It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

1948, Sonny Til & the Orioles’ “It’s Too Soon To Know” moves onto the charts … the song will reach #11 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart … it is the first time that a black group singing a song in the “race style” penetrated such a high place on the pop chart…

1956, Elvis begins recording his second album in Los Angeles … it is to include covers of Little Richard hits “Rip It Up,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Ready Teddy” … Elvis even plays piano on some of the tracks…

1962, The Beatles hit Abbey Road recording studio for the first time, recording “Love Me Do” in about 16 takes with drummer Andy White … a demo of the song had been recorded with Pete Best on drums, but George Martin suggested, since Ringo had just joined the band, that they use him and session man Andy White … a version was recorded with White on drums and another with Ringo … the White version was released in England and the Ringo version was later released in Canada and the U.S … six years later to the week, Eric Clapton lays down one of the most famous solos ever at Abbey Road on The Beatles’ tune “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”…

1963, “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes hits the charts … the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and one can maybe hear a touch of it in Brian’s own “Good Vibrations”…

1968, “Piece of My Heart” by Big Brother & The Holding Company with Janis Joplin singing lead hits the charts … it is Joplin’s and the band’s first hit … meanwhile in Chicago, because of fears of street violence during the National Democratic Convention, The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” is banned from air play in Chicago…

1976, Fleetwood Mac’s album Fleetwood Mac reaches number one this week … it has been on the charts for 13 months, relentlessly working its way toward the top…

1990, Tom Fogerty, an original member of Creedence Clearwater Revival and brother of John, dies of tuberculosis this day at age 48 … he had parted from the band at the height of its success in 1971, a casualty of sibling rivalry … and although he recorded a number of albums on his own, never scored a hit after his Creedence days…

1991, country music star Dottie West dies from internal injuries suffered in a car accident in the parking lot of The Grand Ole Opry … the crash occured a few days earlier when an elderly neighbor who was giving West a ride to work lost control of the car … also this week, Vincent Lance dies … he is a leather-clad rocker from England who established a career in France … often in trouble with the law and prone to messianic delusions, he served as the model for David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust…

1997, Pat Smear announces he will no longer be a Foo Fighter and that Franz Stahl will take his place…

2000, The Doobie Brothers offer 15 new tracks for free download to promote their latest album Sibling Rivalry…

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals
August 31: tunesmith Alan Jay Lerner (1918), “Spider” John Koerner (1938), Jerry Allison of The Crickets (1939), Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (1940), Van Morrison (1945), Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions (1948), Gina Schock of The Go-Go’s (1957), Squeeze singer/songwriter Glenn Tilbrook (1957), Tony DeFranco (1959), Chris Whitley (1960), Debbie Gibson (1970)

September 1: Brook Benton (1931), Conway Twitty (1933), Tommy Evans of The Drifters (1934), Archie Bell of The Drells (1944), Barry Gibb (1946), Greg Errico of Sly & The Family Stone (1946), The Jam’s Bruce Foxton (1955), Gloria Estefan (1957), DJ Sprigg Nice of Lost Boyz (1970)

September 2: Bobby Purify (1939), Sam Gooden of The Impressions (1939), Rosalind Ashworth of Martha and The Vandellas (1943), Joe Simon (1943), Mik Kaminski of E.L.O. (1951), Simply Red’s Fritz McIntyre (1956), Steve Porcaro of Toto (1957) Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs (1958), Jonathan Segal of Camper Van Beethoven (1963), K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci (1969)

September 3: bluesman Memphis Slim born Peter Chatman (1915), Hank Thompson (1925), Freddie King (1934), Al Jardine of The Beach Boys (1943), Walter Scott of The Whispers (1943), Greg Leads of The Walker Brothers (1944), George Biondi of Steppenwolf (1945), Thin Lizzy’s Eric Bell (1947), Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols (1955), Jennifer Paige (1973)

September 4: “Lighting Bug” Rhodes, guitarist for Otis Redding and B.B. King (1939), lead-singer George Lanuis of The Crescendos (1939), Merald Knight of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1942), fret wizard Danny Gatton (1945), Greg Elmore of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1946), Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Gary Duncan (1946), Ronald LaPread of The Commodores (1950), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Wayne Perkins (1951), Martin Chambers of the Pretenders (1952), Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (1960), Dan Miller of O-Town (1980), Beyoncé Knowles (1981)

September 5: Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim (1907), doo-wopper Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1911), guitarist Wille Woods of Junior Walker & The Allstars (1936), singer-songwriter and Kingston Trio member John Stewart (1939), Al “Year of the Cat” Stewart (1945), Freddie Mercury of Queen (1946), Buddy Miles (1946), singer-songwriter Loudon Wainright III (1947), David “Clem” Clempson of Humble Pie/Colosseum (1949), Terry Ellis of En Vogue (1966), Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine (1968), Dweezil Zappa (1969)

September 6: bluesman Jimmy Reed (1925), blues drummer Fred Below (1926), Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters (1943), Dave Bargeron of Blood Sweat & Tears (1942), androgynous disco star Silvester aka Silvester James (1947), Dennis “Fast Fingers” Kambury (1953), Perry Bamonte of The Cure (1960), Pal Waaktar of A-Ha (1961), CeCe Pensiton (1969), Dolores O’Riordon of The Cranberries (1971), Nina Persson of The Cardigans (1974), Foxy Brown (1979)

Departures

August 31: Hollies’ singer Carl Wayne (2004), Cajun artist Joe Berry (2004), jazz vibes man and band leader Lionel Hampton (2002), Vincent Lance (1991), bluesman Son Bonds (1947)

September 1: Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (2001), composer Vagn Holmboe (1996)

September 2: New York Metropolitan Opera impressario Sir Rudolf Bing (1997), composer Otto Luening (1996), violinist Cyril Reuben (1996)

September 3: soul singer Major Lance (1994), Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (1970)

September 4: jazz saxophonist Charlie Barnet (1991) country singer Dottie West (1991)

September 5: swamp-boogie queen Katie Webster (1999), R&B pianist Sonny Knight (1998), conductor Georg Solti (1997), Joe Negronie of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1978), blues guitarist Joe Hill Louis (1957)

September 6: co-founder of Atari Teenage Riot, Carl Crack (2001), standup country bassist Roy Husky Jr. (1997), Tom Fogerty of CCR (1990), Josh White (1964)