This is the week that was in matters musical…
1935, the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley, is born in Tupelo, Mississippi …
1954, Muddy Waters records "I’m Your Hootchie–Cootchie Man" at Chess Records in Chicago …
1955, Etta James releases her first hit, "Wallflower" …
1956, Elvis Presley records "Heartbreak Hotel" in a two–day session at a converted church in Nashville, Tennessee … in addition to bassist Bill Black and guitarist Scotty Moore, RCA producer Steve Sholes hires drummer DJ Fontana, guitarist Chet Atkins, piano player Floyd Cramer, and a gospel vocal trio … because Elvis is jumping around so much, Sholes places three microphones around the singer to make sure his vocal is captured …
1958, The Five Royales’ "Dedicated to the One I Love" is released … three years later the Shirelles will take it to #3 … in 1967 The Mamas & The Papas revive the tune one more time scoring a #2 hit …
1959, Berry Gordy borrows the staggering sum of $800 for the purpose of starting Motown records, which will become one of the most successful and influential labels of the 20th century …
1962, "The Twist" by Chubby Checker tops the charts … the song was written and first recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters …
1963, Bob Dylan performs in a radio play aired by the BBC called The Madhouse of Castle Street … yielding to typecasting, he plays a folk singer … Gary "U.S." Bonds brings a $100,000 suit against Chubby Checker, claiming Checker plagiarized "Quarter to Three" and turned it into "Dancin’ Party" … the case is settled out of court …
1964, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire becomes the first country LP to top the Billboard pop chart …
1965, the musical–variety show Hullabaloo premiers on the NBC network … each week the show is hosted by a revolving cast including Sammy Davis Jr. and Frankie Avalon … recording sessions begin at Columbia studios in New York City for Bob Dylan’s fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home … the album will feature one side of acoustic songs and one side with (yikes!) a band … the album includes Dylan’s first charting single, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" …
1966, the last episode of ABC–TV’s Shindig! airs featuring The Kinks and The Who … the show was among the first prime–time programs to feature rock acts …
1967, the first Be–In takes place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park … the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Timothy Leary, and poet Allen Ginsburg entertain and inform … the gatherings of the incense–and–sandals set go on to become a Bay–Area fixture …
1968, underground San Francisco station KMPX holds a "grass ballot" election in which listeners vote for national officeholders … Bob Dylan is named president, Paul Butterfield gets the nod as VP, George Harrison is voted U.N. ambassador, the Jefferson Airplane are named Secretary of Transportation, and the Grateful Dead are voted the new attorney general … London’s Daily Mirror reports that Jimi Hendrix has moved into a townhouse where Handel was said to have composed the Messiah … the guitar master tells a reporter he plans to do his own composing there and "not let the tradition down" …
1969, while shooting the TV show Get Back, George Harrison announces that he is leaving The Beatles … commenting on this turn of events, Ringo says, "George had to leave because he thought that Paul was dominating him. Well, he was." … many think that Yoko Ono’s often–intrusive presence plays a role in the "quiet Beatles’" decision …
1970, Max Yasgur, whose farm was the site of the Woodstock Festival, is sued for $35,000 by neighbors charging property damage …
1973, due to a 1969 drug charge, Mick Jagger is refused a Japanese visa, upsetting the Stones’ plans to tour Asia … queried about his drug use by a reporter, Jagger says, "I don’t take drugs. I don’t approve of drugs and I don’t approve of people taking drugs, unless they’re very careful" …
1977, Keith Richards wins one … he is acquitted of possession of LSD charges … he also loses one, being found guilty of cocaine possession … charges stem from the discovery of the illegal substance in a car he wrecked on May 19, 1976 … The Ramones release their second album, Leave Home …
