This is the week that was in matters musical …
1949, RCA introduces the first 45rpm record …
1951, Dan Randall of Fender comes up with a new name for their solidbody guitar: “Telecaster” … the original name “Broadcaster” is dropped after Gretsch complains they have a line of drums using that name … the name “Telecaster” is chosen because TV is becoming popular …
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 U.S. 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 Eagles’ Greatest Hits album became the first album in the U.S. to be certified platinum by the RIAA …
1972, Elvis and Priscilla Presley separate … Priscilla gets a one-time settlement of $5 million plus a monthly check of $25,000 for child support of daughter Lisa Marie … ironically the King’s Top 20 hit in ’72 (and his last while he was alive) is “Burning Love” (#2 in U.S., #5 in UK), something he and Priscilla were obviously missing …
1977, Bob Dylan’s wife, Sara, files for divorce in Santa Monica, California … the couple has been married for 11 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, Virgin Records files suit against the Smashing Pumpkins for alleged breach of contract and non-delivery of albums … the suit claims the band notified Virgin that instead of delivering seven albums, per its contract, the band was delivering just three and walking … the band cited a California labor law which limits personal service contracts to seven years as its justification, a law originally used by movie stars to break free from the once-dominant studio system … the band eventually wins and gets more money with its royalty rate bumped up to 20 percent … some feel the band’s subsequent albums decrease in quality an equal percentage …
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, it is announced that pop princess Britney Spears will be releasing her own brand of bubble gum creatively named “Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum” … the product is a promotion for her upcoming tour … the manufacturer, Famous Fixins, will give part of the proceeds to The Giving Back Fund, a nonprofit that encourages celebrities to raise money for charities …
2003, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers bass player Howie Epstein dies in Santa Fe, NM, of an apparent heroin overdose … he was 47 … Epstein was brought to a Santa Fe hospital by an unidentified female companion, who reportedly said he had been using heroin … Epstein and then-girlfriend Carlene Carter were arrested in June 2001 in Albuquerque for driving a stolen SUV and possession of black tar heroin …
2004, shock jock Howard Stern is suspended indefinitely from Clear Channel radio station broadcasts following listeners objections to the corporation and the FCC … complaints against Stern center around the frequently explicit subject matters that Stern features on his show and the R-rated language that accompanies them … these complaints culminate in Clear Channel prez John Hogan publicly demanding Stern drop the questionable content from his show … Stern demurs and is suspended …
2005, Brian “Head” Welch, guitarist for the metal act Korn, quits the band he helped found after experiencing a religious awakening … Brian breaks the news on a Bakersfield, California, radio station … he is sick of “chasing the almighty buck,” and feels raising his six-year old daughter is more important … Korn tried to accommodate the single dad by allowing his daughter to come on tour but it didn’t work, according to Welch … “Fieldy (Korn bass player) would tell her, ‘Every time you hear a curse word, you’ll get a dollar. It will help us stop cursing.’ And at the end of the day, she’d turn to me and be like, ‘Look at all my money, Daddy!'” …
2006, Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten issues a statement on the band’s website regarding the band’s pending induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: “Next to the SEX PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We’re not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organization selling us a load of old famous. Congratulations. If you voted for us, I hope you noted your reasons. You’re anonymous as judges but you’re still music industry people. We’re not coming. You’re not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL.” …
and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
February 22: Frederic-Francois Chopin (1810), “Big Al” Sears (1910), Spade Cooley (1910), Ernie K-Doe aka Ernest Kador Jr. (1936), Bradley Nowell of Sublime (1968), Bobby Hendricks of The Drifters (1937)
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)
Departures:
February 22: guitarist John Fahey (2001), “Papa” John Creach (1994), Kermit Chandler of The Sheppards (1981), Florence Ballard of The Supremes (1976)
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 Walter “Papoose” Nelson (1962)