It happened this week

This is the week that was in matters musical…

1945, The Andrews Sisters’ “Rum & Coca Cola” is the #1 pop hit and will become the biggest seller of the year …

1956, Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on The Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show singing “Heartbreak Hotel”…

…The Coasters are signed to Atlantic Records … the doo-wop act goes on to score 19 hits in the ensuing 15 years including such novelty smashes as “Charlie Brown” and “Poison Ivy” …

1958, The Champs release “Tequila” which will become one of the more successful one-word songs …

…Little Richard announces that he is retiring from music at the peak of his popularity to become a minister … the pomaded rocker will flip-flop between his sacred and profane predilections in the coming years …

1959, the world of pop music takes a big hit when a small plane crashes into an Iowa cornfield killing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson … the three pop stars, who were in the midst of a tour dubbed the Winter Dance Party, had chartered the plane to get to their next gig in Fargo, North Dakota, as an alternative to making the long haul in their tour bus with its defective heater … spared in the tragedy was bassist Waylon Jennings who gave up his seat on the plane …

1961, Bob Dylan cuts his first record, “San Francisco Bay Blues” …

1965, Rocker P.J. Proby splits his pants during a Luton show … the incident gets a big reaction from the crowd and Proby makes the ripping riff a permanent part of his act, though it led to performance bans by the ABC theatre chain, its TV namesake and BBC TV …

1967, British pop producer Joe Meek, who developed many innovative recording techniques, fatally shotguns his landlady following an argument, then turns the gun on himself with equally deadly results … while browsing in a London antique shop, John Lennon comes across a 19th-century circus poster that incorporates most of what will become the lyrics of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” …

1969, The Beatles, with Billy Preston joining them on organ, perform in public as a group for the last time on the roof of the Apple Studios building … the filmed rooftop concert ends after four songs when police show up on a noise complaint from the neighbours …

1972, more than 40,000 mourners file past Mahalia Jackson’s coffin to pay final respects to the renowned gospel singer who died four days earlier … at her funeral the next day, Sammy Davis Jr. reads a letter from President Nixon and Aretha Franklin sings “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” …

1973, keyboardist Keith Emerson’s hands are injured when a piano that’s been rigged with pyrotechnics explodes prematurely during an Emerson, Lake and Palmer concert in San Francisco … Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” goes to #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart … it’s the singer’s first visit to the top of the U.S. chart … NBC debuts TV’s first rock concert series, Midnight Special … the show’s announcer is gravel-throated DJ Wolfman Jack and each episode features a guest host … the show will air through 1981 … KISS performs their first show at the Coventry Club in Queens … they have yet to develop their trademark look … Paul Stanley will later characterize the band’s appearance as a New York Dolls look …

1977, Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green is dispatched to the funny farm following an incident in which he attacked an accountant attempting to deliver a royalty check for $30,000 … turns out Green didn’t want the green …

1980, commemorating the first anniversary of Sid Vicious’ death, 1,000 punks stage a march in London … the dead Sex Pistol’s mother, Ann Beverly, had been slated to head the parade, but she’s in hospital recovering from a drug overdose …

1985, the single “We Are The World” is recorded in L.A. by 46 rock stars led by Michael Jackson to raise money for charity …

1988, The Cars reach the end of the road …

1991, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor is nominated in four Grammy categories and announces that she won’t accept any awards saying the show reflects “false and destructive, materialistic values” …

1993, graphic artist Reid Miles dies at 65 … he designed iconic album covers for Blue Note Records in the ’50s and ’60s and his style has been copped by many others …

2004, James Brown is arrested on charges of domestic violence for pushing his wife to the floor during an argument … he later pleads no contest…

2006, a letter written by Don Law, the producer of Robert Johnson’s 1936 and 1937 San Antonio recording sessions is unearthed providing and confirming valuable details of the enigmatic blues pioneer’s sessions … the management firm representing singer Avril Lavigne provides defense money for an Arlington, TX man who has been sued by the recording industry for sharing downloaded music …among the songs involved is Lavigne’s own “Sk8er Boi” …

2009, Metal band Iron Maiden is going soft … that is, if you go by the hotel in London they’re financing … the posh Sanctum Soho features a 24-hour bar, a rooftop hot tub, and mini-bars built inside amp stacks … trashing of rooms by naughty rockers is neither encouraged nor discouraged …

…and that was the week that was in matters musical.

Arrivals:

January 28: piano virtuoso Arthur Rubinstein (1887), songwriter Irving Gordon (1915), British jazzman and club owner Ronnie Scott (1927), clarinetist Mr. Acker Bilk (1929), bluesman David “Junior” Kimbrough (1930), dub producer King Tubby (1941), Brian Keenan of the Chambers Brothers (1944), Dick Taylor of The Pretty Things (1944), Nedra Talley of The Ronettes (1946), Rick Allen of The Box Tops (1946), Mountain’s Corky Laing (1948), The Alarm’s Dave Sharp (1959), Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan (1968), rapper Rakim (1968), Cypress Hill’s Muggs (1968), Joey Fatone of *NSYNC (1977), Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys (1980)

January 29: Huddie Ledbetter AKA Lead Belly (1889), Chicago bluesman Eddie Taylor (1923), masterful Motown bassist James Jamerson (1936), jazz pianist Bobby Scott (1937), Peter Cowap of Herman’s Hermits (1944), David Byron of Uriah Heep (1947), Tommy Ramone of the Ramones (1949), Louie Perez of Los Lobos (1953), rapper Mitch McDowell of General Kane (1954), Eddie Jackson of Queensryche (1961)

