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This day in history: # 1 song:
Number One Song on your
birthday
912
Egyptian singer Nehmes Bastet died about this
time. In 2012 Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists reported a roughly
1,100 year-old tomb of a female singer in the Valley of the Kings.
It was the only tomb of a woman not related to the ancient royal
families ever found in the Valley of the Kings. The singer's name,
Nehmes Bastet, means she was believed to be protected by the feline
deity Bastet. At the time of her death, Egypt was ruled by Libyan
kings, but the high priests who ruled Thebes were independent.
(AP, 1/15/12)
1497 Robert Fayrfax
(1464-1521), English royal composer, wrote one of 2 Magnificats that
survived to modern times. He was considered the most prominent and
influential composer during of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and
Henry VIII of England.
(SFC, 6/4/10,
p.F4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fayrfax)
1620 Thomas Tompkins
(1572-1656), English royal composer, wrote his madrigal “When David
Heard.”
(SFC, 6/4/10, p.F4)
1873 Aug 18, Otto Harbach,
songwriter (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes), was born in, SLC, Utah.
(MC, 8/18/02)
1878 May 25, Bill "Bojangles"
Robinson was born and began his dancing career in childhood. The
young song-and-dance man learned his trade in beer gardens,
traveling companies and later on the vaudeville circuit. Robinson
performed only within the black community until he was 50 years old,
when his unique style of tap-dancing, including his signature "stair
dance," crossed over to white audiences. Robinson, who continued to
perform into his late sixties, made 14 Hollywood motion pictures,
playing both stereotypical black roles and a handful of leads. He
died of a chronic heart condition in 1949.
(WSJ, 5/19/98, p.A20)(HNPD, 5/26/99)
1878 Jul 3, George M. Cohan,
American entertainer, was born. He wrote the songs "Over There,"
"You're a Grand Old Flag" and "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and the
play "Yankee Doodle-Dandy."
(HN, 7/3/99)
1893 Mildred and Patty Hill
wrote a song called "Good Morning to All" as a welcome song
for schoolchildren. It later became the "Happy Birthday" Song with a
1935 copyright on the lyrics.
(SSFC, 10/5/03, Par p.24)
1898 Apr 15, Bessie Smith,
American blues singer, was born.
(HN, 4/15/01)
1901 Jul 28, Rudy Vallee,
singer (Vagabond Dreams, My Time Is Your Time), was born in Vermont.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1903 May 3, Bing Crosby
(d.1977), singer and actor, was born in Tacoma, Wa. The family soon
moved to Spokane where he grew up.
(HN, 5/3/98)(SSFC, 1/21/01, BR p.10)
1905 Aug 24, Arthur "Big Boy"
Crudup, blues singer, was born. He was a major influence on Elvis
Presley.
(HN, 8/24/00)
1906 Dec 2, Peter Carl Goldmark
(d.1977), engineer, was born in Budapest, Hungary. He developed the
first commercial color television and the long-playing phonograph
record.
(HN, 12/2/00)(AP, 12/2/06)
1907 May 1, Kate Smith
(d.1986), singer, was born in Washington, DC.
(AP,
5/1/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Smith)
1909 Apr 1, Eddie Duchin,
society pianist, bandleader (Eddie Duchin Orch), was born in Mass.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1909 May 10, Maybelle Carter,
country singer (Johnny Cash Show), was born in Nickelsville, Va.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1909 Jun 1, Guido Deiro,
European vaudeville star, introduced the "fizarmonica systema piano"
at the Alaskan Exposition in Seattle, Washington. He was contracted
by the Ranco Antonio Accordion Company of Italy and is credited with
naming the instrument " piano accordion." His brother Pietro Deiro
was the first to play the accordion in San Francisco.
(www.guidodeiro.com)
1909 Aug 10, Leo Fender,
inventor of the first mass-produced electric guitar, was born.
(HN, 8/10/00)
1910 Aug 7, In San Francisco
the Chutes vaudeville theater on Fillmore St. attracted Sophie
Tucker, who revived her career after being black-balled by Flo
Ziegfeld back in New York. Tucker performed the Grizzly Bear song in
San Francisco. Sophie Tucker at the Chutes theater creates a genuine
furor with her rendition of “The Dance of the Grizzly Bear.” She did
two Sunday through Saturday runs, August 7 - 13, and September 18 -
24. in 1910.
(AJSF, Vol. 14. No. 2, Winter,
2003)(http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=2000131701)
1913 May 18, Perry Como
(Pierino Roland Como, d. 2001), singer, was born in Canonsburg, Pa.
[maybe 1912]
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A27)(SC, 5/18/02)
1915 Apr 7, Billie Holliday,
jazz and blues legend, was born. She sang "God Bless the Child."
(HN, 4/7/99)
1915 Jun 9, Les Paul (d.2009),
American guitarist and electric guitar innovator, was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul)
1915 Hans Leip, in training for
the Prussian Guard, authored the poem “Song of a Young Sentry.” It
reflected his recent meetings with two women named Lili and Marlene.
In 1938 Norbert Schultze of Berlin put it to music. The composition
was recorded in 1939 by cabaret chanteuse Lale Anderson and became
hugely popular as the song “Lili Marlene.” In 2008 Liel Leibovitz
and Matthew Miller authored “Lili Marlene: The Soldier’s Song of
World War II.”
(WSJ, 11/8/08,
p.W8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili_Marleen)
1916 Mar 15, Harry James
(d.1983), American band leader and trumpet player, was born, He is
best remembered for his hit "You Made Me Love You." He married Betty
Grable
(HN,
3/15/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_James)
1916 Dec 2, Paolo Tosti,
Italian-born composer and music teacher, died at the Hotel Excelsior
in Rome. In 1894 Tosti joined the British Royal Academy of Music as
a professor. In 1906, he became a British citizen and was knighted
two years later by his friend, King Edward VII. In 1913 he returned
to Italy to spend his last years there. Tosti wrote a total of 360
songs in his lifetime including: “Goodbye,” “Forever,” and “Mother.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Tosti)(www.bohemianopera.com/tosti.htm)
1917 Apr 1, Scott Joplin (48),
ragtime composer (Sting), died.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1917 Jun 17, Dean Martin,
singer and comedian, was born as Dino Crocetti in Steubenville,
Ohio. He worked with Jerry Lewis. His films included "My Friend
Irma," "Hollywood or Bust," "Airport," "Bells are Ringing" and "Rio
Bravo." [see Jun 7]
(MC, 6/17/02)
1919 May 3, Pete Seeger,
American folksinger and songwriter, was born in NYC. Seeger helped
to lay the foundation for American protest music, singing out about
the plight of everyday working folks and urging listeners to
political and social activism.
(www.rutherford.org/oldspeak/Articles/Art/oldspeak-Seeger.html)
1921 Ted Snyder wrote the hit
song "Sheik of Araby."
(WSJ, 6/3/03, p.D5)
1922 Otto Jesperson
(1860-1943), Danish linguist, authored “Language: Its Nature,
Development and Origins.” “Men sang out their feelings long before
they were able to speak their thoughts. But of course we must not
imagine that "singing" means exactly the same thing here as in a
modern concert hall. When we say that speech originated in song,
what we mean is merely that our comparatively monotonous spoken
language and our highly developed vocal music are differentiations
of primitive utterances, which had more in them of the latter than
of the former. These utterances were, at first, like the singing of
birds and the roaring of many animals and the crooning of babies,
exclamative, not communicative--that is, they came forth from an
inner craving of the individual without any thought of any
fellow-creatures. Our remote ancestors had not the slightest notion
that such a thing as communicating ideas and feelings to someone
else was possible.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Jespersen)(www.lawrence.edu/fast/koopmajo/antiquity.html)
1923 Feb 16, Bessie Smith
(1898-1937) made her first recording "Down Hearted Blues." Her
recording was included by the National Recording Preservation Board
in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2002.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downhearted_Blues)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6TiLIeVZA)
1923 Mar 10, Kenneth "Jethro"
Burns, country singer (Homer & Jethro), was born.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1923 Mar 23, Frank Silver and
Irving Conn released "Yes, We Have No Bananas."
(SS, 3/23/02)
1924 Mar 27, Sarah Vaughan,
'the Divine One,' jazz singer, was born. She was famous for singing
"What a Difference a Day Makes."
(HN, 3/27/99)
1924 Jun 9, "Jelly-Roll Blues,"
was recorded by blues great, Jelly Roll Morton.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1924 Nov 4, Gabriel Faure
(b.1845), French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher, died in
Paris. He was the foremost French composer of his generation. His
musical style influenced many 20th century composers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9)
1925 Feb 28, "Tea For Two" by
Marion Harris hit #1.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1925 Apr 12, Tiny Tim, [Herbert
Khaury], singer (Tiptoe Through the Tulips), was born.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1926 Aug 3, Tony Bennett,
singer, was born in Queens, NY.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1926 Irving Berlin wrote his
tune “Blue Skies.”
(MT, Fall/99, p.24)
1927 Jan 17, Eartha Kitt
(d.2008), American singer and actress (Catwoman-Batman), was born in
South Carolina.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha_Kitt)
1927 Mar 1, Harry Belafonte,
calypso singer (Buck and the Preacher), was born in Harlem, NYC.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1927
Apr 1, The first automatic record changer was introduced by
His Master's Voice.
(OTD)
1927 Dec, In Nashville, Ten.,
after harmonica wizard DeFord Bailey played his "Pan American
Blues," WSM Announcer Judge Hay got the idea to change the name of
the show from the "Barn Dance" to the "Grand Ole Opry."
(www.pbs.org/deford/timeline/index.html)
1928 Mar 1, Paul Whiteman and
his orchestra recorded "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1928 May 3, James Brown, "The
Godfather of Soul," was born in Augusta, Georgia. The singer is best
remembered for the song "I Feel Good."
(HN, 5/3/99)(MC, 5/3/02)
1928 Aug 10, Eddie Fisher
(d.1010), American singer, was born. His hits included "I'm Walking
Behind You" and "Oh, My Pa-Pa."
(SFC, 9/24/10, p.C6)
1928 James B. Davis (1916-2007)
organized the Dixie Hummingbirds from members of his church choir in
Greenville, SC. In 1973 the group backed Paul Simon in the hit
“Loves Me Like a Rock.” In 1999 the House of Blues released a Dixie
Hummingbirds album: “Music in the Air.”
(SFC, 4/30/07, p.B8)
1929 Apr 8, Jacques Brel
(d.1978), singer, actor, was born in Belgium.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1929 May 12, Burt Bacharach,
composer, was born in KC, Mo. His songs included "I’ll Never Fall in
Love Again."
(SC, Internet, 5/12/97)(MC, 5/12/02)
1929 Jun 23, Valerie June
Carter (d.2003) was born in Maces Springs, Va., to Mother Maybelle
Carter, a founding member of the Carter Family trio. She married
Johnny Cash in 1968.
(SFC, 5/16/03, p.A24)
1929 Aug 12, Buck Owens,
country singer (Hee Haw), was born in Sherman, Texas.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1931 Sep 12, George Jones,
country singer, was born.
(HN, 9/12/00)
1931 Dec 3, Danielius Dolskis
(b.1891), Lithuanian-Jewish singer, died. His songs included “Onyte,
einam su manim pašokti” (Dear Anna, Come Dance With Me) (1930).
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2JR_OYmQIc&feature=related)
1931 The first electric guitar,
the Rickenbacker "frying pan," was made.
(NH, 6/97, p.64)(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.C5)
1932 Feb 26, Johnny Cash
(d.2003) country singer (I Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Boy
Named Sue), was born in Kingsland, Arkansas.
(NW, 9/22/03, p.98)
1932 Aug 12, Porter Wagoner,
country singer, discovered Dolly Parton (Y'All Come), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1932 The Milton Ager and Jack
Yellen song “Happy Days Are Here Again” was used as the campaign
song for the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
(SFC, 1/19/09, p.E1)
1933 Apr 30, Willie Nelson,
country singer who sang "On the Road Again" and "To All the Girls
I’ve Loved Before," was born.
(HN, 4/30/98)
1933 Sep 1, Conway Twitty
[Harold Jenkins], country singer (Hello Darlin'), was born in Miss.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1934 The MUZAK Corp. formed to
provide background music using phonograph records for hotels and
restaurants. In 2011 Mood Media Corp. of Toronto said it would pay
$345 million for the privately held Muzak, headquartered since 1999
in Fort Mill, SC.
(SSFC, 3/27/11, p.A10)
1934 The Australian song
"Kookaburra" was penned by teacher Marion Sinclair for a contest
sponsored by the Victorian Girl Guides. In 1990 music company
Larrikin acquired the rights to "Kookaburra." In 2010 the Australian
band Men at Work were found guilty of plagiarizing the children's
ditty in their 1980s hit "Down Under" after a court battle involving
two of the nation's most iconic songs.
(AFP,
2/4/10)(http://cip.law.ucla.edu/cases/inplay_larrikin.doc)
1935 Feb 16, Salvatore Bono
(d.1998), vocalist (Sonny & Cher), (Rep-R-Ca, 1995-98), was born
in Detroit.
(SFC, 1/6/98, p.A11)(MC, 2/16/02)
1935 Mar 31, Herb Alpert,
bandleader, trumpeter (Tijuana Brass), CEO (A & M), was born.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1935 Apr 14, Loretta Lynn,
singer (Coal Miner's Daughter), was born in Butcher's Hollow, Ky. In
1948 she married Doo Lynn (d.1996). She recorded her 1st single in
1960: "I’m a Honky Tonk Girl."
(MC, 4/14/02)(SSFC, 1/26/03, Par p.8)
1935 Frances Langford
(1913-2005), singer and entertainer, made a hit with the song “I’m
in the Mood for Love” by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh.
(SFC, 7/12/05, p.B5)
1936 Mar 22, Roger Whittaker,
country singer (Durham Town), was born in Nairobi, Kenya.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1936 Apr 23, Roy Orbison,
rocker (Pretty Woman), was born in Vernon, Tx.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1936 May 14, Bobby Darin
(d.1973), singer (Mack the Knife), was born in the Bronx as Walden
Robert Cassotto.
(www.history-of-rock.com/bobby_darin.htm)
1936 Sep 7, Rock legend Buddy
Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas.
(AP, 9/7/97)
1937 Feb 1, Don Everly, was
born. (singer: group: The Everly Brothers with brother, Phil: Wake
Up Little Susie, Bye Bye Love, Cathy’s Clown, All I Have To Do Is
Dream)
(440 Int'l, 2/1/1999)
1937 Apr 6, Merle Haggard,
American country musician, was born.
(HN, 4/6/01)
1937 May 15, Trini Lopez,
singer, guitarist (If I Had a Hammer), was born in Trinidad.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1937 Jun 4, Freddy Fender,
singer, was born as Baldemar Huerta. His songs included: Wasted Days
and Wasted Nights and Before the Next Teardrop Falls.
(www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=11508506)
1937 Jul 11, George Gershwin
(b.1898 as Jacob Gershowitz), composer, died of a brain tumor at age
38 in Beverly Hills, Ca. His work included "Cuban Overture."
He wrote his first hit, "Swanee," in 1918 for the Broadway show,
"Sinbad," starring Al Jolson. George Gershwin wrote the scores for
such Broadway shows as "Funny Face," "Porgy and Bess" and "Of Thee I
Sing" (his first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize [1932]). Gershwin
played the piano at the premiere of his widely acclaimed "Rhapsody
in Blue" in 1924, accompanied by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
Gershwin’s song hits included "The Man I Love," "’S Wonderful,"
"Summertime" and "Love Is Here to Stay." The lyrics for many of his
songs were written by his brother Ira. He was born September 26,
1898 in Brooklyn, NYC, NY. to Russian Jewish immigrants.
(SFC, 12/4/96, p.E1)(WSJ, 9/24/97, p.A20)(SFEC,
8/16/98, DB p.38)(www.gershwin.com/)
1937 Nov 7, Mary Travers, folk
singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), was born in Louisville, Ky.
(SSFC, 2/15/04, Par p.18)
1937 Orestes Lopez (Cuban
pianist) and his brother bassist Israel (Cachao) Lopez (1918-2008)
formalized an improvisation they called danzon mambo.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, DB p.37)(SSFC, 3/23/08, p.A2)
1938 Mar 22, Glen Campbell,
singer (By the Time I get to Phoenix, Galveston), was born.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1938 Apr 26, Duane Eddy,
guitarist, was born. His songs included: "Rebel-’rouser," "Forty
Miles of Bad Road," " Because they’re Young," " A Thunder of drums,"
"The Wild Westerners," "The Savage Seven," and "Kona Coast."
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)
1938 May 26, William Bolcom,
American composer, was born in Seattle. Washington. Bolcom won the
Pulitzer Prize for music in 1988 for 12 New Etudes for Piano. In the
fall of 1994, he was named the Ross Lee Finney Distinguished
University Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bolcom)
1938 May 31, Peter Yarrow,
(Peter, Paul & Mary-Puff the Magic Dragon), was born in NYC.
(MC, 5/31/02)
1939 Mar 7, Guy Lombardo and
Royal Canadians made the 1st recording of "Auld Lang Syne."
(MC, 3/7/02)
1939 Mar 25, Billboard Magazine
introduced the hillbilly (country) music chart.
(MC, 3/25/02)
1939 Apr 2, Marvin P. Gaye Jr,
singer (Sexual Healing), was born in Wash, DC.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1939 May 1, Judy Collins,
singer (Send in the Clowns, Clouds), was born in Seattle, Wash.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Collins)
1939 Jun 30, Frank Sinatra made
his first appearance with the Harry James' band.
(MC, 6/30/02)
1940 Feb 19, Smokey Robinson,
American singer and songwriter, was born. He was famous for his
songs "Tears of a Clown" and "Tracks of My Tears."
(HN, 2/19/99)
1940 Mar 25, Anita Bryant,
homophobe, singer (George Gobel Show), was born in Barnsdall, Okla.
(MC, 3/25/02)
1940 Apr 28, Glenn Miller and
his orchestra recorded "Pennsylvania 6-5000" for RCA Victor.
(AP, 4/28/97)
1940 May 8, Ricky Nelson, rock
star (Hello Mary Lou, It's Late, Garden Party), was born in NJ.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1940 May 23, Tommy Dorsey and
His Orchestra, the Pied Pipers and featured soloist Frank Sinatra
recorded "I'll Never Smile Again" in New York for RCA.
(AP, 5/23/97)
1940 The Spanish song
"Bésame Mucho" was written Mexican Consuelo Velázquez
before her sixteenth birthday. The phrase "besame mucho" can be
translated into English as "kiss me a lot". She wrote this song even
though she had never been kissed yet at the time. She was inspired
by the aria "Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor" from the
Spanish 1916 opera Goyescas by Enrique Granados. The lyrics were
translated into English by Sunny Skylar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9same_Mucho)
1941 Jan 2, The Andrews Sisters
recorded what became a big hit for them, the Boogie Woogie Bugle
Boy.
(www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2811)
1941 Feb 7, Frank Sinatra and
Tommy Dorsey Orch recorded "Everything Happens to Me."
(MC, 2/7/02)
1941 Mar 14, Xavier Cugat and
his Orchestra recorded "Babalu."
(MC, 3/14/02)
1941 Mar 19, Jimmy Dorsey and
Orchestra recorded "Green Eyes" and "Maria Elena" for Decca Records.
(AP, 3/19/01)
1941 May 13, Ritchie Valens,
singer (Donna, La Bamba), was born.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1941 May 24, Bob Dylan (Robert
Allen Zimmerman), singer and songwriter, was born in Minnesota. He
is famous for his songs "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," and "Blowin' in
the Wind."
(SFC, 8/26/97, p.E3)(HN, 5/24/99)
1941 May 29, Roy Crewsdon,
rocker (Freddie & The Dreamers), was born in Manchester.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1941 Jul 22, George Clinton,
American musician and the principal architect of P-Funk was born in
North Carolina. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and
Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s.
(www.last.fm/music/George+Clinton)
1941 Aug 2, Buffy Sainte-Marie,
folksinger and songwriter, was born in Saskatchewan, Canada.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie)
1941 Aug 31, Alan Lomax,
musicologist for the US Library of Vongress, traveled to
Mississippi, introduced himself to McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy
Waters, and began recording his Delta Blues songs.
(ON, 8/20/11, p.4)
1942 Mar 25, Aretha Franklin,
American singer, the "Queen of Soul," was born in Memphis, Tenn.
(HN, 3/25/01)(SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
1942
Jan 10, Jim Croce, (d.1973) rock vocalist (Time in a Bottle, Workin'
At The Car Wash Blues), was born in Phila.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce)
1942 Mar 30, Graeme Edge, rock
drummer (Moody Blues-Your Wildest Dreams), was born in England.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1942 Apr 26, Bobby Rydell
(Ridarelli), singer, was born. His songs included: "Wild One," "We
Got Love," and "Volare."
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)
1942 May 5, Tammy Wynette,
country singer (Stand by your Man), was born in Redbay, Alabama.
(MC, 5/5/02)
1942 May 20, Glenn Miller and
His Orchestra recorded "(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo" at Victor
Studios in Hollywood.
(AP, 5/20/02)
1942 May 29, Bing Crosby, the
Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded
Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" in Los Angeles for Decca Records.
(AP, 5/29/98)
1942 Jun 20, Brian Wilson
(Beach Boys), was born.
(MC, 6/20/02)
1942 Jun 24, Mick Fleetwood
(musician: drums: group: Fleetwood Mac: Dreams, Don't Stop), was
born.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1942 Jul 31, At midnight the
record studios fell silent in a struggle with James Caesar Petrillo,
head of the American Federation of Musicians. Petrillo insisted that
the record industry pay a ¼ to ¾ cent royalty to the
musicians union. Decca signed an agreement in Aug, 1943, and
Columbia and Victor surrendered Nov 11, 1944.
(WSJ, 7/31/02, p.D10)
1942 Aug 1, Jerry Garcia, lead
singer of the Grateful Dead, was born.
(HN, 8/1/98)
1942 Aug 7, B.J. (Billy Joe)
Thomas, singer (Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Hooked on a
Feeling), was born.
(MC, 8/7/02)
1943 Jan 23, In Mississippi
Muddy Waters received two copies of “Country Blues,” recorded by
Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, along with a check for $20.
(ON, 8/20/11, p.5)
1943 Feb 19, "Mama" Cass
Elliot, actress (Mamas & Papas-Monday Monday), was born.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1943 May 10, Donovan Leitch,
guitarist, folk singer (Mellow Yellow), was born in Scotland.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1943 Jul 25, Jim McCarty,
rocker (The Yardbirds-For Your Love), was born.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1943 Jul 26, In England Mick
[Michael Phillip] Jagger, musician, member of the Rolling Stones,
was born in Dartford, Kent.
(SFEM,11/9/97, p.9)(HN, 7/26/01)
1943 Jul 28, Mike Bloomfield,
blues musician (Analine), was born.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1943 Sep 23, Julio Iglesias De
la Cueva, Spanish singer (To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before…), was
born in Madrid.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Iglesias)
1944 Feb 7, Bing Crosby and the
John Scott Trotter Orchestra recorded "Swinging on a Star" for Decca
Records in Los Angeles.
(AP, 2/7/97)
1944 Mar 26, Diana Ross
[Earle], (Supremes, Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany), was born
Detroit, MI.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1944 Apr 3, Tony Orlando,
singer (& Dawn-Tie a Yellow Ribbon), was born in NYC.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Jun 7, Clarence White,
guitarist (The Byrds-Turn! Turn! turn!), was born.
(SC, 6/7/02)
1944 Jun 8, Boz (William)
Scaggs (musician, singer: Lowdown, Lido Shuffle, Look What You've
Done To Me), was born.
(MC, 6/8/02)
1945 Feb 6, Bob Marley
(d.1981), reggae superstar, was born in Jamaica. He is best
remembered for his songs "Buffalo Soldier" and "Fire on the
Mountain."
(HN, 2/6/99)(SFC, 12/14/04, p.E10)
1945 Feb 10, "Rum & Coca
Cola" by the Andrews Sisters hit #1.
(MC, 2/10/02)
1945 Feb 26, Mitch Ryder,
rocker (Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels-Devil With the Blue
Dress), was born.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1945 Mar 27, Ella Fitzgerald
and the Delta Rhythm Boys recorded "It's Only a Paper Moon."
(MC, 3/27/02)
1945 Apr 25, Stu Cook, rock
bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival-Proud Mary), was born.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1945 May 19, Peter Townshend,
England, rock guitarist, vocalist, composer (Who-Tommy), was born.
(MC, 5/19/02)
1945 Jul 28, Richard Wright,
rocker (Pink Floyd-The Wall), was born.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1945 Aug 31, Van Morrison,
singer (Here Comes the Night), was born in Belfast, Ireland.
(YN, 8/31/99)
1945 Sep 8, Jose Feliciano,
blind singer, was born in Lares, Puerto Rico.
(www.fact-index.com)
1945 Hadda Brooks (d. 2002 at
86) sang the hit "Swingin’ With the Boogie," her 1st record.
(SFC, 11/23/02, p.A19)
1945 Johnny Otis (1921-2012),
band leader and song writer, made his first hit with “Harlem
Nocturne.”
(SFC, 1/20/12, p.A16)
1945 Richard Thomas Goldhahn
(d.2003 at 88), aka Dick Thomas, wrote "Sioux City Sue." Bing Crosby
recorded it in 1946 and made the Lucky Strike Hit Parade for 14
weeks.
(SFC, 11/29/03, p.A20)
1945 Wesley Tuttle (d.2003 at
85), country singer, made a hit with the song "With Tears in My
Eyes."
(SFC, 10/3/03, p.A20)
1946 Jan 3, John Paul Jones,
musician, was born as John Baldwin in Kent, England: film score:
Scream for Help; group: Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love, Moby Dick,
Ramble On, Immigrant Song, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog,
Rock & Roll, The Battle of Evermore, Stairway to Heaven.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones_%28musician%29)
1946 Apr 26,
Popular music of the day included: "Oh, What It Seemed to Be" by the
Frankie Carle Orchestra with Marjorie Hughes; "Personality" by
Johnny Mercer; "Day by Day" by Frank Sinatra; and "Guitar Polka" by
Al Dexter.
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)
1946 May 10, Donovan, rocker
(Mellow Yellow), was born as Donovan Leitch in Scotland.
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifqxqe5ldhe~T1)
1946 Jun 7, Bill Kreutzman,
drummer (Grateful Dead-Uncle John's Band), was born.
(SC, 6/7/02)
1946 Jun 17, Barry Manilow
Grammy Award-winning singer, was born as Barry Alan Pincus. His
songs included: I Write the Songs [1975], Mandy, Looks Like,
Copacabana.
(MC, 6/17/02)
1946 Jul 15, Linda Ronstadt
(singer: group: The Stone Poneys: Different Drum; solo: Blue Bayou,
You're No Good, When Will I Be Loved, It's So Easy, Ooh Baby Baby,
Hurt So Bad; actress: Pirates of Penzance), was born.
(MC, 7/15/02)
1946 Jul 30, Jeffrey
Hammond-Hammond, rock bassist (Jethro Tull), was born.
(MC, 7/30/02)
1946 Sep 1, Barry Gibb, singer
(BeeGees-Stayin' Alive), was born.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1946 Les Paul (1915-2009) and
the Andrew Sisters recorded the hit song “Rumors Are Flying.”
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.D6)
1946 Bobby Troup (1918-1999)
wrote his song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” It was first recorded
by Nat King Cole.
(SSFC, 12/25/11,
p.N6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_66_%28song%29)
1946 Muddy Waters began working
regularly at clubs in Chicago playing an amplified electric guitar
and local strudios began recording his songs.
(ON, 8/20/11, p.6)
1947 Mar 25, Elton John,
[Reginald Kenneth Dwight], English singer (Rocketman), was born.
(MC, 3/25/02)
1947 Jul 10, Arlo Guthrie,
singer (Alice's Restaurant, City of New Orleans), was born in
Brooklyn.
(MC, 7/10/02)
1947 Jul 19, Bernie Leadon (The
Eagles: Take It Easy, Best of My Love, One of these nights), was
born.
(MC, 7/19/02)
1947 Jul 19, Brian Harold May
(Queen: Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Another One Bites the
Dust), was born.
(MC, 7/19/02)
1947 Jul 20, Carlos Santana,
legendary guitar player, was born in Autlan, Mexico.
(SSFC, 10/14/07, Par p.18)
1947 Jul 21, Cat Stevens, rock
vocalist (Peace Train, Father & Son), was born as Yusaf
Islam.
(MC, 7/21/02)
1947 Aug 10, Ian Anderson,
rocker (Jethro Tull-Bungle in the Jungle), was born in Scotland.
(MC, 8/10/02)
1947 Sep, Ahmet Ertegun
(1923-2006) and Herb Abramson formed Atlantic Records in New York
City. The new independent record label concentrated on gospel, jazz
and R&B music. The first recording sessions took place in
November. In 2001 Ertegun authored his memoir "What’d I Say."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Erteg%C3%BCn)(WSJ, 7/6/01,
p.W10)
1948 Apr 2, Emmylou Harris,
American singer, was born.
(HN, 4/2/01)
1948 Jun 19, The first
successfully produced microgroove 33 1/3 rpm, long-playing, records
were unveiled by Dr. Peter Goldmark of Columbia Records. Plans to
phase out 78's followed. Unlike the average record which held 8
minutes of music, this new record could hold 45 minutes.
(Hartford Courant, 6/21/48, p.7)
1948 Aug 20, Robert Plant
(Honeydrippers: Rockin' at Midnight; Led Zeppelin: Stairway to
Heaven, etc.), was born.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1948 In Boston, Mass., Bess. L.
Hawes (1921-2009) and Jacqueline Steiner co-wrote the political hit
“Charlie on the MTA.’’ The song became a big hit for the Kingston
Trio in 1959.
(http://tinyurl.com/ygtrqh8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.T.A.)
1948 The Mills Brothers made a
minor hit with the song “You never miss the water till the well runs
dry.” Written by Paul Secon.
(WSJ, 3/10/07, p.A4)
1948 The Les Paul (1915-2009)
song “Lover” topped the record charts. He used a new self-developed
recording technique that combined 2 of his own versions of the song.
It was the first song to be recorded on 8 tracks.
(Econ, 8/22/09,
p.78)(http://oldies.about.com/od/jazz/p/lespaul.htm)
1948 Redd Stewart (d.2003)
co-wrote "Tennessee Waltz" with Pee Wee King to the melody of King's
"No Name Waltz," while on a road trip from Nashville to Texarkana. A
1950 recording by Patti Page sold a reported 3 million copies.
(SFC, 8/6/03, p.A18)
1948 Don Tosti (1923-2004),
jazz musician born as Edmundo Martinez Tostado, made the 1st
million-selling Latin song “Pachuco Boogie.”
(SFC, 8/4/04, p.B7)
1948 Paul Williams (d.2002 at
87) recorded "The Huckelbuck." It was released in 1949 and was later
considered an important precursor of rock ‘n’ roll. It was written
by Andy Gibson and adopted without credit from Charlie Parker’s
"Now’s the Time."
(SFC, 10/7/02, p.A19)
1948 The San Francisco Folk
Music Club (SFFMC) was founded by Dave Rothkop as the legitimate
child of Hiroshima and the Cold War. Believing that music is the one
language capable of transcending national egotism, a small group of
high schoolers began meeting in each others’ homes. In 1959 the Club
was reorganized by Herb Jager on a somewhat more formal level. In
mid-l962 Faith Petric took responsibility for keeping the Club
functioning and in 1964 started publication of the Folknik
newsletter.
(http://www.sffmc.org/)(SFC, 9/30/02, p.A14)
1948 Muddy Waters recorded a
new version of “Country Blues.” It was released under the ttitle “I
Feel Like Going Home.” It reached #11 on the “Most Played Rqace
Records” chart.
