fittingly named Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II …
1998, a bucket-wielding Danber Nobacon of Chumbawamba leaps onto Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's table at the Brit Awards in London … in an effort to defend the honor of his wife and others at the table, Prescott shoves Nobacon to the ground, getting himself drenched in the process … Nobacon later claims he was making a political statement, but nobody is quite able to decipher what the statement is …
2000, during a performance by the Isley Brothers dubbed the Valentine's Super Love Jam at the L.A. Sports Arena, an LAPD officer shoots and kills a 24-year-old man who has allegedly wounded three people near a concession stand … though the performers and audience have no idea what has transpired, the show concludes an hour early …
2004, though the band has always had an ever-changing lineup, singer-guitarist Josh Homme and bassman Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age have been the constant Queens with a longstanding partnership going back to their days in Kyuss in the early 1990s … that relationship comes to a sudden end when the band's website announces Oliveri has split, tersely noting "A number of incidents occurring over the last 18 months have led to the decision that the two can no longer maintain a working partnership in the band" … Norah Jones' sophomore album Feels Like Home moves over a million units in its first week, keeping the sultry singer's mojo going on the charts …
2005, Led Zeppelin, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Janis Joplin receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards … Kid Rock is arrested for punching a DJ at a Nashville strip club and released on $3,000 bail … "Everything is wonderful. It was a beautiful night," is his comment as he leaves the lockup …
2006, former Creed frontman Scott Stapp is arrested for public drunkenness at Los Angeles International Airport where he's about to embark on a honeymoon flight to Hawaii with his new bride, the former Miss New York, Jaclyn Nesheiwat … police describe Stapp's demeanor as "antagonistic, boisterous and pissed off" … he's booked by the cops after failing a beathalyzer test …
2007, despite being boycotted by country music fans and radio stations after making critical remarks about President George W. Bush's policies in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, the Dixie Chicks nail five Grammys for their unrepentant album Not Ready to Make Nice … other winners include Mary J. Blige who takes home three phonographs for her The Breakthrough album and The Red Hot Chili Peppers whose double-disc Stadium Arcadium scores four awards … a bikini-clad Beyonce is chosen by Sports Illustrated to grace its annual swimsuit issue … in other fashion news, MTV Networks adorns 250 of its employees with a Valentine's Day pink slip …
2008, Emmylou Harris is named to the Country Music Hall of Fame … she first became known for her duet work with Gram Parsons in the 1970s … after Parsons' death in 1973, she embarked on a solo career that included pop, country-rock, and Americana … she's been honored with 12 Grammy Awards … Lenny Kravitz postpones his European tour after being hospitalized for bronchitis … a spokesperson says he is suffering from exhaustion and dehydration …
2009, with the U.S. economy still headed south, longtime purveyor of elevator music Muzak files for bankruptcy … they're not alone, the newly amalgamated Sirius XM Radio combine is said to be preparing its own Chapter 11 filing while Clear Channel, the nation's biggest radio station operator, is in the red to the tune of $19 billion with its credit line close to being tapped out …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 11: Glenn Miller Orchestra sax man Tex Beneke (1914), singer-songwriter, actor, activist Josh White (1915), rock 'n' roll pioneer Gene Vincent born Eugene Vincent Craddock (1935), songwriter Gerry Goffin (1939), novelty songster Bobby "Boris" Pickett (1940), Sergio Mendes (1941), keyboard man Stan Szelest (1942), blues singer Little Johnny Taylor (1943), Sheryl Crow (1962), D'Angelo (1974), Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park (1977), "Brandy" Norwood (1979), Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child (1981)
February 12: jazz and rock record producer Bob Shad (1920), singer-songwriter Gene McDaniels (1935), Ray Manzarek of The Doors (1935), Rick Frank of Elephant's Memory (1942), Stan Knight of Black Oak Arkansas (1949), Steve Hackett of Genesis (1950), Michael McDonald (1952), Chynna Phillips of Wilson-Phillips (1968), Barenaked Lady Jim Creeggan (1970)
February 13: country-pop singer Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919), songwriter Boudleaux Bryant (1920), Gene Ames of The Ames Brothers (1925), Peter Tork of The Monkees (1942), Peter Gabriel (1950), New Order's Peter Hook (1956), agit-rocker Henry Rollins (1961), The Cult's Les Warner (1961)
February 14: Beatles-supporting DJ Murray The K, born Murray Kaufman (1922), keyboardist Merl Saunders (1934), bluesman Magic Sam born Sam Maghett (1937), folk singer Eric Anderson (1937), Vic Briggs of The Animals (1945), folk-rock/blues/jazz/R&B singer Tim Buckley (1947), Roger Fisher of Heart (1950), Ice-T, born Tracy Lauren Marrow (1959), Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas (1972)
February 15: blues guitarist Kokomo Arnold (1901), Brian Holland of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team (1941), Mick Avory of The Kinks (1944), Denny Zager of Zager & Evans (1944), John Helliwell of Supertramp (1945), David Brown of Santana (1947), pop singer Melissa Manchester (1951), UB40 singer Ali Campbell (1959), Mikey Craig of Culture Club (1960), Brandon Boyd of Incubus (1976)
February 16: R&B keyboard player Bill Doggett (1916), gospel and doo-wop singer Ted Taylor (1934), singer-songwriter-producer Sonny Bono (1935), Mississippi bluesman James "Super Chikan" Johnson (1951), soul singer James Ingram (1956), Pete Willis of Def Leppard (1960), Andy Taylor of Duran Duran (1961)
February 17: '50s pop crooner Tommy Edwards (1922), Bobby "Tossin' and Turnin'" Lewis (1933), singer-songwriter Gene Pitney (1941), Packy Axton, leader and sax player for the Mar-Keys (1941), Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day (1972)
Departures:
February 11: Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes (2009), Jockey Shabala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2006), stride pianist Jaki Byard (1999), New Orleans guitarist and composer Rene Hall (1988)
February 12: Chuck Mangione Band guitarist Coleman Mellett (2009), Chuck Mangione Band saxophonist Gerry Niewood (2009), trumpeter John Brunious, leader of New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2008), the original shock rocker Screamin' Jay Hawkins, born Jalacy Hawkins (2000), Gerald "Bounce" Gregory of the Spaniels (1999), Philip Taylor Kramer, bassist with Iron Butterfly in the '70s (1995), pianist Eubie Blake (1983), Mississippi Delta bluesman Ishmon Bracey (1970)
February 13: country outlaw Waylon Jennings (2002)
February 14: big band drummer Louie Bellson (2009), Sweet drummer Mick Tucker (2002), Buddy Knox of "Party Doll" fame (1999), Doug Weston, operator of the Troubadour club in L.A. (1999), Roy Lanham of Sons of the Pioneers (1991)
February 15: guitarist/Fender consultant Bill Carson (2007), songwriter Ray Evans (2007), rapper Big L, born Lamont Coleman (1999), George Suranovich, drummer for L.A. rock band Love (1990), Jimmy Holiday, singer and songwriter for Ray Charles (1987), Broadway belter Ethel Merman (1984), bluesman Mike Bloomfield (1981), blues harp player Little Walter (1968), vocalist-pianist Nat "King" Cole (1965)
February 16: producer-arranger Sid Feller (2006), soul singer Doris Troy (2004), folk-blues guitarist Walter "Brownie" McGhee (1996), Hombres drummer John Hunter (1976)
February 17: guitarist Mary Kaye (2007), percussionist and bandleader Ray Barretto (2006), Bill Cowsill, lead singer of the Cowsills (2005), Louisiana rockabilly star Jackie Lee Cochran (1998), Thelonious Sphere Monk (1982), Zenon DeFleur, guitarist with punk group Count Bishops (1979), Hollywood film composer Alfred Newman, uncle of Randy Newman (1970)
Re:Chas's Music Column - Bumber December Issue W/E 15th, 22nd & 29thr
Week In Review
February 18, 2010
Waylon and Willie Go Outlaw … Bon Scott Chokes … Britney Shears …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1878, seminal turntablist Thomas Edison receives a patent for the phonograph …
1951, Dan Randall of Fender comes up with a new name for their solidbody guitar: "Telecaster" … the original name "Broadcaster" is dropped after Gretsch complains they have a line of drums using that name … the name "Telecaster" is chosen because TV is becoming popular …
1956, Bill Haley & The Comets receive a $250,000 guarantee for 21 shows, an unprecedented amount … this same week, the band's album Rock Around The Clock becomes the first rock 'n' roll LP to make it onto the pop album charts …
1963, The Beatles form Northern Music Publishing which eventually will fall into the hands of Michael Jackson …
1966, The Beach Boys' mastermind Brian Wilson enters Gold Star Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood to lay down the first tracks of "Good Vibrations" using the best session players available … the tracks aren't used … it takes 16 more sessions between April 9 and September 1 at Gold Star, Sunset Sound, Western, and Columbia studios before Wilson achieves his master recording at a reported cost of between $50,000 and $75,000 … at the time an astronomical sum for a single record, but worth it given the result …
1967, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and The Byrds join forces in an L.A. all-star concert to protest cops roughing up hippies on the Sunset Strip … though the concert does little to stop the pugilistic proclivities of the petulant police, it does spawn Stills' hit, "For What It's Worth" …
1968, Pink Floyd cofounder Syd Barrett succumbs to mental illness and is replaced on guitar by the estimable David Gilmour …
1969, the film version of Terry Southern's sex-comedy novel Candy with Ringo Starr in a prominent role premieres … it marks Ringo's debut in a nonmusical film …
1974, Billy Joel charts with "Piano Man" … it will be the first of 41 Top 100 entries for him … Cher officially separates from Sonny, thus paving the way for Greg Allman to top her charts …
1976, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings strike pay dirt with The Outlaws when it becomes the first country album to go platinum … other performers on the blockbuster are Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser …
1978, Sex Pistol bassist Sid Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen are arrested at the Chelsea Hotel for drug possession … it is a prelude to murder and death by overdose …
1980, soon after reaching stardom, Bon Scott of AC/DC bites it in the back of a friend's car after a long night of very heavy drinking … in a classic rock 'n' roll spin-crash-and-burn, the 33-year-old singer passes out and dies by choking on his own vomit …
1981, in a verdict that at once validates Sigmund Freud (theory of the subconscious) and George Orwell (double-speak), George Harrison is ruled liable for "subconscious plagiarism" in a civil case regarding his 1970 song "My Sweet Lord," and the Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine" … the judge orders that $587,000 be paid to ABKCO Music, publisher of "He's So Fine" …
1987, after informing us at Woodstock that he wanted to take us higher, Sly Stone decides to lead by example … two outstanding warrants on drug charges land him in the pokey in L.A. … by the end of the year he'll be doing hard time on cocaine charges …
1989, Hard Rock/Metal is a Grammy category for the first time … in a class that includes heavyweight nominees Metallica, Jane's Addiction, and Iggy Pop, the winner is (drum roll, please): Jethro Tull … a chorus of boos rains down from the public balconies and even some of the artists on the main floor join in … critics nearly unanimously lambast the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voters who selected Tull, whose mix of classic English prog rock and jazz flute is the farthest thing from hard rock or metal …
1992, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love wed in Waikiki …
1995, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee puts his 1986 marriage with the lovely Heather Locklear behind him and marries Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson on a beach in Cancun … according to onlookers, Anderson, clad only in a formal white bikini, could barely contain her increasingly buoyant spirits …
1996, Barry Manilow is involved in a five-car collision on the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles … Manilow, who actually didn't pen the hit "I Write the Songs" for which he won a Grammy 19 years earlier to the day, finds more immediate use for his writing skills by signing autographs for police, accident victims, and fans …
1997, a judge in New York throws out a $7 million lawsuit blaming Mötley Crüe for a fan's hearing loss … the judge points out that the fan knew it was going to be loud before he went to the concert … "Go Phish," is ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's response to those who wonder how they will maintain their "grass roots" movement of rock-related flavors aimed at the great unwashed … now hippies young and old can choose between Cherry Garcia and a new phlavor: Phish Food …
1998, pounding the skins comes naturally to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee … this time, unfortunately, the skin belongs to his wife Pamela Anderson … Lee is arrested and charged with domestic abuse … Virgin Records files suit against the Smashing Pumpkins for alleged breach of contract and nondelivery of albums … the suit claims the band notified Virgin that instead of delivering seven albums, per its contract, the band was delivering just three and walking … the Pumpkins cite a California labor law which limits personal service contracts to seven years as its law originally used by movie stars to break free from the once-dominant studio system … the band eventually wins and gets more money with its royalty rate bumped up to 20 percent …
2003, The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, at which Great White is performing, goes up in flames, ignited by onstage pyrotechnics … 100 are killed and many more injured … it is the deadliest rock-concert tragedy ever …
2005, Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for the metal act Korn, quits the band he helped found after experiencing a religious awakening … Brian breaks the news on a Bakersfield, California, radio station … he says he's sick of "chasing the almighty buck," and feels raising his six-year old daughter is more important … Korn tries to accommodate the single dad by allowing his daughter to come on tour but it doesn't work, according to Welch … "Fieldy (Korn bass player) would tell her: 'Every time you hear a curse word, you'll get a dollar. It will help us stop cursing.' And at the end of the day, she'd turn to me and be like, 'Look at all my money, Daddy!'" …
2006, with fallout from Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' criticism of George W. Bush in 2003 still dogging them, the band drops 14 dates including Memphis, Houston, and Jacksonville, FL, from its Accidents and Accusations tour … so-called red-state hostility has resulted in poor ticket sales in the South and the Chicks continue to get the cold shoulder from country radio …
2007, pop star Britney Spears, apparently taking fashion cues from Connie Conehead and Tommy Lee, spends a wacky week getting her head shaved and a new tattoo applied … Esther Tognozzi (now affectionately known as "the hair nozzi"), owner of Esther's Hair Salon in Tarzana, CA, says she tried to talk the agitated pop star out of it, but a determined Spears grabbed the clippers while Tognozzi was chatting with Brit's bodyguards and chopped away …
2008, 50 Cent is ordered to pay up after losing a lawsuit filed against him by a photographer … after a near five-year drag out after the knock down, a judge rules that Fiddy must cough up an undisclosed amount … Jim Alcorn, a New York Post deputy photo assignment editor, brought the suit against the rapper in 2003 after being knocked to the ground by Fiddy's bodyguards when he tried to snap a few pictures …
2009, J. Geils Band reunites for a one-off performance in their hometown of Boston …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 18: Yoko Ono (1933), folk singer David Blue (1941), Herman Santiago of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1941), Dennis DeYoung of Styx (1947), Mark Andes of Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, and Heart (1948), Randy Crawford (1952), pop singer Juice Newton (1952), Robbie Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1953), Dr. Dre, known to his mother as Andre Romelle Young (1965)
February 19: Bob Englemen of The Lettermen (1936), baritone William McClain of The Cleftones (1938), Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, both of the Miracles (1940), Lou Christie (1943), guitarist Tommie Iommi of Black Sabbath (1948), bassist Francis Buckholz of the Scorpions (1950), Austrian techno-pop star Falco (1957), singer-songwriter Seal, aka Sealhenry Samuel (1963), Phish drummer John "Fish" Fishman (1965)
February 20: pianist Jimmy Yancey (1898), Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer (1927), jazz songstress Nancy Wilson (1937), singer-songwriter David Ackles (1937), Barbara Ellis of The Fleetwoods (1939), singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie (1941), trumpet player Lew Soloff of Blood, Sweat, and Tears (1944), singer and guitarist Alan Hull of Lindisfarne (1945), Jerome (J.) Geils of The J. Geils Band (1946), Walter Becker of Steely Dan (1950), guitarist Randy California of Spirit (1951), bassist Jon Brant of Cheap Trick (1954), Victor Ray Wilson, drummer with Body Count (1959), singer Ian Brown of The Stone Roses (1963), Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (1967), Brian Littrell of Backstreet Boys (1975)
February 21: father of the modern classical guitar, Andres Segovia (1893), '50s pop singer Guy Mitchell aka Al Cernik (1927), singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger Nina Simone (1933), swamp pop pioneer Bobby Charles (1938), record executive David Geffen (1943), Talking Head Jerry Harrison (1949), folk and country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter (1958), Ranking Roger aka Roger Charlery of The English Beat (1961), Sublime's Eric Wilson (1970), Welsh singer-songwriter Charlotte Church (1986)
February 22: Frederic Francois Chopin (1810), self-proclaimed "King of Western Swing," bandleader, and wife-killer Spade Cooley (1910), R&B saxophonist "Big Al" Sears, born Albert Omega Sears (1910), New Orleans R&B singer Ernie K-Doe aka Ernest Kador Jr. (1936), Bobby Hendricks of The Drifters (1937), Robert Edwards of The Intruders (1942), Brad Nowell of Sublime (1968)
February 23: operatic composer George Frederic Handel (1685), blues guitarist-singer Johnny Winter (1944), Les Kummel, bassist with The New Colony Six (1945), innovative pedal steel guitar player Rusty Young of Poco (1946), guitarist Brad Whitford of Aerosmith (1952), synth player, singer, songwriter Howard Jones (1955), Japan frontman David Sylvian (1958), guitarist Michael Wilton of Queensryche (1962), Robert Collins, keyboardist with The Charlatans (1963), bassist Nicki Tedesco (1971), bassist Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel (1971), keyboardist Lasse Johansson of The Cardigans (1973)
February 24: Italian tenor and recording pioneer Enrico Caruso (1873), singer-songwriter Wandra Merrell (1923), singer Paul Jones of Manfred Mann (1942), George Harrison (1943), keyboard session man Nicky Hopkins (1944), Butch McDade, drummer with The Amazing Rhythm Aces (1946), bassist Lonnie Turner of the Steve Miller Band (1947), Rupert Holmes, composer, singer-songwriter, musician, and musical playwright (1947), singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked (1962)
Departures:
February 18: Pere Ubu guitarist Jim Jones (2008), pop singer Miss Toni Fisher (1999), Eddie Williams, bassist for Johnny Moore and The Three Blazers (1995), Bob Stinson of The Replacements (1995), rockabilly artist Johnny Carroll (1995), Musical Youth bassist Patrick Waite (1993), Ollie McLaughlin, producer for Del Shannon (1984)
February 19: guitarist Ty Longley of Great White (2003), Hee-Haw's Grandpa Jones (1998), Bon Scott of AC/DC (1980)
February 20: gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (2005), John Raitt, Broadway baritone and father of Bonnie (2005), Lighthouse vocalist Bob McBride (1998), composer Toru Takemitsu (1996), Hal Worthington, leader of the soul band The Unifics (1990), Cornelius "Tenoo" Coleman, drummer for Fats Domino (1973), Jimmy Bracken, the "Jay" in Vee-Jay Records (1972)
February 21: Al Viola, jazz guitarist with Frank Sinatra (2007), singer Les Gray of English glam rock band Mud (2004), rockabilly singer Malcolm Yelvington (2001), English vocalist Ronnie Hilton (2001), Musical Youth bassist Patrick Waite (1993), DJ Murray "The K" Kaufman, who helped launch the Beatles in the U.S. (1982), reggae singer Jacob Miller of Inner Circle (1980), Janet Vogel, singer with The Skyliners (1980), Nolan Strong of The Diablos (1977)
February 22: guitarist John Fahey (2001), electric violinist "Papa" John Creach (1994), Kermit Chandler, guitarist with The Sheppards (1981), Florence Ballard of The Supremes (1976)
February 23: singer Donnie Brooks (2007), Bob Mayo, guitarist and keyboardist with Peter Frampton (2004), Howie Epstein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2003), jazz critic Stanley Dance (1999), singer Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1995)
February 24: Larry Norman, "father of Christian rock" (2008), co-founder of Stax Records Estelle Axton (2004), '50s pop crooner Johnnie Ray (1990), blues pianist Memphis Slim aka John Len "Peter" Chatman (1988), Detroit soul singer Ty Hunter (1981)
February 18, 2010
Waylon and Willie Go Outlaw … Bon Scott Chokes … Britney Shears …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1878, seminal turntablist Thomas Edison receives a patent for the phonograph …
1951, Dan Randall of Fender comes up with a new name for their solidbody guitar: "Telecaster" … the original name "Broadcaster" is dropped after Gretsch complains they have a line of drums using that name … the name "Telecaster" is chosen because TV is becoming popular …
1956, Bill Haley & The Comets receive a $250,000 guarantee for 21 shows, an unprecedented amount … this same week, the band's album Rock Around The Clock becomes the first rock 'n' roll LP to make it onto the pop album charts …
1963, The Beatles form Northern Music Publishing which eventually will fall into the hands of Michael Jackson …
