Timeline of Pop and Rock Music
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Best song on day you were born: http://playback.fm/birthday-song
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)
1896 Apr 6, Edgar "Yip" Harburg (d.1981), lyricist, was born as Isidore Hochberg. His songs included "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and "Over the Rainbow."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg)
1898 Apr 15, Bessie Smith, American blues singer, was born.
(HN, 4/15/01)
1898 The Gramophone Company was founded by William Barry Owen and Trevor Williams in London, England. Owen was acting as agent for Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone record, whilst Williams provided the finances. Most of the company's early discs were made in Hanover, Germany at a plant operated by members of Berliner's family, though it had operations around the world.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_Company)
1899 Cecil Sharp (1859-1924, English conductor, began collecting lullabies, carols, love and work songs across the country. He became known as the founding father of the folk-song revival in England in the early 20th century.
(Econ, 8/19/17, p.72)
1899 The Gramophone Company bought a painting by Francis Barraud of the dog Nipper listening to a cylinder phonograph. The painting was titled "His Master's Voice". The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company on Oxford Street in 1921.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMV)
1900 Jan 1, Xavier Cugat (d.1990), bandleader (married Abbe Lane, Charo), was born in Barcelona, Spain.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Cugat)
1901 Jul 28, Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams, My Time Is Your Time), was born in Vermont.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1901 The first disc format 10-inch 78 rpm record were introduced. 78s were recorded and played back "acoustically", without any electric amplifiers or microphones until about 1925. They became obsolete by about 1960.
(http://tinyurl.com/k2fyf)(www.history-of-rock.com/record_formats.htm)
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)
1918 Jul 11, Enrico Caruso joined the war effort and recorded "Over There", the patriotic song written by George M. Cohan.
(www.enricocaruso.dk/musicdetails.php?mid=78)
1919 May 3, Pete Seeger (d.2014), American folksinger and songwriter, was born in NYC. His father was a musicologist and his mother a concert violinist. 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)(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
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)
1925 May, Lee Morse (1897-1954), US jazz and blues singer and songwriter, recorded her hit song Ukulele Lady. Her most popular years were in the 1920s and early 1930s, although her career began around 1917 and continued until her death.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruYQYwneWyw)
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 Aug 1, The Bristol Sessions, a series of historic recording sessions, took place in in Bristol, a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia state line, and helped spread what was then known as "hillbilly music" to the rest of the country. The Carter Family (A.P., wife Sara, and cousin Maybelle) came down from the mountains of Virginia and began recording their country style "hillbilly" music for Ralph Peel of the Victor Talking Machine Co. Peel had set up a makeshift studio in the Taylor-Christian Hat Co. warehouse on State Street, recording 76 songs in 10 days. Jimmy Rogers (1898-1933) came from Mississippi to record. In 2002 Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg authored "Will You Miss me When I’m Gone: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music."
{Tennessee, Virginia, USA, Pop&Rock, Jugband}
(WSJ, 8/1/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/4/02, p.M3)(AP, 9/30/14)
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)
1930 The German song "Veronika, der Lenz ist da" (Veronika, the spring is here), written by Austria-born Walter Jurmann (1903-1971), became a big hit for the Comedian Harmonists.
(https://tinyurl.com/ubrazyt)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.40)
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 May 26, Jimmie Rodgers (b.1897), American country singer known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling, died of tuberculosis in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_%28country_singer%29)(SSFC, 10/7/12, p.C12)
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 Jun 24, Carlos Gardel (B.1890), French-born Argentine tango singer and composer, died with 17 others, including three of his guitarists, when the propeller plane they were traveling in collided with another on takeoff from Medellin, Colombia, and burst into flames. Gardel's baritone voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gardel)(AP, 6/25/05)(Econ, 1/21/17, p.26)
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 22, Glen Campbell, American country music singer (By the Time I get to Phoenix, Galveston), was born in Arkansas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Campbell)
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.
(www.gershwin.com/)(SFC, 12/4/96, p.E1)(WSJ, 9/24/97, p.A20)(SFEC, 8/16/98, DB p.38)
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 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)
1938 Nov 10, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on her CBS radio program, which aired Thursdays.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIi0VUAAlaU)
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 Mar 30, Graeme Edge, rock drummer (Moody Blues-Your Wildest Dreams), was born in England.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Edge)
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)
1941 Russ Solomon (1925-2018) founded Tower Records inside his father’s Sacramento drugstore and built it into a worldwide chain of 170 stores. It folded in 2006 in the wake of the Internet and music streaming.
(SFC, 3/7/18, p.D2)
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 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)
1942 Aug 20, Isaac Hayes (d.2008), American singer and composer (Shaft), was born in Covington, TN.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes)
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)
1943 Nov 7, Joni Mitchell, singer, songwriter, was born as Roberta J. Anderson in Alberta, Canada.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell)
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 studios 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 Steven Demetre Georgiou. The British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, converted to Islam in Dec 1977. In 1978 he adopted the name of Yusuf Islam.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens)
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)
1947-1963 The Louvin Brothers of Alabama, born Ira (1924-1965) and Charlie Loudermilk (1927-2011), recorded their country music, a mix of bluegrass, gospel, blues and antique folk ballads. A boxed set of their recordings called "Close Harmony" was put together by Richard Weize of Bear Family Records, Hamburg, Germany.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Louvin_Brothers)(WSJ, 9/11/98, p.W3)
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" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, frequently cited as the first rock ’n’ roll record.
(SFC, 12/13/07, p.B5)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.76)
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 Oct 7, The 1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia on WFIL-TV. Dick Clark joined in 1955 as a substitute-host. American Bandstand premiered as a local show in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
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)
1952 Britain’s New Musical Express magazine was founded and became essential reading for fans and a coveted platform for musicians through the eras of Beatlemania, prog-rock, punk, indie and more. In 2018 the print edition of NME stopped with a new focus on its digital audience.
(AP, 3/7/18)
1952 Very Lynn's "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", backed by a soldiers' chorus, sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and made her the first British performer to top the US hit parade.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsuLH4sulA)(Reuters, 6/18/20)
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 "Mr Sandman" by the Chordettes reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart and sold more than one million records.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
1954 The Collins Kids of Oklahoma, Lawrencine (1942-2018) and Lawrence (b.1944), began performing as a musical act on "Town Hall Party," hosted by Tex Ritter on KTTV, Los Angeles. Lawrence later co-wrote "Delta Dawn," a 1972 country hit for Tanya Tucker and a 1973 No. 1 pop single for Helen Reddy.
(www.rockabillyhall.com/YouTubeCollinsKids.html)(SFC, 8/10/18, p.D5)
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 Nov 12, Chuck Berry – popular for such hits as “Johnny B. Goode" and “Roll Over Beethoven" – was named by a Billboard poll as the most promising R&B artist of the year.
(http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/november12th.html)
1955 Nov 12, Leslie Richard McKeown, Scottish pop singer, was born He was the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers during their most successful period.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_McKeown)
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)
1957 Jul, Buddy Holly and the Crickets of Lubbock, Texas, recorded "Peggy Sue" in Clovis, New Mexico. The song was initially named Cindy Lou after Holly's niece, but band member Jerry Allison got Buddy to change the name in order to impress Peggy Sue. In 2008 Peggy Sue Gerron (1940-2018) released her autobiography "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?" A 1986 movie called "Peggy Sue Got Married" featured Kathleen Turner as a character named Peggy Sue.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Sue)(SFC, 10/3/18, p.C5)
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 Fats Domino (1928-2017), rock’n’roll pioneer, made a hit with his version of “Blueberry Hill".
(SFC, 10/26/17, p.A6)
1956 Singer Gogi Grant (1924-2016) recorded “The Wayward Wind." The song topped Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel" to top the Billboard singles chart.
(SFC, 3/17/16, p.D5)
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 In the SF Bay Area Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and David Guard formed the Kingston Trio folk group.
(SFC, 1/30/20, p.C6)
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)
1957 Jerry Lee Lewis made a hit with his recording of “Great Balls of Fire," written by Earl Burroughs (1925-2016) and Otis Blackwell.
(SFC, 4/14/16, p.D5)
1957 American film star Tab Hunter's (1931-2018) recording of "Young Love" topped the Billboard pop chart.
(SFC, 7/10/18, p.A6)
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 The Chordettes made it to No. 2 on the Billboard chart with their recording "Lollipop." The group split up in 1964.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
1958 Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney recorded "Fancy Meeting You Here." It was reissued in 2001.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A16)
1958 Freeman (1940-2017) wrote and sang “Do You Want to Dance". It reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart. The song later became known as “Do You Wanna Dance" and was performed by a number of other musicians including the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 2/15/17, p.D4)
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 Jimmy McCracklin (1921-2012), a SF Bay Area blues pianist, scored a national hit with “The Walk." He and his band, the Blues Blasters, recorded it in Chicago for Checker Records.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdcW78eaNGY)(SFC, 12/21/12, p.A22)
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, The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno won as record of the year.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Annual_Grammy_Awards)
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 The Browns recorded their hit song “The Three Bells," sometimes known as “Little Jimmy Brown." The trio included Jim Ed Brown (1934-2015) and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie (1938-2016).
(SSFC, 6/14/15, p.C11)(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A16)
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 Jul 12, Mick Jagger (18), Keith Richards (18) and Brian Jones (20) played The Marquee Club with three others, the first time they performed under the Rolling Stones band name which later became synonymous worldwide with excess and musical flair.
(AFP, 7/7/12)
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 Booker T. & the MGs made a hit with their instrumental “Green Onions."
(SFC, 5/14/12, p.C5)
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 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 Wayne Newton (22) made a hit with “Danke Schoen."
(SSFC, 11/16/14, DB p.46)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground)(SFEC, 1/26/97 Par, p.2)
1964 The Academy of Country Music was founded in Los Angeles.
(SFEC,10/19/97, Par p.2)
1964 In Nevada the Sahara casino paid the Beatles $25,000 to play two shows in Las Vegas. The show was moved to the convention center when the 600-seat Congo Room was deemed too small.
(SSFC, 3/12/17, p.F4)
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 in Santa Monica.
(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, Bob Dylan played a Fender Stratocaster at the Newport Folk Festival, RI. In 2015 Elijah Wald authored “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties."
(SFC, 7/20/15, p.E2)
1965 Jun 29, The Redo Dog Saloon opened in Virginia City, Ca. A San Francisco band called the Charlatans opened. Architect George Hunter and keyboardist Michael Ferguson had created the group and the first psychedelic tock poster for the occasion. By 2015 a mint copy of the poster was valued at $18,250. A 1996 film by Mary Works was titled “Rockin’ at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock."
(SFC, 6/26/15, p.C4)
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 at 3138 Fillmore Street. Band co-founder Marty Balin (1942-2018) held an ownership interest in the club.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)(SFC, 9/29/18, p.A9)
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 Sep 4, Beatles' "Help!" single went #1 for 3 weeks.
(MC, 9/4/01)
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 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)
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 The Beatles wrote and recorded their "Rubber Soul" album over two months late this year.
(Econ., 8/29/20, p.70)
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 The Byrds had a No. 1 hit with a folk-rock of “Turn! Turn! Turn!" by Pete Seeger.
(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances)(SFC, 8/20/10, p.C5)
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 Billy Joe Royal (1942-2015) made a top ten hit with “Down in the Boondocks," written and produced by Joe South.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D4)
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)
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 Aug 29, The Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Park's capacity was 42,500, but only 25,000 tickets were sold, leaving large sections of unsold seats. Fans paid between $4.50 and $6.50 for tickets, and The Beatles' fee was around $90,000. The show's promoter was local company Tempo Productions.
(AP, 8/29/97)(http://tinyurl.com/p8c8dnr)
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 Beatles wrote “Taxman" to protest at Harold Wilson’s exorbitant “supertax" rates.
(Econ, 1/28/17, p.55)
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.
(http://tinyurl.com/k8bwa59)
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 Paul Williams (1948-2013) founded “Crawdaddy," a pioneering journal of rock criticism. Williams went on to author over 25 books including a 3-volume work on bob Dylan.
(SFC, 4/2/13, p.A5)
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)helle
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 Feb, In California the six-piece jug band Little Princess 109 first performed at the James Logan High School in Union City. In 1968 they began the first of 205 nights for Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco as six-man lighting act. The group folded after a Cow Palace gig on New Year’s Eve 1977.
(SFC, 8/3/17, p.E6)
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. The song "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band won the Grammy best contemporary recording category.
(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 10, In Marin County, Ca., the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival drew some 36,000 Bay Area fans to the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre on Mount Tamalpais.
(SFC, 6/8/17, p.A1)
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 Jul, Music promoter Bill Graham sponsored a free rock concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco to benefit the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. In 1992 the facility at 1696 Haight St. was named after Graham (d.1991).
(SSFC, 10/22/17, DB p.50)
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 Oct 2, In San Francisco police raided the Grateful Dead’s crash pad at 710 Ashbury and hauled ten members and associates to a police station on questionable marijuana charges. The case wrapped up in 1968 with all felony charges reduced to misdemeanors.
(SFC, 3/11/17, p.C1)
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 Dec 30, Bert Berns (b.1929), American songwriter and record producer, died in NYC. He made numerous contributions to popular music, including "Twist and Shout", "Piece of My Heart", "Brown Eyed Girl" (as a producer), "Here Comes the Night", "Hang On Sloopy", "Under the Boardwalk" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". In 2017 the documentary “Bang: The Bert Berns Story" was produced under the direction of his son, Brett Berns, and Bob Sarles.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Berns)(SFC, 5/11/17, p.E5)
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 Jul, The British blues group Cream, with vocalist and bassist Jack Bruce (1943-2014), drummer Ginger Baker (b.1939) and guitarist Eric Clapton (b.1945) released their double album “Wheels of Fire" in the US. It became the first double album to go platinum.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheels_of_Fire)
1968 Sep 28, Beatles' "Hey Jude" single went #1 and stayed #1 for 9 weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude)
1968 Sep, In Czechoslovakia the Plastic People of the Universe band was founded by Milan Hlavsa (d.2001 at 49).
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A19)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_Banquet)(SFC, 8/16/96, p.D11)(SFC, 10/23/00, p.F3)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_It_Through_the_Grapevine)(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_and_the_Thirteenth_Confession)(SFE, 4/10/97, p.A23)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Child_(The_Supremes_album))(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
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 The rock group Three Dog Night, formed with Danny Hutton, Cory Wells (1941-2015) and Chuck Negron, released its debut album “Three Dog Night."
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
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)
1968 The Jefferson Airplane rock group and manager Bill Thompson (1944-2015) purchased a mansion in San Francisco for $70,000. It had been built in 1904 by lumber baron R.A. Vance. In 1985 the 20-room home at 2400 Fulton was sold for $700,000.
(SSFC, 1/30/11, DB p.42)(SFC, 1/15/15, p.D6)
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 23, Donnell "Spade" Cooley (59) American musician known as the "king of Western swing" prior to his conviction of murder, died of a heart attack following a performance for a police officers benefit concert in Oakland. Cooley's career ended in 1961 when he was arrested and convicted for the brutal murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spade_Cooley)
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 Steve Goodman (1948-1984) wrote City of New Orleans, a song which would eventually be called by many people "the best train song ever written." Steve pitched the song to Arlo Guthrie, and in 1972, Arlo included the song on his album Hobo's Lullaby (1972). It was then released as a single and became a big-time hit record. Steve always thanked Arlo for recording the song, and for making it possible for Steve to do what he loved -- playing music for a living.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goodman)(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJMVj04lfyo)
1970 A Detroit singer named Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (b.1942 released his album, “Cold Fact." The album did not do well in the US but bootleg copies made it to South Africa and Australia and sold some half million copies. In 2012 Malik Bendjelloul directed the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man," about two men’s search for what happened to the singer.
(SFC, 8/16/12, p.75)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Diaz_Rodriguez)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(Edwin_Starr_song))(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E5)
1970 The rock band Mountain released its debut album "Climbing." The group included bassist Felix Pappalardi (1939-1983), guitarist Leslie West (1945-2020), keyboardist Steve Knight and drummer N. D. Smart.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_(band))(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
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 Glenn Frey (1948-2016) and Don Henley co-founded the Eagles rock group in Los Angeles. The group broke up in 1980 and reformed in 1994. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A5)
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)
1971 Paul Revere and the Raiders scored a hit with “Indian Reservation.“
(SFC, 10/6/14, p.C3)
1971 Chilean folk singer Victor Jara released an album titled "El dereche de vivir en paz" (The right to live in peace). The title song was originally dedicated to the Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh, as the United States waged war in Vietnam.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_derecho_de_vivir_en_paz)
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 Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. (1944-2017) sang the hit “Everybody Plays the Fool" with the rhythm-and-blues group Main Ingredient.
(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.C10)
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 Lou Reed recorded “Walk on the Wild Side" (1972). The song was about Holly Woodlawn (1946-2015), a transgender Puerto Rican woman, who had also also featured in two Andy Warhol films
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.C3)
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 16, 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 along with former prison service director Littre Quiroga. 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. In 2012 eight retired army officers were charged in Jara’s slaying. On Sep 5, 2013, a civil suit accused Lt. Pedro Barrientos Nunez of ordering torture and firing the fatal shot that killed Jara. In 2014 three more people were charged in the murder of Jara.
(AP, 5/15/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Jara)(AP, 11/26/09)(SFC, 12/29/12, p.A2)(SFC, 9/6/13, p.A5)(SFC, 9/4/14, p.A2)
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), American singer born as Walden Robert Cassotto, died during open heart surgery in LA. He performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country. Darin wrote “Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1ohsissjE)(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 Lesbian activist Alix Dobkin (1940-2021) broke new ground with her album "Lavender Jane Loves Women." It was the first album recorded and distributed by women for women.
(SSFC, 6/6/21, p.F1)
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 Oct 4, The Southern music festival Volunteer Jam, headlined by the Charlie Daniels Band, was first held at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Jam)
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 The vocal trio Labelle (Patti LaBelle, Sarah Dash (1945-2021) and Nona Hendryx) had a No. 1 hit with "Lady Marmalade."
(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
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 Patti Smith’s debut album, “Horses," was released.
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A5)
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 Jan 29, Jesse Fuller (b.1896), American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay," died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o#t=33)
1976 Feb 19, Rick Stevens, former lead vocalist of the Tower of Power, was arrested in San Jose, Ca., for his roll in a triple slaying after a drug deal went awry. Stevens was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 2012 he was paroled by Gov. Jerry Brown after 36 years in prison.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_music)(SFC, 1/29/13, p.E1)(SFC, 9/6/17, p.D6)
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 Apr 25, Guitarist Peter Frampton played to a sold-out audience at the Oakland Coliseum just weeks after the release of his "Frampton Comes Alive" alive recorded a year earlier in San Francisco. The album turned into the top seller for this year.
(SSFC, 9/29/19, p.J2)
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 The Eagles rock group made a hit with “Hotel California."
(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A5)
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)
1976 In Russia Eduard Khill (1934-2012), a popular Soviet singing star, was featured in a video of his performance of Arkady Ostrovsky's 1966 "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home." Khil sang "trololo" instead of censored lyrics. The original lyrics—about an American cowboy riding across a prairie—didn't sit well with Soviet censors, so Khil changed them in the quirky, vocalized version. In 2010 the video an Internet sensation in 2010.
(http://tinyurl.com/8aac9aj)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Khil)
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 Jul 26, In the SF Bay Area Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones performed at the Oakland Coliseum as Jagger celebrated his 34th birthday.
(SFC, 12/1/18, p.C1)
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)
1978-1984 The Cars released five albums during this period and each sold more than a million copies in the US alone. The group broke up in the late 1980s.
(SFC, 9/16/19, p.A5)
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 Bob Biggs (1946- 2020) founded Slash Records. It became one of the most successful independent record labels of its era.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
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 Oct 17 - 1981, Oct 18, In San Francisco over 145,000 attended two concerts by the Rolling Stones at Candlestick Park.
(SSFC, 12/22/13, p.A14)
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 17, Felix Pappalardi (b.1939), singer and producer for the group Mountain, was fatally shot by his wife, Gail Collins, in their East Side Manhattan apartment. She had co-written songs for the group and designed their famous album covers.
(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
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)
1983 The Stone Roses, an English rock band, formed in Manchester. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani and drummer Reni. Their debut album, The Stone Roses, was released in 1989.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Roses)
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 Prince (1958-2016) released his “Purple Rain" album.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician))(Econ, 4/30/15, p.82)
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)
1984 The Twisted Sisters made a hit with their anti-authority song “We’re Not Gonna Take It."
(Econ, 6/7/14, TQ p.23)
1985 Jan 28, The song "We are the World" was recorded in Hollywood, Ca. The collaborative song recorded by a dizzying array of stars, including Harry Belafonte, was released in March. Ken Kragen (1936-2021) latched onto Mr. Belafonte’s vision and became a pivotal behind-the-scenes force in creating the song. Quincy Jones produced the song with lyrics by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World)(NY Times, 12/16/21)
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 Apr, Many Chinese lined up for hours to buy $1.75 tickets to the groundbreaking concert by Wham! at the People's Gymnasium, the biggest stadium in Beijing at the time. Wham! was the first major Western band to play in the country after the death of Mao Zedong and decades of cultural isolation. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley danced in big-shouldered jackets with bleached and feathered hair. The backing dancers' strapless costumes and polka-dot miniskirts also stunned the audience in China at a time when people still dressed in similar shades of green and gray.
(AP, 12/26/16)
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)
1986 Nov 15, The Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" album was released. The 3-member punk/funk band from Brooklyn had burst on the scene with their song: "Fight for Your Right to Party."
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.A1)(SFC, 2/15/19, p.C4)
1986 Jeannie C. Riley recorded "Harper Valley P.T.A.," written by singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall (1936-2022). The song about small town hypocrisy became an int'l hit.
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.F8)
1986 Cui Jian, later considered the father of Chinese rock, recorded “Nothing To My Name." The song became the soundtrack for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYwsPt854Xo)(Econ, 8/16/14, p.36)
1986 The Chilean group Los Prisioneros released "El baile de los que sobran (The dance of those left over). It written and composed by Jorge González and became one of the greatest classics of Chilean popular music.
(https://tinyurl.com/yb79ksot)(Econ, 3/14/20, p.66)
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 Jun 29, Elizabeth Cotton (1895-1987), American blues singer, died in Syracuse, NY. She composed “Freight Train" in the early 1900s when she saw a train pass by her house on Lloyd Street in Carrboro, North Carolina. The song was copyrighted in 1957. The first recording of the song was made by Mike Seeger in 1957–1958, at Elizabeth’s home in Washington, D.C.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F6sXL4Jb_s)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cotten)
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 Apr, The Traveling Wilburys, an English-American supergroup, was formed in after the five members united to record a bonus track for Harrison's next European single. Members included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_Wilburys)
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 May 29, John Cipollina (45), lead guitarist with the Quicksilver Messenger Service rock group, died in Marin, Ca. of complications from respiratory problems.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, DB p.42)
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)
1989 Milli Vanilli, a duo composed of Rob Pilatus (d.1998 at 32) and Fabrice Morvan, won a Grammy for Best New Artist after their hits "Blame It on the Rain" and "All or Nothing." It was later learned the duo lip-synched the songs that were done by uncredited studio musicians and the award was revoked in 1990. John Davis (1955-2021) and Brad Howell did the vocals, but did not want to travel. Producer Frank Farian then hired Pilatus and Morvan.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A26)(BS, 5/3/98, p.6F)(SFC, 6/1/21, p.B4)
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)
1990 In Brazil US pop star Michael Jackson landed by helicopter at the top of one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious favelas and sang “They Don’t Care About Us."
(Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.18)
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 10, Metallica staged a concert in Copenhagen.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6967efc)
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 Oct 25, American rock-and-roll impresario Bill Graham was killed in a helicopter crash near Highway 37 outside Vallejo, in Sonoma County, Ca. Also killed were his girlfriend, Melissa Gold, and pilot, Steve Kahn. A memorial concert in GG Park drew some 300,000 people with music by the Grateful Dead; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; John Fogerty; Bobby McFerrin; and Robin Williams.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Graham_(promoter))(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)(AP, 10/25/01)(SSFC, 5/6/18, DB p.50)
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)
1991 In Germany theTresor night club was launched in a former power station in Berlin. It was one of the first places to play techno music.
(Econ, 1/9/16, p.46)
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 Aug 23, Los Angeles police confirmed that pop star Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation. Prosecutors began investigating Michael Jackson after a 13-year-old boy said Jackson had sex with him. An out of court settlement was reached for $15-20 mil. The boy’s father later filed suit against Jackson for violating a promise not to discuss the settlement.
(AP, 8/23/98)(SFC, 6/12/96, p.E3)
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)
1993 The name "disco polo" was coined in 1993 by Sławomir Skręta, the owner of a record label Blue Star in Reguły, near Warsaw. The genre originated from music played in the 1980s at weddings by bands with a repertoire of Polish folk music and wedding songs.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_polo)(Econ., 11/28/20, p.46)
1994 Apr 5, Kurt Cobain (b.1967), singer-musician for the grunge band Nirvana, committed suicide in Seattle. His body was found on April 8 at his Lake Washington Boulevard home.
(AP, 4/8/97)(SFEC, 2/2/97, DB. p.52)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)
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)
1994 In Venezuela the ska-punk band Desorden Publico released its album "People's Song of Life and Death." Some ten years earlier founding member Horacio Blanco wrote "Paralytic Politicians," which later became an anthem of protest for Venezuela.
(AFP, 3/3/19)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur)(SFC, 9/14/96, p.A1)(AP, 9/13/97)
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)
1996 Dolly Parton, American country singer, founded her “Imagination Library." It provided free books to children in her home county of East Tennessee up to age 5. In 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally.