(ON, 8/20/11, p.6)
1948 Congolese musician Antoine
Kolosay, aka Papa Wendo, wrote his song "Marie-Louise," a eulogy to
the sister of his guitarist.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.66)
1949 Apr 25, Michael Brown,
keyboardist (Left Bank-Don't Walk Away Renee), was born.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1949 May 9, Billy Joel, Bronx,
rock vocalist (Piano man, Capt Jack, Bridge), was born.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1949 May 26, Hank Williams Jr.,
country singer (Honky Tonk), was born in Shreveport, La.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1949 May 29, Gary Brooker, rock
keyboardist (Procol Harum), was born in Essex, England.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1949 May 29, Francis Rossi,
guitarist, vocalist (Status Quo-Down Down, Picture of a Matchstick
Man), was born in London, England.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1949 Aug 12, Mark Knopfler,
guitar, vocals (Dire Straits-Sultans of Swing), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1949 Country singer Hank
Lochlin (1918-2009) made a hit with “Send Me the Pillow You Dream
On.”
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.B6)
1949 Margaret Whiting and Jimmy
Wakely had a million selling country music hit with "Slippin'
Around," written by Floyd Tillman (d.2003 at 88).
(SFC, 8/25/03, p.B4)
1950 Feb 6, Natalie Cole,
vocalist (Pink Cadillac, Miss You Like Crazy, Mona Lisa), was born
in LA, Calif.
(MC, 2/6/02)
1950 Feb 26, Harry Lauder
(b.1870), notable Scottish entertainer, died. He was, at one time,
the highest-paid performer in the world, making the equivalent of
£12,700 a night plus expenses, and was the first British
performer to sell more than a million records.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Lauder)
1950 Feb 11, "Rag Mop" by The
Ames Brothers hit #1.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1950 Mar 2, Karen Carpenter was
born. (drummer, singer: Grammy Award-winning group: The Carpenters:
Best New Artist, Group w/Vocal: Close to You [1970], We've Only Just
Begun, Top of the World, Please Mr. Postman)
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1950 Apr 25, Steve Ferrone,
drummer (Average White Band), was born.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1950 May 13, Steveland Morris
Hardaway (AKA Stevie Wonder) was born prematurely, in Saginaw, Mi.,
as Steveland Judkins. Too much oxygen in the incubator caused the
baby to become permanently blind. At the age of ten, Little Stevie
Wonder, as he was called by Berry Gordy at Motown, was discovered
singing and playing the harmonica. He had many hits during his teens
including "Fingertips" and as an adult he has earned an Oscar and at
least 16 Grammy Awards. He has stood up for civil rights and
campaigned against cancer, AIDS, drunk driving and the plight of
Ethiopians.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder)
1950 Jun 8, Alex Van Halen,
drummer for the hard rock group Van Halen, was born.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Van_Halen)
1950 Dec 31, Charles Koechlin
(b.1867), French composer, teacher and writer on music, died in
France. He visited the USA four times to lecture and teach in
1918-19, 1928, 1929 and 1937. On the second and third visits he
taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koechlin)
1950 Seymour Solomon (d.2002)
founded Vanguard Records with his brother Maynard. It became the
dominant label for American folk music.
(SFC, 7/22/02, p.B5)
1950s Lawrence Payton (d.1997
at 59) began singing with a group called the Four Aims (Payton, Levi
Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, and Renaldo "Obie" Benson). They sang
backup for Billy Eckstine and signed with Motown Records, run by
Berry Gordy, in 1963. Their songs included: "Baby I Need Your
Loving," "Reach Out," and I Can’t Help Myself." In 2002 Geral Posner
authored "Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power."
(SFC, 6/21/97, p.A18)(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.M1)
1951 Feb 10, "John &
Marsha" by Stan Freberg peaked at #21.
(MC, 2/10/02)
1951 Apr 7, Janis Ian, [Janis
Eddy Fink], lesbian, folk rocker, was born in NYC.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1951 Les Paul and his wife Mary
Ford (1924-1977), born as Iris Colleen Summers, made a hit with
their recording of the 1940 song “How High the Moon.”
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.D6)
1951 Ike Turner (1931-2007),
R&B pioneer, presided over the recording of “Rocket 88,”
frequently cited as the first rock ’n’ roll record.
(SFC, 12/13/07, p.B5)
1952 Mar 21, The Moondog
Coronation Ball was held at the Cleveland Arena. It was promoted by
Alan Freed and was later cited as the 1st rock concert. The only
band to perform was one led by Paul Williams, before fire
marshals closed the show.
(SFC, 10/7/02, p.A19)
1952 Jul 16, Stewart Copeland,
drummer (Police: Fall Out, Every Breath You Take, LP: The Equalizer
& Other Cliffhangers), was born.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1952 Molly Bee (1939-2009),
country singer, made her first hit with “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa
Claus.” The song, written by Tommy Connors, was also recorded by
child actor Jimmy Boyd (1939-2009).
(SFC, 2/12/09, p.B4)(SFC, 3/11/09, p.B8)
1952 Joni James (21), born as
Joan Babbo, made a hit with her song “Why Don’t You Believe Me.” It
sold over 2 million records. James recorded 42 albums in her career.
(SSFC, 9/11/05, Par p.2)
1953 Jan 1, Country singer Hank
Williams Sr. (29) died of a drug and alcohol overdose while enroute
to a concert date in Canton, Ohio. In 1998 Mercury Records released
"The Complete Hank Williams," with 225 recordings.
(AP, 1/1/98)(WSJ, 10/30/98, p.W9A)
1952 Aug 1, Jo Stafford
(1917-2008), pop star singer during the 1940s and 1950s, entered the
Billboard charts with the song “You Belong To Me.” It was her
greatest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the
United Kingdom (the first song by a female singer to top the UK
chart) and remained on the chart for 24 weeks.
(SFC, 7/19/08,
p.B5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Belong_to_Me_(1952_song))
1953 Aug 3, Ian Bairnson,
guitarist (Alan Parsons Project, Pilot), was born in Shetland Isles,
Scotland.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1953 Aug 8, The song “Vaya con
Dios” recorded by Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford reached number one
on the Billboard magazine Best Seller Chart and stayed there for 9
weeks.
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.D6)
1953 Eddie Fisher (1928-2010),
American singer, made a hit with the song “Oh, My Pa-Pa.”
(SFC, 9/24/10,
p.C6)(www.discogs.com/artist/Eddie+Fisher)
1953 In Los Angeles The
Hi-Lo’s, a vocal quartet, formed with Gene Puerling (1929-2008)
singing bass-baritone. The group became the most popular jazz-based
vocal group of the period.
(SFC, 4/3/08, p.B5)
1954 Feb 26, Michigan
Representative Ruth Thompson (R) introduced legislation to ban
mailing "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" phonograph (rock and
roll records.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1954 Apr 12, Bill Haley &
the Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" at NYC's Pythian Temple.
It was written by Max C. Freedman and Jimmy de Knight. Haley's "Rock
Around the Clock," was originally released as the B side of
“Thirteen Women.” Haley died in 1981.
(www.rockabillyhall.com/RockClockTribute.html)(WSJ, 4/8/04, p.D8)
1954 Apr 12, Joe Turner
released "Shake, Rattle & Roll."
(MC, 4/12/02)
1954 Jul 5, Elvis Presley's
first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in
Memphis, Tenn.; the song he recorded was "That's All Right (Mama)."
(AP, 7/5/97)
1954 Ray Charles (1930-2004)
recorded “I’ve Got a Woman.” It was based on the hymn “My Jesus is
All the World to Me.”
(USAT, 6/11/04, p.7A)(Econ, 6/19/04, p.84)
1954 The Collins Kids of
Oklahoma, Lawrencine (b.1942) and Lawrence (b.1944), began
performing as a musical act on national TV.
(www.rockabillyhall.com/YouTubeCollinsKids.html)
1954 Bart Howard (1916-2004),
born in Iowa as Howard Joseph Gustafson, wrote the hit song "Fly Me
To the Moon." His initial title was "In Other Words."
(SFC, 2/28/04, p.A16)
1954 The Robins signed with
Leiber and Stoller and recorded such hits as "Riot in Cell Block 9,"
"Framed" and "Smokey Joe’s Café."
(SFC, 11/20/02, p.A21)
1955 Feb 1, Top hits included:
Melody of Love Billy Vaughn/The Four Aces/David Carroll; Hearts of
Stone The Fontane Sisters; Earth Angel Penguins/Crew-Cuts; Open Up
Your Heart (and Let the Sun Shine In) Cowboy; Church Sunday School.
(440 Int'l, 2/1/1999)
1955 Feb 12, The McGuire
Sisters' "Sincerely" single went to #1 for 10 weeks.
(MC, 2/12/02)
1955 Mar 5, A truck driver from
Tupelo, Miss., made his first-ever TV appearance on this night.
Elvis Aron Presley was featured on "Louisiana Hayride". This
prompted promoters to send Elvis to New York City to audition for
Arthur Godfrey's immensely popular and career-making "Talent Scouts"
program. Talent coordinators and Godfrey are said to have passed on
Elvis appearing on the show. Not much later, he was tossed out of
the Grand Ole Opry as well, and told to "go back to driving a
truck." In a little over a year, however, the nation was caught up
in Presley-mania which continues even today.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt1087605/)(www.scottymoore.net/tourdates50s.html)
1955 Mar 26, "Ballad of Davy
Crockett" by Fess Parker became the #1 record in US.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1955 Apr 26, Popular music of
the day included: "Melody of Love" by Billy Vaughn; "Cherry Pink and
Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado; and "In the Jailhouse Now" by
Webb Pierce. Jailhouse stayed at No. 1 for 21 weeks. Cherry Pink,
sung by Alan Dale (d.2002 at 73), stayed on the charts for 30 weeks.
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)(SFC, 4/25/02,
p.A24)(SFC, 11/27/03, p.A24)
1955
Jul 5, By this day, a day before Bill Haley’s 30th birthday, "Rock
Around the Clock" topped the US billboards chart and stayed there
for 8 weeks. The film “Blackboard Jungle,” released in March, helped
propel it to the top.
(www.rockabillyhall.com/RockClockTribute.html)
1955 Aug 25, Elvis Costello
(Declan McManus), musician, songwriter (I'm Not Angry, Less than
Zero, Watching the Detectives, Clubland, Oliver's Army, Every
Day I Write the Book, I'm Your Toy, Party, Party, So Young),
was born.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1955 Richard Dyer-Bennett
(1913-1991) recorded the first of 15 albums called "Richard
Dyer-Bennett." He was a pioneer guitar player and folk-singer who
recorded himself with a sense of perfection. He was born in England
and grew up in Canada, California and Germany. His work was later
released on CD through Smithsonian Folkways.
(WSJ, 2/18/98, p.A20)
1955 The Coasters evolved from
the group the Robins. Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn teamed with Billy
Guy (1936-2002) and Leon Hughes to form the group under producers
Leiber and Stoller. Their songs included "Charlie Brown," Yakety
Yak" and "Little Egypt."
(SFC, 11/20/02, p.A21)
1955 Perry Como recorded his
big hit "Hot-Diggety-Dog."
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A27)
1955 Dale Evans, singer and
wife of Roy Rogers, wrote the hit song "The Bible Tells Me So."
(SFC, 2/8/01, p.C2)
1955 Thelonius Monk began to
record with Riverside Records.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1955 Charlie and Ira Louvin,
country musicians, joined the Grand Ole Opry.
(SFEM,10/19/97, DB p.45)
1955 Cuban musician Perez Prado
recorded "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White." The mambo tune
became a no. 1 hit.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, DB p.39)
1955 Faron Young (1932-1996)
sang his No. 1 country single "Live Fast, Love hard, Die Young."
(SFC, 12/12/96, p.C8)
1955 As Elvis Presley broke
into the national rock ‘n roll scene, he hired Colonel Tom Parker
(1910-1997) as his manager.
(SFC,1/22/97, p.A20)
1955 Roger Williams
(1924-2011), pianist and composer, made a hit with “Autumn Leaves.”
It was the only piano instrumental to reach No.1 on the billboard
pop charts.
(SSFC, 10/9/11,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_%28pianist%29)
1955 The top hits of the year
were "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets [recorded
in 1954], "The Yellow Rose of Texas" by Mitch Miller, "Love Is a
Many Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces, and "16 Tons" by Tennessee
Ernie Ford.
(WSJ, 4/10/98, p.W11)
1955 The three-chord standard
"Louie, Louie" was written as a Jamaican love song. Richard Berry
wrote "Louie, Louie" on a piece of toilet paper in a nightclub
dressing room.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.A19,20)
1955 Al Hibbler (d.2001), a
blind singer who had worked with the Ellington Orchestra, and Les
Baxter both had hits with their versions of "Unchained Melody."
Hibbler recorded the song for the prison movie "Unchained."
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A21)
1956 Jan 5, Elvis Presley,
truckdriver, began his 1st recording session for RCA. "Heartbreak
Hotel," written by Mae Boren Axton, was the first song recorded. It
became the first of his 45 records to sell over a million copies.
The second was "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You", and "I Was the
One" was the third. In 1971 Jerry Hopkins authored Elvis: A
Biography.
(SFC,1/22/97, p.A20)(SFEC, 4/6/97, DB p.65)(WSJ,
1/11/99, p.R34)(SFC, 5/10/02, p.A31)
1956 Jan 27, Elvis Presley's
"Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Was the One" was released by RCA. It sold
over 300,000 copies in its first three weeks on the market.
(Internet)
1956 Jan 28, Elvis Presley
recorded his television debut for “Stage Show” hosted by Tommy and
Jimmy Dorsey.”
(SFC, 12/27/04,
p.C10)(www.elvisconcerts.com/liv1956.htm)
1956 Jan 30, Elvis Presley
recorded his version of "Blue Suede Shoes."
(MC, 1/30/02)
1956 Feb 7, Garth Brooks,
country vocalist (No Fences), was born in Tulsa, Okla.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1956 Feb 22, Elvis Presley's
1st hit in Billboard's top 10: "Heartbreak Hotel."
(MC, 2/22/02)
1956 Mar 13, Elvis Presley
released his first album: "Elvis Presley."
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Apr 10, In Alabama singer
Nat Cole was attacked on stage at the Birmingham Municipal
Auditorium by a small group of white supremacists. Six local men
were arrested for the attack.
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4113/is_200401/ai_n9350991/)(NYT,
4/11/1956, p.1)
1956 Apr 11, Elvis Presley's
"Heartbreak Hotel" went gold.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Apr 21, Elvis Presley's
1st hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel," became #1. [see Apr 25]
(MC, 4/21/02)
1956 Apr 25, Elvis Presley's
"Heartbreak Hotel" goes number one. [see Apr 21]
(HN, 4/25/98)(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A9)
1956 Apr 30, Richard Farina,
folk singer (Reflections in a Crystal Wind), was born.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1956 May 19, R.C., "(You've
Got) The Magic Touch" by The Platters peaked at #4 on the pop
singles chart.
(DTnet, 5/19/97)
1956 Jul 1, Elvis Presley
appeared on Steve Allen Show wearing a tuxedo.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1956 Jul 2, Former truckdriver
Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog" by Lieber and Stoller and "Don't
Be Cruel." Presley, began Rock-n-Roll with his song "Don’t Be
Cruel," written by Otis Blackwell (d.2002 at 70).
(SC, 7/2/02)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)(SFC, 5/10/02,
p.A31)
1956 Aug 3, Kirk Brandon,
rocker (Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny-Outland), was born.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1956 Aug 4, Elvis Presley
released "Hound Dog."
(MC, 8/4/02)
1956 Aug 11, Elvis Presley
released "Don't Be Cruel."
(MC, 8/11/02)
1956 Aug 18, Elvis Presley's
"Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" reached #1.
(MC, 8/18/02)
1956 Sep 9, Elvis Presley made
the first of three appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show." By his
third and final appearance on the Sullivan show, due to a number of
viewers, who were outraged at his suggestive gyrations, Elvis was
filmed from only the waist-up.
(AP, 9/9/97)(MC, 9/9/01)
1956 Sep 28, RCA Records
reported Elvis Presley sold over 10 million records.
(MC, 9/28/01)
1956 Nov 16, "Love Me Tender,"
the first Elvis Presley film, premiered in NYC.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1956 Johnny Cash (1932-2003)
recorded his hit tunes: "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line."
(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)
1956 Liam Clancy (1935-2009)
emigrated to the US from Ireland to join elder brothers Tom and
Patrick in NYC, who were singing on the side as they pursued careers
as Broadway actors. They recorded an album of Irish rebel songs and
grew a NYC following, together with Tommy Makem, as the Clancy
Brothers. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1961 turned
them into an Irish-American folk phenomenon.
(SFC, 12/7/09, p.C4)
1956 Frankie Lymon (1942-1968)
and the Teenagers made a hit with their first single: "Why Do Fools
Fall in Love." The 1998 film "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" was a
musical comedy-drama with Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox, Lela Rochon
and Little Richard. It was directed by Gregory Nava and set in the
1950s based on the life of Frankie Lymon.
(SFC, 8/28/98, p.C1)(SFC, 9/2/98,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Lymon)
1956 Patti Page sang the song
"Mama From The Train." It was written by Irving Gordon (1915-1996).
He wrote the classic comedy routine used by Abbott and Costello
known as "Who’s on First." He also composed "Unforgettable."
(SFC, 12/4/96,
p.A17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_From_The_Train)
1956 The Eurovision Song
Contest, the brainchild of French music producer Marcel Baison,
began with 7 contestants.
(Econ, 5/14/05, p.57)
1957 Feb 25, Buddy Holly and
the Crickets recorded "That'll Be the Day."
(MC, 2/25/02)
1957 Mar 3, Corry Brokken won
Eurovision Song festival with "Just as then."
(SC, 3/3/02)
1957 Apr, Ricky Nelson sang his
version of “I’m Walkin” by Fats Domino on “The Adventures of Ozzie
and Harriet” TV show.
(SSFC, 1/15/06, p.C1)
1957 May 10, Sid Vicious, [John
Simon Ritchie], bassist (Sex Pistols), was born in England.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1957 Jun 12, Bandleader Jimmy
Dorsey (53) died in New York.
(AP, 6/12/07)
1957 Aug 5, "American
Bandstand," a teenage dance show hosted by Dick Clark (1929-2012) in
Philadelphia, made its network debut on ABC-TV.
(WSJ, 3/24/97, p.B1)(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(AP,
8/5/07)(SFC, 4/19/12, p.C5)
1957 The Coasters sang "Down in
Mexico" and "Searchin’" with lead by Billy Guy.
(SFC, 11/20/02, p.A21)
1957 Gene Allison (d.2004) made
a hit with "You Can Make It If You Try." The Rolling Stones used it
on their 1st album in 1964.
(SFC, 3/16/04, p.B7)
1958 Mar 2, Chart Toppers:
Sweet Little Sixteen, Chuck Berry; At the Hop, Danny & the
Juniors; Oh Julie, Crescendos; Don't, Elvis Presley.
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1958 Mar 14, RIAA certified its
1st gold record: Perry Como's Catch A Falling Star.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1958 Mar 24, Rock 'n' roll
singer Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army in Memphis, Tenn.
After nearly six months of basic training at Fort Hood, Texas,
Presley was posted to Friedberg, West Germany; he was honorably
discharged in 1960.
(AP, 3/23/08)
1958 Mar 27, CBS Labs announced
new stereophonic records.
(MC, 3/27/02)
1958 Aug 4, Billboard, founded
in 1894, premiered its all-genre singles Hot 100 chart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100)
1958 Aug 16, Madonna [Ciccone],
entertainer and singer whose biggest record was "Like a Virgin," was
born.
(HN, 8/16/98)
1958 Aug 29, Michael Jackson
(d.2009), pop singer, entertainer, was born in Gary, Ind., the 7th
of nine children.
(SFC, 6/14/05, p.D6)(SFC, 6/26/09, p.A1)
1958 Bing Crosby and Rosemary
Clooney recorded "Fancy Meeting You Here." It was reissued in 2001.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A16)
1958 Don Gibson wrote his songs
"I Can't Stop Loving You," and "Oh, Lonesome Me." Both songs made
No. 1.
(SFC, 3/13/99, p.E6)
1958 Peggy Lee (1920-2002) made
a hit with her rendition of the rhythm-and-blues hit “Fever.”
(SFC, 5/18/10, p.E5)
1958 Domenico Modugno made a
hit with "Volare." The Italian song won the 1958 Eurovision contest.
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)(Econ, 5/14/05, p.57)
1958 Johnny Otis, R&B
writer and producer, wrote "Willie and the Hand Jive." In 2000 the
3-CD boxed set: The Johnny Otis Rhythm and Blues Caravan: The
Complete Savoy Recordings" was produced.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.B2)
1958 The song “Endless Sleep,”
by Rockabilly singer and songwriter Ralph Joseph Reynolds, (d.2008
at 75) sold over a million copies and kicked in the melodramatic
teen tragedy genre.
(SFC, 11/19/08, p.B7)
1958 Sharon Sheeley (1950-2002)
wrote the song "Poor Little Fool" and Ricky Nelson turned it into a
hit.
(SFC, 5/25/02, p.A27)
1958 Ed Townsend (1929-2003)
wrote his hit song "For Your Love."
(SSFC, 8/17/03, p.A27)
1958 Sheb Wooley (d.2003 at 82)
recorded the hit song "Purple People Eater." He starred in a movie
of the same name in 1988.
(SFC, 9/18/03, p.A21)
1958 Link Wray recorded
"Rumble," and showed the way for the "power cord," and the
conception of the electric guitar as a weapon.
(SFC, 7/7/97, p.E1)
1958 Jimmy Lyons directed the
first Monterey Jazz Festival and featured Louis Armstrong, Gerry
Mulligan, Turk Murphy, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Dizzie
Gillespie. Radio host Jimmy Lyons and Chronicle jazz critic Ralph
Gleason came up with the idea. In 1997 William Minor and Bill
Wishner wrote: "Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years."
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)(SFEM, 9/15/96,
p.6)(SFEC,12/14/97, BR p.7)
1958 The first "greatest hits"
album was produced: "Johnny’s Greatest Hits" featured the songs of
Johnny Mathis. It was on Billboard’s Top 100 chart for 9 years.
(SFC, 7/7/96, DB p.40)
1958 Faron Young sang his
country hit "Alone With You."
(SFC, 12/12/96, p.C8)
1959 Feb 2, Buddy Holly made
his last performance.
(MC, 2/2/02)
1959 Feb 3, A plane crash
near Clear Lake, Iowa, claimed the lives of rock- and-roll stars
Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and J.P. "The Big Bopper"
Richardson (28). They had just finished performing at the Surf
Ballroom in Clear Lake. Buddy Holley and the Crickets had 2 hit
songs "Oh Boy" and "Maybe Baby," Valens had the 2-sided hit "Donna"
and "La Bamba," Richardson was popular for his song "Chantilly
Lace."
(AP, 2/3/97)(WSJ, 2/25/99, p.A16)
1959 Apr 3, "Charlie Brown" by
The Coasters was banned by the BBC because it contained the word
"spitball."
(AP, 4/3/03)
1959 May 4, Randy Travis,
country singer (Diggin' Up Bones), was born in Marshville, NC.
(MC, 5/4/02)
1959 Jacques Brel (1929-1978),
French singer and composer, recorded “Ne Me Quitte Pas” (If you go
away).
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk7_HY9svAw)
1959 Ray Charles made a hit
with "What’d I Say." His moaning and wailing suggested sexual play
and was banned on radio stations across America.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, Par p.20)(Econ, 6/19/04, p.84)
1959 Babatunde Olatunji
(d.2003), Nigerian drummer, pioneered African music in the US with
his album "Drums of Passion."
(SFC, 4/9/03, p.A31)
1959 Billy Mitchell (d.2002 at
71) and the Clovers made a hit with the Lieber and Stoller song
"Love Potion No. 9."
(SFC, 11/15/02, p.A25)
1960 Feb 8, Congress opened
hearings into payola.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1960 Mar 5, Elvis Presley ended
his 2-year hitch in US Army.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1960 May 2, House investigating
committee looked into payola questions.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1960 May 19, DJ Alan Freed was
accused of bribery in radio payola scandal.
(MC, 5/19/02)
1960 May 29, Everly Brothers
"Cathy's Clown" hit #1.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1960 Aug 6, Chubby Checker
debuted his version of "The Twist" on the Dick Clark Show. Hank
Ballard did the original in 1958.
(http://lpintop.tripod.com/oldiesconnection/id41.html)
1960 Aug 8, The pop song "Itsy
Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", sung by Brian Hyland
(16), hit #1. The song was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss.
(www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Pop-Modern/1960.html)(SFC, 9/28/06,
p.A2)
1960 Aug 12, Morty Black, heavy
metal rocker (TNT-7 Seas), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1960 Aug 18, Beatles gave their
1st public performance at Kaiser Keller in Hamburg.
(MC, 8/18/02)
1960 Sep 13, The US Federal
Communications Commission banned payola. The scandal included Alan
Freed a popular DJ at WABC, he lost his job for allegedly accepting
gifts and money for playing certain records for money. There was
substantial evidence was uncovered to prove that the payola practice
was widespread.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1960 Sep 14, The "Twist" sung
by Chubby Checker (born as Ernest Evans in 1941) hit #1. It reached
#1 a 2nd time in Jan. 1962.
(http://www.shsu.edu/~mus_rjm/MUS264/Lectures/Notes_Mar20.html)
1960 Nov 3, The first Arhoolie
LP (Long Play, 33 1/3 rpm record) arrived from the pressing plant:
250 copies of Mance Lipscomb’s “Texas Sharecropper and Songster.”
Chris Strachwitz founded Arhoolie Records in Berkeley, Ca.
(www.arhoolie.com/about-us.html)(SFC, 1/25/11,
p.E1)
1960 Ray Charles made a hit
with "Georgia on My Mind."
(SSFC, 7/28/02, Par p.20)
1960 Sam Cooke made a hit with
his song: "Wonderful World."
(SFEC, 1/10/99, BR p.9)
1960 Floyd Cramer (d.1997 at
64), studio pianist, had a hit single with the song "Last Date." He
also wrote "San Antonio Rose," "Fancy Pants," and "On the Rebound."
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A25)
1960 Bob Ferguson (d.2001 at
73) wrote the country song "Wings of a Dove" for Ferlin Husky.
(SFC, 7/25/01, p.C2)
1960 Leonard Kwan (d.2000 at
69) recorded "Slack Key," the world’s first all-instrumental slack
key album.
(SFC, 8/17/00, p.A27)
1960 John Lewis directed the
Monterey Jazz Festival and featured Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane,
and Eric Dolphy. Jimmy Lyons and many others in the crowd wailed
that "that stuff isn’t jazz." "Evolution of the Blues" by Joe
Hendricks, commissioned for the festival was first performed. Lalo
Schifrin’s "Gillespiana" suite was also preformed.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)(SFC, 9/23/96, D1)
1960 Country singer Hank
Lochlin (1918-2009) made a hit with his song “Please Help Me, I’m
Falling.” It was Billboard’s No. 1 song for 14 weeks.
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.B6)
1960 Loretta Lynn scored her
first hit with "I’m a Honky Tonk Girl."
(SFC, 8/24/96, p.A21)
1960 Rockin’ Robin Roberts
recorded a version of "Louie, Louie" with the Wailers. It became a
regional hit in the Seattle-Tacoma area.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.A19)
1960s A payola scandal brought
down the empire of popular disk jockey Alan Freed after it was
revealed that he had accepted money from record companies to play
their records.
(SFC, 2/12/00, p.A21)
1961 Jan 27, Mitch Miller
(1911-2010) debuted his TV show, “Sing Along With Mitch.” It
continued to 1964.
(SFC, 8/3/10,
p.C3)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0054564/)
1961 Mar 9, Supremes released
"I Want A Guy" & "Never Again."
(MC, 3/9/02)
1961 Mar 25, Elvis Presley
performed live on the USS Arizona.
(MC, 3/25/02)
1961 Apr 11, Folk singer Bob
Dylan performed in New York City for the first time, opening for
John Lee Hooker. [see Sep 26]
(HN, 4/11/01)
1961 Apr 16, Selena, Latina
singer (Grammy-1994), was born in Texas.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1961 May 29, David Palmer,
heavy metal drummer (ABC, AC/DC), was born.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1961 Aug 12, Pete De Freitas,
rocker (Echo and the Bunnymen-Heaven Up Here), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1961 Aug 12, Roy Hay, guitarist
(Culture Club-Do You Really Want to Hurt Me), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1961 Sep 26, Nineteen-year-old
Bob Dylan made his New York singing debut at Gerde’s Folk City. [see
April 11]
(HN, 9/26/00)
1961 Oct 21, Bob Dylan recorded
his first album in a single day at a cost of $400.
(HN, 10/21/00)
1961 Dec 27, Tony Bennett,
starring in the Venetian Room of the SF Fairmont Hotel, made his 1st
solo public performance of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
The song was written by George Cory and Douglass Cross in 1954 and
had languished in obscurity for years.
(SSFC, 2/4/07, p.F1)(SFC, 1/25/12, p.A11)(SFC,
2/16/12, p.A13)
1961 Ray Charles made a hit
with "Unchain My Heart," written by Bobby Sharp and "Hit the Road
Jack."
(SSFC, 7/28/02, Par p.20)(SFC, 4/19/04, p.E1)
1961 Country singer Jimmy Dean
(1928-2010) made a big hit with his song “Big Bad John.”
(SFC, 6/14/10, p.C4)
1961 Aretha Franklin (b.1942)
sang "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody."
(SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
1961 Dave Fisher (1940-2010)
and the Highwaymen folk group made a hit with “Michael.”
(www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arts/music/13fisher.html)
1961 The Marvelettes sang
"Please Mr. Postman."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1962 Feb 17, Beach Boys
introduced a new musical style with their hit "Surfin."
(MC, 2/17/02)
1962 Mar 2, Jon Bon Jovi (John
Bongiovi) was born. (singer, musician, songwriter: You Give Love a
Bad Name, Living on a Prayer)
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1962 Mar 30, M.C. Hammer,
[Stanley Kirk Burrell], rapper (Hammer Time), was born in Oakland,
Ca.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1962 Apr, Bob Dylan gave his
first public performance of “Blowin’ in the Wind” at Gerdy’s Folk
City in the West Village.
(Econ, 2/18/12, ILp.14)
1962 May 5, The West Side Story
soundtrack album went to #1 and stayed #1 for 54 weeks, more than 20
weeks longer than any other album.
(MC, 5/5/02)
1962 May 19, R.C., "Shout!
Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)" by Ernie Maresca peaked at #6 on the
pop singles chart.
(DTnet, 5/19/97)
1962 May 25, Isley Brothers
released "Twist & Shout."
(SC, 5/25/02)
1962 Aug 16, The Beatles
dropped Pete Best as their drummer. They took on Ringo Starr on Aug
17. Best later authored the autobiography "Beatle! The Pete Best
Story."
(SFC, 7/5/02, p.G5)(MC, 8/16/02)
1962 Aug 17, Beatles replaced
Pete Best with Ringo Starr.
(SC, 8/17/02)
1962 Aug 18, Peter, Paul and
Mary released their 1st hit "If I Had a Hammer."
(MC, 8/18/02)
1962 Oct 31, Bobby Pickett
(1938-2007) made a one-time hit with “Monster Mash,” as it reached
No. 1 on Halloween.
(SFC, 4/27/07, p.B9)
1962 Tony Bennett won his first
Grammy Award for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the record of
the year. It was the B side of a record that featured “Once Upon a
Time” on the A side.
(SFC, 1/25/12, p.A11)
1962 Ray Charles made a hit
with "I Can’t Stop Loving You."
(SSFC, 7/28/02, Par p.20)
1962 Bob Dylan (b. Robert
Zimmerman May 24, 1941) released his first album “Bob Dylan.”
Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan in this year.
(SFC, 5/29/97, p.A3)(SFC, 9/26/05, C3)(SSFC,
11/20/05, Par p.4)
1962 Dave Fisher (1940-2010)
and the Highwaymen folk group made a hit with “Cotton Fields,”
written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, and its reverse side
“The Gypsy Rover.”
(www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arts/music/13fisher.html)
1962 The Four Seasons with lead
singer Frankie Valli had No. 1 hits with “Sherry” and “Big Girls
Don’t Cry.”