1966, The Beach Boys' mastermind Brian Wilson enters Gold Star Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood to lay down the first tracks of "Good Vibrations" using the best session players available … the tracks aren't used … it takes 16 more sessions between April 9 and September 1 at Gold Star, Sunset Sound, Western, and Columbia studios before Wilson achieves his master recording at a reported cost of between $50,000 and $75,000 … at the time an astronomical sum for a single record, but worth it given the result …
1967, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and The Byrds join forces in an L.A. all-star concert to protest cops roughing up hippies on the Sunset Strip … though the concert does little to stop the pugilistic proclivities of the petulant police, it does spawn Stills' hit, "For What It's Worth" …
1968, Pink Floyd cofounder Syd Barrett succumbs to mental illness and is replaced on guitar by the estimable David Gilmour …
1969, the film version of Terry Southern's sex-comedy novel Candy with Ringo Starr in a prominent role premieres … it marks Ringo's debut in a nonmusical film …
1974, Billy Joel charts with "Piano Man" … it will be the first of 41 Top 100 entries for him … Cher officially separates from Sonny, thus paving the way for Greg Allman to top her charts …
1976, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings strike pay dirt with The Outlaws when it becomes the first country album to go platinum … other performers on the blockbuster are Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser …
1978, Sex Pistol bassist Sid Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen are arrested at the Chelsea Hotel for drug possession … it is a prelude to murder and death by overdose …
1980, soon after reaching stardom, Bon Scott of AC/DC bites it in the back of a friend's car after a long night of very heavy drinking … in a classic rock 'n' roll spin-crash-and-burn, the 33-year-old singer passes out and dies by choking on his own vomit …
1981, in a verdict that at once validates Sigmund Freud (theory of the subconscious) and George Orwell (double-speak), George Harrison is ruled liable for "subconscious plagiarism" in a civil case regarding his 1970 song "My Sweet Lord," and the Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine" … the judge orders that $587,000 be paid to ABKCO Music, publisher of "He's So Fine" …
1987, after informing us at Woodstock that he wanted to take us higher, Sly Stone decides to lead by example … two outstanding warrants on drug charges land him in the pokey in L.A. … by the end of the year he'll be doing hard time on cocaine charges …
1989, Hard Rock/Metal is a Grammy category for the first time … in a class that includes heavyweight nominees Metallica, Jane's Addiction, and Iggy Pop, the winner is (drum roll, please): Jethro Tull … a chorus of boos rains down from the public balconies and even some of the artists on the main floor join in … critics nearly unanimously lambast the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voters who selected Tull, whose mix of classic English prog rock and jazz flute is the farthest thing from hard rock or metal …
1992, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love wed in Waikiki …
1995, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee puts his 1986 marriage with the lovely Heather Locklear behind him and marries Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson on a beach in Cancun … according to onlookers, Anderson, clad only in a formal white bikini, could barely contain her increasingly buoyant spirits …
1996, Barry Manilow is involved in a five-car collision on the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles … Manilow, who actually didn't pen the hit "I Write the Songs" for which he won a Grammy 19 years earlier to the day, finds more immediate use for his writing skills by signing autographs for police, accident victims, and fans …
1997, a judge in New York throws out a $7 million lawsuit blaming Mötley Crüe for a fan's hearing loss … the judge points out that the fan knew it was going to be loud before he went to the concert … "Go Phish," is ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's response to those who wonder how they will maintain their "grass roots" movement of rock-related flavors aimed at the great unwashed … now hippies young and old can choose between Cherry Garcia and a new phlavor: Phish Food …
1998, pounding the skins comes naturally to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee … this time, unfortunately, the skin belongs to his wife Pamela Anderson … Lee is arrested and charged with domestic abuse … Virgin Records files suit against the Smashing Pumpkins for alleged breach of contract and nondelivery of albums … the suit claims the band notified Virgin that instead of delivering seven albums, per its contract, the band was delivering just three and walking … the Pumpkins cite a California labor law which limits personal service contracts to seven years as its law originally used by movie stars to break free from the once-dominant studio system … the band eventually wins and gets more money with its royalty rate bumped up to 20 percent …
2003, The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, at which Great White is performing, goes up in flames, ignited by onstage pyrotechnics … 100 are killed and many more injured … it is the deadliest rock-concert tragedy ever …
2005, Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for the metal act Korn, quits the band he helped found after experiencing a religious awakening … Brian breaks the news on a Bakersfield, California, radio station … he says he's sick of "chasing the almighty buck," and feels raising his six-year old daughter is more important … Korn tries to accommodate the single dad by allowing his daughter to come on tour but it doesn't work, according to Welch … "Fieldy (Korn bass player) would tell her: 'Every time you hear a curse word, you'll get a dollar. It will help us stop cursing.' And at the end of the day, she'd turn to me and be like, 'Look at all my money, Daddy!'" …
2006, with fallout from Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' criticism of George W. Bush in 2003 still dogging them, the band drops 14 dates including Memphis, Houston, and Jacksonville, FL, from its Accidents and Accusations tour … so-called red-state hostility has resulted in poor ticket sales in the South and the Chicks continue to get the cold shoulder from country radio …
2007, pop star Britney Spears, apparently taking fashion cues from Connie Conehead and Tommy Lee, spends a wacky week getting her head shaved and a new tattoo applied … Esther Tognozzi (now affectionately known as "the hair nozzi"), owner of Esther's Hair Salon in Tarzana, CA, says she tried to talk the agitated pop star out of it, but a determined Spears grabbed the clippers while Tognozzi was chatting with Brit's bodyguards and chopped away …
2008, 50 Cent is ordered to pay up after losing a lawsuit filed against him by a photographer … after a near five-year drag out after the knock down, a judge rules that Fiddy must cough up an undisclosed amount … Jim Alcorn, a New York Post deputy photo assignment editor, brought the suit against the rapper in 2003 after being knocked to the ground by Fiddy's bodyguards when he tried to snap a few pictures …
2009, J. Geils Band reunites for a one-off performance in their hometown of Boston …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 18: Yoko Ono (1933), folk singer David Blue (1941), Herman Santiago of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1941), Dennis DeYoung of Styx (1947), Mark Andes of Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, and Heart (1948), Randy Crawford (1952), pop singer Juice Newton (1952), Robbie Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1953), Dr. Dre, known to his mother as Andre Romelle Young (1965)
February 19: Bob Englemen of The Lettermen (1936), baritone William McClain of The Cleftones (1938), Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, both of the Miracles (1940), Lou Christie (1943), guitarist Tommie Iommi of Black Sabbath (1948), bassist Francis Buckholz of the Scorpions (1950), Austrian techno-pop star Falco (1957), singer-songwriter Seal, aka Sealhenry Samuel (1963), Phish drummer John "Fish" Fishman (1965)
February 20: pianist Jimmy Yancey (1898), Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer (1927), jazz songstress Nancy Wilson (1937), singer-songwriter David Ackles (1937), Barbara Ellis of The Fleetwoods (1939), singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie (1941), trumpet player Lew Soloff of Blood, Sweat, and Tears (1944), singer and guitarist Alan Hull of Lindisfarne (1945), Jerome (J.) Geils of The J. Geils Band (1946), Walter Becker of Steely Dan (1950), guitarist Randy California of Spirit (1951), bassist Jon Brant of Cheap Trick (1954), Victor Ray Wilson, drummer with Body Count (1959), singer Ian Brown of The Stone Roses (1963), Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (1967), Brian Littrell of Backstreet Boys (1975)
February 21: father of the modern classical guitar, Andres Segovia (1893), '50s pop singer Guy Mitchell aka Al Cernik (1927), singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger Nina Simone (1933), swamp pop pioneer Bobby Charles (1938), record executive David Geffen (1943), Talking Head Jerry Harrison (1949), folk and country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter (1958), Ranking Roger aka Roger Charlery of The English Beat (1961), Sublime's Eric Wilson (1970), Welsh singer-songwriter Charlotte Church (1986)
February 22: Frederic Francois Chopin (1810), self-proclaimed "King of Western Swing," bandleader, and wife-killer Spade Cooley (1910), R&B saxophonist "Big Al" Sears, born Albert Omega Sears (1910), New Orleans R&B singer Ernie K-Doe aka Ernest Kador Jr. (1936), Bobby Hendricks of The Drifters (1937), Robert Edwards of The Intruders (1942), Brad Nowell of Sublime (1968)
February 23: operatic composer George Frederic Handel (1685), blues guitarist-singer Johnny Winter (1944), Les Kummel, bassist with The New Colony Six (1945), innovative pedal steel guitar player Rusty Young of Poco (1946), guitarist Brad Whitford of Aerosmith (1952), synth player, singer, songwriter Howard Jones (1955), Japan frontman David Sylvian (1958), guitarist Michael Wilton of Queensryche (1962), Robert Collins, keyboardist with The Charlatans (1963), bassist Nicki Tedesco (1971), bassist Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel (1971), keyboardist Lasse Johansson of The Cardigans (1973)
February 24: Italian tenor and recording pioneer Enrico Caruso (1873), singer-songwriter Wandra Merrell (1923), singer Paul Jones of Manfred Mann (1942), George Harrison (1943), keyboard session man Nicky Hopkins (1944), Butch McDade, drummer with The Amazing Rhythm Aces (1946), bassist Lonnie Turner of the Steve Miller Band (1947), Rupert Holmes, composer, singer-songwriter, musician, and musical playwright (1947), singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked (1962)
Departures:
February 18: Pere Ubu guitarist Jim Jones (2008), pop singer Miss Toni Fisher (1999), Eddie Williams, bassist for Johnny Moore and The Three Blazers (1995), Bob Stinson of The Replacements (1995), rockabilly artist Johnny Carroll (1995), Musical Youth bassist Patrick Waite (1993), Ollie McLaughlin, producer for Del Shannon (1984)
February 19: guitarist Ty Longley of Great White (2003), Hee-Haw's Grandpa Jones (1998), Bon Scott of AC/DC (1980)
February 20: gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (2005), John Raitt, Broadway baritone and father of Bonnie (2005), Lighthouse vocalist Bob McBride (1998), composer Toru Takemitsu (1996), Hal Worthington, leader of the soul band The Unifics (1990), Cornelius "Tenoo" Coleman, drummer for Fats Domino (1973), Jimmy Bracken, the "Jay" in Vee-Jay Records (1972)
February 21: Al Viola, jazz guitarist with Frank Sinatra (2007), singer Les Gray of English glam rock band Mud (2004), rockabilly singer Malcolm Yelvington (2001), English vocalist Ronnie Hilton (2001), Musical Youth bassist Patrick Waite (1993), DJ Murray "The K" Kaufman, who helped launch the Beatles in the U.S. (1982), reggae singer Jacob Miller of Inner Circle (1980), Janet Vogel, singer with The Skyliners (1980), Nolan Strong of The Diablos (1977)
February 22: guitarist John Fahey (2001), electric violinist "Papa" John Creach (1994), Kermit Chandler, guitarist with The Sheppards (1981), Florence Ballard of The Supremes (1976)
February 23: singer Donnie Brooks (2007), Bob Mayo, guitarist and keyboardist with Peter Frampton (2004), Howie Epstein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2003), jazz critic Stanley Dance (1999), singer Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1995)
February 24: Larry Norman, "father of Christian rock" (2008), co-founder of Stax Records Estelle Axton (2004), '50s pop crooner Johnnie Ray (1990), blues pianist Memphis Slim aka John Len "Peter" Chatman (1988), Detroit soul singer Ty Hunter (1981)
Week In Review
February 25, 2010
Big Cash Splash … Dylans Split … Jacko Waxed …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1949, RCA introduces the 45-rpm record …
1952, Sun Records, future home of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins releases its first record, an instrumental by saxman Johnny London … it flops …
1957, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers receive the princely sum of $7,500 to play a carnival in Panama … the fee is considered huge for a one-nighter … meanwhile Chicago's Chess Records releases Muddy Waters' "I Got My Mojo Working," and Chuck Berry's "School Days" … the singles reflect the company's dual focus on urban blacks and white teens …
1967, Paul McCartney reads a newspaper account of a missing teenage girl inspiring his "She's Leaving Home" …
1968, Johnny Cash and June Carter marry in Franklin, Kentucky … a motorcade of Cadillacs transports Johnny, June, and their families to a small, private ceremony … Cash's best man is Merle Kilgore who shares co-writing credits with June on "Ring of Fire," a tune often considered as the musical record of Johnny and June's illicit love affair …
1977, Mississippi bluesman Bukka White dies of cancer … born Booker T. Washington White, he was inspired to play music by blues legend Charley Patton … in the 1930s he played semi-pro baseball and boxed, and in 1937 was imprisoned on an assault charge … after escaping from prison, White cut some sides for the Vocalion label and was eventually recaptured … his name as it appears on records resulted from a Vocalion producer misunderstanding his name; White preferred to be called Booker … rediscovered by a blues researcher in 1963, he made appearances at festivals during the blues revival that marked the latter stages of his eventful life … remembered as a powerful performer on National steel guitars, White gave his cousin B.B. King a Stella—the future electric blues star's first guitar … meanwhile in Santa Monica, California, Bob Dylan's wife, Sara, files for divorce … the couple has been married for 11 years and has five children … in the property settlement she is given the family home and custody of the kids … Sara is said to be the inspiration behind Dylan songs such as "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "Lay Lady Lay," and "Sara" …
1978, Van Halen plays the first date of its first national tour at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom … there's a rider in the contract providing that M&Ms with the brown candies removed be available backstage …
1983, Michael Jackson's Thriller soars to #1 on the pop chart and will stay there 37 weeks, selling over 40 million copies … it's the number-one seller in every Western nation where such records are kept …
1985, Jacko drops in on Madame Tussaud's London waxworks where his likeness is being unveiled …
1990, former Coasters lead tenor Cornell Gunter dies in Las Vegas when an unknown assailant shoots him while he's sitting in his car …
1994, Kurt Cobain washes down a handful of Valiums with champagne and winds up in a coma in a Rome hospital … he revives after about 20 hours … though officially labeled accidental, the overdose is thought to be a suicide attempt by those close to Cobain … a second attempt nearly two months later with a shotgun will prove fatal …
1995, Lyle Lovett breaks his collarbone while motorcycling in Mexico causing him to miss the Grammys where he wins Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for his duet on "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green and Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for his version of "Blues For Dixie" with Asleep At The Wheel … meanwhile in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bill Berry of R.E.M. suffers a massive migraine about 90 minutes into the band's set … he collapses and is rushed offstage but does not see a doctor until the next day when it is discovered he has an aneurysm on the right side of his brain … Berry undergoes surgery and makes a full recovery …
1999, British singer Dusty Springfield falls victim to breast cancer … born Mary Elizabeth Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, the highly regarded singer enjoyed a series of pop hits including the blockbuster "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" … her death falls on the day she was scheduled to receive her OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth …she was 59 … after a 31-year hiatus, Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles appear at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Awards in L.A. where they perform a stunning rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" …
2000, it's announced that pop princess Britney Spears is marketing her own brand of bubble gum creatively dubbed "Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum" … meanwhile in Newport Beach, California, Dennis Danell of Social Distortion dies of an apparent brain aneurysm suffered in his driveway … he was 38 …
2003, R&B singer Hank Ballard dies of throat cancer at home in L.A. … notable for having written "The Twist" and enjoying a hit with it before Chubby Checker's cover, he and his swinging band, The Midnighters, charted with 22 R&B hits in the 1950s and '60s, many of which crossed over onto the pop chart … these include the suggestive "Work With Me Annie" followed by "Annie Had a Baby" … their racy lyrics resulted in the songs being banned on many radio stations …
2004, shock jock Howard Stern is suspended indefinitely from Clear Channel radio following listeners' complaints sent to the network and the FCC … complaints center around Stern's potty mouth and the smutty subjects he addresses … Clear Channel president John Hogan publicly demands Stern drop the naughty content from his show … Stern demurs and is suspended only to be picked up as a broadcaster by XM satellite radio …
2005, the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, closes … artists such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bob Seger recorded some of their biggest hits at the facility … the studio, owned since 1985 by indie blues label Malaco Records, is a victim of the computer recording boom … Ozzy Osbourne, who's promoting the Australian MTV Awards in Sydney, inexplicably cups daughter Kelly's left breast during a press conference …
2006, new-age musician Yanni is arrested in Florida on charges of domestic battery against his girlfriend … after being found asleep at the steering wheel of his car in London, George Michael is taken in by the bobbies on charges of possessing pot and painkillers …
2007, more than two months after his death, James Brown remains unburied while family members squabble over burial details … meanwhile an undisclosed agreement is reached on how DNA samples should be collected from the corpse … they are needed to resolve several paternity claims including the parentage of a child that his companion Tomi Rae Hynie says Brown fathered … though Hynie says she married Brown, the Godfather's lawyers dispute that, saying she was still married to another man when the alleged marriage took place … meanwhile in Britain, the husband of deceased classical pianist Joyce Hatto confesses to passing off other artists' recordings as the work of his late wife on more than 100 CDs issued under her name since she quit public performances in 1976 … William Barrington-Coupe admits the deception in a letter sent to BIS, the label that issued the discs … the scandal is precipitated by an article in Britain's Gramophone magazine in which it's revealed that Hatto's recording of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes was actually lifted from a recording by Laszio Simon … meanwhile on this side of the Atlantic, in its ongoing campaign against piracy, the Recording Industry Association of America sends 400 letters to U.S. universities warning them that students may be sued for copyright infringement if they don't settle up … the RIAA directs students to a website where they can settle their cases online by coughing up some bucks … Big Champagne, a web tracking service, estimates that one billion songs are downloaded online every month at sites such as LimeWire … on this same day in 2007, in the ongoing saga of rapper Sean Combs' ever-changing nom-de-rap, a British court rules that he violated a deal made with London record producer Richard "Diddy" Dearlove to not use the alias "Diddy" in the U.K. … in response to the judgment, Combs agrees to remove the lyric "…mainline this Diddy heroin…" from his song, "The Future," when it is performed in Britain henceforth … and finally, in other legal proceedings back in the colonies, after spending three nights in the Norfolk County Jail in Massachusetts for late child-support payments, singer Bobby Brown is sprung when a Washington, DC, radio station posts $19,510 bail … in return, the singer will take part in a week's worth of broadcasts of Hot 99.5 FM's The Kane Show … the show's host, who goes by the single name Kane, tells the press, "In exchange for the money, he agreed to be an employee of our radio station for one week, where he will discuss what he did wrong and how he could turn his life around. We are going to have a very open and candid conversation" … Brown was arrested as he watched his daughter perform at a local cheerleading competition … coincidentally, a year earlier Brown was arrested for a 14-year string of motor-vehicle violations, also while watching his daughter in a cheerleading competition …
2008, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and Troy Luccketa of Tesla put together a lineup of rock and country performers at the Providence, Rhode Island, Dunkin' Donuts Center to raise money for the families of the 100 fans who died and 200 who were injured in the Station nightclub fire five years earlier … the benefit that includes Winger, Stryder, and Gretchen Wilson among others raises $175,000 …
2009, President Obama awards Stevie Wonder The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 25: blueswoman Ida Cox (1896), record store tycoon Sam Goody, born Samuel Gutowitz (1904), country singer Faron Young (1932), Barry Kramer, founder of Creem magazine (1943), guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro of Crazy Horse (1949), bassist and songwriter Stewart "Woody" Wood of The Bay City Rollers (1957), drummer Dennis Diken of The Smithereens (1957), singer Mike Peters of The Alarm (1959)