(https://imaginationlibrary.com/)
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)
1998 Nov 20, Rolando Alphonso, tenor saxophonist for the ska group Skatalites, died in Los Angeles at age 67. He was an original member of the Jamaican group that was formed in 1964.
(SFC, 12/7/98, p.A25)
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 (Jason Mizell), a 37-year-old rap artist, was shot to death in a recording studio in Queens, NYC. The circumstances surrounding his death remained unanswered for years. In 2020 authorities charged Ronald Washington (56) and Karl Jordan Jr. (37) in connection with the murder.
(SFC, 11/1/02, p.A1)(SFC, 8/18/20, p.A4)
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 20, In Rhode Island The Station, a West Warwick nightclub, erupted in a raging fire during a pyrotechnics display at a rock concert, 98 people were killed and 200 others injured. Flammable soundproofing was later blamed. In Feb, 2006, Dan Biechele, manager of the band, pleaded guilty to 100 counts of manslaughter in exchange for up to 10 years in prison. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch and a Rhode Island beer distributor agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits brought by survivors of the fire.
(SFC, 2/22/03, A1)(WSJ, 3/3/03, p.A1)(SFC, 2/1/06, p.A3)(SFC, 5/11/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/24/08, p.A3)
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 May 24, The 48th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Riga, Latvia. Turkey's pop divas Sertab Erener, came first in the contest and the 2004 edition was then held in Istanbul.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2003)(AFP, 8/4/18)
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." In 2013 Robert Hilburn authored “Johnny Cash: The Life."
(AP, 9/12/03)(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)(Econ, 11/23/13, p.83)
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.1952), a Grammy-nominated pop singer best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria," died in East Quogue, N.Y.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Branigan)
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)
2004 Psy, a South Korean rapper famous for " Gangnam Style," said American soldiers should be killed "slowly and painfully" at a Seoul concert during the Iraq war. In 2012 he apologized for his words ahead of a holiday concert to be attended by US President Obama and his family.
(AP, 12/8/12)
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 day. 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. In 2021 his family reached a settlement over his estate.
(AP, 12/25/06)(SFC, 12/26/06, p.A7)(SSFC, 7/25/21, p.A6)
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 Jun 13, The Detroit-area band Champagne Saints, comprised of Marius Polikaitis, Saulius Polteraitis, Jide Mbanefo, Paul Juska and Tadas Kasputis, held a CD release party for Throwing Hail Marys at the Pike Room at the Crofoot in Pontiac. Their 2nd album “Sparkle, Darker" came out in 2012.
(http://voices.yahoo.com/champagne-saints-throw-cd-release-party-3498131.html)
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. Taylor Swift won four Grammys.
(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 Patti Smith, rock musician and writer, received the US National Book Award for her memoir “Just Kids."
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A5)
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.
(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)
2012 Apr 27, Tens of thousands of South Koreans flocked to the opening show of Lady Gaga's global tour, amid colorful scenes as female and male fans donned outrageous outfits in honor of the US pop diva.
(AFP, 4/27/12)
2012 May 4, Adam Yauch (47), the gravelly voiced rapper, aka MCA), who helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop, died of cancer.
(AP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 13, Bass player and songwriter Donald "Duck" Dunn (b.1941), a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers band, died in his sleep while on tour in Tokyo.
(AP, 5/13/12)
2012 May 15, Indonesian police said they would not issue a permit for a Lady Gaga concert scheduled for June 3 in the capital.
(AFP, 5/15/12)
2012 May 17, Donna Summer (63) died following a battle with cancer. The disco legend away in Florida. She released her first single, "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," under her birth name (Donna Gaines) in 1971.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Summer)
2012 May 17, Algerian singer Warda al-Jazairia (72), the Algerian Rose, died in Cairo. She was a regional icon whose powerful patriotic tunes were matched in popularity by her romantic ballads. She performed for presidents and popular audiences, reinventing herself over the decades to appeal to old and young alike.
(AFP, 5/18/12)
2012 May 20, Robin Gibb (b.1949), one of the 3 Bee Gees’ brothers, died in London of cancer. He sang lead vocals on the Bee Gees' first British number one, "Massachusetts", in 1967, before they switched styles to disco in the 1970s.
(AFP, 5/21/12)
2012 May 24, In Japan Nicola Furlong (21), an Irish fan of Rapper Nicki Minaj, was found dead in a Tokyo hotel after attending a concert. Police arrested two American men, dancer James Blackston (23) and a musician, 19, as part of an investigation into her death. On June 14 police arrested a 19-year-old American musician on suspicion of murdering Furlong.
(AFP, 6/1/12)(AFP, 6/14/12)
2012 May 26, In Azerbaijan Loreen of Sweden piled up 372 points with her uplifting dance track "Euphoria" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.
(AFP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 27, Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out June 3 show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt the youth.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 29, Doc Watson (b.1923), blind guitar picker and fold singer, died in North Carolina. His work included 60 albums, 7 of which won Grammy awards.
(SFC, 5/30/12, p.C8)
2012 Jun 7, Bob Welch (65), a former member of Fleetwood Mac who also had a solo career, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Tennessee.
(SFC, 6/8/12, p.A8)
2012 Jul 16, Jon Lord (b.1941), keyboardist for the British Deep Purple rock band, died in London. His work included “Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (1969).
(SFC, 7/18/12, p.C4)
2012 Jul 16, Kitty Wells, American country singer, died in Madison, Tenn. Her songs included “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" (1952).
(SFC, 7/18/12, p.C4)
2012 Aug 5, Mexican singer Chavela Vargas (b.1919) died in Cuernavaca. She defied gender stereotypes to become one of the most legendary singers in Mexico.
(AP, 8/5/12)
2012 Aug 10, In San Francisco the 5th Outside Lands music festival opened in Golden Gate Park with some 65,000 people attending.
(SFC, 8/11/12, p.A1)
2012 Aug 17, A Russian judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism. They faced a maximum seven years in prison.
(AP, 8/17/12)
2012 Aug 18, Scott McKenzie (73), pop singer born as Philip Blondheim, died at his home in LA. In 1967 he sang “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" with the Mamas and Papas, a song written by John Phillips, leader of the Mamas and the Papas. McKenzie also co-wrote “Kokomo" (1988), a No. 1 hit for the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 8/21/12, p.C3)
2012 Aug 26, In Russia members of the punk band Pussy Riot said two members have fled the country to avoid prosecution for a protest that sent 3 bandmates to prison.
(SFC, 8/27/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 1, American lyricist Hal David (91) died in Los Angeles. He worked with composer Burt Bacharach on numerous top 40 hits.
(SSFC, 9/2/12, p.D11)
2012 Sep 5, Singer and songwriter Joe Smith (72), born as Joseph Souter, died at his home in Buford, Georgia. He penned hits like “Games People Play" and “Down in the Boondocks," as well as “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden."
(SFC, 9/6/12, p.A5)
2012 Sep 25, Andy Williams (b.1927), popular American singer, died at his Branson, Missouri, home. He had 18 gold records, 3 platinum and 5 Grammy nominations. Williams hosted the “The Andy Williams Show" from 1962-1971.
(SFC, 9/27/12, p.A10)
2012 Oct 10, In Russia a Moscow court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich, one of the 3 jailed Pussy Riot band members, because she had been thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could remove her guitar from its case.
(SFC, 10/11/12, p.A3)
2012 Nov 25, In London the Rolling Stones held the first of 5 concerts to mark the 50th anniversary of their debut.
(SFC, 11/26/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 13, James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, announced that Carole King (70) will receive the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
(SFC, 12/15/12, p.E2)
2012 Harry Belafonte authored his autobiography “My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance."
(Econ, 7/14/12, p.76)
2012 David Byrne, front man of the Talking Heads rock band, authored “How Music Works."
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.99)
2012 Peter Doggett authored “The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s."
(SSFC, 8/5/12, p.F5)
2012 Carly Rae Jepsen, a Canadian vocalist, recorded “Call me maybe." It became the best-selling song of the year.
(Econ, 3/2/13, p.63)
2013 Jan 1, Patti Page (85), a top singer of the 1950s, died in Encinitas, Ca. Her hits included “Tennessee Waltz" (1950) and “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window."
(SFC, 1/3/13, p.D2)
2013 Feb 4, Reg Presley (71), the lead singer of 1960s British rock band The Troggs, died at his home after a battle with cancer. He had scored a hit with the love anthem "Wild Thing" (1966).
(Reuters, 2/4/13)
2013 Feb 6, From Kashmir it was reported that the all-girl rock band Pragaash (First Light) has decided to disband following but one concert last December. The teenage members had received threats on social media and a top Muslim cleric.
(SFC, 2/6/13, p.A3)
2013 Feb 17, Country music singer Mindy McCready (37) was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Heber Springs, Ark. Her songs included “Guys Do It All the Time" (1996) and “Ten Thousand Angels" (1996).
(SFC, 2/18/13, p.A6)
2013 Feb 20, Scottish singer Emeli Sande won the coveted best album honour at the BRIT Awards for "Our Version of Events", confirming her status as favourite going into British pop's big night of the year.
(Reuters, 2/20/13)
2013 Mar 6, In Spain Alvin Lee (b.1944), British virtuoso rock guitarist, died following complications from routine surgery. He as a member of the band Ten Years After, which burst onto the US music scene following their 1969 Woodstock performance.
(SFC, 2/8/13, p.D5)
2013 Mar 30, Phil Ramone (1934), Grammy-award winning producer, died. He was a pioneer of digital recording and produced what is regarded as the first major commercial release on compact disc, “52nd Street," which came out in 1982.
(SSFC, 3/31/13, p.A12)
2013 Apr 1, Pop diva Modanna arrived in Malawi to tour the 10 school wings she has helped to build.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 22, Richie Havens (72), American folk singer and guitarist, died at his home in New Jersey. He was the first performer at the 1969 Woodstock festival and over his career released over 25 albums.
(SFC, 4/23/13, p.C4)
2013 Apr 26, George Jones (b.1931), American country singer, died in Nashville. His first big hit was “Why Baby Why" (1955).
(SFC, 4/27/13, p.A4)
2013 Apr 27, In northern Mexico 10 members of the musical group La Reyna de Monterrey were killed and five injured in a road accident.
(AP, 4/27/13)
2013 May 20, In Germany Ray Manzarek (74), keyboard player and founding member of the Doors, died in Rosenheim. The group was formed in 1965 when Manzarek met Jim Morrison at Venice Beach, Ca.
(SFC, 5/21/13, p.A6)
2013 Jul 26, US songwriter JJ Cale (74) died of a heart attack in la Jolla, San Diego County. His songs included “After Midnight," “Cocaine" and “Call Me the Breeze."
(SSFC, 7/28/13, p.A10)
2013 Aug 10, Eydie Gorme (b.1928), pop singer, died at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. Her hits included “Blame It on the Bossa Nova" (1963) and “Amor" (1964). She also sang in a duet act with her husband Steve Lawrence and they appeared together on TV in “The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Show" (1958).
(SSFC, 8/11/13, p.A15)
2013 Sep 26, Tunisian rapper Klay BBJ was jailed for six months for songs judged insulting by the authorities, a verdict his supporters slammed as a sign of the Islamist-led government's growing intolerance. On Oct 17 Klay BBJ was acquitted by an appeals court.
(AFP, 9/26/13)(AFP, 10/17/13)
2013 Oct 11, Lebanese singer and composer Wadih Safi (92) died. His strong, clear voice propelled him to fame throughout the Arab world.
(AP, 10/12/13)
2013 Oct 24, In San Francisco Faith Petric (b.1915), folk singer, died at a hospice house. In 1962 she became the headd of the San Francisco Folk Club and began hosting live jam sessions at her Clayton Street home.
(SFC, 11/12/13, p.C2)
2013 Oct 27, Lou Reed (b.1942), rock guitarist and singer, died in Southampton, NY. He formed and led the Velvet Underground from 1965-1970. His songs included “Walk on the Wild Side." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
(SFC, 10/28/13, p.A10)(Econ, 11/2/13, p.98)
2013 Oct 30, Electronica singer-songwriter James Blake (25) won Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize for his second album, "Overgrown."
(AFP, 10/30/13)
2013 Nov 12, British composer John Tavener (69) died. His spiritually inspired music was performed at the funeral of Princess Diana. He was best known for works including "The Whale", which was released in the late 1960s by the Beatles' record label Apple.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Dec 16, Ray Price (b.1926), American country singer, died in Texas. His more than 100 hits included his 1970 version of “For the Good Times," written by Kris Kristofferson.
(SFC, 12/18/13, p.A11)
2013 Dec 18, A British judge sentenced the former lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets to 29 years in jail, saying that Ian Watkins had "plumbed new depths of depravity" in committing a string of sexual offenses against very young children.
(AP, 12/18/13)
2014 Jan 3, Rock & Roll singer Phil Everly (74), the younger brother of Don Everly, died. He helped make the Everly Brothers one of the biggest rock and country acts of the 1950s and early 1960s.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)
2014 Jan 26, Daft Punk's infectiously catchy song "Get Lucky" won the Grammy Awards' record of the year.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 27, Pete Seeger (b.1919), legendary American banjo player and folksinger, died in NYC. His song “Turn! Turn! Turn!" was made famous by the Byrds in 1965. He also wrote “Where Have All the Flowers Gone."
(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
2014 Feb 14, Googoosh, an Iranian pop star living in Amsterdam, released a music video promoting gay rights. It was clicked on half a million times in the first 24 hours. Navid Akhavan, an Iranian-born Germany, wrote and directed the video for the song “Behesht" (Heaven).
(SFC, 3/5/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 17, Puerto Rican salsa legend Cheo Feliciano (78) died in a car accident early today, prompting the governor of the US territory to declare three days of mourning.
(AP, 4/17/14)
2014 May 10, The finals of the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Austrian bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, the alter ego of 25-year-old Thomas Neuwirth (25), won the contest.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2014)(AP, 5/11/14)
2014 May 20, Prince Rupert Loewenstein (80), former business manager of the Rolling Stones (1968-2007), died in a London hospital after suffering from Parkinson's disease. He was the prince who helped make the Rolling Stones as rich as kings.
(AP, 5/22/14)
2014 May 20, Police in Iran confirmed the arrest of six young people for posting a video online of them dancing to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy," showing them on state television as a public warning to youth in the Islamic Republic. On Sep 17 the six were given suspended sentences of 91 lashes and six months in prison for obscene behavior.
(AP, 5/21/14)(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 May 30, South Korean pop star Psy and his irrepressible "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to surpass 2 billion views, crossing the mark around shortly before midnight EDT.
(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 31, The Queen musical "We Will Rock You" closed in its London home after 12 straight years. It had played to more than 6.5 million people at the Dominion Theatre with over 4,600 performances.
(AFP, 3/11/14)
2014 Jun 6, In Italy Sister Cristina Scuccia (25) clinched the top prize with five songs in the country’s musical competition “The Voice."
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi_LgPgaQo)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.a2)
2014 Jun 19, Gerry Goffin (b.1939), pop lyricist, died at his home in Los Angeles. During the 1960s he and his then wife Carole King wrote such songs “A Natural Woman," “Take Good Care of My Baby," Up on the Roof," “The Loco-Motion," and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (1960).
(SSFC, 6/22/14, p.C5)
2014 Jun 27, Bobby Womack (b.1944), soul songwriter and musician aka the Preacher, died. In 1964 he recorded “It’s All Over Now" with the Valentinos that included four of his brothers. A version by the Rolling Stones became that group’s first No. 1 hit single in Britain.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A7)
2014 Jul 11, Tom Erdelyi (b.1949), aka Tommy Ramone, founding drummer and last surviving member of the Ramones, a NY punk rock band, died in New York.
(SSFC, 7/13/14, p.A10)
2014 Jul 16, Texas blues legend Johnny Winter (b.1944), died while on tour in Geneva. He was known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters.
(AP, 7/17/14)
2014 Sep 4, In Argentina Gustavo Cerati (55), one of Latin America's most influential musicians, died, four years after a stroke put him in a coma.
(AP, 9/6/14)
2014 Sep 5, Girl group singer Simone Battle (25) was found dead in her West Hollywood home. Her death was later ruled a suicide by hanging.
(AP, 9/6/14)(AP, 9/7/14)
2014 Sep 7, In South Korea Kwon Ri-sae (23) died at a hospital in Suwon, just south of Seoul. She was the 2nd Ladies' Code band member to die following a car accident on Sep 3.
(AP, 9/7/14)
2014 Sep 11, Bob Crewe (b.1930), songwriter and producer, died in Scarborough, Maine. His first hit was the 1957 song “Silhouttes," a top ten tune for the Rays written with Frank Slay. In 1962 he produced the hit “Sherry" by Frankie Valli and went on to help write and produce “Walk Like a Man," “Rag Doll," and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You."
(SFC, 9/15/14, p.C4)
2014 Oct 4, Paul Revere (76), organist and leader of the Raiders rock band, died at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho. The group’s hits included their rendition of “Louie, Louie" (1963) and Indian Reservation“ (1971).
(SFC, 10/6/14, p.C3)
2014 Oct 23, Alvin Stardust (b.1942), British singer and former glam rock star, died after a short battle with cancer, just weeks before he was due to release a new album. His real name was Bernard Jewry.
(AFP, 10/23/14)
2014 Oct 25, Jack Bruce (71), British vocalist and bassist for the blues trio Cream, died at his home in Suffolk. The group also included drummer Ginger Baker and guitarist Eric Clapton. Cream the world’s first platinum disc for the double album “Wheels of Fire" (1968).
(SSFC, 10/26/14, p.D8)
2014 Nov 5, In southern France flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata (93) died. His “Gypsy Flamenco" album was released in 1963. He had sold nearly 100 million records worldwide and broke boundaries for Gypsy musicians.
(AP, 11/6/14)(Econ, 11/15/14, p.94)
2014 Nov 6, In New Zealand drummer Phil Rudd (60) of Australian rock band AC/DC, whose hits include "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," was accused of trying to arrange two killings as well as possession of drugs.
(AP, 11/6/14)
2014 Nov 7, New Zealand authorities made an embarrassing about-face when prosecutors dropped a murder-for-hire charge against AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (60), saying there was not enough evidence to proceed. Rudd still faced serious charges of threatening to kill as well as possession of amphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 11/7/14)(SFC, 12/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Nov 23, Britain’s One Direction band won artist of the year at the American Music Awards, taking home three honors and was the night's big winner next to Katy Perry, who didn't attend the show.
(AP, 11/24/14)
2014 Nov 23, In Chakwal, Pakistan, Muhammad Gullistan (30) shot dead his teenage niece because she was listening to loud music.
(Reuters, 11/25/14)
2014 Nov 26, Dutch researchers sought to add a new, largely untapped renewable energy source to the world's energy mix with the opening of a "Blue Energy" test facility. Blue energy takes advantage of the difference in salt concentration between sea water and fresh water to produce electricity.
(AP, 11/26/14)
2014 Dec 2, Saxophonist Bobby Keys (70) died at his home in Franklin, Tenn. He had toured with Buddy Holly, played on recordings by John Lennon, and laid down the blowout a solo on the the Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar" album.
(SFC, 12/3/14, p.E4)
2014 Dec 13, Hazem Sherif, a Syrian from war-torn Aleppo, was declared the winner of this year's "Arab Idol" singing contest at the grand finale of the grueling four-month television competition in Beirut.
(AFP, 12/14/14)
2014 Dec 16, Rock Scully (b.1941), the fist manager of the Grateful Dead, died in Monterey, Ca.
(SFC, 12/20/14, p.C1)
2014 Dec 22, Legendary British singer Joe Cocker (70) died at his home in Crawford, Colorado. His intense, gritty voice won him wide acclaim that spanned both rock and blues.
(AFP, 12/22/14)
2015 Jan 26, Greek singer Demis Roussos (b.1946) died in Athens. His often high-pitched pop serenades won him household recognition in the 1970s and 1980s across Europe and beyond and who sold more than 60 million records.
(AP, 1/26/15)
2015 Jan 30, In southern California Marion “Suge" Knight, founder of Death Row Records, was booked on suspicion of murder after hitting and killing Terry Carter (55) with his pickup truck and fleeing the scene a day earlier. On Feb 2 Knight was charged with murder.
(SFC, 1/31/15, p.A10)(SFC, 2/3/15, p.A6)
2015 Feb 12, Steve Strange (55), a singer with the British band Visage and one of the founders of the 1980s' New Romantic style, died in a hospital in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
(AP, 2/13/15)
2015 Feb 12, Sam Andrew (b.1941), a founding member of rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, died in San Rafael, Ca. In the mid 1960s the band shot Janis Joplin to fame.
(SFC, 2/17/15, p.C3)
2015 Feb 16, Leslie Gore (68), singer and songwriter, died of lung cancer in NYC. Her hits included “It’s My Party" (1963) and “You Don’t Own Me" (1963).
(SFC, 2/18/15, p.D4)
2015 Feb 27, Former British pop star Gary Glitter (70), aka Paul Gadd, received a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s.
(AP, 2/27/15)
2015 Mar 10, A Los Angeles jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children $7.3 million after determinging that singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell and Williams copied their father’s music to create “Blurred Lines," the biggest hit song of 2013.
(SFC, 3/11/15, p.A6)
2015 Apr 10, An Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant for Justin Bieber, saying the singer failed to respond to summons related to allegations he ordered bodyguards to attack a photographer in 2013.
(AP, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 14, Percy Sledge (74), soul singer, died in Louisiana. His 1996 debut single “When A Man Loves a Woman" became a No. 1 hit.
(SFC, 4/15/15, p.E4)
2015 Apr 21, In New Zealand AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (60) pleaded guilty in court to a charge of threatening in 2014 to kill a man who used to work for him. He also pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 4/21/15)
2015 Apr 30, Ben E. King (b.1934), lead singer for the Drifters, died in Teaneck, NY. His classics included “Stand By Me" (1961) and “Spanish Harlem." (1960).
(SFC, 5/2/15, p.E4)
2015 May 14, B.B. King (89), Mississippi-born blues guitarist and 15-time Grammy winner, died in Las Vegas.
(SFC, 5/16/15, p.E1)
2015 May 17, In NYC Lionel Pickens, aka Chinx, a rapper who won a growing following by turning his bleak experiences as a drug-dealer into verse, was shot dead.
(Reuters, 5/18/15)
2015 May 23, In Vienna, Austria, Sweden beat Russia to win the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, in an event described by organizers as beyond politics but marred by boos for the Russian that were apparently prompted by the Ukraine conflict and the Kremlin's anti-gay policies.
(AP, 5/24/15)
2015 Jun 6, Ronnie Gilbert (b.1926), a member of the Weavers folk singing group, died in Mill Valley, Ca. Other members of the Weavers included Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman.
(SFC, 6/8/15, p.D1)
2015 Jun 26, SiriusXM, a satellite radio provider, announced that it would pay $210 million to the major record companies over its broadcasting of songs made before 1972.
(SFC, 6/29/15, p.D1)
2015 Jun 27, Chris Squire (b.1948), rock bassist for the British band Yes, died in Phoenix. The band formed in 1968 as one of the first progressive rock groups.
(SFC, 6/29/15, p.C3)
2015 Jul 9, A New Zealand judge sentenced AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (61) to eight months of home detention after the musician pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a man who used to work for him, along with possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 7/9/15)
2015 Aug 19, In North Korea the Slovenian rock band Laibach played to a full house in Pyongyang as part of the “Liberation Day Tour," coinciding with the Korean Peninsula’s 70th year anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonization.
(SFC, 8/20/15, p.A4)
2015 Sep 3, An Egyptian court said that female singers Bardis and Shakira promoted indecency in their music videos and sentenced both to six months in prison.
(SFC, 9/4/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 8, In the Philippines Elizabeth Ramsey (84), a popular Filipino singer, comedian and actress who entertained crowds with racy gags and a raspy voice, died.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 6, Billy Joe Royal (b.1942), popular county singer, died at his home in North Carolina. He is best known for his 1965 hit “Down in the Boondocks" written and produced by Joe South.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D4)
2015 Oct 20, Cory Wells (b.1941), a founding member of the vocal trio behind the rock group Three Dog Night, died in Dunkirk, NY. Some two dozen top hits by the group included “Joy to the World" (1971).
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
2015 Nov 10, Legendary New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint (b.1938) died after suffering a heart attack following a concert in Spain. He penned such classics as "Working in a Coal Mine" (1966) and "Lady Marmalade" (1974).
(AP, 11/10/15)(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A14)(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2015 Nov 18, Musician Willie Nelson was honored as the new recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular song.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 15, P.F. Sloan (b.1945), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Los Angeles. His songs included “Eve of Destruction" (1965).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F._Sloan)
2015 Dec 3, In Minnesota Scott Weiland (b.1967) former frontman for rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, was found dead on his tour bus while on tour with his band the Wildabouts. A medical examiner later said he died of a toxic mix of drugs that included cocaine.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A16)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.E2)
2015 Dec 28, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (70), the hell-raising frontman of pioneering British heavy metal band Motorhead, died of cancer in Los Angeles, bringing to an end the story of a band dubbed the loudest in the world.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.78)
2015 Dec 31, Natalie Cole (b.1950), Grammy-winning daughter of Nat King Cole, died in Los Angeles of complications from health issues.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Willie Nelson with David Ritz authored “It’s a Long Story: My Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N4)
2015 John Seabrook authored “The Song Machine," a history of the past 20 years of pop music.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.81)
2016 Jan 10, British singer David Bowie (b.1947) died in NYC. He had received little attention until his 5th album: “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" (1972).
(AP, 1/11/16)(Econ, 1/16/16, p.97)
2016 Feb 6, Dan Hicks (b.1941), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Marin, Ca. From 1965-1968 he wasthe drummer and occasional vocalist for the charlatans, widely regarded as the first San Francisco psychedelic band.
