This is the week that was in matters musical …
1937, Bunny Berrigan and his orchestra record the jazz standard “I Can’t Get Started”… the chord changes from this oft-covered tune become a staple for bebop musicians a decade later …
1957, John Lennon and his band The Quarrymen play their debut date at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, a venue devoted to jazz and skiffle … after the band performs “Come Go With Me,” “Hound Dog,” and “Blue Suede Shoes,” irate club owner Alan Sytner sends a note up to the stage reading, “Cut out the bloody rock!” … Paul McCartney, who might have offered a softer side to John’s rockers, did not make the gig … he was at scout camp …
1962, “Your Heart Belongs to Me” by the Supremes debuts on the Hot 100 chart … it is the first of their eventual 47 hits …
1964, The Rolling Stones know they have arrived when they get the chance to hang out with two of their idols, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, while recording at Chicago’s Chess Studios … the band’s name resulted from a tune by Muddy …
1965, The Jefferson Airplane, finally cleared for take-off, plays their first live show at the Matrix Club in San Francisco … the band will ink a deal with RCA before the year’s end, one of the first rock bands in the Bay Area scene to do so … this same week, Herman’s Hermits command the top of the pop chart with their “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am” … the novelty tune is a British music hall favorite written in 1911 … no one could remember anything other than the chorus (Herman calls it a verse on the recording), so they just keep repeating it …
1967, Fleetwood Mac plays their first gig at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival a month before John McVie joins the band, this despite the fact the band’s name is derived from Mick Fleetwood’s and McVie’s last names … while performing at the Sunbury Jazz and Blues Festival in England, Jerry Lee Lewis whips the crowd into a frenzy that begins to turn violent … three rockers leave with bleeding mouths, a stage assistant loses four teeth, and, thanks to a six-inch scaffold coupling pin being thrown through the bass drum of Andrew Steele, his band The Herd doesn’t get heard … fearing a full-scale riot, officials ask Lewis to leave the stage … “I don’t care about you all dancing on the stage,” Lewis tells his fans, “but some of these people do.” … interestingly, The Herd’s lead guitarist is none other than a young Peter Frampton, who later splits from the band after a long hitless spell to form Humble Pie with Steve Marriott … meanwhile in L.A., recording sessions resume for the classic Love album Forever Changes … sessions that began in June were marked with bickering and personnel changes that resulted in the producer bringing in L.A.’s famed session stars “The Wrecking Crew” to record backing tracks for three tunes …
1970, Jim Morrison’s trial for allegedly exposing himself during a 1969 concert begins in Miami … Morrison will be found guilty on one count of profanity and one count of indecent exposure … even though the proceedings drain the Lizard King, he will appeal the convictions …
1972, Wings gets clipped when Paul and Linda McCartney are busted for pot possession following a show in Gothenburg, Sweden … the couple is fined and released …
1978, Muddy Waters plays for President Jimmy Carter at the White House …
1985, ebony and ivory separate in acrimony when Michael Jackson, after seeking sage investment council from his friend Paul McCartney, purchases the ATV music catalog that includes 251 Lennon/McCartney songs at auction for $47.5 million … McCartney and Yoko Ono attempt to purchase the songs only to be outbid by Jackson … McCartney and Jackson’s friendship ends promptly as a result … and yes, we know that song was done by Stevie Wonder and Macca, but it still works for the situation … Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon nearly durown durowns when his yacht capsizes during a race off the coast of England …
2000, the Jimi Hendrix estate successfully evicts the holder of the web domain jimihendrix.com …
2001, Dave Matthews and wife Ashley welcome their twin daughters Stella Busina and Grace Anne into the world …
2002, in an interview with Spin magazine, Motorhead leader Lemmy says he is thinking of having his notorious facial warts removed … Lemmy adds, “Yeah, I could sell them on the internet” … thankfully he later clarifies he’s not serious about the latter statement …
2003, during a radio interview, Ted Nugent says that the people of Illinois are “spineless, apathetic, embarrassing wimps” for their lack of involvement in their state government … Nugent’s comments result from his displeasure over the state’s gun laws … despite his scorn, Nugent will play the Illinois State Fair later in the day … fortunately for the Motor City Madman, the audience is apparently a bunch of embarrassing wimps who are too spineless and apathetic to demand refunds …
2005, a civil court judge rules that the landmark punk club CBGB’s can’t be evicted from its Bowery location … in her ruling, Judge Joan Kenney praises the club’s impact on the neighborhood, which she said was plagued by “destitution, degradation and substance abuse” when the club opened in 1973 … “CBGB has proven itself worthy of being recognized as a landmark—a rare achievement for any commercial tenant in the ever-diverse and competitive real estate market of New York City.” … despite the ruling, in what can only be described as a Bowery bummer, the birthplace of punk will lose its lease a year later and consider moving to Las Vegas, much to the dismay of New York punkers and politicians alike … Eminem cancels a European tour and checks into rehab…a representative says the sojourn is for a “dependency on sleep medication” … in what could be medically termed an Eminenema, the 11-date tour cancellation cleans out the rapper to the tune of $18 million in ticket sales … while on the spiritual path to remove the “five fetters” of the material plane, singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, rethinks the whole “non-attachment to material things” bit and files a suit against his former business manager, charging that Kelley Lynch ripped him off for $5 million from 1994 through 1999 while Cohen was meditating on the meaning of life in a Buddhist center … hey, removing four out of five fetters ain’t bad … besides, it’s much easier to reform when you’re rich … tragically this week, Marc Cohn, the singer-songwriter who struck gold in 1991 with his hit “Walking in Memphis” is shot in the head during a carjacking in Denver…amazingly he survives the injury and makes a full recovery …
