This is the week that was in matters musical …
1943, pop singer Little Eva is born … in 1962, while working as a babysitter for Carole King and Jerry Goffin, Eva Narcissus Boyd charms the songwriting duo with her dancing and singing and they have her cut a demo of their new dance single "The Loco-Motion" with the intention of having Dee Dee Sharp re-record the tune for release … but when producer Don Kirshner hears Eva’s version, he insists the demo be released … it ultimately becomes a #1 hit … Boyd takes her stage name from a character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin …
1945, Harry Womack is born … brother of Bobby Womack, he will become a fellow member of The Valentinos, a ’60s soul group that grew out of the family gospel act, The Womack Brothers … the lineup will also include Cecil, Curtis, and Friendly Womack … one of their hits, "It’s All Over Now," is destined to be covered by The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart … Harry is stabbed to death by his wife in 1973 …
1956, Elvis Presley appears on TV’s Steve Allen Show … ol’ Steverino, being sensitive to criticism that the hip-swiveling teen sensation is unduly arousing the youth of America, decrees that Elvis will not rock out but instead sedately croon “Hound Dog” to an actual basset hound on a pedestal while wearing a tux supplied by the host …
1960, in the second of three sessions, The Dave Brubeck Quartet records tracks for their crossover jazz album Take Five … in 1961, the title song, written by alto saxophone player Paul Desmond, is released as a single and goes to #25 in the U.S. … hard to believe for a jazz instrumental in 5/4 time featuring a drum solo …
1967, a worldwide audience of 40 million witnesses a satellite broadcast of The Beatles performing “All You Need is Love” … chiming in on backing vocals are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, and Keith Moon …
1968, Herbert Khaury, better known as Tiny Tim, reaches #17 with a song from 1927—”Tip Toe Thru’ The Tulips With Me” … Warner Bros. Records later drops Tim after a series of follow-up singles stub their toes trying to climb the charts …
1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays its last gig together at the Denver Pop Festival at Mile High Stadium in Denver … bassist Noel Redding quits the band afterwards saying he’s tired of constant touring for little or no money and wants to pursue his own artistic vision … Crosby, Stills & Nash release their first album … the cover has a picture taken by Henry Diltz of the trio sitting on a sofa at an abandoned house on Santa Monica Boulevard in LA … according to Diltz, the group was sitting in the wrong name order, so they went back to re-shoot and found the house had been torn down … drummer Dallas Taylor can be seen peering out one of the windows …
1974, Greg Allman ties the knot with pop diva Cher just four days after her divorce from Sonny Bono is final … the new union lasts only nine days before the pair separates …
1977, Elvis makes his last public appearance at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis … “Can’t Help Falling In Love” is the last song he sings … Elton John achieves a lifelong ambition when he becomes chairman of the Watford Football Club …
1978, Peter Frampton suffers a broken arm and cracked ribs in a Bahamian auto wreck …
1979, critically acclaimed Little Feat guitarist Lowell George is found dead in a motel after suffering a heart attack …
1983, the Everly Brothers reunite after a 10-year breakup … to keep the peace in the family, they have separate tour buses and, for the most part, only see each other while performing onstage …
1985, Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M.’s third album, enters the album chart where it will peak at #28 … John Lennon’s 1965 Rolls Phantom V limo sporting a psychedelic paint job fetches $3,006,385 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York …
1988, James McCleese dies of a heart attack while serving a sentence for drugs at the Otisville Corrections Facility in New York … in happier days, working under the stage moniker Jimmy Soul, he scored a number-one chart hit in 1962 with “If You Wanna Be Happy” based on the calypso “Ugly Woman” by Roaring Lion … the unrelentingly upbeat tune advises potential husbands to seek out ugly women as wives …
1989, police are dispatched to London’s HMV Records where 4,000 fans are rioting in an effort to catch a glimpse of R&B star Bobby Brown … six are hospitalized …
1990, the police raid Chuck Berry’s home where they seize drugs, guns, and homemade porn tapes “I can’t kiss you, baby,you smell like piss” …
1993, two of the world’s most beautiful people, Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts, become husband and wife … the union will last two years … somewhat less beautiful person G.G. Allin, the punk rocker notorious for covering himself in blood, feces, and urine and sometimes flinging these substances at his audiences, dies of a heroin overdose …
1994, five fans are shot and injured by a crazed gunman at the Glastonbury Festival …