(Boston Globe, 2/8/16, p.B6)
2016 Feb 15, The English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for "Thinking Out Loud," a bare guitar ballad that made history as a viral hit. Sheeran shared the rammy award with his co-writer Amy Wadge, a British folk artist.
(AFP, 2/16/16)
2016 Feb 24, Astronaut Tim Peake presented Adele with a Brit Award from space, as the singer swept the board at the annual British music awards rendered sober this year by the death of David Bowie.
(AFP, 2/24/16)
2016 Mar 8, Sir George Martin (b.1926), British producer for the Beatles, died. Martin also worked with Jeff Beck, Elton John, Celine Dion and on several solo albums by Paul McCartney.
(AP, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 11, Keith Emerson (71), flamboyant yet accomplished British keyboardist, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted bullet wound to his head at his condominium in the Los Angeles area. He had pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock music.
(AP, 3/12/16)
2016 Mar 10, Singer Gogi Grant (b.1924) died at her home in Los Angeles.Her 1956 rendition of “The Wayward Wind" topped the Billboard singles chart.
(SFC, 3/17/16, p.D5)
2016 Mar 25, In Cuba Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones performed a free concert for hundreds of thousands in Havana.
(AFP, 3/26/16)
2016 Apr 6, Merle Haggard (b.1937), American country music star, died at his home in Redding, Ca.
(SFC, 4/7/16, p.A1)
2016 Apr 21, Prince Rogers Nelson (57), singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist, died at his home in Minnesota. His records sold more than 100 million copies and earned him Grammys and an Academy Award.
(AP, 4/22/16)
2016 Apr 23, Ivory Coast musician Papa Wemba (66), known around the world as the king of Congolese rumba, died following a collapse on stage during a concert. Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, rose to fame in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa during the 1970s with the band Zaiko Langa Langa, whose guitar-based fusion of Latin and African dance styles inspired a generation of African musicians.
(AP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 27, Jordan banned a performance by popular Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila ("Leila's Project") on religious grounds, spurring criticism of the Western-allied kingdom, which portrays itself as an island of tolerance in a turbulent region.
(AP, 4/27/16)
2016 May 15, Australians cheered contestant and juries' favorite Dami Im for placing second at the annual Eurovision song contest in Sweden.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 15, Jubilant Ukrainians erupted in celebration after Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest with a powerful tribute to her Tatar people's deportation from Russian-annexed Crimea in 1944.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 24, British media reported that singer-songwriter Adele has signed a contract with Sony worth up to £90 million (117 million euros, $131 million), in one of the biggest ever record deals. Adele has been at London-based independent label XL Recordings since she was a teenager.
(AFP, 5/24/16)
2016 May 28, Iran said eight people producing obscene music videos, whose clips were broadcast on a famous anti-revolutionary television channel, were arrested in Tehran last week.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 Jun 21, US trumpet player Wayne Jackson (74) died. He and Memphis Horns partner Andrew Love (d.2012) had reportedly played on 52 No. 1 records and 83 gold and platinum records.
(SFC, 6/23/16, p.D3)
2016 Jun 24, P-Fund keyboardist Bernie Worrell, aka “Wizard of Woo," died at his home in Everson, Wa. His keyboard sounds helped shape the Parliament-Funkadelic musical empire of the 1970s and 1980s.
(SSFC, 6/26/16, p.C10)
2016 Jun 28, Guitarist Scotty Moore (84) died at his home in Nashville. He virtually created the rockabilly style and helped launch the career of Elvis Presley.
(SFC, 7/1/16, p.D3)
2016 Jul 16, In Arkansas Bonnie Brown (b.1938), one of the three siblings that formed the Browns singing group, died in Little Rock. Their songs included “I Take the Chance" (1957) and “The Three Bells" (1959).
(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A16)
2016 Jul 26, Sandy Pearlman, producer and lyricist for Blue Öyster Cult, died in Novato, Ca. He produced and co-produced albums for the band from 1972-1988. In 1975 he and Murray Krugman produced one of the earliest albums considered to be punk rock: “The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!"
(SFC, 7/29/16, p.D4)
2016 Aug 20, In Canada Tragically Hip, a group known as Canada's Band, held its final performance in Kingston. Lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie, dubbed Canada's unofficial poet laureate and diagnosed with glioblastoma, was in fine form as he and his bandmates played an epic 30-song set, punctuated by three encores.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 28, In NYC Beyonce dominated the MTV Video Music Awards as she won eight awards and awed the audience with a fiery dance medley with an unstated political message.
(AFP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 28, Juan Gabriel (66), Mexico’s greatest modern pop singer, died. He was born as Alberto Aguilera Valadez and had his first hit in 1971 with “No tengo dinero" (I have no money).
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.78)
2016 Oct 13, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
(AP, 10/13/16)
2016 Oct 24, Robert Thomas Velline b.1943, known professionally as Bobby Vee, died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Rogers, Minnesota. He was an American pop singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20 and six gold singles in his career.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Vee)
2016 Oct 28, Lebanese singer and composer Melham Barakat (71) died at a Beirut hospital. He was highly esteemed and popular across the region. His most popular songs included "Two Moons at my Door," and "Habibi Inta (You are my Love)".
(AP, 10/28/16)
2016 Nov 7, Leonard Cohen (b.1934), Canadian singer, poet and novelist, died in Los Angeles. His song "Suzanne" (1966) became a hit for Judy Collins, and was for many years his most covered song.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen)(Econ, 11/19/16, p.80)
2016 Nov 13, Leon Russell (b.1942), rock ‘n’ roll producer, songwriter and performer, died in Nashville, Tenn.
(SFC, 11/14/16, p.A7)
2016 Nov 16, The Swedish Academy said music icon Bob Dylan will not attend the Nobel ceremony in December to accept his literature prize because he has other commitments.
(AFP, 11/16/16)
2016 Nov 18, Sharon Jones (60), a fiery Grammy-nominated soul and funk singer sometimes called the "female James Brown," died in Cooperstown, NY, after losing a battle to pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 11/19/16)
2016 Dec 7, British musician Greg Lake (b.1947) died. He had co-founded both King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. ELP broke up in 1979, reunited in 1991, later disbanded again and reunited for a 2010 tour.
(AP, 12/8/16)
2016 Dec 25, British gay pop star George Michael (53) died of apparent heart failure. He had rocketed to stardom with WHAM! and went on to enjoy a long and celebrated solo career lined with controversies.
(AP, 12/26/16)
2016 Dec 30, Former British pub owner Allan Williams (86), the first manager of The Beatles, died. He drove the band on their formative trip to Hamburg in 1960.
(AP, 12/31/16)
2016 Bruce Springsteen authored his biography “Born to Run."
(Econ, 10/1/16, p.78)
2017 Feb 12, British singer-songwriter Adele won five Grammys at the 59th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
(SFC, 2/13/17, p.C1)
2017 Feb 12, Singer Al Jarreau (b.1940), winner of seven Grammy Awards, died in Los Angeles.
(SFC, 2/13/17, p.D4)
2017 Jan 23, Bobby Freeman (b.1940), San Francisco’s first rock ’n’ roll teen star, died at his home in Daly City. His 1958 song “Do You Want to Dance" reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart. The song became known as “Do You Wanna Dance" and was performed by a number of other musicians including the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 2/15/17, p.D4)
2017 Feb 18, Clyde Stubblefield (73), a former drummer for James Brown, died in Madison, Wis. His short solo on Brown’s 1970 single “Funky Drummer" was sampled on more than 1,000 songs and served as the backbeat on for countless hip-hop tracks.
(SFC, 2/20/17, p.C4)
2017 Mar 18, Rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry (b.1926) died at his home in the St. Louis area. His 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode" was so influential and recognizable that the US space program chose it to represent rock music for potential extraterrestrial listeners on the Voyager spacecraft.
(AFP, 3/18/17)(SSFC, 3/19/17, p.A9)
2017 Apr 1, In Sweden Bob Dylan (75) received his Nobel literature diploma in a small afternoon ceremony in Stockholm before performing a concert in the evening.
(SSFC, 4/2/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 11, Musician John Warren Geils Jr. (71), founder of the J. Geils Band, died at his home in Massachusetts. The band’s biggest hits included “Must of Got Lost" (1975), “Love Stinks" (1980) and “Centerfold" (1981).
(SFC, 4/12/17, p.A7)
2017 Apr 20, Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. was found dead in a car in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. He sang the 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool" with the rhythm-and-blues group Main Ingredient.
(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.C10)
2017 May 13, Portugal's Salvador Sobral sang his Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both) accompanied by quiet strings and a piano in the 62nd Eurovision extravaganza. His romantic ballad challenged the decades-long reputation for cheesy, glittery, unbridled excess and won easily.
(AP, 5/14/17)
2017 May 17, Chris Cornell (b.1964), the front man for the Soundgarden rock group, committed suicide at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
(SFC, 5/19/17, p.E1)
2017 May 27, Gregg Allman, Southern Rock singer and organist of the Allman Brothers Band, died at his home in Savannah, Ga.
(SSFC, 5/28/17, p.C9)
2017 Jun 13, Anita Pallenberg (b.1944), model and actress, died in Chichester, England. Sometimes called the muse of the Rolling Stones, she had affairs with three of band’s key members.
(SSFC, 6/18/17, p.C11)
2017 Jul 1, In southern Sweden the Bravalla festival in Norrkoping was called off for next year after a rape was reported a day earlier. Swedish police say they so far have 11 cases of sexual abuse and one rape at the July 28-July 1 festival.
(AP, 7/1/17)
2017 Jul 10, After four and a half years as YouTube's most seen video, "Gangnam Style" slipped late today to number two, replaced by "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. The song was a tribute to Paul Walker, an actor in "The Fast and Furious" film franchise who died in a car wreck.
(AP, 7/11/17)
2017 Jul 25, In Australia aboriginal blind singer Dr. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (b.1970), the most beautiful voice in the country, died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC-Jd7KN64)(Econ, 8/5/17, p.70)
2017 Aug 8, Glen Campbell (81), American country music legend, died in Nashville. His songs included “Rhinestone Cowboy" (1975) and “Wichita Lineman" (1968). The TV show “Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS.
(SFC, 8/9/17, p.A6)
2017 Sep 3, Walter Becker (b.1950), guitarist, bassist and co-founder of Steely Dan, died in Hawaii.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Becker)(SFC, 9/5/17, p.E6)
2017 Sep 8, Country singer Don Williams (b.1939) died in Mobile, Ala. His seventeen No. 1 hits included “Till the Rivers All Run Dry" (1975).
(http://tinyurl.com/yb9mp6zk)(SSFC, 9/10/17 p.C9)
2017 Sep 8, Country singer Troy Gentry (b.1967) of the Montgomery Gentry duo, died in a helicopter crash in Medford, NJ.
(SSFC, 9/10/17 p.C10)
2017 Sep 9, In southern California the members of the Polish band Decapitated were arrested early today in Santa Ana, on suspicion of kidnapping a woman after their Aug. 31 concert in Spokane. The band, founded in Poland in 1996, has won critical acclaim for its albums among fans of death metal.
(AP, 9/9/17)
2017 Oct 2, American rock icon Tom Petty (b.1950) died in Santa Monica, Ca., after suffering cardiac arrest.
(SFC, 10/3/17, p.A1)
2017 Oct 17, Gord Downie (53), who made himself part of Canada's national identity with songs about hockey and small towns as lead singer and songwriter of iconic rock band The Tragically Hip, died after a battle with brain cancer.
(AP, 10/18/17)
2017 Oct 24, Fats Domino (b.1928), rock’n’roll pioneer, died in New Orleans. His hits included “Blueberry Hill" (1956).
(SFC, 10/26/17, p.A6)
2017 Nov 12, MTV Europe Music Awards returned to London for the first time since 1996. Canadian teen singer Shawn Mendes (19) won best artist and best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA).
(AFP, 11/13/17)
2017 Nov 18, Rock band AC/DC announced that Australia-based Malcolm Young (64), guitarist and co-founder of the band, has died after suffering from dementia for several years.
(AFP, 11/19/17)(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.C10)
2017 Nov 19, American country singer Mel Tillis (85), died in Ocala, Florida. He recorded more than 60 albums and wrote hit songs for other country singers.
(SFC, 11/20/17, p.C4)
2017 Nov 21, David Cassidy (b.1950), lead singer on the TV sitcom “The Partridge Family," died in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
(SFC, 11/22/17, p.A8)
2017 Nov 21, Wayne Cochran (b.1939), American rhythm-and blues singer, died at his home in Miramar, Fl. His song “Last Kiss" became hit in 1964 for J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers and again in 199 for Pearl Jam. The 1970 B-movie “C.C. and Company with Joe Namath contained a glimpse of his live act. At age 40 Cochran largely abandoned his music career and turned to preaching.
(SFC, 11/27/17, p.C3)
2017 Dec 6, French rock star Johnny Hallyday (b.1943) died in Paris. His power ballads and colorful personal life made him a national treasure, loved by everyone from rebellious teens in the 1960s to modern-day presidents.
(AP, 12/6/17)
2017 Dec 16, Keely Smith (b.1928), torch singer and former wife of bandleader Louis Prima, died in Palm Springs. Her marriage to Prima in 1953 lasted to 1961.
(SFC, 12/20/17, p.D5)
2017 Dec 18, In South Korea boy band SHINee singer Kim Jong-hyun, better known by the stage name Jonghyun, was found unconscious at a residence hotel in Seoul and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Police called it a possible suicide.
(AP, 12/18/17)
2018 Jan 15, Edwin Hawkins (b.1943), pianist, choir leader and composer, died at his home in Pleasanton, Ca. In 1968 his Northern California Youth Choir recorded “Oh Happy Day," a gospel tune that sold 7 million copies in 1969 and earned him a Grammy.
(SFC, 1/14/18, p.A7)
2018 Jan 15, The Cranberries lead Irish singer Dolores O'Riordan (b.1971) was found dead in the bath in her room at London's Park Lane Hilton hotel. On September 6 Coroner Shirley Radcliffe in London ruled that the cause of death was accidental drowning due to intoxication.
(AP, 1/16/18)(AFP, 9/6/18)
2018 Jan 28, The 60th Grammy Awards returned to New York City for the first time in more than a decade with a nod to the city's rich history of musical theater. Bruno Mars picked up the night’s top prizes, including album of the year and record of the year for “24K Magic."
(AP, 1/29/18)(SFC, 1/29/18, p.E1)
2018 Feb 7, John Perry Barlow (b.1947), Grateful Dead lyricist and founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, died in San Francisco.
(SFC, 2/8/18, p.A8)
2018 Feb 11, American singer Vic Damone (b.1928) died in Miami Beach. He had recorded some 2,500 songs over 54 years.
(SFC, 2/13/18, p.C3)
2018 Mar 1, Turkey’s state broadcaster faced accusations of imposing censorship reminiscent of a military coup after admitting it had banned over 200 songs from being played on air.
(AFP, 3/1/18)
2018 Mar 20, Ringo Starr received his long-awaited knighthood from Prince William. He used his real name Richard Starkey for the big event.
(AP, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 31, Some of South Korea's biggest pop stars flew to North Korea for rare performances that highlight the sudden thaw in inter-Korean ties after years of tensions over the North's nuclear ambitions.
(AP, 3/31/18)
2018 Apr 14, Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, the Cars, Nina Simone (d.2003) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (d.1973 joined music royalty as they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
(AFP, 4/15/18)
2018 Apr 27, Sweden's legendary disco group ABBA announced that they have reunited to record two new songs, 35 years after their last single, sparking joy and surprise among fans.
(AFP, 4/27/18)
2018 May 9, In Scotland Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison (36) was reported missing after leaving a hotel in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh. On May 11 police confirmed that a body discovered at a Scottish marina is that of Scott Hutchison.
(AP, 5/11/18)
2018 May 12, Portugal hosted the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest. Israel's Netta Barzilai (25) was announced the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal with her techno dance tune "Toy".
(AP, 5/12/18)(AP, 5/13/18)
2018 May 13, American composer Glenn Branca died in Manhattan. He blended classical, rock and avant-garde elements in his compositions that included Symphony No. 16 (Orgasm) in 2016.
(SFC, 5/18/18, p.D8)
2018 May 22, Japan-based Sony Corp. said it plans to spend $2.3 billion acquiring an additional 60 percent stake in EMI Music Publishing, home to the Motown catalog and contemporary artists like Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams.
(AP, 5/22/18)
2018 May 24, Authorities in Spain issued arrest warrants for Jose Miguel Arenas Beltran (24), a rap singer (aka Valtonyc) and composer from Palma de Mallorca, sentenced to prison for lyrics that praised terror groups and insulted the royal family.
(AP, 5/24/18)
2018 May 24, In Turkey rapper Sercan Ipekcigolu (27), better-known as rapper "Ezhel," was detained by narcotics police in Istanbul late today and was later charged with encouraging the use of drugs.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 27, South Korean 7-member boyband phenomenon BTS became the first K-Pop group to rise to the top of the US album charts, a vivid illustration of the genre's growing global appeal.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 Jun 3, Jerry Hopkins (b.1935), American music writer, died in Bangkok. His work included biographies of Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix.
(SSFC, 6/10/18, p.C2)
2018 Jun 24, In the SF Bay Area aspiring rapper Richard Doss (21), aka Lil Buzz, was shot and killed in his car on the 500 block of 23rd Street in Richmond.
{SF Bay Area, USA, Murder, Pop&Rock}
(SFC, 6/27/18, p.D4)
2018 Jul 18, British rock star Cliff Richard (77) was awarded $273,000 in damages after winning a privacy lawsuit against the BBC fir its coverage of a 2014 police raid over alleged sex offenses.
(SFC, 7/18/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 20, German astronaut Alexander Gerst played a duet of Kraftwerk's 1978 song "Spacelab" with the band to cheers from an audience in Stuttgart.
(AP, 7/21/18)
2018 Aug 16, Aretha Franklin (76), the music legend, icon and Grammy-winning singer celebrated as the "Queen of Soul," died at her home in Detroit. She influenced generations of female singers with unforgettable hits including "Respect" (1967), "Natural Woman" (1968) and "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968).
(AFP, 8/16/18)
2018 Sep 5, A Ugandan music festival was reinstated following a public outcry after the country's ethics minister banned the Nyege Nyege music festival a day earlier as an orgy of homosexuality, nudity and drugs akin to "devil worship".
(AFP, 9/5/18)
2018 Sep 7, Rapper Mac Miller (26) was found dead at his Los Angeles home. An autopsey later showed his death was due to an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol.
(SFC, 11/6/18, p.A6)
2018 Sep 12, France-based Algerian singer Rachid Taha (59) died overnight after suffering a heart attack at his home in the Paris suburbs.
(AP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 14, Uzbekistan's first electronic music festival ever, an event, called Stihia or Element in Russian, was staged at Muynak, an area of desert caused by one of the world's largest man-made environmental catastrophes, the shrinking of the Aral Sea.
(AP, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 15, In Australia a man (23) and a woman (21) died after collapsing at the Defqon.1 music festival in Sydney. A dozen more were hospitalized and hundreds others sought medical assistance after suspected drug overdoses.
(Reuters, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 27, Marty Balin (b.1942), co-founder of the San Francisco-based Jefferson Airplane rock group (1965), died in Florida.
(SFC, 9/29/18, p.A1)
2018 Oct 1, Legendary French singer Charles Aznavour (b.1924) died at his home in Alpilles. Aznavour was named "Entertainer of the Century" by CNN in 1998 because of his immense global popularity. His leading role in Francois Truffaut's film "Shoot the Piano Player" in 1960 catapulted Aznavour to international fame.
(AFP, 10/1/18)
2018 Oct 2, Geoff Emerick (72), who worked as recording engineer for the Beatles for many years and played an important role in the creation of "Revolver," ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and other albums, died.
(AP, 10/3/18)
2018 Oct 22, Thai rappers uploaded the song "Prathet Ku Mee" (Which is My Country), to YouTube. It soon racked up more than 6.4 million views and tens of thousands of comments since it went live on the platform, prompting authorities to take notice. The video features rappers from the Rap Against Dictatorship collective dishing out barbs about the military and blasting corruption, censorship and the lack of elections.
(AFP, 10/27/18)
2018 Nov 15, Roy Clark, US country music star, died in Oklahoma. He headlined the TV show "Hee Haw" for nearly a quarter century.
(SFC, 11/16/18, p.A7)
2018 Nov 21, Russian police detained rapper Dmitry Kuznetsov (25), aka Husky, for performing on a car in Krasnodar after prosecutors banned his gig. Husky is known for his songs mocking authorities and police brutality.
(AP, 11/22/18)
2018 Dec 7, Pete Shelley (63), the lead singer and songwriter with influential British pop punk band the "Buzzcocks", died at his home in Estonia. The band helped create the New Wave genre, fusing punk's energy with a more melodic sound.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 13, Cleveland-based Rock & Roll Hall of Fame organizers announced that pop icon Janet Jackson, angst rockers Radiohead and post-punk innovators The Cure earned spots in its Class of 2019. Stevie Nicks, already an inductee with her band Fleetwood Mac, was now also honored as a solo artist. British heavy metal group Def Leppard, pop experimentalists Roxy Music and English psychedelic rock harmonists The Zombies round out the list of artists.
(AFP, 12/13/18)
2018 Dec 13, Nancy Wilson (81), a Grammy-winning singer who performed everything from jazz ballads to pop songs during a career spanning decades, died in California.
(AFP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 14, Spanish prosecutors charged pop music star Shakira with tax evasion, alleging she failed to pay more than 14.5 million euros ($16.3 million) between 2012 and 2014. Shakira listed the Bahamas as her official residence for tax purposes while living in Spain.
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 16, In southern Romania Anca Pop (34), a Romanian-Canadian singer-songwriter, died after her car plunged into the Danube River.
(AP, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec, Venezuelan migrant singer Reymar Perdomo (30) was invited to Colombia by a popular satirist and Youtuber who had her sing on a bus in Peru, surprising her by bringing along Latin Grammy winner Carlos Vives and Andres Cepeda. She had written the heartfelt reggae song "Me Fui" about leaving her homeland that went viral on the internet and has brought tears to hundreds in the Venezuelan diaspora that has spread around the globe.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMtbPQWPlsk)(AP, 1/16/19)
2019 Jan 22, French officials said US singer Chris Brown (29) and two other people are in custody in Paris after a woman filed a rape complaint.
(AP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 23, Zimbabwe music star Oliver Mtukudzi (66) died in Harare.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Feb 9, UK rising rapper Cadet (28), aka Blaine Cameron Johnson, was killed in a car crash early today on the way to a performance in central England.
(AP, 2/9/19)
2019 Feb 22, In Chicago R&B star R. Kelly was arrested on multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse invloving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
(SFC, 2/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Feb 26, It was reported that Ukraine's national broadcaster has dropped singer Anna Korsun (27), who was meant to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest, due to apparent political differences over Russia.
(Reuters, 2/26/19)
2019 Mar 4, Keith Flint (49), the fiery frontman of British dance-electronic band The Prodigy, was found dead at his home near London. Keith reportedly took his own life over the weekend. The band's 1990s "Firestarter" (1996) and "Breathe" (1996) were an incendiary fusion of techno, breakbeat and acid house music.
(AP, 3/4/19)(AFP, 3/4/19)
2019 Mar 7, Singapore axed a gig by Watain, a Swedish metal band with Satanic beliefs, whose performances have involved throwing pig's blood onto revelers, just hours before it was due to go ahead.
(AFP, 3/7/19)
2019 Mar 16, American rock guitarist Dick Dale (b.1937) died in Los Angeles. His loud chord instrumentals on songs like "Miserlou" and "Let's Go Trippin'" earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar.
(SFC, 3/19/19, p.A9)
2019 Mar 21, In South Korea K-pop singer and television celebrity, Jung Joon-young, was arrested over accusations he shared his secret sex videos.
(Reuters, 3/21/19)
2019 Mar 22, Scott Walker (76), the influential singer, songwriter and producer whose hits with the Walker Brothers in the 1960s included "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," died in London.
(AP, 3/25/19)
2019 Mar 29, In New York City genre-bending acts Radiohead and The Cure led a British invasion into Brooklyn to take their spots in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while pop icon Janet Jackson entered the shrine in an induction many industry insiders consider long overdue. American folk rock legend Stevie Nicks became the first woman inducted twice. Heavy metal group Def Leppard, pop experimentalists Roxy Music and English psychedelic rock harmonists The Zombies rounded out the five-strong class of British inductees.
(AFP, 3/29/19)
2019 Mar 30, Billy Adams (79), Hall of Fame pioneer of rockabilly music, died in Westmoreland, Tenn. His hits included "Rock, Pretty Mama" (1957).
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 6, Bosnia's capital city made Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson an honorary citizen for a concert he performed while Sarajevo was under siege during the 1992-95 war. This came on Sarajevo Day, which marks the city's 1945 liberation during World War II and the start in 1992 of the Bosnian Serb siege that killed more than 11,000 people, including 1,600 children.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 10, Earl Thomas Conley (b.1941), popular country singer of the 1980s, died in Nashville. His 24 Top 10 country singles in the 1980s included "Holding Her and Loving You" and "Don't Make It Easy for Me".
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.C10)
2019 May 14, In Israel hackers succeeded in flashing a fake rocket attack warning during a webcast of a Eurovision song contest semi-final. Israel's public broadcaster blamed the incident on Islamist group Hamas.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 18, In Israel singer Duncan Laurence (25) brought the Netherlands victory with a doleful piano ballad, "Arcade," its first win in the Eurovision song contest since the 1970s. His victory means the Netherlands will host next year's edition.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 30, In Chicago prosecutors charged R&B singer R. Kelly with 11 new sex-related counts, including some that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 6, Mac Rebennack (b.1940), aka Dr. John, pianist, singer and songwriter who ermbodied the New Orleans sound for generations, died of a heart attack. He recorded more than 30 albums and in 1994 authored an autobiography with Jack Rummel titled "Under Hoodoo Moon".
