This is the week that was in matters musical …
1963, slide guitarist Elmore James, who influenced British blues boom bands (try saying that quickly five times in a row) such as Fleetwood Mac, dies in Chicago from a heart attack … more than 400 blues musicians attended his funeral … OK, everybody now: “Dust My Broom” shuffle in E, 1-2-3-4 … wah-da-da, wah-da-da, wah-da-da, wah-da-da, DAH-DAH …
1965, legendary blues harpist Sonny Boy Williamson, who backed up Elmore on his very first recording of “Dust My Broom” in 1951, dies in Helena, Arkansas … although already somewhat well-known in the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s as Rice Miller-his full given name is Aleck Ford Miller-he takes on the name “Sonny Boy,” a nickname already being used by blues harp blower John Lee Williamson up in Chicago … thereby confusing a generation of blues fans who come to refer to Williamson as Sonny Boy I and Miller as Sonny Boy II …
1967, from the One Hit Wonders Department, Australia’s Easybeats reach number 16 on the U.S. charts with their fidgety “Friday On My Mind” … the band is led by founder/guitarist George Young, who must have greatly influenced his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus … although the Easybeats had bigger hits Down Under, the success of “Friday” in the States seemed to signal their downfall due to management hassles, personnel changes, and, yes, dope …
1968, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull are arrested on charges of marijuana possession … the same day, the Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” generally seen as a comeback record following a critically mixed reception to Their Satanic Majesties Request. “Jack Flash” jumps to No. 3 …
1973, Deep Purple release their classic “Smoke on the Water” … within a very short time it tops the chart … that is, the chart posted in music stores forbidding guitarists to play certain well-worn riffs … where it joins “Stairway to Heaven” … it will eventually be joined by “Eruption,” “Child of Mine” and, for strummers, “Wonderwall” … but not “Friday On My Mind”, no way … OK, everybody now: “Smoke On The Water” in G, 1-2-3-4 … duhn, duhn, DUHN - duhn, duhn, DA-DUH …
1976, in New York, Arista Records president Clive Davis pleads guilty to failing to report $8,800 in income in 1972. He is later fined $10,000 …
1986, Garth Brooks marries Sandy Mahl … everyone wishes them a long and happy union … Funkmeister George Clinton is the musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live … he jams on “Take It To The Stage” and “Do Fries Go With That Shake” … Clinton’s New Orleans revue-meets-Robert Heinlein stage show was influenced by Sun Ra, who, with his Arkestra, appeared on SNL in 1978 performing “Space is the Place” and “Space-Loneliness” …
1989, Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina dies at age 45 after a severe asthma attack … in the late 1960s, playing a Gibson SG with a Bigsby tailpiece, John reeled off snaky, quivering guitar solos on QMS jamfests such as Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” and a rock version of “Take Five” titled “Gold and Silver” …
1991, Gene Clark of the Byrds dies in Sherman Oaks, Calif., only a few months after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame … although Clark is initially the rhythm guitarist in The Byrds, David Crosby lobbies strongly to replace him in that role … the result is that Clark is reduced to slapping a tambourine against his thigh for most of the band’s live and TV appearances … Clark quits The Byrds after they record “Eight Miles High” in 1966 reportedly because he’s afraid to fly … revenge is sweet (but short-lived) for Clark after Crosby is booted from The Byrds’ nest in 1968 … Clark rejoins the band and during his brief stint is seen playing guitar onstage and in TV appearances such as The Smothers Brothers Show …
2003, English producer Mickie Most dies … born Michael Haynes, Most worked with Herman’s Hermits, The Animals, The Nashville Teens, Brenda Lee, Donovan, Lulu, Hot Chocolate, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Hopkin, Suzie Quatro, The Sweet, The Seekers, The Yardbirds, and Jeff Beck … he later launched his own record label, publishing, and management companies … Most was one of the first producers to own the rights to his own records …
2004, the third American Idol is chosen by viewers of the fantastically popular TV show … Fantasia Barrino, a single mother from North Carolina, beats out Georgia’s Diana DeGarmo for the title …
2005, probably because he likes anniversaries during this week, the now-divorced Garth Brooks proposes to Trisha Yearwood at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California … the couple are attending a dedication ceremony for a bronze statue of Brooks … country singer Carrie Underwood wins the fourth season of American Idol in a surprise victory over long-tressed rocker Bo Bice … Carrie goes on to sell more copies of a debut album than any other Idol contestant and the multi-platinum artist garners a Grammy nomination …