1995, country singer Garth Brooks entombs the master tapes for his album Hits beneath his newly installed star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame …
1996, ever the early adopter, Neil Young’s new album Broken Arrow debuts on the Internet …
1997, Radiohead’s OK Computer rules the UK album chart …
1998, in a successful effort to prevent reporters from eavesdropping on their wedding ceremony, Barbra Streisand and James Brolin arrange to have the White Zombie album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One blasted at an earsplitting volume from a van parked outside their Malibu villa …
2000, in a phenomenally belated ruling, the San Francisco Circuit Court rules that The Rolling Stones should have given proper credit for their covers of the songs “Stop Breakin’ Down” and “Love in Vain,” to their writer, Robert Johnson … the Stones’ former record label had presumed incorrectly that the songs were in the public domain …
… meanwhile at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, nine people die and 24 are injured when the crowd surges forward because the PA isn’t getting enough sound to the back … Pearl Jam is the band playing at the time of the incident … Eminem’s mother files a defamation of character suit against her son seeking $10 million in damages … she takes exception to the line in the rapper’s song “My Name Is” that goes, “My mother smokes more dope than I do” … the case fizzles and she ultimately is awarded $25,000, later reduced to $1,600 …
2001, country guitar maestro Chet Atkins dies of lung cancer at the age of 77 … Atkins has been inducted into both the Country Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Gretsch named a line of guitars after him …
2002, Sirius Satellite Radio starts broadcasting … John Entwistle dies in Las Vegas one day before The Who is to begin a tour of the U.S. in that city … the official cause of death is “moderate usage of cocaine superimposed upon ischemic heart disease caused by naturally occurring arteriosclerosis” … after hiring Pino Palladino on bass, the band starts the tour just three days late … Entwistle arrived in Las Vegas early for an exhibit of his artwork at a local gallery … he is remembered as one of rock’s most influential bassists and one of its loudest … this same day six postage stamps designed by Paul McCartney go on sale in the Isle of Man … proceeds will go to the Adopt-A-Minefield charity …
2004, rapper DMX is arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport for allegedly attempting to steal a car and identifying himself as a federal agent … he is charged with possession of a weapon and crack …
2006, Yoko Ono joins Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney in Las Vegas for the debut of Cirque du Soleil’s extravaganza Love based on Beatles songs … McCartney busses Ono’s cheek perhaps signifying a thaw in their frosty relations … the show, marking the first time the Beatles music has been licensed for theatrical purposes, is dedicated to George Harrison and John Lennon by McCartney …
2007, two stage hands die after a Rolling Stones gig in Spain … the men fall from the 33-foot-high set when it gives way as it is dismantled after a concert in Madrid … the Spice Girls announce 11 concerts, their first since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original members since Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998 … Sir Paul McCartney and his band perform for 90 minutes at Amoeba Records in Hollywood … in addition to Fab Four favorites and songs off the new Memory Almost Full album, there is plenty of stage banter and audience interaction to make this a special treat for his fans … James Blunt’s multimillion-selling ballad “You’re Beautiful” has been voted the most irritating song of all time according to market research company OnePoll as reported in the London Sun newspaper … despite reaching #1 in 11 countries and making the singer a star around the world, the track polls more votes than “Axel F” by Crazy Frog … other songs in the top 10 include “Mmm Bop” by Hanson, “Mr. Blobby” by Mr. Blobby, and “The Birdie Song” by the Tweets … John Sewell of OnePoll notes that Blunt’s song isn’t a surprise, observing that “any song that is at number one for so long does start to get annoying.” …
2008, Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore is seriously hurt in an ATV accident and will ultimately die from his injuries …
… and that was the week that was in matters musical.
Arrivals:
June 25: zydeco accordion king Clifton Chenier (1925), Memphis soul singer Eddie Floyd (1935), Bobby Nunn of The Coasters (1936), Philly soul singer Harold Melvin (1939), Johnnie Richardson, the female half of the doo-wop duo Johnnie & Joe (1940), singer-songwriter Carly Simon (1945), Harry Womack of The Valentinos (1945), Ian McDonald of King Crimson and Foreigner (1946), keyboardist-guitarist Allen Lanier of Blue öyster Cult (1946), Clint Warwick of The Moody Blues (1949), singer-songwriter Tim Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz (1952), Brian McLeod of Chilliwack (1952), keyboardist David Paich of Toto (1954), pop idol George Michael (1963), bassist Mike Kroeger of Nickelback (1972)