February 26: Fats Domino (1928), Norman P. Rich of Billy Stewart's band (1930), Johnny Cash (1932), Paul Cotton of Poco (1943), Bob "The Bear" Hite of Canned Heat (1943), Mitch Ryder (1945), Elvis impersonator Orion born Jimmy Hodges (1945), Jonathan Cain of Journey (1950), Michael Bolton (1954), Bronski Beat's John Jon (1961), Erykah Badu (1971)
February 27: New Orleans guitarist Roy Montrell (1928), Ralph Garone of The Bob Knight Four (1940), Eddie Gray of Tommy James & The Shondells (1948), Neil Schon of Journey (1954), Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (1957), Chili of TLC (1971), Jeremy Dean of Nine Days (1972), rapper Ja Rule (1976), singer-songwriter Josh Groban (1981)
February 28: guitarist John Fahey (1939), singer-songwriter Joe South (1940), Marty Sanders of Jay and the Americans (1941), R&B singer Barbara Acklin (1943), Brian Jones (1952), Ronald Rosman of Tommy James & The Shondells (1945), Cindy Wilson of The B-52's (1957), Ian Stanley of Tears For Fears (1957), Phillip Gould of Level 42 (1957), Pat Monahan of Train (1969)
February 29: producer David Briggs (1944)
March 1: bandleader Glenn Miller (1904), barrelhouse pianist Walter Davis (1912), Harry Belafonte (1927), Jim Ed Brown of The Browns (1934), Roger Daltrey (1942), Jerry Fisher of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann (1944), synth pop singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw (1958)
March 2: Desi Arnaz (1917), Doc Watson (1923), Lawrence Payton of The Four Tops (1938), Lou Reed born Louis Firbank (1942), George Benson (1943), blues/rock guitarist Rory Gallagher (1948), sax player Michael Brecker (1949), Eddie Money (1949), Karen Carpenter (1950), Jay Osmond of The Osmonds (1955), Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons (1955), Mark Evans of AC/DC (1956), Jon Bon Jovi born John Bongiovi (1962), rapper and DJ Scott LaRock (1962), Coldplay's Chris Martin (1977)
March 3: jazz bassist Pierre Michelot (1928), Willie Chambers of The Chambers Brothers (1938), Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane (1942), Mike Pender of The Searchers (1942), Jance Garfat of Dr. Hook (1944), Jennifer Warnes (1947), Robyn Hitchcock (1953), Tone-Loc (1966), John Bigham of Fishbone (1969), Ronan Keating of Boyzone (1977)
Departures:
February 25: Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley (2009), '60s folk singer Mark Spoelstra (2007), Thomas Koppel, co-founder of Danish prog-rock band Savage Rose (2006), blues saxophonist A.C. Reed (2004), William "Hoss" Allen, white DJ who promoted R&B in Nashville (1997), Toy Caldwell, guitarist and songwriter for the Marshall Tucker Band (1993)
February 26: ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt (2009), drummer Buddy Miles (2008), Cajun music pioneer Edwin Duhon (2006), lyricist Ben Raleigh (1997), Frank O'Keefe of The Outlaws (1995), Cornell Gunter of The Coasters (1990), bluesman Bukka White (1977), Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1977), blues pianist Big Maceo (1953)
February 27: drummer Bobby Rosengarden (2007), Mississippi fife player Othar Turner (2003), Marlena Easley of The Orlons (1993)
February 28: Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five (2008), saxophonist Walter Kimble (1988), DJ Eddie Madison (1987), David Byron of Uriah Heep (1985), Duprees lead vocalist Joey Vann (1984), songwriter Bobby Bloom (1974), Frankie Lymon (1968), Fats Domino's guitarist Walter "Papoose" Nelson (1962)
March 1: Jackson 5 drummer (and no relation) Johnny Jackson (2006), Dennis Danell of Social Distortion (2000), Air Supply's Frank Esler-Smith (1991)
March 2: country singer-songwriter Ernie Ashworth (2009), blues guitarist Jeff Healey (2008), exotica bandleader Martin Denny (2005), Hank Ballard (2003), Dusty Springfield (1999), singer-songwriter David Ackles (1999), French pop singer Serge Gainsbourg (1991), rockabilly pianist Roy Hall (1984), Charlie Christian (1942)
March 3: poet-songwriter and Beatles influence Ivor Cutler (2006), Harlan "Mr. Songwriter" Howard (2002)
February 25, 2010
Big Cash Splash … Dylans Split … Jacko Waxed …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1949, RCA introduces the 45-rpm record …
1952, Sun Records, future home of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins releases its first record, an instrumental by saxman Johnny London … it flops …
1957, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers receive the princely sum of $7,500 to play a carnival in Panama … the fee is considered huge for a one-nighter … meanwhile Chicago's Chess Records releases Muddy Waters' "I Got My Mojo Working," and Chuck Berry's "School Days" … the singles reflect the company's dual focus on urban blacks and white teens …
1967, Paul McCartney reads a newspaper account of a missing teenage girl inspiring his "She's Leaving Home" …
1968, Johnny Cash and June Carter marry in Franklin, Kentucky … a motorcade of Cadillacs transports Johnny, June, and their families to a small, private ceremony … Cash's best man is Merle Kilgore who shares co-writing credits with June on "Ring of Fire," a tune often considered as the musical record of Johnny and June's illicit love affair …
1977, Mississippi bluesman Bukka White dies of cancer … born Booker T. Washington White, he was inspired to play music by blues legend Charley Patton … in the 1930s he played semi-pro baseball and boxed, and in 1937 was imprisoned on an assault charge … after escaping from prison, White cut some sides for the Vocalion label and was eventually recaptured … his name as it appears on records resulted from a Vocalion producer misunderstanding his name; White preferred to be called Booker … rediscovered by a blues researcher in 1963, he made appearances at festivals during the blues revival that marked the latter stages of his eventful life … remembered as a powerful performer on National steel guitars, White gave his cousin B.B. King a Stella—the future electric blues star's first guitar … meanwhile in Santa Monica, California, Bob Dylan's wife, Sara, files for divorce … the couple has been married for 11 years and has five children … in the property settlement she is given the family home and custody of the kids … Sara is said to be the inspiration behind Dylan songs such as "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "Lay Lady Lay," and "Sara" …
1978, Van Halen plays the first date of its first national tour at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom … there's a rider in the contract providing that M&Ms with the brown candies removed be available backstage …
1983, Michael Jackson's Thriller soars to #1 on the pop chart and will stay there 37 weeks, selling over 40 million copies … it's the number-one seller in every Western nation where such records are kept …
1985, Jacko drops in on Madame Tussaud's London waxworks where his likeness is being unveiled …
1990, former Coasters lead tenor Cornell Gunter dies in Las Vegas when an unknown assailant shoots him while he's sitting in his car …
1994, Kurt Cobain washes down a handful of Valiums with champagne and winds up in a coma in a Rome hospital … he revives after about 20 hours … though officially labeled accidental, the overdose is thought to be a suicide attempt by those close to Cobain … a second attempt nearly two months later with a shotgun will prove fatal …
1995, Lyle Lovett breaks his collarbone while motorcycling in Mexico causing him to miss the Grammys where he wins Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for his duet on "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green and Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for his version of "Blues For Dixie" with Asleep At The Wheel … meanwhile in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bill Berry of R.E.M. suffers a massive migraine about 90 minutes into the band's set … he collapses and is rushed offstage but does not see a doctor until the next day when it is discovered he has an aneurysm on the right side of his brain … Berry undergoes surgery and makes a full recovery …
1999, British singer Dusty Springfield falls victim to breast cancer … born Mary Elizabeth Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, the highly regarded singer enjoyed a series of pop hits including the blockbuster "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" … her death falls on the day she was scheduled to receive her OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth …she was 59 … after a 31-year hiatus, Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles appear at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Awards in L.A. where they perform a stunning rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" …
2000, it's announced that pop princess Britney Spears is marketing her own brand of bubble gum creatively dubbed "Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum" … meanwhile in Newport Beach, California, Dennis Danell of Social Distortion dies of an apparent brain aneurysm suffered in his driveway … he was 38 …
2003, R&B singer Hank Ballard dies of throat cancer at home in L.A. … notable for having written "The Twist" and enjoying a hit with it before Chubby Checker's cover, he and his swinging band, The Midnighters, charted with 22 R&B hits in the 1950s and '60s, many of which crossed over onto the pop chart … these include the suggestive "Work With Me Annie" followed by "Annie Had a Baby" … their racy lyrics resulted in the songs being banned on many radio stations …
2004, shock jock Howard Stern is suspended indefinitely from Clear Channel radio following listeners' complaints sent to the network and the FCC … complaints center around Stern's potty mouth and the smutty subjects he addresses … Clear Channel president John Hogan publicly demands Stern drop the naughty content from his show … Stern demurs and is suspended only to be picked up as a broadcaster by XM satellite radio …
2005, the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, closes … artists such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bob Seger recorded some of their biggest hits at the facility … the studio, owned since 1985 by indie blues label Malaco Records, is a victim of the computer recording boom … Ozzy Osbourne, who's promoting the Australian MTV Awards in Sydney, inexplicably cups daughter Kelly's left breast during a press conference …
2006, new-age musician Yanni is arrested in Florida on charges of domestic battery against his girlfriend … after being found asleep at the steering wheel of his car in London, George Michael is taken in by the bobbies on charges of possessing pot and painkillers …
2007, more than two months after his death, James Brown remains unburied while family members squabble over burial details … meanwhile an undisclosed agreement is reached on how DNA samples should be collected from the corpse … they are needed to resolve several paternity claims including the parentage of a child that his companion Tomi Rae Hynie says Brown fathered … though Hynie says she married Brown, the Godfather's lawyers dispute that, saying she was still married to another man when the alleged marriage took place … meanwhile in Britain, the husband of deceased classical pianist Joyce Hatto confesses to passing off other artists' recordings as the work of his late wife on more than 100 CDs issued under her name since she quit public performances in 1976 … William Barrington-Coupe admits the deception in a letter sent to BIS, the label that issued the discs … the scandal is precipitated by an article in Britain's Gramophone magazine in which it's revealed that Hatto's recording of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes was actually lifted from a recording by Laszio Simon … meanwhile on this side of the Atlantic, in its ongoing campaign against piracy, the Recording Industry Association of America sends 400 letters to U.S. universities warning them that students may be sued for copyright infringement if they don't settle up … the RIAA directs students to a website where they can settle their cases online by coughing up some bucks … Big Champagne, a web tracking service, estimates that one billion songs are downloaded online every month at sites such as LimeWire … on this same day in 2007, in the ongoing saga of rapper Sean Combs' ever-changing nom-de-rap, a British court rules that he violated a deal made with London record producer Richard "Diddy" Dearlove to not use the alias "Diddy" in the U.K. … in response to the judgment, Combs agrees to remove the lyric "…mainline this Diddy heroin…" from his song, "The Future," when it is performed in Britain henceforth … and finally, in other legal proceedings back in the colonies, after spending three nights in the Norfolk County Jail in Massachusetts for late child-support payments, singer Bobby Brown is sprung when a Washington, DC, radio station posts $19,510 bail … in return, the singer will take part in a week's worth of broadcasts of Hot 99.5 FM's The Kane Show … the show's host, who goes by the single name Kane, tells the press, "In exchange for the money, he agreed to be an employee of our radio station for one week, where he will discuss what he did wrong and how he could turn his life around. We are going to have a very open and candid conversation" … Brown was arrested as he watched his daughter perform at a local cheerleading competition … coincidentally, a year earlier Brown was arrested for a 14-year string of motor-vehicle violations, also while watching his daughter in a cheerleading competition …
2008, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and Troy Luccketa of Tesla put together a lineup of rock and country performers at the Providence, Rhode Island, Dunkin' Donuts Center to raise money for the families of the 100 fans who died and 200 who were injured in the Station nightclub fire five years earlier … the benefit that includes Winger, Stryder, and Gretchen Wilson among others raises $175,000 …
2009, President Obama awards Stevie Wonder The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 25: blueswoman Ida Cox (1896), record store tycoon Sam Goody, born Samuel Gutowitz (1904), country singer Faron Young (1932), Barry Kramer, founder of Creem magazine (1943), guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro of Crazy Horse (1949), bassist and songwriter Stewart "Woody" Wood of The Bay City Rollers (1957), drummer Dennis Diken of The Smithereens (1957), singer Mike Peters of The Alarm (1959)
February 26: Fats Domino (1928), Norman P. Rich of Billy Stewart's band (1930), Johnny Cash (1932), Paul Cotton of Poco (1943), Bob "The Bear" Hite of Canned Heat (1943), Mitch Ryder (1945), Elvis impersonator Orion born Jimmy Hodges (1945), Jonathan Cain of Journey (1950), Michael Bolton (1954), Bronski Beat's John Jon (1961), Erykah Badu (1971)
February 27: New Orleans guitarist Roy Montrell (1928), Ralph Garone of The Bob Knight Four (1940), Eddie Gray of Tommy James & The Shondells (1948), Neil Schon of Journey (1954), Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (1957), Chili of TLC (1971), Jeremy Dean of Nine Days (1972), rapper Ja Rule (1976), singer-songwriter Josh Groban (1981)
February 28: guitarist John Fahey (1939), singer-songwriter Joe South (1940), Marty Sanders of Jay and the Americans (1941), R&B singer Barbara Acklin (1943), Brian Jones (1952), Ronald Rosman of Tommy James & The Shondells (1945), Cindy Wilson of The B-52's (1957), Ian Stanley of Tears For Fears (1957), Phillip Gould of Level 42 (1957), Pat Monahan of Train (1969)
February 29: producer David Briggs (1944)
March 1: bandleader Glenn Miller (1904), barrelhouse pianist Walter Davis (1912), Harry Belafonte (1927), Jim Ed Brown of The Browns (1934), Roger Daltrey (1942), Jerry Fisher of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann (1944), synth pop singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw (1958)
March 2: Desi Arnaz (1917), Doc Watson (1923), Lawrence Payton of The Four Tops (1938), Lou Reed born Louis Firbank (1942), George Benson (1943), blues/rock guitarist Rory Gallagher (1948), sax player Michael Brecker (1949), Eddie Money (1949), Karen Carpenter (1950), Jay Osmond of The Osmonds (1955), Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons (1955), Mark Evans of AC/DC (1956), Jon Bon Jovi born John Bongiovi (1962), rapper and DJ Scott LaRock (1962), Coldplay's Chris Martin (1977)
March 3: jazz bassist Pierre Michelot (1928), Willie Chambers of The Chambers Brothers (1938), Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane (1942), Mike Pender of The Searchers (1942), Jance Garfat of Dr. Hook (1944), Jennifer Warnes (1947), Robyn Hitchcock (1953), Tone-Loc (1966), John Bigham of Fishbone (1969), Ronan Keating of Boyzone (1977)
Departures:
February 25: Pylon guitarist Randy Bewley (2009), '60s folk singer Mark Spoelstra (2007), Thomas Koppel, co-founder of Danish prog-rock band Savage Rose (2006), blues saxophonist A.C. Reed (2004), William "Hoss" Allen, white DJ who promoted R&B in Nashville (1997), Toy Caldwell, guitarist and songwriter for the Marshall Tucker Band (1993)
February 26: ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt (2009), drummer Buddy Miles (2008), Cajun music pioneer Edwin Duhon (2006), lyricist Ben Raleigh (1997), Frank O'Keefe of The Outlaws (1995), Cornell Gunter of The Coasters (1990), bluesman Bukka White (1977), Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1977), blues pianist Big Maceo (1953)
February 27: drummer Bobby Rosengarden (2007), Mississippi fife player Othar Turner (2003), Marlena Easley of The Orlons (1993)
February 28: Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five (2008), saxophonist Walter Kimble (1988), DJ Eddie Madison (1987), David Byron of Uriah Heep (1985), Duprees lead vocalist Joey Vann (1984), songwriter Bobby Bloom (1974), Frankie Lymon (1968), Fats Domino's guitarist Walter "Papoose" Nelson (1962)
March 1: Jackson 5 drummer (and no relation) Johnny Jackson (2006), Dennis Danell of Social Distortion (2000), Air Supply's Frank Esler-Smith (1991)
March 2: country singer-songwriter Ernie Ashworth (2009), blues guitarist Jeff Healey (2008), exotica bandleader Martin Denny (2005), Hank Ballard (2003), Dusty Springfield (1999), singer-songwriter David Ackles (1999), French pop singer Serge Gainsbourg (1991), rockabilly pianist Roy Hall (1984), Charlie Christian (1942)
March 3: poet-songwriter and Beatles influence Ivor Cutler (2006), Harlan "Mr. Songwriter" Howard (2002)
Week In Review
March 4, 2010
No props for Ike … Beatles cross Bible Belt … 10-for-a-penny goes bye-bye …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1951, produced by the legendary Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm record "Rocket 88" is released … considered groundbreaking for its use of the distorted electric guitar of Willie Kizart, it's credited by many rock historians for being the first rock 'n' roll record … unfortunately for Turner, the bandleader and piano player, he is not the star on the record label—it is credited to saxophonist Jackie Brenston who handles lead vocals …
1954, Elvis Presley auditions for The Songfellows, a country vocal group … they pass on the future king saying he can't sing harmony …
1955, Elvis Presley appears for the first time on television on a regional show called Louisiana Hayride …
1965, The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" rides the top of the Billboard Pop Chart … oddly the song is never released as a single in England …
1966, a pre-Cream, pre-Blind Faith, all-star, one-time-only group called Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse is created to record a few tunes for an Elektra Records compilation … in addition to featuring Clapton on guitar, Steve Winwood sings, and Jack Bruce plays bass … the ad hoc group records three tunes, one of which, "Crossroads," will become a legendary live recording by Cream … John Lennon stirs up controversy when during a newspaper interview he remarks that the Beatles "are probably bigger than Jesus right now" … in the southern U.S.—the "Bible Belt"—Beatles' records are ripped apart, stomped upon, and burned in protest; threats are made against the Beatles; and concerts are cancelled … Lennon is forced to explain his claim to the press by saying "I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this" …
1966, Phil Spector produces the monumental Ike & Tina Turner track "River Deep, Mountain High" … it's rumored that he spent more than $22,000 creating the orchestral backing track—an unprecedented sum in its day—word has it that Spector also paid Ike Turner, Tina's spouse and Svengali, 20 grand to stay the hell out of the studio … the single goes to #3 in England but flops in the USA …
1967, Steve and Muff Winwood announce plans to quit the Spencer Davis Group … the brothers have been with the band four years … Steve goes on to form Traffic …
1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour TV show is canceled by CBS … during its run the show had featured many rock acts including The Beatles, The Doors, and The Who … the cancellation is seen as the result of the brothers refusing to censor comments made by guest Joan Baez about her husband David Harris who was facing prison as a war resister …
1970, Janis Joplin is fined $200 for onstage swearing in Tampa, Florida …
1971, Radio Hanoi broadcasts Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" … the tape was sent to the North Vietnamese station by anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman …
1973, Paul McCartney pleads guilty and pays a fine of $240 after marijuana plants were found growing at his farm in Scotland … in his defense McCartney claimed that a fan gave him some seeds, which he planted, not knowing what would grow from them … this same week in 1975, Linda and Paul are pulled over for running a red light in Los Angeles … police sniff pot and find six to eight ounces in Linda's purse and charge her with possession … since it isn't his purse, Paul skates free …
1976, a wax version of Elton John goes on display at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum …
1979, Soul Brother (and Good Old Boy) Number One, James Brown, gets funky at the Grand Ole Opry …
1980, the number-one song on the pop chart this week is "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen …
1998, Alan Reed, an American dancer, sues Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda for 48 million yen, charging that she pressured Reed, a member of her stage show, into having sex with her … his case is a loser …
2000, in the middle of a show in Fargo, North Dakota, Korn drummer David Silveria suddenly loses use of one of his wrists … Mike Bordin of Faith No More subs for the rest of the tour while Silveria heals … Chrissie Hynde is busted in New York for slashing leather goods at a Gap store … she's part of a PETA action …
2004, Jack White of the White Stripes pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery on singer Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies … the charges stem from a bar fight between the two Detroit musicians that occurred the previous December at the CD release party for Blanche, another Detroit area band …White is fined $750 …
2005, XL Recordings' Dizzee Rascal is arrested in East London after he is found carrying pepper spray (considered a firearm)… his companion is charged with possession of drugs (marijuana) and an offensive weapon (a baton and more pepper spray) …
