This is the week that was in matters musical …
1930, Piedmont blues guitarist Blind Blake records "Ain’t Gonna Do That No More" and "Low Down Jail House" for Paramount Records in Grafton, Wisconsin …
1942, Bing Crosby records "White Christmas" … it will go on to be the biggest-selling single of all time at 30 million until Elton John releases "Candle in the Wind" in 1997 …
1958, a doo-wop group dubbed The Chesters record the chestnut "Tears on My Pillow" … they emerge from the studio renamed The Imperials … when DJ Alan Freed begins airing the 45 he refers to the group as "Little Anthony & the Imperials" … their record label, End, goes along with the program and later pressings of the record bear that name … Gibson ships its first sunburst 1958 Les Paul …
1961, ever the astute businessman, Chuck Berry opens an amusement park near St. Louis dubbed Berry Park … it includes zoo, golf course, and ferris wheel …
1963, a critic for the British newspaper Daily Express gives The Beatles a mixed review following a show in Manchester … he writes, "I suppose there is not a first-class musician among them. Their stage manner has little polish but limitless energy, and they have in abundance the fundamental good humor of their native city." … the writer is Derek Taylor, and despite his backhanded compliments, he will soon become the Fab Four’s press agent … Del Shannon’s version of the Lennon-McCartney song "From Me to You" becomes the first Beatles song to make an appearance on the U.S. pop chart …
1964, The Rolling Stones make their American concert debut at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts …
1966, Dolly Parton marries Carl Dean … she met him at the Wishy Washy Laundromat on the day she arrived in Nashville seeking fame and fortune …
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 … it’s also one of the first to have lyrics printed on the sleeve … the runout groove at the end of the record contains a few seconds of gibberish from The Beatles … Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are in court on drug charges … The Doors release "Light My Fire" … one of the few times that The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream play at the same event is Barbeque ’67 at a giant cattle shed in Spalding, Lincolnshire … also on the bill are The Move and Pink Floyd … unhappy with material being played by John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Peter Green gives notice he’ll be quitting at the end of the month … not exactly sure of his plans, he definitely wants to visit Chicago … he persuades bassist John McVie to quit the band and join his journey wherever it takes him …
1971, Marvin Gaye records the title song for his new album What’s Going On, the last session for Motown’s legendary Funk Brothers …
… The Stones’ "Brown Sugar" begins two weeks at #1, their sixth record at the top spot …
… Mick Taylor was never most lively of performers, excellent guitarist though.
1973, record mogul Clive Davis is canned by Columbia Records for misusing company money for personal expenses …
1976, the Allman Brothers Band calls it quits … the breakup occurs in the wake of Gregg Allman’s testimony at the drug trial of a former band road manager … the band re-forms two years later … The Who make the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest rock band ever when their show at the Charlton Athletic Grounds in England, employing a 76,000-watt PA, is measured at a tympanic membrane-destroying 120 decibels …
1977, The Police release their debut single "Fall Out" backed with "Nothing Achieving" on Illegal Records …
1978, Virgin Records announces the Sex Pistols will continue without singer Johnny Rotten and holds auditions for his replacement …
1980, The Dead Kennedys release their single "Holiday in Cambodia" … lead singer Jello Biafra, formerly Eric Boucher, announces he’ll run for mayor of San Francisco and if elected will require all businessmen to wear clown suits …
1981, Eurythmics release their debut single "Never Gonna Cry Again" … it only manages to reach #63 on the U.K. charts …
1982, Flock of Seagulls’ new single is "Space Age Love Song" … Sonic Youth debut with an EP including "The Burning Spear," "I Dreamed I Dream," and "The Good and the Bad" …
1983, Jim Gordon, former in-demand L.A. session drummer and co-writer of "Layla" for Derek and the Dominos, listening to the voices in his head, murders his mother … he will be sentenced to a life prison term in California …
1990, Aussie band Midnight Oil shuts down New York’s 6th Avenue when they play a street concert in front of Exxon corporate headquarters protesting the environmental havoc wreaked by the grounding of the company’s tanker, the Exxon Valdez …
1996, Depeche Mode singer David Gahan is rushed to L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital for an apparent drug overdose … later he’s arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin …
1997, Neil Young is forced to cancel his European tour after slicing a finger while making a ham sandwich … singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley decides to take a swim in the Wolf River in Tennessee while waiting for his band to arrive … his drowned body is found on June 4 …
1999, after a kinetic 40-minute New Jersey performance wearing a heavy fur coat, Lenny Kravitz collapses in the wings from heat exhaustion …
