This is the week that was in matters musical…
1937, the legendary Golden Gate Quartet cuts a mind-blowing 14 gospel tracks in two hours during a Charlotte, North Carolina, recording session …
1955, Ted McCarty, working for Gibson, is given patent #2,714,326 by the U.S. Patent Office for his design for “Stringed Musical Instrument Of The Guitar Type And Combined Bridge And Tailpiece Therefor,” the one-piece adjustable bridge/tailpiece for the Gibson Les Paul solidbody guitar …
1956, the Platters become the first black group to have a number-one pop hit when “My Prayer” reaches the top spot on the Billboard chart …
1958, The Teddy Bears’ aching teen ballad “To Know Him is To Love Him” is released … a singer in the group, Phil Spector (on the right in video below) produces the session … the song title is reportedly taken from his late father’s headstone …
… Billboard publishes its first Hot 100 chart … Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” nails the top spot …
1960, when the scheduled vocalist fails to show for a recording session, producer Ike Turner presses his wife Tina into service on the track, “A Fool in Love” … much sampled by modern hip-hop and R&B acts, the single will be the first of 20 Hot 100 hits produced by the contentious couple … this same day future soul star Aretha Franklin cuts her first secular sides …
1965, The Beatles’ second feature film, Help, debuts in London with that pretty nice girl Queen Elizabeth in attendance …
1966, Bob Dylan suffers major injuries when the brakes on his Triumph motorcycle lock up near his home in Woodstock, New York … though the exact nature of his injuries are never disclosed, it is clear that he suffered a broken neck and used his lengthy convalescence to marshal his artistic resources … reflecting on the wreck later, Dylan says, “When I had that motorcycle accident … I woke up and caught my senses, I realized that I was just workin’ for all these leeches. And I really didn’t want to do that.” …
1967, Pandora’s Box, the hippie nightspot on the Sunset Strip, feels the wrath of the wrecking ball in the wake of teenage riots the previous year … local politicos say the club played a big role in turning West Hollywood into a teenage wasteland … a fan stows away on The Monkees’ tour plane … the girl’s father vows to have charges brought against the band for transporting a minor across state lines …
1968, The Beatles enter the studio to cut “Hey Jude” … the song will top the Hot 100 Chart for nine weeks and become The Beatles’ biggest hit …
1969, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is indicted for draft-dodging after he fails to show up for work as a hospital orderly in lieu of military service …
1971, George Harrison organizes the Concert for Bangladesh to help war victims of the South Asian country … the stellar lineup includes Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members of Badfinger …
1975, Robert Plant and his family are injured in an auto wreck on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes …
1979, a benefit is held this week for the widow and children of late Little Feat singer Lowell George … members of Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Nicolette Larson, Emmylou Harris, and Bonnie Raitt are among the performers … George died of an accidental overdose while on tour with Little Feat a month earlier …
1980, the FBI arrests John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas on cocaine charges … he is later sentenced to five years hard time but dodges prison by delivering 250 hours of anti-drug lectures as an alternative sentence …
1981, MTV bursts onto the airwaves by broadcasting The Buggles’ somewhat prophetic “Video Killed the Radio Star” …
1984, Prince’s album Purple Rain begins a 24-week run at the top of the album charts … the album will sell 10 million copies …
1990, during a New Kids on the Block concert in Montreal, armed robbers make off with souvenir-stand proceeds totaling $260,000 …
1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley announce they were secretly married in the Dominican Republic 11 weeks earlier … the union will last for 21 months …
1996, Aerosmith cans their manager Tim Collins saying they’re tired of constant pressure to get involved in social causes he’s committed to … Oasis roadie James Hunter is crushed to death when he’s caught between a forklift and truck …
1998, in San Fernando, California, Grammy-winning gospel singer Sandra Crouch is ordained as a minister of the Christ Memorial Church … ordained by her twin brother Andrae, also a gospel star, the pair defy Church of God in Christ rules that forbid female ministers …
1999, after running into legal roadblocks, the leading record labels drop their suit against Diamond Multimedia, makers of the Rio MP3 music player … they had charged that the device would encourage online piracy …
2001, rap group D12 executes a brutal attack on Detroit rap rivals Esham and T.N.T. during a Warped Tour stop in Camden, New Jersey … T.N.T. is bruised and cut while Esham suffers a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, concussion, and hearing damage … D12 is promptly kicked off the tour … that same day in L.A., 300 fortunate Foo Fighters fans are treated to a rare club gig when the band plays the legendary Troubador … attendees are chosen from entries emailed to the Fighters’ website …
2004, Simon and Garfunkel play a free concert in Rome for 600,000 lucky Italians …
2005, newly-unearthed documents relating to Mick Jagger’s drug bust in 1969 reveal that the Stones singer had alleged he was framed and that a cop planted heroin in his home offering to quash the charges if Jagger paid £1,000 … at the time his allegations were swept aside and he was ultimately fined £200 for pot possession …