June 26: blues progenitor Big Bill Broonzy (1893), Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker (1909), The 5th Dimension’s Billy Davis Jr. (1940), Canned Heat’s bass man Larry Taylor (1942), British popster and keyboard player Georgie Fame (1943), Quarterflash’s Rindy Ross (1951), The Clash’s Mick Jones (1955), Chris Isaak (1956), Patty Smyth (1957), Terri Nunn of Berlin (1959), Colin Greenwood of Radiohead (1968), EMF drummer Mark Decloedt (1969), Gretchen Wilson (1973)
June 27: songwriter Doc Pomus born Jerome Felder (1925), Beach Boy Bruce Johnston (1944), Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis (1951), Gun Club vocalist Jeffrey Lee Pierce (1958), country chirper Lorrie Morgan (1959), Brit keyboardist Clint Boon (1959), Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (1961), bassist Andy Couson of All About Eve (1963), pop singer Beverly Craven (1963), vocalist Ray Slijngaard (1971)
June 28: pianist Arnold Shaw, who later became a writer and researcher specializing in rock and blues topics (1909), banjo master Lester Flatt (1914), Procol Harum’s Bobby Harrison (1943) and Dave Knights (1945), Patrick Lachman (1970)
June 29: Nelson Eddy (1901), film composer Bernard Hermann (1911), Bo Diddley drummer Frank Kirkland (1927), Johnny Ace (1929), Leonard Lee of Shirley & Lee (1936), Roger Ruskin Spear of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1943), Little Eva aka Eva Narcissus Boyd (1945), Bill Kircher of Commander Cody (1948), Deep Purple’s Ian Paice (1948), Derv and Lincoln Gordon of The Equals (1948), Don Dokken (1953), Colin James Hay of Men at Work (1953), Evelyn “Champagne” King (1960), Five Star singer Stedman Pearson (1964), Barry D aka Iain Baker of Jesus Jones (1965), Nicole Schertzinger of Eden’s Crush (1978)
June 30: Lena Horne (1917), Buddy Rich (1917), surf-era songwriter Guy Hemric (1931), folksinger Dave Van Ronk (1936), songwriter and producer Mike Leander (1941), Larry Henley of The Newbeats (1941), The Supremes’ Florence Ballard (1943), Little River Band’s Glenn Shorrock (1944), bassist Stanley Clarke (1951), The Sweet’s Andy Scott (1951), Hal Lindes of Dire Straits (1953), Human League’s Adrian Wright (1956), Ronald Winans (1956), Julianne Regan of All About Eve (1962), shredder Yngwie Malmsteen (1963), Tom Drummond of Better Than Ezra (1969), Cheryl Tweedy of Girls Aloud (1983)
July 1: father of gospel music Thomas Dorsey (1899), steel guitarist Alvino Rey (1911), Imperial Records founder Lew Chudd (1911), saxman Earle Warren (1914), Chess Records bass man, songwriter, and talent scout Willie Dixon (1915), flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922), singer Bobby Day (1930), harp man James Cotton (1935), Delaney Bramlett (1939), Andraé Crouch (1942), Deborah Harry (1945), June Monteiro of The Toys (1946), guitarist-singer Marc Benno (1947), Fred Schneider of The B-52’s (1951), Dan Aykroyd (1952), Keith Whitley (1955), Roddy Bottum of Faith No More (1963), Missy Elliott (1971)
Departures:
June 25: legendary producer Arif Mardin (2006), Royaltones guitarist Bob Sanderson (1994), Hillel Slovak of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1988), singer Jimmy Soul, born James McCleese (1988), songwriter Boudleaux Bryant (1987), blues guitarist Pee Wee Crayton (1985), singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer (1976)
June 26: songwriter Brandon Chase (1996), Mick Wayne of Pink Fairies (1994), jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown (1956)
June 27: The Who bassist John Entwistle (2002), Stefanie Ann Sargent of 7 Year Bitch (1992), Hillel Slovak of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1988), Steve Took of T-Rex (1980), opera diva Carlotta Patti (1889)
June 28: punk rocker G.G. Allin (1993) and Rob Graves (1990), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1982)
June 29: Marshall Tucker Band guitarist George McCorkle (2007), organist Richard “Groove” Holmes (1991), Little Feat guitarist Lowell George (1979), country singer Johnny Bond (1978), Tim Buckley (1975), Shorty Long of The Inkspots (1969), avant-grade reed player Eric Dolphy (1964)
June 30: Chet Atkins (2001), jazz saxman Joe Henderson (2001) jazz vocalist Phyllis Hyman (1995)
July 1: Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley (2008), opera diva Beverly Sills (2007), soul singer Luther Vandross (2005), jazz flutist Herbie Mann (2003), reggae singer Dennis Brown (1999), DJ Wolfman Jack (1995), jazz and R&B saxophonist Earle Warren (1995), Phil “Snakefinger” Lithman of The Residents (1987), John Rushton Moreve of Steppenwolf (1981), Claude Thornhill (1965), Erik Satie (1925)
July 2: songwriter Hy Zaret (2007), Mark Sandman of Morphine (1999), gospel singer Marion Williams (1994), Justin Adams (1991), Eddie “Cleanhead” Vincent (1988), Jimmy Ricks of The Ravens (1974), band singer Snooky Lanson who co-hosted NBC’s Your Hit Parade (1970)