It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

1930, underappreciated guitarist Auburn “Pat” Hare is born … an impassioned blues player with a fiery temper and guitar style to match, he worked with some of the biggest names including Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf … one of his records, “Gonna Murder My Baby,” proved prophetic … Hare died in prison while doing a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend and a policeman …

1942, Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” tops the Billboard pop chart … the song is re–released during ensuing holiday seasons and nails the top spot again in 1945 and 1947, and ultimately becomes one of the biggest singles ever …

1955, Carl Perkins writes “Blue Suede Shoes” and records the song less than 48 hours later … Elvis covers the tune later that year cementing its position in the rockabilly canon …

1958, ooh–wee baby … Frankie Ford’s rocking “Sea Cruise” is released this week …it will eventually rise to #3 on the pop chart and become a staple of the Crescent City R&B sound … the tune, originally recorded by Huey “Piano” Smith with Bobby Marchan on vocals, is re–recorded with Ford dubbing his singing over that funky backing track … thanks to his gritty reading of the song, most listeners assume Ford is black … in reality he’s a pompadoured white boy who could easily play the role of a teen idol …

1959, Chuck Berry is arrested for transporting a minor across state lines for an immoral purpose … Berry had invited a young Native American woman he met in El Paso to come work as a hat check girl in his Club Bandstand in Missouri … the young woman is fired two weeks later and hustles at a local hotel for a few days before calling police for help getting back home … the call leads to Berry’s trial and a conviction that is later overturned because the judge made racist remarks …

1960, Elvis Presley is inducted into the Los Angeles Indian Tribal Council … the ceremony coincides with the opening of his movie Flaming Star in which the singer plays a half–breed …

1964, following a flight from L.A. to Houston during which Brian Wilson suffered a mental collapse, the Beach Boy gives up touring … he is replaced on tour by studio musician Glen Campbell …

1967, Grateful Dead soundman and pharmacist to the Love Generation, Owsley Stanley, is busted with 350,000 doses of LSD … in his defense, Stanley maintains the psychedelics were for his personal use … the judge thinks he’s tripping and Stanley gets three years in the slammer …

1969, Elton John and Bernie Taupin form one of the most successful songwriting teams of the 20th century …

1975, Ike and Tina Turner are robbed of a suitcase filled with concert receipts totaling $86,000 …

1977, Cat Stevens converts to Islam and changes his name to Yusuf Islam …

1978, Rod Stewart releases “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” … apparently someone does, because the song quickly soars to No. 1 on the pop chart … this same week the Who’s drummer slot, recently and tragically vacated by Keith Moon, is amply filled by Kenny Jones …

1985, Minutemen guitarist Dennis Boon dies when the tour van piloted by his girlfriend veers off a road in Arizona … the vehicle had previously been owned by the Meat Puppets …

1992, guitarist Eddie Hazel dies after years of alcohol and drug abuse … influenced by Jimi Hendix, Hazel was part of the funk band Parliament–Funkadelic … his blazing 10–minute guitar solo on “Maggot Brain” in which his amp’s speaker can be heard self–destructing is revered by psychedelic guitarists and was played at Hazel’s funeral …

1996, crooner Tony Bennett has just arrived at the White House for a holiday dinner with the Clintons when he suffers an erupted hernia and is rushed to a hospital where he undergoes emergency surgery …

1998, two of Charlie Daniels’ backup players demonstrate an extraordinary work ethic when they schedule surgeries to coincide with their boss’s appointment for knee surgery … all three go under the knife on the same day in the same hospital in order to minimize show cancellations … bassist Jerry Charlie Hayward has a tonsillectomy while drummer Jack Gavin has shoulder surgery …

1999, former singing cowboy Rex Allen is killed when his caregiver accidentally runs him over in the driveway of his Tucson home … meanwhile in Sicily, the Goo Goo Dolls nearly bite the big one when the military transport they’re flying in skids off a runway damaging its landing gear and a wing, obliging the Goo Goos to beat a hasty retreat via an emergency chute …