2006, a court awards Jimi Hendrix’s stepsister control of the late great guitarist’s estate, cutting out his brother Leon … this comes after years of legal wrangling between the family members … Bono, along with five partners, buys a 40-percent stake in Forbes magazine for a reported $250-300 million … A 30-year-old man is beaten to death at the Atlanta stop of the ironically titled Family Values tour led by Korn … the victim was attempting to protect a pregnant friend from two unruly fans … a suspect is arrested a week later … in England the long-running Brit TV pop music show Top of the Pops breathes its last gasp … the show had aired on the BBC continuously since 1964 … on the domestic dissolution front, Travis Barker files a divorce suit against Shanna Moakler, his wife of two years and former Miss USA … and keeping up with the Barkers, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes and his missus, actress Kate Hudson, file for divorce …
2007, when a ballsy female concertgoer reaches out and grabs Tim McGraw’s nether regions at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, his missus, Faith Hill, tells the errant fan in no uncertain terms that that sort of behavior is frowned upon in them there parts (no pun intended) …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
July 29: revolutionary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian (1916), guitar amp maker Jim Marshall (1929), Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon (1946), Geddy Lee (1953), Patti Scialfa of the E Street Band (1956), John Sykes of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy (1959), country singer Martina McBride (1966), Chris Gorman of Belly (1967), Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men (1972)
July 30: blistering blues guitarist Buddy Guy (1936), Paul Anka (1941), saxophonist David Sanborn (1945), Marc Bolan (1947), The Sweet’s Andy Scott (1949), Stewart Copeland (1952), Rat Scabies of The Damned, born Chris Miller (1957), Kate Bush (1958), Brad Hargraves of Third Eye Blind (1972)
July 31: Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac (1946), Karl Green of Herman’s Hermits (1946), singer Gary Lewis (1946), ELO’s Hugh MacDowell (1953), Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets (1957), Bill Berry of R.E.M. (1958), Norman Cook of The Housemartins (1963), Fatboy Slim (1963), Coldplay’s Will Champion (1978)
August 1: Francis Scott Key (1778), Piano Slim aka Robert T. Smith (1928), Ramblin’ Jack Elliot born Elliott Charles Adnopoz (1931), Jerry Garcia (1942), Geoff Britton of Wings (1943), Boz Burrell of Bad Company (1946), Rick Anderson of The Tubes (1947), Rick Coonce of The Grass Roots (1947), Tommy Bolin (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), BTO’s Tim Bachman (1951), bluesman Robert Cray (1953), Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (1960), Public Enemy’s Chuck D (1960), Coolio (1963), Adam Duritz of Counting Crows (1964), Ashley Angel of O-Town (1981)
August 2: big band singer Helen Morgan (1900), “Big” Walter Price (1917), country singer Hank Walters (1933), country star Hank Cochran (1935), Garth Hudson of The Band (1937), Edward Patten of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1939), Doris Coley Kenner of The Shirelles (1941), guitarist Larry Coryell (1943), steel guitarist Hank DeVito (1948), guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low (1948), Fat Larry (1949), Ted Turner of Wishbone Ash (1950), Clive Wright of Cock Robin (1953), Apollonia born Patricia Kotero (1961), Pete De Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen (1961), Zelma Davis of C+C Music Factory (1970)
August 3: Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence (1910), Tony Bennett (1926), blues harp player Alex Randall (1934), Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires (1935), Roscoe Mitchell of The Art Ensemble of Chicago (1940), Beverly Lee of The Shirelles (1941), B. B. Dickerson of War (1949), John Graham of Earth, Wind & Fire (1951) guitarist Steve Hillage (1951), Andrew Gold (1951), James Hetfield of Metallica (1963), Ed Roland of Collective Soul (1963), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966)
August 4: Louis Armstrong (1901), Frankie Ford (1939), David Carr of The Fortunes (1940), Timi Yuro (1940), Klaus Schultze of Tangerine Dream (1947), Paul Layton of The New Seekers (1947), Clannad’s Máire Ní Bhraonáin (1952), Mark O’Connor (1962), Paul Reynolds of A Flock of Seagulls (1962), Jody Turner of Rock Goddess (1963), Immature’s Marques Houston (1981)
Departures:
July 29: jazz bassist Art Davis (2007), Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites (2005), Al McKibbon, jazz bassist with Dizzy Gillespie (2005), Anita Carter of the Carter Sisters (1999), Rare Earth percussionist Eddie Guzman (1993), pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake (1988), Gordon Mills, manager and songwriter for Tom Jones (1986), singer Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas (1979)
July 30: swing & bebop saxophonist Eli “Lucky” Thompson (2005), Sun Studios founder Sam Phillips (2003), Rob Jones of Wonder Stuff (1993), sax man Donald Myrick (1993), guitarist and vocalist Glenn Goins (1978)
July 31: Jim Reeves (1964), Jim Reeves’ pianist-manager Dean Manuel (1964)
August 1: Irish singer Tommy Makem of The Clancy Brothers (2007), pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1997), Joe “The Honeydripper” Liggins (1987), rockabilly pioneer Johnny Burnette (1964)
August 2: Ron Towson of The 5th Dimension (2001), Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1997), Motown bassist James Jamerson (1983), former Pink Floyd road manager Peter “Puddy” Watts (1976), Brian Cole of The Association (1972)
August 3: Arthur Lee (2006), reedman Bob Tate (1993), Don Lang of The Frantic Five (1992), Richard Nickens of The Eldorados (1991)
August 4: Lee Hazlewood (2007), classical and rock violinist Monroe Clark (2006), R&B/blues singer-guitarist “Little” Milton Campbell (2005), jazz singer Jeri Southern (1991), pop impresario Larry Parnes (1989)