This is the week that was in matters musical …
1956, Elvis Presley performs “Hound Dog” on TV’s Milton Berle Show, resulting in protests by some viewers …
1961, ever the astute businessman, Chuck Berry opens an amusement park near St. Louis dubbed Berry Park … to this day, he relaxes by maintaining Berry Park’s buildings, mowing the lawn, and splitting wood … and no, the Duck Walk is not a ride at Berry Park … this same day, the first FM stereo broadcasts hit the airwaves …
1964, The Rolling Stones make their American concert debut at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, MA …
1967, The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band … the album will go on to win a number of Grammys and be hailed by many as one of the most influential rock albums ever, both for its songs and its production …
1969, during their noted “bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, John Lennon and Yoko Ono record “Give Peace a Chance” with friends Tommy and Dick Smothers, Derek Taylor, Murray the K, and Timothy Leary … Blind Faith makes its live debut at a free concert in London’s Hyde Park … an estimated 150,000 people attend the show … the group, consisting of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, will disband the following October after a U.S. tour that Winwood describes as “vulgar, crude, disgusting, (and) lacking in integrity.” …
1971, Marvin Gaye records the title song for his new album What’s Going On … the LP is the last session for Motown’s legendary backing band, the Funk Brothers … proving wrong legendary comedian Fred Allen, who’d said, “Ed Sullivan will stay on the air as long as other people have talent,” the final episode of CBS TV’s Ed Sullivan Show airs with Gladys Knight & the Pips as musical guests …
1972, Grand Funk Railroad sells out its concert at Shea Stadium within 72 hours of the on-sale, breaking the previous box-office record held by The Beatles …
1976, The Who make the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest rock band ever with their show at the Charlton Athletic Grounds in England … their 76,000-watt PA is measured at a tympanic membrane-destroying 120 decibels … now when Pete says “Are you ready to rock … ? I can’t hear you!” … he means it …
1987, Michael Jackson severs his ties with the Jehovah’s Witnesses …
1980, predating the television show The Biggest Loser by more than two decades, Peter Criss leaves KISS to start a solo “career” …
1992, after over one million votes about a proposed the Elvis postage stamp are cast, Priscilla Presley announces from the Graceland lawn that the likeness of the ’50s-era King prevailed … fans had a choice between the young Elvis and the portly, chops-bearing King in his Vegas years … young Elvis took home 851,200 votes while the Vegas King garnered 277,723 … David Bowie marries model and actress Iman in a church ceremony in Florence, Italy … the couple wed in a civil ceremony in May …
1997, country singer Lee Ann Womack, suffering from a big-time case of stage fright, makes her Grand Ole Opry debut … she remains largely rooted in one spot at center stage during her set … commenting later on her performance, the singer confesses, “If I’d moved, I would have peed in my pants.” … the body of singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley turns up in a harbor on the Mississippi River, confirming that he had indeed drowned … Buckley had disappeared days earlier after wading into the river fully-clothed while a friend swam nearby …
1998, Van Halen is forced to cancel a concert at the Docks club in Hamburg, Germany, after a chunk of ceiling plaster falls on drummer Alex Van Halen’s arm during the band’s soundcheck … Van Halen’s arm is merely bruised in the incident … celebrating his 50th year in the music industry, Ray Charles performs with an all-star reunion band at the 15th annual Chicago Blues Festival in Grant Park … he is joined by David “Fathead” Newman, Hank Crawford, and Leroy “Hog” Cooper on saxes, and Philip Guilbeau on trumpet … Mabel John, a former Raelette performs guest vocals …
1999, Tim McGraw and 400 attendees of his charity concert are forced to evacuate the 7th House in Pontiac, MI after a female fan pepper sprays a man she claims groped her … McGraw collapses mid-song from the spray as the exodus begins …
2000, the National Fatherhood Institute names country singer Tim McGraw its Father of the Year during its annual summit … the organization cites McGraw’s commitment to children’s charities and his commitment to his own family … ironically, in an apparent attempt to complement the Father of the Year award with one in husbandry, McGraw and fellow country star Kenny Chesney are arrested the next day in Buffalo, NY after Chesney steals a mounted police officer’s steed … McGraw allegedly attacks deputies trying to stop Chesney … the pair will be acquitted on all charges the following May … Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood enters Priory Clinic, a rehab center in London, to deal with his alcohol addiction …
2002, KISS bassist-media mogul Gene Simmons announces the launch of Gene Simmons Tongue magazine … the Maxim-ish publication features plenty of scantily-clad babes as well as interviews with musicians … preliminary sales of the magazine prompt Simmons to proclaim, “We have a huge smash!” … but instead, Gene’s Tongue takes a licking, lasting only five issues …
