It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

1949, RCA introduces the first 45-rpm record…

1952, Sun Records, future home of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins releases its first record: an instrumental recording by saxman Johnny London…it flops…

1955, the US record industry reports that 45s have outsold 78s for the first time…

1968, Johnny Cash and June Carter marry at the First United Methodist Church in Franklin, Kentucky … a motorcade of Cadillacs carry Johnny, June, and the families to the small, private ceremony … Johnny’s best man is Merle Kilgore, who shares co-writing credits with June on “Ring of Fire,” the tune generally credited as a musical documentation of Johnny and June’s love affair … this same week, Frankie Lymon dies of a heroin overdose at the age of 26 … Lymon is often regarded as the first black teenage star … his 1956 hit “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” marked the apex of a career that promptly headed downhill…

1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays their last gig together at Royal Albert Hall…

1977, Bob Dylan’s wife, Sara files for divorce in Santa Monica California … the couple has been married for eleven years and has five children … in the settlement she is given possession of their home and custody of the kids … Sara is said to be the inspiration behind classic tunes such as “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” “Lay Lady Lay,” and “Sara” … meanwhile up in Canada, Keith Richards is arrested in Toronto after his hotel room is raided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who discover both heroin and cocaine … he is charged with possession of heroin with intent to sell plus possession of cocaine and is released on $25,000 bail … Stones fans everywhere wonder if the cops were on horseback when they broke into Keef’s room…

1983, Michael Jackson’s Thriller reaches #1 and stays there 37 weeks, selling over 40 million copies … it is the number-one album in all Western nations…

1989, Hard Rock/Metal is a Grammy category for the first time … in a class that includes heavyweight nominees Metallica, Jane’s Addiction, and Iggy Pop, the winner is (drum roll, please): Jethro Tull … a chorus of boos rains down from the public balconies and even some of the artists on the main floor join in … critics nearly unanimously lambast the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voters who selected Tull, whose mix of classic English prog rock and jazz flute is the farthest thing from hard rock or metal…

1992, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love wed in Waikiki, Hawaii…

1995, Lyle Lovett breaks his collarbone while motorcycling in Mexico … as a result, he is unable to attend the Grammys to accept the two awards he wins … one for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for his duet on “Funny How Time Slips Away” with Al Green … the other for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for his version of “Blues For Dixie” with the band Asleep At The Wheel…

1998, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue is arrested and charged with domestic abuse for hitting his wife Pamela Anderson Lee…

1999, The Bluebells–Patricia Holt, Sarah Dash, Nona Hendryx, and Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebells–sing together for the first time in 31 years at The Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards in L.A. at which the group is honored….

2000, Dennis Danell of Social Distortion dies of an apparent brain aneurysm … Danell collapses in the driveway of his Newport Beach, CA home and is transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital … he is pronounced dead at 10:29 AM … he was 38 years old … this same week, Carlos Santana scores big at the Grammys, winning 8 awards out of 10 for which he had been nominated, and tying Michael Jackson’s who had set the record of 8 wins in 1984 for Thriller…

2005, the historic Muscle Shoals Sound Studios closes, a victim of low-cost digital recording…

And that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

February 23: George Frederic Handel (1685), Johnny Winter (1944), Poco’s Rusty Young (1946), Brad Whitford of Aerosmith (1952), Howard Jones (1955), Japan’s David Sylvian (1958), Michael Wilton of Queensryche (1962), keyboardist Robert Collins (1963), Nicki Tedesco (1971), Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel (1971), Lasse Johansson of The Cardigans (1973)

February 24: Enrico Caruso (1873), singer-songwriter Wandra Merrell (1923), George Harrison (1943 – until he was in his 40s he believed it was Feb. 25th), Paul Jones of Manfred Mann (1942), keyboard session man Nicky Hopkins (1944), drummer Butch McDade (1946), Lonnie Turner of the Steve Miller Band (1947), Michelle Shocked (1962)

February 25: Sam Goody (1904), Faron Young (1932), Frank “Poncho” Sampedro of Crazy Horse (1949), Stewart “Woody” Wood of The Bay City Rollers (1957), Dennis Diken of The Smithereens (1957), The Alarm’s Mike Peters (1959)

February 26: Fats Domino (1928), Norman P. Rich of Billy Stewart’s band (1930), Johnny Cash (1932), Paul Cotton of Poco (1943), Bob “The Bear” Hite of Canned Heat (1943), Mitch Ryder (1945), Jonathan Cain of Journey (1950), Michael Bolton (1953), Bronski Beat’s John Jon (1961), Erykah Badu (1971)

February 27: Eddie Gray of Tommy James & The Shondells (1948), Neil Schon of Journey (1954), Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (1957), Chili of TLC (1971), Jeremy Dean of Nine Days (1972), Josh Groban (1981)

February 28: guitarist John Fahey (1939), Joe South (1940), Brian Jones (1952), Ronald Rosman of Tommy James & The Shondells (1945), Cindy Wilson of The B-52’s (1957), Ian Stanley of Tears For Fears (1957), Phillip Gould of Level 42 (1957), Pat Monahan of Train (1969)

March 1: Glenn Miller (1904), Harry Belafonte (1927), Roger Daltrey (1942), Jerry Fisher of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Mike D’Abo of Manfred Mann (1944), Nik Kershaw (1958)

Departures:

February 23: guitarist/keyboardist Bob May (2004), Howie Epstein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2003), jazz critic Stanley Dance (1999), Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1995)

February 24: Stax Records co-founder Estelle Axton (2004), blues pianist Memphis Slim aka John Len “Peter” Chatman (1988), vocalist Ty Hunter (1981)

February 25: blues saxophonist A. C. Reed (2004), DJ William “Hoss” Allen (1997), guitarist and songwriter for the Marshall Tucker Band Toy Caldwell (1993), Johnnie Ray (1990)

February 26: lyricist Ben Raleigh (1997), Frank O’Keefe of The Outlaws (1995), Cornell Gunter of The Coasters (1990), bluesman Bukka White (1977), Sherman Garnes of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1977), blues pianist Big Maceo (1953)

February 27: Marlena Easley of The Orlons (1993)

February 28: saxophonist Walter Kimble, (1988), David Byron of Uriah Heep (1985), Duprees lead vocalist Joey Vann (1984), Bobby Bloom (1974), Frankie Lymon (1968), Fats Domino’s guitarist “Papoose” Nelson (1962)

February 29: Wes Farrell who penned “Hang On Sloopy” (1996)

March 1: Dennis Danell of Social Distortion (2000), Air Supply’s Frank Esler-Smith (1991)