2008, MTV pulls Gnarls Barkley's video Run for having the potential to induce seizures … before the song reaches its conclusion the retro dancers are surrounded by strobing, criss-crossing and interweaving black and white patterns … enough to cause the video to fail the Harding Test—software designed to protect sufferers of photosensitive epilepsy from having seizures … Van Halen postpones 17 more concert dates so that guitarist Eddie Van Halen "can continue medical tests to define a course of treatment," … that band's website notes that Eddie remains "under doctors' care" …
2009, in another indication of foundering CD sales, BMG Music Service, the last of the record clubs to offer those 10-CDs-for-a-penny promotions, announces that it is shutting down … former competitor Columbia House had closed a couple of years earlier … the Allman Brothers kick off their 40th anniversary year with a three-week residency at New York's Beacon Theatre—an annual tradition for the Southern rockers … the shows feature a star-studded lineup of friends sitting in with the band that inludes Eric Clapton, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Billy Gibbons, Taj Mahal, Levon Helm, Buddy Guy, Boz Scaggs, and Stanley Clarke …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 4: Miriam Makeba (1932), Bobby Womack (1944), singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens (1948), Billy Gibbons (1948), Chris Squire of Yes (1948), Emilio Estefan of Miami Sound Machine (1950), Jason Newsted of Metallica (1963), Patrick Hannan of The Sundays (1966), Fergal Lawler of The Cranberries (1971)
March 5: blues great J.B. Lenoir (1929), R&B star Tommy "High Heel Sneakers" Tucker (1939), Electric Prune James Lowe (1945), "Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant (1948), Alan Clark of Dire Straits (1952), singer-songwriter-producer Teena Marie (1956), Bobby DeBarge (1956), Mark Smith of The Fall (1957), Andy Gibb (1958), Craig Reid and Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers (1962), John Frusciante of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1971)
March 6: bluesman Furry Lewis (1893), western swing pioneer Bob Wills (1905), Bernie Wayne, pop composer who wrote "Blue Velvet" (1919), Wes Montgomery (1923), Sylvia Robinson of Mickey and Sylvia (1936), bluegrass banjo legend Doug Dillard of The Dillards (1937), Mary Wilson of the Supremes (1944), Hugh Grundy of The Zombies (1945), Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (1947), singer Kiki Dee (1947), Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick (1970)
March 7: Maurice Ravel, composer of "Bolero" (1875), Zola Taylor, the only female member of The Platters (1938), producer and ex-Zombie Chris White (1943), singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt (1944), J. Geils Band vocalist Peter Wolf (1946), Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher (1946), Taylor Dayne, born Leslie Wonderman (1962)
March 8: Micky Dolenz of The Monkees (1945), Eagles bassist Randy Meisner (1946), Three Dog Night's Michael Allsup (1947), Mel Galley of Whitesnake (1948), Little Peggy March of "I Will Follow Him" fame (1948), singer and synth pop pioneer Gary Numan (1958), Peter "Pedro" Gill of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1960), Julian Lennon (1963), Cheryl James of Salt-N-Pepa (1964), singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins (1968), Kameelah Williams of 702 (1978)
March 9: composer Samuel Barber (1910), Motown songwriter Clarence Paul (1928), R&B stalwart Lloyd Price (1933), Red Steele, bass singer with The (Five) Willows (1934), country singer Mickey Gilley (1936), Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders (1942), John Cale of The Velvet Underground (1942), guitarist Robin Trower (1945), Ron Wilson of The Surfaris (1945), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1948), R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne (1948), The Move's Trevor Burton (1949), Robert Sledge of Ben Folds Five (1968), rapper Lil' Bow Wow (1987)
March 10: legendary trumpeter Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke (1903), Tex-Mex legend, producer Huey "The Crazy Cajun" Meaux (1929), Dexter Tisby of The Penguins (1935), swamp rocker Johnny Allen (1938), Dean Torrence of Jan & Dean (1940), Eddie Guzman, percussionist for Rare Earth (1944), Tom Scholz of Boston (1947), Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam (1963), Neneh Cherry (1964), Edie Brickell (1966), Sims Ellison, bassist with Pariah (1967)
Departures:
March 4: Piedmont blues guitarist John Cephas (2009), Beatles' engineer and Pink Floyd producer Norman Smith (2008), songwriter-pianist Marvin Jenkins (2005), guitarist John McGeoch (2004), country artist Eddie Dean of "I Dreamed Of a Hillbilly Heaven" fame (1999), Minnie Pearl (1996), songwriter Eden Ahbez (1995), jazz guitarist Mary Osborne (1992), founder of the doo-wop Herald and Ember labels Al Silver (1992), bebop guitarist Tiny Grimes (1989), Richard Manuel of The Band (1986), R&B bandleader Red Saunders (1981), Brit rocker Mike Patto (1979), Raymond Edwards of The Silhouettes (1977)
March 5:: Bob Timmins, an addiction specialist who worked with Kurt Cobain and Slash (2008), Vivian Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Band (1995), blues brother John Belushi (1982), Patsy Cline (1963), Cowboy Copas (1963), Hawkshaw Hawkins (1963)
March 6: David Williams, rhythm guitar soloist on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (2009), producer Mickey Most (2003), Sir Joseph Lockwood, head of Britain's EMI records (1991)
March 7: Jimmy "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Boyd (2009), Portland-based blues harp player and singer Paul deLay (2007), Malian blues singer and guitarist Ali Farka Toure (2006), Jesse Taylor, former guitarist with the Joe Ely Band (2006), country bandleader-songwriter Pee Wee King (2000), producer Dave Jordan (1995), Texas blues singer-guitarist George "Little Hat" Jones (1981), country singer Jack Anglin (1963)
March 8: Grand Ole Opry star Hank Locklin (2009), Adam Faith, British pop singer and actor (2003), session drummer Bobby Chouinard (1997), novelty songwriter-performer and DJ, Vic Venus (1994), jazz singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine (1993), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful Dead (1973)
March 9: country singer Chris LeDoux (2005), George Scott, founding member of the gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama (2005), Rust Epique, guitarist for pre)Thing (2004), rapper Notorious B.I.G. (1997), Mercury Wilson, lead rapper-singer for The Force M.D.'s (1995), R&B songwriter and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (1985), Harry Womack, bassist, member of the Valentinos, and brother of Bobby Womack (1974)
March 10: Danny Joe Brown, lead singer of Molly Hatchet (2005), Dave Blood, bassist for the Dead Milkmen (2004), jazz and R&B singer LaVern Baker (1997), Doc Green, baritone singer with The Drifters (1989), Andy Gibb (1988), bluesman Blind Joe Reynolds (1968)
March 4, 2010
No props for Ike … Beatles cross Bible Belt … 10-for-a-penny goes bye-bye …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1951, produced by the legendary Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm record "Rocket 88" is released … considered groundbreaking for its use of the distorted electric guitar of Willie Kizart, it's credited by many rock historians for being the first rock 'n' roll record … unfortunately for Turner, the bandleader and piano player, he is not the star on the record label—it is credited to saxophonist Jackie Brenston who handles lead vocals …
1954, Elvis Presley auditions for The Songfellows, a country vocal group … they pass on the future king saying he can't sing harmony …
1955, Elvis Presley appears for the first time on television on a regional show called Louisiana Hayride …
1965, The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" rides the top of the Billboard Pop Chart … oddly the song is never released as a single in England …
1966, a pre-Cream, pre-Blind Faith, all-star, one-time-only group called Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse is created to record a few tunes for an Elektra Records compilation … in addition to featuring Clapton on guitar, Steve Winwood sings, and Jack Bruce plays bass … the ad hoc group records three tunes, one of which, "Crossroads," will become a legendary live recording by Cream … John Lennon stirs up controversy when during a newspaper interview he remarks that the Beatles "are probably bigger than Jesus right now" … in the southern U.S.—the "Bible Belt"—Beatles' records are ripped apart, stomped upon, and burned in protest; threats are made against the Beatles; and concerts are cancelled … Lennon is forced to explain his claim to the press by saying "I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this" …
1966, Phil Spector produces the monumental Ike & Tina Turner track "River Deep, Mountain High" … it's rumored that he spent more than $22,000 creating the orchestral backing track—an unprecedented sum in its day—word has it that Spector also paid Ike Turner, Tina's spouse and Svengali, 20 grand to stay the hell out of the studio … the single goes to #3 in England but flops in the USA …
1967, Steve and Muff Winwood announce plans to quit the Spencer Davis Group … the brothers have been with the band four years … Steve goes on to form Traffic …
1969, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour TV show is canceled by CBS … during its run the show had featured many rock acts including The Beatles, The Doors, and The Who … the cancellation is seen as the result of the brothers refusing to censor comments made by guest Joan Baez about her husband David Harris who was facing prison as a war resister …
1970, Janis Joplin is fined $200 for onstage swearing in Tampa, Florida …
1971, Radio Hanoi broadcasts Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" … the tape was sent to the North Vietnamese station by anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman …
1973, Paul McCartney pleads guilty and pays a fine of $240 after marijuana plants were found growing at his farm in Scotland … in his defense McCartney claimed that a fan gave him some seeds, which he planted, not knowing what would grow from them … this same week in 1975, Linda and Paul are pulled over for running a red light in Los Angeles … police sniff pot and find six to eight ounces in Linda's purse and charge her with possession … since it isn't his purse, Paul skates free …
1976, a wax version of Elton John goes on display at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum …
1979, Soul Brother (and Good Old Boy) Number One, James Brown, gets funky at the Grand Ole Opry …
1980, the number-one song on the pop chart this week is "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen …
1998, Alan Reed, an American dancer, sues Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda for 48 million yen, charging that she pressured Reed, a member of her stage show, into having sex with her … his case is a loser …
2000, in the middle of a show in Fargo, North Dakota, Korn drummer David Silveria suddenly loses use of one of his wrists … Mike Bordin of Faith No More subs for the rest of the tour while Silveria heals … Chrissie Hynde is busted in New York for slashing leather goods at a Gap store … she's part of a PETA action …
2004, Jack White of the White Stripes pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery on singer Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies … the charges stem from a bar fight between the two Detroit musicians that occurred the previous December at the CD release party for Blanche, another Detroit area band …White is fined $750 …
2005, XL Recordings' Dizzee Rascal is arrested in East London after he is found carrying pepper spray (considered a firearm)… his companion is charged with possession of drugs (marijuana) and an offensive weapon (a baton and more pepper spray) …
2008, MTV pulls Gnarls Barkley's video Run for having the potential to induce seizures … before the song reaches its conclusion the retro dancers are surrounded by strobing, criss-crossing and interweaving black and white patterns … enough to cause the video to fail the Harding Test—software designed to protect sufferers of photosensitive epilepsy from having seizures … Van Halen postpones 17 more concert dates so that guitarist Eddie Van Halen "can continue medical tests to define a course of treatment," … that band's website notes that Eddie remains "under doctors' care" …
2009, in another indication of foundering CD sales, BMG Music Service, the last of the record clubs to offer those 10-CDs-for-a-penny promotions, announces that it is shutting down … former competitor Columbia House had closed a couple of years earlier … the Allman Brothers kick off their 40th anniversary year with a three-week residency at New York's Beacon Theatre—an annual tradition for the Southern rockers … the shows feature a star-studded lineup of friends sitting in with the band that inludes Eric Clapton, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Billy Gibbons, Taj Mahal, Levon Helm, Buddy Guy, Boz Scaggs, and Stanley Clarke …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 4: Miriam Makeba (1932), Bobby Womack (1944), singer-songwriter Shakin' Stevens (1948), Billy Gibbons (1948), Chris Squire of Yes (1948), Emilio Estefan of Miami Sound Machine (1950), Jason Newsted of Metallica (1963), Patrick Hannan of The Sundays (1966), Fergal Lawler of The Cranberries (1971)
March 5: blues great J.B. Lenoir (1929), R&B star Tommy "High Heel Sneakers" Tucker (1939), Electric Prune James Lowe (1945), "Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant (1948), Alan Clark of Dire Straits (1952), singer-songwriter-producer Teena Marie (1956), Bobby DeBarge (1956), Mark Smith of The Fall (1957), Andy Gibb (1958), Craig Reid and Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers (1962), John Frusciante of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1971)
March 6: bluesman Furry Lewis (1893), western swing pioneer Bob Wills (1905), Bernie Wayne, pop composer who wrote "Blue Velvet" (1919), Wes Montgomery (1923), Sylvia Robinson of Mickey and Sylvia (1936), bluegrass banjo legend Doug Dillard of The Dillards (1937), Mary Wilson of the Supremes (1944), Hugh Grundy of The Zombies (1945), Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (1947), singer Kiki Dee (1947), Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick (1970)
March 7: Maurice Ravel, composer of "Bolero" (1875), Zola Taylor, the only female member of The Platters (1938), producer and ex-Zombie Chris White (1943), singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt (1944), J. Geils Band vocalist Peter Wolf (1946), Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher (1946), Taylor Dayne, born Leslie Wonderman (1962)
March 8: Micky Dolenz of The Monkees (1945), Eagles bassist Randy Meisner (1946), Three Dog Night's Michael Allsup (1947), Mel Galley of Whitesnake (1948), Little Peggy March of "I Will Follow Him" fame (1948), singer and synth pop pioneer Gary Numan (1958), Peter "Pedro" Gill of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1960), Julian Lennon (1963), Cheryl James of Salt-N-Pepa (1964), singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins (1968), Kameelah Williams of 702 (1978)
March 9: composer Samuel Barber (1910), Motown songwriter Clarence Paul (1928), R&B stalwart Lloyd Price (1933), Red Steele, bass singer with The (Five) Willows (1934), country singer Mickey Gilley (1936), Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders (1942), John Cale of The Velvet Underground (1942), guitarist Robin Trower (1945), Ron Wilson of The Surfaris (1945), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1948), R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne (1948), The Move's Trevor Burton (1949), Robert Sledge of Ben Folds Five (1968), rapper Lil' Bow Wow (1987)
March 10: legendary trumpeter Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke (1903), Tex-Mex legend, producer Huey "The Crazy Cajun" Meaux (1929), Dexter Tisby of The Penguins (1935), swamp rocker Johnny Allen (1938), Dean Torrence of Jan & Dean (1940), Eddie Guzman, percussionist for Rare Earth (1944), Tom Scholz of Boston (1947), Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam (1963), Neneh Cherry (1964), Edie Brickell (1966), Sims Ellison, bassist with Pariah (1967)
Departures:
March 4: Piedmont blues guitarist John Cephas (2009), Beatles' engineer and Pink Floyd producer Norman Smith (2008), songwriter-pianist Marvin Jenkins (2005), guitarist John McGeoch (2004), country artist Eddie Dean of "I Dreamed Of a Hillbilly Heaven" fame (1999), Minnie Pearl (1996), songwriter Eden Ahbez (1995), jazz guitarist Mary Osborne (1992), founder of the doo-wop Herald and Ember labels Al Silver (1992), bebop guitarist Tiny Grimes (1989), Richard Manuel of The Band (1986), R&B bandleader Red Saunders (1981), Brit rocker Mike Patto (1979), Raymond Edwards of The Silhouettes (1977)
March 5:: Bob Timmins, an addiction specialist who worked with Kurt Cobain and Slash (2008), Vivian Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Band (1995), blues brother John Belushi (1982), Patsy Cline (1963), Cowboy Copas (1963), Hawkshaw Hawkins (1963)
March 6: David Williams, rhythm guitar soloist on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (2009), producer Mickey Most (2003), Sir Joseph Lockwood, head of Britain's EMI records (1991)
March 7: Jimmy "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Boyd (2009), Portland-based blues harp player and singer Paul deLay (2007), Malian blues singer and guitarist Ali Farka Toure (2006), Jesse Taylor, former guitarist with the Joe Ely Band (2006), country bandleader-songwriter Pee Wee King (2000), producer Dave Jordan (1995), Texas blues singer-guitarist George "Little Hat" Jones (1981), country singer Jack Anglin (1963)
March 8: Grand Ole Opry star Hank Locklin (2009), Adam Faith, British pop singer and actor (2003), session drummer Bobby Chouinard (1997), novelty songwriter-performer and DJ, Vic Venus (1994), jazz singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine (1993), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful Dead (1973)
March 9: country singer Chris LeDoux (2005), George Scott, founding member of the gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama (2005), Rust Epique, guitarist for pre)Thing (2004), rapper Notorious B.I.G. (1997), Mercury Wilson, lead rapper-singer for The Force M.D.'s (1995), R&B songwriter and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (1985), Harry Womack, bassist, member of the Valentinos, and brother of Bobby Womack (1974)
March 10: Danny Joe Brown, lead singer of Molly Hatchet (2005), Dave Blood, bassist for the Dead Milkmen (2004), jazz and R&B singer LaVern Baker (1997), Doc Green, baritone singer with The Drifters (1989), Andy Gibb (1988), bluesman Blind Joe Reynolds (1968)
Week In Review
March 11, 2010
Korn Fed Up … China Dull … Showin' The Love …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1958, Billie Holiday is sentenced to a year's probation after pleading guilty to narcotics possession … Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star" becomes the first certified gold record …
1963, Gerry Marsden of the Merseybeat group Gerry & The Pacemakers is fined £50 for trying to slip a German guitar past British customs … imported instruments are subject to high duties …
1965, Eric Clapton splits from The Yardbirds to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers …
1967, Dick James, the Beatles' music publisher, says 446 versions of "Yesterday" have been recorded to date, making it the most covered song ever … The Grateful Dead release their first album … Jerry Garcia reveals that it was recorded on "dietwatcher's speed and pot" and that "the tempo was way too fast" … The Velvet Underground's debut album is released sporting Andy Warhol's banana-peel cover …
1972, country music star and reformed burglar Merle Haggard is given a pardon by California governor Ronald Reagan … it's been 12 years since Merle did his singing behind bars at San Quentin …
1974, John Lennon and his drinking buddy Harry Nilsson are booted out of West L.A.'s Troubadour Club after razzing comic Tom Smothers … apparently, like Smother's mother, John and Harry like Dickie best …
1976, former porn star Andrea True scores with her #4 disco single "More, More, More" …
1979, singer Bonnie Bramlett slugs a highly inebriated Elvis Costello when he utters a racial slur about Ray Charles … Costello has publicly apologized on many occasions for this gaffe …
1991, Janet Jackson reveals … we know what you're thinking … that she is moving from A&M Records to Virgin in a deal worth about $40 million … seven members of Reba McEntire's touring band and her road manager are killed when their plane crashes into a mountainous area near the California/Mexico border … McEntire was traveling in a separate plane … guitar legend Eddie Van Halen and his wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, celebrate the birth of their son … they name the boy Wolfgang …
1992, 40,000 people show up for Farm Aid in Irving, Texas … the star-studded show is organized by Willie Nelson to help failing family farms …
1997, Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II …
1998, Cathay Pacific Airways announces that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has been banned from flying with the airline following a flight during which he is reported to have screamed obscenities and smoked in the cabin … lawyers representing Korn serve Assistant Principal Gretchen Plewes of Zeeland High School in Michigan … the papers demand that she stop making "defamatory comments about Korn and its products" … the action stems from the suspension of a student who wore a Korn T-shirt to school …
2000, the Recording Industry Association of America certifies 17 million copies sold of Shania Twain's album Come On Over, making it the best-selling album by a solo female artist …
2002, R.E.M. is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 22nd annual dinner …
2003, the Chinese government orders the Rolling Stones to axe four songs from the set lists of their Shanghai and Beijing shows … the banned tunes are "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together" …
2004, Courtney Love repeatedly flashes her breasts during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman … later that night she plays an unannounced gig at the New York club, Plaid, where she throws a mic stand into the audience and is arrested for reckless endangerment … the next night she turns up at the Bowery Ballroom with the legend "EAT MY F**K" emblazoned in 10-inch high letters on her tank top, then tops off the night with a Kodak moment in which she is photographed breast-feeding a fan at a local Wendys … like the man said, "All you need is Love" … Starbucks announces it's partnering with Hewlett-Packard to offer customers digital music downloads via HP tablet computers … Axl Rose is denied a restraining order that would prevent Universal Music Group from releasing a Guns N' Roses greatest hits album … the label argues that it has every right to release the record since Rose has failed to deliver on his contract to produce the long-threatened Chinese Democracy album …