(WSJ, 11/2/05, p.D12)
1962 John Lee Hooker sang "Boom
Boom."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1962 Mick Jagger, Keith
Richards and Brian Jones made their 1st appearance as the Rolling
Stones at a London jazz club.
(SFC, 12/13/03, p.A2)
1962 The Miracles sang "You’ve
Really Got a Hold on Me."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1962 Vinicius de Moraes,
inspired by the stroll of a young woman (18) headed for Copacabana,
wrote a poem that became known as “The Girl of Ipanema.” It was put
to music by Jaoa Gilberto and Stan Getz and sung by Gilberto’s wife,
Astrud. The song won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1964. The
young woman, Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto, never made a dime
off the song but opened a modeling agency and a clothing store near
the site.
(SSFC, 9/30/07, p.G3)
1962 The 4 Osmond brothers,
under the direction of their father, George Osmond (1917-2007),
debuted on the Andy Williams show. Donny Osmond, at age 6, joined
the group a year later. Marie Osmond joined the group in 1973. In
1976 the Donny and Marie show began on ABC.
(SFC, 11/9/07, p.B7)
1962 Malvina Reynolds
(1900-1978) wrote her song: "Little boxes on the hillside, Little
boxes made of ticky tacky..." She came up with the song when she saw
the housing developments around Daly City, California built in the
post-war era by Henry Doelger, particularly the neighborhood of
Westlake. The song became a hit for her friend Pete Seeger in 1963.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes)
1962 Mary Wells sang "You Beat
me to the Punch."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1962 Cuban bassist Israel Lopez
(1918-2008), known as “Cachao,” left Cuba for Spain and soon
relocated to NYC, where he performed with leading Latin bands.
(SSFC, 3/23/08, p.A2)
1962 In Ireland the Dubliners
folk band formed in the Dublin pub O'Donoghue's. The founders
included Barney McKenna (1939-2012), Ronnie Drew (d.2008), Ciaran
Bourke (d.1988) and Luke Kelly (d.1984).
(AP, 4/6/12)
1963 Mar 5, A private plane
crash near Camden, Tenn., claimed the lives of country music
performers Patsy Cline (30), "Cowboy" Copas and "Hawkshaw" Hawkins,
as well as pilot Randy Hughes, Cline's manager.
(AP, 3/5/08)
1963 Apr 8, Julian Lennon, John
Lennon’s son, singer (Too Late for Goodbyes), was born.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1963 May 11, "Puff The Magic
Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary hit #2.
(MC, 5/11/02)
1963 May 15, Peter, Paul &
Mary won their 1st Grammy (If I Had a Hammer).
(MC, 5/15/02)
1963 May 18, "If You Wanna Be
Happy" by Jimmy Soul hit #1.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1963 Jun 7, The Rolling Stones
made their 1st TV appearance.
(SC, 6/7/02)
1963 Aug 3, Allan Sherman
released "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda."
(SC, 8/3/02)
1963 Aug 3, Beatles made a
final performance the Cavern Club in Liverpool.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1963 Aug 23, Beatles released
"She Loves You" in UK.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1963 Sep 7, The Beatles made
their 1st US TV appearance on ABC’s Big Night Out.
(MC, 9/7/01)
1963 Sep 7, American Bandstand
moved to California and aired once a week on Saturday.
(MC, 9/7/01)
1963 Oct 11, Edith Piaf
(b.1915), French singer (No, I don't regret anything), died of
cancer. In 2007 the biopic film “La Vie en Rose,” with Marion
Cotillard as Piaf, was produced. In 2011 Carolyn Burke authored “No
Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89dith_Piaf)(SSFC, 4/3/11, p.G5)
1963 Dec 10, Walter Cronkite
re-aired a CBS News report from London on the Beatles. It had been
1st filed on Nov 22, the day JFK was assassinated.
(SSFC, 2/8/04, Par p.18)
1963 The Beatles made it big
with the song "She Loves You."
(TMC, 1994, p.1963)(SFC, 12/14/96, p.E3)
1963 The first edition album
"Introducing the Beatles" was produced and sold for $9,600 in 1997.
(SFC, 7/25/97, p.D5)
1963 Sandy Bull (d.2001 at 60)
released his 1st album "Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo." It became
an underground classic.
(SFC, 4/13/01, p.D6)
1963 Johnny Cash recorded his
hit tune: "Ring of Fire."
(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)
1963 Keith Colley made a hit
with "Enamorado."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1963 The Crystals made a hit
with their songs “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me” written by
Ellie Greenwich (1940-2009) in collaboration with producer Phil
Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Then_He_Kissed_Me)
1963 Koerner, Ray & Glover
released their landmark album: "Blues, Rags and Hollers." Dave
"Snaker" Ray, guitarist, died in 2002.
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.A23)
1963 Del McCoury became a
full-time member of the Blue Grass Boys under Bill Monroe.
(WSJ, 1/8/04, p.D10)
1963 Bob Merrill wrote the hit
song "People."
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.W8)
1963 "Deep Purple" by Nino
Temple & April Stevens won the Grammy best rock-n-roll
recording.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.38)
1963 John Corigliano composed
his 4-movement Violin Sonata.
(SFC, 11/18/98, p.E3)
1963 Gunship pilot James P.
'Bull' Durham (1927-2004), balladeer of the Vietnam War, recorded 10
songs about SAC in the Vietnam era. In 1971 he recorded 12 songs
collected during his Vietnam tour of duty.
(www.historynet.com/james-p-bull-durham-true-balladeer-of-the-vietnam-war.htm)
1963 Bob Dylan’s 2nd album,
"The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan," was released. Four songs were removed
for the officially released version. Nat Hentoff wrote the liner
notes.
(SFC, 7/16/97, p.E1)(WSJ, 12/29/04, p.D8)
1963 The Herbie Hancock song
"Watermelon Man" became a hit with a version by Mongo Santamaria
(d.2003).
(SFC, 2/5/03, p.A22)
1963 Bob Gibson (1932-1996)
co-wrote "Abilene" with J.D. Laudermilk, Lester Brown and Albert
Stanton.
(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A21)
1963 The Kingston Trio made a
hit with "Greenback Dollar" written by Hoyt Axton (d.1999 at age
61).
(SFC, 10/27/99, p.C4)
1963 The Kingsmen recorded
their hit song "Louie, Louie." It became a major hit in 1964. It was
written in 1955 by Richard Berry and recorded by Berry with the
Pharaohs in 1957. The Kingsmen sold their rights in 1968 for a
percentage of future licensing fees. The fees were not paid and the
band filed suit in 1993. They won a 1995 judgement and a 1998
appeal.
(SFC, 1/25/97, p.A19)(SFC, 4/11/98, p.C5)
1963 Sonny Bono, songwriter,
met Cherilyn (Cher) Sarkasian La Piere, singer, at a Hollywood
coffee shop. The pair went on to record "I Got You Babe," The Beat
Goes On," and "All I Ever Need Is You." Bono wrote the Jackie
DeShannon hit of this year "Needles and Pins."
(SFC, 1/6/98, p.A11)
1963 Marvin Gaye sang "Hitch
Hike."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1963 Al Hirt (1922-1999), New
Orleans trumpet player, made a hit with his instrumental "Java." He
won a 1964 Grammy best nonjazz instrumental for the tune.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.C4)
1963 Martha and the Vandellas
sang "Heat Wave."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1963 Curtis Mayfield (b.1942)
and the Impressions had a hit with the song "It's All Right."
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C1)
1963 Roy Nichols (d.2001 at 68)
joined Merle Haggard’s band the Strangers. He helped create the
Bakersfield sound.
(SFC, 7/5/01, p.D2)
1963 Jack Nitzsche (d.2000)
made his solo recording "The Lonely Surfer." He went on to compose
over 30 film scores.
(SFEC, 9/10/00, p.49)
1963 The Ronettes singing trio
made a hit with "Be My Baby," written by Ellie Greenwich (1940-2009)
in collaboration with producer Phil Spector and her husband Jeff
Barry. It epitomized the famed "wall of sound" technique of its
producer, Phil Spector.
(AP,
2/13/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellie_Greenwich)
1963 Ruby and the Romantics had
a hit with “Our Day Will Come,” co-written by Mort Garson
(1924-2008) and Bob Hilliard.
(SFC, 1/16/08, p.B9)
1963 The Singing Nun made a hit
with "Dominique." The song praised the 13th century crusade against
the Cathars. It was written by Noel Regney. His 1962 poem "Do You
Hear What I Hear" was recorded by Bing Crosby.
(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)(SFC, 11/28/02, p.A30)
1963 Dusty Springfield recorded
"I Only Want to Be With You."
(SFC, 3/4/99, p.C6)
1963 Stevie Wonder sang
"Fingertips (Part 2)."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1963 Jazz saxophonist Joe
Henderson began recording for Blue Note.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, DB p.32)
1963 Miles Davis heard Tony
Williams playing drums with saxophonist Jackie McLean and hired him.
Williams stayed with Davis until 1969. Their recording included
"E.S.P.," "Nefertiti and "Filles de Kilamanjaro."
(SFC, 2/25/97, p.B2)
1963 Frank Zappa wrote his rock
opera "I Was a Teenage Maltshop."
(SSFC, 3/17/02, p.M3)
1963 Clement Dodd opened his
record studio at 13 Brentford Road, Kingston, Jamaica, and soon
began recording Bob Marley and the Wailers.
(Econ, 5/22/04, p.80)
1964 Jan 18, Beatles 1st
appeared on Billboard Chart at #35 for "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The song hit No. 1 by the end of the month.
(MC, 1/18/02)(SSFC, 2/8/04, Par p.18)
1964 Jan, The Beatles made
their North America TV debut on the Jack Paar Show. [see Feb 9,
1964]
(SFC, 1/28/04, p.A1)
1964 Feb 1, Top hits included:
Anyone Who Had a Heart: Dionne Warwick; Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um:
Major Lance; Stop and Think It Over: Dale and Grace.
(440 Int'l, 2/1/1999)
1964 Feb 1, Indiana Governor
Mathew Walsh tried to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1964 Feb 3, "Meet the Beatles"
album went Gold.
(MC, 2/3/02)
1964 Feb 9, The Beatles made
their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan
Show." [see Jan, 1964]
(AP, 2/9/99)
1964 Feb 11, The Beatles 1st
live appearance in US was in the Washington, DC Coliseum.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1964 Feb 16, The Beatles made
their 2nd appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show."
(MC, 2/16/02)
1964 Mar 30, Tracy Chapman, US
singer, songwriter (Freedom Now, I Got a Fast Car), was born.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1964 Apr 26, Popular music of
the day included: "Can’t Buy Me Love" by The Beatles; "Twist and
Shout" by The Beatles; Do You Want to Know a Secret" by The Beatles;
and "Understand Your Man" by Johnny Cash."
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)(SFC, 9/13/03,
p.A12)
1964 Jun 2, Rolling Stones made
their 1st US concert tour debut in Lynn, Mass.
(SC, 6/2/02)
1964 Jun 26, Beatles released
"A Hard Day's Night" album.
(MC, 6/26/02)
1964 Jul 2, Celia Black
recorded Beatle's "Its For You" with McCartney on piano.
(SC, 7/2/02)
1964 Jul 4, The song "I Get
Around" by the Beach Boys topped the charts and stayed there for 2
weeks. Sales went on to exceed a million records.
(DataDragon)(Maggio, 98)(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)
1964 Jul 10, The Four Tops
released "Baby I Need Your Loving" on the Motown label. In 1967
Johnny Rivers also recorded a hit version.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_I_Need_Your_Loving)
1964 Jul 25, Beatles' "Hard
Day's Night, A," album went #1 and stayed #1 for 14 weeks.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1964 Aug 1, Beatles' "Hard
Day's Night" single went #1.
(MC, 8/1/02)
1964 Aug 11, Beatles' "A Hard
Days Night" opened in NYC.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1964 Aug 19, The Beatles
performed a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca. They
returned there for another concert in 1965.
(www.rarebeatles.com/photopg7/sf81964.htm)
1964 Johnny Hathcock (d.2000 at
81) wrote the song "Welcome To My World." It became the theme song
for entertainer Eddy Arnold.
(SFC, 1/2/01, p.B4)
1964 The song "Devil with the
Blue Dress" was composed by W. Stevenson and F. Long and became a
hit for Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels.
(SI-WPC, 1997)
1964 The Dixie cups made a hit
with “Chapel of Love” written by Ellie Greenwich (1940-2009) in
collaboration with producer Phil Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.
(SFC, 8/28/09,
p.D5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_Love)
1964 Bob Dylan released his 3rd
album "The Times They Are A-Changing." In 1996 he sold rights to the
Bank of Montreal for its marketing campaign.
(SFC, 10/18/96, C12)(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A3)
1964 Bob Dylan released his 4th
album "Another Side of Bob Dylan."
(SFC, 9/26/05, C3)
1964 The Four Seasons with lead
singer Frankie Valli had top hits with “Dawn” and “Rag Doll.”
(WSJ, 11/2/05, p.D12)
1964 Martha and the Vandellas
sang "Dancing in the Streets."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1964 Curtis Mayfield and the
Impressions had a hit with the song "Amen."
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C1)
1964 The British duo Peter and
Gordon made a hit with the song “A World Without Love,” written by
Paul McCartney. The group broke up in 1968 after 9 top 20 records.
Gordon Waller died in 1964 at age 64.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.D6)
1964 Roy Orbison came out with
the song "Pretty Woman."
(SFC, 8/24/96, p.E3)
1964 "Walk Don’t Run" by the
Ventures became a hit. The drummer was Mel Tyler (1934-1996).
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.D2)
1964 Beatle singer Paul
McCartney was "turned on to pot" by Bob Dylan.
(SFC, 9/27/97, p.E3)
1964 Kyu Sakamoto made a hit
with "Sukiyaki."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1964 Simon and Garfunkel made
their debut with "Wednesday Morning 3 AM."
(USAT, 3/24/99, p.5E)
1964 The Supremes sang "Where
Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," and "Come See About Me."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1964 Porter Wagoner recorded
the a country song "Green Green Grass of Home", written by
Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. Bobby Bare recorded a version in 1965 and
by Tom Jones in 1966 when it reached number one in the UK Singles
Chart on 1 December staying there for a total of seven weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Green_Grass_of_Home)
1964 Mary Wells sang "My Guy."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1964 The British group Zombies
with guitarist Paul Atkinson (d.2004), made a hit with "She's Not
There."
(SFC, 4/7/04, p.B6)
1964 The Newport Jazz Festival
introduced Hamza El Din, the father of Nubian music, to Western
audiences.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, DB p.15)
1964 Founder Randy Sparks sold
his interest in The New Christy Minstrels singing group for $2.5
million. John Denver and Kenny Rogers were singers in the group.
Songs by the group included "Today," "Green, Green," and "Saturday
Night."
(SFEC, 9/26/99, DB p.36)
1964 Lou Reed and John Cale
co-founded the music group Velvet Underground.
(SFEC, 1/26/97 Par,
p.2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground)
1964 The Academy of Country
Music was founded in Los Angeles.
(SFEC,10/19/97, Par p.2)
1965 Jan, Petula Clark
(b.1932), English singer, actress, and composer, made a #1 US hit
with “Downtown,” a song composed by Tony Hatch.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_%28Petula_Clark_song%29)
1965 Feb 15, Nat King Cole
(b.1919), singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole)
1965 Mar 3, Temptations' "My
Girl" reached #1.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1965 Mar 22, Columbia Records
released Bob Dylan’s album "Bringing It All Back Home."
(SFC, 9/26/05, C3)
1965 Apr 13, Beatles recorded
"Help."
(MC, 4/13/02)
1965 May 1, Spike Jones (53),
composer (Spike Jones Show), died.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1965 May 13, Rolling
Stones recorded "Satisfaction,"
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1965 May 22,
"Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious" hit #66.
(MC, 5/22/02)
1965 May 25, Mark Knight, rock
guitarist (Bang Tango-Dancin' on Coals), was born in California.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1965 Jun 26, "Mr. Tambourine
Man" by The Byrds reached the number one spot on the pop music
charts.
(SFC, 9/26/06, p.D7)
1965 Jul 25, Folk-rock began
when Dylan used electricity at the Newport Folk Festival, RI.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1965 Jul 29, Beatles movie
"Help" premiered and Queen Elizabeth attended.
(MC, 7/29/02)
1965 Aug 13, In SF the
Jefferson Airplane made its first public performance opening at the
new Matrix club on Fillmore. The band held an ownership interest in
the club.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)
1965 Aug 14, The Beatles taped
an appearance for the Ed Sullivan Show.
(MC, 8/14/02)
1965 Aug 14, Sonny and Cher's
"I Got You Babe" hit #1.
(MC, 8/14/02)
1965 Aug 15, Beatles played to
55,000 at Shea Stadium.
(MC, 8/15/02)
1965 Aug 28, Bob Dylan was
scorned at a concert in NY's Forest Hills.
(www.punkhart.com/dylan/tapes/65-aug28.html)
1965 Aug 30, Columbia Records
released Bob Dylan’s album "Highway 61 Revisited."
(SFC, 9/26/05,
C3)(www.ddg.com/LIS/glenn/DYLANWEB.HTM)
1965 Aug 31, The Beatles
returned to the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca., for another concert.
(www.geocities.com/bratbear_51/cowpalacebeatles.html)
1965 Oct 16, The world’s first
acid rock dance was held at Longshoreman’s Hall. Top band on the
bill was the Charlatan’s with Dan Hicks, a house band from the Red
Dog Saloon in Virginia City. The Jefferson Airplane also made its
first concert appearance. Alton Kelley (1940-2008) and 3 other
people, under the name Family Dog, staged the dance concert.
(www.chickenonaunicycle.com/FD%20Shows%20Full%20List.htm)(SFC,
6/3/08, p.B5)
1965 Dec 11, Sam Cooke
(b.1931), pop singer, was shot to death by a motel manager in Los
Angeles after a prostitute stole his clothes and money. His hits
included “You Send Me,” “Cupid,” and “Chain Gang.” In 2005
Peter Guralnick authored “Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke.”
(SSFC, 10/16/05,
p.M3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Cooke)
1965 Andy Warhol became the
manager of the Velvet Underground and suggested they feature the
German-born singer Nico on several songs. Warhol's reputation helped
the band gain a higher profile.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground)
1965 Louis Armstrong sang
"Hello Dolly." The song was written by Jerry Herman for the remake
of the Thornton Wilder play "Matchmaker." The name of the play was
changed to "Hello, Dolly!" after the song became a hit before the
play opened.
(SFEC, 12/1/96, BR p.1)
1965 Syd Barrett (1946-2006)
co-founded Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright,
and wrote many of the band's early songs. Barrett became mentally
unstable from the pressures of drugs and fame and had to leave the
band in 1968, five years before Pink Floyd's most popular album,
"Dark Side of the Moon."
(AP, 7/11/06)
1965 James Brown (1928-2006),
the dynamic "Godfather of Soul," produced his classic song “I Got
You (I Feel Good),” later considered one of the all-time greatest in
rock’s cannon.
(SFC, 12/26/06, p.A7)
1965 The SF-based Beau Brummels
and lead singer Sal Valentino made a hit with “Laugh Laugh.”
(SFC, 2/22/06, p.E1)
1965 Sonny Bono and Cher had a
hit with their song "I Got You Babe."
(SFC, 1/7/98, p.E1)
1965 Cannibal & the
Headhunters, a group from East Los Angeles, made a hit with their
doo-wop recording of “Land of 1000 Dances.” Founding member Richard
“Scar” Lopez (b.1945) died in 2010. The song was written and first
recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962.
(SFC, 8/20/10,
p.C5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances)
1965 Bob Dylan (23) did a tour
of England that was chronicled in the film "Don’t Look Back" by D.A.
Pennebaker.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D5)
1965 John Fogarty and his band,
the Golliwogs, had a hit with the song "Brown-Eyed Girl. Under
direction from Saul Zaentz of Fantasy Records they soon changed
their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
(SFEM, 3/23/97, p.28)
1965 Jerry Garcia and The
Grateful Dead began playing.
(SFC, 7/5/96, p.E4)
1965 Marvin Gaye sang "Ain’t
That Peculiar."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1965 Bud Shank (1926-2009),
innovative jazz musician, played the 33-second flute solo on the hit
“California Dreamin,” by the Mamas and Papas.
(SFC, 4/10/09, p.B5)
1965 Curtis Mayfield and the
Impressions had a hit with the song "People Get Ready."
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C1)
1965 The Miracles sang "Tracks
of My Tears."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1965 Frank Sinatra won a Grammy
award for his song, "It Was a Very Good Year."
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.E7)
1965 The Supremes sang "Stop!
In the Name Love," Back in My Arms Again," and "I Hear a Symphony."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1965 The Lynyrd Skynyrd rock
and roll band was formed. Their 1973 debut album included "Free
Bird." Their hit songs included "Sweet Home Alabama."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, DB p.69)(WSJ, 3/17/05, p.A1)
1965 Folk-rock edged in next to
Rock-n-roll.
(TMC, 1994, p.1965)
1965 Ray Repp made his
groundbreaking album: "Mass for Young Americans."
(WSJ, 9/16/96, p.B8)
1965 The Righteous Brothers
released their song: "You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling." It was
produced by Phil Spector. Boby Hatfield, half of the team, died in
2003 at age 63.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, DB, p.65)(SFEC, 10/5/97, DB
p.74)(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E9)
1965 The Sir Douglas Quintet
with Doug Sahm had a hit with the song "She's About a Mover."
(SFC, 11/20/99, p.A22)
1965 Junior Walker & the
All Stars played "Shotgun."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1965 Stevie Wonder sang
"Uptight (Everything’s Alright)."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D1)
1965 In Britain The Who made 3
consecutive hits with "I Can’t Explain," "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere,"
and "My Generation." The group included bassist John Entwistle
(d.2002), drummer Keith Moon (d.1978), singer Roger Daltrey, and
guitarist Pete Townshend.
(SFC, 6/28/02, p.A2)
1965 Nov 6, Edgar Varese
(b.1883), French-born pioneer of musical modernism, died. He moved
to the US in 1915. Varese was the inventor of the term "organized
sound", a phrase meaning that certain timbres and rhythms can be
grouped together, sublimating into a whole new definition of music.
(SFC, 4/16/10,
p.F6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Var%C3%A8se)
1966 Mar 3, Rock group Buffalo
Springfield formed with Steven Stills, Neil Young, et al.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1966 Mar 3, "Lightnin' Lou"
Christie was striking gold this day for his hit "Lightnin' Strikes".
Christie was born Lugee Sacco and joined a group called The Classics
before making his first recording in 1960. In 1961, he recorded
under the name Lugee & The Lions until changing to Lou Christie
for a string of hits beginning in 1963. Other notable tunes from
Christie's Top 40 appearances include: "The Gypsy Cried", "Two Faces
Have I", "Rhapsody in the Rain" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" – all
displaying his trademark falsetto voice, similar to that of Frankie
Valli of The Four Seasons. "Lightnin' Strikes" was Christie's only
million seller.
(HC, Internet, 3/3/98)
1966 Mar 4, John Lennon said:
"We (Beatles) are more popular than Jesus." Radio stations in the
Netherlands and in Spain quickly banned the playing of Beatle
records as did the South African Broadcasting Corporation, stating
that "The Beatles' arrogance has passed the ultimate limit of
decency. It is clowning no longer."
(www.beatles.ws/1966.htm)
1966 Apr 12, Jan Berry
(1942-2004) of the "Jan and Dean" duo was involved in a car crash
that left him in a month-long coma. Their hit songs from 1960-1966
included: "Little Old lady from Pasadena," "Deadman’s Curve," and
"Surf City."
(SFEC, 7/13/97, DB p.63)(SSFC, 3/28/04, p.B5)
1966 May 1, Last British
concert by Beatles was at Empire Pool in Wembley.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1966 May 13, Rolling
Stones released "Paint it Black."
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1966 Jun 10, Mamas & Papas
won a gold record for "Monday, Monday."
(MC, 6/10/02)
1966 Jul 11, "I Am A Rock" by
Simon & Garfunkel peaked at #3.
(MC, 7/11/02)
1966 Jul 25, Supremes released
"You Can't Hurry Love."
(SC, 7/25/02)
1966 Jul 29, Bob Dylan was hurt
in motorcycle accident near Woodstock, NY.
(www.wilburys.info/insbob.html)
1966 Aug 5, Beatles released
their "Revolver" album in US.
(MC, 8/5/02)
1966 Aug 5, Beatles released
"Yellow Submarine" and "Eleanor Rigby" in UK.
(MC, 8/5/02)
1966 Sep, In SF the Jefferson
Airplane played the band’s last show at the Matrix, the first night
that Grace Slick sang with the band.
(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)
1966 The Beach Boys sang "Good
Vibrations," and sales exceeded a million records.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)
1966 The Capitols sang "Cool
Jerk."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1966 The song "Winchester
Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band won the Grammy best
contemporary recording category.
1966 Chas Chandler, bass player
for the Animals, spotted Jimi Hendrix playing at the Cafe Wha in New
York and invited him to London. He later produced the first 2
Hendrix albums.
(SFC, 7/18/96, p.A22)
1966 Arlo Guthrie wrote the
song "Alice’s Restaurant," and it became the anti-
draft fight song.
(TMC, 1994, p.1966)
1966 The Four Tops sang "Reach
Out I’ll Be There" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1966 Don Ho (1930-2007), a
Vietnamese-American singer, released his most famous song, "Tiny
Bubbles", which charted on both the pop (#8 Billboard) and easy
listening charts and caused the subsequent Tiny Bubbles LP to remain
in the album Top 20 for almost a year.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ho)
1966 Junior Walker and the All
Stars sang "How Sweet It Is."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1966 Arthur Lee (1945-2006)
fronted the band Love and established himself as the 1st black rock
star in the post Beatle’s era. The group’s debut album, “Love,” was
the 1st rock record released by Electra Records.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.B6)
1966 The Mamas and Papas
released their debut single "California Dreamin." The group broke up
in 1968.
(SFC, 3/19/01, p.A19)
1966 Sergio Mendes and Brasil
‘66 made a hit with "Mas Que Nada."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1966 Jimmy Ruffin sang "What
Become of the Broken-hearted."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1966 The Sandpipers made a hit
with "Guantanamera."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1966 Simon and Garfunkel sang
"Scarborough Fair."
(SFEC, 12/22/96, Z1 p.2)
1966 Frank Sinatra made a hit
with "Strangers in the Night." The song won a Grammy as record of
the year.
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.E7)
1966 Nancy Sinatra sang "These
Boots Are Made for Walking," written by Lee Hazlewood (1929-2007).
(SFEC, 12/22/96, Z1 p.2)(SFC, 8/7/07, p.D9)
1966 Percy Sledge made a hit
with his song "When a Man Loves a Woman."
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.E2)
1966 Phil Spector produced
“River Deep – Mountain High” with Ike and Tina Turner. The pair
split in 1976.
(SFC, 12/13/07, p.B5)
1966 Dusty Springfield recorded
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
(SFC, 3/4/99, p.C6)
1966 The Standells song “Dirty
Water,” an ode to Boston and its polluted waterways, reached No. 11
on the Billboard’s Top 40 chart. In 2006 the group filed a suit
against Anheuser-Busch for illegal use of the song in commercials.
(SFC, 6/12/06, p.D11)
1966 The Supremes sang "You
Can’t Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hanging On."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1966 The Young Rascals had a
No. 1 hit with “Good Lovin’.”
(SFC, 6/27/06, p.B5)
1966 The Blue Note jazz label
of Alfred Lion was sold to Liberty Records. It was later transferred
to EMI.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1966 Jeff Hanna and Jimmie
Fadden founded their "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band."
(SFEM,10/19/97, DB p.61)
1966 The Jimi Hendrix
Experience formed and played together for 3 years. Noel Redding
(d.2003 at 57) was the bass player. The band produced 3 albums of
psychedelic rock: "Are You Experienced," "Axis: Bold as Love," and
"Electric Ladyland."
(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A17)
1967 Jan 14, Sonny and Cher’s
"The Beat Goes On" peaked at #6 on the pop charts. In 1999 the TV
special “And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story,” written by
Sonny Bono (1935-1998), was produced.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beat_Goes_On)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0185155/)
1967 Jan 15, The Rolling Stones
appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
(www.crazyabouttv.com/edsullivanshow.html)
1967 Feb 17, Beatles released
"Penny Lane" & "Strawberry Fields." Strawberry Fields was a
children’s home run by the Salvation Army. It was closed in 2005.
(http://www.jpgr.co.uk/r5570.html)(SFC, 6/2/05,
p.E8)
1967 Feb 20, Kurt Cobain,
Nirvana grunge band musician, was born in Aberdeen, Washington. He
was found dead at his Lake Washington home on April 8, 1994, of
suicide committed about April 5.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)
1967 Feb 20, Elvis Presley
released his album "How Great Thou Art." The song “How Great Thou
Art” is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish poem written by Carl
Gustav Boberg (1859-1940) in Sweden in 1885.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Great_Thou_Art_(album))
1967 Mar 2, At the 9th Grammy
Awards: “Strangers in Night” by Frank Sinatra won Record of the Year
and “Michele” by the Beatles won Song of the Year.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awards_of_1967)
1967 Mar 7, The Los
Angeles-based Doors made their 2nd trip to SF and performed for a
mid-week engagement at the Matrix ahead of a weekend performance at
the Avalon. Peter Abrams, co-owner of the Matrix, recorded the show
with a recently installed tape recorder.
(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E1)(http://tinyurl.com/mxky7j)
1967 Mar 11, British
psychedelic group Pink Floyd released “Arnold Layne,” their 1st
single song.
(http://pinkfloydhyperbase.dk/albums/arnold.htm)(SFC, 9/26/06, p.D6)
1967 May 1, Elvis Presley (32)
married Priscilla Beaulieu (20) in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel.
They divorced in 1973. They had met when she was 14 in West Germany.
(AP, 5/1/97)(SFEM, 1/25/98, p.66)
1967 May 20, BBC disc jockey
Kenny Everett gave the official preview of Sgt Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band on the radio show Where It's At, broadcast on the
BBC Light Program. He was unable to play the final track "A Day in
the Life," which the BBC had banned a day earlier due to drug
references.
(www.beatlesbible.com/1967/05/20/the-bbc-bans-a-day-in-the-life/)
1967 Jun 1, "Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band," was released in the U.K. and the following
day in the U.S. and was certified "gold" the same day of release. It
topped the charts all over the world, holding the number one slot in
Britain for 27 weeks and for 19 in America. It received four Grammys
including Best Album.
(AP, 6/1/97)
1967 Jun 7, Three Moby Grape
members were arrested on Mt. Tamalpais, following a concert at the
Avalon Ballroom in SF, for having sex with underage girls.
(www.rockument.com/scenes_sf1.html)
1967 Jun 18, The 3-day Monterey
Pop Festival featured Pete Townshend and The Who on the Sunday
finale. They nearly stopped the show with the destruction of
guitars, drums and microphones on stage. They were immediately
followed by Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead. The festival also
featured Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding.
(WSJ, 8/11/95,
p.A-7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Pop_Festival)
1967 Jun 19, Beatle Paul
McCartney, having admitted in Queen Magazine that he had taken LSD,
repeated the admission on television.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney)
1967 Jun, The theme song from
the film "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" by Hugo Montenegro
(1925-1981) reached No. 2 on the US record charts.
(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599359/bio)
1967 Jul 1, Beatles' "Sgt
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," went #1 for 15 weeks.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1967 Jul 7, Beatles' "All You
Need is Love" was released.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1967 Aug 19, Beatles' "All You
Need is Love," single went #1.
(MC, 8/19/02)
1967 Aug 25, Beatles went to
Wales to study TM with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1967 Aug 27, Brian Epstein,
manager of the Beatles, was found dead in his London flat from an
overdose of sleeping pills.