2006, My Chemical Toilet turns to a brief tryst with traditional medicine as singer Gerard Way and drummer Bob Bryar injure themselves while shooting a video and are obliged to cancel a San Diego festival date … pop singer and TV talk show host Mike Douglas dies at age 81 … for one week in 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted his afternoon talk show … Douglas hit the Top 40 in 1966 with the song “The Men In My Little Girl’s Life” …
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 7: Benny Carter (1907), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1910), pianist Mose Vinson (1917), lyricist Felice Bryant (1925), The Platters’ Herb Reed (1931), multi-instrumentalist jazz titan Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936), Magic Slim, born Morris Holt (1937), pop vocalist Ron Holden (1939), B.J. Thomas (1942), Rodney Crowell (1950), bassist-songwriter Andy Fraser of Free (1952), Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden – not the Bruce Dickinson (1958), Toxic (19??), Jacqui O’Sullivan of Bananarama (1960), Ian Dench of EMF (1964), Kristen Hersh of Throwing Muses (1964)
August 8: bandleader Lucky Millender (1900), Webb Pierce (1921), Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), blues singer Al King (1923), Sonny Til of The Orioles (1925), Mel Tillis (1932), pedal steel player extraordinaire Pete Drake (1932), Joe Tex (1933), Connie Stevens (1938), Philip E. Balsley of the Statler Brothers (1939), John “Jay” David of Dr. Hook (1942), The Grateful Dead’s Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan (1946), Airrion Love of The Stylistics (1949), Ali Score of Flock of Seagulls (1956), Dennis Drew of 10,000 Maniacs (1957), Chris Foreman of Madness (1958), Ricki Rockett of Poison (1959), U2’s The Edge a.k.a. David Evans (1961), Kool Moe Dee (1962), JC Chasez of *NSYNC (1976), Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees (1976)
August 9: barrelhouse pianist Robert Shaw (1908), Odell Thompson (1911), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1913), Bill Henderson of The Spinners (1939), jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette (1942), Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring (1946), Barbara Mason (1947), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1955), Kurtis Blow (1959), Aimee Mann (1960), Whitney Houston (1963)
August 10: Leo Fender (1909), country singer-sausage king Jimmy Dean (1928), bluegrass ace Jimmy Martin (1929), country-pop entertainer Larry Finnegan (1938), Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (1940), Ronnie Spector (1947), Ian Anderson (1947), Patti Austin (1948), INXS drummer John Farriss (1961), Neneh Cherry (1964), Todd Nichols of Toad The Wet Sprocket (1967), Michael Bivins of New Edition (1968), Ghost By Night bassist Ara Ajizian (1974), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (1977)
August 11: Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1942), David Box – a Buddy Holly soundalike who ironically died in a plane crash (1943), Jim Kale of Guess Who (1943), Eric Carmen (1949), Joe Jackson (1955), Bragi Olaffson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Charlie Sexton (1968), Chris “Mack Daddy” Kelly (1968), Ali of A Tribe Called Quest (1970), J-Boog of B2K (1985)
August 12: Percy Mayfield (1920), singer-songwriter Joe Jones (1926), Porter Wagoner (1927), Buck Owens (1929), Jennifer Warren (1941), Mark Knopfler (1949), Kid Creole (1950), Pat Metheny (1954), Suzanne Vega (1959), Roy Hay of Culture Club (1961)
August 13: jazz pianist George Shearing (1919), “Baby Boy” Robert Warren (1919), Don Ho (1930), Dave “Baby” Cortez (1938), Son Seals (1942), Dan Fogelberg (1951), Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1953), Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones (1958)
Departures:
August 7: country guitarist William “Billy” Byrd (2001), harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler (2001), record store mogul Sam Goody (1991), R&B chantreuse Esther Phillips (1984), Homer a.k.a. Henry Haynes of Homer & Jethro (1971)
August 8: pianist Irving Sidney “Duke” Jordan (2006), Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (1975)
August 9: composer David Raskin (2004), Drowning Pool’s Dave Williams (2002), producer Bob Herbert (1999), Jerry Garcia (1995), reggae singer Wilfred “Jackie” Edwards (1992), Brandon Mitchell, rapper with Wreckx-N-Effects (1990), Lillian Roxon, one of rock’s first music critics (1973), Joe Gilbert of Joe and Eddie (1966)
August 10: Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser (2002), Ball Baker of The Five Satins (1994), New Orleans saxman Clarence Ford (1994), Ed Roberts of Ruby And The Romantics (1993), jazz singer Ernestine Allen (1992), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1965), blues diva Lucille Bogan of “Shave ’em Dry” infamy (1948)
August 11: singer-talkshow host Mike Douglas (2006), conductor Rafael Kubelick (1996), Mel Taylor, drummer of The Ventures (1996), bandleader-pianist Sonny Thompson (1989), Percy Mayfield – one day short of his 64th birthday (1984)
August 12: singer-talkshow host Merv Griffin (2007), Luther Allison (1997), John Cage (1992), Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto (1985), Norman Petty, producer of Buddy Holly (1984)
August 13: John Loder, founder of the punk label Southern Records (2005), composer David Tudor (1996), blues drummer Fred Below (1988), soul singer Joe Tex, born Joseph Arrington Jr. (1982), King Curtis (1971), R&B star Joe Hinton (1968)