2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates its 20th anniversary—and the 50th anniversary of rock music—in a ceremony that peaks with Bruce Springsteen inducting U2; Neil Young ushering in the Pretenders; Justin Timberlake welcoming the O'Jays into the Hall; B.B. King and Eric Clapton joining forces to pay tribute to bluesman Buddy Guy; and Rod Stewart inducting soul singer Percy Sledge … legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti will lend his voice to a new version of Deep Purple's classic "Smoke on the Water" for a new retrospective album covering the 40-year career of rocker Ian Gillan … a London audience is treated to an unannounced appearance by Mick Jagger during a Ron Wood concert; Jagger handles vocals on the Stones song "Dance (Pt. 1)" … Coldplay gives L.A. fans a thrill by playing a one-off gig at The Troubador … rapper Lil' Kim is convicted of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury in connection with a 2001 shooting involving her manager and a former member of her posse …
2006, Isaac Hayes quits South Park, the animated show where he voiced the character of Chef for nine years … Hayes cites the show's take on religion as his reason for leaving: "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins." … Matt Stone, the show's co-creator, cites a recent episode that targeted Hayes' religion, Scientology … "He has no problem—and he's cashed plenty of checks—with our show making fun of Christians." … Leonard Cohen wins a $9.5 million judgment against former manager Kelley Lynch, charging that he extorted more than $5 million from the singer-songwriter … outlook for compensation is dim, since the defendant apparently took a powder right after the suit was filed … Hasidic reggae star Matisyahu fires his management team at JDub with three years left to go on their contract … the sacking comes as Matisyahu enjoys having two albums in the top 40 album chart … the JDub crew, who were the artist's buddies in college, are reported to be considering suit …
2007, Sony BMG Music Entertainment announces that it's shutting down Sony Wonder, its kids' label that was once home to Sesame Street … it's not easy being BMG … Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five become the first hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame …
2008, it's announced that Snoop Dogg will guest star on the long-running soap One Life to Live … he'll perform a couple of tracks from his newest CD, Ego Trippin', and mashup the show's theme music … a judge awards Heather Mills nearly $50 million in her divorce from Paul McCartney … the Allman Brothers are forced to postpone their annual May engagement at New York's Beacon Theater while Gregg Allman recuperates from hepatitis C …
2009, Capitol Records executive Alan Livingston dies … after the U.S.-based label rejected the first four Beatles singles, he gave the go-ahead to release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" … Neil Young releases his video for "Johnny Magic" on the Internet … it's Neil in his car lip-synching to the song with his dog in the back seat, one camera, no edits … Neil explains the "economy look" goes with the times …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 11: bandleader Lawrence Welk (1903), Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1940), Golden Earring's George Kooymans (1948), singer Bobby McFerrin (1950), singer Nina Hagen (1955), Bruce Watson of Big Country (1961), drummer and Pantera co-founder Vinnie Paul, born Vincent Paul Abbott (1964), singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb (1968), Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte (1979)
March 12: one-man-band Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller (1896), R&B bandleader Red Saunders (1912), Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess Records (1917), L.C. Williams, Houston bluesman who worked with Lightnin' Hopkins (1930), singer Al Jarreau (1940), Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane (1942), singer-actress Liza Minelli (1946), singer-songwriter James Taylor (1948), Bill Payne of Little Feat (1949), Mike Gibbons of Badfinger (1949), Marlon Jackson of The Jackson 5 (1957), Steve Harris of Iron Maiden (1957), Graham Coxon of Blur (1969)
March 13: bluesman Lightnin' Slim (1913), Willie Williams, drummer with Howlin' Wolf (1922), songwriter Mike Stoller (1933), singer-songwriter-pianist Neil Sedaka (1939), Mississippi-born electric guitarist Melvin Taylor (1959), U2's Adam Clayton (1960)
March 14: baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681), Austrian romantic composer Johann Strauss Sr. (1804), bandleader Les Brown (1912), singer-songwriter Phil Phillips, who penned "Sea of Love" (1931), trumpeter-arranger-composer-producer Quincy Jones (1933), "Queen of Country Music" Loretta Lynn (1940), Jim Pons of The Turtles (1943), Chicago's Walt Parazaider (1945), Boon Gould of Level 42 (1955)
March 15: bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins (1912), Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh (1940), Mike Love, co-lead singer of The Beach Boys (1944), Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart (1944), War's Howard Scott (1946), slide guitarist-singer-composer Ry Cooder (1947), Twisted Sister's Dee Snider (1955), singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby (1962), Brett Michaels of Poison (1963), Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray (1970), Mark Hoppus of blink-182 (1972), Joseph Hahn of Linkin Park (1977)
March 16: country singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, born Ronald Clyde Crosby (1942), Heart's Nancy Wilson (1954), Flavor Flav of Public Enemy (1959), rock and metal guitarist Marcus Henderson, lead guitar for Guitar Hero video game (1973), bassist and son of Eddie, Wolfgang Van Halen (1991)
March 17: singer-songwriter-pianist Nat "King" Cole, born Nathaniel Adams Coles (1917), Clarence Collins of Little Anthony & The Imperials (1939), Vito Picone of The Elegants (1940), Paul Kantner of The Jefferson Airplane (1941), singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful (1944), Harold Brown of War (1946), Ian Gomm of Brinsley Schwartz (1947), Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham (1951), Mike Lindup of Level 42 (1959), Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan (1967), Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole (1972)
Departures:
March 11: Stacy Guess of The Squirrel Nut Zippers (1998), South African saxophonist Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee (1998), blues harmonica player Sonny Terry (1986)
March 12: Marc Moreland, guitarist for Wall of Voodoo (2002), violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin (1999), singer-songwriter Alex Taylor, older brother of James Taylor (1993), alto sax innovator Charlie "Yardbird" Parker (1955)
March 13: Capitol records executive Alan Livingston (2009), soul singer Lyn Collins (2005), reggae singer Judge Dread, born Alex Hughes (1998), rock and jazz producer Bob Shad (1985), Jerry Blaine, jazz bandleader and founder of Jubilee Records (1973)
March 14: country singer-songwriter Tommy Collins, born Leonard Raymond Sipes (2000), songwriter Jerome "Doc" Pomus (1991), R&B bandleader Larry "Big Twist" Nolan (1990), Keith Relf of The Yardbirds (1976), '60s soul singer Linda Jones (1972)
March 15: rapper Harold "Whiz Kid" McGuire (1996), violinist Olga Rudge (1996), Electric Flag bassist Roger "Jelly Roll" Troy (1991), tenor sax giant Lester "Prez" Young (1959), boogie-woogie pianist Clarence "Pine Top" Smith (1929)
March 16: Ola Brunkert, drummer for ABBA (2008), singer Carol Richards, who teamed with Bing Crosby on "Silver Bells" (2007), ska pioneer Justin Hinds (2005), Jakson Spires, drummer, co-founder, and songwriter for Blackfoot (2005), Joseph Pope, lead singer of The Tams (1996), singer-songwriter Johnny Cymbal (1993), John Simmons of The Reflections (1990), bluesman and electric guitar pioneer Aaron "T-Bone" Walker (1975), soul singer Tammi Terrell (1970)
March 17: Narvin Campbell of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2006), Lumumba Nelson aka Professor X of the '90s rap posse X-Clan (2006), MTV VJ J.J. Jackson (2004), Lillian McMurry, co-founder of Trumpet Records (1999), '80s R&B and pop singer Jermaine Stewart (1997), Elvis sound-alike Terry Safford (1996), Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim, born Albert Luandrew (1995), singer Yvonne Fair of The Chantels (1994), Ric Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic (1990), New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell (1989), Samuel George, singer-drummer with The Capitols (1982)
March 11, 2010
Korn Fed Up … China Dull … Showin' The Love …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1958, Billie Holiday is sentenced to a year's probation after pleading guilty to narcotics possession … Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star" becomes the first certified gold record …
1963, Gerry Marsden of the Merseybeat group Gerry & The Pacemakers is fined £50 for trying to slip a German guitar past British customs … imported instruments are subject to high duties …
1965, Eric Clapton splits from The Yardbirds to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers …
1967, Dick James, the Beatles' music publisher, says 446 versions of "Yesterday" have been recorded to date, making it the most covered song ever … The Grateful Dead release their first album … Jerry Garcia reveals that it was recorded on "dietwatcher's speed and pot" and that "the tempo was way too fast" … The Velvet Underground's debut album is released sporting Andy Warhol's banana-peel cover …
1972, country music star and reformed burglar Merle Haggard is given a pardon by California governor Ronald Reagan … it's been 12 years since Merle did his singing behind bars at San Quentin …
1974, John Lennon and his drinking buddy Harry Nilsson are booted out of West L.A.'s Troubadour Club after razzing comic Tom Smothers … apparently, like Smother's mother, John and Harry like Dickie best …
1976, former porn star Andrea True scores with her #4 disco single "More, More, More" …
1979, singer Bonnie Bramlett slugs a highly inebriated Elvis Costello when he utters a racial slur about Ray Charles … Costello has publicly apologized on many occasions for this gaffe …
1991, Janet Jackson reveals … we know what you're thinking … that she is moving from A&M Records to Virgin in a deal worth about $40 million … seven members of Reba McEntire's touring band and her road manager are killed when their plane crashes into a mountainous area near the California/Mexico border … McEntire was traveling in a separate plane … guitar legend Eddie Van Halen and his wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, celebrate the birth of their son … they name the boy Wolfgang …
1992, 40,000 people show up for Farm Aid in Irving, Texas … the star-studded show is organized by Willie Nelson to help failing family farms …
1997, Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II …
1998, Cathay Pacific Airways announces that Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has been banned from flying with the airline following a flight during which he is reported to have screamed obscenities and smoked in the cabin … lawyers representing Korn serve Assistant Principal Gretchen Plewes of Zeeland High School in Michigan … the papers demand that she stop making "defamatory comments about Korn and its products" … the action stems from the suspension of a student who wore a Korn T-shirt to school …
2000, the Recording Industry Association of America certifies 17 million copies sold of Shania Twain's album Come On Over, making it the best-selling album by a solo female artist …
2002, R.E.M. is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 22nd annual dinner …
2003, the Chinese government orders the Rolling Stones to axe four songs from the set lists of their Shanghai and Beijing shows … the banned tunes are "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together" …
2004, Courtney Love repeatedly flashes her breasts during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman … later that night she plays an unannounced gig at the New York club, Plaid, where she throws a mic stand into the audience and is arrested for reckless endangerment … the next night she turns up at the Bowery Ballroom with the legend "EAT MY F**K" emblazoned in 10-inch high letters on her tank top, then tops off the night with a Kodak moment in which she is photographed breast-feeding a fan at a local Wendys … like the man said, "All you need is Love" … Starbucks announces it's partnering with Hewlett-Packard to offer customers digital music downloads via HP tablet computers … Axl Rose is denied a restraining order that would prevent Universal Music Group from releasing a Guns N' Roses greatest hits album … the label argues that it has every right to release the record since Rose has failed to deliver on his contract to produce the long-threatened Chinese Democracy album …
2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates its 20th anniversary—and the 50th anniversary of rock music—in a ceremony that peaks with Bruce Springsteen inducting U2; Neil Young ushering in the Pretenders; Justin Timberlake welcoming the O'Jays into the Hall; B.B. King and Eric Clapton joining forces to pay tribute to bluesman Buddy Guy; and Rod Stewart inducting soul singer Percy Sledge … legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti will lend his voice to a new version of Deep Purple's classic "Smoke on the Water" for a new retrospective album covering the 40-year career of rocker Ian Gillan … a London audience is treated to an unannounced appearance by Mick Jagger during a Ron Wood concert; Jagger handles vocals on the Stones song "Dance (Pt. 1)" … Coldplay gives L.A. fans a thrill by playing a one-off gig at The Troubador … rapper Lil' Kim is convicted of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury in connection with a 2001 shooting involving her manager and a former member of her posse …
2006, Isaac Hayes quits South Park, the animated show where he voiced the character of Chef for nine years … Hayes cites the show's take on religion as his reason for leaving: "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins." … Matt Stone, the show's co-creator, cites a recent episode that targeted Hayes' religion, Scientology … "He has no problem—and he's cashed plenty of checks—with our show making fun of Christians." … Leonard Cohen wins a $9.5 million judgment against former manager Kelley Lynch, charging that he extorted more than $5 million from the singer-songwriter … outlook for compensation is dim, since the defendant apparently took a powder right after the suit was filed … Hasidic reggae star Matisyahu fires his management team at JDub with three years left to go on their contract … the sacking comes as Matisyahu enjoys having two albums in the top 40 album chart … the JDub crew, who were the artist's buddies in college, are reported to be considering suit …
2007, Sony BMG Music Entertainment announces that it's shutting down Sony Wonder, its kids' label that was once home to Sesame Street … it's not easy being BMG … Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five become the first hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame …
2008, it's announced that Snoop Dogg will guest star on the long-running soap One Life to Live … he'll perform a couple of tracks from his newest CD, Ego Trippin', and mashup the show's theme music … a judge awards Heather Mills nearly $50 million in her divorce from Paul McCartney … the Allman Brothers are forced to postpone their annual May engagement at New York's Beacon Theater while Gregg Allman recuperates from hepatitis C …
2009, Capitol Records executive Alan Livingston dies … after the U.S.-based label rejected the first four Beatles singles, he gave the go-ahead to release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" … Neil Young releases his video for "Johnny Magic" on the Internet … it's Neil in his car lip-synching to the song with his dog in the back seat, one camera, no edits … Neil explains the "economy look" goes with the times …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 11: bandleader Lawrence Welk (1903), Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1940), Golden Earring's George Kooymans (1948), singer Bobby McFerrin (1950), singer Nina Hagen (1955), Bruce Watson of Big Country (1961), drummer and Pantera co-founder Vinnie Paul, born Vincent Paul Abbott (1964), singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb (1968), Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte (1979)
March 12: one-man-band Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller (1896), R&B bandleader Red Saunders (1912), Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess Records (1917), L.C. Williams, Houston bluesman who worked with Lightnin' Hopkins (1930), singer Al Jarreau (1940), Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane (1942), singer-actress Liza Minelli (1946), singer-songwriter James Taylor (1948), Bill Payne of Little Feat (1949), Mike Gibbons of Badfinger (1949), Marlon Jackson of The Jackson 5 (1957), Steve Harris of Iron Maiden (1957), Graham Coxon of Blur (1969)
March 13: bluesman Lightnin' Slim (1913), Willie Williams, drummer with Howlin' Wolf (1922), songwriter Mike Stoller (1933), singer-songwriter-pianist Neil Sedaka (1939), Mississippi-born electric guitarist Melvin Taylor (1959), U2's Adam Clayton (1960)
March 14: baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681), Austrian romantic composer Johann Strauss Sr. (1804), bandleader Les Brown (1912), singer-songwriter Phil Phillips, who penned "Sea of Love" (1931), trumpeter-arranger-composer-producer Quincy Jones (1933), "Queen of Country Music" Loretta Lynn (1940), Jim Pons of The Turtles (1943), Chicago's Walt Parazaider (1945), Boon Gould of Level 42 (1955)
March 15: bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins (1912), Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh (1940), Mike Love, co-lead singer of The Beach Boys (1944), Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart (1944), War's Howard Scott (1946), slide guitarist-singer-composer Ry Cooder (1947), Twisted Sister's Dee Snider (1955), singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby (1962), Brett Michaels of Poison (1963), Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray (1970), Mark Hoppus of blink-182 (1972), Joseph Hahn of Linkin Park (1977)
March 16: country singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, born Ronald Clyde Crosby (1942), Heart's Nancy Wilson (1954), Flavor Flav of Public Enemy (1959), rock and metal guitarist Marcus Henderson, lead guitar for Guitar Hero video game (1973), bassist and son of Eddie, Wolfgang Van Halen (1991)
March 17: singer-songwriter-pianist Nat "King" Cole, born Nathaniel Adams Coles (1917), Clarence Collins of Little Anthony & The Imperials (1939), Vito Picone of The Elegants (1940), Paul Kantner of The Jefferson Airplane (1941), singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful (1944), Harold Brown of War (1946), Ian Gomm of Brinsley Schwartz (1947), Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham (1951), Mike Lindup of Level 42 (1959), Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan (1967), Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole (1972)
Departures:
March 11: Stacy Guess of The Squirrel Nut Zippers (1998), South African saxophonist Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee (1998), blues harmonica player Sonny Terry (1986)
March 12: Marc Moreland, guitarist for Wall of Voodoo (2002), violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin (1999), singer-songwriter Alex Taylor, older brother of James Taylor (1993), alto sax innovator Charlie "Yardbird" Parker (1955)
March 13: Capitol records executive Alan Livingston (2009), soul singer Lyn Collins (2005), reggae singer Judge Dread, born Alex Hughes (1998), rock and jazz producer Bob Shad (1985), Jerry Blaine, jazz bandleader and founder of Jubilee Records (1973)
March 14: country singer-songwriter Tommy Collins, born Leonard Raymond Sipes (2000), songwriter Jerome "Doc" Pomus (1991), R&B bandleader Larry "Big Twist" Nolan (1990), Keith Relf of The Yardbirds (1976), '60s soul singer Linda Jones (1972)
March 15: rapper Harold "Whiz Kid" McGuire (1996), violinist Olga Rudge (1996), Electric Flag bassist Roger "Jelly Roll" Troy (1991), tenor sax giant Lester "Prez" Young (1959), boogie-woogie pianist Clarence "Pine Top" Smith (1929)
March 16: Ola Brunkert, drummer for ABBA (2008), singer Carol Richards, who teamed with Bing Crosby on "Silver Bells" (2007), ska pioneer Justin Hinds (2005), Jakson Spires, drummer, co-founder, and songwriter for Blackfoot (2005), Joseph Pope, lead singer of The Tams (1996), singer-songwriter Johnny Cymbal (1993), John Simmons of The Reflections (1990), bluesman and electric guitar pioneer Aaron "T-Bone" Walker (1975), soul singer Tammi Terrell (1970)
March 17: Narvin Campbell of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2006), Lumumba Nelson aka Professor X of the '90s rap posse X-Clan (2006), MTV VJ J.J. Jackson (2004), Lillian McMurry, co-founder of Trumpet Records (1999), '80s R&B and pop singer Jermaine Stewart (1997), Elvis sound-alike Terry Safford (1996), Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim, born Albert Luandrew (1995), singer Yvonne Fair of The Chantels (1994), Ric Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic (1990), New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell (1989), Samuel George, singer-drummer with The Capitols (1982)
Week In Review
March 18, 2010
Beatles Get Waxed … Vedder Inducts Ramones … Bon Jovi Goes Country …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1952, Cleveland DJ Alan Freed mounts his first rock 'n' roll show dubbed The Moondog Coronation Ball … the venue holds 10,000 but 30,000 rock-hungry teens turn up causing the cops to call the show off … the resulting riot is a precursor to the coming age of rock …
1956, Carl Perkins receives severe injuries in a Delaware auto accident … he was on his way to the Big Apple to perform on Perry Como's TV variety show … the El Capris enjoy a minor hit with the tune "(Shimmy Shimmy) Ko Ko Wop" … the song will resurface as a hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1960 … in an early instance of political correctness, it's retitled "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop" …
1964, after a long day of shooting their first feature film, the Beatles' Ringo Starr is heard to say, "Boy, this has been a hard day's night!" thus inadvertently giving a name to the movie … also this week, wax images of The Beatles go on display in London at the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum … they will later appear on the Sergeant Pepper cover …
1965, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Bill Wyman are busted for peeing on a petrol station wall after they're refused admittance to the loo …