(AP, 8/27/97)
1967 Sep 11, Charles Manson
(b.1934) recorded his album "Lie," which was produced by Dennis
Wilson (b.1944), drummer for the Beach Boys.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie:_The_Love_and_Terror_Cult)
1967 Nov 9, Rolling Stone
Magazine, co-founded by Jann Wenner in SF, published its debut issue
with a press run of 40,000 copies. Ralph J. Gleason, SF jazz critic,
helped Wenner fund the 1st issue. In 1998 "Rolling Stone: The
Complete Covers 1967-1997" was edited by Holly George-Warren. In
1977 the company moved its headquarters to NYC.
(SFC,10/28/97, p.E1)(SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.12)(SFC,
12/23/04, p.E16)(SFC, 4/18/09, p.C1)
1967 Nov 27, The Beatles'
"Magical Mystery Tour," album was released in Britain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Mystery_Tour_(album))
1967 Dec 10, Singer Otis
Redding (26) and 6 others died in the crash of his private plane in
Lake Monona, Wisconsin. He had recently recorded “Sittin’ on the
Dock of the Bay,” which became a big hit in 1968.
(SFC, 4/25/06, p.B5)(AP, 12/10/07)
1967 Dec 26, BBC-1 television
aired "Magical Mystery Tour," the Beatles' critically drubbed
one-hour special.
(AP, 12/26/07)
1967 Dec 27, Singer Bob Dylan
(b.1941 as Robert Allen Zimmerman) released his "John Wesley
Harding" album.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Harding_(album))
1967 Glen Campbell made a hit
with "Gentle On My Mind," written by John Hartford (d.2001 at 63).
(SFC, 6/6/01, p.A19)
1967 Bob Dylan and The Band
recorded "The Basement Tapes" in West Saugerties, N.Y., in a ranch
house dubbed Big Pink, rented by Rick Danko (d.1999). In 1997 Greil
Marcus, wrote "Invisible Republic," an exploration of the
recordings. Other band members included Garth Hudson, Richard
Manuel, Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm.
(SFEC, 5/25/97, DB p.52)(SFC, 12/1/97, p.E4)(WSJ,
12/15/99, p.A20)
1967 The 5th Dimension released
the Jimmy Webb tune "Up, Up and Away." The group included Ron
Townson (d.2001 ay 68), Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, and Billy
Davis.
(SFC, 8/4/01,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up,_Up_and_Away)
1967 The Four Tops sang
"Bernadette."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1967 Aretha Franklin (b.1942)
recorded "Chain of Fools."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_of_Fools_(song))
1967 Aretha Franklin (b.1942)
sang "Respect," "Baby I Love You" and "I Never Love a Man (the Way I
Love You)."
(SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
1967 Arlo Guthrie recorded the
18.5 minute ballad "Alice’s Restaurant." It was about his arrest for
dumping garbage that had piled up at the former Episcopal Church
where Alice and Ray Brock lived in Great Barrington, Mass. Guthrie
bought the building in 1991 for $300,000 and set up a foundation to
promote understanding among religious traditions. "It’s a bring your
own god church."
(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A2)
1967 The Irish Rovers released
their album “The Unicorn.” They had formed in Canada and released
their album in California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn)
1967 Miriam Makeba (1932-2008),
South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist, released her
hit single “Pata Pata.”
(SFC, 11/11/08, p.B5)
1967 Sly & the Family Stone
released the first of their 8 albums. The group was led by Sylvester
Stewart, aka Sly Stone, an African American from Vallejo, Ca. In
2008 Jeff Kaliss authored “I Want To Take You Higher: The Life and
Times of Sly & the Family Stone.”
(SFC, 11/24/08, p.E2)
1967 Zal Yanovsky (d.2002 at
57) left the Lovin’ Spoonful. The group’s hits had included "Do You
Believe in Magic" and "Summer in the City."
(SFC, 12/17/02, p.A23)
1967 The rock group Moby Grape
made its debut album "Moby Grape."
(SFC, 6/29/96, p.E1)
1967 Procol Harum’s "A Whiter
Shade of Pale" became a psychedelic classic. It was later voted one
of the greatest pop songs of all time. In 2006 the High Court in
London awarded organist Matthew Fisher a 40% right to the song.
Singer Gary Brooker had claimed he was the sole writer.
(AFP, 12/20/06)
1967 The rock group Traffic was
founded by drummer Jim Capaldi (1945-2005), keyboardist Winwood,
guitarist Dave Mason and saxophonist-flutist Chris Wood.
(SFC, 2/1/05, p.B9)
1967 Grace Slick and the
Jefferson Airplane (b.1965) burst out of SF with their songs
"Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit." In 1998 Slick and Andrea
Cagan wrote "Somebody To Love? A Rock-and-Roll Memoir." A 1980
biography of Slick was written by Barbara Rowe of the NY Times. In
2003 Jeff Tamarkin authored "Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight
of Jefferson Airplane."
(SFEC, 9/6/98, BR p.3)(SSFC, 6/22/03, p.M6)
1967 "Songs of Granite and Men"
by SF composer Walter Tolleson (d. 1997 at 72) was performed at
Carnegie Hall.
(SFC,10/31/97, p.A24)
1967 Gladys Knight and the
Pips, already an established singing group, joined the Motown record
label. Their hits included "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." In
1997 Gladys Knight wrote "Between Each Line of Pain and Glory: My
Life Story."
(SFC,11/19/97, p.E4)
1967 The Miracles sang "I
Second That Emotion."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1967 In Cuba the Orquesta de
Musica Moderna, a government sponsored group, was formed. It was the
basis for the later jazz group Irakere.
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.42)
1967 Rod Stewart emerged as the
vocal sensation in the Jeff Beck Group.
(USAT, 3/24/99, p.5E)
1967 The Supremes sang "Love Is
Here and Now You’re Gone" and "The Happening."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1967 Jackie Wilson sang "Higher
and Higher."
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
1968 Feb 16, Beatles George
Harrison & John Lennon flew to India with their wives for
transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
(www.beatles.ws/1968.htm)
1968 Feb 27, Frankie Lymon
(b.1942), American singer died. He was an African-American rock and
roll/rhythm and blues singer, best known as the boy soprano lead
singer of a New York City-based early rock and roll group called the
Teenagers. Their first single, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (1956),
was also their biggest hit. The 1998 film "Why Do Fools Fall in
Love" was a musical comedy-drama with Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox,
Lela Rochon and Little Richard. It was directed by Gregory Nava and
set in the 1950s based on the life of Frankie Lymon.
(SFC, 8/28/98, p.C1)(SFC, 9/2/98,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Lymon)
1968 Feb 29, At the Grammy
Awards, the Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" won record of the
year for 1967, while album of the year honors went to the Beatles
for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
(HN, 2/29/00)(AP, 2/29/04)
1968 Mar 1, Singers Johnny Cash
(36) and June Carter (38) wed.
(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)
1968 Apr, Simon & Garfunkel
released their song "Mrs. Robinson."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Robinson)
1968 May 14, The Beatles in NYC
announced the formation of their Apple Corp.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps)
1968 May 24, The Rolling
Stones, an English rock band, released "Jumping Jack Flash" in
England. The US release was on June 1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpin%27_Jack_Flash)
1968 Jun 13, Johnny Cash
performed a live concert at California’s Folsom Prison. Applause
from the inmates was dubbed into his "At Folsom Prison" album.
(WSJ, 11/26/97, p.CA4)(Econ, 9/18/04, p.88)
1968 Jun 22-1968 Jun 23, In San
Francisco Big Brother & the Holding Company played this weekend
at the Carousel Ballroom, a former big band venue, at the corner of
market and Van Ness. The space was operated by 4 SF bands: Jefferson
Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big
Brother, whose Cheap Thrills album came out two months later.
(SFC, 3/14/12, p.E3)
1968 Jun 29, "Tip-Toe Thru' The
Tulips With Me" by Tiny Tim (1932-1996), aka Herbert Khaury, peaked
at #17.
(SFC, 12/2/96,
p.A4)(www.dreamsville.net/index.php?paged=2)
1968 Jul 1, The Band released
their "Music From Big Pink" album. It features one of their
best-known songs, "The Weight."
(WSJ, 12/15/99,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_from_Big_Pink)
1968 Jul 31, The Beatle's
recorded Hey Jude.
(http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/heyjude.htm)
1968 Sep 28, Beatles' "Hey
Jude" single went #1 and stayed #1 for 9 weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude)
1968 Oct 14, The Beatles "White
Album" was completed at the Abbey Road Studios.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album))
1968 Nov 22, Beatles released
their "Beatles," (White Album) their only double album.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album))
1968 Nov 28, In London,
England, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared at the Marylebone
Magistrates' Court. John pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis
resin and was fined 150 pounds plus 20 guineas costs.
(http://tinyurl.com/qjbdgb)
1968 Nov, The album “Astral
Weeks” by Irish-born singer and song-writer Van Morrison was
released. In 1999 it was given a Grammy Hall of Fame award.
(WSJ, 4/14/07, p.P14)
1968 Dec 7, The Rolling Stones
released their album "Beggar’s Banquet" in the US, one day after it
was released in the UK. They soon filmed a concert performance right
after the Who’s performance of "A Quick One" that the Stones did not
match and the film was shelved. In 1996 it was planned to release
the film where Jethro Tull and Taj Mahal are also featured. The
album included the song "Sympathy for the Devil."
(SFC, 8/16/96, p.D11)(SFC, 10/23/00,
p.F3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_Banquet)
1968 Dec 28, The Beatles'
"White Album," went #1 in the US, beginning this week, and stayed at
the top for 9 weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album))
1968 The Delfonics soul singing
group of Philadelphia recorded their hit "La-la Means I Love You."
(SFEC, 1/25/98, DB
p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Delfonics)
1968 Graham Nash (b.1942) left
the Hollies to join David Crosby (b.1941) and Stephen Stills
(b.1945). The first Crosby, Stills & Nash album was released in
1969.
(www.rockhall.com/inductee/crosby-stills-and-nash)
1968 The song "Just Dropped In
(to See What Condition My Condition Was In) was the 1st charted
single for Kenny Rogers, who was with the First Edition. The song
was written by Texas songwriter Mickey Newbury (d.2002 at 62).
(SFC, 10/3/02, p.A20)
1968 Aretha Franklin (b.1942)
recorded "Since You’ve Been Gone" and “Think.”
(http://tinyurl.com/oe3cmp)(http://tinyurl.com/obhjaj)
1968 Marvin Gaye recorded "I
Heard It Through the Grapevine."
(SFC, 11/12/02,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_It_Through_the_Grapevine)
1968 Edwin Hawkins recorded his
arrangement of “Oh Happy Day” on a 2-track tape machine for the
Northern California State Youth Choir. An album was made with
Century Records to help finance a trip to a church youth conference
in Washington DC. In 1969 Abe Kesh at KSAN-FM began playing the
song, which featured the voice of Dorothy Morrison. The album was
soon re-issued by Buddah Records.
(SFC, 10/23/09, p.F1)
1968 The Iron Butterfly
recorded their 17-minute classic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," with Erik
Braunn (d.2003 at 52) on lead guitar. Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy and Lee
Dorman completed the band.
(SFC, 7/29/03, p.A17)
1968 Janis Joplin and Big
Brother and the Holding Company band recorded their album "Cheap
Thrills" in New York.
(SFC, 5/19/96, DB,
p.39)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheap_Thrills)
1968 The Moody Blues released
their album "Days of Future Past” in the US. It had been released in
Britain in November 1967.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Future_Passed)
1968 Laura Nyro (1947-1997)
released her song suite album "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession."
her biggest songs were "When I Die," "Stoned Soul Picnic," "Wedding
Bell Blues," "Sweet Blindness," and "Eli’s Coming."
(SFE, 4/10/97,
p.A23)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_and_the_Thirteenth_Confession)
1968 The song “Sittin’ on the
Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding (1941-1967) became a smash hit. It
was the first posthumous single in US chart history.
(SFC, 4/25/06, p.B5)
1968 The "Rolling Stones Rock
and Roll Circus" was shot for home video but not released until
1996. The 62 minute TV special featured the Stones, John Lennon,
Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, the Who, Marianne Faithfull, Taj Mahal and
Jethro Tull.
(SFC, 10/15/96, p.B1)
1968 The singing group Sha Na
Na began singing together at Columbia Univ. as the Columbia
Kingsmen. Their first gig in Manhattan paid $50 for the 12 members.
They sang "Let’s Go to the Hop" at Woodstock and did a TV show from
1977-1980.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.C13)
1968 The Supremes released
their album "Love Child."
(SFC, 11/12/02,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Child_(The_Supremes_album))
1968 Johnnie Taylor (d.2000 at
62) had his 1st No. 1 R&B hit with "Who’s Making Love."
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D5)
1968 Stevie Wonder made a hit
with the song "For Once in My Life."
(SFC, 11/12/02,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Once_in_My_Life)
1968 Tammy Wynette (1942-1998),
country singer, recorded her hit song "Stand by Your Man." In 2003
it was rated the No. 1 top country song.
(SFC, 6/6/03,
p.D22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_By_Your_Man)
1969 Jan 3, Police in Newark,
NJ, confiscated 30,000 copies of the John Lennon, Yoko Ono album,
Two Virgins. A nude photo of John and Yoko on the cover violated
pornography laws in Jersey.
(www.goatview.com/january03.htm)
1969 Feb 17, Bob Dylan &
Johnny Cash recorded an album that was never released.
(http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/57340.html)
1969 Feb 19, Elvis Presley
recorded the Eddie Rabbit song "Kentucky Rain."
(www.anelvisfan2001.com/KentuckyRain.html)
1969 Mar 1, Jim Morrison
(d.1971), lead singer for the Doors, exposed himself at Dinner Key
Auditorium in Miami before 10,000 people. An arrest warrant was
issued for Morrison four days after the concert. He turned himself
in, was tried the next year and convicted on two charges. Gov.
Charlie Crist and Florida's Cabinet members pardoned Morrison of
those convictions on Dec 9, 2010.
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A13)(AP, 12/10/10)
1969 Apr 12, Simon and
Garfunkel released "The Boxer."
(www.radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3300&sid=72232d290dfd00e819b5932236c4c632)
1969 May 23, The Who released
their rock opera "Tommy."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_(album))
1969 May 31, John Lennon and
Yoko Ono recorded "Give Peace a Chance" during their “Bed-In” at the
Queen Elizabeth’s Hotel in Montreal.
(http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/lyrics2/givepeace.html)
1969 Jun 7, The Johnny Cash
Show premiered on ABC from the Grand Ole Opry with special guest Bob
Dylan and regular cast: Tennessee Three, June Carter and Carter
Family, Statler Brothers, and Carl Perkins, stepping in for Luther
Perkins, who has just died accidentally in tragic fire. The series
ran through 1971.
(www.johnnycashonline.com/biography)
1969 Jun 7, Tommy James &
the Shondells released "Crystal Blue Persuasion."
(www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1969.html)
1969 Jul 11, David Bowie
(b.1947), British musician, released his single “Space Oddity,"
supposedly in conjunction with the July 20 Apollo 11 moon landing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Oddity)
1969 Jun 27, The 3-day Denver
Pop Festival opened. The peak attendance was estimated at 50,000.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Pop_Festival)
1969 Jul 2, Barbra Streisand
(b.1942) opened for a 4-week engagement at the Las Vegas
International Hotel.
(www.barbrafile.com/6169.htm)
1969
Jul 3, Brian Jones (27), founder of the Rolling Stones (1962), was
found dead at the bottom of Cotchford Farm swimming pool.
(www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.4/BrianJones.html)
1969 Jul 4, "Give Peace a
Chance" by Plastic Ono Band was released in UK.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Peace_a_Chance)
1969 Jul 4, 140,000 attended
Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zeppelin & Janis Joplin.
(Maggio, 98)
1969 Jul 25, Some 70,000
attended the Seattle Pop Festival. The music festival, organized by
Boyd Grafmyrem, was held at the Gold Creek Park, Woodinville,
Washington, from July 25 to July 28, 1969.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Pop_Festival)
1969 Jul, The rock group
Mountain with Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi released their album
Windfall 4500.
(www.mp3.com/albums/17361/reviews.html)
1969 Aug 2, Bob Dylan made a
surprise appearance at the Minn. Hibbing High School 10-year
reunion.
(http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/august2.htm)
1969 Aug 15, The Woodstock
Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York. 400,000 young people
gathered at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in the Bethel hamlet of White
Lake, N.Y. for the Woodstock music festival. Wavy Gravy (Hugh
Romney) and companions from the Hog Farm Commune handled security
and ran a free kitchen and "bad trips tent." The performers included
Joan Baez; Crosby, Stills and Nash; Creedence Clearwater; the
Grateful Dead; Jimi Hendrix; the Jefferson Airplane; Janis Joplin;
Canned Heat and Ravi Shankar.
(TMC, 1994,
p.1969)(SFC,5/17/96,p.E-1)(WSJ,10/22/96,p.A20)(SFEC,1/26/97,
p.A14)(AP, 8/15/97)(SFC,10/27/97, p.C2)(SFC, 2/3/99, p.E1)
1969 Aug 16, Canned Heat
performed "Let's Work Together" live Woodstock.
(www.chromeoxide.com/canned.htm)
1969 Aug 18, Two concert goers
died at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York, one
from an overdose of heroin, the other from a burst appendix. The
Woodstock Music and Art Fair ended in Sullivan County, NY, with a
mid-morning set performed by Jimi Hendrix.
(HN, 8/18/99)(AP, 8/18/07)
1969 Aug 20, Arlo Guthrie
released "Alice's Restaurant."
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0064002/)
1969 Sep 1, John Lennon
returned his OBE medal. He said it is to protest the British
government’s involvement in Biafra, its support of the US in Vietnam
and the poor chart performance of his latest single, “Cold Turkey.”
(www.rockhall.com/inductee/john-lennon)
1969 Sep 13, John Lennon and
his wife, Yoko Ono, presented the Plastic Ono Band in concert for
the first time at the Toronto Peace Festival (Lennon's first in four
years). The 1st hit by the new group, "Give Peace a Chance," made it
to number 14 on the charts.
(www.musicdirect.com/product/83704)
1969 Sep 26, The Beatles last
album, "Abbey Road," was released in the United Kingdom. The last
hit LP for the "fab four" zoomed quickly to the #1 spot on the
charts and stayed there for 11 weeks.
(www.johnlennon.com/html/history.aspx)(HN,
9/26/99)(Beat. For., 1995, p. 58)
1969 Nov 28, The Rolling
Stones, English rock band, released its "Let It Bleed" album.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Bleed)
1969 Dec 3, Andrew Lloyd Weber
and Tim Rice offered John Lennon the role of Jesus Christ in Jesus
Christ Superstar, but the offer was withdrawn the next day.
(http://tinyurl.com/7bvup8)(http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/december3.htm)
1969 Dec 6, The Rolling Stones
staged a rock concert at the Altamount Speedway in Livermore, Ca.
for some 300,000 fans. The Stones hired the Hells Angels for
security. Fans were beaten and one person, Meredith Hunter, was
stamped and stabbed to death by a Hell's Angel during the show. Alan
Passaro (21) was tried and found not guilty because Hunter was
carrying a gun. One man drowned in a nearby canal and2 people were
crushed to death by a runaway car. The 1970 documentary film “Gimme
Shelter” was about the Rolling Stones concert at Altamount.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(AP, 12/6/99)(SFC,
6/10/00, p.B5)(SFC, 5/26/05, p.B2)
1969 Dec 14, The Jackson 5
appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Michael Jackson was 11.
(SFC, 6/14/05, p.D6)
1969 Dec 20, Peter, Paul &
Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reached #1. It was written by John
Denver in 1967.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaving_on_a_Jet_Plane)
1969 Dec 21, Diana Ross and the
Supremes make their final television appearance on The Ed Sullivan
Show, singing "Someday We'll Be Together", which would be the last
of their 12 number one singles.
(http://forums.w3oc.com/showthread.php?p=1967)
1969 The album “Trout Mask
Replica,” was released Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band.” Don
Van Vliet (d.2010 at 69) performed as Captain Beefheart and produced
the album with Frank Zappa, a high school friend from Lancaster, Ca.
(SFC, 12/18/10, p.A7)
1969 Credence Clearwater
Revival put out its "Willy and the Poorboys" LP. The cover featured
a photo of the band in front of the Duck Kee Market in Oakland.
Creedence had a hit this year with "Oh! Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi
again.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.A19)(WSJ, 7/21/99, p.CA1)
1969 The Flying Burrito
Brothers released their first album. The group included Gram Parsons
(1946-1973) and Chris Hillman (b.1944) of the Byrds, and pedal steel
guitar player Pete Kleinow (1934-2007).
(SFC, 1/16/07, p.B5)
1969 Merle Haggard (b.1937)
made a hit with his song "Okie From Muskogee" and "The Fightin’ Side
of Me."
(SSFC, 12/10/00, Par
p.7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard)
1969 The Iron Butterfly rock
group scored a hit with the 17-minute tune "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."
(SFC, 5/31/99, p.A20)
1969 The group It's A Beautiful
Day recorded "White Bird."
(SFEC, 12/19/99, DB p.41)
1969 Kenny Rogers (b.1938) made
a hit with his song "Don’t Take Your Love to Town."
(SSFC, 5/20/01, Par
p.22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Rogers)
1969 Oliver, born as William
Oliver Swofford (1945-2000), recorded the hits "Jean" and "Good
Morning Starshine."
(SFC, 2/16/00,
p.C2)(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20124)
1969 The album “The Stooges”
spent 11 weeks on the Billboard album chart peaking at No. 106. It
included the song “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” which became the group’s
signature number. The punk band formed in Michigan in 1967 and
included guitarist Ron Asheton (1948-2009), drummer Scott Asheton,
singer Iggy Pop (born as Jim Osterberg) and bassist Dave Alexander.
In 2007 Paul Trynka authored “Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed.”
(SFC, 1/8/09, p.B5)
1969 Warner Bros. released the
Bernie Krause album "In a Wild Sanctuary." It was an album of nature
oriented sounds. In 1999 Krause authored "Into a Wild Sanctuary: A
Life in Music and Natural Sound."
(SFEC, 5/16/99, BR p.4)
1969 San Francisco guitarist
Carlos Santana (b.1947) and his band recorded their first album
featuring such tunes as "Evil Ways." Other members included Jose
Chepito Areas (percussionist), Michael Carrabello (percussionist),
David Brown (bassist), Gregg Rolie (keyboardist) and Michael Shrieve
(drums). The band was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1998.
(SFC, 1/12/98,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santana)
1969 Shel Silverstein
(1930-1999) wrote the song "A Boy Named Sue," which became a hit for
Johnny Cash. Silverstein, a playwright and cartoonist, established
himself as a children's writer and published the classic "The Giving
Tree" in 1964.
(SFC, 5/11/99,
p.A19)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shel_Silverstein)
1969 Skip Spence (1946-1999),
the original drummer for the Jefferson Airplane and founding
guitarist-member of Moby Grape, recorded his folk-psychedelic solo
album, "Oar." He gave the Bay Area band, Pud, a new name - the
Doobie Brothers. He recorded the "Oar" album fresh from involuntary
commitment at New York's Bellevue Hosp. In 1999 the album "More Oar
- A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album" was released.
(SFC, 4/17/99, p.A19)(WSJ, 9/20/99,
p.A26)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Spence)
1969 Dusty Springfield
(d.1999), English pop singer, recorded her album "Dusty in Memphis."
(SFC, 3/4/99,
p.D2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Springfield)
1969 Rod Stewart (b.1945),
English singer, made his solo debut with "The Rod Stewart Album."
(USAT, 3/24/99,
p.5E)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Stewart)
1969 Neil Young (b.1945,
Canadian singer and songwriter, produced his solo album with the
title track "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere."
(WSJ, 4/28/99,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Young)
1969 Frank Zappa recorded a
song entitled "Electric Aunt Jemima" on his album Uncle Meat.
(www.tranglos.com/marek/yes/tr_146.html)
1969 In Fremont, New Hampshire,
Austin Wiggin led his 3 daughters, named The Shaggs, to record
"Philosophy of the World." The recording became an underground
legend and in 1999 RCA Victor released a CD version. Writer Irwin
Chusid devoted a chapter to the group in his 1999 book "Songs in the
Key of Z."
(WSJ, 3/2/99, p.A17)
1970 Jan 7, Woodstock, NY,
farmers sued Max Yasgur (1919-1973) for $35,000 for damages caused
by the "Woodstock" rock festival.
(www.woodstockpreservation.org/pastpresent/maxtribute.html)
1970 Feb 17, Joni Mitchell
(b.1943) held a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
(http://tinyurl.com/3etl9t)
1970 Feb 26, Beatles released
"Beatles Again," aka the "Hey Jude" album.
(www.dmbeatles.com/disk.php?disk=54)
1970 Mar 6, The Beatles
released "Let it Be" in UK.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be_(song))
1970 Mar 11, Richard L.
Spencer, tenor saxophonist and lead singer for the Winstons, was
awarded a Grammy for “color Him Father.” The DC-based band had
released the song a year earlier. The B-side of the song featured an
instrumental called “Amen, Brother.” This featured a 4-bar solo by
drummer Gregory Coleman that was copied in 1986 for the first volume
of “Ultimate Breaks and Beats.” In 1988 the break was featured on
the “king of Beats,” a 6-minute collage of hip-hop beats and other
samples released by Mantronix.
(Econ, 12/17/11,
p.145)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rIb1-EEWt0)
1970 Mar 26, Peter Yarrow
(b.1938), of the singing trio Peter, Paul & Mary, pleaded guilty
to taking "immoral liberties" with a minor, referring to an incident
between Mr. Yarrow and a 14-year old. He served 3 months in
jail; 11 years later he was pardoned by President Carter.
(http://theawarenesscenter.org/yarrow_peter.html)
1970 Apr 9, Paul McCartney
announced the official split of the Beatles.
(HN, 4/9/98)
1970 Apr 11, The Beatles' "Let
It Be" single was released in the US and quickly went to #1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be_(song))
1970 Apr 25, Freda Payne
released "Band of Gold."
(SS, 4/25/02)
1970 Apr, Melanie Safka
(b.1947) made a hit with her song "Lay Down.” It became part of her
Candles in the Rain album released in May 1970.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Safka)
1970 May 11, The song "Long
& Winding Road" by the Beatles was released in the US. It was
their last American release.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_and_Winding_Road)
1970 May 13, Beatles
movie "Let it Be" premiered.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1970 May 20, The Beatles movie
"Let it Be" premiered in Britain. The documentary film was about a
Beatles’ recording session.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, DB
p.47)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0065976/)
1970 Jun 7, The Who's Tommy was
performed at NY's Lincoln Center.
(www.bigozine2.com/archive/ARrarities/ARwhoortommy.html)
1970 Jun 13, Beatles' "Let It
Be," album went #1 & stayed #1 for 4 weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be)
1970 Jul 4, Casey Kasem
(b.1932) debuted his "American Top 40" on LA radio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Kasem)
1970 Jul 18, Arthur Brown
(b.1942), English rock singer, was arrested for stripping on stage
in Palermo, Sicily.
(www.godofhellfire.co.uk/60s.htm)
1970 Sep 18, Jimi Hendrix (27),
rock star guitarist, died in London of drug overdose. Hendrix had
performed briefly as an opening act for the Monkeys as well as
behind the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. In 1978 David
Henderson authored the biography “Scuse me While I Kiss the Sky.” In
2005 Charles R. Cross authored “Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of
Jimi Hendrix.”
(WSJ, 1/9/97, p.A8)(AP, 9/18/97)(WSJ, 4/16/99,
p.W13C)(SSFC, 8/21/05, p.F1)
1970 Sep, 19, The 1st
Glastonbury Fair attracted some 1,500 revelers. The first festival
at Worthy Farm was the Pilton Festival, mounted by Michael Eavis,
and attended by 1,500 people. The first act to perform was the group
Stackridge; the headline act was T.Rex. The larger free festival at
the summer solstice in June the next year was the first to attract
nationwide interest, and the event became an important precursor of
the later Glastonbury Festivals. In 2004 some 115,000 were expected
for what had become Britain’s biggest pop festival.
(Econ, 6/26/04,
p.61)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Festival#1970s)
1970 Sep, The Who, an English
rock band, released "See Me, Feel Me," the finale of its Tommy
album, as a single in the US.
(www.connollyco.com/discography/who/)
1970 Oct 4, Janis Joplin
(b.1943) was found dead in a seedy Hollywood motel of a heroin
overdose at age 27. Her classic songs included: "Down on Me," "Ball
and Chain," and "Piece of My Heart." In 1992 Laura Joplin authored
“Love, Janis.”
(WSJ, 1/9/97, p.A8)(SFEC, 3/16/97, Z1 p.4)(SSFC,
8/21/05, p.F1)
1970 Oct 6, Elvis Presley
recorded "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."
(http://oldies.about.com/od/elvispresleyhistory/a/elvis1970.htm)
1970 Oct, "Engine Number 9" by
Wilson Pickett (d.2006) peaked at #14 on the pop singles chart.
(www.superseventies.com/singlesbymonth70.html)
1970 Nov 6, Augustin Lara
(b.1897), Mexican composer, died. At the time of his death, Lara had
written more than 700 songs.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agust%C3%ADn_Lara)
1970 Nov 11, Stevie Wonder sang
"Heaven Help Us All" on the Johnny Cash show.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0063919/episodes)
1970 Nov 23, George Harrison
released "My Sweet Lord" in the US.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord)
1970 Nov 27, George Harrison
released his solo album "All Things Must Pass." He became the 1st
Beatle to have a solo No. 1 hit with "My Sweet Lord."
(SFC, 12/1/01,
p.D1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Must_Pass)
1970 Nov 28, "I Hear You
Knocking" by Dave Edmunds" peaked at #1 on the U.K. pop singles
chart and stayed there for seven weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Hear_You_Knocking)
1970 Nov 28, "Montego Bay" by
Bobby Bloom peaked at #8 on the pop singles chart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1970s_one-hit_wonders_in_the_United_States)
1970 Dec 21, A meeting took
place between Elvis Presley and President Nixon as Elvis sought to
get the credentials of a Federal Agent to help Nixon fight drugs.
The meeting remained secret until The Washington Post broke the
story on Jan. 27, 1972.
(AP, 1/8/07)
1970 Dec 31, Paul McCartney
filed a lawsuit to dissolve the Beatles’ partnership.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney)
1970 Dec, Derek and the
Dominos, featuring Eric Clapton, released their “Layla” album.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layla)
1970 Johnny and June Carter
Cash won a Grammy for the song "If I Were a Carpenter" written by
Tim Hardin.
(SFC, 5/16/03, p.A24)
1970 Santana made a hit with
"Oye Como Va." It was written and composed by Latin jazz and mambo
musician Tito Puente in 1963 and popularized by Santana's cover of
the song on their album Abraxas.
(SFC, 11/30/02,
p.D1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oye_Como_Va)
1970 Edwin Starr (d.2003 at
61), Nashville-born soul singer, hit No. 1 with "War."
(SSFC, 12/28/03,
p.E5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(Edwin_Starr_song))
1971 Jan 3, At the top of the
record charts: "My Sweet Lord and Isn’t It" a Pity by George
Harrison; "Knock Three Times" by Dawn; "Black Magic Woman" by
Santana; and "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson.
(www.mbgtop40.com/chartreviews/1971/week10of1971.html)
1971 Jan 15, George Harrison’s
"My Sweet Lord" was released in the UK. The US release was in 1970.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord)
1971 Jan 29, "My Sweet Lord" by
George Harrison hit #1 on UK pop chart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_No.1_Hits_of_1971)
1971 Mar 3, South African
Broadcasting Corp lifted its ban on the Beatles.
(www.southafrica.to/history/history1948.htm)
1971 Apr 23, The Rolling Stones
released their Sticky Fingers album. Following the release of Sticky
Fingers, the Stones left England after allegations by the UK Inland
Revenue service of unpaid income tax.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_Fingers)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones)
1971 Apr 29, Bill Graham
announced the close of the Fillmore in SF and the Fillmore East in
NYC along with his retirement from concert promotion. He was angered
by his perceived greed of rock bands and the anger and distrust of
his audience. He soon relented and put on shows with Led Zeppelin,
the Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, the Who and the Grateful Dead. The
final concert at Fillmore East took place on June 27.