2000, the British music journal Melody Maker prints its final issue after continuous publication since 1926 …

2004, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan sue the Applebee’s restaurant chain over an ad which modified lyrics to their 1967 hit “Happy Together” … in the ad, the words “Imagine me and you, I do/I think about you day and night, it’s only right” become “Imagine steak and shrimp, or shrimp and steak/Imagine both of these on just one plate” … according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court, the pair argue the changes transformed “a sweet love song [in]to a crass paean to shrimp and steak combination plates” …

2005, U2 wraps a 118–date world tour with a show in Portland, OR … rated among the band’s best tours ever by fans, the shows brought in $260 million, a sum only exceeded by the Rolling Stones … Evanescence (you remember them, right?) lead singer Amy Lee files suit against her ex–manager Dennis Rider charging he sexually assaulted and swindled her … her suit also claims conflict of interest since Rider also represents her former bandmate and paramour, Ben Moody … in other news, Microsoft and MTV announce they are joining forces to launch Urge, a new online music store intended to compete with Apple’s iTunes … the service will not be compatible with iPods … the partners pull the plug in 2007 when the service fails to gain traction and MTV affiliates with the Rhapsody digital download store …

2006, The Complete Motown Singles – Vol. 6: 1966 is released … included are two tracks cut by The Mynah Birds, an unsung R&B outfit with the unlikely combination of Rick James on vocals and future Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young and Bruce Palmer providing backing … the tunes were originally shelved following James’ bust for going AWOL from the navy …

… David Gilmour releases a three–song EP as a tribute to recently deceased former Pink Floyd bandmate Syd Barrett … two interpretations of Barrett’s “Arnold Layne” are included …

2007, Willie Nelson appears in an anti–dogfighting TV spot … the ad runs just as Atlanta Falcons football star Michael Vick is about to be sentenced on dogfighting–related charges … Willie also appears this same month on the cover of High Times magazine fondling a hank of his favorite herb … this just eight months after Willie’s pot–possession bust in Louisiana …

2008, put Slipknot’s Corey Taylor down as a confirmed Coldplay hater … the masked metal man, commenting on the British band’s album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, calls it “one of the most self–celebratory pieces of s**t I’ve ever f***ing heard in my entire f***ing life” … c’mon Corey, tell us how you really feel …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

December 17: Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler (1894), pop singer Tommy Steele (1936), New Orleans singer–keyboardist Art Neville (1938), New Orleans R&B pianist James Booker (1939), Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations (1939), Chicago harp player Paul Butterfield (1942), Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers (1949), drummer Carlton Barrett of The Wailers (1950), Wanda Hutchinson of The Emotions (1951), Mike Mills of R.E.M. (1956), Bob Stinson of The Replacements (1959), Sarah Dallin of Bananarama (1961), Craig “DJ Homicide” Bullock of Sugar Ray (1972)

December 18: swing bandleader Fletcher Henderson (1897), blues guitarist Pee Wee Crayton (1914), Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler (1938), Keith Richards (1943), Elliot Easton of The Cars (1953), Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth (1954), DMX (1970), DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit (1972), Christina Aguilera (1980)

December 19: Edith Piaf (1915), alto sax man and singer Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson (1917), New Orleans piano pioneer Professor Longhair aka Henry Roeland (Roy) Byrd (1918), activist–folkie Phil Ochs (1940), Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White (1941), blues–rock guitarist Alvin Lee (1944), The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Zal Yanofsky (1944), John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1945), Doug Johnson of Loverboy (1957), Australian bassist Tracy Pew (1957), Kajagoogoo’s Limahl (1958), Charles “Mercury” Nelson of Force M.D.s (1964), Kevin Shepard of Zoo Story (1968)

December 20: New Orleans pianist Cousin Joe (1907), blues guitarist Auburn “Pat” Hare (1930), Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer Bobby Colomby (1944), Peter Criss of Kiss (1947), Easybeats singer Stevie Wright (1948), British punk–protest singer Billy Bragg (1957), Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes (1966), R&B singer JoJo (1990)

