This is the week that was in matters musical…
1944, Dinah Shore’s “I’ll Walk Alone” moves to top spot on the American singles chart … it is the first-ever number-one U.S. hit for a female artist…
1957, Jerry Lee Lewis records “Great Balls of Fire”…
1958, doo-wop group The Vocal Chords releases its single “Please Accept My Love” … singing lead for the group is young B.B. King…
1960, Tommy Roe & The Satins release “Sheila” on Judd Records … the single will prove a flop … a revised version will be released two years later by Tommy Roe alone on ABC-Paramount and will streak to the top of the chart, the first of over 20 hits for the artist…
1961, the Beatle haircut is born when Paul and John are celebrating Paul’s 21st birthday in Paris … they meet up with Jurgen Vollmer, a friend from Hamburg who wears his hair brushed forward in a cut popular with French teens … Paul and John like the style and have Jurgen give them haircuts in their hotel room … the rest is history…
1962, The Beatles release their first single in the U.K., “Love Me Do,” backed by “P.S. I Love You” … according to rumor, in an act of faith manager Brian Epstein orders 10,000 copies for the record store chain he owns …all 10,000 are purchased assuring that the song will reach the British Top 20 … this same week, Little Richard and Sam Cooke begin a European tour in Doncaster, England … playing keyboards on the tour is a 16-year-old Billy Preston and the M.C. is Gene Vincent of “Be-Bop-A-Lula” fame, who wasn’t allowed to perform because his work permit had expired … for later concerts it is oddly decided by authorities that Vincent will be allowed to sing, but only in front of the stage, not on it…
1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience is formed in London…
1968, after just three million-seller albums, supergroup Cream begins its farewell tour…
1976, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured during an Aerosmith concert in Philadephia when a fan throws a cherry bomb onto the stage…
1980, Bob Marley collapses in New York while preparing for a tour … he is diagnosed with cancer and will die seven months later…
1986, Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You” reaches number one this week … it makes her and her brother Michael the first siblings to each have a number-one hit in the rock era…
1996, former Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlain pleads guilty to disorderly conduct … the charges are related to fellow bandmember Johnathon Melvoin’s death from a heroin O.D….
2001, U2 launches the third leg of its Elevation tour with a South Bend, Indiana, concert inviting the world to see and hear it for free … the performance is webcast and accessible to U.S. fans on U2.com…
2004, five Vote for Change concerts are mounted on the same night in Florida, considered a state up for grabs in the 2004 presidential election … Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and John Fogerty perform in Orlando, where Chapman sings a stirring rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” … the lineup in Gainesville is Dave Matthews, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Jurassic 5 … in Kissimmee, Pearl Jam and Death Cab for Cutie do their bit to try and unseat the incumbent … Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, and Sheryl Crow perform in Jacksonville where the three sing a show-closing rendition of the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” … meanwhile in Clearwater, the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor hit the stage … Taylor describes himself as a “big old yellow-dog Democrat” and reveals that his songs “Line ‘Em Up” and “Slap Leather” were composed to celebrate the end of the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan respectively … the following night, John Mellencamp and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds perform in Chicago in support of the John Kerry candidacy…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals
October 5: Jessie Mae Hemphill (1936), Abi Ofarim (1939), Richard Street of The Temptations (1942), Steve Miller (1943), keyboardist Richard Kermode (1946), Brian Johnson of AC/DC (1947), Bob Geldof (1954), Paul Thomas of Good Charlotte (1980)
October 6: violinist Cyril Reuben (1926), Walter Kimble (1938), Millie Small of “My Boy Lollipop” fame (1948), Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (1951), David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (1954), Matthew Sweet (1964), Tommy Stinson of The Replacements (1966)
October 7: “Uncle” Dave Macon (1870), Martin Murray of The Honeycombs (1941), Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943), Kevin Godley of 10cc (1945), David Hope of Kansas (1949), John Cougar Mellencamp (1951), Tico Torres of Bon Jovi (1953), Toni Braxton (1968), Radiohead’s Thom Yorke (1968), Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy (1969)
October 8: composer Toru Takemitsu (1930), Doc Green of The Drifters (1934), Ray Royer of Procol Harum (1945), Toni Wilson of Hot Chocolate (1947), Johnny Ramone (1948), Hamish Stewart of Average White Band (1949), Robert “Kool” Bell of Kool & The Gang (1950), Cliff Adams of Kool & The Gang (1952), Lonnie Pitchford (1955), Steve Perry of Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (1963), C.J. Ramone aka Christopher James Ward (1965)
October 9: John Lennon (1940), John Entwistle (1944), Peter Tosh (1944), Jackson Browne (1948), P.J. Harvey (1969), Sean Ono Lennon (1975), Babe of Styx (1978)
October 10: composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), Ivory Joe Hunter (1914), Thelonious Monk (1917), country chirper Dottie West (1932), Keith Reid of Procol Harum (1946), John Prine (1946), guitarist Edward Freche (1947), Midge Ure (1953), David Lee Roth (1955), Tanya Tucker (1958), Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys (1959), Kirsty MacColl (1959), Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1961), Mike Malinin of the Goo Goo Dolls (1967), Michael Bivens of Bell Biv Devoe (1968), Nine Days’ Vinnie Tattanelli (1972), Mya (1979)
October 11: Art Blakey (1919), Little Willie Littlefield (1931), jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie (1941), Gary Mallaber of The Steve Miller Band (1946), Daryl Hall (1949), Andrew Woolfolk of Earth, Wind & Fire (1950), Scott Johnson of The Gin Blossoms (1962), MC Lyte (1971)
Departures
October 5: The Temptations’ Eddie Kendricks (1992)
October 6: Portugese fado singer Amalia Rodriguez (1999), “Groovey” Joe Poovey (1998), Nelson Riddle (1985), Australian rocker Johnny O’Keefe (1978), Smiley Lewis (1966)
October 7: blues singer Overton Amos Lemons aka Smiley Lewis (1966), early British rocker Johnny Kidd (1966), Mario Lanza (1959)
October 8: guitarist Oscar Moore (1991), Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps (1988), Harold Dorman of “Mountain of Love” fame (1988), Jimmy Cross (1978)
October 9: Milt Jackson (1999), Joseph August (1992), Jacques Brel (1978), gospel singer and guitar phenom Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1973)
October 10: Darren Robinson of The Fat Boys (1995). Earl Bostic (1965)
October 11: Edith Piaf (1963)