1967, a late night jam in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon with Eric Clapton and Buffalo Springfield is broken up by the police who, upon arriving, smell marijuana … Stills escapes through a window; Clapton is somehow set free; the rest, including Neil Young, spend the night in jail and later plead guilty to disturbing the peace in exchange for having the drug charges dropped …
1969, John and Yoko are married in Gibraltar … two days later they begin their famous "bed-in for peace" …
1982, soul-singing smoothie Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the waist down in Philly when he flips his Rolls attempting to avoid another auto … Randy Rhoads, lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band, is killed when a plane he is flying in crashes into a home and explodes … the band has stopped at the Leesburg, Florida, home of its bus driver, Andrew Aycock, a licensed pilot … Aycock "borrows" a plane from a nearby airfield and invites Rhoads and costume designer Rachel Youngblood to take a quick flight … as Ozzy and the rest of the band sleep on the bus, Aycock circles and buzzes it three times without incident … on the fourth pass, the aircraft bumps the bus, clips a wing, and crashes into a nearby house, erupting in flames … all three onboard are killed … a postmortem exam finds cocaine in Aycock's system …
1990, Gloria Estefan is seriously hurt when a tractor-trailer smacks into her band's tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania … she returns to touring 11 months later …
1991, Eric Clapton's 4-year-old son, Conor, falls 56 floors out the window of a New York apartment building in a freak accident … the little boy is in the custody of his mother, Italian actress Lori Del Santo … they are visiting New York and staying in a friend's apartment … the housekeeper has just cleaned a room and opened the window to air it out when young Conor comes dashing by and falls out the window … Clapton is in his hotel nearby … he had just taken Conor to the circus the previous evening … "Tears in Heaven," "The Circus Left Town," and "Lonely Stranger" are all inspired by the deep impact the accident has on Conor's grieving father …
1994, Bruce Springsteen wins the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Streets of Philadelphia" … the song is from the film Philadelphia, and is the first ever written by Springsteen specifically for a film …
1996, The Beatles last charting single, "Real Love," enters the Top 100 and will eventually rise to #11 … the song is based on a demo cut by John Lennon in 1979 to which the other Beatles added new vocals 16 years after Lennon's death …
1999, Radiohead debuts its behind-the-scenes film, Meeting People is Easy, at the South By Southwest Music and Film Festival in Austin, TX … rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard is arrested yet again, this time in New York City after police claim to have found crack cocaine in his vehicle after pulling him over for missing license plates … ODB will be charged with misdemeanor drug possession and driving with a suspended license … he will be arrested again five days later after police pull him over because once again, the vehicle he is driving has no license plates …
2002, The Ramones are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 17th annual induction dinner … Pearl Jam frontman and self-admitted Ramones fanatic Eddie Vedder is their presenter … with a freshly cut mohawk atop his shaved head, Vedder delivers a 16-minute-long tribute to the band before bringing them onstage …
2005, Justin Jeffre, former member of the boy band 98 Degrees, announces his candidacy for mayor of Cincinnati … he will finish fifth out of seven candidates with 708 votes …
2006, Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer withdraws a civil suit he filed against Prince resulting from the Purple One's redecoration of the mansion he rents from the basketballer … among Prince's improvements: lavender stripes painted on various surfaces, installation of purple-and-black carpets, and modifications to the plumbing system to accommodate several beauty-salon chairs … Courtney Love sells her 25% share in Nirvana's catalog to Larry Mestel, a former Virgin Records executive, for an estimated $50 million … Bon Jovi's hit single "Who Says You Can't Go Home" takes the #1 slot on the Hot Country Chart … it's the first rock crossover hit ever to do that … Aerosmith is obliged to cancel the rest of its tour dates when Steven Tyler is operated on for unspecified throat problems …
2007, members of the '70s Scots pop band Bay City Rollers sue Arista, their former label, charging that they are owed millions in unpaid royalties … Elsrock, an outdoor heavy-metal rock festival, is given conditional approval to put on its show outside the town of Rijssen, located in the Netherlands' Bible Belt … the proviso prohibits cursing and blasphemy … the 2006 version of the festival had outraged residents … in explaining why the permit was granted, Mayor Bort Koelewijn cites "the stated readiness of the organizers to make sure that no blasphemous words are used, and that the honor of God's name is not besmirched" …
2008, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe publicly reveals he's gay in an interview with Spin magazine … adding to the record industry's woes, Walmart tells the major labels that if they don't lower wholesale prices so the giant retailer can sell CDs profitably in the $10-12 range, they'll quit selling them entirely … as America's biggest record retailer, such a move would be another nail in the industry's coffin lid … popster Avril Lavigne partners with the Kohl's department store chain to launch a line of teen togs dubbed Abbey Dawn … in the wake of Radiohead's successful web-only release of In Rainbows, Nine Inch Nails brings in $1.6 million with its 36-track instrumental album Ghosts I – IV available in five different versions ranging from a nine-song free download to a $300 deluxe vinyl package …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 18: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844), Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey (1927), Robert Lee Smith of The Tams (1936), Charley Pride (1938), Wilson Pickett (1941), dub-style reggae pioneer Keith Hudson (1946), B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum (1947), John Hartman of The Doobie Brothers (1950), Bill Frisell (1951), Irene Cara (1959), Vanessa Williams (1963), Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains (1966), Queen Latifah born Dana Owens (1970), Jamiroquai's Stuart Zender (1974)
March 19: saxophonist Ornette Coleman (1930), Chicago blues singer Sam Myers (1936), New Orleans R&B singer Clarence "Frogman" Henry (1937), R&B artist Walter Jackson (1938), Grateful Dead keyboard player Tom Constanten (1944), The Monkees' Mickey Dolenz (1945), The Zombies' Paul Atkinson (1946), Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters (1946), bassist Billy Sheehan (1953), The B-52s' Ricky Wilson (1953), Bay City Rollers' Derek Longmuir (1955), Terry Hall of The Specials (1959), Brann Dailor, drummer for Mastodon (1975)
March 20: gospel singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1921), guitarist Jerry Reed (1937), blues saxist Eddie Shaw (1937), Carl Palmer of ELP (1951), guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (1951), Slim Jim Phantom of Stray Cats (1961), singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (1964), Chester Bennington of Linkin Park (1976)
March 21: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), Delta bluesman Bo Carter (1893), Delta blues legend Eddie "Son" House (1902), Chicago bluesman Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (1929), blues pianist Otis Spann (1930), Vivian Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1943), Rosemary Stone of Sly and the Family Stone born Rosemary Stewart (1945), Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry (1946), Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (1949), Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (1950), Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos (1951), Russell Thompkins of The Stylistics (1951), Prodigy's MC Maxim (1967), Ace of Base's Jonas Berggren (1967), Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel (1968), rapper Notorious B.I.G. born Christopher Wallace (1972)
March 22: composer Stephen Sondheim (1930), jazz guitarist George Benson (1943), Keith Relf of The Yardbirds (1943), Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs (1944), Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy (1944), Harry Vanda of The Easybeats (1947), Patrick Olive of Hot Chocolate (1947), Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948), McCoys/Johnny Winter bass player Randy Jo Hobbs (1948), R&B/soul singer Stephanie Mills (1957), Richard Ploog of The Church (1962)
March 23: Joey d'Ambrosio of Bill Haley & His Comets (1934), swamp bluesman Louisiana Red (1936), Ric Ocasek of The Cars (1949), disco singer Karen Young (1952), Chaka Khan, born Yvette Marie Stevens (1953), Epic Soundtracks, born Kevin Godfrey, founding drummer of the punk band Swell Maps (1959), Damon Albarn of Blur (1968)
March 24: Ollie McLaughlin, producer for Del Shannon (1925), George Lee, singer with Ruby & The Romantics (1936), soul singer Billy "Fat Boy" Stewart (1937), songwriter Peggy Sue, sister of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle (1947)
Departures:
March 18: New Orleans pianist Eddie Bo (2009), rapper Darnell "King Tut" Brittingham (2009), session bassist Wayne Pedzwater (2005), The Mamas & the Papas co-founder John Phillips (2001)
March 19: drummer Jeff Ward of Nine Inch Nails and Ministry (1993), Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood (1990), Randy Rhoads (1982), Chicago's first big blues star, bottleneck slide man Tampa Red (1981), Paul Kossoff of Free (1976)
March 20: jazz and R&B guitarist Billy Butler (1991), Cadence Records founder Archie Bleyer (1989)
March 21: songwriter Fred Spielman (1997), Leo Fender (1991)
March 22: George Howard, sax player with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1998), singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dan Hartman (1994), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1991), one-hit-wonder Mark Dinning of "Teen Angel" fame (1986)
March 23: Walter Turnbull, founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem (2007), Cindy Walker, country songwriter who also wrote hits for Ray Charles and Roy Orbison (2006), songwriter-producer J.D. Miller (1996), Don Murray, drummer for The Turtles (1996), Ripley Ingram, tenor vocalist with The Five Keys (1995), Jeanine Deckers aka the Singing Nun (1985), Frank Kirkland, Bo Diddley's drummer (1973)
March 24: Funk Brothers drummer Uriel Jones (2009), country singer Hensen Cargill (2007), Foghat's founding guitarist Rod Price (2005), Harold Melvin, leader of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1997)
March 18, 2010
Beatles Get Waxed … Vedder Inducts Ramones … Bon Jovi Goes Country …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1952, Cleveland DJ Alan Freed mounts his first rock 'n' roll show dubbed The Moondog Coronation Ball … the venue holds 10,000 but 30,000 rock-hungry teens turn up causing the cops to call the show off … the resulting riot is a precursor to the coming age of rock …
1956, Carl Perkins receives severe injuries in a Delaware auto accident … he was on his way to the Big Apple to perform on Perry Como's TV variety show … the El Capris enjoy a minor hit with the tune "(Shimmy Shimmy) Ko Ko Wop" … the song will resurface as a hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1960 … in an early instance of political correctness, it's retitled "Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop" …
1964, after a long day of shooting their first feature film, the Beatles' Ringo Starr is heard to say, "Boy, this has been a hard day's night!" thus inadvertently giving a name to the movie … also this week, wax images of The Beatles go on display in London at the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum … they will later appear on the Sergeant Pepper cover …
1965, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Bill Wyman are busted for peeing on a petrol station wall after they're refused admittance to the loo …
1967, a late night jam in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon with Eric Clapton and Buffalo Springfield is broken up by the police who, upon arriving, smell marijuana … Stills escapes through a window; Clapton is somehow set free; the rest, including Neil Young, spend the night in jail and later plead guilty to disturbing the peace in exchange for having the drug charges dropped …
1969, John and Yoko are married in Gibraltar … two days later they begin their famous "bed-in for peace" …
1982, soul-singing smoothie Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the waist down in Philly when he flips his Rolls attempting to avoid another auto … Randy Rhoads, lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's band, is killed when a plane he is flying in crashes into a home and explodes … the band has stopped at the Leesburg, Florida, home of its bus driver, Andrew Aycock, a licensed pilot … Aycock "borrows" a plane from a nearby airfield and invites Rhoads and costume designer Rachel Youngblood to take a quick flight … as Ozzy and the rest of the band sleep on the bus, Aycock circles and buzzes it three times without incident … on the fourth pass, the aircraft bumps the bus, clips a wing, and crashes into a nearby house, erupting in flames … all three onboard are killed … a postmortem exam finds cocaine in Aycock's system …
1990, Gloria Estefan is seriously hurt when a tractor-trailer smacks into her band's tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania … she returns to touring 11 months later …
1991, Eric Clapton's 4-year-old son, Conor, falls 56 floors out the window of a New York apartment building in a freak accident … the little boy is in the custody of his mother, Italian actress Lori Del Santo … they are visiting New York and staying in a friend's apartment … the housekeeper has just cleaned a room and opened the window to air it out when young Conor comes dashing by and falls out the window … Clapton is in his hotel nearby … he had just taken Conor to the circus the previous evening … "Tears in Heaven," "The Circus Left Town," and "Lonely Stranger" are all inspired by the deep impact the accident has on Conor's grieving father …
1994, Bruce Springsteen wins the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Streets of Philadelphia" … the song is from the film Philadelphia, and is the first ever written by Springsteen specifically for a film …
1996, The Beatles last charting single, "Real Love," enters the Top 100 and will eventually rise to #11 … the song is based on a demo cut by John Lennon in 1979 to which the other Beatles added new vocals 16 years after Lennon's death …
1999, Radiohead debuts its behind-the-scenes film, Meeting People is Easy, at the South By Southwest Music and Film Festival in Austin, TX … rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard is arrested yet again, this time in New York City after police claim to have found crack cocaine in his vehicle after pulling him over for missing license plates … ODB will be charged with misdemeanor drug possession and driving with a suspended license … he will be arrested again five days later after police pull him over because once again, the vehicle he is driving has no license plates …
2002, The Ramones are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 17th annual induction dinner … Pearl Jam frontman and self-admitted Ramones fanatic Eddie Vedder is their presenter … with a freshly cut mohawk atop his shaved head, Vedder delivers a 16-minute-long tribute to the band before bringing them onstage …
2005, Justin Jeffre, former member of the boy band 98 Degrees, announces his candidacy for mayor of Cincinnati … he will finish fifth out of seven candidates with 708 votes …
2006, Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer withdraws a civil suit he filed against Prince resulting from the Purple One's redecoration of the mansion he rents from the basketballer … among Prince's improvements: lavender stripes painted on various surfaces, installation of purple-and-black carpets, and modifications to the plumbing system to accommodate several beauty-salon chairs … Courtney Love sells her 25% share in Nirvana's catalog to Larry Mestel, a former Virgin Records executive, for an estimated $50 million … Bon Jovi's hit single "Who Says You Can't Go Home" takes the #1 slot on the Hot Country Chart … it's the first rock crossover hit ever to do that … Aerosmith is obliged to cancel the rest of its tour dates when Steven Tyler is operated on for unspecified throat problems …
2007, members of the '70s Scots pop band Bay City Rollers sue Arista, their former label, charging that they are owed millions in unpaid royalties … Elsrock, an outdoor heavy-metal rock festival, is given conditional approval to put on its show outside the town of Rijssen, located in the Netherlands' Bible Belt … the proviso prohibits cursing and blasphemy … the 2006 version of the festival had outraged residents … in explaining why the permit was granted, Mayor Bort Koelewijn cites "the stated readiness of the organizers to make sure that no blasphemous words are used, and that the honor of God's name is not besmirched" …
2008, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe publicly reveals he's gay in an interview with Spin magazine … adding to the record industry's woes, Walmart tells the major labels that if they don't lower wholesale prices so the giant retailer can sell CDs profitably in the $10-12 range, they'll quit selling them entirely … as America's biggest record retailer, such a move would be another nail in the industry's coffin lid … popster Avril Lavigne partners with the Kohl's department store chain to launch a line of teen togs dubbed Abbey Dawn … in the wake of Radiohead's successful web-only release of In Rainbows, Nine Inch Nails brings in $1.6 million with its 36-track instrumental album Ghosts I – IV available in five different versions ranging from a nine-song free download to a $300 deluxe vinyl package …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 18: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844), Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey (1927), Robert Lee Smith of The Tams (1936), Charley Pride (1938), Wilson Pickett (1941), dub-style reggae pioneer Keith Hudson (1946), B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum (1947), John Hartman of The Doobie Brothers (1950), Bill Frisell (1951), Irene Cara (1959), Vanessa Williams (1963), Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains (1966), Queen Latifah born Dana Owens (1970), Jamiroquai's Stuart Zender (1974)
March 19: saxophonist Ornette Coleman (1930), Chicago blues singer Sam Myers (1936), New Orleans R&B singer Clarence "Frogman" Henry (1937), R&B artist Walter Jackson (1938), Grateful Dead keyboard player Tom Constanten (1944), The Monkees' Mickey Dolenz (1945), The Zombies' Paul Atkinson (1946), Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters (1946), bassist Billy Sheehan (1953), The B-52s' Ricky Wilson (1953), Bay City Rollers' Derek Longmuir (1955), Terry Hall of The Specials (1959), Brann Dailor, drummer for Mastodon (1975)
March 20: gospel singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1921), guitarist Jerry Reed (1937), blues saxist Eddie Shaw (1937), Carl Palmer of ELP (1951), guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (1951), Slim Jim Phantom of Stray Cats (1961), singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (1964), Chester Bennington of Linkin Park (1976)
March 21: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), Delta bluesman Bo Carter (1893), Delta blues legend Eddie "Son" House (1902), Chicago bluesman Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (1929), blues pianist Otis Spann (1930), Vivian Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1943), Rosemary Stone of Sly and the Family Stone born Rosemary Stewart (1945), Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry (1946), Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (1949), Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (1950), Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos (1951), Russell Thompkins of The Stylistics (1951), Prodigy's MC Maxim (1967), Ace of Base's Jonas Berggren (1967), Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel (1968), rapper Notorious B.I.G. born Christopher Wallace (1972)
March 22: composer Stephen Sondheim (1930), jazz guitarist George Benson (1943), Keith Relf of The Yardbirds (1943), Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs (1944), Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy (1944), Harry Vanda of The Easybeats (1947), Patrick Olive of Hot Chocolate (1947), Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948), McCoys/Johnny Winter bass player Randy Jo Hobbs (1948), R&B/soul singer Stephanie Mills (1957), Richard Ploog of The Church (1962)
March 23: Joey d'Ambrosio of Bill Haley & His Comets (1934), swamp bluesman Louisiana Red (1936), Ric Ocasek of The Cars (1949), disco singer Karen Young (1952), Chaka Khan, born Yvette Marie Stevens (1953), Epic Soundtracks, born Kevin Godfrey, founding drummer of the punk band Swell Maps (1959), Damon Albarn of Blur (1968)
March 24: Ollie McLaughlin, producer for Del Shannon (1925), George Lee, singer with Ruby & The Romantics (1936), soul singer Billy "Fat Boy" Stewart (1937), songwriter Peggy Sue, sister of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle (1947)
Departures:
March 18: New Orleans pianist Eddie Bo (2009), rapper Darnell "King Tut" Brittingham (2009), session bassist Wayne Pedzwater (2005), The Mamas & the Papas co-founder John Phillips (2001)
March 19: drummer Jeff Ward of Nine Inch Nails and Ministry (1993), Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood (1990), Randy Rhoads (1982), Chicago's first big blues star, bottleneck slide man Tampa Red (1981), Paul Kossoff of Free (1976)
March 20: jazz and R&B guitarist Billy Butler (1991), Cadence Records founder Archie Bleyer (1989)
March 21: songwriter Fred Spielman (1997), Leo Fender (1991)
March 22: George Howard, sax player with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1998), singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dan Hartman (1994), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1991), one-hit-wonder Mark Dinning of "Teen Angel" fame (1986)
March 23: Walter Turnbull, founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem (2007), Cindy Walker, country songwriter who also wrote hits for Ray Charles and Roy Orbison (2006), songwriter-producer J.D. Miller (1996), Don Murray, drummer for The Turtles (1996), Ripley Ingram, tenor vocalist with The Five Keys (1995), Jeanine Deckers aka the Singing Nun (1985), Frank Kirkland, Bo Diddley's drummer (1973)
March 24: Funk Brothers drummer Uriel Jones (2009), country singer Hensen Cargill (2007), Foghat's founding guitarist Rod Price (2005), Harold Melvin, leader of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1997)