(SFC,12/13/97,
p.A15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillmore_East)
1971 Jun 19, The song "Rainy
Days And Mondays" by the Carpenters peaked at #2 on the pop singles
chart.
(http://tinyurl.com/5caxet)
1971 Jun 19, R.C., "It's Too
Late" by Carole King peaked at #1 on the pop singles chart and
stayed there for five weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_Too_Late_(Carole_King_song))
1971 Jun 20, A 5-day
Glastonbury Fair opened at Worthy Farm near Glastonbury, England.
Arabella Spencer-Churchill (1949-2007), granddaughter of former PM
Winston Churchill, helped found the fair. It featured Hawkwind,
Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention,
and attracted some 12,000 people. Revived as a three-day festival in
1979, it had grown by 2007 to draw 153,000 people to hear acts
including Coldplay, Brian Wilson, Kaiser Chiefs and Elvis Costello.
(AP,
12/21/07)(www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/glastonbury/1971/)
1971 Jul 3, James Douglas
Morrison (b.1943), singer for the Doors rock group, died of an
apparent heart attack in Paris, France. Jim Morrison (27) was buried
at the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
(SFC, 7/4/96, p.D2)(AP, 7/3/97)
1971 Jul 6, Louis Armstrong
(b.1900), jazz and blues musician widely known as "Satchmo," died.
His innovations of early day blues and Dixieland music inspired the
swing eras of the 1920s and 1930s. He invented skat, a technique of
singing jazz improvisations. Louis spoke out against the US
government during the 1957 Little Rock, Ark. school troubles. "The
way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go
to hell." A 32 cent memorial stamp was issued by the Post Office in
1995. Armstrong smoked marijuana every day of his adult life, was
unfaithful to each of his four wives, was arrested 4 times and
consorted freely with prostitutes, pimps and mobsters. His
biographies include: "Louis Armstrong: An American Genius" by James
Lincoln Collier (1983); "Satchmo" by Gary Giddins (1988); and "Louis
Armstrong: An Extravagant Life" by Laurence Bergreen (1997). In 1999
Joshua Berrett published "The Louis Armstrong Companion."
(WSJ, 9/27/95, p.A-16)(WSJ, 6/26/97, p.A16)(WSJ,
3/10/99, p.A20)
1971 Aug 1, The Concert For
Bangladesh, two benefit concerts organized by George Harrison and
Ravi Shankar, played to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square
Garden.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_Bangladesh)
1971 Aug 3, Paul McCartney
announced the formation of his group Wings.
(www.rockhall.com/inductee/paul-mccartney)
1971 Aug 31, John Lennon left
UK for NYC, never to return.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon)
1971 Sep 9, John Lennon
released his mega hit "Imagine" album in the US. It was released in
Britain on October 8. A film was made of his recording work and in
April 2000 a version titled "Gimme Some Truth" was released on DVD.
(www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1109009)
1971 John Denver (1943-1997)
released his album "Poems, Prayers and Promises," that contained the
song "Take me Home, Country Roads."
(SFC, 10/14/97,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver)
1971 John Duffey (1934-1996)
formed his Seldom Scene bluegrass group. He had played with Charlie
Waller and the Country Gentlemen.
(SFC, 12/12/96,
p.C8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seldom_Scene)
1971 Marvin Gay (1939-1984)
released his classic R&B album “What’s Going On.”
(WSJ, 11/25/06,
p.P16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye)
1971 Carole King (b.1942) won 4
Grammys for her album "Tapestry."
(SFC, 2/25/99,
p.D1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King)
1971 The rock group Three Dog
Night made a hit with "Joy to the World," written by Hoyt Axton
(1938-1999). It held the #1 slot for 6 weeks.
(SFC, 10/27/99,
p.C4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoyt_Axton)
1971 Faron Young (1932-1996),
American country music singer, made a country hit with "It’s 4 in
the Morning," written by Jerry Chessnut (b.1931).
(SFC, 12/12/96,
p.C8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Chesnut)
1971 The Electric Light
Orchestra, commonly abbreviated ELO, a symphonic rock group from
Birmingham, England, released their first of studio album. By 1986
they released 10 more and another album in 2001. The ELO was one of
the most innovative bands of the era.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Light_Orchestra)(SFC, 7/7/96,
DB p.50)
1972 Jan 27, Mahalia Jackson
(b.1911), Grammy Award winning gospel singer, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalia_Jackson)
1972 Feb 25, Wings released
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish." Paul and Linda McCartney wrote the
song in response to the events of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland
on January 30, 1972. It was soon banned by the BBC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Ireland_Back_to_the_Irish)
1972 Jun 2, Dion & the
Belmonts held a reunion concert at Madison Square Garden.
(www.softshoe-slim.com/lists/d/dion.html)
1972 Jun 3, The Rolling Stones
began their US tour and concluded it on July 26. They hired Robert
Frank to film a documentary. The result was the film "C-Blues." In
1999 Dora Loewenstein authored "The Rolling Stones: A Life on the
Road."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_American_Tour_1972)(SFEC,
4/12/98, DB p.56)(SFEM, 1/17/99, p.6)
1972 Jun 6, David Bowie,
English rock musician, released his album "The Rise and Fall of
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars."
(SFC, 8/20/98,
p.E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggy_Stardust)
1972 Jun 24, The song "I Am
Woman," by Helen Reddy, was released by Capitol Records.
(http://440.com/twtd/archives/jun24.html)
1972 Harold Melvin & the
Blue Notes released its first single, “I Miss You.” The group
included Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010), who quit the group in 1975
and embarked on a solo career in 1976. Pendergrass went on to record
5 consecutive multiplatinum albums.
(SFC, 1/14/10, p.A4)
1972 Barcelo de Carvalho, aka
"Bongo," recorded the album "Angola 72" in the Netherlands. The
music’s predominant rhythm is semba, described as the origin of
Brazil’s Samba. The album was smuggled into Angola and became very
popular but was banned by the government. It was re-released in the
US in 1997. One of its songs was featured in the 1997 French film
"When the Cat’s Away."
(SFC,10/24/97, p.E1)
1972-1975 Soul music peaked in Philadelphia. In
2004 John A. Jackson authored “A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of
Philadelphia Soul.”
(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.M3)
1973 Jan 6, “You’re So Vain”
by Carly Simon peaked in the top 10 singles.
(http://goodyoldies.com/billboard/1973.htm)
1973 Feb 2, Crocodile Rock by
Elton John peaked in the top 10 singles.
(http://goodyoldies.com/billboard/1973.htm)
1973 Mar 3, In the 15th Grammy
Awards winners included: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” sung
by Roberta Flack.
(www.metrolyrics.com/1973-grammy-awards.html)
1973 Apr 21, The song "Tie a
Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
reached the top of the charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100_number-one_hits_of_1973_%28USA%29)
1973 May 25, George Harrison
released "Give Me Love" in UK.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Me_Love_(Give_Me_Peace_on_Earth))
1973 May 29, Columbia Records
fired president Clive Davis for misappropriating $100,000 in funds.
Davis went on to start Arista records.
(http://tinyurl.com/5959o4)
1973 Jun 1, Paul McCartney
& Wings released "Live & Let Die"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_and_Let_Die_(song))
1973 Jul 21, "Bad, Bad Leroy
Brown" reached the top spot on the "Billboard" pop-singles chart,
becoming Jim Croce’s first big hit. He died in a plane crash on
September 20.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad,_Bad_Leroy_Brown)
1973 Jul 28, Bill Graham
produced a rock festival in Watkins Glen, NY, that featured the
Allman Brothers, the Band, and the Grateful Dead. The concert drew
some 650,000 people, the single largest paying crowd in concert
history.
(www.superseventies.com/watkinsglen.html)(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)
1973 Sep 15, Victor Jara
(b.1932), one of the best-known members of Latin America's "New
Song" folk movement, died. He had been arrested after the Chilean
military coup that overthrew Allende and taken to a soccer stadium
used as a detention camp. Court papers indicate Jara was tortured,
his hands smashed with rifle butts, and then was shot to death. In
2008 a court charged retired Col. Mario Manriquez in the case,
saying he was "responsible" for the death. In 2009 Jara’s body was
exhumed for a proper autopsy. Army draftee, Jose Paredes, later
described the murder and named the officers he said were
responsible. Paredes told interrogators that a lieutenant known as
"El Loco," the Crazy One, held Jara against a dressing room wall and
played Russian roulette until a bullet blasted through the singer's
skull.
(AP,
5/15/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Jara)(AP, 11/26/09)
1973 Sep 19, Gram Parsons (26),
rock band leader, died from a drug overdose at the Joshua Tree Inn,
Ca. His bands included the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers
with the young singer Emmylou Harris. Phil Kaufman hijacked Parson’s
body and burned it in Joshua Tree. In 1991 Ben Fong-Torres published
"Hickory Wind," a biography of Parsons. In 1999 the album "Return of
the Grievous Angel - A Tribute to Fram Parson" was released. In 2006
the film documentary “Fallen Angel” was produced.
(WSJ, 7/18/97, p.A13)(SFC, 9/9/98, p.E1)(WSJ,
9/20/99, p.A26)(SFC, 6/9/06, p.E5)
1973 Sep 20, Jim Croce
(b.1943), American singer-songwriter, died in an airplane crash near
Natchitoches, La., just as he was beginning to capitalize on his
success. Maury Muehleisen and four others also died as their plane
crashed into a tree while taking off for a concert in Sherman,
Texas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce)(AP,
9/20/98)
1973 Oct 9, Sister Rosetta
Tharpe (b.1915), pioneering gospel singer and recording artist,
died. She became the first great recording star of Gospel music in
the late 1930s and also became known as the "original soul sister"
of recorded music. In 2007 Gayle F. Wald authored “Shout, Sister,
Shout: The Untold story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta
Tharpe.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe)(AH, 10/07,
p.68)
1973 Oct 19, Peter Townshend
and The Who, an English rock group, released the rock opera album
"Quadrophenia."
(WSJ, 7/12/96, p.A9)
1973 Dec 5, Paul McCartney
released his "Band on the Run" album.
(www.amazon.com/Band-Run-Paul-McCartney-Wings/dp/B000002UCL)
1973 Dec 20, Bobby Darin
(b.1936), singer, died during open heart surgery in LA.
(www.history-of-rock.com/bobby_darin.htm)
1973 Don Kirshner (1934-2011)
began hosting the TV show “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” and
continued to 1982.
(SFC, 1/19/11, p.A8)
1973 David Bowie (b.1947),
English rock singer, had a hit with "Life on Mars."
(SFC, 8/9/96,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie)
1973 French singer Maxime le
Forrestier produced his song “La Maison Bleue” (The Blue House). It
was based on a house at 3841 18th St. in San Francisco, where he
lived in 1971.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=q61cFrsB9Gw)(SFC,
9/25/10, p.E1)
1973 Dr. Hook and the Medicine
Show had a hit with their song "The Cover of the Rolling Stone."
(SFEC, 6/21/98, BR p.12)
1973 Elton John (b.1947),
English singer and pianist, and lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote the
song "Candle in the Wind" as an ode to Marilyn Monroe on the album
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." The song was adopted by Elton John in
1997 for the funeral of Princess Diana.
(SFC, 9/24/97,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John)
1973 The Grateful Dead hit gold
with their album “The Adventures of Panama Red.”
(SFC, 1/13/05, p.B6)
1973 Maria Muldaur had a hit
with her song "Midnight at the Oasis."
(SFEC, 2/8/98, DB p.7)
1973 Pink Floyd released their
album "Dark Side of the Moon." It spent a record 591 weeks on the
Billboard charts.
(SFC, 6/5/97, p.E1)
1973 The Pointer Sisters of
Oakland, Ca., released their first album. June Pointer died in 2006
at age 52.
(SFC, 4/13/06, p.B7)
1973 The Stealers Wheel had a
hit with "Stuck in the Middle With You."
(SFC, 7/7/97, p.E3)
1974 Jan 3, Following
eight years of inactivity, Bob Dylan and The Band began his 2-month
concert tour in Chicago, IL. The tour was recorded and later
released as a double-LP set titled, “Before the Flood.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan_and_The_Band_1974_Tour)
1974 Feb 2, Barbra Streisand
made her 1st #1 hit, "The Way We Were."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100_number-one_hits_of_1974_(USA))
1974 Mar 2, In the 16th Grammy
Awards Roberta Flack won for the song “Killing Me Softly” &
Bette Midler won as Best New Artist. Stevie Wonder got five Grammy
Awards for his album, "Innervisions" and his hit songs, "You Are The
Sunshine of My Life" and "Superstition".
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awards_of_1974)
1974 May 18, "The Streak" by
Ray Stevens hits #1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Streak)
1974 May 25, Pam Morrison
(b.1946), wife of Door's vocalist Jim, died of drug overdose in Los
Angeles.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Courson)
1974 Jun 1, The song "Midnight
At The Oasis" by Maria Muldaur peaked at #6 on the pop singles
chart.
(http://goodyoldies.com/billboard/1974.htm)
1974 Jun 1, The song "Oh Very
Young" by Cat Stevens peaked at #10 on the pop singles chart.
(http://goodyoldies.com/billboard/1974.htm)
1974 Jul 29, Cass Elliot
(b.1941), singer (Mamas and Papas), was found dead in London from an
apparent heart attack.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot)
1974 Aug 9, Trumpeter Bill
Chase (b.1934) and 3 members of the Chase Band died in a plane crash
while enroute to a performance in Minnesota. Lead guitarist Angel
South (aka Lucien Gondron d. 1998 at 55) had struck out on his own
solo career.
(http://jazzworks.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/bill-chase-1934-1974/)
1974 Aug 16, The Ramones 1st
performed at the CBGB in NYC. Dee Dee Ramone (d.2002) had formed the
Ramones punk rock band in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens
along with Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings (aka Johnny Ramone, d.2004)
and Tom Erdelyi.
(SFC, 6/8/02, p.D4)(Econ, 9/25/04, p.100)
1974 Nov 5, The Eagles hit,
"Best of My Love", was released. It did not reach #1 spot until
March 1, 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_My_Love_(Eagles_song))
1974 Nov 8, Singer Connie
Francis (b.1938) was raped in her hotel room after a concert at the
Westbury Music Fair on Long Island, NY.
(SFC, 9/1/96, Par.
p.2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Francis)
1974 Nov 25, Nick Drake
(b.1948), English musician and composer, died from an overdose of
prescription drugs. His albums included "Five Leaves Left" (1969),
"Bryter Layter," and "Pink Moon" (1971). Paul Humphries in 1997
authored the biography "Nick Drake: A Biography."
(WSJ, 2/10/99,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake)
1974 Nov 28, John Lennon
(1940-1980) made what would become his last concert appearance at an
Elton John concert at New York's Madison Square Garden. Lennon
joined Elton John to sing "Whatever Gets You Through the Night",
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", as well as "I Saw Her Standing
There". Backstage, Lennon has a brief reunion with Yoko Ono, from
whom he'd been separated for over a year.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon)
1974 The group Abba of Sweden
won the Eurovision song contest with their song “Waterloo.”
(Econ, 5/14/05, p.57)
1974 Bob Dylan released his
album "Blood on the Tracks." In 2004 Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard
authored "A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of "Blood
on the Tracks."
(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.M4)
1974 Stan Getz, tenor sax, and
the Bill Evans Trio with Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on
drums recorded 2 sessions. A CD was re-issued in 1996 titled "But
Beautiful."
(SFEM, 7/21/96, p.4)
1974 Waylon Jennings
(1937-2002) released his “The Ramblin’ Man” album, which included
his song "Amanda."
(www.slipcue.com/music/country/countryartists/waylon.html)
1974 Billy Joel broke into the
charts with his song "Piano Man."
(USAT, 3/24/99, p.5E)
1974 Joni Mitchell released her
album "Court and Spark."
(SFEM, 11/1/98, p.6)
1974 Mocedades made a hit with
"Eres Tu."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1974 Wayne Shorter recorded his
"Native Dancer" album that featured Herbie Hancock and introduced
the Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento.
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1974 John Whelan, button
accordionist, recorded his first solo album in England: "Pride of
Wexford."
(WSJ, 3/17/97, p.A16)
1974 The German group Kraftwork
recorded "Autobahn."
(SFEC, 1/3/99, DB p.28)
1974 Greg Shaw (1949-2004),
pioneer of the independent record label, founded Bomp! Records to
release a single by the SF band the Flaming Groovies.
(SSFC, 10/24/04, p.B7)
1975 Jan 31, The 1974 song
"Mandy" by Barry Manilow (b.1943 as Barry Alan Pincus) went gold.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_%28song%29)(www.barrynet.com/bn22sngl.html)
1975 Mar 1, 17th Grammy Awards:
I Honestly Love You, Marvin Hamlisch won.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awards_of_1975)
1975 Mar 1, Eagles' "Best of My
Love" reached #1.
(www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/03/0301.htm)
1975 Mar 26, The film "Tommy"
premiered in London.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0073812/combined)
1975 Jun 1, The Rolling Stones
opened their North American Tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with Ron
Wood (b.1947) replacing Mick Taylor (b.1949) as the lead guitarist.
Other cities they played in included, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St.
Paul, Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Memphis,
Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit,
Atlanta, and Jacksonville.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_in_music)
1975 Apr 26, The top Billboard
song was "(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong
Song" by B.J. Thomas.
(www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/04/0426.htm)
1975 May 29, Melanie Janine
Brown "Scary Spice", British vocalist (Spice Girls), was born in
Leeds.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Brown)
1975 Nov 28, Wings release
"Venus & Mars/Rock Show" medley.
(http://beatles.ncf.ca/paul.html)
1975 Freddy Fender’s “Before
the next Teardrop Falls” climbed to No. 1 as did his song “Wasted
Days and Wasted Nights.” Fender had recorded Wasted Days in 1960 but
got stuck in prison in Angola, La., for 3 years for marijuana
possession.
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)
1975 Freddie Mercury (d.1991)
and the rock group Queen made a hit with "Bohemian Rhapsody." The
song became a hit a 2nd time when Mercury died. In 2002 a British
poll voted it the greatest hit of the last 50 years.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A2)
1975 Gary Stewart (28) had a
No. 1 country hit with his song "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin'
Doubles)." Stewart committed suicide in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 2003 at
age 59.
(SSFC, 12/21/03, p.A31)
1976 Jan 17, "I Write the
Songs" by Barry Manilow (b.1944) hit #1.
(http://tinyurl.com/36ufh8)
1976 Mar 26, Paul McCartney and
Wings released "Wings at the Speed of Sound" album.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_at_the_Speed_of_Sound)
1976 Apr 9, Phil Ochs (b.1940),
American protest singer and musician, committed suicide.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs)
1976 Jul 4, The Ramones, a US
punk rock group managed by Danny Fields and Linda Stein (1945-2007),
held a concert in England that sparked the young British punk scene.
(SFC, 11/2/07, p.E2)
1976 Aug 31, George Harrison
(1943-2001) was found guilty of plagiarizing "My Sweet Lord."
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0365600/bio)(http://nfo.net/calendar/aug31.htm)
1976 Nov 19, George Harrison
(1943-2001) released his album "Thirty Three & 1/3."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Three_%26_1/3)
1976 Nov 28, Bill Graham
presented the Band and guests in "The Last Waltz" at Winterland plus
a turkey dinner for the capacity crowd. The last concert of The Band
took place at Winterland and was made into a film by Martin Scorsese
that included Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and Muddy Waters.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15) (SFEC, 6/28/98, DB p.52)
1976 Nov 28, Elvis Presley
preformed a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca.
(www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/1976_nov_28.html)
1976 Gordon Lightfoot’s song
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” went to #2 on the pop charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald)
1976 The B-52 band formed in
Athens, Georgia. Cindy Wilson, Keith Strickland, Fred Schneider,
Kate Pierson and Ricky Wilson formed the band following a rum-buzzed
jam session.
(SSFC, 8/10/03, p.C10)
1976 The rock band U2 initially
formed in Dublin when Larry Mullen Jr. posted a message on a high
school bulletin board asking for fellow musicians to form a band.
Paul Hewson, David Evans, Adam Clayton and Dick Evans responded to
the ad and it was at this stage along with Larry Mullen Jr. that the
band 'Feedback' was formed.
(WSJ, 12/28/04,
p.D8)(http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~omzig/u2_the_band.htm)
1977 Mar 26, Elvis Costello
released his 1st record "Less Than Zero."
(www.pugetsoundradio.com/forum/b-radiohistory/m-1174918300/)
1977 Apr 26, NY's famed disco
Studio 54 opened. It closed in March, 1986.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_54)
1977 May 9, Pink Floyd opened a
2-night stand at the Oakland Coliseum.
(http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/pink-floyd-concert/2923-5541.html)
1977 Jun 11, ELO’s "Telephone
Line" reached #7 in the US, giving the band its first gold single.
(http://private.peterlink.ru/vlad/dates70.htm)
1977 Aug 16, Elvis Presley
(b.1935), The "King" of rock-n-roll, died in the upstairs bedroom
suite at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn. of a drug overdose at
42. Elvis died of heart failure after years of substance abuse. In
1994 Peter Guralnick published "Last Train to Memphis," the first of
a 2-part biography on Elvis. In 1998 Guralnick published "Careless
Love." More than 150 books were in print on Elvis in 1997. In 1998
Ernest Jorgensen published "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music. The
Complete Recording sessions."
(SFEC, 2/9/97, Par p.7)(SFEC, 8/3/97, DB
p.33)(AP, 8/16/97)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.D7)(WSJ, 1/7/98, p.W1)
1977 Aug 20, The song "Best of
My Love", by the Emotions, topped the US pop charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_My_Love_(The_Emotions_song))
1977 Nov 5, Guy Lombardo
(b.1902), Canada-born orchestra leader, died in Houston, Texas.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0518456/)
1977 Dec 7, Peter Carl Goldmark
(b.1906), Hungarian-born engineer, died in the US. He developed the
first commercial color television and the long-playing phonograph
record. Goldmark's LP records were introduced by Goddard Lieberson
(1911-977), who later became president of Columbia Records
(1956-1971 and 1973-1975).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carl_Goldmark)
1977 The Bee Gees released
their "Saturday Night Fever" album. The group included twins Maurice
(d.2003) and Robin Gibb, older brother Barry and younger brother
Andy.
(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.A2)
1977 The British punk group
Clash released its 1st single "White Riot."
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A2)
1978 Jan 1, US copyright law of
2007 held that the rights to songs written before this date expire
75 years after they were published. US songs written after 1978
would hold their copyright for 50 years after the death of the
songwriter.
(WSJ, 10/30/97,
p.B1,11)(www.pdinfo.com/copyrt.htm)
1978 Jan 21, The Bee Gees'
"Saturday Night Fever" album, released in November, 1977, went #1
for 24 weeks following the release of the Saturday Night Fever film
in Dec 1977.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number-one_albums_of_1978_(U.S.))
1978 Apr 26, A version of Mark
Twain’s "The Prince and the Pauper" appeared on TV with former
Beatle, Ringo Star.
(www.guba.com/watch/2000907534)(440 Int’l.,
4/26/97, p.3)
1978 Jun 9, The Rolling Stones'
"Some Girls" album was released. Shortly after, some of the girls on
the LP's cover--Lucille Ball, Raquel Welch, Liz Taylor--threatened
to sue. After several months, Atlantic caved in and changed the
cover.
(www.nolifetilmetal.com/rollingstones.htm)
1978 Jul 15, Bob Dylan
performed before some 200,000 fans at Blackbushe Airport, England,
in the largest open-air concert audience at the time (for a single
artist).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbushe_Airport)
1978 Jul 24, The Beatles’
animated film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" premiered in
the US.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0078239/)
1978 Aug 11, “Le Freak” by Chic
was released. In October it topped the US hot 100 chart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C'est_Chic)
1978 Sep 7, Keith Moon
(b.1946), English drummer for "The Who" rock group, died of drug OD
at 31.
(SFC, 10/17/96,
E3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Moon)
1978 Sep 16, The Grateful Dead
performed at the Great Pyramid of Giza. Hanza El Din (1930-2006),
Nubian oud virtuoso, first played with the Grateful Dead.
(SFC, 5/26/06,
p.B9)(www.archive.org/details/gd78-09-16.sbd.orf.2319.sbeok.shnf)
1978 Oct 12, Nancy Spungen
(b.1958), girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was found
dead on the bathroom floor of their NYC hotel room.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Spungen)
1978 Oct 23, CBS raised long
playing vinyl album prices to $8.98.
(http://www.440.com/twtd/archives/oct23.html)
1978 Oct 23, Maybelle Carter
(b.1909), Virginia-born country singer, died in Nashville, Tenn. She
was a member of the original Carter Family, which was formed in 1927
by her brother-in-law, A. P. Carter, who was married to her cousin,
Sara, also a part of the trio.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybelle_Carter)
1978 Dec 2, Streisand and
Diamond's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," went #1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Don't_Bring_Me_Flowers)
1978 Plastic Bertrand, Belgian
musician, made a hit with "Ca Plane Pour Moi."
(SFC, 11/30/02,
p.D1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Bertrand)
1978 Jello Biafra (b.1958),
born as Eric Reed Boucher in Boulder, Colo., moved to San Francisco,
took on a new name and co-founded the Dead Kennedys, a punk band
that soon played at the Mabuhay Gardens.
(SFC, 6/14/08, p.E3)
1978 Devo, a new wave band from
Akron, Ohio, recorded "Are We Not Men?" The group played on the
theme of de-evolution and was led by Mark Mothersbaugh.
(SFEC, 9/27/98, DB p.41)
1978 Molly Hatchet, a Southern
rock band, went platinum with their self-titled album. Lead singer
Danny Joe Brown died in 2005 at age 53.
(SFC, 3/15/05, p.B5)
1978 Waylon Jennings and Willie
Nelson made a hit with their duet: "Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies
Grow Up to Be Cowboys."
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A2)
1978 Billy Joel (b.1949),
American singer, recorded his song “My Life.” It became the theme
song for the TV sitcom “Bosom Buddies,” (1980-1982).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joel)
1978 Nicolette Larson (d.1997
at 45) recorded "Lotta Love" by Neil Simon. She was named best
female singer by Rolling Stone magazine.
(SFC,12/18/97, p.C16)
1978 Los Lobos released their
first album: "Just Another Band from East L.A."
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.20)
1978 The Plasmatics punk band
made their debut in New York City clubs. Wendy O. Williams (d.1998
at 48), the lead singer, was charged a number of times for simulated
sex acts on stage.
(SFC, 4/8/98, p.B2)
1978 Charles Sawtelle (d.1999
at 52) helped found the Hot Rize bluegrass group, named after an
ingredient in the Martha White Self-Rising Flour. The Hot Rize
product had been promoted for years by bluegrass legends Lester
Flatt and Earl Scruggs.
(SFC, 3/25/99, p.C3)
1978 The Sex Pistols performed
at Winterland in San Francisco and broke up shortly after.
(SFC, 6/9/96, DB p.34)
1978 The Rockets, a Texas blues
band, was founded by guitarist Anson Funderburgh. The group was
joined by Sam Myers in 1986.
(SFEC,11/2/97, DB p.17)
1978 The Cuban jazz band
Irakere performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR
p.42)(www.apassion4jazz.net/newport.html)
1979 Jan 9, The Bee Gees
performed “Too Much Heaven,” released in late 1978, as their
contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. It became part of their
13th album and topped the record charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Much_Heaven)
1979 Jan 9, ABBA performed
"Chiquitita" at the Music for UNICEF Concert held at the United
Nations General Assembly to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the Child.
ABBA donated the copyright of this worldwide hit to the UNICEF; see
Music for UNICEF Concert. The single was released the following
week, and reached #1 in ten countries.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABBA)
1979 Feb 2, John Simon Ritchie
(b.1957), better known as Sid Vicious, the bassist for the British
Sex Pistols rock group, overdosed from heroin in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Vicious)
1979 Mar 23, Paul McCartney and
Wings released "Goodnight Tonight."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Tonight)
1979 Apr 9, The 51st Academy
Awards were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA. "Deer
Hunter" won as the best film. Jon Voight won as best actor in
“Coming Home.” Jane Fonda won as best actress in “Coming Home.” Lacy
J. Dalton won the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Female
Vocalist Award.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_Academy_Awards)(SFC, 7/7/96, DB
p.28)(SFC, 3/20/02, p.D1)
1979 Apr 24, The hit song
"Georgia on My Mind," written in 1930 with lyrics by Stuart Gorrell
and music by Hoagy Carmichael, was declared the state song of
Georgia. Georgia-born singer Ray Charles (1930-2004) made the song
famous.
(www.promotega.org/vsu00011/georgia_book.htm)
1979 May 1, Elton John and Ray
Cooper performed the first of 5 concerts in Israel. They performed 3
times in Jerusalem and twice in Tel Aviv ending in Tel Aviv on May
6.
(www.vex.net/~paulmac/elton/ej1979.html)
1979 May 5, The recording "In
The Navy" by The Village People reached #9 on the pop singles chart.
(www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?chart=1166)
1979 May 19, The recording
"Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" by The Jacksons peaked at #5
on the pop singles chart.
(www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?artist=8900)
1979 Jun 1, Paul McCartney and
Wings released "Old Siam, Sir” on its Back to the Egg album,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Siam,_Sir)
1979 Jun 7, Rocker Chuck Berry
(b.1926) was charged with tax evasion. He performed at the White
House at the request of President Jimmy Carter on June 1. A month
later he began a five-month sentence for income tax evasion.
(www.rockhall.com/inductee/chuck-berry)(http://tinyurl.com/3aqzze)
1979 Jul 6, The B-52s, a New
Wave band based in Athens, Georgia, released "Planet Claire."
(SFEC, 1/3/99, DB
p.29)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_B-52's_(album))
1979 Jul 12, Pop singer Minnie
Riperton (b.1947), famed for her three-octave range, died of cancer.
”Lovin’ You,” Riperton’s international blockbuster, topped the
Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. She was a member of Stevie Wonder's
backup group, Wonderlove, in 1973.
(http://tinyurl.com/dd5q3)
1979 Aug 10, Michael Jackson
(21) launched his solo career with “Off the Wall.”
(WSJ, 6/8/05,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_the_Wall)
1979 Aug 18, In Los Angeles
singer Nick Lowe married singer Carlene Carter, the stepdaughter of
Johnny Cash.
(http://tinyurl.com/2s4gxj)
1979 Aug 20, Bob Dylan
proclaimed his new born-again Christianity with his album "Slow
Train Coming." The album won a Grammy award.
(SFEC, 9/28/97,
p.A3)(www.bobdylan.com/albums/slowtrain.html)
1979 Sep 18, The Who played the
5th of their 5 concerts at Madison Square Garden.
(www.thewholive.de/konzerte/zeige_konzert.php?GroupID=1&Status=0&Jahr=1979)
1979 Oct, The Sugar Hill Gang
released "Rapper's Delight," later claimed as the beginning mark for
the Hip-Hop culture.
(SFC, 8/18/99,
p.D3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper's_Delight)
1979 Dec 3, In Ohio 11 people
were killed in a crush of fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum,
where The Who, a British rock group, was performing.
(AP, 12/3/97)(HN, 12/3/98)
1979 Doug Fieger (1952-2010),
leader of the power pop band The Knack, sang on the hit "My
Sharona." Fieger, a Detroit-area native, formed The Knack in Los
Angeles in 1978.
(AP,
2/15/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Fieger)
1979 Elmo and Patsy of Sonoma,
Ca., (the Homestead Act) recorded "Grandma Got Run Over by a
Reindeer." The lyrics were written by Randy Brooks of San Francisco
and it was first played on KSFO radio. In 1984 it topped the
yuletide record charts for the 2nd year in a row.
(SSFC, 12/6/09, DB p.50)
1979 The song "We Are Family"
by Sister Sledge became a hit. It was made the theme song for the
1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Family_%28song%29)
1979 The British punk group
Clash released its “London Calling” album.