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John)(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 9, In Colorado Bushwick Bill (52), the diminutive, one-eyed rapper (aka Robert Shaw) who with the Geto Boys helped put the South's stamp on rap with hits like "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" and "Six Feet Deep," died of pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 14, In South Korea Yang Hyun Suk, the founder of one of the most successful K-Pop music agencies, stepped down amid accusations that he tried to cover up alleged drug use by one of the company's artists.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 19, In France Electro star Philippe Zdar (52), one half of the cult French house duo Cassius, died late today after falling from a window in Paris -- two days before the release of his latest album.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 29, Gary Duncan (b.1946), co-lead guitarist for the Quicksilver Messenger Service band, died ten days after suffering a fall at his home in Woodland, Ca.
(SFC, 7/5/19, p.C1)
2019 Jul 2, In South Korea Park Yoo-chun, a former member of the boy band JYJ, received a 10-month suspended sentence for illegal drug use. The Suwon District Court also ordered the 33-year-old star to undergo probation and treatment.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 3, American rapper A$AP Rocky (30), a performer, producer and model, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained in Sweden along with his bodyguard and two other members of his entourage in connection with a fight in a Stockholm city-center street in the early hours of June 30.
(Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019 Jul 6, In Brazil Joao Gilberto (b.1931), singer and composer who helped bossa nova gain global popularity, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Gilberto)(SFC, 7/8/19, p.C3)
2019 Jul 12, Singer R. Kelly was arrested in Chicago under charges that included racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and the sexual exploitation of a child.
(SFC, 7/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Aug 14, A Swedish court convicted American rapper A$AP Rocky (30), aka Rakim Mayers, of assaulting a man and handed him suspended prison sentence. The Swedish court also convicted two members of A$AP Rocky's entourage of the same crime.
(Reuters, 8/14/19)
2019 Aug 30, US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's album "Lover" broke a new record for an international artist in China as it surpassed one million combined total streams, downloads and sales within a week of its release.
(Reuters, 8/30/19)
2019 Sep 10, Daniel Dale Johnston (b.1961), American singer-songwriter and visual artist, died in Waller, Texas. He was regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities. Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Austin, Texas. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston's 1983 album Hi, How Are You. In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Johnston)
2019 Sep 13, American musician Eddie Money (b.1949) died in Los Angeles. His hits, including "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby Hold On," formed part of the rock and power pop soundtrack of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
(Reuters, 9/13/19)(SFC, 9/14/19, p.C1)
2019 Sep 15, Ric Ocasek (b.1944), songwriter and lead singer for the Cars, died at his townhouse in Manhattan.
(SFC, 9/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Sep 23, Robert Hunter (78), singer and songwriter for the Grateful Dead, died at his home in San Rafael, Ca. His songs included "Touch of Grey" (1987).
(SFC, 9/25/19, p.C1)
2019 Oct 2, The US Library of Congress said country music superstar Garth Brooks, whose hits include "Friends in Low Places," ''The Thunder Rolls" and "The Dance," will receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in March 2020.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 6, British rock music drummer Ginger Baker (b.1939), a co-founder of the 1960's supergroup Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton, died. Cream was founded in 1966 and disbanded in 1968.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 18, British rapper Ervine Kimpalu (20), who goes by the artist name Rico Racks, was issued with a special five year Criminal Behavior Order when he appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court preventing him from referring to several drug-related words in his online rap videos.
(The Telegraph, 10/20/19)
2019 Nov 24, In South Korea Koo Hara (28), a former member of a top K-pop girl group, was found dead at her home in southern Seoul.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Dec 8, Jarad Anthony Higgins (b.1998), a rapper known professionally as Juice Wrld, died following a drug-related seizure at Midway International Airport. Higgins had taken "several unknown pills", including allegedly swallowing multiple Percocet pills in an attempt to hide them while police were on board the plane searching the luggage. In 2020 his third album, "Legends Never Die," reached the top of America's Billboard 200 charts.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_Wrld)
2019 Dec 18, Kenny Lynch (81), whose pop hits including "Up on the Roof," died in London. The song made him one of the best-known black British entertainers of the 1960s.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Lil Nas X, born as Montero Lamar Hill, found major fame in 2019 with his viral hit “Old Town Road. In 2021 Nike sued MSCHF, a small Brooklyn-based company, over its sale of 666 pairs of altered Nike Air Max 97s as “Satan Shoes" in collaboration with the rapper Lil Nas X, following the release of a devil-themed music video for his song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" in which he gyrates on Satan’s lap.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2020 Jan 7, Neil Peart (67), drummer for the Canadian band Rush, died in Santa Monica, Ca.
(SFC, 1/13/20, p.C3)
2020 Jan 26, The biggest names in the US music industry were honored at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Billie Eilish took home all four of the night’s biggest awards: best new artist, album of the year for "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" and both song of the year and record of the year for her hit "Bad Guy."
(Good Morning America, 1/27/20)
2020 Jan 26, Bob Shane (85), the last original member of the Kingston Trio, died near his home in Phoenix. Shane, Nick Reynolds and David Guard had formed the SF Bay Area folk group in 1957.
(SFC, 1/30/20, p.C6)
2020 Feb 6, Lynn Evands Mand (95), lead singer of the Chordettes, died in Ohio. The group became popular for their recording of "Mr Sandman" (1954) and "Lollipop" (1958) among other songs.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
2020 Feb 11, In South Africa Joseph Shabalala (78), the founder of the South African multi-Grammy-Award-winning music group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, died in Pretoria. the choral group, founded in 1964, shot to world acclaim collaborating with Paul Simon on the “Graceland" album and many other artists.
(AP, 2/11/20)
2020 Mar 9, Led Zeppelin persuaded a US appeals court to reinstate a jury verdict that it did not steal the opening guitar riff for "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure song written four years earlier.
(Reuters, 3/9/20)
2020 Mar 13, US federal prosecutors hit R&B singer R. Kelly with more criminal charges in a revised indictment filed in NYC. Charges included the singer of having unprotected sex with a girl in 2015 without disclosing he had herpes.
(SSFC, 3/15/20, p.A5)
2020 Mar 17, Jerry Slick (b.1939), drummer and founder of the San Francisco-based Great Society rock band, died in his Mill Valley, Ca., home. He founded the band with his wife Grace Slick in 1965. Grace Slick joined the Jefferson Airplane in 1966 and Jerry moved on as a cinematographer and filmmaker.
(SSFC, 3/29/20, p.B8)
2020 Mar 18, In the Netherlands organizers of the Eurovision song contest said it will not take place this year due to the global coronavirus outbreak. The Netherlands was to host the 2020 contest after Dutch singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence won in 2019 with a song called "Arcade".
(AP, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 20, American country singer Kenny Rogers (81) died in Sandy Springs, Georgia. During his six-decade, genre-hopping career, Rogers released 65 albums and sold more than 165 million records.
(Reuters, 3/21/20)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Rogers)
2020 Mar 24, In France Manu Dibango (86), a Cameroonian-born saxophonist, died with the coronavirus. He had gained international fame with his 1972 song "Soul Makossa".
(SFC, 3/25/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 29, Alan Merrill (b.1951), writer of the hit song "I Love Rock and Roll," died in New York of complications from the coronavirus. He wrote the song for his band the Arrows in 1975 and it became a hit for Joan Jett in 1982.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Merrill)(SFC, 3/30/20, p.A7)
2020 Mar 30, American singer-songwriter Bill Withers (81) died in Los Angeles of heart complications. His soulful hits such as "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine" earned him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Withers)
2020 Apr 7, John Prine (73), the country-folk singer and songwriter whose lyrics made him a favorite of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and others, died in Nashville of complications due to the coronavirus.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine)(NY Times, 4/8/20)
2020 Apr 7, Hal Willner, American music producer, died with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 at his home in Manhattan.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Willner)(Econ, 4/18/20, p.74)
2020 Apr 21, Florian Schneider (b.1947), co-founder of the German electronic music group Kraftwork, died in Dusseldorf. The avant-garde music group emerged from Dusseldorf in 1970.
(Econ., 5/16/20, p.43)
2020 May 9, Little Richard (87), the flashy wild man of rock ’n’ roll who drew deeply from gospel and the blues to create a thrilling new sound, died in Tennessee of bone cancer. His hits included "Tutti Frutti" (1956), "Lucille," "Keep a Knockin'," "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly Miss Molly."
(NY Times, 5/10/20)(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.C9)(Econ., 5/23/20, p.78)
2020 May 24, French singer Liliane Lebon (b.1917), known professionally as Lily Lian, died Ivry-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Lian)(Econ., 6/20/20, p.78)
2020 Jun 4, Rupert Hine, a prolific English producer and songwriter, died at his home in Wiltshire, England. He thrived in the synth-pop heyday of the 1980s making hits with Tina Turner, the Fixx and Howard Jones.
{Britain, Pop&Rock}
(NY Times, 6/16/20)
2020 Jun 8, Grammy winner Bonnie Pointer (69) died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. In 1969 she convinced three of her church-singing siblings to form the Pointer Sisters, which would become one of the biggest acts of the next two decades.
(AP, 6/8/20)
2020 Jun 18, Vera Lynn (103), British singer, died. She became a symbol of hope in Britain during World War Two and again during the coronavirus pandemic with her song "We'll Meet Again".
(Reuters, 6/18/20)
2020 Jun 25, In Missouri Rapper Huey (32), best known known for the 2007 hit song "Pop, Lock & Drop It," was fatally shot and another man wounded during a late-night shooting outside St. Louis.
(AP, 6/26/20)
2020 Jul 6, Charlie Daniels (83), country singer, songwriter and blazing fiddler, died in Nashville.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Daniels)
2020 Jul 22, Kim Kardashian said that her rapper husband Kanye West suffers from bipolar disorder and asked for compassion and empathy as he and his family try to manage his illness.
(Reuters, 7/22/20)
2020 Jul 25, It was reported that British rap artist Wiley (41) is facing a police investigation after a string of anti-Semitic comments appeared on his social media accounts, prompting his management to drop him. Wiley, whose real name is Richard Cowie, released a number one single in Britain in 2012 and had several other top 10 hits. He received a UK government honor for his contribution to music in 2018.
(Reuters, 7/25/20)
2020 Jul 25, Peter Green (73), British blues guitarist, died on Canvey Island, England. He helped form Fleetwood Mac, which made its debut at the British Blues and Jazz Festival in 1967.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Green_(musician))
2020 Aug 4, Chicago rapper Carlton Weekly (26) was killed in a triple shooting in the city's upscale community of Gold Coast. Weekly had performed as FBG Duck and rapped about gun violence. His last video, "Dead Bitches," was released in July.
(AP, 8/5/20)(Econ., 9/5/20, p.71)
2020 Aug 11, American singer and actor Trini Lopez (83), known for his cover of "If I Had a Hammer," died in Palm Springs, Ca.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trini_Lopez)
2020 Sep 9, Kool & the Gang co-founder Ronald "Khalis" Bell (68) died at his home in the US Virgin Islands.
(The Week, 9/10/20)
2020 Sep 29, Australian-born singer Helen Reddy (78) died in Los Angeles. Her 1972 hit song “I Am Woman" became a feminist anthem.
(NY Times, 9/30/20)
2020 Oct 6, Guitar player Eddie Van Halen (65) died of cancer. In 2012, Guitar World Magazine ranked him No. 1 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."
(NY Times, 10/7/20)
2020 Oct 16, In California rapper Fontrell Antonio Baines (31), aka known as Nuke Bizzle, was arrested for an alleged unemployment benefits fraud scheme — after he had boasted about that type of fraud in a YouTube music video. Bizzle allegedly applied for $1.2 million in jobless benefits and used stolen identities.
(NBC News, 10/18/20)
2020 Oct 17, Bob Biggs (74) founder of Slash Records (1979), one of the most successful independent record labels of its era, died of Lewy body dementia at his ranch in Tehachapi, Ca.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Kim Sledge of the band Sister Sledge will donate proceeds from a cover of the band's classic song "We Are Family" to the World Health Organization Foundation.
(Reuters, 10/19/20)
2020 Oct 19, Spencer Davis (81), the leader of a rock group under his name that had some of the most propulsive and enduring hits of the 1960s, including “Gimme Some Lovin’," “I’m a Man" and “Keep On Running" — all sung not by him but by a teenage Steve Winwood — died in Los Angeles.
(NY Times, 10/20/20)
2020 Nov 6, In Georgia Rapper King Von (26), aka Dayvon Bennett, and another man were fatally shot after gunfire erupted outside an Atlanta hookah bar early today. Timothy Leeks (22) was soon charged with murder in Bennett's death.
(NBC News, 11/7/20)(SFC, 11/9/20, p.A4)
2020 Nov 11, Dallas rapper Mo3 (28), born as Melvin Noble, was reportedly gunned down in broad daylight in a drive-by shooting and died from his injuries. In December police arrested Kewon Dontrell White (21) in connection with the killing.
(AP, 11/12/20)(AP, 12/10/20)
2020 Nov 22, Taylor Swift was named artist of the year at the American Music Awards and won two other trophies in a ceremony held live in Los Angeles amid tight coronavirus curbs.
(Reuters, 11/22/20)
2020 Nov 24, Beyonce dominated nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards in a field that favored alternative artists over mainstream musicians, topped by a stunning snub for Canadian singer The Weeknd, who called the process "corrupt".
(AP, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 24, South Korean boy band BTS snagged the first ever Grammy nomination for a K-pop band, taking the worldwide sensation a step closer to winning the music award.
(Reuters, 11/24/20)
2020 Dec 12, Charley Pride, described as "the first Black superstar in country music," died due to complications from COVID-19 in Dallas, Texas.
(The Week, 12/13/20)
2020 Dec 17, The organizers of the Grammy awards launched an initiative to elevate Black voices at all levels of the music industry and ensure that Black artists are fairly compensated for their work.
(AP, 12/17/20)
2020 Dec 20, Chad Stuart (79), half of the musical duo Chad and Jeremy, died at his home in Idaho. The British duo's songs included "Yesterday's Gone" (1963) and "A Summer Song" (1964).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_%26_Jeremy)(SFC, 12/26/20, p.B3)
2020 Dec 23, Leslie West (75), guitarist for the 1970s band Mountain, died in Palm Coast, Fl.
(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
2020 Dec 28, In Mexico Yucatan-born ballad singer and composer Armando Manzanero (85) died in Mexico City.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Manzanero)(AP, 12/28/20)
2020 Dec 29, Phyllis McGuire (89), the last surviving member of the three singing McGuire Sisters, died in Las Vegas. The McGuire Sisters earned six gold records for hits including 1954's "Sincerely" and 1957's "Sugartime."
(AP, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Portuguese singer Carlos do Carmo (81) died. He was one of the country's most beloved artists, known as the "Sinatra" of the soulful, melancholic fado music.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 4, Elias Rahbani (82), a Lebanese composer and lyricist, died after battling COVID-19. He wrote the music for some of the Arab world’s top performers, including Lebanon’s diva Fairouz.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 6, London-listed specialist investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund said singer-songwriter Neil Young has sold it a half share of the rights to his entire catalogue of 1,180 songs.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that Colombian pop superstar Shakira has become the latest artist to sell the rights to her catalogue of 145 songs to London-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund, as the coronavirus crisis crushes concert earnings.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, Mick Fleetwood (73) has become the latest in a series of rock musicians to cash in on their work by agreeing to sell his back catalogue to music major BMG.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 16, Rock producer Phil Spector (81), who changed the sound of pop music in the 1960s with his "Wall of Sound" recordings, died of COVID-19 in Stockton Ca. He was serving a 19 years-to-life sentence of murder for the 2003 murder of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)(SFC, 1/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 29, In South Korea an AI system performed a new song cover by folk rock singer Kim Kwang-seok, who died in 1996. Singing Voice Synthesis (SVS) learned 20 songs of Kim based on training tool with over 700 Korean songs to improve accuracy, so that the system can mimic a new song in Kim's own style. the AI company Supertone recreated the dead singer's voice.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that Bosnia's most popular rock band, Dubioza Kolektiv, has a new recruit who sings and plays musical instruments - a humanoid robot called Robby Megabyte.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 8, Mary Wilson (76), a founding member of the Supremes, died at her home in Henderson, Nev. The trailblazing group from the 1960s, formed in Detroit as the Primettes in 1959, was known for hits like “Where Did Our Love Go?" and “Baby Love." Members included Florence Ballard and Diana Ross and helped develop Motown’s legendary sound.
(NY Times, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 13, French conglomerate Vivendi said it planned to distribute 60% of Universal Music's capital to investors, subject to shareholder approval, and aimed to list its most-prized asset, home to singers such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 18, Prince Markie Dee (52), a member of the trio Fat Boys, died in Miami. The group released some of hip-hop’s most commercially successful albums of the 1980s and helped speed the genre’s absorption into pop culture.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that the Cypriot church has gone into battle against "The Devil", denouncing the country's pick for this year's Eurovision Song Contest as glorifying Satan. Dance number "El Diablo" - Spanish for the Devil - is the island nation's offering to the annual music contest for 2021.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Bunny Wailer (73), the co-founder of the groundbreaking Jamaican reggae group the Wailers, died after frequent hospitalizations for a stroke he suffered last year.
(The Guardian, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 11, The music industry body IFPI said South Korea's K-pop sensation BTS dominated world music sales in 2020 by putting out the year's best-, and second-best selling albums.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, It was reported that a rumbling political crisis in Belarus has spilled over into the Eurovision Song Contest this week, as the country's state broadcaster nominated a band that has released songs mocking protests against President Alexander Lukashenko. The entry, by Galasy ZMesta, has received 5,800 likes and 40,000 dislikes on the competition's official YouTube page since March 9, with more than half a million views.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohDxCXOsdI)(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 27, It was reported that organizers of this year's Eurovision Song Contest have disqualified Belarus, ruling that its entry song - by a band whose lyrics have been deemed in the past to mock anti-government protests - is in breach of competition guidelines.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Apr 9, Grammy-nominated rapper DMX (50), born as Earl Simmons, died of cardiac arrest at his home in White Plains, NY. His first five albums all debuted at No. 1 on Billboard charts. DMX starred in the 1998 film "Belly" and appeared in 2000's "Romeo Must Die" with Jet Li and Aaliyah. He also starred in 2001's "Exit Wounds" with Steven Seagal and 2003's "Cradle 2 the Grave" with Li.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 22, Gregory Edward Jacobs (57), known as Shock G, the frontman for the influential hip-hop group Digital Underground, was found dead at a hotel in Tampa, Fla. Digital Underground had a string of hits in the early 1990s and introduced its audience to a little-known rapper named Tupac Shakur.
(NY Times, 4/23/21)
2021 May 22, Twenty six nations competed in the final of the Eurovision song contest in the Netherlands, vying for votes in the world's most popular live music event, which returns after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Maneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song “Zitti E Buoni" beat 25 other acts from across Europe to bring the title home for Italy. France came in second, and Switzerland came in third.
(NY Times, 5/22/21)(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 29, Grammy-winning singer B.J. Thomas (78) died at his hiome in Arlington, Texas. His songs included "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969) and "Hey Won't You Play" (1975). The Raindrops song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).
(SFC, 5/31/21, p.B5)
2021 May 31, Texas rapper Lil Loaded (20), born as Dashawn Robertson, died by suicide. He won viral success with a 2019 single and was facing a manslaughter charge in a fatal shooting last year. Robertson's 2019 song "6locc 6a6y" was awarded a gold certification last week by the Recording Industry Association of America.
(AP, 6/1/21)
2021 Jul 4, Rick Laird (80), a bassist and founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra (1971), died of lung cancer in NYC.
(SFC, 7/22/21, p.B4)
2021 Jul 14, A Los Angeles judge ruled that Britney Spears can choose her own lawyer in her fight to end a controversial conservatorship controlled by her father.
(BBC, 7/15/21)
2021 Jul 17, Britney Spears (39) said she would not perform again while her father retains control over her career. The pop star's father, Jamie Spears, has sole control of his daughter's $60 million estate under the court-appointed conservatorship that he set up in 2008.
(Reuters, 7/17/21)
2021 Jul 27, Dusty Hill, the bearded bass player who made up one third of ZZ Top, died at his home in Houston. ZZ Top was among the best-selling rock bands of the 1980s.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Hill)(NY Times, 7/28/21)
2021 Aug 7, Dennis “Dee Tee" Thomas (70), a founding member of the long-running soul-funk band Kool & the Gang known for such hits as “Celebration" and “Get Down On It," died in New Jersey.
(AP, 8/8/21)
2021 Aug 12, A South Korean military court sentenced disgraced K-pop star Seungri to three years in prison for crimes including providing prostitutes to foreign businessmen.
(AP, 8/12/21)
2021 Aug 13, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Nanci Griffith (68) died in Nashville. Her song "Love at the Five and Dime," sung by Kathy Mattea, became a country hit in 1986.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanci_Griffith)(SSFC, 8/15/21, p.F9)
2021 Aug 20, American singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall (85) died at his home in Franklin, Tenn. His songs included "Harper Valley P.T.A. (1968).
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.F8)
2021 Aug 21, Don Everly (84), one-half of the pioneering Everly Brothers, died at his home in Nashville. His brother Phil died in 2014. Ths songs included ""By Bye Love," "Let It Be Me," "All I Hve to Do Is Dream" amd "Wake Up Little Suzie".
(SFC, 8/23/21, p.C4)
2021 Aug 24, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (80) died in a London hospital surrounded by his family.
(Reuters, 8/24/21)
2021 Aug 29, Lee (Scratch) Perry (85), the innovative Jamaican producer who mentored Bob Marley and pushed reggae into the sonic avant-garde with his dub productions, died in Lucea, Jamaica.
(NY Times, 8/30/21)
2021 Sep 6, Sunil Perera (68), who had entertained generations of Sri Lankans on the radio and on the dance floor with his distinctive, Latin-fused tunes, died in Colombo.
(AP, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 9, Soulful British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks (21) won the prestigious Mercury Prize for her debut album “Collapsed in Sunbeams".
(AP, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 20, Sarah Dash, a member of the vocal Labelle trio, died. The group, which included Patti LaBelle and Nona Hendryx, had a No. 1 hit in 1974 with "Lady Marmalade."
(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2021 Sep 26, George Frayne (77), front man for the band Commander Cody and His Lost Planer Airmen, died in Sarasota Springs, NY. The band released its first album "Lost in the Ozone" in 1971, which included a cover of "Hot Rod Lincoln," Charlie Ryan's 1955 rockabilly song.
(SSFC, 10/3/21, p.F9)
2021 Oct 4, Spanish court officials and lawyers said an administrative court has ordered tax authorities to reimburse Colombian singer Shakira, while a separate criminal lawsuit she faces over a 14.5 million euros ($16.8 million) tax dispute continues.
(Reuters, 10/4/21)
2021 Oct 11, Paddy Maloney (83), frontman and bagpiper for the Chieftain's, died in Dublin. The group's 1992 album "Another Country" won the Grammy for best contemporary folk album. Maloney on his own branched into writing and arranged music for such films as "Barry Lyndon" (1975), and "Gangs of New York" (2002).
(SSFC, 10/17/21, p.F8)
2021 Nov 10, In an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, Prince Charles anointed rock star and charity patron Elton John as a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor.
(AP, 11/10/21)
2021 Nov 11, Graeme Edge (80), drummer and co-founder of the British Moody Blues band, died at his home in Bradenton, Florida.
(SFC, 11/14/21, p.F7)
2021 Nov 17, Dave Frishberg (88), the jazz songwriter whose sardonic wit as a lyricist and melodic cleverness as a composer placed him in the top echelon of his craft, died in Portland, Ore. His songs included "My Attorney Bernie" (1983) and "Peel Me a Grape" (1967), sung by Blossom Dearie.
(NY Times, 11/18/21)
2021 Nov 18, The Latin Grammy Awards named the Cuban protest anthem “Patria y Vida!" (or “Homeland and Life!") song of the year.
(NY Times, 11/18/21)
2021 Dec 4, Stonewall Jackson (89), the honky-tonk singer who overcame an abusive, hardscrabble childhood and went on to enjoy a long, successful career in country music, including more than 60 years as a member of the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, died in Nashville.
(NY Times, 12/5/21)
2021 Dec 12, Legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez (81), an emblematic figure of ranchera music, died. The singer of classic hits like "Mujeres Divinas" and "Por Tu Maldito Amor" performed to packed houses on stages in Europe, the United States and Latin America.
(Reuters, 12/12/21)
2021 Dec 19, Carlos Marín (53), a Spanish baritone, died Manchester, England. He rocketed to international fame after the impresario Simon Cowell chose him to be a member of Il Divo, the multinational quartet whose slick pop music delivered in operatic style sold millions of records and filled arenas.
(NY Times, 12/20/21)
2021 Dec, Sony, which now owns Columbia, announced that it has acquired Bruce Springsteen’s entire body of work, his recordings and his songwriting catalog, for what two people briefed on the deal said was about $550 million.
(NY Times, 12/20/21)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Pop&Rock
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Best song on day you were born: http://playback.fm/birthday-song
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)
1896 Apr 6, Edgar "Yip" Harburg (d.1981), lyricist, was born as Isidore Hochberg. His songs included "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and "Over the Rainbow."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg)
1898 Apr 15, Bessie Smith, American blues singer, was born.
(HN, 4/15/01)
1898 The Gramophone Company was founded by William Barry Owen and Trevor Williams in London, England. Owen was acting as agent for Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone record, whilst Williams provided the finances. Most of the company's early discs were made in Hanover, Germany at a plant operated by members of Berliner's family, though it had operations around the world.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_Company)
1899 Cecil Sharp (1859-1924, English conductor, began collecting lullabies, carols, love and work songs across the country. He became known as the founding father of the folk-song revival in England in the early 20th century.
