This is the week that was in matters musical…
Eddie Cochran, one of the first players to customise his guitar & Joey Ramone a real punk left us this week in history.
1940, the number one hit this day is “In The Mood” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra…
1960, Eddie Cochran breathes his last after a brutal Bath, England, car crash in which the chauffeur-driven Ford Consul Cochran is riding in blows a tire and slams into a lamppost … Cochran is thrown out of the car and smashes his head on the pavement … fellow-rocker Gene Vincent and Cochran’s girlfriend, Sharon Sheeley, are badly injured…
1960, Elvis Presley boards a train this week to travel from Memphis to Los Angeles to begin filming a movie … he is taking the train because he has developed a fear of flying…
1965, it is announced that the upcoming Beatles movie with the working title Eight Arms to Hold You will be titled Help! instead…
1966, The Lovin’ Spoonful performs at the Marquee in London … John Lennon and George Harrison attend the show…
1971, Carly Simon charts for the first time with “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” … it is the first of 23 hits she will have…
1972, Electric Light Orchestra plays live for the first time at the Greyhound Club in Surrey, England … they will go on to have seven top 10 hits…
1980, Bob Marley and The Wailers play in Salisbury, Zimbabwe, for the Independence Day festivities…
1981, “This Little Girl” by Gary U.S. Bonds is released … the song was written and coproduced by Bruce Springsteen who had long been a Bonds fan … it will reach number 11 and become Bond’s first chart hit in 19 years…
1982, in keeping with his celebrated inclination toward vehicular mishaps, Billy Joel crashes into a car with his motorcycle … he is hospitalized and has surgery on a broken wrist…
1989, Roy Orbison reaches the top 10 this week with “You Got It” … unfortunately, having died four months earlier he is unable to enjoy his first top 10 appearance in over 24 years…
1998, Paul loses Linda to cancer…
1998, a tornado roars through downtown Nashville, forcing a video shoot for country singer David Kersh to a halt as everyone runs for cover…
1999, Yoko Ono and Capitol Records sue Frederic Seaman, a former John Lennon assistant, claiming that he had stolen personal and sentimental items of Lennon’s with plans to exploit the rocker’s death … also this week, after a year in the grave, the body of Tammy Wynette is dug up and autopsied at the request of her daughters, who are pursuing a case against her physician claiming that his irresponsible prescription of drugs contributed to her death … in New York, Sean “Puffy” Combs turns himself in and is charged in connection with an assault on record executive Steven Scoute…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals
April 13: violinist Olga Rudge (1895), Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane (1944), Lowell George (1945), Al Green (1946), Roy Loney of the Flamin’ Groovies (1946), Jim Pons of the Turtles and The Mothers of Invention (1946), Peabo Bryson (1951), Max Weinberg of the E Street Band (1951), Jimmy Destri of Blondie (1954), Louis Johnson of The Brothers Johnson (1955), Wayne Lewis of Atlantic Starr (1957), Tony James of Generation X (1958), Hillel Slovak of Red Hot Chili Peppers (1962), Marc Ford of the Black Crowes (1966), Aaron Lewis of Staind (1972), Lou Bega (1975)
April 14: Willie Harris (1925), Buddy Knox of Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids (1933), Loretta Lynn (1935), Ritchie Blackmore (1945), Matima Kinuani Mpiosso (1951), Joey Pesce of ‘Til Tuesday (1962), Carl Hunter of The Farm (1965)
April 15: Bessie Smith (1894), Roy Clark (1932), Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant (1934), rockabilly Bob Luman (1937), Clarence G. Satchell of The Ohio Players (1940), Allan Clarke of The Hollies (1942), Dave Edmunds (1944), Samantha Fox (1966), Ed O’Brien of Radiohead (1968), Bobby Del Din of The Earls (1992)
April 16: Henry Mancini (1924), Rudy Pompilli of Bill Haley’s Comets (1924), Roy Hamilton (1929), Herbie Mann (1930), Johnny Littlejohn (1931), Bobby Vinton (1935), Dusty Springfield born Mary O’Brien (1939), Stefan Grossman (1945), Gerry Rafferty (1947), Jimmy Osmond (1963), Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum (1964), Selena (1971)
April 17: rock promoter Don Kirshner (1934), Billy Fury (1941), Jan Hammer (1948), Michael Sembello (1954), The Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley (1955), Stephen Singleton of ABC (1959), James Keenan of Tool (1964), Liz Phair (1967)
April 18: Leopold Stokowski (1882), opera singer Sylvia Fisher (1910), bluesman Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (1924), novelty songwriter Dickie Goodman (1934), Mike Vickers of Manfred Mann (1941), Skip Spence (1946), Les Pattinson of Echo & The Bunnymen (1958), Jim Ellison (1964), Everclear’s Greg Eklund (1970), Mark Tremonti (1974)
April 19: music school founder Augustus Juilliard (1836), songwriter David Mook (1936), Alexis Korner of Blues Incorporated (1928), Alan Price of the Animals (1942), Mark Volman of The Turtles (1944)
Departures
April 13: Ritchie Cordell (2004), Todd Storz creator of the first Top-40 format radio station (1964)
April 14: Burl Ives (1995), Thurston Harris (1990), Pete Fardon of the Pretenders (1983)
April 15: Joey Ramone of the Ramones (2001), country music legend Rose Maddox (1998), George Goldner (1974)
April 16: Skip Spence (1999), Brook Benton (1988)
April 17: Linda McCartney (1998), lyricist Jack Yellen, famous for “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1991), Felix Pappalardi (1983), Vinnie Taylor of Sha Na Na (1974), Eddie Cochran (1960)
April 18: Bernard Edwards of Chic (1996), songwriter Bernie Wayne (1993)
April 19: Larry Davis (1994), saxophonist Steve Douglas (1993), sax man Clifford Scott (1993), Willie Mabon (1985), Savannah Churchill (1974), Vinnie Taylor (1974)