(WSJ, 12/21/04, p.D8)
1980 Jan 16, Paul McCartney was
arrested in Tokyo for marijuana possession. He was released and
deported on Jan 25.
(www.taima.org/en/hemplib3.htm#mccartney)
1980 May 18, Ian Curtis
(b.1956), English rock vocalist (Joy Division), committed suicide.
His death was later ruled as accidental.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Curtis)
1980 Jul 2, Grateful Dead's Bob
Weir (b.1947) & Mickey Hart (b.1943) were arrested in San Diego
for suspicion of inciting a riot following their interference in a
drug related arrest.
(www.eskimo.com/~recall/bleed/0702.htm)
1980 Sep 22, John Lennon signed
with Geffen Records. The Lennon LP, "Double Fantasy", was released
on Geffen. Lennon was assassinated on December 8, 1980.
(www.jpgr.co.uk/k99131.html)
1980 Oct 27, Steve Peregrin
Took (b.1949), English musician (T-Rex) born as Stephen Ross Porter,
died when he choked on a cocktail cherry.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Peregrin_Took)
1980 Dec 8, John Lennon,
musician and one of the Beatles, was shot and killed by Mark David
Chapman outside his New York City apartment building. Chapman was a
schizophrenic with the delusion that he himself was John. In 1984
Prof. Jonathan M. Wiener wrote a book on Lennon and later got the
FBI to surrender its secret files on Lennon.
(SFC, 9/25/97, p.A2)(AP, 12/8/97)
1980 Dec 14, Fans around the
world paid tribute to John Lennon, six days after he was shot to
death in New York City.
(AP, 12/14/98)
1980 The grunge rock group
Alice in Chains produced their debut album "Facelift." One track was
titled "We Die Young." In 2002 Layne Staley (34), lead singer for
Alice in Chains, was found dead in Seattle with obvious signs of
drug use.
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A28)
1980 Jim Carrol (1949-2009)
released his first album “Catholic Boy.” The single “People who
Died” became a punk classic.
(SFC, 9/16/09, p.D5)
1981 Feb 6, Beatles McCartney,
Starr & Harrison recorded "All Those Years Ago," a tribute to
John Lennon.
(www.440.com/twtd/archives/feb06.html)
1981 Feb 9, Bill Haley
(b.1925), vocalist (Rock Around Clock), died of heart attack. Haley
was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1987.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haley)
1981 Feb 19, George Harrison
was ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious
plagiarism" in "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine." The word
plagiarism derives from Latin roots: plagiarius, an abductor; and
plagiare, to steal. An example of plagiarism would be copying
this definition and pasting it straight into a report. Plagiarism is
a very ancient art. Shakespeare stole most of his historical plots
directly from Holinshed. Laurence Sterne and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
were both accused of plagiarism. Oscar Wilde was repeatedly accused
of plagiarism, hence the celebrated exchange with Whistler: "I wish
I'd said that, James." "Don't worry, Oscar, you will."
(http://digital-law-online.info/cases/221PQ490.htm)(Nature News from
Jake Sigg, 9/10/09)
1981 May 11, Bob Marley (36),
Jamaican reggae artist, died of brain cancer in Miami.
(AP, 5/11/97)(SFEC, 2/14/99, p.T7)
1981 May 25, Roy James Brown
(b.1925), RB singer, died of a heart attack. His hits included “Good
Rockin' Tonight” (1947).
(http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Roy%20Brown:1927000246:page=biography)
1981 Jun 5, George Harrison's
"Somewhere in England" album was released.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somewhere_in_England)
1981 Jul 16, Singer Harry
Chapin (38) was killed when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer
on New York’s Long Island Expressway.
(AP, 7/16/01)
1981 Aug 1, The US rock music
video channel MTV, founded by Bob Pittman, made its debut. The first
music video shown on the rock-video cable channel was, "Video Killed
the Radio Star", by the Buggles. In 2007 Saul Austerlitz authored
“Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video From the Beatles to
the White Stripes.”
(WSJ, 3/24/97, p.B1)(AP, 8/1/97)(SSFC, 3/18/07,
p.M2)(Econ, 11/22/08, p.78)
1981 Aug 24, Mark David Chapman
(b.1955) was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for
the murder of rock star John Lennon.
(AP,
8/24/97)(www.jfkmontreal.com/john_lennon/app_c_sentencinghearing.htm)
1981 Sep 19, Simon &
Garfunkel reunite for a NYC Central Park concert.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_and_Garfunkel)
1981 Nov 5, Dr. George
Nichopoulas of Tennessee was acquitted of over prescribing addictive
drugs for Elvis Presley.
(http://tinyurl.com/397gkf)
1981 Dec 12, "Waiting For A
Girl Like You" by Foreigner hit #1 on the pop singles chart and
stayed there for 3 weeks.
(www.rockonthenet.com/artists-f/foreigner.htm)
1981 Dec 27, Hoagy Carmichael
(b.1899), US actor, songwriter (Stardust), died in California at age
82. His songs included "Stardust" and over 600 other melodies.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A24)(SFC, 11/25/99,
p.C22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagy_Carmichael)
1981 Duran Duran released its
self-titled debut, which featured the hits "Planet Earth" and "Girls
on Film." Members included Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor,
Simon Le Bon and Andy Taylor.
(SFC, 9/18/03, p.E2)
1981 The Electric Light
Orchestra had a major hit with their song “Hold On Tight To Your
Dreams.”
(www.youtubevideos1.com/electric-light-orchestra-hold-on-tight/)
1981 Brett Gurewitz, guitarist,
founded Epitaph Records. Epitaph's breakthrough came with the
phenomenal success of such California-bred, neo-punk bands as the
Offspring and Rancid in the mid-'90s. In 1999 Epitaph's sister label
Anti- signed Tom Waits (b.1949).
(Reuters, 1/19/07)
1982 Feb 1, Top hits
included: Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) Daryl Hall and John
Oates; Waiting for a Girl Like You Foreigner; Hooked on Classics The
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; The Sweetest Thing I’ve Ever Known
Juice Newton.
(440 Int'l, 2/1/1999)
1982 Feb 21, Murray Kaufman
(b.1922), NYC DJ also known as Murray the K, died. During the early
days of Beatlemania, he was frequently referred to as "the Fifth
Beatle."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_the_K)
1982 Mar 26, Paul McCartney and
Stevie Wonder released "Ebony & Ivory" in the UK.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1982 Apr 26, Popular music of
the day included: "I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll" Joan Jett and the
Blackhearts; "We Got the Beat" by the Go-Go’s" "Chariots of Fire" by
Vangelis; and "Crying My Heart Out over You" by Ricky Scaggs.
(440 Int’l. Internet, 4/26/97, p.1)
1982 Apr 26, Rod Stewart was
mugged. A gunman stole his $50,000 Porsche.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_music)
1982 Jun 1, The Rolling Stones
released their "Still Life" album.
(www.amazon.com/Still-Life-Rolling-Stones/dp/B0000084AS)
1982 Jul 2, DeFord Bailey
(b.1899), harmonica wizard and star of the Grand Ole Opry, died. He
was the first black musician to join the Opry’s regular cast.
(AH, 10/07,
p.74)(www.pbs.org/deford/timeline/index.html)
1982 Aug 28, LeAnn Rimes,
country pop singer, was born in Jackson, Miss.
(SSFC, 1/23/05, Par p.14)
1982 Nov 30, Michael Jackson
(12958-2009) released “Thriller,” his 6th studio album. It
became the best-selling album of all time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album))
1982 Dec 8, Marty Robbins,
American singer, died. His songs included “El Paso” (1959), “Devil
Woman” (1962), and “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife” (1970). He was
inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Robbins)
1983 Feb 4, Singer-musician
Karen Carpenter (32) died in Downey, Ca.
(AP, 2/4/08)
1983 Feb 26, Michael Jackson's
"Thriller" album went to #1 and stayed #1 for 37 weeks.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1983 Apr 6, Saying rock 'n'
roll bands attracted "the wrong element," Interior Secretary James
Watt declined to invite the Beach Boys to perform at a Washington
Fourth of July celebration -- a stand he later reversed.
(AP, 4/6/98)
1983 Apr 30, McKinley
Morganfield (68), better known as Muddy Waters, died at his suburban
home in Westmont, Illinois. The US blues singer and guitarist (Mad
Love) was known as the King of the Blues. The Mississippi-born
guitarist revolutionized the genre in Chicago in the 1940s and 50s
with his electric blues.
(www.muddywaters.com/bio.html)
1983 Jul 5, Harry James
(b.1916), American band leader and trumpet player, died, He is best
remembered for his hit "You Made Me Love You." In 1999 Peter J.
Levinson authored “Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_James)(SFC,
11/18/08, p.B4)
1983 Dec 28, Dennis Wilson
(b.1944), a founding member of the Beach Boys, died in a swimming
accident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wilson).
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)
1983 The Quiet Riot band
produced its Metal Health album. Their song “Cum on Feel the Noize,”
featuring lead singer Kevin DuBrow (1955-2007), was considered to be
the first metal band to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
(SFC, 11/27/07, p.B5)
1984 Jan 15, Police raided the
vacation home of Paul and Linda McCartney (1941-1998) following a
tip. Both were arrested on possession of cannabis.
(http://leftofcentrist.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html)
1984 May 8, The album "Legend,"
the greatest hits by Bob Marley (1945-1981) and the Wailers, was
released. It became the best-selling reggae record of all time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(album))
1984 Jul 12, Madonna's "Like a
Virgin" video premiered on MTV and became an instant hit.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Virgin_%28song%29)
1984 Aug 11, Percy Mayfield
(b.1920), songwriter and blues artist, died. His songs included "Hit
the Road Jack" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Mayfield)
1984 Ray Charles recorded
“Seven Spanish Angels” as a duet with Willie Nelson.
(USAT, 6/11/04, p.7A)
1984 The song "Born In The
USA," released by Bruce Springsteen, peaked at #9 in late 1984.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._%28song%29)
1985 Feb 9, Madonna's album
"Like a Virgin," released in 1984, reached #1.
(http://tinyurl.com/2vfje9)
1985 Feb 26, In the 27th Grammy
Awards Tina Turner’s "What's Love Got to Do With It" won as record
and song of the year. Cyndi Lauper won as best new artist.
(www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1985/grammys.htm)
1985 Mar 2, Country singer,
Gary Morris hit #1 on the country charts for the first time with
"Baby Bye Bye" from his album, "Faded Blue".
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1985 Mar 2, Chart Toppers:
Careless Whisper, Wham! featuring George Michael; California Girls,
David Lee Roth; Can't Fight this Feeling, REO Speedwagon; Baby Bye
Bye, Gary Morris.
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1985 May 18, "One Night In
Bangkok" by Murray Head hit #3.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1985 Jun 1, The song "Axel F"
by Harold Faltermeyer peaked at #3 on the pop singles chart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_F)
1985 Jul 13, Live Aid, an
international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and
Sydney, took place to raise money for Ethiopia and Africa's starving
people. It was organized by Bob Geldof of Ireland.
(TMC, 1994, p.1985)(AP 7/13/97)(Econ, 6/4/05,
p.56)
1985 Sep 22, Rock and country
music artists participated in FarmAid, a concert staged in
Champaign, Ill., to help the nation's farmers. The first Farm Aid
concert was held to support problems facing US farmers and their
families.
(SFEC, 10/13/96, p.A9)(AP, 9/22/05)
1985 Oct 6, Nelson Riddle,
American bandleader, died. In 2001 Peter J. Levinson (1934-2008)
authored “September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle.”
(SFC, 11/18/08,
p.B4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Riddle)
1985 Oct 28, Singer Whitney
Houston (1963-2012) performed before a sellout crowd at Carnegie
Hall.
(www.nytimes.com/1985/10/29/arts/pop-whitney-houston-in-carnegie-hall-debut.html)
1985 Dec 23, James Vance (20)
& Raymond Belknap (18), committed suicide, sparking their
families to sue rock group Judas Priest for subliminal messages. Mr.
Belknap died instantly. Mr. Vance was seriously injured and lived in
pain until his death three years later.
(http://tinyurl.com/29rwhh)
1985 Dec 31, Singer Rick Nelson
(45) and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a
DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in
Dallas.
(AP, 12/31/97)
1985 The Isley Brothers had a
No. 1 R&B hit with the gospel-inspired “Caravan of Love.”
(SFC, 6/9/10,
p.C10)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFK6q7kF9Y)
1986 Jun 7, Madonna's "Live to
Tell," single went #1.
(SC, 6/7/02)
1986 Jul 3, Rudy Vallee
(b.1901), singer (Vagabond Dreams), died.
(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4143)
1986 Aug 29, The Beatles
performed their last public concert. The San Francisco event at
Candlestick Park drew some 24,000 people.
(SSFC, 8/28/11, DB p.42)
1986 Sep 1, Paul McCartney
released his "Press to Play" album.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1986 Sep 6, Some 300 invitees
paid $5,000 to hear Barbra Streisand's benefit concert. Streisand
launched her concert One Voice, in part, as a protest against
Reagan-era nuclear arms proliferation in the late Cold War.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6urea)
1986 Oct 22, In NYC Jane
Dornacker (40), comedian, musician and traffic reporter, died after
her helicopter crashed into the Hudson River. She had moved to NYC
in 1985 after established a reputation in the SF Bay Area where her
activities included performing with her band “Leila and the Snakes.”
(SSFC, 10/23/11, DB p.42)
1987 Jan 3, At the top of the
record charts included: Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles;
Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung; Notorious by Duran Duran;
Mind Your Own Business by Hank Williams, Jr.
(www.440.com/twtd/archives/jan03.html)
1987 Jan 3, The first
woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was ‘Lady Soul’:
Aretha Franklin (b.1942). Bill Haley was among the 14 others
inducted.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin)(http://tinyurl.com/mn5j6)
1987 Feb 26, British stores
released the 1st Beatles compact discs.
(www.guardian.co.uk/thebeatles/story/0,,606496,00.html)
1987 Jul 4, Bill Graham took
Santana, the Doobie Brothers and Bonny Rait to Moscow for an
American-Soviet peace concert.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)
1987 Aug 15, Thousands of
people marched past the grave of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tenn., as
they began an all-night vigil marking the 10th anniversary of his
death.
(AP, 8/15/97)
1987 English singer Rick Astley
sang "Never Gonna Give You Up," written and produced by Stock,
Aitken & Waterman. The song was released as the first single
from Astley's multi-million selling debut album, Whenever You Need
Somebody. The song was a worldwide number-one hit, initially in the
singer's native United Kingdom in 1987, where it stayed at number
one for five weeks and was the best-selling single of that year. In
2008, Rick Astley won the MTV EMA awards for "Best Act Ever" with
the song "Never Gonna Give You Up", as a result of collective voting
from thousands of people on the internet, due to the popular
phenomenon of rickrolling.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Gonna_Give_You_Up)
1987 Feb 9, Antanas
Sabaniauskas (b.1903), Lithuania's leading pop tenor, died.
(http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanas_%C5%A0abaniauskas)
1988 Mar 10, Pop singer Andy
Gibb died in Oxford, England, at age 30 of heart inflammation.
(AP, 3/10/98)
1988 Jun 19, Michael Jackson
led a rock concert in West Berlin.
(AP, 7/30/09)
1988 Dec 16, Sylvester James
(b.1947), disco superstar, died of AIDS-related causes.
(SFC, 10/10/98,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_%28singer%29)
1989 May 25, Weird Al Yankovic
recorded "She Drives Like Crazy."
(SC, 5/25/02)
1989 Jul 2, In West Berlin,
Germany, the Love Parade festival was begun to celebrate techno
music. About 150 people cavorted down Ku’damm to the blare of techno
music from a single Volkswagen bus. It was started by the Berlin
underground at the initiative of Matthias Roeingh (also known as "Dr
Motte") and his then girlfriend Danielle de Picciotto.
(SFC, 8/18/97,
p.E4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Parade)
1989 Aug 27, Chuck Berry
performed his tune Johnny B. Goode for NASA staff in celebration of
Voyager II's encounter with the planet Neptune.
(HN, 8/27/98)
1990 Apr 12, James Brown moved
to a work-release center after serving 15 months.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1990 Apr 14, The hip-hop group
Salt-N-Pepa hit the top #40 on the pop singles chart with
"Expression."
(www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1990/04-14.htm)
1990 Apr 25, In the 25th
Academy of Country Music Awards Clint Black and Kathy Mattea won.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1990 May 19, The tune "Vogue"
by Madonna peaked at #1 on the pop singles chart.
(www.onmc.iinet.net.au/top/1990.htm)
1990 Jun 23, The tune "That's
The Way Of The World" by D'Mob with Cathy Dennis hit #1 on Billboard
magazine’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number-one_dance_hits_of_1990_(USA))
1990 Jul 13, 2 Live Crew
released "Banned in the USA."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banned_in_the_USA)
1990 Aug 27, Texan blues
guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan (35) was killed in a helicopter crash
after performing at a concert in Wisconsin.
(Reuters, 8/28/01)
1990 The grunge rock band Pearl
Jam, initially called Mookie Blaylock, formed in Seattle. Its first
album was titled “Ten.” The documentary film “Pearl Jam Twenty,”
created by Cameron Crowe, aired on PBS in 2011.
(SFC, 10/19/11, p.E3)
1991 Feb 20, Quincy Jones’
"Back on the Block" was named album of the year at the 33rd Annual
Grammy Awards.
(AP, 2/20/01)
1991 Mar 2, Serge Gainsbourg
(b.1928), French singer-songwriter, actor and director, died of a
heart attack. His extremely varied musical style and individuality
make him difficult to categorize. His legacy has been firmly
established, and he is often regarded as one of the world's most
influential popular musicians.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Gainsbourg)
1991 Mar 14, Doc Pomus
(b.1925), American blues singer and songwriter, died. He
collaborated with pianist Mort Shuman to write the hit songs:
"Teenager in Love"; "Save The Last Dance For Me"; "Hushabye"; "This
Magic Moment"; "Turn Me Loose"; "Sweets For My Sweet"; "Can't Get
Used To Losing You"; "Little Sister"; "Suspicion"; "Surrender";
"Viva Las Vegas"; and "His Latest Flame (Marie's The Name)." In 2007
Alex Halberstadt authored “Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life and
Times of Doc Pomus.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Pomus)
1991 Mar 16, A plane crash
killed 7 members of Reba McIntire's band.
(MC, 3/16/02)
1991 May 13, The album "Michael
Jackson: The Magic & the Madness" went on sale.
(SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1991 May 25, "People Are Still
Having Sex" by LaTour hit #35.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1991 Jun 1, "Silent Lucidity"
by Queensryche peaked at #5 on the pop singles chart.
(www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1991/06-01.htm)
1991 Jun 15, The song "Love Is
A Wonderful Thing" by Michael Bolton (b.1953) reached #3 on the pop
singles chart.
(www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1991/06-15.htm)
1991 Aug 15, Some 750,000
attended Paul Simon's free concert in Central Park. The event was
recorded and became available on video.
(http://tinyurl.com/rdhv8)
1991 Oct 17, Tennessee Ernie
Ford (b.1919), country singer (16 Tons), died in Reston, Va.
(AP, 10/17/01)(www.ernieford.com/Bio.htm)
1991 Nov 24, Freddie Mercury
(45), Zanzibar-born rock singer, died in London of pneumonia brought
on by AIDS. Mercury and the rock group Queen made the 1975 hit
"Bohemian Rhapsody."
(AP, 11/24/01)(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A2)
1991 Dec 4, The Judds’ final
concert took place in Nashville.
(www.wynonna.com/?em653=22855_0__0_~0_-1_3_2006_0_0&content=judds)
1991 Jon Savage (b.1953)
authored “England’s Dreaming,” a history of the Sex Pistols.
(SFC, 4/9/10,
p.C7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Savage)
1991 Perry Farrell, lead singer
of Jane's Addiction, started the alternative-rock extravaganza
called Lollapalooza.
(SFC, 8/21/03, p.E1)
1991 The American punk group
Nirvana released its “Nevermind” album.
(WSJ, 12/21/04, p.D8)
1991 The rock group Talking
Heads disbanded. The group had formed in 1974 in NYC. The band
comprised David Byrne (b.1952), Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and
Jerry Harrison, but auxiliary musicians frequently made appearances
in concert and on the group's albums.
(WSJ, 1/30/08,
p.D9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_Heads)
1991 In Australia a simple
formula of catchy children's tunes with sing-along lyrics and
entertaining dances was born when Anthony Field, Murray Cook and
Greg Page were studying to become pre-school teachers. They formed a
children's band called The Wiggles went on to become a global
cultural force. They planned to be the subject of an exhibition at
Sydney's Powerhouse Museum to celebrate their 20th year in 2011.
(AFP, 9/19/10)
1992 Feb 2, IRS and Willie
Nelson settled on $9M tax bill (of $16.7M).
(MC, 2/2/02)
1992 May 17, Lawrence Welk
(89), conductor and accordionist, died in Santa Monica, Calif.
(AP, 5/17/97)(SFC, 8/19/99, p.E2)(MC, 5/17/02)
1992 Jul 4, The song "Baby Got
Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot topped the charts and stayed there for 5
weeks.
(DataDragon)
1992 Jul 26,
Singer Mary Wells died in Los Angeles at age 49.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1992 Oct 3, Sinead O'Connor,
Irish rock singer, ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on
Saturday Night Live.
(www.notbored.org/sinead.html)
1993 Apr 23, Peter Townshend's
rock musical "Tommy," premiered in NYC.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1993 Dec 4, Frank Zappa (52),
rock musician and composer, died in Los Angeles. In 2004 Barry Miles
authored “Frank Zappa: A Biography.”
(AP, 12/4/98)(SFC, 12/25/04, p.E2)
1994 Apr 5, Kurt Cobain
(b.1967), singer-musician for the grunge band Nirvana, committed
suicide in Seattle. [see Apr 8]
(NW, 10/28/02,
p.68)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_)
1994 Apr 8, Kurt Cobain
(b.1967), singer-musician for the grunge band Nirvana, was found
dead in Seattle of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; he
was 27.
(AP, 4/8/97)(SFEC, 2/2/97, DB. p.52)
1994 May 26, Michael Jackson
and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic. The
marriage ended in 1996.
(AP, 5/26/99)
1994 Aug 12, Woodstock '94
opened in Saugerties, N.Y.
(AP, 8/12/97)
1995 Apr 14, Actor-singer Burl
Ives died in Anacortes, Wash., at age 85.
(AP, 4/14/00)
1995 Jul 5, More than 100
Grateful Dead fans were injured when a deck on which they were
gathered collapsed at a campground near Wentzville, Missouri.
(AP, 7/5/00)
1995 Aug 9, Jerry Garcia,
guitarist and lead singer of the Grateful Dead, died in San
Francisco of a heart attack at age 53. In 1999 Blair Jackson
authored "Garcia: An American Life." In 2002 Dennis McNally authored
"A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead."
(WSJ, 8/11/95, p.A7)(AP, 8/9/97)(SFEC, 8/29/99,
BR p.1)(SSFC, 8/11/02, p.M1)
1995 Sep 1, A ribbon-cutting
ceremony was held for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,
Ohio.
(AP, 9/1/00)
1995 Nov 21-1995 Nov 28, In one
week of sales, `The Beatles Anthology 1' beat sales record in the
US: 855,473 copies. Previous record: Michael Jackson's `History',
391,000 copies.
(www.4reference.net/encyclopedias/wikipedia/The_Beatles.html)
1996 May 20, The song Blue
composed by Bill Mack in 1963 for Patsy Cline was finally recorded
by 14-year-old LeAnn Rimes.
(WSJ, 8/29/96, p.B1)
1996 Jul 21, There was a review
of "Please Kill Me" by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, a historical
chronicle of the American punk-rock movement.
(SFC, 7/21/96, p.B7)
1994 Nov 30, Rapper and actor
Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) was shot five times during a robbery
outside a New York recording studio. Two days later a jury found him
guilty of sexually abusing a woman, but acquitted him of more
serious sex and weapons charges.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur#September_1996_shooting)(AP,
11/30/04)
1996 Sep 4, The Smashing
Pumpkins rock group won 7 MTV music awards including Best Video for
“Tonight, Tonight,” and Best Alternative Music Video for 1979.
(SFC, 9/5/96, p.B4)
1996 Sep. 7, Rapper Tupac
Shakur was shot on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.
(AP, 9/7/97)
1996 Sep 13, Rap star Tupac
Shakur (b.1971) died of gun shot wounds in Las Vegas after he was
wounded Sep 7 in a drive-by shooting as he was leaving a Mike Tyson
fight in Las Vegas. He had just finished filming "Gang Related"
later retitled "Criminal Intent." He was buried at Stone Mountain,
Georgia.
(SFC, 9/14/96, p.A1)(AP,
9/13/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur)
1996 Oct 14, Pop singer Madonna
gave birth to a daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon.
(AP, 10/14/97)
1996 The group Los Del Rio made
a hit with "Macarena."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
1997 Jan 1, Townes Van Zandt
(1944-1997) Texas songwriter, died. His work included the 1983 song
”Pancho and Lefty,” sung by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.
(SFC, 1/3/97, p.A26)(SFC, 1/4/97, p.E1)(WSJ,
6/25/03, p.D8)
1997 Jan 21, Irwin Levine (58),
composer (Tie a Yellow Ribbon), died in New Jersey.
(http://tinyurl.com/afxk9)
1997 Mar 9, In Los Angeles
black Gangsta rapper Christopher G. Wallace (24), The Notorious
B.I.G. or aka Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed in a drive-by
shooting. He had been accused of being involved in a 1994 robbery in
which Tupac Shakur was shot and robbed of $40,000. In 1999 Amir
Muhammad, aka Harry Billups, was named as the suspected gunman.
Muhammad was suspected to have been hired by former LAPD officer
David A. Mack. In 2005 a judge declared a mistrial when large
numbers of LAPD documents were found that hadn’t been turned over to
the court.
(SFC, 3/10/97, p.A8)(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A11)(SFC,
7/7/05, p.A3)(AP, 3/9/07)
1997 Mar 10, LaVern Baker (67),
rhythm and blues singer, died. She had been discovered as a teenager
by Fletcher Henderson in Chicago singing as "Little Miss
Sharecropper." Her hits included "Tweedle Dee," "Go Jim Dandy" and
"See See Rider."
(SFC, 3/12/97, p.A9)
1997 Apr 8, Singer and
songwriter Laura Nyro (b.1947) died in Danbury, Conn., at age 49 of
ovarian cancer. In 2012 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.
(SFC, 4/10/97, p.A23)(AP, 4/8/98)(SSFC, 4/15/12,
p.A9)
1998 Feb 6, Carl Wilson (51), a
founding member of The Beach Boys, had died in Los Angeles from
complications of lung cancer.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)(AP, 2/7/99)
1998 Feb 7, Falco (40),
Austrian born pop singer, died while on vacation in an auto crash in
the Dominican Republic. His hits included "Der Kommissar," "Rock Me
Amadeus," and "Vienna Calling."
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.D8)
1998 Feb 25, At the Grammy
Awards, Bob Dylan won best album and best contemporary folk album
for "Time Out of Mind" while Shawn Colvin won song and record of the
year for "Sunny Came Home."
(AP, 2/25/99)
1998 Apr 6, Tammy Wynette (55),
country singer, died at her Nashville, Tenn., home. Her songs
included the 1968 hit "Stand by Your Man."
(SFC, 4/798, p.A7)(AP, 4/6/99)
1998 May 12, Singer Ray Charles
and sitar master Ravi Shankar received the Polar Music Prize,
$133,000, from King Carl Gustav XVI in Sweden. The award was
established by Stig Anderson, manager of the Abba pop group.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.C5)
1998 May 14, Frank Sinatra,
singer and actor, died of a heart attack in LA at age 82. Shortly
thereafter Brian Gunn published "Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean,
Sammy, Peter, Joey & the Last Great Show Biz Party," a biography
of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and
Joey Bishop. In Dec the FBI released a 1,300 page Sinatra file that
had been put together over a 40-year period. In 2000 Tom and Phil
Kuntz edited "The Sinatra Files." In 2005 Anthony Summers and Robbyn
Swan authored “Sinatra: The Life.”
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 7/5/98, BR p.5)(WSJ,
6/13/00, p.B1)(Econ, 7/16/05, p.82)
1998 May 31, Singer Geri
Halliwell, also known as "Ginger Spice" of the Spice Girls,
confirmed she was leaving the group.
(AP, 5/31/99)
1998 Aug 20, The German
heavy-metal band Rammstein was reported to be making a hit in the US
with their "Sehnsucht" (yearning) album.
(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.B1)
1999 Mar 2, In England Dusty
Springfield (59), pop-soul singer, died from breast cancer. Her hits
included ""You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "I Just Don't Know
What to Do With Myself" and "Son of a Preacher Man."
(SFC, 3/4/99, p.D2)
1999 Mar 15, Bruce Springsteen,
Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Dusty Springfield were inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(AP, 3/15/00)
1999 cApr 12, BoxCar Willie,
country singer, died at age 67. He was born as Lecil Martin in
Starett, Texas, and spent 22 years in the Air Force.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A19)
1999 Apr 27, Al Hirt, "The King
of the Trumpet," died in New Orleans at age 76.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.C4)
1999 Jul 17, The body of
Canadian singer Fatima Kama (28) was found when a member of the
public spotted a black suitcase abandoned on the third floor of a
Heathrow Airport parking lot. Youssef Ahmed Wahid, a former Kuwait
Airways steward, was arrested within days of the discovery at his
hometown of Ramadiyeh in southern Lebanon. He reportedly denied
having anything to do with the killing, and was eventually released
and then went on the run. In 2010 authorities in Bahrain arrested
Wahid as a suspect in the case. On Oct 3, 2011, Wahid was sentenced
to at least 24 years in prison.
(AP, 8/24/10)(AP, 10/3/11)
1999 Jul 23, The 3-day
Woodstock '99 music festival began at the decommissioned Griffiss
Air Force Base in Rome, NY, with some 225,000 people. The $35-38
million production ended in chaos with hundreds of concertgoers
burning fires, looting and vandalizing.
(USAT, 7/26/99, p.1D,5D)(SFC, 7/26/99, p.E3)(SFC,
7/27/99, p.A3)
1999 Oct 6, Amalia Rodrigues
(b.1920), Portuguese actress and fado singer, died at age 79.
(SFC, 10/11/99,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A1lia_Rodrigues)
1999 Aretha Franklin (b.1942),
the Queen of Soul, authored "Aretha: From These Roots."
(SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
2000 Mar 6, Eric Clapton was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time;
among the newest honorees were James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Earth,
Wind and Fire.
(AP, 3/6/01)
2000 Mar 7, Country singer
Frank "Pee Wee" King died in Louisville, Kentucky, at age 86.
(AP, 3/7/01)
2000 Jul 26, Napster Inc. was
hit with a preliminary injunction to halt all illegal song swapping
over the Internet. A temporary stay was granted on appeal 2 days
later.
(SFC, 7/27/00, p.A1)(SFC, 7/29/00, p.A1)
2000 Jul, In Serbia’s Vojvodina
province the Exit music festival was started by three University
students from Novi Sad.
(www.southeast-europe.eu/index.php?id=780)
2001 Mar 18, John Phillips, who
co-founded the Mamas and the Papas and wrote its biggest hits,
including "California Dreamin" and "Monday," died in Los Angeles at
age 65.
(SFC, 3/19/01, p.A19)(AP, 3/18/02)
2001 Apr 15, Joey Ramone, punk
rock icon, died of cancer in NYC at age 49. The Ramones punk rock
group released their 1st album "Ramones" in 1976. Joey Ramone’s
"Don’t Worry About Me" album was released in 2002. Ramone was born
in 1951 as Jeffrey Hyman.
(AP, 4/15/02)(SFC, 4/17/01, p.C2)(WSJ, 2/22/02,
p.W7)(NW, 12/31/01, p.111)
2001 May 12, Perry Como,
singer, died at age 88 in Jupiter, Fla. His Perry Como Show ran on
TV for 15 years (1948-1963).
