This is the week that was in matters musical …
1920, bebop innovator and consummate alto saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker is born …
1955, Elvis buys his mama a pink Cadillac …
1956, Elvis begins recording his second album in Los Angeles … it is to include covers of Little Richard hits "Rip It Up," "Long Tall Sally," and "Ready Teddy" … Elvis even plays piano on some of the tracks …
1965, another wild child is born this week in the form of G.G. Allin, the punk rocker notorious for covering himself in blood, feces, and urine, sometimes flinging these substances at his audiences …
1963, "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes hits the charts … the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and one can maybe hear a touch of it in Brian’s own "Good Vibrations" …
… Ellie Greenwich, one of the great pop song writers who co-wrote "Be My Baby" died this week (August 26th 2009).
1968, The Beatles release the single “Hey Jude” that eclipses Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” as the longest single to receive Top-40 airplay by nearly a minute at 7:06 … it is the first release from newly formed Apple Records and becomes The Beatles’ biggest hit, going to number one around the world … the recording took two days and involved a 36-piece orchestra who also clapped and sang the na-na-nahs on the fadeout … the epic ballad begins with Paul playing the piano and ends with 50 layered instruments …
1970, The Kinks’ transvestite-themed single “Lola” is released … the song, which revives the band’s flagging popularity, was inspired by their manager’s drunken club experience unknowingly dancing with a she-man … Ray Davies had to re-record the line “You drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola” at the last minute because the BBC refused to play the song with its original lyrics, “it tastes just like Coca-Cola,” fearing repercussions from the beverage maker … Lola reappears in “Paranoia,” a later Kinks tune …
1971, Paul McCartney’s jaunty single “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is the number one pop hit of the week … the former Beatle reveals that he actually had an Uncle Albert who used to get drunk and quote the Bible …
1977, three people are nabbed in Memphis for attempting to steal the remains of Elvis … to prevent such thievery, Elvis is moved from the cemetery to a more secure resting place at Graceland …
1989, G N’ R’s Izzy Stradlin is arrested in Phoenix for causing an in-flight public disturbance … he verbally abuses a flight attendant, urinates on the floor, and smokes in the non-smoking section of the plane … Izzy is apparently upset about the potty queue … the flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis makes an unscheduled landing in Phoenix to dump him off …
1990, the world of rock and modern blues takes a big hit when Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed in a Wisconsin helicopter crash that also takes the lives of three members of Eric Clapton’s entourage, doesn’t seem like nearly 20 years ago does it …
… this same week a Nevada court exonerates metal band Judas Priest in a $6.2 million civil suit filed by the parents of two youths who shot themselves, allegedly as a result of listening to the band’s records …
1995, in a landmark rock ’n’ roll event, veteran rocker Neil Young headlines the Reading Festival with Seattle’s Pearl Jam backing him up …
1996, Isaac Hayes, co-writer of the song “Soul Man,” writes a letter to senator Bob Dole protesting his use of the song in his presidential campaign that had changed the chorus to “I’m A Dole Man” …
1999, Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx is arrested at a show in Raleigh, N.C., charged with felony rioting and three counts of misdemeanor inciting to riot, assault, and disorderly conduct … the charges stem from bad behavior at a Greensboro concert in 1997 … Sixx allegedly assaulted a security guard and encouraged a melee among fans …
2000, The Doobie Brothers offer 15 new tracks for free download to launch the promotion of their latest album, Sibling Rivalry …
2002, Eminem draws boos at the MTV Video Music Awards after he calls Moby a girl and tries to pick a fight with the diminutive techno popper … Moby had called the rapper’s music misogynistic and homophobic … M also mixes it up with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog after Triumph tells the crowd “Eminem should lighten up. I mean, my mom was a bitch too, but I don’t go writing songs about it.” … this portion is removed from repeat broadcasts …
2006, one of the last iTunes holdouts Linkin Park reverses their position and Apple begins selling all three of their studio albums along with bonus cuts and videos …
2007, rock pioneer Bo Diddley suffers a heart attack …
