It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

Two giants of the blues world passed this week Robert Johnson & Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson’s The Complete Recordings is a must for any true music fan, this is where Rock & Roll was born…

1938, the legendary Robert Johnson dies in Greenwood, Mississippi … Johnson’s moonshine had been poisoned days earlier … known for his womanizing, the murderer was presumed to be the angered spouse of one of his paramours … it was rumored that Johnson’s talent came at the expense of his soul, the result of a midnight deal struck with Satan at a Mississippi crossroads…

1962, “Your Heart Belongs to Me” by the Supremes debuts on the Hot 100 chart … it is the first of their eventual 47 hits … also this week in ’62, Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as The Beatles’ drummer … rumor has it Lennon and McCartney are frustrated by Best’s good looks, which attract the most groupies, leading them to hire the less attractive Starr…

1965, The Jefferson Airplane play their first live show at the Matrix Club in San Francisco … the band will ink a deal with RCA before the year’s end, one of the first rock bands on the Bay Area scene to do so…

1967, Fleetwood Mac plays their first gig at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival a month before John McVie joins the band and despite the fact that the band’s name is derived from Mick Fleetwood’s and McVie’s last names…

1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival is held on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York … nearly half a million will gather to celebrate what is billed as “3 Days of Peace and Music” and enjoy performances by a Who’s Who of rock and roll, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ten Years After, and Jefferson Airplane…

1970, Jim Morrison’s trial for allegedly exposing himself during a 1969 concert begins in Miami … Morrison will be found guilty on one count of profanity and one count of indecent exposure but will appeal the convictions…

1972, Paul and Linda McCartney are busted for pot possession following a Wings show in Gothenburg, Sweden … the couple is fined and released…

1977, Elvis leaves the building…the 42-year-old Elvis (at the same age and in the same week during 1958 in which his mother died) is found dead in his bathroom by girlfriend, Ginger Alden…according to the autopsy, death resulted from coronary arrhythmia…within days his passing becomes a media event of major proportions…it also sparks the debate as to whether his death has been staged and that he is really alive and well…even today sightings are reported, though usually now in jest…

1985, introduced to the benefits of owning publishing rights by friend Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson purchases the ATV music catalog that includes 251 Lennon/McCartney songs at auction for $47.5 million … McCartney and Yoko Ono had attempted to purchase the songs only to be outbid by Jackson … McCartney and Jackson’s friendship ends promptly as a result … Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon nearly drowns after his yacht capsizes during a race off the coast of England…

1990, in a tragic freak accident, part of a lighting rig falls on Curtis Mayfield during a performance in Brooklyn, New York … the incident leaves Mayfield paralyzed from the neck down…

1998, Pete Townshend plays to an SRO crowd at Chicago’s House of Blues and raises $300,000 for Marysille Academy, a home for abused and neglected children…

1999, The Backstreet Boys break box office records by selling all 765,000 tickets for their North American tour in just one day, taking in a cool $30 million, most of it within just a single hour…

2001, Dave Matthews and wife Ashley welcome their twin daughters Stella Busina and Grace Anne into the world …

2002, in an interview with Spin magazine, Motorhead leader Lemmy says he is thinking of having his notorious facial warts removed … Lemmy adds, “Yeah, I could sell them on the Internet” … thankfully he later clarifies he’s not serious about the latter statement … Drowning Pool’s Dave Williams is found dead on the band’s tour bus during the Ozzfest tour … rumors abound that Williams’ death is the result of a drug or alcohol overdose … the postmortem will show that Williams died from cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, with toxicology reports showing no illegal drugs in his system … also this week, keeping with his tradition of audience bashing, Motley Crue singer Vince Neil storms off the stage during a solo nightclub gig in Steamboat Springs, Colorado … after opening with a few Crue classics, Neil turns to his solo material and is apparently angered at the lackluster response … a shouting match with the audience ensues, culminating with Neil chucking the mic into the crowd and leaving the stage … the club offers refunds to the 250 attendees…

2003, during a radio show in Springfield, Illinois, Ted Nugent says that the people of Illinois are “spineless, apathetic, embarrassing wimps” for their lack of involvement in their state government … Nugent’s comments come from his displeasure over the state’s gun laws … despite his comments, Nugent will play the Illinois State Fair later in the day…

And that was the week that was.