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A27)
2001 Jul 18, Mimi Farina,
folksinger and founder of the Bread and Roses charity, died at age
56. She was the sister of Joan Baez. She and Richard Farina
(d.1966), her 1st husband, wrote the song "Pack Up Your Sorrows."
(SFC, 7/19/01, p.A25)
2001 Oct 3, Apple introduced
the iPod, a breakthrough MP3 music player that packs up to 1,000
CD-quality songs into an ultra-portable, 6.5 ounce design that fits
in your pocket, at a cost of $399.
(www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/oct/23ipod.html)(Econ, 10/4/08, p.14)
2001 Nov 29, George Harrison
(58), lead guitarist for the Beatles, died of cancer in LA. His
ashes were scattered in the Ganges Dec 4.
(SFC, 11/30/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/4/01, p.A2)
2002 Feb 10, Dave Van Ronk,
folksinger and mentor to Bob Dylan, died in NY at age 65.
(WSJ, 2/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 27, Alicia Keys won in
5 categories at the 44th annual Grammy Awards. Train won for best
rock song: "Drops of Jupiter," U2 won for best record of the year:
"Walk On," and Various Artists won the album of the year: "O
Brother, Where Art Thou."
(SFC, 2/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 25, Lisa "Left Eye"
Lopes (30), top female singer in the trio TLC, was killed in a car
crash in Honduras. Her albums included "Crazysexycool" (1994).
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A2)(NW, 5/6/02, p.8)
2002 Jun 18, Raymond Lubow
(82), creator of the special effects Morley pedals, died. The
"Morley Man" logo was a wailing, long-haired rocker.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
2002 Jul 19, Alan Lomax (87),
musicologist and son of folklorist John A. Lomax, died in Safety
Harbor, Fla. His books included the book "The Land Where the Blues
Began." In 2010 John Szwed authored “Alan Lomax: The Man Who
Recorded the World.”
(SFC, 7/20/02, p.A20)(SSFC, 1/23/11, p.G5)
2002 Aug 14, Larry Rivers (78),
pop artist pioneer, died in Southampton, N.Y.
(AP, 8/14/03)
2002 Oct 12, Ray Conniff (85),
band leader of "easy-listening" hits, died in Escondido, Ca.
(WSJ, 10/15/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 30, DJ Jam Master Jay,
rap artist, was shot to death in Queens, NYC.
(SFC, 11/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 3, Lonnie Donegan
(71), British musician, died. His hits included "Does Your Chewing
Gum Lose its Flavor on the Bed Post Overnight" and "Rock Island
Line" which inspired John Lennon and George Harrison.
(SFC, 11/6/02, p.A34)
2002 Nov, Artisan Pictures
released "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," a tribute to the Funk
Brothers, the studio musicians behind the Motown hits. They included
pianist Earl Van Dyke, bassist James Jamerson, vibes player Jack
Ashford, and pianist Joe Hunter.
(WSJ, 11/26/02, p.D8)
2002 Dec 22, In Britain Joe
Strummer (50), singer-songwriter for Clash, died.
(SFC, 12/24/02, p.A2)
2002 The Spanish pop song
"Asereje" (The Ketchup Song), by the Munoz sisters (Lola, Lucia and
Pilar Munoz) became a hit.
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.D1)
2002 Jun, The Bonnaroo music
festival began in Manchester, Tennessee.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.31)
2002 Zach Niles, Banker White
and Chris Veland, novice American filmmakers, visited Guinea and
discovered a group of musicians in the Sembakounya Refugee Camp
called the Refugee All Stars. Members had left Sierra Leone in 1999.
Niles and White made a film of the group, which gained int’l
recognition and by 2006 organized a tour for the group in the US.
(SFC, 7/13/06, p.E1)
2002 Bill Sagan, a Minneapolis
entrepreneur, spent over $5 million to buy rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia
from the archives of Bill Graham Presents. The collection was later
found to contain audio and video recordings from 1966-1999.
(WSJ, 12/13/05, p.B1)
2003 Jan 12, Maurice Gibb (53),
member of the Bee Gees musical group, died in Miami following
surgery for a blocked intestine. The group’s work included the 1977
"Saturday Night Fever" album.
(SSFC, 1/12/03, p.A2)
2003 Jan 13, Rock musician Pete
Townshend was arrested in London on suspicion of possessing indecent
images of children. Townshend acknowledged using an Internet Web
site advertising child pornography, but said he was not a pedophile
and was only doing research for an autobiography dealing with his
own suspected childhood sexual abuse; he was eventually cleared of
possessing pornographic images of children.
(AP, 1/13/08)
2003 Feb 3, Phil Spector (62),
rock-n-roll producer, was arrested in LA for murder after Lana
Clarkson (40) was found dead in his mansion.
(SFC, 2/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 18, Johnny
Paycheck (64), American country singer, died in Nashville, Tenn. In
1977 he had a big hit with the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job
and Shove It."
(SFC, 2/20/03, A18)(AP, 2/18/04)
2003 Feb 23, In the 45th
US Grammy’s in NYC Norah Jones won 3 awards as did Bruce Springsteen
for his 9/11-inspired album "The Rising."
(SFC, 2/24/03, p.D1)
2003 Apr 22, Felice Bryant
(77), bluegrass song writer, died in Gatlinburg, Tenn.. She and her
late husband wrote such tunes as "Bye Bye Love" and other Everly
Brothers hits and "Rocky Top" (1968).
(SFC, 4/23/03, A21)(AP, 4/22/08)
2003 May 15, June Carter Cash
(73), the Grammy-winning scion of one of country music's pioneering
families and the wife of Johnny Cash, died of complications from
heart surgery.
(AP, 5/16/03)
2003 Jul 16, Celia Cruz (77),
Cuban-born Latin music singer, died in Fort Lee, NJ.
(SFC, 7/17/03, p.A21)
2003 Sep 7, Warren Zevon (56),
songwriter, died in West Hollywood. His work included the 1970s rock
hit "Werewolves of London."
(AP, 9/8/03)(WSJ, 9/9/03, p.D6)
2003 Sep 8, The Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA), the music industry's largest
trade group, filed 261 copyright lawsuits across the country against
Internet users for trading songs online.
(SFC, 9/9/03, p.A1)(AP, 9/8/08)
2003 Sep 12, Johnny Cash (71),
singer, died. His rough, unsteady voice championed the downtrodden
and reached across generations with songs like "Ring of Fire," "I
Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues."
(AP, 9/12/03)(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)
2003 Sep 14, Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, the US military commander in Iraq, authorized the use of
loud rock music, "to create fear, disorient ... and prolong capture
shock." The tactic became common in the US war on terror, with
forces systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in
Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
(AP, 12/10/08)
2003 Nov 5, Bobby Hatfield
(63), the tenor half of The Righteous Brothers, who made "You've
Lost That Lovin' Feeling" a worldwide hit, was found dead in a
Kalamazoo, Mich., hotel. An autopsy revealed that his death was
triggered by acute cocaine intoxication.
(AP, 11/6/03)(SFC, 1/8/04, p.E5)
2003 Nov 20, Michael Jackson
turned himself over to police in Santa Barbara, Ca., on an arrest
warrant alleging multiple counts of child molestation. He posted a
$3 million bail bond. Jackson was later acquitted at trial.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2003 Nov 21, Teddy Randazzo
(68), songwriter, died. His hits included "Goin' Out of My Head,"
"Hurt So Bad," and I'm On the Outside (Looking In)."
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E10)
2003 Dec 12, In London,
England, Mick Jagger (b.1943) of the Rolling Stones was knighted.
(SFC, 12/13/03, p.A2)
2003 Dec 18, Michael Jackson
was formally charged with child molesting and administering an
intoxicating agent.
(WSJ, 12/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 21, Dave Dudley (75),
pioneer of truck-driving country songs, died. His hits included "Six
Days on the Road."
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E10)
2003 Anthony Bozza authored
"Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem." Eminem, born
as Marshall Mathers (aka Slim Shady), shopped his 1st demo record in
1997.
(WSJ, 10/30/03, p.W8)
2003 Luke Crampton and Dafydd
Rees authored "Rock & Roll Year by Year."
(SSFC, 11/16/03, BR p.10)
2003 Arthur Kempton authored
"Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music."
(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.M6)
2003 Gordon Sumner, better
known as Sting, authored "Broken Music: A Memoir."
(Econ, 12/13/03, p.83)
2003 Amy Winehouse (b.1983),
British pop singer, released her first album, “Frank.” Her 2nd
album, “Back to Black,” came out in 2006.
(Econ, 7/30/11, p.53)
2004 Jan 21, The recording
industry sued 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing
songs over the Internet.
(AP, 1/21/05)
2004 Feb 1, In Texas a breast
belonging to entertainer Janet Jackson escaped after singer Justin
Timberlake ripped off one of her chest plates during the halftime
Super Bowl performance in Houston. New England Patriots fans turned
rowdy after their team's 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers.
(AP, 2/1/04)(SFC, 2/2/04, p.A2)(Econ, 2/7/04,
p.55)
2004 Mar 15, The Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame inducted Prince, Bob Seger, Jackson Browne and George
Harrison along with ZZ Top, Traffic and the Dells.
(SFC, 3/16/04, p.A2)
2004 Mar 26, Jan Berry (62),
pioneering California rock musician, died in LA. He rode the wave of
the surf music trend in the 1960s as one half of the popular duo Jan
& Dean.
(Reuters, 3/28/04)
2004 Jun 10, Ray Charles
(b.1930), rhythm ‘n’ blues piano player and singer best known for
"Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind," died in Beverly Hills.
(USAT, 6/11/04, p.1A)
2004 Aug 6, Rick James (56),
Funk legend born as James A. Johnson, died. He was best known for
the 1981 hit "Super Freak" before his career disintegrated amid drug
use and violence that sent him to prison.
(AP, 8/6/04)(SFC, 8/7/04, p.B7)
2004 Aug 26, Laura Branigan
(b.1957), a Grammy-nominated pop singer best known for her 1982
platinum hit "Gloria," died.
(AP, 8/29/04)(SFC, 8/30/04, p.B4)
2004 Sep 15, Johnny Ramone
(55), guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band "The
Ramones," died of cancer in Los Angeles.
(AP, 9/16/04)(Econ, 9/25/04, p.100)
2004 Sep 22, The FCC fined CBS
$550,000 for Janet Jackson’s Feb 1 breast exposure.
(SFC, 9/23/04, p.A7)
2004 Nov 13, Russell Jones,
better know as rapper O.D.B. (old dirty bastard) died at age 35
inside a NYC recording studio.
(SFC, 11/15/04, p.B3)
2004 Nov 19, Terry Melcher
(62), record producer and son of Doris Day, died. He co-wrote the
Beach Boy song “Kokomo” and produced his mother’s “The Doris Day
Show” (1968-1972).
(SSFC, 11/21/04,
p.A25)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Melcher)
2005 Jan 11, Spencer Dryden
(66), former drummer for the Jefferson Airplane (1967-1970), died in
Petaluma, Ca. Dryden also played with the Grateful Dead (1971-1978),
whose albums included “The Adventures of Panama Red” (1973).
(SFC, 1/13/05, p.B6)
2005 Feb 8, Keith Knudsen (56),
Doobie Brothers drummer who was part of the band during a string of
hits that included "Taking it to the Streets" and "Black Water,"
died of pneumonia.
(AP, 2/9/05)
2005 Feb 13, Ray Charles' final
album, "Genius Loves Company," won a leading eight Grammy awards,
including album of the year, record of the year for "Here We Go
Again" with Norah Jones, and pop vocal album.
(AP, 2/14/05)
2005 Mar 2, Martin Denny,
creator of the tiki lounge music called “exotica,” died in Honolulu.
His 38 albums reflected a fusion of Asian, South Pacific, American
jazz , Latin American and classical music.
(SFC, 3/8/05, p.B5)
2005 Mar 9, Chris LeDoux (56),
rodeo star and country singer, died in Wyoming from complications of
liver cancer.
(SFC, 3/10/05, p.B7)
2005 Apr 13, Johnie Johnson
(b.1924), pianist who worked with Chuck Berry, died in St. Louis.
Johnson had initially hired Berry as a replacement in his
rhythm-and-blues trio.
(SFC, 4/16/05, p.B4)
2005 Jun 22, Consuelo Velazquez
(b.1916), Mexican pianist and composer, died. Her music included
Besame Mucho, first recorded in 1941 by Emilio Tuero. It was the
romantic vision of a chaste, convent-educated teenager growing up in
1930s Mexico, and was inspired by the sight of a smooching couple in
the street.
(www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/jan/26/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1)
2005 Jul 25, Sony BMG Music
Entertainment agreed to pay $10 million to non-profit entities and
to stop paying radio stations to feature its artists. A 1960 federal
law barred record companies from offering payola, undisclosed
financial incentives for airplay.
(SFC, 7/26/05, p.D3)
2005 Nov 5, Link Wray (b.1929),
North Carolina-born rock guitar master, died in Denmark. His hits
included the 1958 instrumental “Rumble” and 1959 “Rawhide.” Wray was
three-quarters Shawnee and was said to have inspired many other rock
musicians.
(SFC, 11/22/05, p.B4)
2005 Nov 22, Winners were
announced at the 33rd annual American Music Awards in LA. In the
Pop-Rock category winners included Male artist: Will Smith; Female
artist: Gwen Stefani; Band, duo or group: The Black Eyed Peas;
Album: "American Idiot," Green Day.
(AP, 11/23/05)
2005 Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a
single mother from Minnesota, was accused of sharing 24 songs using
KaZaA, an Internet file sharing program. In 2007 a jury ruled
against her and awarded record companies almost $10,000 per song in
statutory damages. She was found guilty again in a 2nd trial in 2009
in which the jury awarded damages of $80,000 per song.
(Econ, 9/5/09, TQ p.4)
2006 May 19, Freddie Garrity
(69), lead singer of the 1960s British pop band Freddie and the
Dreamers, died in Wales.
(AP, 5/19/07)
2006 Jun 2, Vince Welnick (55),
Grateful Dead pianist, died in California of apparent suicide. He
had taken over as the Grateful Dead's keyboard player in 1990 after
a succession of predecessors met untimely deaths.
(Reuters, 6/4/06)(SSFC, 6/4/06, p.B6)
2006 Jul 7, Syd Barrett (60), a
founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died at his home in
Cambridge, England. The band’s first album was “The Piper at the
Gates of Dawn.”
(Reuters, 7/11/06)(SFC, 7/12/06, p.B7)(Econ,
7/22/06, p.83)
2006 Aug 3, Arthur Lee (61),
rock pioneer, died in Memphis. He fronted the band Love and
established himself as the 1st black rock star in the post Beatle’s
era. The group’s debut album, “Love,” was the 1st rock record
released by Electra Records.
(SSFC, 8/6/06, p.B6)
2006 Sep 23, Etta Baker (93),
blues guitarist, died in Fairfax, Va. In 1991 she won a Folk
Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her
albums included a 2004 recording with Taj Mahal.
(SFC, 9/26/06, p.D6)
2006 Oct 14, Freddy Fender
(b.1937), Tex-Mex singer born as Baldemar Huerta, died in San
Benito, Texas. His hit songs included “Wasted Days and Wasted
Nights” and “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (1975).
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)
2006 Nov 20, Dirk Dirksen
(b.1937), the godfather of San Francisco punk rock, died. He moved
to SF in 1974 and soon began presenting late-night events at the
Mabuhay Gardens in North Beach, where punk rock found a home.
(SFC, 11/22/06, p.B7)
2006 Dec 14, Ahmet Ertegun
(83), the founder of Atlantic Records, died. He helped define
American music on the label that popularized the gritty R&B of
Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin and the British
rock of the Rolling Stones. In 2011 Robert Greenfield authored “The
Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun.”
(AP, 12/15/06)(SSFC, 11/27/11, p.F4)
2006 Dec 25, James Brown
(b.1928), the dynamic "Godfather of Soul," died early Christmas. His
revolutionary rhythms, rough voice and flashing footwork influenced
generations of musicians from rock to rap. His 1965 song “I Got You
(I Feel Good)” is considered one of the all-time greatest in rock’s
cannon.
(AP, 12/25/06)(SFC, 12/26/06, p.A7)
2006 Dubstep was born out of
drum'n'bass and the 2-step UK garage movement which propelled Craig
David to fame. Pioneering producers Skream and Hatcha helped define
the early dubstep sound while working at the Big Apple Records
record shop in Croydon. In 2011 it dubstep completed its journey
from quirky curiosity to commercial success story earlier when DJ
Fresh's "Louder" hit the top of the UK singles chart.
(AFP, 7/27/11)
2006 British singer Amy
Winehouse (1983-2011) shot to fame with the album "Back to Black,"
whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It
won five Grammys and made Winehouse, with her black beehive hairdo
and old-fashioned sailor tattoos, one of music's most recognizable
stars.
(AP, 7/24/11)
2007 Jan 6, Pete Kleinow, film
effects artist and guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers, died
in Petaluma, Ca.
(SFC, 1/16/07, p.B5)
2007 Jan 16 Pookie Hudson (72),
lead singer for the Spaniels doo-wop group, died in Capitol Heights,
Md.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2007 Jan 19, Denny Doherty
(66), one-quarter of the 1960s folk-rock group the Mamas and the
Papas, died at his home in Ontario, Canada. The group was known for
their soaring harmony on hits like "California Dreamin’" (1966) and
"Monday, Monday."
(AP, 1/19/07)
2007 Feb 2, Joe Hunter (79),
Motown’s first bandleader, died in Detroit, Mich.
(SSFC, 2/4/07, p.B6)
2007 Feb 2, Billy Henderson
(67), singer in the band called the Spinners, died in Florida. His
songs included “I’ll Be Around” (1972) and other hits. The 5-member
band had formed in 1954 in Ferndale, Mich.
(SSFC, 2/4/07, p.B6)
2007 Feb 2, Eric von Schmidt
(75), guitarist and painter, died in Connecticut. He was a mentor
for Bob Dylan, who wrote the liner notes for Schmidt’s 1969 album:
“Who Knocked the Brains Out of the Sky.”
(SFC, 2/5/07, p.B4)
2007 Feb 15, Ray Evans
(b.1915), songwriter and longtime partner with Jay Livingston
(d.2001), died. Their songs included “Whatever Will be, Will Be (Que
Sera, Sera)” and “Mona Lisa,” as well as the themes for the TV
series “Bonanza” and “Mr. Ed.”
(SSFC, 2/18/07, p.D7)
2007 Mar 6, In Ghana singer
Stevie Wonder introduced pianist Kofi Vordzorgbe (13) to dignitaries
celebrating 50 years of independence from British rule. Kofi was
later brought to San Francisco, Ca., to continue his music studies.
(SFC, 6/6/09, p.E1)
2007 Mar 9, Brad Delp (55),
lead singer of the rock band Boston, died at his home in New
Hampshire. The group’s self-titled debut album in 1976 was one of
the fastest selling I rock history.
(SSFC, 3/11/07, p.B6)
2007 Mar 12, R.E.M. and Van
Halen were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(AP, 3/12/08)
2007 May 15, Kenny Chesney
collected his third consecutive entertainer of the year trophy from
the Academy of Country Music.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2007 Jun 18, Hank Medress (68),
singer, died in Manhattan of lung cancer. His vocals with the doo
wop group the Tokens helped propel their irrepressible single "The
Lion Sleeps Tonight" to the top of the charts in 1961. He also
produced hits with other groups.
(AP, 6/23/07)
2007 Jun 26, A CD of the
Russian National Orchestra performing Dead Symphony No. 6: An
Orchestral Tribute to the Grateful Dead, was released in the US. The
work was directed by composer Lee Johnson.
(SFC, 6/27/07, p.E3)
2007 Jun 29, George McCorkle
(60), a founding member of the Marshall Tucker Band, died.
(AP, 6/29/08)
2007 Jul 4, Bill Pinkney (81),
the last survivor of the original members of the musical group The
Drifters, died.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 6, Australia kicked
off a round-the-world series of Live Earth music concerts designed
to highlight climate change with a traditional Aboriginal welcome
ceremony. Former US vice-president Al Gore appeared on video screens
to launch the worldwide initiative.
(AFP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 7, The 24-hour Live
Earth music marathon reached the Western Hemisphere with rappers,
rockers and country stars taking the stage at Live Earth concerts to
fight climate change.
(SSFC, 7/8/07, p.A4)(AP, 7/7/08)
2007 Aug 1, Tommy Maken (74),
Irish-American folk musician who performed for years with the Clancy
Brothers, died in Dover, NH.
(SFC, 8/4/07, p.B5)
2007 Aug 4, Lee Hazlewood
(b.1929), songwriter, died in Henderson, Nev. His songs included
“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” sung by Nancy Sinatra in 1966.
(SFC, 8/7/07,
p.D9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hazlewood)
2007 Aug 25, SF held its 2nd
annual Jug Band Festival at the Golden Gate Park band shell.
(eyewitness)
2007 Aug 25, In Germany more
than 1 million revelers, many scantily dressed, danced their way
through the streets of Essen to sound of whistles blowing and techno
music for the Love Parade's debut in its new home, western Germany's
industrial Ruhr region.
(AP, 8/25/07)
2007 Sep 9, In the 2007 MTV
Music Video Awards the winners included: Video of the Year: Rihanna,
"Umbrella," featuring Jay-Z; Male Artist of the Year: Justin
Timberlake; Female Artist of the Year: Fergie. Britney Spears
performed her new single "Gimme More" in a much-criticized comeback
attempt at the event in Las Vegas.
(AP, 9/10/07)(AP, 9/9/08)
2007 Oct 18, Teenage pop star
Belinda (18), who starred in the Disney Channel's "Cheetah Girls 2,"
won the video of the year award at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin
America in Mexico City. The native of Madrid, Spain, who grew up in
Mexico, also won best solo artist.
(AP, 10/19/07)
2007 Oct 18, South African
reggae star Lucky Dube (43) was shot in an apparent carjacking
attempt in Johannesburg's southern Rosettenville suburb. He died as
he tried to drive away and crashed into a car and a tree. On Oct 21
police arrested five men in the killing. His albums included “Rastas
never Die” (1984) and “Slave” (1987). In 2009 three men were
sentenced to life in prison for the botched carjacking and murder.
(AP, 10/19/07)(AP, 10/21/07)(Econ, 10/27/07,
p.102)(AP, 4/2/09)
2007 Oct 28,
Porter Wagoner (80), country singer, died. He was known for a
string of country hits in the '60s, perennial appearances at the
Grand Ole Opry in his trademark rhinestone suits, and for launching
the career of Dolly Parton. The Missouri-born Wagoner signed with
RCA Records in 1955 and joined the Opry in 1957. His syndicated TV
show, "The Porter Wagoner Show," ran for 21 years, beginning in
1960.
(AP, 10/29/07)
2007 Oct 31,
Physicists at UC Berkeley said they had produced the world’s
smallest radio out of a single carbon nanotube, 10,000 times thinner
than human hair. They had it play “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos
and said it could also function as a transmitter.
(SFC, 11/1/07, p.C1)
2007 Nov 6, Hank Thompson (82),
country singer, died in Texas of lung cancer. Between 1948 and 1975
he had 29 songs in the top ten including “A Six Pack to Go” and “The
Wild Side of Life” (1952). Kitty Wells (b.1919) sang her 1952 Honky
Tonk Angels song, which was written by J.D. Miller in response to
Thompson’s Wild Side of Life.
(SFC, 11/9/07, p.B7)
2007 Nov 7, Kenny Chesney won
as entertainer of the year and Carrie Underwood won as best female
vocalist at the annual Country Music Association Awards in
Nashville.
(SFC, 11/8/07, p.A2)
2007 Nov 8, Dominican
singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra swept the Latin Grammy Awards,
taking home five musical honors including album of the year, record
of the year and song of the year.
(AP, 11/8/08)
2007 Nov 18, MTV Arabia, an
Arab version of the pop-culture channel, began broadcasting from
Dubai.
(AP, 11/18/08)(www.freemuse.org/sw29678.asp)
2007 Nov 25, Kevin Dubrow (52),
lead singer for the 1980s heavy metal band Quiet Riot, died in Las
Vegas from an accidental cocaine overdose.
(AP, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 2, In Mexico Sergio
Gomez, lead performer for the top-selling group K-Paz de la Sierra,
was abducted, tortured and strangled to death. His body was found
the next day. A day earlier Zayda Pena of the group Zayda and the
Guilty Ones was killed execution-style at the hospital where she was
recovering from neck surgery for a shooting on Nov 30, in which 2
other people were killed. Fears rose that singers, whether
they have any links to drug cartels or not, get routinely "adopted"
by drug gangs, which post Internet videos showing their members
torturing and executing rivals to soundtracks of popular tunes.
(AP, 12/5/07)(SFC, 12/5/07, p.E3)
2007 Dec 4, Pimp C (33), born
as Chad Butler, was found dead in an upscale hotel in Los Angeles.
He had spun searing tales of Texas street life into a key role in
the rise of Southern hip-hop.
(AP, 12/5/07)
2007 Dec 10, In London Led
Zeppelin performed their first full concert in nearly three decades.
Three surviving members, singer Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page
and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, were joined by the late
John Bonham's son Jason on drums.
(AP, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 10, American blues
guitarist "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks (67), who mastered the sound of
the 1930s' Delta Blues, died in a clinic in Croatia.
(AP, 12/10/07)
2007 Dec 12, Ike Turner
(b.1931), R&B pioneer and former husband of Tina Turner, died
due to a cocaine overdose at his home outside San Diego. He presided
over the 1951 recording of “Rocket 88,” frequently cited as the
first rock ’n’ roll record. In 1966 Phil Spector produced “River
Deep – Mountain High” with Ike and Tina. The pair split in 1976. In
1989 Ike went to prison on drug charges and was still there when he
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
(SFC, 12/13/07, p.B5)(Econ, 12/22/07, p.142)(SFC,
1/17/08, p.A7)
2007 Dec 16, Dan Fogelberg
(56), the singer and songwriter, died at his home in Maine after
battling prostate cancer. His hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same
Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 20, Lydia Mendoza
(91), a pioneer of Mexican American music, died in San Antonio,
Texas.
(SFC, 12/31/07, p.B7)
2007 Mick Brown authored
“Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector.
Spector was arrested in 2003 for the murder of actress Lana
Clarkson.
(SFC, 6/27/07, p.E1)
2007 Wilfrid Sheed authored
“The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole,
and a Crew of About Fifty,” a look back at the top tunesmiths of Tin
Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood.
(WSJ, 6/30/07, p.P6)
2007 MTV India, launched in
1996, came to America.
(Econ, 1/2/10,
p.46)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_India)
2008 Jan 4, Mort Garson
(b.1983), Canadian-born composer and arranger, died in SF. He
co-wrote the 1963 hit “Our Day Will Come,” performed by Ruby and the
Romantics. He also fused the Moog synthesizer with orchestral music
and composed music that was used by CBS-TV in 1969 in film footage
of NASA spaceflights as Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.
(SFC, 1/16/08, p.B9)
2008 Jan 19, John Stewart (68),
singer and songwriter, died in San Diego. He wrote the Monkees' hit
"Daydream Believer" and became a well-known figure in the 1960s folk
music revival as a member of The Kingston Trio.
(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Jan 19, Andy Palacio (47),
Belize musician, died in Belize City. His 2007 album “Watina” was
acclaimed as one of the best world music releases of the year.
(SFC, 1/22/08, p.B5)
2008 Feb 4, Tata Guines
(b.1930), Cuban conga drummer, died. His six decade career helped
popularize Afro-Cuban rhythms worldwide.
(AP, 2/5/08)
2008 Feb 9, A stampede at an
Indonesian punk rock concert left 10 people dead and dozens more
injured, most of them teenagers.
(AP, 2/10/08)
2008 Feb 10, In the Grammy
Awards Amy Winehouse won five of the six awards for which she was
nominated. Album of the Year went to jazzman Herbie Hancock for his
Joni Mitchell tribute album. Barack Obama won best spoken word album
for the audio version of his book "The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On
Reclaiming The American Dream."
(AP, 2/11/08)
2008 Feb 26, Buddy Miles (60),
former drummer with Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and other popular
rock musicians, died in Texas. Over his career he appeared in over
70 albums.
(SFC, 2/29/08, p.A2)
2008 Mar 15, Vytautas Kernagis
(57), popular Lithuanian singer, died of cancer.
(www.lzinios.lt/lt/2008-03-17.html)
2008 Mar 16, Ola Brunkert (62),
a former drummer for 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA, was found dead
after an apparent accident in his house in Mallorca. He first played
with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love," and
toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.
(AP, 3/17/08)
2008 Mar 22, Israel Lopez,
Cuban bassist and composer known as “Cachao,” died in Miami. He is
credited with pioneering the mambo style of music (1937). In 1993
Andy Garcia, a Cuban American actor, made a documentary of Cachao’s
career.
(SSFC, 3/23/08, p.A2)
2008 Apr 17, Danny Federici
(58), the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen, died. His
stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from
"Hungry Heart" through "The Rising."
(AP, 4/18/08)
2008 May 8, Eddy Arnold,
country singer, died, days short of his 90th birthday. His mellow
baritone on songs like "Make the World Go Away" made him one of the
most successful country singers in history.
(AP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 23, Utah Phillips
(b.1935), a seminal figure in American folk music, died of
congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California. Born Bruce
Duncan Phillips in Cleveland, Ohio, he had performed extensively and
tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years.
(www.utahphillips.org/)
2008 May 24, Russia won the
Eurovision song contest in Belgrade with "Believe", sung by Dima
Bilan, giving an eastern European nation victory for the third time
in five years.
(AFP, 5/25/08)
2008 Jun 2, Bo Didley (b.1928),
rhythm and blues pioneer, died in Florida. He had been born as Ellas
Bates in McComb, Mississippi. His 1955 debut recording of “Bo
Didley” landed him a spot on the Ed Sullivan Show.
(SFC, 6/3/08, p.B5)
2008 Jun 29, Britain’s
Glastonbury music festival, begun in 1970, wrapped up with a double
bill of golden oldies following controversy over its first ever
hip-hop headliner, Jay-Z, and troubled star Amy Winehouse.
(AFP, 6/29/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Germany more
than 1.5 million revelers danced through the streets of Dortmund at
the annual Love Parade techno music festival.
(AP, 7/19/08)
2008 Jul 28, Lebanese singer
Suzanne Tamim (30) was found stabbed and her throat slashed in
Dubai. On August 8 Egypt banned news coverage of the brutal slaying
following media reports in other papers that said a wealthy Egyptian
businessman ordered 3 men to carry out the killing. On Sep 2 Hisham
Talaat Moustafa, an Egyptian lawmaker and business tycoon, was
arrested in the death Tamim. He was accused of paying a former
police officer $2 million to kill her. On May 21, 2009, Moustafa was
sentenced to death for ordering Tamim’s death. Former officer,
Mohsen el-Sukkary, was also convicted and sentenced to death.
(AP,
8/13/08)(www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=21342)(AP, 9/2/08)(AP,
5/21/09)
2008 Aug 3, Lou Teicher
(b.1924), pianist, died in North Carolina. He was half of the
popular piano duo Ferrante & Teicher whose movie themes and love
songs earned them wide popularity in the 1960s. Together they
recorded some 150 albums.
(SFC, 8/7/08, p.B5)
2008 Aug 10, Isaac Hayes
(b.1942), singer, died in Memphis. The baldheaded, baritone-voiced
soul crooner laid the groundwork for disco. His 1971 "Theme From
Shaft" won both Academy and Grammy awards.
(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 11, Don Helms (81),
steel guitarist, died in Nashville. Helms had played on over 100
Hank Williams songs.
(SSFC, 8/17/08, p.B4)
2008 Aug 16, Dorival Caymmi
(b.1914), Brazilian composer, died. He had composed over 100 songs
and catapulted to fame when Carmen Miranda performed one of his
songs in 1938.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug 19, LeRoi Moore (46),
versatile saxophonist, died of complications from injuries he
suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His signature staccato
fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave
Matthews Band.