GABBA GABBA HEY
1978, at the request of a fan, rocker Ted Nugent inscribes his autograph in the man’s arm using a Bowie knife …
1981, Eagles Live goes platinum … the double LP proves to be the band’s final release until their 1994 comeback album Hell Freezes Over … John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s LP Double Fantasy goes platinum just over a month after Lennon’s murder …
1990, Mr. Blackwell gives top dishonors to Sinead O’Connor as the worst–dressed woman on his annual diss list … he refers to the Irish singer as "the bald–headed banshee of MTV" …
1992, Paul Simon is the first international star to perform in South Africa following the end of the U.N.’s cultural boycott … in the 1980s the singer–songwriter had been subjected to criticism for going to South Africa to record his groundbreaking record Graceland during the apartheid era …
1993, the U.S. Postal Service releases a first–class stamp bearing the likeness of the 1950s–era Elvis … the USPS had asked the public to choose between that image and a portrait of an older, plumper King … the younger, svelter version won hands down …
1994, Nirvana play their last U.S. show at Center Arena in Seattle …
2000, the renowned Chicago club Lounge Axe goes out in a blaze of glory with a surprise appearance by Wilco … the alt–country quartet plays a two–and–a–half–hour set before a standing–room–only crowd … fans queue up for over seven hours to catch the band …
2003, as part of a sting on users of an Internet child porn site, Pete Townshend is arrested at his home and his computer is seized … the irony is that Townshend is an activist against child pornography and foolishly used his credit card to access the site as part of his research for a book on child abuse … no child porn is found on Townshend’s computer or in his house … he is given a reprimand and released …
2005, the Liverpool orphanage commemorated in the 1967 Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever" closes as a children’s center … John Lennon played on the grounds of the Salvation Army facility during his childhood … reports surface that Rita Marley plans to exhume her late husband Bob’s remains and relocate them to his "spiritual resting place" in Ethiopia … the Marley Foundation later clarifies that while Bob loved Ethiopia and Rita would someday love to see him laid to rest there, her words had been "twisted" and there are no plans to relocate his remains …
2007, the home of ?, singer with legendary ’60s garage band ? and the Mysterians, suffers the loss of his Clio, Michigan home when it burns to the ground … more than four decades’ worth of memorabilia is destroyed … Queen Elizabeth gives Bono an honorary knighthood for his humanitarian efforts joining the ranks of other rock peerage including Sirs Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney and Commanders Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart …
2008, Ron Wood undergoes surgery to repair a hernia he suffered in 2007 on the Bigger Bang tour … Eddie Vedder wins a Golden Globe award for "Guaranteed," a song he wrote for Sean Penn’s film Into the Wild
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
January 7: flutist Jean–Pierre Rampal (1922), Lefty Baker of Spanky and Our Gang (1942), Paul Revere Dick of Paul Revere and the Raiders (1942), Kenny Loggins (1948), Kathy Valentine of The Go–Gos (1959)
January 8: guitarist Luther Perkins of Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Three (1928), legendary rock concert promoter Bill Graham (1931), Elvis Presley (1935), pop singer Shirley Bassey (1937), R&B/soul singer Little Anthony (1940), Marcus Hutson of The Whispers (1943), Robbie Krieger of The Doors (1946), David Bowie (1947), Terry Sylvester of The Hollies (1947), Mike Reno of Loverboy (1955), Wall of Voodoo guitarist Marc Moreland (1958), R. Kelly (1967), Jeff Abercrombie of Fuel (1969), dancehall musician Sean Paul (1975)