2008, in a marketing move that’s becoming more and more common, AC/DC announces that its forthcoming album Black Ice will be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart stores …
And that was the week that was …
Arrivals:
August 27: bluegrass guitarist Carter Stanley (1925), harpist-keyboardist Alice Coltrane (1937), avant-garde guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1940), Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille (1942), Jeff Cook of Alabama (1949), Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company (1949), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (1953), Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (1956), gospel powerhouse Yolanda Adams (1962), Tony Kanal of No Doubt (1970), rapper Ma$e (1977), John Siebles of Eve 6 (1979), Mario (1986)
August 28: John Perkins of The Crew Cuts (1931), David Soul (1943), Daniel Seraphine of Chicago (1948), Wayne Osmond (1951), Shania Twain (1965), LeAnn Rimes (1982)
August 29: bluesman Jimmy Bell (1910), bebop innovator Charlie “Yardbird” Parker (1920), versatile jazz and blues chanteuse Dinah Washington (1924), gospel singer Marion Williams (1927), Dick Halligan of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1944), Chris Copping of Procol Harum (1945), Stone Canyon Band bassist Patrick Woodward (1948), Dave Jenkins of Pablo Cruise (1949), Rick Downey of Blue Oyster Cult (1953), punk rocker G.G. Allin (1956), Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Frazer (1958), Michael Jackson (1958), singer-bassist Me’shell NdegeOcello (1969), Carl Martin of Shai (1970), Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20 (1975), David Desrosiers of Simple Plan (1980)
August 30: blues pianist Mercy Dee Walton (1915), Kitty Wells (1919), vaudeville-blues singer Olive Brown (1922), John McNally of The Searchers (1931), bluesman Luther “Georgia Snake Boy” Johnson (1934), John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas (1935), Mick Moody of Whitesnake (1950), Horace Panter of General Public (1953), Sir Horace Gentleman of The Specials (1954), Martin Jackson of Swing Out Sister (1958), drummer Nicky Hammerhead (1960), Rich Cronan of LFO (1974)
August 31: jazz pianist Todd Rhodes (1900), tunesmith Alan Jay Lerner (1918), “Spider” John Koerner (1938), Jerry Allison of The Crickets (1939), Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (1940), Van Morrison (1945), Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions (1948), Gina Schock of The Go-Go’s (1957), Squeeze singer-songwriter Glenn Tilbrook (1957), Tony DeFranco (1959), Chris Whitley (1960), Debbie Gibson (1970)
September 1: Brook Benton (1931), Conway Twitty (1933), Tommy Evans of The Drifters (1934), Archie Bell of The Drells (1944), Barry Gibb (1946), Greg Errico of Sly & The Family Stone (1946), The Jam’s Bruce Foxton (1955), Gloria Estefan (1957), DJ Sprigg Nice of Lost Boyz (1970)
September 2: composer Hugo Montenegro (1925), Bobby Purify (1939), Sam Gooden of The Impressions (1939), Rosalind Ashworth of Martha and The Vandellas (1943), Joe Simon (1943), Mik Kaminski of E.L.O. (1951), Simply Red’s Fritz McIntyre (1956), Steve Porcaro of Toto (1957) Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs (1958), Jonathan Segal of Camper Van Beethoven (1963), K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci (1969)
Departures:
August 27: Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990), KRS-One rapper Scott LaRock (1987), Bob Schol of The MelloKings (1975), Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1967)
August 28: CBGB founder Hilly Kristal (2007), Sun Records rockabilly and songwriter Ronnie Self (1981)
August 29: rockabilly pioneer Ervin L. “Wee Willie” Williams (1999), rockabilly singer-songwriter Charlie Feathers (1998), record store mogul “Waxie Maxie” Silverman (1989), country star Archie Campbell (1987), eecentric DJ and Clash producer Guy Stevens (1981), blues legend Jimmy Reed (1976)
August 30: trumpeter-bandleader Maynard Ferguson (2006), Swedish producer Denniz Pop aka Dag Volle (1998), keyboardist Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy (1995), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1995), Thomas Sylvester aka “Papa” Dee Allen of War (1988)
August 31: Carl Wayne, singer for The Move (2004), Cajun artist Joe Berry (2004), jazz vibes man and bandleader Lionel Hampton (2002), rocker Vince Taylor (1991), bluesman Son Bonds (1947)
September 1: Jerry Reed (2008), Aussie rocker Ted Mulry (2001), composer Vagn Holmboe (1996), gospel singer Joseph Hutchinson
September 2: Fritz Fryer of The Four Pennies (2007), saxophonist Dewey Redman (2006), New York Metropolitan Opera impresario Sir Rudolf Bing (1997), composer Otto Luening (1996), violinist Cyril Reuben (1996)