Week In Review
March 25, 2010
Sun's First Single … Long-Dead Holly Tops Chart … Gladys Goes Pipless …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1952, Sun Records, the revered label that will first give Elvis a shot and cut dozens of great rockabilly and blues sides, issues its first single, "Selling My Whisky" by Jackie Boy and Little Walter …
1955, Georgia Gibbs' "Dance With Me Henry" is released … it's a cleaned-up version of the more licentiously titled "Roll With Me Henry" by Etta James, which in turn was retitled "The Wallflower" to keep censors at bay …
1967, Peter Bergman of Firesign Theatre coins the term "love-in" and throws the first such event in Los Angeles' Elysian Park, attracting 65,000 people and blocking freeways for miles … Columbia Records producer Gary Usher is so impressed, he offers Firesign Theatre their first record contract … Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," commemorating the 1966 teenage riots on the Sunset Strip, peaks at #7 on the pop chart …
1973, just 12 days after their single "Cover of the Rolling Stone" peaks at #6 on the pop chart, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show appear on the cover of the magazine …
1974, The Ramones play their first live show at the Performance Studio in New York … they will go on to play many more shows there and eat lots of pizza …
1978, 19 years after his death, Buddy Holly scores his first British #1 album with 20 Golden Greats …
1989, after 37 years of singing with The Pips, Gladys Knight makes her solo debut in Las Vegas …
2004, Bob Dylan hawks ladies' underwear for Victoria's Secret in a TV ad that features the song "Love Sick" and model Adriana Lima, who is barely clothed … Dylan, thankfully, is fully dressed …
2005, the Decemberists opt to release their new music video, "Sixteen Military Wives," via BitTorrent, an easy way to give the video exposure without fronting a lot of money for bandwidth … Dawn Barger, manager for the Decemberists, says: "For the most part, MTV and VH1 won't touch video unless bands have sold a huge number of records. It's impossible to get rotation" … the experimental release is a success, seeing almost 2,000 downloads its first weekend … The White Stripes finish recording their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan in just under two weeks, averaging about a song a day …
2007, in the midst of a European tour Snoop Dogg and Sean "Diddy" Combs are obliged to cancel plans for the British leg when Snoop is denied a visa by English authorities … the refusal stems from an April 2006 scuffle between the rapper and five members of his entourage and British cops at Heathrow airport after the posse was refused entrance to a British Airways first-class lounge … seven bobbies were injured in the fracas … Apple releases a free software patch for download that permits iPod owners to set a maximum volume level … the action is seemingly in response to articles critical of the device's potential for hearing damage and a pending class-action lawsuit … SonyBMG announces that henceforth it will no longer accept CDs or tapes from bands hoping to land a contract with the company's labels … instead, would-be recording acts are directed to post their demos on sites set up for the purpose by Sony's subsidiaries as well as on blogs … it's not really as cutting-edge an approach as it sounds … in the old days it was known as, "Don't call us, we'll call you" … after a six-and-a-half year hiatus, the Smashing Pumpkins announce they'll launch a European tour in May …
2008, the Raconteurs, led by Jack White and Brendan Benson, release their new album, Consolers of the Lonely after announcing the record just a week earlier … the move is part of a trend in which artists are speeding up the traditional months-long lead times between recording and release that have been the norm in the record industry …
2009, following a five-year touring hiatus, The Dead (no longer Grateful) play three shows on a single day—all in smaller New York venues including the storied Roseland Ballroom and Gramercy Theatre … tensions during their previous tour had kept the band off the road, but according to Bob Weir, "We've learned to listen to each other" …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 25: Vivian Carter, The "Vee" in Vee-Jay Records (1921), Tom Wilson, producer for Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, The Mothers of Invention, and John Coltrane (1931), Johnny Burnette (1934), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1938), Aretha Franklin (1942), Jose L. Rodriguez, engineer for Culture Club, Mary J. Blige, and Gloria Gaynor (1944), Elton John, born Reginald Dwight (1947), Nick Lowe (1949)
March 26: Rufus Thomas, best known for "Walkin' The Dog" (1917), Diana Ross (1944), Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (1948), Teddy Pendergrass (1950), Bill Lyall, keyboardist for Pilot and Bay City Rollers (1953), Eddie Van Halen (1955)
March 27: Leroy Carr, influential blues pianist (1905), blues guitarist Robert Lockwood Jr., who learned from the legendary Robert Johnson (1915), jazz singer Sarah Vaughan (1924), Reprise Records' mogul Mo Ostin, who signed Jimi Hendrix (1927), Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, Houston blues guitarist (1937), Brenda Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips (1948), Tony Banks of Genesis (1951), Mariah Carey (1970)
March 28: Aaron "T-Bone" Walker, legendary electric blues guitarist (1910), Chuck Portz of The Turtles (1945), Milan Williams of The Commodores (1948)
March 29: Donny Conn of The Playmates (1930), Terry Jacks, singer-songwriter of "Seasons in the Sun" fame (1944)
March 30: Delta-style harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson, born John Lee Williamson (1914), Willie Nelson (1933), Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues (1942), Eric Clapton (1945), Jim Dandy Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas (1948), Procol Harum's Dave Ball (1950), rapper Stanley "M.C. Hammer" Burell (1963), songstress Celine Dion (1968), singer-pianist Norah Jones, born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar (1979)
March 31: blues pianist "Big Maceo" Merriweather (1905), influential bluesman Lightning Hopkins (1912), R&B performer and songwriter Chuck Willis (1928), songwriter John D. Loudermilk (1934), trumpeter and the "A" of A&M records, Herb Alpert (1937), Al Nichol of The Turtles (1946), Jon-Jon Poulos, drummer for The Buckinghams (1948), Thijs Van Leer, vocalist/keyboardist/flutist for Dutch group Focus (1948), Angus Young of AC/DC (1959)
Departures:
March 25: country legend Buck Owens (2006), Kenny Moore, keyboardist for Tina Turner (1997), folksinger-songwriter Tom Jans (1984)
March 26: Nikki Sudden of Swell Map (2006), Paul Hester, drummer for Crowded House (2005), Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean (2004), rapper Eazy-E aka Eric Wright (1996), blues singer-musician Duster Bennett (1976), songwriter-playwright Noel Coward (1973), Harold McNair, flautist and saxophonist with Donovan and Ginger Baker (1971)
March 27: Clifford Jordan, jazz saxophonist (1993), R&B singer and Chess Records talent scout Paul Gayten (1991)
March 28: Don Alias, jazz percussionist (2006), actor-jazz pianist Dudley Moore (2002), Freaky Tah, born Raymond Rodgers, of The Lost Boyz (1999), Buddy Red Bow, Lakota country and western singer (1993), father of the blues, songwriter W.C. Handy (1958), Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1974)
March 29: big band singer Joe Williams, born Joseph Goreed (1999), Howard Wyeth, drummer for Dylan, Roger McGuinn, and Don McLean (1996), controversial music biographer Albert Goldman (1994)
March 30: Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild (1995)
March 31: R&B singer Sean Levert (2008), jazz alto saxman Jackie McLean (2006), Denmark's pop king, Tommy Seebach (2003), Gun Club vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce (1996), Tejano pop star Selena, born Selena Quintanilla-Perez (1995), Big Dee Irwin, lead singer of The Pastels (1986), Isley Brother Kelly Isley, born O'Kelly Isley Jr. (1986)
March 25, 2010
Sun's First Single … Long-Dead Holly Tops Chart … Gladys Goes Pipless …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1952, Sun Records, the revered label that will first give Elvis a shot and cut dozens of great rockabilly and blues sides, issues its first single, "Selling My Whisky" by Jackie Boy and Little Walter …
1955, Georgia Gibbs' "Dance With Me Henry" is released … it's a cleaned-up version of the more licentiously titled "Roll With Me Henry" by Etta James, which in turn was retitled "The Wallflower" to keep censors at bay …
1967, Peter Bergman of Firesign Theatre coins the term "love-in" and throws the first such event in Los Angeles' Elysian Park, attracting 65,000 people and blocking freeways for miles … Columbia Records producer Gary Usher is so impressed, he offers Firesign Theatre their first record contract … Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," commemorating the 1966 teenage riots on the Sunset Strip, peaks at #7 on the pop chart …
1973, just 12 days after their single "Cover of the Rolling Stone" peaks at #6 on the pop chart, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show appear on the cover of the magazine …
1974, The Ramones play their first live show at the Performance Studio in New York … they will go on to play many more shows there and eat lots of pizza …
1978, 19 years after his death, Buddy Holly scores his first British #1 album with 20 Golden Greats …
1989, after 37 years of singing with The Pips, Gladys Knight makes her solo debut in Las Vegas …
2004, Bob Dylan hawks ladies' underwear for Victoria's Secret in a TV ad that features the song "Love Sick" and model Adriana Lima, who is barely clothed … Dylan, thankfully, is fully dressed …
2005, the Decemberists opt to release their new music video, "Sixteen Military Wives," via BitTorrent, an easy way to give the video exposure without fronting a lot of money for bandwidth … Dawn Barger, manager for the Decemberists, says: "For the most part, MTV and VH1 won't touch video unless bands have sold a huge number of records. It's impossible to get rotation" … the experimental release is a success, seeing almost 2,000 downloads its first weekend … The White Stripes finish recording their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan in just under two weeks, averaging about a song a day …
2007, in the midst of a European tour Snoop Dogg and Sean "Diddy" Combs are obliged to cancel plans for the British leg when Snoop is denied a visa by English authorities … the refusal stems from an April 2006 scuffle between the rapper and five members of his entourage and British cops at Heathrow airport after the posse was refused entrance to a British Airways first-class lounge … seven bobbies were injured in the fracas … Apple releases a free software patch for download that permits iPod owners to set a maximum volume level … the action is seemingly in response to articles critical of the device's potential for hearing damage and a pending class-action lawsuit … SonyBMG announces that henceforth it will no longer accept CDs or tapes from bands hoping to land a contract with the company's labels … instead, would-be recording acts are directed to post their demos on sites set up for the purpose by Sony's subsidiaries as well as on blogs … it's not really as cutting-edge an approach as it sounds … in the old days it was known as, "Don't call us, we'll call you" … after a six-and-a-half year hiatus, the Smashing Pumpkins announce they'll launch a European tour in May …
2008, the Raconteurs, led by Jack White and Brendan Benson, release their new album, Consolers of the Lonely after announcing the record just a week earlier … the move is part of a trend in which artists are speeding up the traditional months-long lead times between recording and release that have been the norm in the record industry …
2009, following a five-year touring hiatus, The Dead (no longer Grateful) play three shows on a single day—all in smaller New York venues including the storied Roseland Ballroom and Gramercy Theatre … tensions during their previous tour had kept the band off the road, but according to Bob Weir, "We've learned to listen to each other" …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
March 25: Vivian Carter, The "Vee" in Vee-Jay Records (1921), Tom Wilson, producer for Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, The Mothers of Invention, and John Coltrane (1931), Johnny Burnette (1934), singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton (1938), Aretha Franklin (1942), Jose L. Rodriguez, engineer for Culture Club, Mary J. Blige, and Gloria Gaynor (1944), Elton John, born Reginald Dwight (1947), Nick Lowe (1949)
March 26: Rufus Thomas, best known for "Walkin' The Dog" (1917), Diana Ross (1944), Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (1948), Teddy Pendergrass (1950), Bill Lyall, keyboardist for Pilot and Bay City Rollers (1953), Eddie Van Halen (1955)
March 27: Leroy Carr, influential blues pianist (1905), blues guitarist Robert Lockwood Jr., who learned from the legendary Robert Johnson (1915), jazz singer Sarah Vaughan (1924), Reprise Records' mogul Mo Ostin, who signed Jimi Hendrix (1927), Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, Houston blues guitarist (1937), Brenda Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips (1948), Tony Banks of Genesis (1951), Mariah Carey (1970)
March 28: Aaron "T-Bone" Walker, legendary electric blues guitarist (1910), Chuck Portz of The Turtles (1945), Milan Williams of The Commodores (1948)
March 29: Donny Conn of The Playmates (1930), Terry Jacks, singer-songwriter of "Seasons in the Sun" fame (1944)
March 30: Delta-style harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson, born John Lee Williamson (1914), Willie Nelson (1933), Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues (1942), Eric Clapton (1945), Jim Dandy Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas (1948), Procol Harum's Dave Ball (1950), rapper Stanley "M.C. Hammer" Burell (1963), songstress Celine Dion (1968), singer-pianist Norah Jones, born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar (1979)
March 31: blues pianist "Big Maceo" Merriweather (1905), influential bluesman Lightning Hopkins (1912), R&B performer and songwriter Chuck Willis (1928), songwriter John D. Loudermilk (1934), trumpeter and the "A" of A&M records, Herb Alpert (1937), Al Nichol of The Turtles (1946), Jon-Jon Poulos, drummer for The Buckinghams (1948), Thijs Van Leer, vocalist/keyboardist/flutist for Dutch group Focus (1948), Angus Young of AC/DC (1959)
Departures:
March 25: country legend Buck Owens (2006), Kenny Moore, keyboardist for Tina Turner (1997), folksinger-songwriter Tom Jans (1984)
March 26: Nikki Sudden of Swell Map (2006), Paul Hester, drummer for Crowded House (2005), Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean (2004), rapper Eazy-E aka Eric Wright (1996), blues singer-musician Duster Bennett (1976), songwriter-playwright Noel Coward (1973), Harold McNair, flautist and saxophonist with Donovan and Ginger Baker (1971)
March 27: Clifford Jordan, jazz saxophonist (1993), R&B singer and Chess Records talent scout Paul Gayten (1991)
March 28: Don Alias, jazz percussionist (2006), actor-jazz pianist Dudley Moore (2002), Freaky Tah, born Raymond Rodgers, of The Lost Boyz (1999), Buddy Red Bow, Lakota country and western singer (1993), father of the blues, songwriter W.C. Handy (1958), Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1974)
March 29: big band singer Joe Williams, born Joseph Goreed (1999), Howard Wyeth, drummer for Dylan, Roger McGuinn, and Don McLean (1996), controversial music biographer Albert Goldman (1994)
March 30: Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild (1995)
March 31: R&B singer Sean Levert (2008), jazz alto saxman Jackie McLean (2006), Denmark's pop king, Tommy Seebach (2003), Gun Club vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce (1996), Tejano pop star Selena, born Selena Quintanilla-Perez (1995), Big Dee Irwin, lead singer of The Pastels (1986), Isley Brother Kelly Isley, born O'Kelly Isley Jr. (1986)
Week In Review
April 1, 2010
Shredder Smoked … Slaves Freed … Keefe's Organ Solo …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1925, future drummer Lyman Henderson is born this week in Nitro, West Virginia … the boy has no hands due to a congenital defect … two decades later Henderson will cause a stir when he makes his debut on the blasé New York bebop scene with his radical drumming technique that employs both his head and stumps … billed as No-Hands Henderson, the drummer occasionally knocks himself senseless during especially spirited solos … in 1983 he will publish his tell-all autobiography, Rimshots into Headshots …
1957, at a Big Apple recording session, a string of pearls worn by avant-garde vibraphonist Lucille "Moms" Malreux becomes unstrung, clattering across the bars of the vibes producing an effect later described by jazz critic Stanley Dance as "polytonal chord clusters" …
1967, Elvis frees the slaves of Graceland …
1977, RCA releases The King Requests, which consists of taped phone calls Elvis made to a Memphis deli over the years ordering sandwiches, pizza, and other snacks for delivery to Graceland … the calls were recorded over a span of 12 years on 37 cassettes by the enterprising deli owner who sold them to RCA for $385,000 … and yes, every call ends with Elvis saying "thang-you-very-much" … the remastered CD version from 1983 contains hilarious outtakes including the time Elvis called and couldn't remember what he wanted as well as the day he called three times in five minutes with the exact same order …
1979, The Economist reports that the cost of funkmeister Rick James' cocaine intake for 1978 exceeds the GNP of Zimbabwe by a ratio of 5 to 4 …
1983, Nashville picker extraordinaire Chet Atkins introduces his new Atkins Diet … losing weight is now simple—you just pick at your food …
1984, William Shatner releases an album of all-original songs inspired by his experiences playing a police officer on the popular TV program T.J. Hooker … song titles include "Book 'Em Hooker," "The Sergeant and the Lady," "Flashing Lights," and "Hot Pursuit" …
1987, sultry country songstress Crystal Gayle marries maker of premium guitar strings, Ernie Ball … music industry observers refuse to prognosticate on the singer's future were she to tour under her married name, Crystal Ball …
1988, during a show in Throckmorton, Vermont, guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen suffers second- and third-degree burns to his fingers in the midst of an extended solo when his fretboard bursts into flames …
1989, Miles Davis gets his name into the Guinness Book of Records when it's determined his autobiography sets the all-time record for the number of times the word "motherf***er" is repeated in a single written work …
1990, Keith Richards checks into Geneva's Gesundtheit Clinic for his semi-annual blood exchange and decides to splurge on a glistening liver, freshly dug out of a young, teetotaling highway accident victim …
2001, singer-turned-actor Huey Lewis attempts a musical comeback with a newly formed supergroup … Lewis teams up with former Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin and ex-Velvet Lou Reed … Reed, reconsidering the band's name and eponymous album, Huey, Dewey, and Louie and fearing it will trash his New York boho cred, files for an injunction preventing distribution of the record … the album is never released …
2002, velvet-throated crooner Tony Bennett collaborates on a duets album with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson titled "I Left My Heart in a Seething Pus-Filled Pit" …
2004, ex-Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl sets a new record by playing on every single album released in the past year …
2005, Alvin and the Chipmunks hit the tour trail again after a 30-year hiatus … their tour rider specifies no brown acorns …
2006, ever the trend-setter, Madonna causes an uproar in both the religious and scientific communities by skirting cloning laws and taking her passion for Ashtanga Yoga to new heights … the singer has her DNA combined with cryogenically-stored DNA samples from India's late spiritual leader Mahatma Ghandi … according to attending physicians, little Mahatmadonna is doing fine …
2007, American Idol contestant Geena Osterman sets a new record for vocal gymnastics when she lets loose with 28 runs of 9 octaves or more during her rendition of "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" … her voice seizes up on the last chorus, prompting judge Randy Jackson to leap to the rescue disentangling her larynx and vocal cords with a pair of pliers …
2008, drummer Vinnie Paul signs an endorsement deal with the Louisville Slugger Company … Paul now uses a pair of the company's GAMEP72 Derek Jeter Signature Ash baseball bats in place of regular drumsticks … "I needed to take my drumming to a level of intensity that my old sticks just couldn't handle, beefy though they were. With these bats, I'll hit it out of the park on every tune!" … Paul goes on to disclose he's had trouble securing a drumhead endorsement deal …
2009, in his first interview since the dismal 2008 reception to the long-awaited Chinese Democracy album, Axl Rose reveals the reason for the album's commercial failure to David Fricke of Rolling Stone: "I didn't have enough time to get it right" …
2011, pop music sustains a stunning setback when Antares, maker of the pitch-correcting wunderware AutoTune, announces they are closing their doors … panicking pop performers flood therapists' offices suffering from what is coined "Milli Vanilli Syndrome" …
2012, after Scream—his 2009 collaboration with hip-hop producer Timbaland—tanks commercially and critically, former Soundgarden/Audioslave singer Chris Cornell decides on yet another genre change … he steps into the studio to record a lively collection of polka favorites … prompted by the success of Chickenfoot—a supergroup consisting of ex-Van Halen members Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar along with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers—dejected rockers Flea, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, and John Frusciante form a supergroup of their own, the mighty Chickenbutt … Ted Nugent shows up at a Michigan reelection rally for President Barack Obama to show his support …
2014, 311 continues their bi-annual "311 Day" concerts with an epic 85-song set at The Fillmore in San Francisco … fans aren't sure if it's 80 different songs or one really long one …
2017, former pop diva Britney Spears makes her Home Shopping Network debut flogging her new line of anti-cellulite creams …
2021, history is made when U2 performs the first concert on the moon … while fans are flown to the venue on a state-of-the-art space shuttle, the band hitches a ride on Bono's ever-inflating ego …
2023, The Rolling Stones scrap the West African leg of their Still Bloody Well Doing It World Tour after a reliable source for Depends can't be found …
…and that was the April Fool's week that was.
