This is the week that was in matters musical…
1964, The Rolling Stones make their American concert debut at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, MA…
1967, The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band … the album will go on to win a number of Grammys and be hailed by many as one of the most influential rock albums ever, both for its songs and its production…
1969, Blind Faith makes its live debut at a free concert in London’s Hyde Park … an estimated 150,000 people attend the show … the group, consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, will disband the following October after a U.S. tour that Winwood describes as “vulgar, crude, disgusting (and) lacking in integrity”…
1972, Grand Funk Railroad sells out its concert at Shea Stadium within 72 hours of the on-sale … this breaks the previous box-office record there, held by The Beatles…
1980, The Grateful Dead celebrates 15 years together at an anniversary concert in Phoenix, AZ…
1992, after over one million votes on the Elvis postage stamp are received, Priscilla Presley announces from the Graceland lawn that the ’50s-era King prevailed … fans had a choice between the young Elvis and the portly, chops-bearing King in his Vegas years … young Elvis took home 851,200 votes while the Vegas King garnered 277,723…
1997, the body of singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley turns up in a harbor on the Mississippi River confirming that he had indeed drowned … Buckley had disappeared days earlier after wading into the river fully clothed while a friend swam nearby…
1999, the incomparable Mel Torme dies from complications of a stroke he suffered three years earlier that ended his career…
2000, the National Fatherhood Institute names country singer Tim McGraw its Father of the Year during its annual summit … the organization cites McGraw’s commitment to children’s charities and his commitment to his own family … in an ironic twist, McGraw and fellow country star Kenny Chesney are arrested the next day in Buffalo, NY, after Chesney steals a mounted police officer’s steed … McGraw allegedly attacks deputies trying to stop Chesney … the pair will be acquitted on all charges the following May … this continues McGraw’s series of unfortunate events for this week … a year earlier in the same week, he and 400 attendees of his charity concert were forced to evacuate the 7th House in Pontiac, MI, after a female fan pepper-sprayed a man she claimed groped her … McGraw collapsed mid-song from the spray as the exodus began … Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood enters Priory Clinic, a rehab center in London, to deal with his alcohol addiction…
2002, KISS bassist-media mogul Gene Simmons announces the launch of Gene Simmons Tongue magazine … the Maxim-ish publication features plenty of scantily-clad babes as well as interviews with musicians … preliminary sales of the magazine prompt Simmons to proclaim, “We have a huge smash!”…the magazine lasts for only five issues despite his claim…
2003, early reports indicate Led Zeppelin’s three-disc live album How the West Was Won will debut at #1 on the U.S. album chart … rapper 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ends up at #2 … Chester Bennington, lead singer for Linkin Park, is hospitalized with severe back and abdominal pains in Los Angeles … plans for festival dates in Europe are scrapped as a result … Napster-haters Metallica announce a new website, Metallicavault.com … the site will offer free downloads of live recordings, rare demos, and b-sides … to access the material, fans will need a passkey included in copies of the band’s forthcoming album St. Anger, making the downloads not-so-free after all…
2004, Velvet Revolver’s highly-anticipated debut album Contraband makes its online debut courtesy of MTV.com … fans can preview the entire album on the website prior to its June 8 release … the group features former Guns ‘n Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, with former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland handling vocals … the album will go platinum within two months … no comment from Axl … legendary ’80s metal band Judas Priest plays the first show of its reunion tour with singer Rob Halford in Hanover, Germany … Halford left the group in 1993 to form the alt-metal band Fight … he was replaced by Tim Owens, frontman for a Judas Priest cover band…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals
June 1: Sir Edward Elgar (1857), country-and-western singer Johnny Bond (1915), Nelson Riddle (1921), Justin Adams (1923), Pat Boone (1934), “Wild” Jimmy Spruill (1934), Tex-Mex organist Augie Meyers (1941), Marvin Hamlisch (1944), Dan Hamilton (1946), Ron Wood (1947), Marmalade guitarist Junior Campbell (1947), Graham Russell of Air Supply (1950), Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn (1953), Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode (1959), The Cure’s Simon Gallup (1960), Mike Joyce of The Smiths (1963), 7-Year Bitch guitarist Stefanie Sargent (1968), Alanis Morissette (1974)
June 2: Chicago blues pianist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1917), Jimmy Rogers of Muddy Waters’ band (1924), Charles Miller of War (1939), Charlie Watts (1941), William Guest of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1941), Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon (1952), Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet (1959), Thor Eldon Jonsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), B-Real of Cypress Hill (1970)
June 3: Memphis Minnie born Lizzie Douglas (1896), June Abbit aka Joe Abbit, Sr. of The 5 Royales (1932), Curtis Mayfield (1941), Michael Clarke of The Byrds (1946), Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople (1946), John Paul Jones born John Baldwin (1946), Stooges bassist Dave Alexander (1947), Suzi Quatro (1950), Deniece Williams (1951), keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd Billy Powell (1952), C+C Music Factory keyboardist David Cole (1962), Kerry King of Slayer (1964), Phish bassist Mike Gordon (1965), No Mercy’s Ariel (1971), Gabriel Hernandez (1971)
June 4: Freddy Fender (1937), Roger Ball of Average White Band (1944), Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon (1945), Michelle Phillips (1945), Brian McKnight (1969), El DeBarge (1961), Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band (1974)
June 5: Freddie Stone of Sly & The Family Stone (1946), Badfinger’s Tom Evans (1947), Laurie Anderson (1947), Frank Esler-Smith of Air Supply (1948), Ronnie Dyson (1950), Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden (1952), Peter Erskine (1954), Kenny G (1956), Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs (1956), Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark (1971), Aaron “P-Nut” Wills of 311 (1974), Sebastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan (1981)
June 6: session drummer for Chess Records S.P. Leary (1930), Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops (1936), Gary “U.S.” Bonds (1939), Clarence White of The Byrds (1944), Slayer’s Tom Araya (1961), James Schaffer of Korn (1970), Uncle Kracker (1974)
June 7: Tom Jones (1940), Steve Torbert of New Riders of the Purple Sage (1948), Prince born Prince Roger Nelson (1958), Ecstacy of Whodini (1964), Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots (1966)
Departures
June 1: songwriter David Mook (1996), jazz musician Don Grolnick (1996), David Ruffin of The Temptations (1991), John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson (1948)
June 2: western swing pioneer Adolph Hofner (2000), Junior Braithwaite, one of the original members of The Wailers (1999), bassist Andy Simpkins (1999), legendary jazz trumpeter Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham (1997), Andres Segovia (1987), Flamingos singer Nate Nelson (1984), folksinger Stan Rogers (1983), Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys (1983), jazz trumpeter Bunny Berigan (1942)
June 3: Richard Sohl of The Patti Smith Group (1990), The Duprees’ Joe Santollo (1981), rock journalist Ralph Gleason (1975), Mississippi Fred McDowell (1971)
June 4: John Hartford (2001), Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces (1997), Herman’s Hermits guitarist Lek Leckenby (1994), pianist Todd Rhodes (1965)
June 5: guitarist Robert Quine (2004), Mel “The Velvet Fog” Torme (1999), saxophonist-arranger Ernie Wilkins (1999), Conway Twitty (1993), Tejano accordionist Narciso Martinez (1992), ex-Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1990), “Sleepy” John Estes (1977)
June 6: Ramones founder and bassist Dee Dee Ramone (2002), Pariah bassist Sims Ellison (1995), Stan Getz (1991), British Decca A&R man Dick Rowe (1986)
June 7: Tommy Perkins of Bob Wills Texas Playboys (2003), James Eugene “Rosy” McHargue, singer and reed man for the Benny Goodman orchestra (1999), Schwann Recording Catalog editor William Schwann (1998), producer-songwriter Jerry Caprehart (1998)