(Econ, 8/19/17, p.72)
1899 The Gramophone Company bought a painting by Francis Barraud of the dog Nipper listening to a cylinder phonograph. The painting was titled "His Master's Voice". The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company on Oxford Street in 1921.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMV)
1900 Jan 1, Xavier Cugat (d.1990), bandleader (married Abbe Lane, Charo), was born in Barcelona, Spain.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Cugat)
1901 Jul 28, Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams, My Time Is Your Time), was born in Vermont.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1901 The first disc format 10-inch 78 rpm record were introduced. 78s were recorded and played back "acoustically", without any electric amplifiers or microphones until about 1925. They became obsolete by about 1960.
(http://tinyurl.com/k2fyf)(www.history-of-rock.com/record_formats.htm)
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)
1918 Jul 11, Enrico Caruso joined the war effort and recorded "Over There", the patriotic song written by George M. Cohan.
(www.enricocaruso.dk/musicdetails.php?mid=78)
1919 May 3, Pete Seeger (d.2014), American folksinger and songwriter, was born in NYC. His father was a musicologist and his mother a concert violinist. 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)(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
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)
1925 May, Lee Morse (1897-1954), US jazz and blues singer and songwriter, recorded her hit song Ukulele Lady. Her most popular years were in the 1920s and early 1930s, although her career began around 1917 and continued until her death.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruYQYwneWyw)
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 Aug 1, The Bristol Sessions, a series of historic recording sessions, took place in in Bristol, a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia state line, and helped spread what was then known as "hillbilly music" to the rest of the country. The Carter Family (A.P., wife Sara, and cousin Maybelle) came down from the mountains of Virginia and began recording their country style "hillbilly" music for Ralph Peel of the Victor Talking Machine Co. Peel had set up a makeshift studio in the Taylor-Christian Hat Co. warehouse on State Street, recording 76 songs in 10 days. Jimmy Rogers (1898-1933) came from Mississippi to record. In 2002 Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg authored "Will You Miss me When I’m Gone: The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music."
{Tennessee, Virginia, USA, Pop&Rock, Jugband}
(WSJ, 8/1/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/4/02, p.M3)(AP, 9/30/14)
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)
1930 The German song "Veronika, der Lenz ist da" (Veronika, the spring is here), written by Austria-born Walter Jurmann (1903-1971), became a big hit for the Comedian Harmonists.
(https://tinyurl.com/ubrazyt)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.40)
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 May 26, Jimmie Rodgers (b.1897), American country singer known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling, died of tuberculosis in NYC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_%28country_singer%29)(SSFC, 10/7/12, p.C12)
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 Jun 24, Carlos Gardel (B.1890), French-born Argentine tango singer and composer, died with 17 others, including three of his guitarists, when the propeller plane they were traveling in collided with another on takeoff from Medellin, Colombia, and burst into flames. Gardel's baritone voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gardel)(AP, 6/25/05)(Econ, 1/21/17, p.26)
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 22, Glen Campbell, American country music singer (By the Time I get to Phoenix, Galveston), was born in Arkansas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Campbell)
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.
(www.gershwin.com/)(SFC, 12/4/96, p.E1)(WSJ, 9/24/97, p.A20)(SFEC, 8/16/98, DB p.38)
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 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)
1938 Nov 10, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on her CBS radio program, which aired Thursdays.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIi0VUAAlaU)
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 Mar 30, Graeme Edge, rock drummer (Moody Blues-Your Wildest Dreams), was born in England.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Edge)
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)
1941 Russ Solomon (1925-2018) founded Tower Records inside his father’s Sacramento drugstore and built it into a worldwide chain of 170 stores. It folded in 2006 in the wake of the Internet and music streaming.
(SFC, 3/7/18, p.D2)
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 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)
1942 Aug 20, Isaac Hayes (d.2008), American singer and composer (Shaft), was born in Covington, TN.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes)
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)
1943 Nov 7, Joni Mitchell, singer, songwriter, was born as Roberta J. Anderson in Alberta, Canada.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell)
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 studios 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 Steven Demetre Georgiou. The British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, converted to Islam in Dec 1977. In 1978 he adopted the name of Yusuf Islam.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens)
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)
1947-1963 The Louvin Brothers of Alabama, born Ira (1924-1965) and Charlie Loudermilk (1927-2011), recorded their country music, a mix of bluegrass, gospel, blues and antique folk ballads. A boxed set of their recordings called "Close Harmony" was put together by Richard Weize of Bear Family Records, Hamburg, Germany.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Louvin_Brothers)(WSJ, 9/11/98, p.W3)
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" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, frequently cited as the first rock ’n’ roll record.
(SFC, 12/13/07, p.B5)(Econ, 3/25/17, p.76)
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 Oct 7, The 1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia on WFIL-TV. Dick Clark joined in 1955 as a substitute-host. American Bandstand premiered as a local show in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
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)
1952 Britain’s New Musical Express magazine was founded and became essential reading for fans and a coveted platform for musicians through the eras of Beatlemania, prog-rock, punk, indie and more. In 2018 the print edition of NME stopped with a new focus on its digital audience.
(AP, 3/7/18)
1952 Very Lynn's "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", backed by a soldiers' chorus, sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and made her the first British performer to top the US hit parade.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WsuLH4sulA)(Reuters, 6/18/20)
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 "Mr Sandman" by the Chordettes reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart and sold more than one million records.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
1954 The Collins Kids of Oklahoma, Lawrencine (1942-2018) and Lawrence (b.1944), began performing as a musical act on "Town Hall Party," hosted by Tex Ritter on KTTV, Los Angeles. Lawrence later co-wrote "Delta Dawn," a 1972 country hit for Tanya Tucker and a 1973 No. 1 pop single for Helen Reddy.
(www.rockabillyhall.com/YouTubeCollinsKids.html)(SFC, 8/10/18, p.D5)
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 Nov 12, Chuck Berry – popular for such hits as “Johnny B. Goode" and “Roll Over Beethoven" – was named by a Billboard poll as the most promising R&B artist of the year.
(http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/november12th.html)
1955 Nov 12, Leslie Richard McKeown, Scottish pop singer, was born He was the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers during their most successful period.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_McKeown)
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)
1957 Jul, Buddy Holly and the Crickets of Lubbock, Texas, recorded "Peggy Sue" in Clovis, New Mexico. The song was initially named Cindy Lou after Holly's niece, but band member Jerry Allison got Buddy to change the name in order to impress Peggy Sue. In 2008 Peggy Sue Gerron (1940-2018) released her autobiography "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?" A 1986 movie called "Peggy Sue Got Married" featured Kathleen Turner as a character named Peggy Sue.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Sue)(SFC, 10/3/18, p.C5)
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 Fats Domino (1928-2017), rock’n’roll pioneer, made a hit with his version of “Blueberry Hill".
(SFC, 10/26/17, p.A6)
1956 Singer Gogi Grant (1924-2016) recorded “The Wayward Wind." The song topped Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel" to top the Billboard singles chart.
(SFC, 3/17/16, p.D5)
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 In the SF Bay Area Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and David Guard formed the Kingston Trio folk group.
(SFC, 1/30/20, p.C6)
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)
1957 Jerry Lee Lewis made a hit with his recording of “Great Balls of Fire," written by Earl Burroughs (1925-2016) and Otis Blackwell.
(SFC, 4/14/16, p.D5)
1957 American film star Tab Hunter's (1931-2018) recording of "Young Love" topped the Billboard pop chart.
(SFC, 7/10/18, p.A6)
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 The Chordettes made it to No. 2 on the Billboard chart with their recording "Lollipop." The group split up in 1964.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
1958 Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney recorded "Fancy Meeting You Here." It was reissued in 2001.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A16)
1958 Freeman (1940-2017) wrote and sang “Do You Want to Dance". It reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart. The song later became known as “Do You Wanna Dance" and was performed by a number of other musicians including the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 2/15/17, p.D4)
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 Jimmy McCracklin (1921-2012), a SF Bay Area blues pianist, scored a national hit with “The Walk." He and his band, the Blues Blasters, recorded it in Chicago for Checker Records.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdcW78eaNGY)(SFC, 12/21/12, p.A22)
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, The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno won as record of the year.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Annual_Grammy_Awards)
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 The Browns recorded their hit song “The Three Bells," sometimes known as “Little Jimmy Brown." The trio included Jim Ed Brown (1934-2015) and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie (1938-2016).
(SSFC, 6/14/15, p.C11)(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A16)
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 Jul 12, Mick Jagger (18), Keith Richards (18) and Brian Jones (20) played The Marquee Club with three others, the first time they performed under the Rolling Stones band name which later became synonymous worldwide with excess and musical flair.
(AFP, 7/7/12)
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 Booker T. & the MGs made a hit with their instrumental “Green Onions."
(SFC, 5/14/12, p.C5)
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 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 Wayne Newton (22) made a hit with “Danke Schoen."
(SSFC, 11/16/14, DB p.46)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground)(SFEC, 1/26/97 Par, p.2)
1964 The Academy of Country Music was founded in Los Angeles.
(SFEC,10/19/97, Par p.2)
1964 In Nevada the Sahara casino paid the Beatles $25,000 to play two shows in Las Vegas. The show was moved to the convention center when the 600-seat Congo Room was deemed too small.
(SSFC, 3/12/17, p.F4)
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 in Santa Monica.
(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, Bob Dylan played a Fender Stratocaster at the Newport Folk Festival, RI. In 2015 Elijah Wald authored “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties."
(SFC, 7/20/15, p.E2)
1965 Jun 29, The Redo Dog Saloon opened in Virginia City, Ca. A San Francisco band called the Charlatans opened. Architect George Hunter and keyboardist Michael Ferguson had created the group and the first psychedelic tock poster for the occasion. By 2015 a mint copy of the poster was valued at $18,250. A 1996 film by Mary Works was titled “Rockin’ at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock."
(SFC, 6/26/15, p.C4)
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 at 3138 Fillmore Street. Band co-founder Marty Balin (1942-2018) held an ownership interest in the club.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.E4)(SFC, 9/29/18, p.A9)
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 Sep 4, Beatles' "Help!" single went #1 for 3 weeks.
(MC, 9/4/01)
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 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)
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 The Beatles wrote and recorded their "Rubber Soul" album over two months late this year.
(Econ., 8/29/20, p.70)
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 The Byrds had a No. 1 hit with a folk-rock of “Turn! Turn! Turn!" by Pete Seeger.
(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances)(SFC, 8/20/10, p.C5)
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 Billy Joe Royal (1942-2015) made a top ten hit with “Down in the Boondocks," written and produced by Joe South.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D4)
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)
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 Aug 29, The Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Park's capacity was 42,500, but only 25,000 tickets were sold, leaving large sections of unsold seats. Fans paid between $4.50 and $6.50 for tickets, and The Beatles' fee was around $90,000. The show's promoter was local company Tempo Productions.
(AP, 8/29/97)(http://tinyurl.com/p8c8dnr)
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 Beatles wrote “Taxman" to protest at Harold Wilson’s exorbitant “supertax" rates.
(Econ, 1/28/17, p.55)
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.
(http://tinyurl.com/k8bwa59)
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 Paul Williams (1948-2013) founded “Crawdaddy," a pioneering journal of rock criticism. Williams went on to author over 25 books including a 3-volume work on bob Dylan.
(SFC, 4/2/13, p.A5)
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)helle
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 Feb, In California the six-piece jug band Little Princess 109 first performed at the James Logan High School in Union City. In 1968 they began the first of 205 nights for Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco as six-man lighting act. The group folded after a Cow Palace gig on New Year’s Eve 1977.
(SFC, 8/3/17, p.E6)
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. The song "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band won the Grammy best contemporary recording category.
(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 10, In Marin County, Ca., the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival drew some 36,000 Bay Area fans to the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre on Mount Tamalpais.
(SFC, 6/8/17, p.A1)
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 Jul, Music promoter Bill Graham sponsored a free rock concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco to benefit the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. In 1992 the facility at 1696 Haight St. was named after Graham (d.1991).
(SSFC, 10/22/17, DB p.50)
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 Oct 2, In San Francisco police raided the Grateful Dead’s crash pad at 710 Ashbury and hauled ten members and associates to a police station on questionable marijuana charges. The case wrapped up in 1968 with all felony charges reduced to misdemeanors.
(SFC, 3/11/17, p.C1)
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 Dec 30, Bert Berns (b.1929), American songwriter and record producer, died in NYC. He made numerous contributions to popular music, including "Twist and Shout", "Piece of My Heart", "Brown Eyed Girl" (as a producer), "Here Comes the Night", "Hang On Sloopy", "Under the Boardwalk" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". In 2017 the documentary “Bang: The Bert Berns Story" was produced under the direction of his son, Brett Berns, and Bob Sarles.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Berns)(SFC, 5/11/17, p.E5)
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 Jul, The British blues group Cream, with vocalist and bassist Jack Bruce (1943-2014), drummer Ginger Baker (b.1939) and guitarist Eric Clapton (b.1945) released their double album “Wheels of Fire" in the US. It became the first double album to go platinum.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheels_of_Fire)
1968 Sep 28, Beatles' "Hey Jude" single went #1 and stayed #1 for 9 weeks.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude)
1968 Sep, In Czechoslovakia the Plastic People of the Universe band was founded by Milan Hlavsa (d.2001 at 49).
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A19)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_Banquet)(SFC, 8/16/96, p.D11)(SFC, 10/23/00, p.F3)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_It_Through_the_Grapevine)(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_and_the_Thirteenth_Confession)(SFE, 4/10/97, p.A23)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Child_(The_Supremes_album))(SFC, 11/12/02, p.D8)
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 The rock group Three Dog Night, formed with Danny Hutton, Cory Wells (1941-2015) and Chuck Negron, released its debut album “Three Dog Night."
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
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)
1968 The Jefferson Airplane rock group and manager Bill Thompson (1944-2015) purchased a mansion in San Francisco for $70,000. It had been built in 1904 by lumber baron R.A. Vance. In 1985 the 20-room home at 2400 Fulton was sold for $700,000.
(SSFC, 1/30/11, DB p.42)(SFC, 1/15/15, p.D6)
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 23, Donnell "Spade" Cooley (59) American musician known as the "king of Western swing" prior to his conviction of murder, died of a heart attack following a performance for a police officers benefit concert in Oakland. Cooley's career ended in 1961 when he was arrested and convicted for the brutal murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spade_Cooley)
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 Steve Goodman (1948-1984) wrote City of New Orleans, a song which would eventually be called by many people "the best train song ever written." Steve pitched the song to Arlo Guthrie, and in 1972, Arlo included the song on his album Hobo's Lullaby (1972). It was then released as a single and became a big-time hit record. Steve always thanked Arlo for recording the song, and for making it possible for Steve to do what he loved -- playing music for a living.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goodman)(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJMVj04lfyo)
1970 A Detroit singer named Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (b.1942 released his album, “Cold Fact." The album did not do well in the US but bootleg copies made it to South Africa and Australia and sold some half million copies. In 2012 Malik Bendjelloul directed the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man," about two men’s search for what happened to the singer.
(SFC, 8/16/12, p.75)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Diaz_Rodriguez)
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."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(Edwin_Starr_song))(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E5)
1970 The rock band Mountain released its debut album "Climbing." The group included bassist Felix Pappalardi (1939-1983), guitarist Leslie West (1945-2020), keyboardist Steve Knight and drummer N. D. Smart.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_(band))(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
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 Glenn Frey (1948-2016) and Don Henley co-founded the Eagles rock group in Los Angeles. The group broke up in 1980 and reformed in 1994. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A5)
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)
1971 Paul Revere and the Raiders scored a hit with “Indian Reservation.“
(SFC, 10/6/14, p.C3)
1971 Chilean folk singer Victor Jara released an album titled "El dereche de vivir en paz" (The right to live in peace). The title song was originally dedicated to the Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh, as the United States waged war in Vietnam.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_derecho_de_vivir_en_paz)
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 Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. (1944-2017) sang the hit “Everybody Plays the Fool" with the rhythm-and-blues group Main Ingredient.
(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.C10)
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 Lou Reed recorded “Walk on the Wild Side" (1972). The song was about Holly Woodlawn (1946-2015), a transgender Puerto Rican woman, who had also also featured in two Andy Warhol films
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.C3)
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 16, 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 along with former prison service director Littre Quiroga. 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. In 2012 eight retired army officers were charged in Jara’s slaying. On Sep 5, 2013, a civil suit accused Lt. Pedro Barrientos Nunez of ordering torture and firing the fatal shot that killed Jara. In 2014 three more people were charged in the murder of Jara.
(AP, 5/15/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Jara)(AP, 11/26/09)(SFC, 12/29/12, p.A2)(SFC, 9/6/13, p.A5)(SFC, 9/4/14, p.A2)
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), American singer born as Walden Robert Cassotto, died during open heart surgery in LA. He performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country. Darin wrote “Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1ohsissjE)(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 Lesbian activist Alix Dobkin (1940-2021) broke new ground with her album "Lavender Jane Loves Women." It was the first album recorded and distributed by women for women.
(SSFC, 6/6/21, p.F1)
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 Oct 4, The Southern music festival Volunteer Jam, headlined by the Charlie Daniels Band, was first held at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Jam)
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 The vocal trio Labelle (Patti LaBelle, Sarah Dash (1945-2021) and Nona Hendryx) had a No. 1 hit with "Lady Marmalade."
(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
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 Patti Smith’s debut album, “Horses," was released.
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A5)
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 Jan 29, Jesse Fuller (b.1896), American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay," died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o#t=33)
1976 Feb 19, Rick Stevens, former lead vocalist of the Tower of Power, was arrested in San Jose, Ca., for his roll in a triple slaying after a drug deal went awry. Stevens was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 2012 he was paroled by Gov. Jerry Brown after 36 years in prison.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_in_music)(SFC, 1/29/13, p.E1)(SFC, 9/6/17, p.D6)
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 Apr 25, Guitarist Peter Frampton played to a sold-out audience at the Oakland Coliseum just weeks after the release of his "Frampton Comes Alive" alive recorded a year earlier in San Francisco. The album turned into the top seller for this year.
(SSFC, 9/29/19, p.J2)
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 The Eagles rock group made a hit with “Hotel California."
(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A5)
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)
1976 In Russia Eduard Khill (1934-2012), a popular Soviet singing star, was featured in a video of his performance of Arkady Ostrovsky's 1966 "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home." Khil sang "trololo" instead of censored lyrics. The original lyrics—about an American cowboy riding across a prairie—didn't sit well with Soviet censors, so Khil changed them in the quirky, vocalized version. In 2010 the video an Internet sensation in 2010.
(http://tinyurl.com/8aac9aj)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Khil)
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 Jul 26, In the SF Bay Area Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones performed at the Oakland Coliseum as Jagger celebrated his 34th birthday.
(SFC, 12/1/18, p.C1)
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)
1978-1984 The Cars released five albums during this period and each sold more than a million copies in the US alone. The group broke up in the late 1980s.
(SFC, 9/16/19, p.A5)
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 Bob Biggs (1946- 2020) founded Slash Records. It became one of the most successful independent record labels of its era.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
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 Oct 17 - 1981, Oct 18, In San Francisco over 145,000 attended two concerts by the Rolling Stones at Candlestick Park.
(SSFC, 12/22/13, p.A14)
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 17, Felix Pappalardi (b.1939), singer and producer for the group Mountain, was fatally shot by his wife, Gail Collins, in their East Side Manhattan apartment. She had co-written songs for the group and designed their famous album covers.
(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
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)
1983 The Stone Roses, an English rock band, formed in Manchester. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani and drummer Reni. Their debut album, The Stone Roses, was released in 1989.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Roses)
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 Prince (1958-2016) released his “Purple Rain" album.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician))(Econ, 4/30/15, p.82)
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)
1984 The Twisted Sisters made a hit with their anti-authority song “We’re Not Gonna Take It."
(Econ, 6/7/14, TQ p.23)
1985 Jan 28, The song "We are the World" was recorded in Hollywood, Ca. The collaborative song recorded by a dizzying array of stars, including Harry Belafonte, was released in March. Ken Kragen (1936-2021) latched onto Mr. Belafonte’s vision and became a pivotal behind-the-scenes force in creating the song. Quincy Jones produced the song with lyrics by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World)(NY Times, 12/16/21)
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 Apr, Many Chinese lined up for hours to buy $1.75 tickets to the groundbreaking concert by Wham! at the People's Gymnasium, the biggest stadium in Beijing at the time. Wham! was the first major Western band to play in the country after the death of Mao Zedong and decades of cultural isolation. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley danced in big-shouldered jackets with bleached and feathered hair. The backing dancers' strapless costumes and polka-dot miniskirts also stunned the audience in China at a time when people still dressed in similar shades of green and gray.
(AP, 12/26/16)
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)
1986 Nov 15, The Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" album was released. The 3-member punk/funk band from Brooklyn had burst on the scene with their song: "Fight for Your Right to Party."
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.A1)(SFC, 2/15/19, p.C4)
1986 Jeannie C. Riley recorded "Harper Valley P.T.A.," written by singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall (1936-2022). The song about small town hypocrisy became an int'l hit.
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.F8)
1986 Cui Jian, later considered the father of Chinese rock, recorded “Nothing To My Name." The song became the soundtrack for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYwsPt854Xo)(Econ, 8/16/14, p.36)
1986 The Chilean group Los Prisioneros released "El baile de los que sobran (The dance of those left over). It written and composed by Jorge González and became one of the greatest classics of Chilean popular music.
(https://tinyurl.com/yb79ksot)(Econ, 3/14/20, p.66)
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 Jun 29, Elizabeth Cotton (1895-1987), American blues singer, died in Syracuse, NY. She composed “Freight Train" in the early 1900s when she saw a train pass by her house on Lloyd Street in Carrboro, North Carolina. The song was copyrighted in 1957. The first recording of the song was made by Mike Seeger in 1957–1958, at Elizabeth’s home in Washington, D.C.
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F6sXL4Jb_s)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cotten)
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 Apr, The Traveling Wilburys, an English-American supergroup, was formed in after the five members united to record a bonus track for Harrison's next European single. Members included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_Wilburys)
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 May 29, John Cipollina (45), lead guitarist with the Quicksilver Messenger Service rock group, died in Marin, Ca. of complications from respiratory problems.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, DB p.42)
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)
1989 Milli Vanilli, a duo composed of Rob Pilatus (d.1998 at 32) and Fabrice Morvan, won a Grammy for Best New Artist after their hits "Blame It on the Rain" and "All or Nothing." It was later learned the duo lip-synched the songs that were done by uncredited studio musicians and the award was revoked in 1990. John Davis (1955-2021) and Brad Howell did the vocals, but did not want to travel. Producer Frank Farian then hired Pilatus and Morvan.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A26)(BS, 5/3/98, p.6F)(SFC, 6/1/21, p.B4)
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)
1990 In Brazil US pop star Michael Jackson landed by helicopter at the top of one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious favelas and sang “They Don’t Care About Us."
(Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.18)
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 10, Metallica staged a concert in Copenhagen.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6967efc)
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 Oct 25, American rock-and-roll impresario Bill Graham was killed in a helicopter crash near Highway 37 outside Vallejo, in Sonoma County, Ca. Also killed were his girlfriend, Melissa Gold, and pilot, Steve Kahn. A memorial concert in GG Park drew some 300,000 people with music by the Grateful Dead; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; John Fogerty; Bobby McFerrin; and Robin Williams.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Graham_(promoter))(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)(AP, 10/25/01)(SSFC, 5/6/18, DB p.50)
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)
1991 In Germany theTresor night club was launched in a former power station in Berlin. It was one of the first places to play techno music.
(Econ, 1/9/16, p.46)
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 Aug 23, Los Angeles police confirmed that pop star Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation. Prosecutors began investigating Michael Jackson after a 13-year-old boy said Jackson had sex with him. An out of court settlement was reached for $15-20 mil. The boy’s father later filed suit against Jackson for violating a promise not to discuss the settlement.
(AP, 8/23/98)(SFC, 6/12/96, p.E3)
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)
1993 The name "disco polo" was coined in 1993 by Sławomir Skręta, the owner of a record label Blue Star in Reguły, near Warsaw. The genre originated from music played in the 1980s at weddings by bands with a repertoire of Polish folk music and wedding songs.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_polo)(Econ., 11/28/20, p.46)
1994 Apr 5, Kurt Cobain (b.1967), singer-musician for the grunge band Nirvana, committed suicide in Seattle. His body was found on April 8 at his Lake Washington Boulevard home.
(AP, 4/8/97)(SFEC, 2/2/97, DB. p.52)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain)
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)
1994 In Venezuela the ska-punk band Desorden Publico released its album "People's Song of Life and Death." Some ten years earlier founding member Horacio Blanco wrote "Paralytic Politicians," which later became an anthem of protest for Venezuela.
(AFP, 3/3/19)
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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur)(SFC, 9/14/96, p.A1)(AP, 9/13/97)
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)
1996 Dolly Parton, American country singer, founded her “Imagination Library." It provided free books to children in her home county of East Tennessee up to age 5. In 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally.
(https://imaginationlibrary.com/)
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)
1998 Nov 20, Rolando Alphonso, tenor saxophonist for the ska group Skatalites, died in Los Angeles at age 67. He was an original member of the Jamaican group that was formed in 1964.