Arrivals:
April 1: jazz singer Alberta Hunter (1895), '50s crooner Frankie Laine (1913), boogie-woogie pianist Amos Milburn, who transformed jump blues into R&B (1927), singer-actress Debbie Reynolds (1932), Rudolph Isley of The Isley Brothers (1939), Alan Blakely of The Tremeloes (1942), John Barbata of Jefferson Starship (1945), Small Faces bassist Ronnie Lane (1948), reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, born James Chambers (1948), session drummer and Toto cofounder Jeff Porcaro (1951), guitarist Dennis Boon of The Minutemen (1958)
April 2: blues sax man J.T. Brown (1910), French pop star Serge Gainsbourg (1928), Marvin Gaye (1939), Leon Russell (1941), Kurt Winter of The Guess Who? (1946), Emmylou Harris (1947)
April 3: pop singer and actress Doris Day (1924), country musician-songwriter Don Gibson (1928), country singer Johnny Horton (1929), R&B/funk guitarist Jimmy "Chank" Nolen (1934), jazz organist Jimmy McGriff (1936), bassist Scot LaFaro (1936), Phillipe Wynne of The Spinners (1938), songwriter Jeff Barry, born Joel Adelberg (1939), Jan Berry of Jan & Dean (1941), The Duprees' Joe Canzano (1941), singer Billy Joe Royal (1942), Joey Vann of The Duprees (1943), Tony Orlando (1944), The Band's Richard Manuel (1945), Elton John bassist Dee Murray (1946), singer-guitarist Richard Thompson (1949), Grand Funk's Mel Schacher (1951), Mike Ness of Social Distortion (1962), Criss Oliva of Savatage (1963)
April 4: Cecil Gant (1913), Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield (1915), writer-actor-dancer-singer-poet laureate Maya Angelou (1928), Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury (1930), Margo Sylvia of The Tune Weavers (1936), trumpeter Hugh Masekela (1939), soulman Major Lance (1941), Tangerine Dream's Christophe Franke (1942), Allman Brothers' bassist Berry Oakley (1948), Dire Straits' Pick Withers (1948), Peter Haycock of Climax Blues Band (1952), Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley (1952), guitarist Gary Moore (1952), Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe (1956)
April 5: pop singer Gale Storm (1922), jazz drummer Stan Levy (1926), The Platters' Tony Williams (1928), Leroy Griffin of The Nutmegs (1934), sax man Stanley Turrentine (1934), fiddler Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention (1941), fiddler David LaFlamme of It's a Beautiful Day (1941), British bluesman and rocker Eric Burdon (1941), Allan Clarke of the Hollies (1942), Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA (1948), Everett Morton of The English Beat (1951), Dream Theater's James LaBrie (1963), Mike McCready of Pearl Jam (1964)
April 6: blues harpist Walter "Shakey" Horton (1917), Burnetta "Bunny" Jones (1917), Merle Haggard (1937), Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas (1944)
April 7: Billie Holiday (1915), bandleader-composer Percy Faith (1918), Ravi Shankar (1920), country singer Bobby Bare (1935), Charlie Thomas of The Drifters (1937), Don Julian of The Meadowlarks (1937), Spencer Dryden of The Jefferson Airplane (1938), trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (1938), Mick Abrahams of Jethro Tull (1943), Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead (1946), Pat Bennett of The Chiffons (1947), blue-eyed soul singer John Oates (1949), folkie Janis Ian (1951), tenor saxophonist Bob Berg (1951), Bruce Gary of The Knack (1952), Victoria Addams of Spice Girls (1976)
April 8: jazz chanteuse Carmen McRae (1922), Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel (1929), Steve Howe (1947), Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses (1962), Julian Lennon (1963), Biz Markie born Marcel Hall (1964)
Departures:
April 1: Denny Barcelona, drummer with Louis Armstrong (2007), Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson (2004), Gibson guitar designer-inventor Ted McCarty (2001), jazz musician and A&R man Jesse Stone (1999), death-rock vocalist Rozz Williams of Christian Death (1998), soul singer Jimmy Hughes (1997), Sister Luc-Gabrielle AKA The Singing Nun, born Jeanine Deckers (1985), ragtime pianist Scott Joplin (1917)
April 2: West Coast alto sax player Bud Shank (2009), session guitarist Cliff White (1998), organist Joe Madison (1995), Buddy Rich (1987)
April 3: Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey of The Kinsey Report (2001), session sax man Alvin "Red" Tyler (1998), Rob Pilatus of the disgraced Milli Vanilli (1998), Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes (1996), jazz songstress Sarah Vaughan (1990)
April 4: songwriter Kurt Weil (1950)
April 5: former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John (2007), pop singer Gene Pitney (2006), Layne Staley of Alice in Chains (2002), drummer Colin "Cozy" Powell (1998), Kurt Cobain (1994), Nesuhi Ertegun, cofounder of Atlanta Records (1989), Danny Rapp of Danny & The Juniors (1983), soul singer Joe Hinton (1981), Memphis session guitarist Rick Harvey (1981), Bob Hite of Canned Heat (1981)
April 6: Niki Sullivan of The Crickets (2004), vibes maestro Red Norvo (1999), Tammy Wynette (1998), Wendy O. Williams (1998), session guitarist Edward Freche (1995), Elvis soundalike Ral Donner (1984)
April 7: L.A. session drummer Carlos Vega (1998), Harold "Sonny" Wright of The Diamonds (1996), Lee Brilleaux aka Dr. Feelgood (1994), King Records producer Henry Glover (1991), Who manager Kit Lambert (1981), rockabilly legend Charlie Shivers (1961)
April 1, 2010
Shredder Smoked … Slaves Freed … Keefe's Organ Solo …
This is the week that was in matters musical…
1925, future drummer Lyman Henderson is born this week in Nitro, West Virginia … the boy has no hands due to a congenital defect … two decades later Henderson will cause a stir when he makes his debut on the blasé New York bebop scene with his radical drumming technique that employs both his head and stumps … billed as No-Hands Henderson, the drummer occasionally knocks himself senseless during especially spirited solos … in 1983 he will publish his tell-all autobiography, Rimshots into Headshots …
1957, at a Big Apple recording session, a string of pearls worn by avant-garde vibraphonist Lucille "Moms" Malreux becomes unstrung, clattering across the bars of the vibes producing an effect later described by jazz critic Stanley Dance as "polytonal chord clusters" …
1967, Elvis frees the slaves of Graceland …
1977, RCA releases The King Requests, which consists of taped phone calls Elvis made to a Memphis deli over the years ordering sandwiches, pizza, and other snacks for delivery to Graceland … the calls were recorded over a span of 12 years on 37 cassettes by the enterprising deli owner who sold them to RCA for $385,000 … and yes, every call ends with Elvis saying "thang-you-very-much" … the remastered CD version from 1983 contains hilarious outtakes including the time Elvis called and couldn't remember what he wanted as well as the day he called three times in five minutes with the exact same order …
1979, The Economist reports that the cost of funkmeister Rick James' cocaine intake for 1978 exceeds the GNP of Zimbabwe by a ratio of 5 to 4 …
1983, Nashville picker extraordinaire Chet Atkins introduces his new Atkins Diet … losing weight is now simple—you just pick at your food …
1984, William Shatner releases an album of all-original songs inspired by his experiences playing a police officer on the popular TV program T.J. Hooker … song titles include "Book 'Em Hooker," "The Sergeant and the Lady," "Flashing Lights," and "Hot Pursuit" …
1987, sultry country songstress Crystal Gayle marries maker of premium guitar strings, Ernie Ball … music industry observers refuse to prognosticate on the singer's future were she to tour under her married name, Crystal Ball …
1988, during a show in Throckmorton, Vermont, guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen suffers second- and third-degree burns to his fingers in the midst of an extended solo when his fretboard bursts into flames …
1989, Miles Davis gets his name into the Guinness Book of Records when it's determined his autobiography sets the all-time record for the number of times the word "motherf***er" is repeated in a single written work …
1990, Keith Richards checks into Geneva's Gesundtheit Clinic for his semi-annual blood exchange and decides to splurge on a glistening liver, freshly dug out of a young, teetotaling highway accident victim …
2001, singer-turned-actor Huey Lewis attempts a musical comeback with a newly formed supergroup … Lewis teams up with former Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin and ex-Velvet Lou Reed … Reed, reconsidering the band's name and eponymous album, Huey, Dewey, and Louie and fearing it will trash his New York boho cred, files for an injunction preventing distribution of the record … the album is never released …
2002, velvet-throated crooner Tony Bennett collaborates on a duets album with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson titled "I Left My Heart in a Seething Pus-Filled Pit" …
2004, ex-Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl sets a new record by playing on every single album released in the past year …
2005, Alvin and the Chipmunks hit the tour trail again after a 30-year hiatus … their tour rider specifies no brown acorns …
2006, ever the trend-setter, Madonna causes an uproar in both the religious and scientific communities by skirting cloning laws and taking her passion for Ashtanga Yoga to new heights … the singer has her DNA combined with cryogenically-stored DNA samples from India's late spiritual leader Mahatma Ghandi … according to attending physicians, little Mahatmadonna is doing fine …
2007, American Idol contestant Geena Osterman sets a new record for vocal gymnastics when she lets loose with 28 runs of 9 octaves or more during her rendition of "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" … her voice seizes up on the last chorus, prompting judge Randy Jackson to leap to the rescue disentangling her larynx and vocal cords with a pair of pliers …
2008, drummer Vinnie Paul signs an endorsement deal with the Louisville Slugger Company … Paul now uses a pair of the company's GAMEP72 Derek Jeter Signature Ash baseball bats in place of regular drumsticks … "I needed to take my drumming to a level of intensity that my old sticks just couldn't handle, beefy though they were. With these bats, I'll hit it out of the park on every tune!" … Paul goes on to disclose he's had trouble securing a drumhead endorsement deal …
2009, in his first interview since the dismal 2008 reception to the long-awaited Chinese Democracy album, Axl Rose reveals the reason for the album's commercial failure to David Fricke of Rolling Stone: "I didn't have enough time to get it right" …
2011, pop music sustains a stunning setback when Antares, maker of the pitch-correcting wunderware AutoTune, announces they are closing their doors … panicking pop performers flood therapists' offices suffering from what is coined "Milli Vanilli Syndrome" …
2012, after Scream—his 2009 collaboration with hip-hop producer Timbaland—tanks commercially and critically, former Soundgarden/Audioslave singer Chris Cornell decides on yet another genre change … he steps into the studio to record a lively collection of polka favorites … prompted by the success of Chickenfoot—a supergroup consisting of ex-Van Halen members Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar along with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers—dejected rockers Flea, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, and John Frusciante form a supergroup of their own, the mighty Chickenbutt … Ted Nugent shows up at a Michigan reelection rally for President Barack Obama to show his support …
2014, 311 continues their bi-annual "311 Day" concerts with an epic 85-song set at The Fillmore in San Francisco … fans aren't sure if it's 80 different songs or one really long one …
2017, former pop diva Britney Spears makes her Home Shopping Network debut flogging her new line of anti-cellulite creams …
2021, history is made when U2 performs the first concert on the moon … while fans are flown to the venue on a state-of-the-art space shuttle, the band hitches a ride on Bono's ever-inflating ego …
2023, The Rolling Stones scrap the West African leg of their Still Bloody Well Doing It World Tour after a reliable source for Depends can't be found …
…and that was the April Fool's week that was.
Arrivals:
April 1: jazz singer Alberta Hunter (1895), '50s crooner Frankie Laine (1913), boogie-woogie pianist Amos Milburn, who transformed jump blues into R&B (1927), singer-actress Debbie Reynolds (1932), Rudolph Isley of The Isley Brothers (1939), Alan Blakely of The Tremeloes (1942), John Barbata of Jefferson Starship (1945), Small Faces bassist Ronnie Lane (1948), reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, born James Chambers (1948), session drummer and Toto cofounder Jeff Porcaro (1951), guitarist Dennis Boon of The Minutemen (1958)
April 2: blues sax man J.T. Brown (1910), French pop star Serge Gainsbourg (1928), Marvin Gaye (1939), Leon Russell (1941), Kurt Winter of The Guess Who? (1946), Emmylou Harris (1947)
April 3: pop singer and actress Doris Day (1924), country musician-songwriter Don Gibson (1928), country singer Johnny Horton (1929), R&B/funk guitarist Jimmy "Chank" Nolen (1934), jazz organist Jimmy McGriff (1936), bassist Scot LaFaro (1936), Phillipe Wynne of The Spinners (1938), songwriter Jeff Barry, born Joel Adelberg (1939), Jan Berry of Jan & Dean (1941), The Duprees' Joe Canzano (1941), singer Billy Joe Royal (1942), Joey Vann of The Duprees (1943), Tony Orlando (1944), The Band's Richard Manuel (1945), Elton John bassist Dee Murray (1946), singer-guitarist Richard Thompson (1949), Grand Funk's Mel Schacher (1951), Mike Ness of Social Distortion (1962), Criss Oliva of Savatage (1963)
April 4: Cecil Gant (1913), Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield (1915), writer-actor-dancer-singer-poet laureate Maya Angelou (1928), Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury (1930), Margo Sylvia of The Tune Weavers (1936), trumpeter Hugh Masekela (1939), soulman Major Lance (1941), Tangerine Dream's Christophe Franke (1942), Allman Brothers' bassist Berry Oakley (1948), Dire Straits' Pick Withers (1948), Peter Haycock of Climax Blues Band (1952), Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley (1952), guitarist Gary Moore (1952), Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe (1956)
April 5: pop singer Gale Storm (1922), jazz drummer Stan Levy (1926), The Platters' Tony Williams (1928), Leroy Griffin of The Nutmegs (1934), sax man Stanley Turrentine (1934), fiddler Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention (1941), fiddler David LaFlamme of It's a Beautiful Day (1941), British bluesman and rocker Eric Burdon (1941), Allan Clarke of the Hollies (1942), Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA (1948), Everett Morton of The English Beat (1951), Dream Theater's James LaBrie (1963), Mike McCready of Pearl Jam (1964)
April 6: blues harpist Walter "Shakey" Horton (1917), Burnetta "Bunny" Jones (1917), Merle Haggard (1937), Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas (1944)
April 7: Billie Holiday (1915), bandleader-composer Percy Faith (1918), Ravi Shankar (1920), country singer Bobby Bare (1935), Charlie Thomas of The Drifters (1937), Don Julian of The Meadowlarks (1937), Spencer Dryden of The Jefferson Airplane (1938), trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (1938), Mick Abrahams of Jethro Tull (1943), Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead (1946), Pat Bennett of The Chiffons (1947), blue-eyed soul singer John Oates (1949), folkie Janis Ian (1951), tenor saxophonist Bob Berg (1951), Bruce Gary of The Knack (1952), Victoria Addams of Spice Girls (1976)
April 8: jazz chanteuse Carmen McRae (1922), Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel (1929), Steve Howe (1947), Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses (1962), Julian Lennon (1963), Biz Markie born Marcel Hall (1964)
Departures:
April 1: Denny Barcelona, drummer with Louis Armstrong (2007), Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson (2004), Gibson guitar designer-inventor Ted McCarty (2001), jazz musician and A&R man Jesse Stone (1999), death-rock vocalist Rozz Williams of Christian Death (1998), soul singer Jimmy Hughes (1997), Sister Luc-Gabrielle AKA The Singing Nun, born Jeanine Deckers (1985), ragtime pianist Scott Joplin (1917)
April 2: West Coast alto sax player Bud Shank (2009), session guitarist Cliff White (1998), organist Joe Madison (1995), Buddy Rich (1987)
April 3: Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey of The Kinsey Report (2001), session sax man Alvin "Red" Tyler (1998), Rob Pilatus of the disgraced Milli Vanilli (1998), Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes (1996), jazz songstress Sarah Vaughan (1990)
April 4: songwriter Kurt Weil (1950)
April 5: former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John (2007), pop singer Gene Pitney (2006), Layne Staley of Alice in Chains (2002), drummer Colin "Cozy" Powell (1998), Kurt Cobain (1994), Nesuhi Ertegun, cofounder of Atlanta Records (1989), Danny Rapp of Danny & The Juniors (1983), soul singer Joe Hinton (1981), Memphis session guitarist Rick Harvey (1981), Bob Hite of Canned Heat (1981)
April 6: Niki Sullivan of The Crickets (2004), vibes maestro Red Norvo (1999), Tammy Wynette (1998), Wendy O. Williams (1998), session guitarist Edward Freche (1995), Elvis soundalike Ral Donner (1984)
April 7: L.A. session drummer Carlos Vega (1998), Harold "Sonny" Wright of The Diamonds (1996), Lee Brilleaux aka Dr. Feelgood (1994), King Records producer Henry Glover (1991), Who manager Kit Lambert (1981), rockabilly legend Charlie Shivers (1961)