2002, KISS bassist-media mogul Gene Simmons announces the launch of 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!" … the magazine folds after only five issues despite his claim … in London, Sir Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Sir Elton John, Ozzie Osbourne, Annie Lennox, Joe Cocker, Tom Jones, and Eric Clapton perform at an event dubbed “Party in the Palace” to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II …
2003, 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 offers free downloads of live recordings, rare demos, and B-sides … to access the material, fans use a passkey included in copies of the band’s forthcoming album St. Anger, making the downloads not-so-free after all …
2004, Velvet Revolver’s highly anticipated debut album Contraband makes its online debut courtesy of MTV.com … the group features former Guns ’n Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, with former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland handling vocals … the album will go platinum within two months … no comment from Axl … 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 …
2007, Justin Timberlake launches his new label Tennman records, named for his home state of Tennessee, in a joint venture with Interscope Records … his first artist signing is Dutch singer Esmée Denters who has made a big splash on YouTube … U2 hires producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to help cut their 11th studio album … both were involved in some of the band’s biggest records … Nevada joins nine other states in passing a "Truth in Music" law banning bands from billing themselves as original acts such as The Coasters, The Drifters, and The Platters unless there is at least one original member in the lineup … bands not meeting this requirement must use "tribute" or "salute" or similar words in their names to signify they’re not the real deal …
2008, The Edge raises $2.5 million to benefit New Orleans musicians impacted by Hurricane Katrina with the Icons of Music II Auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City … music memorabilia auctioned includes a guitar from The Police and items from Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Miles Davis, Slash, The Beatles, and Johnny Cash … on the third night of its world tour, R.E.M. gives fans at the Hollywood Bowl more than their money’s worth with a two-hour, 26-song set that includes chestnuts such as "Losing My Religion" as well as songs from their new, critically acclaimed Accelerate album … in Stockholm attending an international conference on Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice encounters the members of KISS in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel … Rice tells reporters "It was really fun to meet KISS and Gene Simmons" … she said the band seemed well-informed about current events … although she’s never seen them in concert, Rice’s favorite KISS song is "Rock and Roll All Nite" … Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, reports his ashes were stolen from her Los Angeles home … she had kept the grunge musician’s ashes in a pink bear-shaped bag, along with a strand of his golden locks …
… and that was the week that was in matters musical.
Arrivals:
May 28: T-Bone Walker, born Aaron Thibeaux Walker (1910), violinist “Papa” John Creach (1917), songwriter Wally Gold (1928), ska musician Prince Buster, born Cecil Bustamente Campbell (1938), Gladys Knight (1944), singer-songwriter-guitarist-actor-music historian 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), jazz pianist Hilton Ruiz (1952), Toto bassist Mike Porcaro (1955), 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), Melanie Brown aka Mel B and Scary Spice of The Spice Girls (1975)
May 30: Benny Goodman (1909), Western swing fiddle player 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: African-American fife player Othar Turner (1907), Chicago blues pianist and guitarist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1917), Charlie Watts (1941), William Guest of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1941), bass player Pete Farndon of the Pretenders (1952), Bangles bassist-vocalist Michael Steele (1959), Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley (1960), Thor Eldon Jonsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), B-Real of Cypress Hill (1970), The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moreti (1980)
June 3: Memphis Minnie, gritty-voiced blues singer with a percussive guitar style (1896), Jimmy Rogers, born James Lane, 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), T.Rex percussionist Mickey Finn (1947), 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), twin brothers Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez of No Mercy (1971), Kelly Jones, vocalist-guitarist with Stereophonics (1974)
Departures:
May 28: jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams (1981), novelty singer Nervous Norvus aka Jimmy Drake (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), songwriter-guitarist 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: psychedelic poster artist Alton Kelly (2008), songwriter David Mook (1996), jazz musician Don Grolnick (1996), David Ruffin of The Temptations (1991), John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson (1948)
June 2: Bo Diddley (2008), 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)