Arrivals
August 10: the revolutionary Leo Fender (1909), country crooner/sausage mogul Jimmy Dean (1928), bluegrass ace Jimmy Martin (1929), Larry Finnegan (1938), Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (1940), Ronnie Spector (1947), Ian Anderson (1947), Patti Austin (1948), INXS drummer John Farriss (1961), Neneh Cherry (1964), Todd Nichols of Toad The Wet Sprocket (1967), Michael Bivins of New Edition (1968), Ghost By Night bassist Ara Ajizian (1974), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (1977)

August 11: Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1942), David Box (1943), Jim Kale of Guess Who (1943), Eric Carmen of The Raspberries (1949), Joe Jackson (1955), Bragi Olaffson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Charlie Sexton (1968), Kriss Kross born Chris Kelly (1968), Ali of A Tribe Called Quest (1970), J-Boog of B2K (1985)

August 12: Percy Mayfield (1920), Joe Jones (1926), Porter Wagoner (1927), Buck Owens (1929), Jennifer Warren (1941), Mark Knopfler (1949), Kid Creole (1950), Pat Metheny (1954), Suzanne Vega (1959), Culture Club’s Roy Hay (1961)

August 13: jazz pianist George Shearing (1919), bluesman “Baby Boy” Robert Warren (1919), Don Ho (1930), Dave “Baby” Cortez (1938), Son Seals (1942), Dan Fogelberg (1951), Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1953), Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones (1958)

August 14: swing and jazz violinist Stuff Smith (1909), Jackie Brenston (1927), “Young Love” cowriter Carol Joyner Gourley (1938), Dash Crofts of Seals and Crofts (1940), David Crosby (1941), Tim Bogart of Vanilla Fudge (1944), Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone (1946), Slim Dunlap of The Replacements (1951), Sharon Bryant of Atlantic Starr (1956), Kevin Cadogan of Third Eye Blind (1970)

August 15: Buster Brown born Waymon Glasco (1911), Rose Maddox (1925), Oscar Peterson (1925), Bill Pinkney of The Drifters (1925), “Jingle Bell Rock” singer Bobby Helms (1933), R&B singer Bobby Byrd (1934), Peter York of the Spencer Davis Group (1942), Jimmy Webb (1946), Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers (1948), Tommy Aldridge of Black Oak Arkansas (1950), MCA of The Beastie Boys (1967)

August 16: baritone jazz crooner Al Hibbler (1915), Bill Evans (1929), Karl Denver (1931), Eydie Gorme (1931), The Dubs singer Richard Blandon (1934), singer Bobby Mitchell (1935), Barbara George (1942), touring musician Kin Vassy (1943), Barry Hay of Golden Earring (1948), J.T. Taylor of Kool & The Gang (1953), Tim Farriss of INXS (1957), Madonna (born Louise Ciccone) (1958), Chris Pederson of Camper Van Beethoven (1960), Emily Erwin of Dixie Chicks (1972), Vanessa Carlton (1980)

Departures

August 10: Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser (2002), The Five Satins lead singer Bill Baker (1994), Edward Roberts of Ruby & The Romantics (1993), jazz singer Ernestine Allen (1992), bandleader Freddie Slack 1965), blues diva Lucille Bogan of “Shave ’em Dry” infamy (1948)

August 11: conductor Rafael Kubelick (1996), Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1996), bandleader and pianist Sonny Thompson (1989), Percy Mayfield (1984)

August 12: blues guitarist Luther Allison (1997), John Cage (1992), “Sukiyaki” singer Kyu Sakamoto (1985)

August 13: composer David Tudor (1996), blues drummer Fred Below (1988), soul singer Joe Tex (1982), soul sax master King Curtis (1971), R&B star Joe Hinton (1968)

August 14: Drowning Pool singer Dave Williams (2002), The Platters lead vocalist Tony Williams (1992), Roy Buchanan (1988), Hawkwind vocalist Robert Calvert (1988)

August 15: bassist William Herbert “Lum” York (2004), singer-songwriter Joe Seneca (1996), Ruby and the Romantics singer Ed Roberts (1993), Jamaican singer-songwriter Jackie Edwards (1992), rockabilly producer Norman Petty (1984), Thomas Wayne born Thomas Wayne Perkins (1971), Stick McGhee born Granville McGhee (1961), Big Bill Broonzy (1958)

August 16: Sufi songster Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1997), Bobby DeBarge (1995), songwriter Mark Heard (1992), guitarist Stacy Sutherland (1978), Elvis Presley (1977), Mamie Smith (1946), Robert Johnson (1938)