2003, early reports indicate Led Zeppelin’s three-disc live album How the West Was Won will debut at #1 on the U.S. album chart … rapper 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ends up at #2 … Chester Bennington, lead singer for Linkin Park, is hospitalized with severe back and abdominal pains in Los Angeles … plans for festival dates in Europe are scrapped as a result … Napster-haters Metallica announce a new website, Metallicavault.com … the site will offer free downloads of live recordings, rare demos, and B-sides … to access the material, fans will need a passkey included in copies of the band’s forthcoming album St. Anger, making the downloads not-so-free after all … hip-hop star R. Kelly is charged with 21 counts of child porn following an Internet-broadcast clip that shows him cavorting with an allegedly underage girl …
2004, legendary ’80s metal band Judas Priest plays the first show of its reunion tour with singer Rob Halford in Hanover, Germany … Halford left the group in 1993 to form the alt-metal band Fight … he was replaced by Tim Owens, frontman for a Judas Priest cover band …
2006, word on the street says that Courtney Love has received a $540,000 advance from publisher Faber and Faber for her memoirs … rumors that the book will be entitled For Love or Money are completely unfounded … multi-platinum songstress Norah Jones is signed to appear in the movie My Blueberry Nights …
2007, Prince announces that he will perform for 1,400 fans at Macy’s department store in his hometown of Minneapolis on July 7, the day that his new fragrance, 3121, debuts…U2 hires producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to help cut their 11th studio album…both were involved in some of the bands biggest records…Charles Patton, mentor and partner of rapper Lupe Fiasco draws a 44-year prison sentence for dealing heroin…he and Fiasco co-founded the 1st & 15th record label in 2000 …
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
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)
May 31: Ghanaian musician Emmanual Tettey (E.T.) “King of Highlife” Mensah (1919), Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary (1938), Mick Ralphs, founding member of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company (1944), Junior Campbell of Marmalade (1947), John “Bonzo” Bonham (1948), songwriter Jimmy Silva (1952), Corey Hart (1962), Darryl McDaniel of Run-D.M.C. (1964)
June 1: English romantic composer Sir Edward Elgar (1857), C&W singer Johnny Bond, (1915), Nelson Riddle (1921), New Orleans session guitarist Justin Adams, (1923), Pat Boone (1934), Tex-Mex organist Augie Meyers (1941), Marvin Hamlisch (1944), Dan Hamilton of Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds (1946), Ron Wood (1947), Marmalade guitarist Junior Campbell (1947), Graham Russell of Air Supply (1950), Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn (1953), Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode (1959), The Cure’s Simon Gallup (1960), Mike Joyce of The Smiths (1963), Stefanie Sargent, guitarist with 7-Year Bitch (1968), Alanis Morissette (1974)
June 2: Chicago blues pianist and guitarist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1917), Charles Miller of War (1939), Charlie Watts (1941), William Guest of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1941), bass player Pete Farndon of the Pretenders (1952), Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet (1959), Thor Eldon Jonsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), B-Real of Cypress Hill (1970)
June 3: Memphis Minnie, gritty-voiced blues singer with a percussive guitar style (1896), Jimmy Rogers, guitarist with Muddy Waters, (1924), June Abbit aka Joe Abbit, Sr. of The 5 Royales (1932), Curtis Mayfield (1942), John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (1946), Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople (1946), Byrds drummer Michael Clarke (1946), Dave Alexander, Stooges bassist (1947), Suzi Quatro (1950), Deniece Williams (1951), Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell (1952), David Cole, producer of C+C Music Factory (1962), Kerry King of Slayer (1964), Phish bassist Mike Gordon (1965), No Mercy’s Ariel (1971), Cuban jazz musician Gabriel Hernandez (1971)
June 4: Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta (1937), Roger Ball of Average White Band (1944), Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon (1945), Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas (1945), El DeBarge (1961), Brian McKnight (1969), Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band (1974)
Departures:
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)
May 31: Tito Puente (2000), gospel/soul singer Johnnie Taylor (2000), Elsbeary Hobbs, bass singer with The Drifters (1996)
June 1: songwriter David Mook (1996), jazz musician Don Grolnick (1996), David Ruffin of The Temptations (1991), John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson (1948)
June 2: Vince Welnick, Grateful Dead keyboardist and co-founder of The Tubes (2006), Western swing pioneer Adolph Hofner (2000), Junior Braithwaite, one of the original members of The Wailers (1999), bassist Andy Simpkins (1999), legendary jazz trumpeter Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham (1997), Andres Segovia (1987), Flamingos singer Nate Nelson (1984), folksinger Stan Rogers (1983), Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys (1983), jazz trumpeter Bunny Berigan (1942)
June 3: Richard Sohl of The Patti Smith Group (1990), The Duprees’ Joe Santollo (1981), rock journalist Ralph Gleason (1975), Mississippi Fred McDowell (1971)
June 4: John Hartford (2001), Ronnie Lane of The Small Faces (1997), Herman’s Hermits guitarist Lek Leckenby (1994), jazz/blues pianist Todd Rhodes (1965)