January 30: R&B singer Ruth Brown (1928), Mississippi bluesman Big Jack Johnson (1940), Joe Terry of Danny & the Juniors (1941), Marty Balin of The Jefferson Airplane (1942), Sandy Yaguda of Jay & the Americans (1943), Steve Marriott of Small Faces and Humble Pie (1947), William King of the Commodores (1949), Mary Ross of Quarterflash (1951), Steve Bartek of OingoBoingo (1952), Shalamar’s Jody Watley (1959), Jonny Lang (1981)

January 31: Franz Schubert (1979), vaudeville favorite Eddie Cantor (1892), ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1915), singer Mario Lanza (1921), Broadway star Carol Channing (1923), Chuck Willis, R&B and rock singer-songwriter (1928), composer Phillip Glass (1937), harpmeister Charlie Musselwhite (1944), Chicago’s Terry Kath (1946), Harry Wayne Casey of K.C. & The Sunshine Band (1951), Phil Collins (1951), Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music (1951), harp player Paul deLay (1952), Johnny Lyden aka Johnny Rotten (1956), Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman (1964), Al Jaworski of Jesus Jones (1966), Jason Cooper of The Cure (1967), Justin Timberlake (1981)

February 1: rock music critic Lillian Roxon (1932), Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio (1934), Don Everly of The Everly Brothers (1937), Dr. Hook’s Ray Sawyer (1937), Jimmy Carl Black of The Mothers of Invention (1938), Rick James (1952), Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1954), Lisa Marie Presley (1968), Patrick Wilson of Weezer (1969), Outkast’s Big Boi (1975)

February 2: bluesman Walter Vinson (1901), saxophonist Red Prysock (1926), Stan Getz (1927), Skip Battin of The Byrds (1934), Clarence Quick of the Dell Vikings (1937), Graham Nash (1942), Ronnie Goodson of Ronnie and the Hi-Lites (1945), Howard Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers (1946), Peter Lucia of Tommy James and The Shondells (1947), Alan McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire (1948), Journey’s Ross Valory (1949), jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson (1951), Jeff Healy Band drummer Tom Stephen (1955), Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots (1966), Ben Mize of Counting Crows (1971), Shakira (1977)

February 3: romantic-era composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809), jazz saxophonist John Handy (1933), Apollo Theater regular Varetta Dillard (1933), Johnny “Guitar” Watson (1935), David Lerchey of the Dell-Vikings (1937), Angelo D’Aleo of Dion & The Belmonts (1940), Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart (1941), Eric Haydock of the Hollies (1943), Dennis Edwards of The Temptations (1943), Johnny Cymbal (1945), Dave Davies of The Kinks (1947), pop singer Melanie Safka (1947), Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth (1956), Tony Butler of Big Country (1957), Lol Tolhurst of The Cure (1959)

Departures:

January 28: Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi (2005), recording pioneer John Mosley (1996), D.O.A. drummer Ken Jensen (1995), Uriah Heep’s David Byron (1985), “British Elvis” Billy Fury (1983)

January 29: guitarist-singer-songwriter John Martyn (2009), jazz/R&B sax man Hank Crawford (2009), founder of The Quarry Men Eric Griffiths (2005), David Lerchey of The Dell-Vikings (2005), seminal blues bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon (1992), Herman “Sunny” Chaney of The Jaguars (1989), Sir Edward Lewis (1980), one-man-band Jesse “Lone Cat” Fuller (1976)

January 30: songwriter Julius Dixon (2004), jazz producer Bob Thiele (1996), bluesman Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins (1982), influential New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair, born Henry Roeland Byrd (1980), rockabilly singer Warren Smith (1980), songster Mance Lipscomb (1976)

January 31: Barbara Cowsill, mother of The Cowsills (1985), saxophonist Gregory Herbert, member of the 1978 incarnation of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1978), R&B singer-songwriter Buster Brown (1976), swamp bluesman Slim Harpo (1970)

February 1: singer Molly Bee (2009), songwriter John Jarrad (2001), Julius Wechter of Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass and The Baja Marimba Band (1999), Delta slide-guitarist Johnny Littlejohn (1994), Paul Robi, baritone singer with The Platters (1989), music publisher Dick James (1986), Ulysses “Ronnie” Hicks of The Five Keys (1955)

February 2: country harmonica player Terry McMillan (2007), Billy Henderson of the Spinners (2007), singer Eric von Schmidt, who influenced Bob Dylan (2007), Joe Hunter, pianist with The Funk Brothers, Motown’s in-house studio band (2007), James Blackwood, the “Frank Sinatra of Gospel,” (2002), songwriter Hal Blair (2001), David McComb of The Triffids (1999), jazz drummer and bandleader Mel Lewis (1990), Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion (1987), bluesman Sam Chatmon (1983), Sex Pistol Sid Vicious (1979)

February 3: pedal steel guitarist Tom Brumley (2009), saxman Cornelius Bumpus (2004), jazz trombonist James Louis “J.J.” Johnson (2001), R&B legend and dancer Gwen Guthrie (1999), session guitarist “Wild” Jimmy Spruill (1996), Max Yasgur, the dairy farmer who hosted the Woodstock festival (1973), Scottish rock singer Alex Harvey (1982), British pop producer Joe Meek (1967), Buddy Holly (1959), Ritchie Valens (1959), J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson (1959)

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