2006, gray-haired singer Taylor “Soul Patrol” Hicks becomes the fifth American Idol, beating out Katharine McPhee on the increasingly popular Fox TV talent show … and to think, Taylor almost didn’t make the cut, it must have been his blues harp playing in front of Randy, Paula, and Simon that saved the day … would Sonny Boy (either one) have been proud? … reggae legend Desmond Dekker dies in England … he was 64 … in 1969, he cracked the U.S. Top 10 and topped the U.K. charts with “Israelites” …
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
May 24: Nervous Norvus (1912), Bob Dylan born Robert Allen Zimmerman (1941), Derek Quinn of Freddie & the Dreamers (1942), Patti LaBelle (1944), Steve Upton of Wishbone Ash (1946), Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult (1947), Rosanne Cash (1955), Heavy D (1967), Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes (1969), country wunderkind Billy Gilman (1988)
May 25: record store mogul “Waxie Maxie” Silverman (1910), Hal David (1921), Miles Davis (1926), producer Norman Petty (1927), Tom T. Hall (1936), Donnie Elbert (1936), Jessi Colter born Miriam Johnson Eddy (1943), Klaus Meine of The Scorpions (1948), Paul Weller (1958), Lauryn Hill (1975)
May 26: blues diva Mamie Smith (1883), Al Jolson (1886), Louis Hardin (1916), Peggy Lee (1920), Levon Helm of The Band (1942), Ray Innes of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1942), Garry Peterson of The Guess Who (1945), Mick Ronson of Bowie’s band and Mott the Hoople (1946), Stevie Nicks (1948), Hank Williams Jr. (1949), Verden Allen of Mott the Hoople (1949), Lenny Kravitz (1964), Kristen Pfaff of Hole (1967)
May 27: Junior Parker (1932), Ramsey Lewis (1935), pop singer Cilla Black born Priscilla White (1943), Bruce Cockburn (1945), Pete Sears of Jefferson Starship (1948), Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie & the Banshees (1957), Neil Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz (1957), Eddie Harsch of The Black Crowes (1957), Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains (1966), Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC (1967), Dre of OutKast (1975), rapper Jadakiss (1975), Andre 3000 of OutKast (1975)
May 28: T-Bone Walker born Aaron Thibeaux Walker (1910), violinist “Papa” John Creach (1917), songwriter Wally Gold (1928), Prince Buster (1938), Gladys Knight (1944), Billy Vera (1944), John Fogerty (1945), Stacy Sutherland of The 13th Floor Elevators (1946), Larry Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers (1948), Ray Laidlaw of Lindisfarne (1948), Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics (1949), Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals (1952), Kylie Minogue (1968)
May 29: Gary Brooker of Procol Harum (1945), Roy Crewsdon of Freddie & The Dreamers (1949), Larry Blackmon of Cameo (1956), LaToya Jackson (1956), The Time’s Jesse Johnson (1960), Mel Gaynor of Simple Minds (1960), Melissa Etheridge (1961), Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher (1967), Chad Kinchla of Blues Traveler (1969)
May 30: Benny Goodman (1909), Johnny Gimble (1926), Lenny Davidson of The Dave Clark Five (1944), drummer Nicky “Topper” Headon of The Clash (1955), Roxette’s Marie Fredericksson (1958), Wynonna Judd (1964), Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello (1964), Patrick Dalheimer of Live (1971)
Departures
May 24: Franco-American bebopper Barney Wilen (1996), Gene Clark (1991), Duke Ellington (1974), Elmore James (1967)
May 25: Desmond Dekker (2006), Bradley Nowell of Sublime (1996), funk guitarist Eric Gale (1994), Khalil Rountree (1992), producer Gary Usher (1990), R&B shouter Roy Brown (1981), Sonny Boy Williamson II AKA Aleck Ford “Rice” Miller (1965)
May 26: Matima Kinuani Mpiosso (1996), Sonny Sharrock (1994), William Powell of The O’Jays (1977), Little Willie John (1968), Jimmie Rodgers (1933)
May 27: producer Bobby Herne (1998), Willie Woods of Junior Walker and the Allstars (1997), concert promoter Ivan Sutton (1996)
May 28: Mary Lou Williams (1981), Nervous Norvus (1968)
May 29: manager Jo Lustig (1999), Jeff Buckley (1997), jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles (1996), Ollie Halsall of Patto (1992), John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1989)
May 30: producer Mickie Most (2003), bandleader Tex Beneke (2000), West Arkeen (1997), bassist John Kahn (1996), trombonist Bob Stroup (1996), jazz composer and orchestra leader Sun Ra (1993), songwriter-musician Leon Rene (1982), bassist Carl Radle (1980), John Ryanes of The Monotones (1972)