December 21: seminal bluesman Peetie Wheatstraw born William Bunch (1902), jazz and R&B saxophonist Hank Crawford (1934), Frank Zappa (1940), Ray Hildebrand of the ’60s vocal duo Paul and Paula (1940), Brit fingerpicking guitar hero Albert Lee (1943), Beach Boy Carl Wilson (1946), The Rumour’s Martin Belmont (1948), singer–songwriter Nick Gilder (1951), Jellybean Benitez (1951), cleanup woman Betty Wright (1953), Gabriel Glaser of Luscious Jackson (1965), Brett Scallions of Fuel (1971)

December 22: composer Giacomo Puccini (1858), Austin bluesman T.D. Bell AKA Little T–Bone (1922), bluesman Alvin “Shine” Robinson (1937), Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew (1941), The Animals’ Barry Jenkins (1944), Maurice and Robin Gibb (1949), Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilsen (1954), bass player John Patitucci (1959)

December 23: country singer Harold Dorman (1926), R&B singer Esther Phillips (1935), Eugene Record of The Chi–Lites (1940), Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (1940), singer–songwriter Tim Hardin (1941), Harry Shearer aka Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap (1943), Spooky Tooth’s Luther Grosvenor (1949), Adrian Belew of King Crimson (1949), Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray (1958), Will Sin of The Shamen (1960), Slash (1965), Eddie Vedder (1966)

Departures:

December 17: pianist Oscar Peterson (2007), Atlantic Records producer Joel Dorn (2007), opera diva Martha Moedl (2001), singer Bianca Halstead of Betty Blowtorch (2001), smoove saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. (1999), producer Andy Wiswell (1999), singing cowboy Rex Allen Sr. (1999), Irish singer Ruby Murray (1996), Pilot keyboardist Billy Lyall (1989), Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams (1982), master of the slide–guitar boogie Theodore “Hound Dog” Taylor (1975)

December 18: English singer–songwriter Clifford T. Ward (2001), folk and pop singer Kirsty MacColl (2000), reggae singer and Bob Marley mentor Joe Higgs (1999), long–time James Brown guitarist Jimmy “Chank” Nolen (1983), New Colony Six bassist Les Kummel (1978), The Manhattans’ George “Smitty” Smith (1970), Blind Lemon Jefferson (1929), master lutheir Antonio Stradivari (1737)

December 19: Roebuck “Pops” Staples (2000), jazz bassist and photographer Milt Hinton (2000), 10,000 Maniacs guitarist Robert Buck (2000), Sony founder Masaru Ibuka (1997), Muddy Waters sideman Jimmy Rogers (1997), The Byrds’ Michael Clarke (1993)

December 20: Tejano singing star Lydia Mendoza (2007), The Dave Clark Five’s sax and harmonica player Denny Payton (2006), bluesman Son Seals (2004), Spanish singer Carlos Cano (2000), country singer Hank Snow (1999), drummer Nicky Hammerhead (1992), pop singer Bobby Darin (1973), Charlie Burse of the Memphis Jug Band (1965)

December 21: British country singer Karl Denver (1998), jazz trumpeter Johnny Coles (1997), bassist Charlie Tumahai of Be–Bop Deluxe (1995), blues–guitar master Albert King (1992), Paul Jeffries of Cockney Rebel (1988), original No Doubt vocalist John Spence (1987), blues pianist Peetie Wheatstraw (1941)

December 22: country singer Dave Dudley (2003), Lawrence Berk, founder of Berklee College of Music (1995), Dennis Boon of The Minutemen (1985), classic blues diva Ma Rainey born Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett (1939)

December 23: composer and classical guitarist John Duarte (2004), Jackie Landry of The Chantels (1997), singer Carl Hogan of the Valentines (1997), British jazz musician and club owner Ronnie Scott (1996), studio guitarist Dan Hamilton (1994), songwriter Jimmy Silva (1994), Eddie Hazel of Parliament–Funkadelic (1992)