January 9: Mississippi Delta bluesman Ishmon Bracey (1901), Al Silver, owner of New York doo–wop and R&B labels Herald and Ember (1914), Joan Baez (1941), singer Roy Head (1943), The Manhattan’s Kenneth Kelly (1943), Jimmy Page (1944), Steeleye Span’s Tim Hart (1948), Cassie Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1948), David Johansen of The New York Dolls (1950), sountry songstress Crystal Gayle (1951), Eric Erlandson of Hole (1963), Carl Bell of Fuel (1967), Dave Matthews (1967), Steve Harwell of Smash Mouth (1967), A.J. McLean of The Backstreet Boys (1978)
January 10: jazz/blues pianist Buddy Johnson (1915), Aretha Franklin producer Jerry Wexler (1918), masterful be–bop drummer Max Roach (1924), pop crooner Johnnie Ray (1927), Domenico Modungo of "Volare" fame (1928), swamp rocker Ronnie Hawkins (1935), Scott McKenzie aka Philip Blondheim (1939), Jim Croce (1943), Rod Stewart (1945), legendary rock drummer Aynsley Dunbar (1946), Donald Fagen of Steely Dan (1948), Pat Benatar (1953), rock–guitar god Michael Schenker (1955), Shawn Colvin (1956), Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies (1964), Aerle Taree of Arrested Development (1973), Chris Smith aka Kris Kross (1979)
January 11: Texas Playboys vocalist Tommy Duncan (1911), Chuck Barksdale of The Dells (1935), country/pop singer–songwriter Bobby Goldsboro (1941), singer Don Cherry (1924), bluesman Slim Harpo born James Moore (1924), E Street Band saxophonist "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons (1942), Janice Pought of The Bobettes (1945), Naomi Judd (1946), "Captain Fingers" Lee Ritenour (1952), Vicki Peterson of The Bangles (1960), guitarist Tom Dumont of No Doubt (1968), Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands (1971), Mary J. Blige (1971)
January 12: bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell (1904), country singer Tex Ritter born Woodward Maurice Ritter (1905), country/western singer Ray Price (1926), folk singer Glenn Yarbrough (1930), Oak Ridge Boy William Lee Golden (1939), British bluesman Long John Baldry, who launched the career of Rod Stewart (1941), Sly & The Family Stone trumpeter Cynthia Robinson (1946), Chris Bell of Big Star (1951), Charlie Gillingham of Counting Crows (1960), Rob Zombie (1966), Raekwon of Wu Tang Clan (1968), Melanie Chisholm aka Sporty Spice of the Spice Girls (1974)
January 13: singer/actress Sophie Tucker (1884), Modern Records founder Lester Sill (1918), British music publisher David Platz (1929), singer Bobby Lester of The Moonglows (1932), The Dells’ original lead singer Johnny Funches (1935), Trevor Rabin of Yes (1954), Earth, Wind, and Fire drummer Fred White (1955), guitarist Tim Kelly of Slaughter (1963), Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine (1970)
Departures:
January 7: Bernice Petkere, "Queen of Tin Pan Alley" (2000), legendary Nashville producer Owen Bradley (1998), lead singer/songwriter for The Rivingtons Carl White (1980), pioneering British blues harp player Cyril Davies (1964)
January 8: Allman Brothers guitar tech/Grinderswitch bassist Joe Dan Petty (2000), Louisiana bluesman Silas Hogan (1994), Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark (1991), New Orleans pianist Archibald born Leon T. Gross (1973)
January 9: British pop/rock singer Dave Dee (2009), smooth–voiced soul/jazz singer Lou Rawls (2006), Lynne Denicker of The Aquatones (2001), Howie Johnson, original drummer for The Ventures (1998)
January 10: Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden (2005), guitarist Bryan Gregory of The Cramps (2001), Creation singer Kenny Pickett (1997), Beach Blanket Bingo lyricist Guy Bonson Hemric (1993), Addie (Micki) McFadden of the Shirelles (1982), Howlin’ Wolf (1976), organist Earl Grant (1970)
January 11: psychobilly drummer Andy DeMize (2009), Jimmy Griffin, co–founder of Bread (2005), percussionist and former T. Rex sideman Mickey Finn (2003), Sean McDonald, singer and guitar player with Surgery (1995), Barry Kramer, founder of Creem magazine (1981)
January 12: harpist/keyboardist Alice Coltrane (2007), singer Randy VanWarmer (2004), Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees (2003), Brazilian composer–guitarist Luis Bonfa (2001), Robert Peterson, Grateful Dead songwriter (1987)
January 13: saxophonist Michael Brecker (2007), Brian Keenan, drummer with the Chambers Brothers Band (1985), soul singer–songwriter Donny Hathaway (1979), Stephen Foster, "Father of American Music" (1864)