This is the week that was in matters musical …
1906, the first Victrola phonograph, with wind-up drive and its own horn, is marketed by Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, NJ, for $200…
1938, one of the most-covered standards ever, “Ain’t Misbehavin'” by Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, and Andy Razaf, is recorded by Waller…
1962, Ringo Starr joins the Beatles onstage for the first time at the Cavern Club in Liverpool after taking over from Pete Best, who was deemed not fab enough to be one of the four…
1964, The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles is reportedly selling 25,000 copies of John and Paul’s compositions a DAY(!)…
1966, John Lennon generates more controversy after his recent “Jesus” comments by publicly expressing his admiration for American draft dodgers while the band is in Toronto…
1967, The New York Times reports on the new noise-reduction system for records and tapes pioneered by the Dolby brothers…drummers everywhere pan the system as a cymbal killer…
1968, responding to a study reporting damage to the ears of guinea pigs subjected to loud music, New York disco owner, Steve Paul, quips, “Should a major increase in guinea pig attendance occur at The Scene, we’ll certainly bear their comfort in mind”…ba-dum-…
1969, Mick Jagger is accidentally shot in the hand during the filming of Ned Kelly in Australia…his wound is not serious…this is also the week Miles Davis goes into the studio in New York for the first sessions of the landmark album Bitches Brew with Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Benny Maupin, John McLaughlin, Larry Young, Harvey Brooks, Lenny White, Don Alias, and Jumma Santos…this who’s who list of nascent fusion greats will be expanded during later recording sessions for the double album set…in later years the album will be expanded by Columbia Records to a full 4-CD set of the complete sessions…
1977, it’s a black day at Graceland when over 75,000 people gather to lay the King to rest…Presley is entombed near his mother in a marble mausoleum in Memphis at Forest Hill Cemetery…the day before the funeral, Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) sells more flowers than they have for any other single event…also this week the Police play their first gig as a threesome after guitar man Henri Padovani leaves the band…
1980, 1,400 Alice Cooper fans in Toronto take umbrage when the original makeup rocker gets sick and can’t make the show…they throw a big stinkin’ riot in protest…
1992, Courtney Love has Kurt Cobain’s baby, Frances Bean…also this week, after 10 years of going steady, Sting and Trudi Styler tie the knot…
1997, a 50-mile section of Interstate 65 in Alabama is dedicated as the “Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway”…
1998, Pete Townshend plays to an SRO crowd at Chicago’s House of Blues and raises $300,000 for Marysille Academy, a home for abused and neglected children…
1999, reporting from the “Whatever happened to …” file, Spin Doctors lead singer Chris Barron is diagnosed with a rare condition causing paralysis of the vocal chords…he will make a slow recovery in the following months…
2002, keeping with his tradition of audience bashing, Motley Crue singer Vince Neil storms off the stage during a solo nightclub gig in Steamboat Springs, Colorado…after opening with a few Crue classics, Neil turns to his solo material and is apparently angered at the lackluster response…a shouting match with the audience ensues, culminating with Neil chucking the mic into the crowd and leaving the stage…the club offers refunds to the 250 attendees…
2004, an anthology of Queen’s greatest hits is the first officially-condoned rock recording to be released in Iran…deceased frontman Freddie Mercury was of Iranian descent…the cassette release sells for less than one U.S. dollar and includes a brochure explaining that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about a young man who accidentally kills someone, sells his soul to the devil, then on the eve of his execution calls God “Bismillah” in Arabic, thus redeeming his soul from the devil…yeah, that’s pretty much what we always thought that song was about, too…
2005, Madonna breaks her collarbone, hand, and three ribs when she’s tossed from a horse in England…the ride was in celebration of her 47th birthday…
2006, In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan disses modern recording methods saying, “I don’t know anybody who’s made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really.” Responding to the question of illegal music downloads, he says, “Well, why not? It ain’t worth nothing anyway. You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like … static.”