(SFC, 12/7/98, p.A25)
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 (Jason Mizell), a 37-year-old rap artist, was shot to death in a recording studio in Queens, NYC. The circumstances surrounding his death remained unanswered for years. In 2020 authorities charged Ronald Washington (56) and Karl Jordan Jr. (37) in connection with the murder.
(SFC, 11/1/02, p.A1)(SFC, 8/18/20, p.A4)
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 20, In Rhode Island The Station, a West Warwick nightclub, erupted in a raging fire during a pyrotechnics display at a rock concert, 98 people were killed and 200 others injured. Flammable soundproofing was later blamed. In Feb, 2006, Dan Biechele, manager of the band, pleaded guilty to 100 counts of manslaughter in exchange for up to 10 years in prison. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch and a Rhode Island beer distributor agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits brought by survivors of the fire.
(SFC, 2/22/03, A1)(WSJ, 3/3/03, p.A1)(SFC, 2/1/06, p.A3)(SFC, 5/11/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/24/08, p.A3)
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 May 24, The 48th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Riga, Latvia. Turkey's pop divas Sertab Erener, came first in the contest and the 2004 edition was then held in Istanbul.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2003)(AFP, 8/4/18)
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." In 2013 Robert Hilburn authored “Johnny Cash: The Life."
(AP, 9/12/03)(SFC, 9/13/03, p.A12)(Econ, 11/23/13, p.83)
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.1952), a Grammy-nominated pop singer best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria," died in East Quogue, N.Y.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Branigan)
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)
2004 Psy, a South Korean rapper famous for " Gangnam Style," said American soldiers should be killed "slowly and painfully" at a Seoul concert during the Iraq war. In 2012 he apologized for his words ahead of a holiday concert to be attended by US President Obama and his family.
(AP, 12/8/12)
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 day. 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. In 2021 his family reached a settlement over his estate.
(AP, 12/25/06)(SFC, 12/26/06, p.A7)(SSFC, 7/25/21, p.A6)
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 Jun 13, The Detroit-area band Champagne Saints, comprised of Marius Polikaitis, Saulius Polteraitis, Jide Mbanefo, Paul Juska and Tadas Kasputis, held a CD release party for Throwing Hail Marys at the Pike Room at the Crofoot in Pontiac. Their 2nd album “Sparkle, Darker" came out in 2012.
(http://voices.yahoo.com/champagne-saints-throw-cd-release-party-3498131.html)
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. Taylor Swift won four Grammys.
(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 Patti Smith, rock musician and writer, received the US National Book Award for her memoir “Just Kids."
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A5)
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.
(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)
2012 Apr 27, Tens of thousands of South Koreans flocked to the opening show of Lady Gaga's global tour, amid colorful scenes as female and male fans donned outrageous outfits in honor of the US pop diva.
(AFP, 4/27/12)
2012 May 4, Adam Yauch (47), the gravelly voiced rapper, aka MCA), who helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop, died of cancer.
(AP, 5/4/12)
2012 May 13, Bass player and songwriter Donald "Duck" Dunn (b.1941), a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers band, died in his sleep while on tour in Tokyo.
(AP, 5/13/12)
2012 May 15, Indonesian police said they would not issue a permit for a Lady Gaga concert scheduled for June 3 in the capital.
(AFP, 5/15/12)
2012 May 17, Donna Summer (63) died following a battle with cancer. The disco legend away in Florida. She released her first single, "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," under her birth name (Donna Gaines) in 1971.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Summer)
2012 May 17, Algerian singer Warda al-Jazairia (72), the Algerian Rose, died in Cairo. She was a regional icon whose powerful patriotic tunes were matched in popularity by her romantic ballads. She performed for presidents and popular audiences, reinventing herself over the decades to appeal to old and young alike.
(AFP, 5/18/12)
2012 May 20, Robin Gibb (b.1949), one of the 3 Bee Gees’ brothers, died in London of cancer. He sang lead vocals on the Bee Gees' first British number one, "Massachusetts", in 1967, before they switched styles to disco in the 1970s.
(AFP, 5/21/12)
2012 May 24, In Japan Nicola Furlong (21), an Irish fan of Rapper Nicki Minaj, was found dead in a Tokyo hotel after attending a concert. Police arrested two American men, dancer James Blackston (23) and a musician, 19, as part of an investigation into her death. On June 14 police arrested a 19-year-old American musician on suspicion of murdering Furlong.
(AFP, 6/1/12)(AFP, 6/14/12)
2012 May 26, In Azerbaijan Loreen of Sweden piled up 372 points with her uplifting dance track "Euphoria" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.
(AFP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 27, Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out June 3 show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance moves would corrupt the youth.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 29, Doc Watson (b.1923), blind guitar picker and fold singer, died in North Carolina. His work included 60 albums, 7 of which won Grammy awards.
(SFC, 5/30/12, p.C8)
2012 Jun 7, Bob Welch (65), a former member of Fleetwood Mac who also had a solo career, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Tennessee.
(SFC, 6/8/12, p.A8)
2012 Jul 16, Jon Lord (b.1941), keyboardist for the British Deep Purple rock band, died in London. His work included “Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (1969).
(SFC, 7/18/12, p.C4)
2012 Jul 16, Kitty Wells, American country singer, died in Madison, Tenn. Her songs included “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" (1952).
(SFC, 7/18/12, p.C4)
2012 Aug 5, Mexican singer Chavela Vargas (b.1919) died in Cuernavaca. She defied gender stereotypes to become one of the most legendary singers in Mexico.
(AP, 8/5/12)
2012 Aug 10, In San Francisco the 5th Outside Lands music festival opened in Golden Gate Park with some 65,000 people attending.
(SFC, 8/11/12, p.A1)
2012 Aug 17, A Russian judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism. They faced a maximum seven years in prison.
(AP, 8/17/12)
2012 Aug 18, Scott McKenzie (73), pop singer born as Philip Blondheim, died at his home in LA. In 1967 he sang “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" with the Mamas and Papas, a song written by John Phillips, leader of the Mamas and the Papas. McKenzie also co-wrote “Kokomo" (1988), a No. 1 hit for the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 8/21/12, p.C3)
2012 Aug 26, In Russia members of the punk band Pussy Riot said two members have fled the country to avoid prosecution for a protest that sent 3 bandmates to prison.
(SFC, 8/27/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 1, American lyricist Hal David (91) died in Los Angeles. He worked with composer Burt Bacharach on numerous top 40 hits.
(SSFC, 9/2/12, p.D11)
2012 Sep 5, Singer and songwriter Joe Smith (72), born as Joseph Souter, died at his home in Buford, Georgia. He penned hits like “Games People Play" and “Down in the Boondocks," as well as “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden."
(SFC, 9/6/12, p.A5)
2012 Sep 25, Andy Williams (b.1927), popular American singer, died at his Branson, Missouri, home. He had 18 gold records, 3 platinum and 5 Grammy nominations. Williams hosted the “The Andy Williams Show" from 1962-1971.
(SFC, 9/27/12, p.A10)
2012 Oct 10, In Russia a Moscow court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich, one of the 3 jailed Pussy Riot band members, because she had been thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could remove her guitar from its case.
(SFC, 10/11/12, p.A3)
2012 Nov 25, In London the Rolling Stones held the first of 5 concerts to mark the 50th anniversary of their debut.
(SFC, 11/26/12, p.A2)
2012 Dec 13, James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, announced that Carole King (70) will receive the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
(SFC, 12/15/12, p.E2)
2012 Harry Belafonte authored his autobiography “My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race and Defiance."
(Econ, 7/14/12, p.76)
2012 David Byrne, front man of the Talking Heads rock band, authored “How Music Works."
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.99)
2012 Peter Doggett authored “The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s."
(SSFC, 8/5/12, p.F5)
2012 Carly Rae Jepsen, a Canadian vocalist, recorded “Call me maybe." It became the best-selling song of the year.
(Econ, 3/2/13, p.63)
2013 Jan 1, Patti Page (85), a top singer of the 1950s, died in Encinitas, Ca. Her hits included “Tennessee Waltz" (1950) and “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window."
(SFC, 1/3/13, p.D2)
2013 Feb 4, Reg Presley (71), the lead singer of 1960s British rock band The Troggs, died at his home after a battle with cancer. He had scored a hit with the love anthem "Wild Thing" (1966).
(Reuters, 2/4/13)
2013 Feb 6, From Kashmir it was reported that the all-girl rock band Pragaash (First Light) has decided to disband following but one concert last December. The teenage members had received threats on social media and a top Muslim cleric.
(SFC, 2/6/13, p.A3)
2013 Feb 17, Country music singer Mindy McCready (37) was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Heber Springs, Ark. Her songs included “Guys Do It All the Time" (1996) and “Ten Thousand Angels" (1996).
(SFC, 2/18/13, p.A6)
2013 Feb 20, Scottish singer Emeli Sande won the coveted best album honour at the BRIT Awards for "Our Version of Events", confirming her status as favourite going into British pop's big night of the year.
(Reuters, 2/20/13)
2013 Mar 6, In Spain Alvin Lee (b.1944), British virtuoso rock guitarist, died following complications from routine surgery. He as a member of the band Ten Years After, which burst onto the US music scene following their 1969 Woodstock performance.
(SFC, 2/8/13, p.D5)
2013 Mar 30, Phil Ramone (1934), Grammy-award winning producer, died. He was a pioneer of digital recording and produced what is regarded as the first major commercial release on compact disc, “52nd Street," which came out in 1982.
(SSFC, 3/31/13, p.A12)
2013 Apr 1, Pop diva Modanna arrived in Malawi to tour the 10 school wings she has helped to build.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 22, Richie Havens (72), American folk singer and guitarist, died at his home in New Jersey. He was the first performer at the 1969 Woodstock festival and over his career released over 25 albums.
(SFC, 4/23/13, p.C4)
2013 Apr 26, George Jones (b.1931), American country singer, died in Nashville. His first big hit was “Why Baby Why" (1955).
(SFC, 4/27/13, p.A4)
2013 Apr 27, In northern Mexico 10 members of the musical group La Reyna de Monterrey were killed and five injured in a road accident.
(AP, 4/27/13)
2013 May 20, In Germany Ray Manzarek (74), keyboard player and founding member of the Doors, died in Rosenheim. The group was formed in 1965 when Manzarek met Jim Morrison at Venice Beach, Ca.
(SFC, 5/21/13, p.A6)
2013 Jul 26, US songwriter JJ Cale (74) died of a heart attack in la Jolla, San Diego County. His songs included “After Midnight," “Cocaine" and “Call Me the Breeze."
(SSFC, 7/28/13, p.A10)
2013 Aug 10, Eydie Gorme (b.1928), pop singer, died at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. Her hits included “Blame It on the Bossa Nova" (1963) and “Amor" (1964). She also sang in a duet act with her husband Steve Lawrence and they appeared together on TV in “The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Show" (1958).
(SSFC, 8/11/13, p.A15)
2013 Sep 26, Tunisian rapper Klay BBJ was jailed for six months for songs judged insulting by the authorities, a verdict his supporters slammed as a sign of the Islamist-led government's growing intolerance. On Oct 17 Klay BBJ was acquitted by an appeals court.
(AFP, 9/26/13)(AFP, 10/17/13)
2013 Oct 11, Lebanese singer and composer Wadih Safi (92) died. His strong, clear voice propelled him to fame throughout the Arab world.
(AP, 10/12/13)
2013 Oct 24, In San Francisco Faith Petric (b.1915), folk singer, died at a hospice house. In 1962 she became the headd of the San Francisco Folk Club and began hosting live jam sessions at her Clayton Street home.
(SFC, 11/12/13, p.C2)
2013 Oct 27, Lou Reed (b.1942), rock guitarist and singer, died in Southampton, NY. He formed and led the Velvet Underground from 1965-1970. His songs included “Walk on the Wild Side." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
(SFC, 10/28/13, p.A10)(Econ, 11/2/13, p.98)
2013 Oct 30, Electronica singer-songwriter James Blake (25) won Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize for his second album, "Overgrown."
(AFP, 10/30/13)
2013 Nov 12, British composer John Tavener (69) died. His spiritually inspired music was performed at the funeral of Princess Diana. He was best known for works including "The Whale", which was released in the late 1960s by the Beatles' record label Apple.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Dec 16, Ray Price (b.1926), American country singer, died in Texas. His more than 100 hits included his 1970 version of “For the Good Times," written by Kris Kristofferson.
(SFC, 12/18/13, p.A11)
2013 Dec 18, A British judge sentenced the former lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets to 29 years in jail, saying that Ian Watkins had "plumbed new depths of depravity" in committing a string of sexual offenses against very young children.
(AP, 12/18/13)
2014 Jan 3, Rock & Roll singer Phil Everly (74), the younger brother of Don Everly, died. He helped make the Everly Brothers one of the biggest rock and country acts of the 1950s and early 1960s.
(Reuters, 1/3/14)
2014 Jan 26, Daft Punk's infectiously catchy song "Get Lucky" won the Grammy Awards' record of the year.
(AP, 1/26/14)
2014 Jan 27, Pete Seeger (b.1919), legendary American banjo player and folksinger, died in NYC. His song “Turn! Turn! Turn!" was made famous by the Byrds in 1965. He also wrote “Where Have All the Flowers Gone."
(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A10)
2014 Feb 14, Googoosh, an Iranian pop star living in Amsterdam, released a music video promoting gay rights. It was clicked on half a million times in the first 24 hours. Navid Akhavan, an Iranian-born Germany, wrote and directed the video for the song “Behesht" (Heaven).
(SFC, 3/5/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 17, Puerto Rican salsa legend Cheo Feliciano (78) died in a car accident early today, prompting the governor of the US territory to declare three days of mourning.
(AP, 4/17/14)
2014 May 10, The finals of the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Austrian bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, the alter ego of 25-year-old Thomas Neuwirth (25), won the contest.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2014)(AP, 5/11/14)
2014 May 20, Prince Rupert Loewenstein (80), former business manager of the Rolling Stones (1968-2007), died in a London hospital after suffering from Parkinson's disease. He was the prince who helped make the Rolling Stones as rich as kings.
(AP, 5/22/14)
2014 May 20, Police in Iran confirmed the arrest of six young people for posting a video online of them dancing to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy," showing them on state television as a public warning to youth in the Islamic Republic. On Sep 17 the six were given suspended sentences of 91 lashes and six months in prison for obscene behavior.
(AP, 5/21/14)(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 May 30, South Korean pop star Psy and his irrepressible "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to surpass 2 billion views, crossing the mark around shortly before midnight EDT.
(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 31, The Queen musical "We Will Rock You" closed in its London home after 12 straight years. It had played to more than 6.5 million people at the Dominion Theatre with over 4,600 performances.
(AFP, 3/11/14)
2014 Jun 6, In Italy Sister Cristina Scuccia (25) clinched the top prize with five songs in the country’s musical competition “The Voice."
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi_LgPgaQo)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.a2)
2014 Jun 19, Gerry Goffin (b.1939), pop lyricist, died at his home in Los Angeles. During the 1960s he and his then wife Carole King wrote such songs “A Natural Woman," “Take Good Care of My Baby," Up on the Roof," “The Loco-Motion," and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (1960).
(SSFC, 6/22/14, p.C5)
2014 Jun 27, Bobby Womack (b.1944), soul songwriter and musician aka the Preacher, died. In 1964 he recorded “It’s All Over Now" with the Valentinos that included four of his brothers. A version by the Rolling Stones became that group’s first No. 1 hit single in Britain.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A7)
2014 Jul 11, Tom Erdelyi (b.1949), aka Tommy Ramone, founding drummer and last surviving member of the Ramones, a NY punk rock band, died in New York.
(SSFC, 7/13/14, p.A10)
2014 Jul 16, Texas blues legend Johnny Winter (b.1944), died while on tour in Geneva. He was known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters.
(AP, 7/17/14)
2014 Sep 4, In Argentina Gustavo Cerati (55), one of Latin America's most influential musicians, died, four years after a stroke put him in a coma.
(AP, 9/6/14)
2014 Sep 5, Girl group singer Simone Battle (25) was found dead in her West Hollywood home. Her death was later ruled a suicide by hanging.
(AP, 9/6/14)(AP, 9/7/14)
2014 Sep 7, In South Korea Kwon Ri-sae (23) died at a hospital in Suwon, just south of Seoul. She was the 2nd Ladies' Code band member to die following a car accident on Sep 3.
(AP, 9/7/14)
2014 Sep 11, Bob Crewe (b.1930), songwriter and producer, died in Scarborough, Maine. His first hit was the 1957 song “Silhouttes," a top ten tune for the Rays written with Frank Slay. In 1962 he produced the hit “Sherry" by Frankie Valli and went on to help write and produce “Walk Like a Man," “Rag Doll," and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You."
(SFC, 9/15/14, p.C4)
2014 Oct 4, Paul Revere (76), organist and leader of the Raiders rock band, died at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho. The group’s hits included their rendition of “Louie, Louie" (1963) and Indian Reservation“ (1971).
(SFC, 10/6/14, p.C3)
2014 Oct 23, Alvin Stardust (b.1942), British singer and former glam rock star, died after a short battle with cancer, just weeks before he was due to release a new album. His real name was Bernard Jewry.
(AFP, 10/23/14)
2014 Oct 25, Jack Bruce (71), British vocalist and bassist for the blues trio Cream, died at his home in Suffolk. The group also included drummer Ginger Baker and guitarist Eric Clapton. Cream the world’s first platinum disc for the double album “Wheels of Fire" (1968).
(SSFC, 10/26/14, p.D8)
2014 Nov 5, In southern France flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata (93) died. His “Gypsy Flamenco" album was released in 1963. He had sold nearly 100 million records worldwide and broke boundaries for Gypsy musicians.
(AP, 11/6/14)(Econ, 11/15/14, p.94)
2014 Nov 6, In New Zealand drummer Phil Rudd (60) of Australian rock band AC/DC, whose hits include "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," was accused of trying to arrange two killings as well as possession of drugs.
(AP, 11/6/14)
2014 Nov 7, New Zealand authorities made an embarrassing about-face when prosecutors dropped a murder-for-hire charge against AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (60), saying there was not enough evidence to proceed. Rudd still faced serious charges of threatening to kill as well as possession of amphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 11/7/14)(SFC, 12/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Nov 23, Britain’s One Direction band won artist of the year at the American Music Awards, taking home three honors and was the night's big winner next to Katy Perry, who didn't attend the show.
(AP, 11/24/14)
2014 Nov 23, In Chakwal, Pakistan, Muhammad Gullistan (30) shot dead his teenage niece because she was listening to loud music.
(Reuters, 11/25/14)
2014 Nov 26, Dutch researchers sought to add a new, largely untapped renewable energy source to the world's energy mix with the opening of a "Blue Energy" test facility. Blue energy takes advantage of the difference in salt concentration between sea water and fresh water to produce electricity.
(AP, 11/26/14)
2014 Dec 2, Saxophonist Bobby Keys (70) died at his home in Franklin, Tenn. He had toured with Buddy Holly, played on recordings by John Lennon, and laid down the blowout a solo on the the Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar" album.
(SFC, 12/3/14, p.E4)
2014 Dec 13, Hazem Sherif, a Syrian from war-torn Aleppo, was declared the winner of this year's "Arab Idol" singing contest at the grand finale of the grueling four-month television competition in Beirut.
(AFP, 12/14/14)
2014 Dec 16, Rock Scully (b.1941), the fist manager of the Grateful Dead, died in Monterey, Ca.
(SFC, 12/20/14, p.C1)
2014 Dec 22, Legendary British singer Joe Cocker (70) died at his home in Crawford, Colorado. His intense, gritty voice won him wide acclaim that spanned both rock and blues.
(AFP, 12/22/14)
2015 Jan 26, Greek singer Demis Roussos (b.1946) died in Athens. His often high-pitched pop serenades won him household recognition in the 1970s and 1980s across Europe and beyond and who sold more than 60 million records.
(AP, 1/26/15)
2015 Jan 30, In southern California Marion “Suge" Knight, founder of Death Row Records, was booked on suspicion of murder after hitting and killing Terry Carter (55) with his pickup truck and fleeing the scene a day earlier. On Feb 2 Knight was charged with murder.
(SFC, 1/31/15, p.A10)(SFC, 2/3/15, p.A6)
2015 Feb 12, Steve Strange (55), a singer with the British band Visage and one of the founders of the 1980s' New Romantic style, died in a hospital in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.
(AP, 2/13/15)
2015 Feb 12, Sam Andrew (b.1941), a founding member of rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, died in San Rafael, Ca. In the mid 1960s the band shot Janis Joplin to fame.
(SFC, 2/17/15, p.C3)
2015 Feb 16, Leslie Gore (68), singer and songwriter, died of lung cancer in NYC. Her hits included “It’s My Party" (1963) and “You Don’t Own Me" (1963).
(SFC, 2/18/15, p.D4)
2015 Feb 27, Former British pop star Gary Glitter (70), aka Paul Gadd, received a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s.
(AP, 2/27/15)
2015 Mar 10, A Los Angeles jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children $7.3 million after determinging that singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell and Williams copied their father’s music to create “Blurred Lines," the biggest hit song of 2013.
(SFC, 3/11/15, p.A6)
2015 Apr 10, An Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant for Justin Bieber, saying the singer failed to respond to summons related to allegations he ordered bodyguards to attack a photographer in 2013.
(AP, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 14, Percy Sledge (74), soul singer, died in Louisiana. His 1996 debut single “When A Man Loves a Woman" became a No. 1 hit.
(SFC, 4/15/15, p.E4)
2015 Apr 21, In New Zealand AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (60) pleaded guilty in court to a charge of threatening in 2014 to kill a man who used to work for him. He also pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 4/21/15)
2015 Apr 30, Ben E. King (b.1934), lead singer for the Drifters, died in Teaneck, NY. His classics included “Stand By Me" (1961) and “Spanish Harlem." (1960).
(SFC, 5/2/15, p.E4)
2015 May 14, B.B. King (89), Mississippi-born blues guitarist and 15-time Grammy winner, died in Las Vegas.
(SFC, 5/16/15, p.E1)
2015 May 17, In NYC Lionel Pickens, aka Chinx, a rapper who won a growing following by turning his bleak experiences as a drug-dealer into verse, was shot dead.
(Reuters, 5/18/15)
2015 May 23, In Vienna, Austria, Sweden beat Russia to win the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, in an event described by organizers as beyond politics but marred by boos for the Russian that were apparently prompted by the Ukraine conflict and the Kremlin's anti-gay policies.
(AP, 5/24/15)
2015 Jun 6, Ronnie Gilbert (b.1926), a member of the Weavers folk singing group, died in Mill Valley, Ca. Other members of the Weavers included Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman.
(SFC, 6/8/15, p.D1)
2015 Jun 26, SiriusXM, a satellite radio provider, announced that it would pay $210 million to the major record companies over its broadcasting of songs made before 1972.
(SFC, 6/29/15, p.D1)
2015 Jun 27, Chris Squire (b.1948), rock bassist for the British band Yes, died in Phoenix. The band formed in 1968 as one of the first progressive rock groups.
(SFC, 6/29/15, p.C3)
2015 Jul 9, A New Zealand judge sentenced AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd (61) to eight months of home detention after the musician pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a man who used to work for him, along with possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
(AP, 7/9/15)
2015 Aug 19, In North Korea the Slovenian rock band Laibach played to a full house in Pyongyang as part of the “Liberation Day Tour," coinciding with the Korean Peninsula’s 70th year anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonization.
(SFC, 8/20/15, p.A4)
2015 Sep 3, An Egyptian court said that female singers Bardis and Shakira promoted indecency in their music videos and sentenced both to six months in prison.
(SFC, 9/4/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 8, In the Philippines Elizabeth Ramsey (84), a popular Filipino singer, comedian and actress who entertained crowds with racy gags and a raspy voice, died.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 6, Billy Joe Royal (b.1942), popular county singer, died at his home in North Carolina. He is best known for his 1965 hit “Down in the Boondocks" written and produced by Joe South.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D4)
2015 Oct 20, Cory Wells (b.1941), a founding member of the vocal trio behind the rock group Three Dog Night, died in Dunkirk, NY. Some two dozen top hits by the group included “Joy to the World" (1971).
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
2015 Nov 10, Legendary New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint (b.1938) died after suffering a heart attack following a concert in Spain. He penned such classics as "Working in a Coal Mine" (1966) and "Lady Marmalade" (1974).
(AP, 11/10/15)(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A14)(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2015 Nov 18, Musician Willie Nelson was honored as the new recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular song.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 15, P.F. Sloan (b.1945), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Los Angeles. His songs included “Eve of Destruction" (1965).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F._Sloan)
2015 Dec 3, In Minnesota Scott Weiland (b.1967) former frontman for rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, was found dead on his tour bus while on tour with his band the Wildabouts. A medical examiner later said he died of a toxic mix of drugs that included cocaine.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A16)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.E2)
2015 Dec 28, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (70), the hell-raising frontman of pioneering British heavy metal band Motorhead, died of cancer in Los Angeles, bringing to an end the story of a band dubbed the loudest in the world.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.78)
2015 Dec 31, Natalie Cole (b.1950), Grammy-winning daughter of Nat King Cole, died in Los Angeles of complications from health issues.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Willie Nelson with David Ritz authored “It’s a Long Story: My Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N4)
2015 John Seabrook authored “The Song Machine," a history of the past 20 years of pop music.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.81)
2016 Jan 10, British singer David Bowie (b.1947) died in NYC. He had received little attention until his 5th album: “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" (1972).
(AP, 1/11/16)(Econ, 1/16/16, p.97)
2016 Feb 6, Dan Hicks (b.1941), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Marin, Ca. From 1965-1968 he wasthe drummer and occasional vocalist for the charlatans, widely regarded as the first San Francisco psychedelic band.
