It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

1962, Hank Ballard and The Midnighters who wrote and first recorded “The Twist” are scheduled to perform the song for American Bandstand but have to cancel the date … Chubby Checker is hired as a replacement to perform his version of “The Twist,” which will climb higher on the pop chart than Ballard’s original, twice … it will hit number one, and then do it again a year later…

1963, 13-year-old Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Pt.2” becomes his first of 61 records to chart…

1969, Mick Taylor makes his stage debut with The Rolling Stones at a concert in Rome … he replaces Brian Jones and will stay with the band until 1975 when he retires and is replaced by Ron Wood…

1970, the cops in Niagara Falls discover Chubby Checker packing pot and some other illegal substances…

1977, Elvis makes his last public appearance at The Market Square in Indianapolis … “Can’t Help Falling In Love” is the last song he sings …

1993, two of the world’s most beautiful people, Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts, become husband and wife … the union will last for two years…

1998, Paul McCartney personally selects and arranges the flowers–45,000 of them–at Manhattan Riverside Church where friends and family gather to say farewell to his wife Linda…

1998, Johnny Cash returns to the stage for the first time since being diagnosed with Shy-Drager Syndrome months earlier … he walks onstage surprising Kris Kristofferson who is singing “Sunday Morning Coming Down” at a Cash and Waylon Jennings tribute concert at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville … the song was the one a young and unknown Kristofferson had hand-delivered to Cash after landing a helicopter on his lawn in a creative attempt to get his music into the hands of someone who could help him gain recognition as a songwriter…

1999, Eric Clapton auctions off 100 of his guitars to raise funds for his Crossroads Center, a drug and alchohol addiction treatment center in Antigua … among the guitars sold is his famous “Brownie” which fetches a cool $497,500, topping the $320,000 paid for Jimi Hendrix’s guitar…

2000, Michael Jackson is slapped with a lawsuit by German promotor Marcel Avram … the suit alleges that Jackson refused to perform two scheduled events … it is a small problem for Jackson compared with future trials he will face…

And that was the week that was.

Arrivals

June 22: Ella Johnson (1923), Joe Medwick (1933), Kris Kristofferson (1936), Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon (1944), Howard Kaylan of the Turtles (1945), Todd Rundgren (1948), Alan Osmond of The Osmonds (1949), Cyndi Lauper (1953), Derek Forbes of Simple Minds (1956), Gary Beers of INXS (1957) Alan Anton of Cowboy Junkies (1959), Jimmy Summerville of Bronski Beat (1962), Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones (1964), Tom Cunningham of Wet Wet Wet (1965), Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies (1970)

June 23: saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax (1846), Helen Humes (1913), June Carter (1929), Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (1938), Adam Faith (1940), Stuart Sutcliffe of The Beatles (1940), Paul Goddard of Atlanta Rhythm Section (1945), Richard Coles of The Communards (1962), Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth (1962)

June 24: jazz and R&B sax player Jimmy Forest (1920), Mick Fleetwood (1942), Jeff Beck (1944), Arthur Brown (1944), Chris Wood of Traffic (1944), Colin Blunstone of The Zombies (1945), Dire Straits bassist John Illsley (1949), Terry Wilson AKA Astro of UB40 (1957), Curt Smith of Tears for Fears (1961), Glenn Madeiros (1970), Mario Calires of The Wallflowers (1973)

June 25: Zydeco King Clifton Chenier (1925), Eddie Floyd (1935), Bobby Nunn of The Coasters (1936), Harold Melvin (1939), Carly Simon (1945), Harry Womack (1945), Ian McDonald of Foreigner (1946), Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult (1946), Clint Warwick of The Moody Blues (1949), Tim Finn of Split Enz (1952), Brian Macleod (1952), David Paich of Toto (1954), George Michael (1963)

June 26: Big Bill Broonzy (1893), Colonel Tom Parker (1909), The 5th Dimension’s Billy Davis Jr. (1940), Canned Heat’s Larry Taylor (1942), Georgie Fame (1943), Quarterflash’s Rindy Ross (1951), The Clash’s Mick Jones (1955), Chris Isaak (1956), Patty Smyth (1957), Terri Nunn of Berlin (1959), George Michael (1963), Colin Greenwood of Radiohead (1968), Gretchen Wilson (1973)

June 27: songwriter Doc Pomus born Jerome Felder (1925), Beach Boy Bruce Johnston (1944), Lorrie Morgan (1959), Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (1961)

June 28: Lester Flatt (1914), Procol Harum’s Bobby Harrison (1943) and Dave Knights (1945), Patrick Lachman (1970)

Departures

June 22: Kripp Johnson of The Del Vikings (1990), session guitarist Jesse “Ed” Davis (1988), Dennis Day (1988), Fred Astaire (1987), The Cleftone’s Warren Corbin (1978), Peter Laughner of Pere Ubu (1977), composer Darius Milhaud (1974)

June 23: Hi Records owner John Movarese (1996), producer Tony Romeo (1995), Elton Britt (1972)

June 24: Latin star Carlos Gardel (1935), Sissieretta Jones AKA “Black Patti” (1933)

June 25: Bob Sanderson of The Royaltones (1994), Jimmy Soul (1988), songwriter Boudleaux Bryant (1987), blues guitarist Pee Wee Crayton (1985), Johnny Mercer (1976)

June 26: songwriter Brandon Chase (1996), Mick Wayne of Pink Fairies (1994), C&W singer Johnny Bond (1978), jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown (1956)

June 27: The Who bassist John Entwistle (2002), Stefanie Ann Sargent of 7 Year Bitch (1992), Hillel Slovak of The Red Hot Chile Peppers (1988), Steve Took of T-Rex (1980), opera diva Carlotta Patti (1889)

June 28: punk rocker G.G. Allin (1993), punker Rob Graves (1990), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1982)