(AP, 8/20/08)
2008 Aug 19, Vietnamese
authorities freed British glam rocker Paul Gadd, aka Gary Glitter,
after nearly three years in prison on child molestation charges,
then moved immediately to deport him.
(AP, 8/19/08)(Econ, 8/36/08, p.36)
2008 Sep 1, Jerry Reed (71), US
singer and actor, died of complications from emphysema. He became a
good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit."
(AP, 9/2/08)
2008 Sep 7, At the MTV Video
Music Awards on the show's 25th anniversary, the network threw its
full support behind Britney Spears' comeback. Spears won a leading
three awards, including video of the year for "Piece of Me."
(AP, 9/8/08)
2008 Sep 10, Ruedi Rymann (75),
a farmer and cheesemaker and renowned yodeler, died at his home in
Giswil, Switzerland. In 2007 Viewers of a Swiss television series
devoted to popular national music voted Rymann’s “Dr Schacher
Seppli” as the greatest Swiss hit of all.
(SFC, 10/9/08,
p.B8)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmsy6wA-T0o)
2008 Sep 15, Richard Wright
(65), a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died. Pink
Floyd's spokesman, Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist,
said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain.
The band released a series of commercially and critically successful
albums including 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more
than 40 million copies.
(AP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 19, Former Blink-182
drummer Travis Barker and celebrity DJ AM were critically injured in
a fiery Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people just
before midnight.
(AP, 9/20/08)
2008 Sep 22, It was reported
that SanDisk, a maker of flash memory, was teaming with 4 top music
labels to roll out a new music medium based on its microSD cards,
which would feature pre-loaded albums and additional content and
compete with the declining CD market.
(SFC, 9/22/08, p.D1)
2008 Oct 17, Levi Stubbs (72),
Four Tops frontman, died. His dynamic and emotive voice drove such
Motown classics as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" and "Baby I Need Your
Loving."
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 19, Hal Kant (b.1931),
lawyer for the Grateful Dead (1971-2001), died in Reno, Nev. He led
the Grateful Dead to incorporate, making it one of the first rock
bands to offer health benefits and pensions.
(WSJ, 10/25/08, p.A4)
2008 Oct 19, Dee Dee Warwick
(63), a soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and
her performances with her older sister Dionne Warwick, died in New
Jersey.
(AP, 10/20/08)
2008 Oct 25, Muslim Magomayev
(66), an Azeri-born Soviet-era opera and pop singer, died in Moscow.
His fame was at its peak in the 1960s and 70s.
(AP, 10/25/08)
2008 Nov 10, Miriam Makeba
(b.1932), the South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist
fondly known as "Mama Africa," died in southern Italy after
performing at a concert against organized crime.
(AP, 11/10/08)(SFC, 11/11/08, p.B5)
2008 Nov 12, Mitch Mitchell
(61), English drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of
the 1960s and the group's last surviving member, was found dead in
his hotel room in Portland, Oregon, the last stop on the West Coast
part of a tour.
(AP, 11/13/08)(SFC, 11/13/08, p.B4)
2008 Nov 17, Guy Peellaert
(b.1934), Belgian painter and collagist, died. His work included the
book “Rock Dreams” (1974), published in collaboration with British
rock journalist Nik Cohn.
(SSFC, 11/23/08, p.B8)
2008 Nov 22, In Abuja, Nigeria,
MTV launched its first-ever music award program for Africa, with
acts from across the world's poorest continent nominated for prizes
in the capital.
(AP, 11/22/08)
2008 Dec 2, Odetta Holmes
(b.1930), African-American folk singer, died. Her fame peaked in
1963 when she marched with martin Luther King and performed for
Pres. Kennedy.
(SFC, 12/3/08, p.A4)
2008 Dec 15, A spokeswoman in
London said Madonna has settled her divorce with ex-husband Guy
Ritchie by parting with at least 50 million pounds ($76 million).
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 Dec 28, Delaney Bramlett
(b.1939), singer, song writer and producer, died in Los Angeles. His
songs included “Let It Rain” (1969), which he wrote with Bonnie
Bramlett and Eric Clapton.
(SFC, 1/1/09,
p.B5)(www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1360)
2009 Jan 28, Billy Powell (56),
Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player, died in Florida. He played on such
hits as "Sweet Home Alabama" and survived the Oct 20, 1977, plane
crash that killed three band members.
(AP, 1/29/09)
2009 Feb 7, Molly Bee (1939),
country singer and TV and film star, died in San Diego County. Her
recordings included “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (1952). She
worked on TV’s Pinky Lee Show and in the films “Chartroose Caboose”
(1960) and “The Young Swingers” (1963).
(SFC, 2/12/09, p.B4)
2009 Feb 8, Coldplay’s “Viva la
Vida” won the Grammy for song of the year. Robert Plant and Alison
Krauss' unorthodox partnership yielded rich rewards on Grammy night,
as the pair nabbed five awards for their haunting "Raising Sand,"
including record and album of the year honors.
(WSJ, 2/9/09, p.A1)(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Feb 9, In Cuba Orlando
"Cachaito" Lopez (b.1933), considered the "heartbeat" of Cuba's
legendary Buena Vista Social Club for his internationally acclaimed
bass playing, died of complications from prostate surgery.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Feb 11, Estelle Bennett
(67), one of the Ronettes, was found dead at her home in Englewood,
N.J. She was part of the singing trio whose 1963 hit "Be My Baby"
epitomized the famed "wall of sound" technique of its producer, Phil
Spector.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 21, A South Korean
housewife broke a world record in marathon singing after crooning
for more than 76 hours without stopping at a Seoul karaoke bar.
(AFP, 2/21/09)
2009 Mar 8,
Country singer Hank Lochlin (b.1918) died at his home in Brewston,
Alabama. His 70 charted singles included “Send Me the Pillow You
Dream On” (1949 & 1958) and “Please Help Me, I’m Falling”
(1960).
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.B6)
2009 Apr 13, In California a
jury found Phil Spector (69), former rock-n-roll producer, guilty of
second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana
Clarkson (40).
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 May 16, Norway’s
fiddle-wielding Alexander Rybak (23), dubbed 'Alexander the Great'
by Norwegian media, won a landslide victory in the Eurovision Song
Contest in Moscow for his song "Fairytale," gaining the most points
in Eurovision's 53-year history.
(AP, 5/17/09)
2009 May 29, Phil Spector (69),
former music producer, was sentenced in Los Angeles to 10 years to
life in prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.
(SFC, 5/30/09, p.A4)
2009 May 30, Susan Boyle (48),
Scottish singing sensation, was been beaten in the televised finals
of "Britain's Got Talent," by the street dance group "Diversity,"
who jumped, kicked and shook their way to victory against her.
"Diversity" mesmerized audiences with a frenetic but perfectly
choreographed dance routine.
(AP, 5/31/09)
2009 Jun 15, Virgin Media, the
cable TV operator owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson, launched a
new kind of music download subscription service with Universal, the
world's largest music company.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 18, Ali Akbar Khan
(87), Indian-born master of the 25-string Sarod, died at his home in
San Anselmo, Ca.
(SFC, 6/20/09, p.B3)
2009 Jun 25, Michael Jackson
(b.1958), pop superstar, died at age 50 in Los Angeles. His 1982
album, "Thriller," is the best-selling album of all time, with an
estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. Jackson was awash in
about $400 million in debt and on the cusp of a final comeback after
well over a decade of scandal. On Aug 28 the office of the LA
coroner confirmed that Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide caused
by a mixture of propofol and lorazepam administered by Dr. Conrad
Murray.
(AP, 6/26/09)(SFC, 6/26/09, p.A11)(SFC, 8/29/09,
p.A5)
2009 Jul 4, Drake Levin
(b.1946), blues guitarist and former lead guitarist for Paul Revere
and the Raiders, died of cancer in SF.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 31, A jury ordered
Joel Tenenbaum (b.1983), a student at Boston Univ., to pay damages
of $675,000 for sharing 30 songs over the Internet.
(Econ, 9/5/09, TQ
p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Tenenbaum)
2009 Aug 1, In Canada a fierce
thunderstorm caused an outdoor stage to collapse at the Big Valley
Jamboree in Camrose, a country music festival in central Alberta.
One person was killed and up to 40 others injured.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 13, Legendary
guitarist and inventor Les Paul (94), who pioneered the design of
solid body Gibson electric guitars that bore his name, died at a New
York hospital of complications from pneumonia. Paul was born as
Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915. He
created one of the first solid-body electric guitars in 1941, but it
took nearly 10 years before he, working with Gibson Guitar Corp.,
perfected it.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 26, Ellie Greenwich
(b.1940), songwriter, died. Her string of hits in the 1960s included
“Da Doo Ron Ron” (1963), “Chapel of Love” (1964) and “Be My Baby”
(1963). Many of her songs were done in collaboration with producer
Phil Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.D5)
2009 Aug 26, In Bucharest,
Romania, fans at first politely applauded the Roma performers
sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread
discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies, and the cheers gave way to
jeers. Official Romanian data put the local Roma population at
500,000.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Sep 11, Jim Carrol (60),
poet, addict and author, died in Manhattan following a heart attack.
His books included “Basketball Diaries” (1978), which was turned
into a 1995 movie. His 1980 song “People who Died” became a punk
classic.
(SFC, 9/16/09, p.D5)
2009 Sep 20, Cubans in their
multitudes flocked to sprawling Revolution Plaza for a massive
open-air "peace concert" headlined by Colombian rocker Juanes, an
event criticized by some Cuban-Americans who say the performers are
lending support to the island's communist government simply by
showing up.
(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 21, Coca Cola chose
the hip-hop song “Wavin’ Flag” by Somali-born singer K’naan (31) as
the anthem for the coming World Cup in South Africa. Born Keynaan
Warsame in Somalia’s seaside capital, Mogadishu, he is now a citizen
of Canada.
(www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/nr_20090921_fifa_world_cup.html)
2009 Oct 2, In San Francisco
the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 9 free music festival, financed by
investment banker Warren Hellman. The 3 day event drew some 750,000
people.
(SSFC, 10/4/09, p.C2)(SFC, 10/6/09, p.C2)
2009 Oct 4, Mercedes Sosa (74),
Argentine singer, died. Her music was banned after the generals
seized power in 1976. She had released over 70 albums and turned the
songs of others into great anthems of the left.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.42)
2009 Oct 10, Stephen Gately
(33), a singer with the Irish boy band Boyzone, died while visiting
Spain’s island of Mallorca. He made headlines a decade ago when he
came out as gay. An autopsy revealed that he died of excess fluid in
his lungs due to acute pulmonary edema.
(AP, 10/11/09)(AFP, 10/13/09)
2009 Oct 27, Four months after
Michael Jackson's death, red carpets were rolled out for 18
simultaneous screenings on five continents for "This Is It," culled
from more than 100 hours of footage taken from rehearsals for the
pop icon's comeback.
(AFP, 10/28/09)
2009 Oct 30, Norton Buffalo
(58), harmonica virtuoso and long time member of the Steve Miller
Band, died of cancer in Paradise, Ca.
(SFC, 11/2/09, p.C1)
2009 Nov 22, Country crossover
star Taylor Swift overshadowed the late Michael Jackson at the
American Music Awards, winning five prizes including artist of the
year.
(AP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 27, Bess. L. Hawes
(b.1921), co-writer of the political whimsical hit “Charlie on the
MTA’’ (1948), died in Portland, Ore. The song became a big hit for
the Kingston Trio in 1959.
(http://tinyurl.com/ygtrqh8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bess_Lomax_Hawes)
2009 Dec 7, Rick Hendricks
(54), SF-based composer and steel guitar player, passed away of
brain cancer as a huge gathering of the musical cohorts and many
friends assembled at the Amnesia club, San Francisco's home of
bluegrass and roots music, on Valencia Street.
(www.cbaontheweb.org/read.asp?messageid=39821&search)
2009 Dec 25, Vic Chestnutt
(b.1964), singer and songwriter, died in Athens, Georgia, following
an intentional overdose. He had been paralyzed in a 1983 car
accident, but retained limited use of his arms and hands.
(SSFC, 12/27/09, p.C8)
2009 Jack Boulware and Silke
Tudor authored “Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive,
and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk From Dead
Kennedys to green Day.”
(SSFC, 9/27/09, Books p.F1)
2009 Barney Hoskyns, British
music writer, authored “Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits.”
(SSFC, 5/31/09, p.J4)
2009 In Kinshasa, Congo, the
music group Staff Benda Bilili, all victims of polio, released their
first album entitled “Tres, Tres Fort.”
(Econ, 10/3/09,
p.60)(www.crammed.be/staffbendabilili/)
2010 Jan 13, R&B singer
Teddy Pendergrass (b.1950) died of colon cancer in suburban
Philadelphia. He was one of the most electric and successful figures
in music until a 1982 car crash left him in a wheelchair.
(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 18, Kate McGarrigle
(63), Canadian folk singer, died of cancer at her home in Montreal.
She performed with her sister Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters. Their
songs included “Heart Like a Wheel.”
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.C7)
2010 Jan 31, Beyonce, pop's
reigning diva, earned six Grammys, more than any woman on a single
night of the 52-year-old awards show.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010 Feb 14, Doug Fieger (57),
leader of the power pop band The Knack, died in southern California.
He sang on the 1979 hit "My Sharona." Fieger, a Detroit-area native,
formed The Knack in Los Angeles in 1978.
(AP, 2/15/10)
2010 Mar 17, Alex Chilton (59),
singer and guitarist, died in New Orleans. His song “The Letter”
(“Gimme a ticket for an airplane…”) reached the top of the charts in
1967.
(SFC, 3/19/10, p.C5)
2010 Mar 23, Jim Marshall
(b.1936), legendary rock and roll photographer, died in a NYC hotel.
(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A1)
2010 Apr 8, Malcolm McLaren
(64), the former British manager of the Sex Pistols, died in
Switzerland. McLaren was a seminal figure of the punk rock era.
(SFC, 4/9/10, p.C7)
2010 Apr 13, Somali radio
stations stopped playing music after hardline militants called it
un-Islamic and ordered stations to take songs off the air. Somalis
in Mogadishu could still listen to music on two stations: one that
the government controls and another funded by the UN.
(AP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 20, Two Somali radio
stations said the government has ordered them to close for obeying a
week-old order by an Islamic militant group to stop playing music.
Officials at Somaliweyn and Tusmo radio stations said they won't
obey the government order to resume playing music and shut down.
(AP, 4/20/10)
2010 May 7, Dave Fisher
(b.1940), lead singer for the Highwaymen folk group, died at his
home in Rye, NY. In 1958 Fisher connected with Bob Burnett, Steve
Butts, Chan Daniels and Steve Trott, at Wesleyan Univ. in
Connecticut to form the Clansmen, a name they picked for the Irish
and Scottish folk music influences they drew upon. As soon as their
music started to build a following in the Northeast, their manager
came up with the name the Highwaymen, a nod to the early 20th
century poem by Alfred Noyes. Their hit songs included “Michael”
(1961), “Cotton Fields” (1962), written by blues musician Huddie
Ledbetter, and its reverse side “The Gypsy Rover.” The group
disbanded in 1964.
(www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/arts/music/13fisher.html)
2010 May 29, The 55th annual
Eurovision song competition was expected to be watched by more than
120 million viewers in 39 European countries as well as in Burma,
Australia and New Zealand. Norway's public broadcaster NRK spent 200
million kroner (25 million euros, 30 million dollars) to host the
show.
(AFP, 5/29/10)
2010 Jul 10, In Jamaica Sugar
Minott (b.1956), a smooth-voiced singer and producer who helped to
popularize reggae music, died.
(AP, 7/11/10)
2010 Aug 3, Time magazine
reported on that Haitian-American music star Wyclef Jean (37) will
announce his bid for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti this
week. A three-time Grammy award-winner, Jean was a founding member
of the hip-hop trio The Fugees and won wider fame for his
collaboration with Colombian pop star Shakira. He released a song
two years ago called "If I Was President". Haiti’s ruling Unity
party nominated ousted ex-Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis to
lead the earthquake-ravaged nation.
(Reuters, 8/4/10)(AP, 8/4/10)
2010 Aug 20, Charles Haddon,
the lead singer of the British electro-pop group Ou Est Le Swimming
Pool, committed suicide after performing at a rock festival in
Belgium.
(AFP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 20, Singer Wyclef
Jean's high-profile bid for Haiti's presidency ended after election
officials on the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation disqualified
his candidacy. The singer has not lived in Haiti for the past five
years as required.
(AP, 8/21/10)
2010 Aug 26, In Germany Nadja
Benaissa (28), a member of girl group No Angels, broke down in tears
after a German court handed her a two-year suspended sentence for
infecting a former sex partner with the AIDS HIV virus.
(AFP, 8/26/10)
2010 Sep 3, In southern England
cellist Mike Edwards (62), a founding member of the Electric Light
Orchestra (ELO) band, died after the 600 kg (1,323 lb) bale rolled
down a steep field in Devon, smashed through a hedge and careered on
to the road.
(Reuters, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 1, Apple CEO Steve
Jobs introduced Ping as the social network of music.
(SFC, 11/12/10,
p.D1)(http://venturebeat.com/tag/ping/)
2010 Sep 1, In Senegal
Television Futurs Medias (TFM), run by pop star Youssou N’dour (50),
began broadcasting but only in Dakar and its immediate suburbs. Its
government license, issued earlier this year, limited it to cultural
programming and forbade the station from doing newscasts. A request
to broadcast to the rest of the country has so far been denied.
(AP, 9/9/10)(http://tinyurl.com/2eh5yhm)
2010 Sep 12, The 2010 MTV Video
Music Awards were presented in Los Angeles.
(AP, 9/13/10)
2010 Oct 8, Albertina Walker
(81), Grammy-winning gospel vocalist, died in Chicago.
(SSFC, 10/10/10, p.C9)
2010 Oct 10, Solomon Burke
(b.1940), the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul," died at
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The Philadelphia-born singer was
revered as one of music's greatest vocalists but never reached the
level of fame of those he influenced. He joined Atlantic in 1960 and
went on to record a string of hits in a decade with the label. He
wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" in 1964 and it was later
featured in the Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi movie "The Blues
Brothers."
(AP, 10/10/10)
2010 Oct 24, Lady Gaga became
the first singer to reach 1 billion hits on YouTube.
(SSFC, 12/12/10, Par p.9)
2010 Nov 10, Miranda Lambert
won three CMA awards, including the coveted album of the year,
celebrating her 27th birthday by leading a sea change in country
music that also included two wins for her fiance, Blake Shelton, and
entertainer of the year for long-suffering Brad Paisley.
(AP, 11/11/10)
2010 Dec 17, Don Van Vliet
(69), American musician and artist, died in California. He had
performed as Captain Beefheart and was best known for his 1969 album
“Trout Mask Replica” released by Captain Beefheart and His Magic
Band.”
(SFC, 12/18/10, p.A7)
2010 Dec 26, Teena Marie
(b.1956 as Mary Christine Brockert), Motown’s “Ivory Queen of soul”
died. Her hits included “Lovergirl,” and “Fire and Desire” with
mentor Rick James.
(SFC, 12/27/10,
p.C4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teena_Marie)
2010 Philip Ball authored “The
Music Instinct: How Music works and Why We Can’t Do Without It.”
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.90)
2010 Alice Echols authored “Hot
Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of Popular Culture.”
(SSFC, 4/4/10, p.G1)
2010 Keith Richards, guitarist
with the Rolling Stones, authored “Life.”
(Econ, 11/13/10, p.80)
2011 Jan 4, Mick Karn (52),
bass player in the 1980s group Japan, died in London. Karn, born in
Cyprus as Andonis Michaelides, was co-founder of Japan along with
David Sylvian and Steve Jansen. The group's 1982 album, "Tin Drum,"
included a hit song, "Ghosts."
(AP, 1/5/11)
2011 Jan 17, Don Kirshner
(b.1934), veteran music mogul, died in Boca Raton, Fla. His TV show
“Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” ran from 1973-1982.
(SFC, 1/19/11, p.A8)
2011 Jan 24, Bhimsen Joshi
(88), singer of India, died.
(http://wn.com/Pandit_Bhimsen_Joshi__AIR_Films_Division_Documentary_Part_1)(Econ,
1/29/11, p.100)
2011 Jan 31, In Indonesia
popstar Nazril “Ariel” Irham was sentenced to 3½ years
in prison after sex tapes with his celebrity girlfriends found their
way to the Internet.
(SFC, 2/1/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 6, Rock guitarist Gary
Moore (58), a former member of influential Irish band Thin Lizzy,
was found dead at a hotel on Spain's Costa del Sol. Thin Lizzy had
global hits in the 1970s with songs like "The Boys are Back in Town"
and "Whiskey in the Jar." Frontman Phil Lynott died in 1986, but
with a different lineup the band continues to tour today.
(AP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 13, The annual Grammy
Awards were presented in Los Angeles. The band “Lady Antebellum” won
5 trophies including Album of the Year and Song of the Year (Need
You Now).
(SFC, 2/14/11, p.D1)
2011 Mar 9, Robert Phillip
"Bob" Marcucci (b.1930), Philadelphia talent manager, died. The
former personal manager at Chancellor Records and Robert P. Marcucci
Productions discovered and managed the careers of Fabian and Frankie
Avalon, amongst others. The 1980 movie, The Idolmaker, is loosely
based on his life in the record industry.
(SFC, 3/16/11,
p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marcucci)
2011 Mar 13, In Australia
Owsley Stanley (b.1935), counterculture maker of LSD and Grateful
Dead associate, died in a car crash. His Bear Research Group
reputedly made over 1.25 million doses of LSD from 1965-1967.
(SFC, 3/14/11, p.A1)
2011 Mar 21, Pinetop Perkins
(b.1913), boogie-woogie piano player, died in Texas. Perkins worked
with Muddy Waters and was among the last surviving members of the
first generation of Mississippi Delta bluesmen.
(SFC, 3/23/11, p.C6)
2011 Apr 26, Phoebe Snow
(b.1950), pop singer, died in New York. Her songs included “Poetry
Man” (1975).
(SFC, 4/27/11, p.C3)
2011 May 11, Snooky Young (92),
big band trumpeter, died in Newport Beach, Ca.
(SFC, 5/19/11, p.A6)
2011 May 22, Joseph Brooks
(73), the Academy Award-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life"
(1977), was found dead in NYC of an apparent suicide while awaiting
trial on charges of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women and
just months after his son was accused of murdering a swimsuit
designer.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 27, Musician Gil
Scott-Heron (62), died in NYC. He helped lay the groundwork for rap
by fusing minimalistic percussion, political expression and
spoken-word poetry on songs such as "The Revolution Will Not Be
Televised," but saw his brilliance undermined by a years-long drug
addiction. In 2012 his memoir “The Last Holiday: A Memoir” was
published.
(AP, 5/28/11)(SSFC, 1/22/12, p.G5)
2011
Jun 3, Singer-songwriter Andrew Gold (“Lonely Boy,” “Thank You For
Being A Friend”) died of cancer, at age 59.
(LAT, 6/6/11, Obit)(http://tinyurl.com/3ve3y46)
2011 Jun 8, Rap music star Ja
Rule (real name Jeffrey Atkins) left a NYC courthouse to begin
serving a two-year prison sentence for criminal gun possession. He
may also face additional jail time as a result of pleading guilty to
failure to pay taxes on more than $3 million in income.
(AP, 6/8/11)
2011 Jun 11, Pop star Lady Gaga
performed at a large gay pride rally at Rome’s Circus Maximus. She
also used the appearance to speak out in favor of full equality for
gay men and lesbians, and to denounce countries that show
intolerance to those who are different.
(AP, 6/11/11)(AFP, 6/11/11)
2011 Jun 12, Carl Gardner (83),
the original lead singer of 1950s pop group the Coasters, died in
Port St. Lucie, Florida. Among the hits he sang with the Coasters
were “Yakety-Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” and “Poison Ivy.”
(AP, 6/13/11)
2011 Jun 18, Clarence Clemons
(69), the larger-than-life saxophone player for the E Street Band,
died following a stroke at his home in Singer Island, Fla. He was
one of the key influences in Bruce Springsteen's life and music
through four decades.
{Pop&Rock, USA}
(AP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 23, The Wild Goose
Festival, a music fest for theological liberals, kicked off in North
Carolina with some 1500 people attending.
(Econ, 7/2/11, p.26)
2011 Jul 9, Argentine singer
Facundo Cabral (b.1937), one of Latin America's most admired folk
singers, was killed in Guatemala when three carloads of gunmen
ambushed the vehicle in which he was riding. By 1970 became
internationally known through his song "No soy de aqui ni alla" (I'm
Not From Here Nor There). Authorities later said the target of the
attack was Nicaraguan businessman Henry Farinas, who was driving the
singer to the airport when they were ambushed.
(AP, 7/9/11)(AP, 7/31/11)
2011 Jul 23, Amy Winehouse
(b.1983), the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits
overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead in her
London home.
(AP,
7/24/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Winehouse)
2011 Jul 24, Dan Peek (60), a
founding member of the 1970s soft rock trio America, died. The
group’s hits included “A Horse With No Name.”
(SFC, 7/25/11, p.A6)
2011 Aug 7, Marshall Grant,
bassist in the original Johnny Cash trio, died in Jonesboro, Ark.
(SFC, 8/10/11, p.C8)
2011 Aug 12, In San Francisco
the 4th annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival opened in
golden Gate Park for a 3-day run.
(SFC, 8/13/11, p.C2)
2011 Aug 18, In Belgium a storm
swept through the Pukkelpop music festival killing at least 3
people. Some 60,000 people had gathered for the 3-day festival.
(SFC, 8/19/11, p.A2)
2011 Aug 19, China banned 100
songs from being featured on websites, barring artists ranging from
Lady Gaga to the Backstreet Boys apparently for being out of tune
with the country's cultural authorities.
(AFP, 8/25/11)
2011 Aug 22, Motown composer
Nick Ashford (69) died in NYC. He and wife Valerie Simpson had
written some of Motown’s biggest hits including “Ain’t No Mountain
High Enough” and “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand.”
(SFC, 8/23/11, p.A8)
2011 Aug 22, Jerry Lieber
(b.1933), songwriting partner of Mike Stoller, died in Los Angeles.
His lyrics included such songs as “Hound Dog,” “Love Potion No. 9,”
“Charlie Brown,” “Down in Mexico,” and “Kansas City.”
(SFC, 8/24/11, p.C4)
2011 Sep 30, Massachusetts
police arrested Steven Bernard Hill, a singer known for his 1990
chart-topping love song, on charges of owing $420,000 in unpaid
child support. Hill, who performs as Stevie B, is best known
for the song "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)." It reached No.
1 on the Billboard charts in late 1990.
(AP, 10/3/11)
2011 Oct 8, Roger Williams
(87), pianist and composer, died in Los Angeles. His 1955 hit
“Autumn Leaves” was the only piano instrumental to reach No.1 on the
billboard pop charts. His hits also included “Born Free,” “the
Impossible Dream” and “Lara’s Theme.”
(SSFC, 10/9/11, p.A20)
2011 Oct 24, Ireland's U2 were
named as the greatest rock band of the past quarter of a century by
readers of music magazine Q. Chart-topping act Adele was a double
winner at the event, landing the prizes for best female and best
track for her hit Rolling In The Deep.
(AFP, 10/24/11)
2011 Nov 13, In Mexico norteno
singer Diego Rivas was shot dead in Culiacan, Sinaloa state,
joining a list of murdered musicians famous for chronicling the
cartel lifestyle in folk songs.
(AP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 16, Google launched
its new online music service.
(Econ, 11/19/11, p.68)
2011 Nov 23, Legendary musician
Jimi Hendrix was named the greatest guitar player in history by
Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music
experts and top guitar players.
(Reuters, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 29, Dr. Conrad Murray
(58), convicted in the 2009 overdose of pop singer Michael Jackson
(1958-2009), was sentenced to 4 years behind bars.
(SFC, 11/30/11, p.A12)
2011 Dec 16, In Atlanta,
Georgia, rapper Slim Dunkin was gunned down in a music studio as he
was preparing to record a video.
(AP, 12/16/11)
2011 Dec 16, Jennifer Anderson
(54), former keyboardist and singer for the Nuns, died of
complications from breast and liver cancer in NYC. She performed
under the name Jennifer Miro with the pioneering SF punk band.
(SFC, 1/11/12, p.C5)
2011 Dec 17, Cape Verdean
singer Cesaria Evora (70), nicknamed the "barefoot diva", died in a
hospital in her native country. Her 1992 album, “Miss Perfumado,”
earned her 5 gold records.
(AFP, 12/17/11)(Econ, 1/7/12, p.86)
2012 Jan 17, Johnny Otis
(b.1921), band leader and song writer, died in Altadena, Ca. His
first hit was “Harlem Nocturne” (1945).
(SFC, 1/20/12, p.A16)
2012 Jan 20, Etta James
(b.1938), the powerhouse singer who combined blues, gospel and
R&B and emerged as a major star in the '50s and '60s, died after
a long battle with leukemia in a Riverside, Ca., hospital. James
placed No. 62 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the greatest
artists of all time. Her 1995 autobiography was titled ”Rage to
Survive.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etta_James)(SFC,
1/21/12, p.A6)
2012 Feb 1, Don Cornelius (75),
the man who created Soul Train (1971-1993), was reportedly found
dead at his Los Angeles home.
(ABCNews, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 11, Whitney Houston
(b.1963), singer and actress, died at the Beverly Hilton hotel on
the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Her soaring voice
lifted her to the top of the pop music world but a personal decline
was fueled by years of drug use. She crossed over from music success
to TV and movies, appearing in "The Bodyguard" (1992), as well as
"Waiting to Exhale" (1995) and "The Preacher's Wife" (1996).
(Reuters, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 12, The 54th Grammy
Awards were held in Los Angeles. British singer Adele won every
award she was up for including Album of the year for “21” and Record
of the year for “Rolling in the Deep.”
(SFC, 2/13/12, p.D1)
2012 Feb 18, Mohammed Wardi
(b.1932, Sudan's lead singer, died.
(AFP,
2/19/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Wardi)
2012 Feb 21, The Brit Awards
cut off singer Adele's speech as she accepted the main prize of the
ceremony, a move which prompted the singer to raise her middle
finger at the crowd. The organizers apologized in a statement after
the event.
(AFP, 2/22/12)
2012 Feb 29, Davy Jones (66),
the lead singer of The Monkees, died after suffering a heart attack
in Indiantown, Fla.
(SFC, 3/1/12,
p.C6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Jones_%28actor%29)
2012 Mar 5, Disney songwriter
Robert Sherman (b.1925), part of a team with brother Richard
responsible for numerous film scores and children's songs, died in
London. He composed the popular tune featured in Disney theme parks,
"It's a Small World (After All)," as well as the score to "Mary
Poppins," featuring songs such as "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Chim Chim
Cher-ee," and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
(Reuters, 3/6/12)
2012 Mar 29, Spain’s National
Court handed fines of about $1,170 to each of three members of the
Ardor de Estomago (Heartburn) rock band for insulting King Juan
Carlos.
(SFC, 3/30/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 18, Dick Clark (1929)
died at St. John's Hospital in Los Angeles after suffering a heart
attack. He had hosted American Bandstand for four decades and
literally introduced rock ’n’ roll to much of the nation.
(SFC, 4/19/12, p.C5)
2012 Apr 19, Levon Helm (71),
drummer and singer for the Band, died in Albany, NY. The group,
which also backed Bob Dylan, was known for such songs as “Up on
Cripple Creek” (1969), “The Weight” (1968), and “The Night They
Drove Old Dixie Down” (1969).
(SFC, 4/20/12, p.C5)
2012 Apr 20, British guitarist
Bert Weedon (91) died. He inspired a generation to pick up the
string instrument. The Beatles' George Harrison, John Lennon as well
as Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Queen guitarist Brian May and Pete
Townshend of The Who were all among those who started out with
Weedon's books. His first "Play In A Day" book was published in
1957.
(AFP, 4/20/12)
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Subject = Pop&Rock
End of file