(Boston Globe, 2/8/16, p.B6)
2016 Feb 15, The English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for "Thinking Out Loud," a bare guitar ballad that made history as a viral hit. Sheeran shared the rammy award with his co-writer Amy Wadge, a British folk artist.
(AFP, 2/16/16)
2016 Feb 24, Astronaut Tim Peake presented Adele with a Brit Award from space, as the singer swept the board at the annual British music awards rendered sober this year by the death of David Bowie.
(AFP, 2/24/16)
2016 Mar 8, Sir George Martin (b.1926), British producer for the Beatles, died. Martin also worked with Jeff Beck, Elton John, Celine Dion and on several solo albums by Paul McCartney.
(AP, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 11, Keith Emerson (71), flamboyant yet accomplished British keyboardist, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted bullet wound to his head at his condominium in the Los Angeles area. He had pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock music.
(AP, 3/12/16)
2016 Mar 10, Singer Gogi Grant (b.1924) died at her home in Los Angeles.Her 1956 rendition of “The Wayward Wind" topped the Billboard singles chart.
(SFC, 3/17/16, p.D5)
2016 Mar 25, In Cuba Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones performed a free concert for hundreds of thousands in Havana.
(AFP, 3/26/16)
2016 Apr 6, Merle Haggard (b.1937), American country music star, died at his home in Redding, Ca.
(SFC, 4/7/16, p.A1)
2016 Apr 21, Prince Rogers Nelson (57), singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist, died at his home in Minnesota. His records sold more than 100 million copies and earned him Grammys and an Academy Award.
(AP, 4/22/16)
2016 Apr 23, Ivory Coast musician Papa Wemba (66), known around the world as the king of Congolese rumba, died following a collapse on stage during a concert. Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, rose to fame in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa during the 1970s with the band Zaiko Langa Langa, whose guitar-based fusion of Latin and African dance styles inspired a generation of African musicians.
(AP, 4/24/16)
2016 Apr 27, Jordan banned a performance by popular Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila ("Leila's Project") on religious grounds, spurring criticism of the Western-allied kingdom, which portrays itself as an island of tolerance in a turbulent region.
(AP, 4/27/16)
2016 May 15, Australians cheered contestant and juries' favorite Dami Im for placing second at the annual Eurovision song contest in Sweden.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 15, Jubilant Ukrainians erupted in celebration after Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest with a powerful tribute to her Tatar people's deportation from Russian-annexed Crimea in 1944.
(AFP, 5/15/16)
2016 May 24, British media reported that singer-songwriter Adele has signed a contract with Sony worth up to £90 million (117 million euros, $131 million), in one of the biggest ever record deals. Adele has been at London-based independent label XL Recordings since she was a teenager.
(AFP, 5/24/16)
2016 May 28, Iran said eight people producing obscene music videos, whose clips were broadcast on a famous anti-revolutionary television channel, were arrested in Tehran last week.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 Jun 21, US trumpet player Wayne Jackson (74) died. He and Memphis Horns partner Andrew Love (d.2012) had reportedly played on 52 No. 1 records and 83 gold and platinum records.
(SFC, 6/23/16, p.D3)
2016 Jun 24, P-Fund keyboardist Bernie Worrell, aka “Wizard of Woo," died at his home in Everson, Wa. His keyboard sounds helped shape the Parliament-Funkadelic musical empire of the 1970s and 1980s.
(SSFC, 6/26/16, p.C10)
2016 Jun 28, Guitarist Scotty Moore (84) died at his home in Nashville. He virtually created the rockabilly style and helped launch the career of Elvis Presley.
(SFC, 7/1/16, p.D3)
2016 Jul 16, In Arkansas Bonnie Brown (b.1938), one of the three siblings that formed the Browns singing group, died in Little Rock. Their songs included “I Take the Chance" (1957) and “The Three Bells" (1959).
(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A16)
2016 Jul 26, Sandy Pearlman, producer and lyricist for Blue Öyster Cult, died in Novato, Ca. He produced and co-produced albums for the band from 1972-1988. In 1975 he and Murray Krugman produced one of the earliest albums considered to be punk rock: “The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!"
(SFC, 7/29/16, p.D4)
2016 Aug 20, In Canada Tragically Hip, a group known as Canada's Band, held its final performance in Kingston. Lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie, dubbed Canada's unofficial poet laureate and diagnosed with glioblastoma, was in fine form as he and his bandmates played an epic 30-song set, punctuated by three encores.
(AP, 8/21/16)
2016 Aug 28, In NYC Beyonce dominated the MTV Video Music Awards as she won eight awards and awed the audience with a fiery dance medley with an unstated political message.
(AFP, 8/29/16)
2016 Aug 28, Juan Gabriel (66), Mexico’s greatest modern pop singer, died. He was born as Alberto Aguilera Valadez and had his first hit in 1971 with “No tengo dinero" (I have no money).
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.78)
2016 Oct 13, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."
(AP, 10/13/16)
2016 Oct 24, Robert Thomas Velline b.1943, known professionally as Bobby Vee, died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Rogers, Minnesota. He was an American pop singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20 and six gold singles in his career.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Vee)
2016 Oct 28, Lebanese singer and composer Melham Barakat (71) died at a Beirut hospital. He was highly esteemed and popular across the region. His most popular songs included "Two Moons at my Door," and "Habibi Inta (You are my Love)".
(AP, 10/28/16)
2016 Nov 7, Leonard Cohen (b.1934), Canadian singer, poet and novelist, died in Los Angeles. His song "Suzanne" (1966) became a hit for Judy Collins, and was for many years his most covered song.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen)(Econ, 11/19/16, p.80)
2016 Nov 13, Leon Russell (b.1942), rock ‘n’ roll producer, songwriter and performer, died in Nashville, Tenn.
(SFC, 11/14/16, p.A7)
2016 Nov 16, The Swedish Academy said music icon Bob Dylan will not attend the Nobel ceremony in December to accept his literature prize because he has other commitments.
(AFP, 11/16/16)
2016 Nov 18, Sharon Jones (60), a fiery Grammy-nominated soul and funk singer sometimes called the "female James Brown," died in Cooperstown, NY, after losing a battle to pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 11/19/16)
2016 Dec 7, British musician Greg Lake (b.1947) died. He had co-founded both King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. ELP broke up in 1979, reunited in 1991, later disbanded again and reunited for a 2010 tour.
(AP, 12/8/16)
2016 Dec 25, British gay pop star George Michael (53) died of apparent heart failure. He had rocketed to stardom with WHAM! and went on to enjoy a long and celebrated solo career lined with controversies.
(AP, 12/26/16)
2016 Dec 30, Former British pub owner Allan Williams (86), the first manager of The Beatles, died. He drove the band on their formative trip to Hamburg in 1960.
(AP, 12/31/16)
2016 Bruce Springsteen authored his biography “Born to Run."
(Econ, 10/1/16, p.78)
2017 Feb 12, British singer-songwriter Adele won five Grammys at the 59th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
(SFC, 2/13/17, p.C1)
2017 Feb 12, Singer Al Jarreau (b.1940), winner of seven Grammy Awards, died in Los Angeles.
(SFC, 2/13/17, p.D4)
2017 Jan 23, Bobby Freeman (b.1940), San Francisco’s first rock ’n’ roll teen star, died at his home in Daly City. His 1958 song “Do You Want to Dance" reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart. The song became known as “Do You Wanna Dance" and was performed by a number of other musicians including the Beach Boys.
(SFC, 2/15/17, p.D4)
2017 Feb 18, Clyde Stubblefield (73), a former drummer for James Brown, died in Madison, Wis. His short solo on Brown’s 1970 single “Funky Drummer" was sampled on more than 1,000 songs and served as the backbeat on for countless hip-hop tracks.
(SFC, 2/20/17, p.C4)
2017 Mar 18, Rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry (b.1926) died at his home in the St. Louis area. His 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode" was so influential and recognizable that the US space program chose it to represent rock music for potential extraterrestrial listeners on the Voyager spacecraft.
(AFP, 3/18/17)(SSFC, 3/19/17, p.A9)
2017 Apr 1, In Sweden Bob Dylan (75) received his Nobel literature diploma in a small afternoon ceremony in Stockholm before performing a concert in the evening.
(SSFC, 4/2/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 11, Musician John Warren Geils Jr. (71), founder of the J. Geils Band, died at his home in Massachusetts. The band’s biggest hits included “Must of Got Lost" (1975), “Love Stinks" (1980) and “Centerfold" (1981).
(SFC, 4/12/17, p.A7)
2017 Apr 20, Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. was found dead in a car in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. He sang the 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool" with the rhythm-and-blues group Main Ingredient.
(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.C10)
2017 May 13, Portugal's Salvador Sobral sang his Amar Pelos Dois (Love For Both) accompanied by quiet strings and a piano in the 62nd Eurovision extravaganza. His romantic ballad challenged the decades-long reputation for cheesy, glittery, unbridled excess and won easily.
(AP, 5/14/17)
2017 May 17, Chris Cornell (b.1964), the front man for the Soundgarden rock group, committed suicide at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
(SFC, 5/19/17, p.E1)
2017 May 27, Gregg Allman, Southern Rock singer and organist of the Allman Brothers Band, died at his home in Savannah, Ga.
(SSFC, 5/28/17, p.C9)
2017 Jun 13, Anita Pallenberg (b.1944), model and actress, died in Chichester, England. Sometimes called the muse of the Rolling Stones, she had affairs with three of band’s key members.
(SSFC, 6/18/17, p.C11)
2017 Jul 1, In southern Sweden the Bravalla festival in Norrkoping was called off for next year after a rape was reported a day earlier. Swedish police say they so far have 11 cases of sexual abuse and one rape at the July 28-July 1 festival.
(AP, 7/1/17)
2017 Jul 10, After four and a half years as YouTube's most seen video, "Gangnam Style" slipped late today to number two, replaced by "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. The song was a tribute to Paul Walker, an actor in "The Fast and Furious" film franchise who died in a car wreck.
(AP, 7/11/17)
2017 Jul 25, In Australia aboriginal blind singer Dr. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (b.1970), the most beautiful voice in the country, died.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC-Jd7KN64)(Econ, 8/5/17, p.70)
2017 Aug 8, Glen Campbell (81), American country music legend, died in Nashville. His songs included “Rhinestone Cowboy" (1975) and “Wichita Lineman" (1968). The TV show “Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS.
(SFC, 8/9/17, p.A6)
2017 Sep 3, Walter Becker (b.1950), guitarist, bassist and co-founder of Steely Dan, died in Hawaii.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Becker)(SFC, 9/5/17, p.E6)
2017 Sep 8, Country singer Don Williams (b.1939) died in Mobile, Ala. His seventeen No. 1 hits included “Till the Rivers All Run Dry" (1975).
(http://tinyurl.com/yb9mp6zk)(SSFC, 9/10/17 p.C9)
2017 Sep 8, Country singer Troy Gentry (b.1967) of the Montgomery Gentry duo, died in a helicopter crash in Medford, NJ.
(SSFC, 9/10/17 p.C10)
2017 Sep 9, In southern California the members of the Polish band Decapitated were arrested early today in Santa Ana, on suspicion of kidnapping a woman after their Aug. 31 concert in Spokane. The band, founded in Poland in 1996, has won critical acclaim for its albums among fans of death metal.
(AP, 9/9/17)
2017 Oct 2, American rock icon Tom Petty (b.1950) died in Santa Monica, Ca., after suffering cardiac arrest.
(SFC, 10/3/17, p.A1)
2017 Oct 17, Gord Downie (53), who made himself part of Canada's national identity with songs about hockey and small towns as lead singer and songwriter of iconic rock band The Tragically Hip, died after a battle with brain cancer.
(AP, 10/18/17)
2017 Oct 24, Fats Domino (b.1928), rock’n’roll pioneer, died in New Orleans. His hits included “Blueberry Hill" (1956).
(SFC, 10/26/17, p.A6)
2017 Nov 12, MTV Europe Music Awards returned to London for the first time since 1996. Canadian teen singer Shawn Mendes (19) won best artist and best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA).
(AFP, 11/13/17)
2017 Nov 18, Rock band AC/DC announced that Australia-based Malcolm Young (64), guitarist and co-founder of the band, has died after suffering from dementia for several years.
(AFP, 11/19/17)(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.C10)
2017 Nov 19, American country singer Mel Tillis (85), died in Ocala, Florida. He recorded more than 60 albums and wrote hit songs for other country singers.
(SFC, 11/20/17, p.C4)
2017 Nov 21, David Cassidy (b.1950), lead singer on the TV sitcom “The Partridge Family," died in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
(SFC, 11/22/17, p.A8)
2017 Nov 21, Wayne Cochran (b.1939), American rhythm-and blues singer, died at his home in Miramar, Fl. His song “Last Kiss" became hit in 1964 for J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers and again in 199 for Pearl Jam. The 1970 B-movie “C.C. and Company with Joe Namath contained a glimpse of his live act. At age 40 Cochran largely abandoned his music career and turned to preaching.
(SFC, 11/27/17, p.C3)
2017 Dec 6, French rock star Johnny Hallyday (b.1943) died in Paris. His power ballads and colorful personal life made him a national treasure, loved by everyone from rebellious teens in the 1960s to modern-day presidents.
(AP, 12/6/17)
2017 Dec 16, Keely Smith (b.1928), torch singer and former wife of bandleader Louis Prima, died in Palm Springs. Her marriage to Prima in 1953 lasted to 1961.
(SFC, 12/20/17, p.D5)
2017 Dec 18, In South Korea boy band SHINee singer Kim Jong-hyun, better known by the stage name Jonghyun, was found unconscious at a residence hotel in Seoul and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Police called it a possible suicide.
(AP, 12/18/17)
2018 Jan 15, Edwin Hawkins (b.1943), pianist, choir leader and composer, died at his home in Pleasanton, Ca. In 1968 his Northern California Youth Choir recorded “Oh Happy Day," a gospel tune that sold 7 million copies in 1969 and earned him a Grammy.
(SFC, 1/14/18, p.A7)
2018 Jan 15, The Cranberries lead Irish singer Dolores O'Riordan (b.1971) was found dead in the bath in her room at London's Park Lane Hilton hotel. On September 6 Coroner Shirley Radcliffe in London ruled that the cause of death was accidental drowning due to intoxication.
(AP, 1/16/18)(AFP, 9/6/18)
2018 Jan 28, The 60th Grammy Awards returned to New York City for the first time in more than a decade with a nod to the city's rich history of musical theater. Bruno Mars picked up the night’s top prizes, including album of the year and record of the year for “24K Magic."
(AP, 1/29/18)(SFC, 1/29/18, p.E1)
2018 Feb 7, John Perry Barlow (b.1947), Grateful Dead lyricist and founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, died in San Francisco.
(SFC, 2/8/18, p.A8)
2018 Feb 11, American singer Vic Damone (b.1928) died in Miami Beach. He had recorded some 2,500 songs over 54 years.
(SFC, 2/13/18, p.C3)
2018 Mar 1, Turkey’s state broadcaster faced accusations of imposing censorship reminiscent of a military coup after admitting it had banned over 200 songs from being played on air.
(AFP, 3/1/18)
2018 Mar 20, Ringo Starr received his long-awaited knighthood from Prince William. He used his real name Richard Starkey for the big event.
(AP, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 31, Some of South Korea's biggest pop stars flew to North Korea for rare performances that highlight the sudden thaw in inter-Korean ties after years of tensions over the North's nuclear ambitions.
(AP, 3/31/18)
2018 Apr 14, Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, the Cars, Nina Simone (d.2003) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (d.1973 joined music royalty as they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
(AFP, 4/15/18)
2018 Apr 27, Sweden's legendary disco group ABBA announced that they have reunited to record two new songs, 35 years after their last single, sparking joy and surprise among fans.
(AFP, 4/27/18)
2018 May 9, In Scotland Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison (36) was reported missing after leaving a hotel in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh. On May 11 police confirmed that a body discovered at a Scottish marina is that of Scott Hutchison.
(AP, 5/11/18)
2018 May 12, Portugal hosted the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest. Israel's Netta Barzilai (25) was announced the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal with her techno dance tune "Toy".
(AP, 5/12/18)(AP, 5/13/18)
2018 May 13, American composer Glenn Branca died in Manhattan. He blended classical, rock and avant-garde elements in his compositions that included Symphony No. 16 (Orgasm) in 2016.
(SFC, 5/18/18, p.D8)
2018 May 22, Japan-based Sony Corp. said it plans to spend $2.3 billion acquiring an additional 60 percent stake in EMI Music Publishing, home to the Motown catalog and contemporary artists like Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams.
(AP, 5/22/18)
2018 May 24, Authorities in Spain issued arrest warrants for Jose Miguel Arenas Beltran (24), a rap singer (aka Valtonyc) and composer from Palma de Mallorca, sentenced to prison for lyrics that praised terror groups and insulted the royal family.
(AP, 5/24/18)
2018 May 24, In Turkey rapper Sercan Ipekcigolu (27), better-known as rapper "Ezhel," was detained by narcotics police in Istanbul late today and was later charged with encouraging the use of drugs.
(AP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 27, South Korean 7-member boyband phenomenon BTS became the first K-Pop group to rise to the top of the US album charts, a vivid illustration of the genre's growing global appeal.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 Jun 3, Jerry Hopkins (b.1935), American music writer, died in Bangkok. His work included biographies of Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix.
(SSFC, 6/10/18, p.C2)
2018 Jun 24, In the SF Bay Area aspiring rapper Richard Doss (21), aka Lil Buzz, was shot and killed in his car on the 500 block of 23rd Street in Richmond.
{SF Bay Area, USA, Murder, Pop&Rock}
(SFC, 6/27/18, p.D4)
2018 Jul 18, British rock star Cliff Richard (77) was awarded $273,000 in damages after winning a privacy lawsuit against the BBC fir its coverage of a 2014 police raid over alleged sex offenses.
(SFC, 7/18/18, p.A2)
2018 Jul 20, German astronaut Alexander Gerst played a duet of Kraftwerk's 1978 song "Spacelab" with the band to cheers from an audience in Stuttgart.
(AP, 7/21/18)
2018 Aug 16, Aretha Franklin (76), the music legend, icon and Grammy-winning singer celebrated as the "Queen of Soul," died at her home in Detroit. She influenced generations of female singers with unforgettable hits including "Respect" (1967), "Natural Woman" (1968) and "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968).
(AFP, 8/16/18)
2018 Sep 5, A Ugandan music festival was reinstated following a public outcry after the country's ethics minister banned the Nyege Nyege music festival a day earlier as an orgy of homosexuality, nudity and drugs akin to "devil worship".
(AFP, 9/5/18)
2018 Sep 7, Rapper Mac Miller (26) was found dead at his Los Angeles home. An autopsey later showed his death was due to an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol.
(SFC, 11/6/18, p.A6)
2018 Sep 12, France-based Algerian singer Rachid Taha (59) died overnight after suffering a heart attack at his home in the Paris suburbs.
(AP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 14, Uzbekistan's first electronic music festival ever, an event, called Stihia or Element in Russian, was staged at Muynak, an area of desert caused by one of the world's largest man-made environmental catastrophes, the shrinking of the Aral Sea.
(AP, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 15, In Australia a man (23) and a woman (21) died after collapsing at the Defqon.1 music festival in Sydney. A dozen more were hospitalized and hundreds others sought medical assistance after suspected drug overdoses.
(Reuters, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 27, Marty Balin (b.1942), co-founder of the San Francisco-based Jefferson Airplane rock group (1965), died in Florida.
(SFC, 9/29/18, p.A1)
2018 Oct 1, Legendary French singer Charles Aznavour (b.1924) died at his home in Alpilles. Aznavour was named "Entertainer of the Century" by CNN in 1998 because of his immense global popularity. His leading role in Francois Truffaut's film "Shoot the Piano Player" in 1960 catapulted Aznavour to international fame.
(AFP, 10/1/18)
2018 Oct 2, Geoff Emerick (72), who worked as recording engineer for the Beatles for many years and played an important role in the creation of "Revolver," ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and other albums, died.
(AP, 10/3/18)
2018 Oct 22, Thai rappers uploaded the song "Prathet Ku Mee" (Which is My Country), to YouTube. It soon racked up more than 6.4 million views and tens of thousands of comments since it went live on the platform, prompting authorities to take notice. The video features rappers from the Rap Against Dictatorship collective dishing out barbs about the military and blasting corruption, censorship and the lack of elections.
(AFP, 10/27/18)
2018 Nov 15, Roy Clark, US country music star, died in Oklahoma. He headlined the TV show "Hee Haw" for nearly a quarter century.
(SFC, 11/16/18, p.A7)
2018 Nov 21, Russian police detained rapper Dmitry Kuznetsov (25), aka Husky, for performing on a car in Krasnodar after prosecutors banned his gig. Husky is known for his songs mocking authorities and police brutality.
(AP, 11/22/18)
2018 Dec 7, Pete Shelley (63), the lead singer and songwriter with influential British pop punk band the "Buzzcocks", died at his home in Estonia. The band helped create the New Wave genre, fusing punk's energy with a more melodic sound.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 13, Cleveland-based Rock & Roll Hall of Fame organizers announced that pop icon Janet Jackson, angst rockers Radiohead and post-punk innovators The Cure earned spots in its Class of 2019. Stevie Nicks, already an inductee with her band Fleetwood Mac, was now also honored as a solo artist. British heavy metal group Def Leppard, pop experimentalists Roxy Music and English psychedelic rock harmonists The Zombies round out the list of artists.
(AFP, 12/13/18)
2018 Dec 13, Nancy Wilson (81), a Grammy-winning singer who performed everything from jazz ballads to pop songs during a career spanning decades, died in California.
(AFP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 14, Spanish prosecutors charged pop music star Shakira with tax evasion, alleging she failed to pay more than 14.5 million euros ($16.3 million) between 2012 and 2014. Shakira listed the Bahamas as her official residence for tax purposes while living in Spain.
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 16, In southern Romania Anca Pop (34), a Romanian-Canadian singer-songwriter, died after her car plunged into the Danube River.
(AP, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec, Venezuelan migrant singer Reymar Perdomo (30) was invited to Colombia by a popular satirist and Youtuber who had her sing on a bus in Peru, surprising her by bringing along Latin Grammy winner Carlos Vives and Andres Cepeda. She had written the heartfelt reggae song "Me Fui" about leaving her homeland that went viral on the internet and has brought tears to hundreds in the Venezuelan diaspora that has spread around the globe.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMtbPQWPlsk)(AP, 1/16/19)
2019 Jan 22, French officials said US singer Chris Brown (29) and two other people are in custody in Paris after a woman filed a rape complaint.
(AP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 23, Zimbabwe music star Oliver Mtukudzi (66) died in Harare.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Feb 9, UK rising rapper Cadet (28), aka Blaine Cameron Johnson, was killed in a car crash early today on the way to a performance in central England.
(AP, 2/9/19)
2019 Feb 22, In Chicago R&B star R. Kelly was arrested on multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse invloving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
(SFC, 2/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Feb 26, It was reported that Ukraine's national broadcaster has dropped singer Anna Korsun (27), who was meant to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest, due to apparent political differences over Russia.
(Reuters, 2/26/19)
2019 Mar 4, Keith Flint (49), the fiery frontman of British dance-electronic band The Prodigy, was found dead at his home near London. Keith reportedly took his own life over the weekend. The band's 1990s "Firestarter" (1996) and "Breathe" (1996) were an incendiary fusion of techno, breakbeat and acid house music.
(AP, 3/4/19)(AFP, 3/4/19)
2019 Mar 7, Singapore axed a gig by Watain, a Swedish metal band with Satanic beliefs, whose performances have involved throwing pig's blood onto revelers, just hours before it was due to go ahead.
(AFP, 3/7/19)
2019 Mar 16, American rock guitarist Dick Dale (b.1937) died in Los Angeles. His loud chord instrumentals on songs like "Miserlou" and "Let's Go Trippin'" earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar.
(SFC, 3/19/19, p.A9)
2019 Mar 21, In South Korea K-pop singer and television celebrity, Jung Joon-young, was arrested over accusations he shared his secret sex videos.
(Reuters, 3/21/19)
2019 Mar 22, Scott Walker (76), the influential singer, songwriter and producer whose hits with the Walker Brothers in the 1960s included "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," died in London.
(AP, 3/25/19)
2019 Mar 29, In New York City genre-bending acts Radiohead and The Cure led a British invasion into Brooklyn to take their spots in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while pop icon Janet Jackson entered the shrine in an induction many industry insiders consider long overdue. American folk rock legend Stevie Nicks became the first woman inducted twice. Heavy metal group Def Leppard, pop experimentalists Roxy Music and English psychedelic rock harmonists The Zombies rounded out the five-strong class of British inductees.
(AFP, 3/29/19)
2019 Mar 30, Billy Adams (79), Hall of Fame pioneer of rockabilly music, died in Westmoreland, Tenn. His hits included "Rock, Pretty Mama" (1957).
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 6, Bosnia's capital city made Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson an honorary citizen for a concert he performed while Sarajevo was under siege during the 1992-95 war. This came on Sarajevo Day, which marks the city's 1945 liberation during World War II and the start in 1992 of the Bosnian Serb siege that killed more than 11,000 people, including 1,600 children.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 10, Earl Thomas Conley (b.1941), popular country singer of the 1980s, died in Nashville. His 24 Top 10 country singles in the 1980s included "Holding Her and Loving You" and "Don't Make It Easy for Me".