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 16: baritone jazz crooner Al Hibbler (1915), Bill Evans (1929), Karl Denver (1931), Eydie Gorme (1931), The Dubs singer Richard Blandon (1934), singer Bobby Mitchell (1935), Barbara George (1942), touring musician Kin Vassy (1943), Barry Hay of Golden Earring (1948), J.T. Taylor of Kool & The Gang (1953), Tim Farriss of INXS (1957), Madonna (born Louise Ciccone) (1958), Chris Pederson of Camper Van Beethoven (1960), Emily Erwin of Dixie Chicks (1972), Vanessa Carlton (1980)
August 17: Mark (“Teen Angel”) Dinning (1933), bluesman Luther Allison (1939), Sib Hashian of Boston (1949), guitar phenom Eric Johnson (1954), XTC’s Colin Moulding (1955), Belinda Carlisle (1958), Gilby Clark of Guns N’ Roses (1962), Maria McKee (1964), Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes (1965), Jill Cunniff of Luscious Jackson (1966), Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block (1969), Posdnuous of De La Soul (1969)
August 18: lyricist Otto Harbach (1873), folk singer Cisco Houston (1918), Johnny Preston (1939), Nona Hendryx (1945), Dennis Elliot of Foreigner (1950), Ron Stryker of Men at Work (1957), Dr. Spot (1960), Everlast (1969)
August 19: jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles (1918), Ginger Baker (1939), Johnny “I Can See Clearly Now” Nash (1940), vocalist Billy J. Kramer of the Dakotas (1943), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple (1945), Queen’s John Deacon (1951), Lee Ann Womack (1966)
August 20: jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden (1905), Jim Reeves (1924), jazz guitarist Jimmy Raney (1927), Paul Robi of The Platters (1931), bluesman J.J. Malone (1935), country singer-songwriter Justin Tubb (1935), Tom Coster of Santana (1941), Isaac Hayes (1942), John Povey of The Pretty Things (1942), James Pankow of Chicago (1947), Robert Plant (1948), Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy (1951), Rudy Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers (1952), Doug Fieger of The Knack (1952), John Hiatt (1952), Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit (1970)
August 21: William “Count” Basie (1904), big-band singer Savannah Churchill (1920), gospel singer Clara Ward (1924), songwriter Carolyn Leigh (1926), Kenny Rogers (1938), country picker James Burton (1939), Harold W. Reid of The Statler Brothers (1939), Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (1952), Steve Smith of Journey (1954), Joe Strummer of The Clash (1955), Budgie-born Pete Clark-of Siouxsie and the Banshees (1957), Kim Sledge of Sister Sledge (1958), Liam Howlett of Prodigy (1971)
August 22: Claude Debussy (1862), classic blues singer Addie “Sweet Peas” Spivey (1910), pianist and bandleader Sonny Thompson (1916), John Lee Hooker (1917), Carolina Slim born Edward P. Harris (1923), Bob Flanigan of The Four Freshmen (1926), producer Jerry Capehart (1928), Freddie Milano of The Belmonts (1939), Jackie De Shannon (1944), Donna Godchaux of The Grateful Dead (1947), Teresa Davis of The Emotions (1950), country chirper and writer Holly Dunn (1957), Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (1958), Debbi Peterson of The Bangles (1961), Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears (1961), Tori Amos (1963), James DeBarge of DeBarge (1963), Layne Staley of Alice in Chains (1967), Matchbox 20’s Paul Douchette (1972), Howie Dorough of Backstreet Boys (1973)
Departures:
August 16: Sufi songster Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1997), Bobby DeBarge (1995), songwriter Mark Heard (1992), guitarist Stacy Sutherland (1978), Elvis Presley (1977), Mamie Smith (1946), Robert Johnson (1938)
August 17: James Brown’s bassman Bernard Odum (2004), soul singer Johnny Sayles (1993), drummer/guitarist Phil Seymour (1993), Pearl Bailey (1990), soul singer Lorraine Ellison (1985), Temptations singer and guitarist Paul Williams (1973)
August 18: founder of the Country Gentlemen bluegrass picker Charlie Waller (2004), film composer Elmer Bernstein (2004), saxophonist Guy Durosier (1999), Spiders leader Leonard “Chick” Carbo (1998), ivory tickler Michael M. Jones (1984)
August 19: soul singer Betty Everett (2001), Belgian impresario and concert promoter Freddy Cousaert (1998), session pianist Richard Tee (1993), rockabilly star Dorsey Burnette (1979), Blind Willie McTell (1959)
August 20: Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan (1999), singer Rio Reiser (1996), masterful steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys (1988), jazz trumpeter Thad Jones (1986)
August 21: Robert Moog (2005), Tarheel Slim born Alden Bunn (1977), country guitarist Sam McGee (1975)
August 22: honky-tonk legend Floyd Tilman (2003), blues pianist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1987), bluesman John Lee Granderson (1979)