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.C10)
2019 May 14, In Israel hackers succeeded in flashing a fake rocket attack warning during a webcast of a Eurovision song contest semi-final. Israel's public broadcaster blamed the incident on Islamist group Hamas.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 18, In Israel singer Duncan Laurence (25) brought the Netherlands victory with a doleful piano ballad, "Arcade," its first win in the Eurovision song contest since the 1970s. His victory means the Netherlands will host next year's edition.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 30, In Chicago prosecutors charged R&B singer R. Kelly with 11 new sex-related counts, including some that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 6, Mac Rebennack (b.1940), aka Dr. John, pianist, singer and songwriter who ermbodied the New Orleans sound for generations, died of a heart attack. He recorded more than 30 albums and in 1994 authored an autobiography with Jack Rummel titled "Under Hoodoo Moon".
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John)(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 9, In Colorado Bushwick Bill (52), the diminutive, one-eyed rapper (aka Robert Shaw) who with the Geto Boys helped put the South's stamp on rap with hits like "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" and "Six Feet Deep," died of pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 14, In South Korea Yang Hyun Suk, the founder of one of the most successful K-Pop music agencies, stepped down amid accusations that he tried to cover up alleged drug use by one of the company's artists.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 19, In France Electro star Philippe Zdar (52), one half of the cult French house duo Cassius, died late today after falling from a window in Paris -- two days before the release of his latest album.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 29, Gary Duncan (b.1946), co-lead guitarist for the Quicksilver Messenger Service band, died ten days after suffering a fall at his home in Woodland, Ca.
(SFC, 7/5/19, p.C1)
2019 Jul 2, In South Korea Park Yoo-chun, a former member of the boy band JYJ, received a 10-month suspended sentence for illegal drug use. The Suwon District Court also ordered the 33-year-old star to undergo probation and treatment.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jul 3, American rapper A$AP Rocky (30), a performer, producer and model, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained in Sweden along with his bodyguard and two other members of his entourage in connection with a fight in a Stockholm city-center street in the early hours of June 30.
(Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019 Jul 6, In Brazil Joao Gilberto (b.1931), singer and composer who helped bossa nova gain global popularity, died in Rio de Janeiro.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Gilberto)(SFC, 7/8/19, p.C3)
2019 Jul 12, Singer R. Kelly was arrested in Chicago under charges that included racketeering, kidnapping, forced labor and the sexual exploitation of a child.
(SFC, 7/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Aug 14, A Swedish court convicted American rapper A$AP Rocky (30), aka Rakim Mayers, of assaulting a man and handed him suspended prison sentence. The Swedish court also convicted two members of A$AP Rocky's entourage of the same crime.
(Reuters, 8/14/19)
2019 Aug 30, US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's album "Lover" broke a new record for an international artist in China as it surpassed one million combined total streams, downloads and sales within a week of its release.
(Reuters, 8/30/19)
2019 Sep 10, Daniel Dale Johnston (b.1961), American singer-songwriter and visual artist, died in Waller, Texas. He was regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities. Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Austin, Texas. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston's 1983 album Hi, How Are You. In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Johnston)
2019 Sep 13, American musician Eddie Money (b.1949) died in Los Angeles. His hits, including "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby Hold On," formed part of the rock and power pop soundtrack of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
(Reuters, 9/13/19)(SFC, 9/14/19, p.C1)
2019 Sep 15, Ric Ocasek (b.1944), songwriter and lead singer for the Cars, died at his townhouse in Manhattan.
(SFC, 9/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Sep 23, Robert Hunter (78), singer and songwriter for the Grateful Dead, died at his home in San Rafael, Ca. His songs included "Touch of Grey" (1987).
(SFC, 9/25/19, p.C1)
2019 Oct 2, The US Library of Congress said country music superstar Garth Brooks, whose hits include "Friends in Low Places," ''The Thunder Rolls" and "The Dance," will receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in March 2020.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 6, British rock music drummer Ginger Baker (b.1939), a co-founder of the 1960's supergroup Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton, died. Cream was founded in 1966 and disbanded in 1968.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 18, British rapper Ervine Kimpalu (20), who goes by the artist name Rico Racks, was issued with a special five year Criminal Behavior Order when he appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court preventing him from referring to several drug-related words in his online rap videos.
(The Telegraph, 10/20/19)
2019 Nov 24, In South Korea Koo Hara (28), a former member of a top K-pop girl group, was found dead at her home in southern Seoul.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Dec 8, Jarad Anthony Higgins (b.1998), a rapper known professionally as Juice Wrld, died following a drug-related seizure at Midway International Airport. Higgins had taken "several unknown pills", including allegedly swallowing multiple Percocet pills in an attempt to hide them while police were on board the plane searching the luggage. In 2020 his third album, "Legends Never Die," reached the top of America's Billboard 200 charts.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_Wrld)
2019 Dec 18, Kenny Lynch (81), whose pop hits including "Up on the Roof," died in London. The song made him one of the best-known black British entertainers of the 1960s.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Lil Nas X, born as Montero Lamar Hill, found major fame in 2019 with his viral hit “Old Town Road. In 2021 Nike sued MSCHF, a small Brooklyn-based company, over its sale of 666 pairs of altered Nike Air Max 97s as “Satan Shoes" in collaboration with the rapper Lil Nas X, following the release of a devil-themed music video for his song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" in which he gyrates on Satan’s lap.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2020 Jan 7, Neil Peart (67), drummer for the Canadian band Rush, died in Santa Monica, Ca.
(SFC, 1/13/20, p.C3)
2020 Jan 26, The biggest names in the US music industry were honored at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Billie Eilish took home all four of the night’s biggest awards: best new artist, album of the year for "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" and both song of the year and record of the year for her hit "Bad Guy."
(Good Morning America, 1/27/20)
2020 Jan 26, Bob Shane (85), the last original member of the Kingston Trio, died near his home in Phoenix. Shane, Nick Reynolds and David Guard had formed the SF Bay Area folk group in 1957.
(SFC, 1/30/20, p.C6)
2020 Feb 6, Lynn Evands Mand (95), lead singer of the Chordettes, died in Ohio. The group became popular for their recording of "Mr Sandman" (1954) and "Lollipop" (1958) among other songs.
(SSFC, 3/1/20, p.B9)
2020 Feb 11, In South Africa Joseph Shabalala (78), the founder of the South African multi-Grammy-Award-winning music group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, died in Pretoria. the choral group, founded in 1964, shot to world acclaim collaborating with Paul Simon on the “Graceland" album and many other artists.
(AP, 2/11/20)
2020 Mar 9, Led Zeppelin persuaded a US appeals court to reinstate a jury verdict that it did not steal the opening guitar riff for "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure song written four years earlier.
(Reuters, 3/9/20)
2020 Mar 13, US federal prosecutors hit R&B singer R. Kelly with more criminal charges in a revised indictment filed in NYC. Charges included the singer of having unprotected sex with a girl in 2015 without disclosing he had herpes.
(SSFC, 3/15/20, p.A5)
2020 Mar 17, Jerry Slick (b.1939), drummer and founder of the San Francisco-based Great Society rock band, died in his Mill Valley, Ca., home. He founded the band with his wife Grace Slick in 1965. Grace Slick joined the Jefferson Airplane in 1966 and Jerry moved on as a cinematographer and filmmaker.
(SSFC, 3/29/20, p.B8)
2020 Mar 18, In the Netherlands organizers of the Eurovision song contest said it will not take place this year due to the global coronavirus outbreak. The Netherlands was to host the 2020 contest after Dutch singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence won in 2019 with a song called "Arcade".
(AP, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 20, American country singer Kenny Rogers (81) died in Sandy Springs, Georgia. During his six-decade, genre-hopping career, Rogers released 65 albums and sold more than 165 million records.
(Reuters, 3/21/20)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Rogers)
2020 Mar 24, In France Manu Dibango (86), a Cameroonian-born saxophonist, died with the coronavirus. He had gained international fame with his 1972 song "Soul Makossa".
(SFC, 3/25/20, p.A2)
2020 Mar 29, Alan Merrill (b.1951), writer of the hit song "I Love Rock and Roll," died in New York of complications from the coronavirus. He wrote the song for his band the Arrows in 1975 and it became a hit for Joan Jett in 1982.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Merrill)(SFC, 3/30/20, p.A7)
2020 Mar 30, American singer-songwriter Bill Withers (81) died in Los Angeles of heart complications. His soulful hits such as "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine" earned him induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Withers)
2020 Apr 7, John Prine (73), the country-folk singer and songwriter whose lyrics made him a favorite of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and others, died in Nashville of complications due to the coronavirus.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine)(NY Times, 4/8/20)
2020 Apr 7, Hal Willner, American music producer, died with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 at his home in Manhattan.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Willner)(Econ, 4/18/20, p.74)
2020 Apr 21, Florian Schneider (b.1947), co-founder of the German electronic music group Kraftwork, died in Dusseldorf. The avant-garde music group emerged from Dusseldorf in 1970.
(Econ., 5/16/20, p.43)
2020 May 9, Little Richard (87), the flashy wild man of rock ’n’ roll who drew deeply from gospel and the blues to create a thrilling new sound, died in Tennessee of bone cancer. His hits included "Tutti Frutti" (1956), "Lucille," "Keep a Knockin'," "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly Miss Molly."
(NY Times, 5/10/20)(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.C9)(Econ., 5/23/20, p.78)
2020 May 24, French singer Liliane Lebon (b.1917), known professionally as Lily Lian, died Ivry-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Lian)(Econ., 6/20/20, p.78)
2020 Jun 4, Rupert Hine, a prolific English producer and songwriter, died at his home in Wiltshire, England. He thrived in the synth-pop heyday of the 1980s making hits with Tina Turner, the Fixx and Howard Jones.
{Britain, Pop&Rock}
(NY Times, 6/16/20)
2020 Jun 8, Grammy winner Bonnie Pointer (69) died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. In 1969 she convinced three of her church-singing siblings to form the Pointer Sisters, which would become one of the biggest acts of the next two decades.
(AP, 6/8/20)
2020 Jun 18, Vera Lynn (103), British singer, died. She became a symbol of hope in Britain during World War Two and again during the coronavirus pandemic with her song "We'll Meet Again".
(Reuters, 6/18/20)
2020 Jun 25, In Missouri Rapper Huey (32), best known known for the 2007 hit song "Pop, Lock & Drop It," was fatally shot and another man wounded during a late-night shooting outside St. Louis.
(AP, 6/26/20)
2020 Jul 6, Charlie Daniels (83), country singer, songwriter and blazing fiddler, died in Nashville.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Daniels)
2020 Jul 22, Kim Kardashian said that her rapper husband Kanye West suffers from bipolar disorder and asked for compassion and empathy as he and his family try to manage his illness.
(Reuters, 7/22/20)
2020 Jul 25, It was reported that British rap artist Wiley (41) is facing a police investigation after a string of anti-Semitic comments appeared on his social media accounts, prompting his management to drop him. Wiley, whose real name is Richard Cowie, released a number one single in Britain in 2012 and had several other top 10 hits. He received a UK government honor for his contribution to music in 2018.
(Reuters, 7/25/20)
2020 Jul 25, Peter Green (73), British blues guitarist, died on Canvey Island, England. He helped form Fleetwood Mac, which made its debut at the British Blues and Jazz Festival in 1967.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Green_(musician))
2020 Aug 4, Chicago rapper Carlton Weekly (26) was killed in a triple shooting in the city's upscale community of Gold Coast. Weekly had performed as FBG Duck and rapped about gun violence. His last video, "Dead Bitches," was released in July.
(AP, 8/5/20)(Econ., 9/5/20, p.71)
2020 Aug 11, American singer and actor Trini Lopez (83), known for his cover of "If I Had a Hammer," died in Palm Springs, Ca.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trini_Lopez)
2020 Sep 9, Kool & the Gang co-founder Ronald "Khalis" Bell (68) died at his home in the US Virgin Islands.
(The Week, 9/10/20)
2020 Sep 29, Australian-born singer Helen Reddy (78) died in Los Angeles. Her 1972 hit song “I Am Woman" became a feminist anthem.
(NY Times, 9/30/20)
2020 Oct 6, Guitar player Eddie Van Halen (65) died of cancer. In 2012, Guitar World Magazine ranked him No. 1 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."
(NY Times, 10/7/20)
2020 Oct 16, In California rapper Fontrell Antonio Baines (31), aka known as Nuke Bizzle, was arrested for an alleged unemployment benefits fraud scheme — after he had boasted about that type of fraud in a YouTube music video. Bizzle allegedly applied for $1.2 million in jobless benefits and used stolen identities.
(NBC News, 10/18/20)
2020 Oct 17, Bob Biggs (74) founder of Slash Records (1979), one of the most successful independent record labels of its era, died of Lewy body dementia at his ranch in Tehachapi, Ca.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Kim Sledge of the band Sister Sledge will donate proceeds from a cover of the band's classic song "We Are Family" to the World Health Organization Foundation.
(Reuters, 10/19/20)
2020 Oct 19, Spencer Davis (81), the leader of a rock group under his name that had some of the most propulsive and enduring hits of the 1960s, including “Gimme Some Lovin’," “I’m a Man" and “Keep On Running" — all sung not by him but by a teenage Steve Winwood — died in Los Angeles.
(NY Times, 10/20/20)
2020 Nov 6, In Georgia Rapper King Von (26), aka Dayvon Bennett, and another man were fatally shot after gunfire erupted outside an Atlanta hookah bar early today. Timothy Leeks (22) was soon charged with murder in Bennett's death.
(NBC News, 11/7/20)(SFC, 11/9/20, p.A4)
2020 Nov 11, Dallas rapper Mo3 (28), born as Melvin Noble, was reportedly gunned down in broad daylight in a drive-by shooting and died from his injuries. In December police arrested Kewon Dontrell White (21) in connection with the killing.
(AP, 11/12/20)(AP, 12/10/20)
2020 Nov 22, Taylor Swift was named artist of the year at the American Music Awards and won two other trophies in a ceremony held live in Los Angeles amid tight coronavirus curbs.
(Reuters, 11/22/20)
2020 Nov 24, Beyonce dominated nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards in a field that favored alternative artists over mainstream musicians, topped by a stunning snub for Canadian singer The Weeknd, who called the process "corrupt".
(AP, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 24, South Korean boy band BTS snagged the first ever Grammy nomination for a K-pop band, taking the worldwide sensation a step closer to winning the music award.
(Reuters, 11/24/20)
2020 Dec 12, Charley Pride, described as "the first Black superstar in country music," died due to complications from COVID-19 in Dallas, Texas.
(The Week, 12/13/20)
2020 Dec 17, The organizers of the Grammy awards launched an initiative to elevate Black voices at all levels of the music industry and ensure that Black artists are fairly compensated for their work.
(AP, 12/17/20)
2020 Dec 20, Chad Stuart (79), half of the musical duo Chad and Jeremy, died at his home in Idaho. The British duo's songs included "Yesterday's Gone" (1963) and "A Summer Song" (1964).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_%26_Jeremy)(SFC, 12/26/20, p.B3)
2020 Dec 23, Leslie West (75), guitarist for the 1970s band Mountain, died in Palm Coast, Fl.
(SSFC, 12/27/20, p.C11)
2020 Dec 28, In Mexico Yucatan-born ballad singer and composer Armando Manzanero (85) died in Mexico City.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Manzanero)(AP, 12/28/20)
2020 Dec 29, Phyllis McGuire (89), the last surviving member of the three singing McGuire Sisters, died in Las Vegas. The McGuire Sisters earned six gold records for hits including 1954's "Sincerely" and 1957's "Sugartime."
(AP, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Portuguese singer Carlos do Carmo (81) died. He was one of the country's most beloved artists, known as the "Sinatra" of the soulful, melancholic fado music.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 4, Elias Rahbani (82), a Lebanese composer and lyricist, died after battling COVID-19. He wrote the music for some of the Arab world’s top performers, including Lebanon’s diva Fairouz.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 6, London-listed specialist investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund said singer-songwriter Neil Young has sold it a half share of the rights to his entire catalogue of 1,180 songs.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that Colombian pop superstar Shakira has become the latest artist to sell the rights to her catalogue of 145 songs to London-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund, as the coronavirus crisis crushes concert earnings.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, Mick Fleetwood (73) has become the latest in a series of rock musicians to cash in on their work by agreeing to sell his back catalogue to music major BMG.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 16, Rock producer Phil Spector (81), who changed the sound of pop music in the 1960s with his "Wall of Sound" recordings, died of COVID-19 in Stockton Ca. He was serving a 19 years-to-life sentence of murder for the 2003 murder of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)(SFC, 1/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 29, In South Korea an AI system performed a new song cover by folk rock singer Kim Kwang-seok, who died in 1996. Singing Voice Synthesis (SVS) learned 20 songs of Kim based on training tool with over 700 Korean songs to improve accuracy, so that the system can mimic a new song in Kim's own style. the AI company Supertone recreated the dead singer's voice.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that Bosnia's most popular rock band, Dubioza Kolektiv, has a new recruit who sings and plays musical instruments - a humanoid robot called Robby Megabyte.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 8, Mary Wilson (76), a founding member of the Supremes, died at her home in Henderson, Nev. The trailblazing group from the 1960s, formed in Detroit as the Primettes in 1959, was known for hits like “Where Did Our Love Go?" and “Baby Love." Members included Florence Ballard and Diana Ross and helped develop Motown’s legendary sound.
(NY Times, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 13, French conglomerate Vivendi said it planned to distribute 60% of Universal Music's capital to investors, subject to shareholder approval, and aimed to list its most-prized asset, home to singers such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 18, Prince Markie Dee (52), a member of the trio Fat Boys, died in Miami. The group released some of hip-hop’s most commercially successful albums of the 1980s and helped speed the genre’s absorption into pop culture.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that the Cypriot church has gone into battle against "The Devil", denouncing the country's pick for this year's Eurovision Song Contest as glorifying Satan. Dance number "El Diablo" - Spanish for the Devil - is the island nation's offering to the annual music contest for 2021.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Bunny Wailer (73), the co-founder of the groundbreaking Jamaican reggae group the Wailers, died after frequent hospitalizations for a stroke he suffered last year.
(The Guardian, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 11, The music industry body IFPI said South Korea's K-pop sensation BTS dominated world music sales in 2020 by putting out the year's best-, and second-best selling albums.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, It was reported that a rumbling political crisis in Belarus has spilled over into the Eurovision Song Contest this week, as the country's state broadcaster nominated a band that has released songs mocking protests against President Alexander Lukashenko. The entry, by Galasy ZMesta, has received 5,800 likes and 40,000 dislikes on the competition's official YouTube page since March 9, with more than half a million views.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohDxCXOsdI)(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 27, It was reported that organizers of this year's Eurovision Song Contest have disqualified Belarus, ruling that its entry song - by a band whose lyrics have been deemed in the past to mock anti-government protests - is in breach of competition guidelines.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Apr 9, Grammy-nominated rapper DMX (50), born as Earl Simmons, died of cardiac arrest at his home in White Plains, NY. His first five albums all debuted at No. 1 on Billboard charts. DMX starred in the 1998 film "Belly" and appeared in 2000's "Romeo Must Die" with Jet Li and Aaliyah. He also starred in 2001's "Exit Wounds" with Steven Seagal and 2003's "Cradle 2 the Grave" with Li.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 22, Gregory Edward Jacobs (57), known as Shock G, the frontman for the influential hip-hop group Digital Underground, was found dead at a hotel in Tampa, Fla. Digital Underground had a string of hits in the early 1990s and introduced its audience to a little-known rapper named Tupac Shakur.
(NY Times, 4/23/21)
2021 May 22, Twenty six nations competed in the final of the Eurovision song contest in the Netherlands, vying for votes in the world's most popular live music event, which returns after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Maneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song “Zitti E Buoni" beat 25 other acts from across Europe to bring the title home for Italy. France came in second, and Switzerland came in third.
(NY Times, 5/22/21)(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 29, Grammy-winning singer B.J. Thomas (78) died at his hiome in Arlington, Texas. His songs included "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969) and "Hey Won't You Play" (1975). The Raindrops song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).
(SFC, 5/31/21, p.B5)
2021 May 31, Texas rapper Lil Loaded (20), born as Dashawn Robertson, died by suicide. He won viral success with a 2019 single and was facing a manslaughter charge in a fatal shooting last year. Robertson's 2019 song "6locc 6a6y" was awarded a gold certification last week by the Recording Industry Association of America.
(AP, 6/1/21)
2021 Jul 4, Rick Laird (80), a bassist and founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra (1971), died of lung cancer in NYC.
(SFC, 7/22/21, p.B4)
2021 Jul 14, A Los Angeles judge ruled that Britney Spears can choose her own lawyer in her fight to end a controversial conservatorship controlled by her father.
(BBC, 7/15/21)
2021 Jul 17, Britney Spears (39) said she would not perform again while her father retains control over her career. The pop star's father, Jamie Spears, has sole control of his daughter's $60 million estate under the court-appointed conservatorship that he set up in 2008.
(Reuters, 7/17/21)
2021 Jul 27, Dusty Hill, the bearded bass player who made up one third of ZZ Top, died at his home in Houston. ZZ Top was among the best-selling rock bands of the 1980s.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Hill)(NY Times, 7/28/21)
2021 Aug 7, Dennis “Dee Tee" Thomas (70), a founding member of the long-running soul-funk band Kool & the Gang known for such hits as “Celebration" and “Get Down On It," died in New Jersey.
(AP, 8/8/21)
2021 Aug 12, A South Korean military court sentenced disgraced K-pop star Seungri to three years in prison for crimes including providing prostitutes to foreign businessmen.
(AP, 8/12/21)
2021 Aug 13, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Nanci Griffith (68) died in Nashville. Her song "Love at the Five and Dime," sung by Kathy Mattea, became a country hit in 1986.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanci_Griffith)(SSFC, 8/15/21, p.F9)
2021 Aug 20, American singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall (85) died at his home in Franklin, Tenn. His songs included "Harper Valley P.T.A. (1968).
(SSFC, 8/22/21, p.F8)
2021 Aug 21, Don Everly (84), one-half of the pioneering Everly Brothers, died at his home in Nashville. His brother Phil died in 2014. Ths songs included ""By Bye Love," "Let It Be Me," "All I Hve to Do Is Dream" amd "Wake Up Little Suzie".
(SFC, 8/23/21, p.C4)
2021 Aug 24, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (80) died in a London hospital surrounded by his family.
(Reuters, 8/24/21)
2021 Aug 29, Lee (Scratch) Perry (85), the innovative Jamaican producer who mentored Bob Marley and pushed reggae into the sonic avant-garde with his dub productions, died in Lucea, Jamaica.
(NY Times, 8/30/21)
2021 Sep 6, Sunil Perera (68), who had entertained generations of Sri Lankans on the radio and on the dance floor with his distinctive, Latin-fused tunes, died in Colombo.
(AP, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 9, Soulful British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks (21) won the prestigious Mercury Prize for her debut album “Collapsed in Sunbeams".
(AP, 9/10/21)
2021 Sep 20, Sarah Dash, a member of the vocal Labelle trio, died. The group, which included Patti LaBelle and Nona Hendryx, had a No. 1 hit in 1974 with "Lady Marmalade."
(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2021 Sep 26, George Frayne (77), front man for the band Commander Cody and His Lost Planer Airmen, died in Sarasota Springs, NY. The band released its first album "Lost in the Ozone" in 1971, which included a cover of "Hot Rod Lincoln," Charlie Ryan's 1955 rockabilly song.
(SSFC, 10/3/21, p.F9)
2021 Oct 4, Spanish court officials and lawyers said an administrative court has ordered tax authorities to reimburse Colombian singer Shakira, while a separate criminal lawsuit she faces over a 14.5 million euros ($16.8 million) tax dispute continues.
(Reuters, 10/4/21)
2021 Oct 11, Paddy Maloney (83), frontman and bagpiper for the Chieftain's, died in Dublin. The group's 1992 album "Another Country" won the Grammy for best contemporary folk album. Maloney on his own branched into writing and arranged music for such films as "Barry Lyndon" (1975), and "Gangs of New York" (2002).
(SSFC, 10/17/21, p.F8)
2021 Nov 10, In an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, Prince Charles anointed rock star and charity patron Elton John as a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor.
(AP, 11/10/21)
2021 Nov 11, Graeme Edge (80), drummer and co-founder of the British Moody Blues band, died at his home in Bradenton, Florida.
(SFC, 11/14/21, p.F7)
2021 Nov 17, Dave Frishberg (88), the jazz songwriter whose sardonic wit as a lyricist and melodic cleverness as a composer placed him in the top echelon of his craft, died in Portland, Ore. His songs included "My Attorney Bernie" (1983) and "Peel Me a Grape" (1967), sung by Blossom Dearie.
(NY Times, 11/18/21)
2021 Nov 18, The Latin Grammy Awards named the Cuban protest anthem “Patria y Vida!" (or “Homeland and Life!") song of the year.
(NY Times, 11/18/21)
2021 Dec 4, Stonewall Jackson (89), the honky-tonk singer who overcame an abusive, hardscrabble childhood and went on to enjoy a long, successful career in country music, including more than 60 years as a member of the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, died in Nashville.
(NY Times, 12/5/21)
2021 Dec 12, Legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez (81), an emblematic figure of ranchera music, died. The singer of classic hits like "Mujeres Divinas" and "Por Tu Maldito Amor" performed to packed houses on stages in Europe, the United States and Latin America.
(Reuters, 12/12/21)
2021 Dec 19, Carlos Marín (53), a Spanish baritone, died Manchester, England. He rocketed to international fame after the impresario Simon Cowell chose him to be a member of Il Divo, the multinational quartet whose slick pop music delivered in operatic style sold millions of records and filled arenas.
(NY Times, 12/20/21)
2021 Dec, Sony, which now owns Columbia, announced that it has acquired Bruce Springsteen’s entire body of work, his recordings and his songwriting catalog, for what two people briefed on the deal said was about $550 million.
(NY Times, 12/20/21)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Pop&Rock
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