This is the week that was in matters musical …
1962, Ringo Starr joins the Beatles after former drummer Pete Best is let go … Ringo’s performing debut is at the Horticultural Society Dance in Birkenhead … The personnel change is not popular with many … When the remodeled Beatles appear at the Cavern, irate fans of Pete Best attack the band, giving George Harrison a nasty black eye that barely goes away in time for the band’s first photo shoot …
1967, The Doors begin laying tracks for their second album at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California.
1968, down and out in Chicago, a broke and destitute Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company reconsider an earlier offer they had initially passed on, signing on with Bob Shad’s Mainstream Records. Shad refuses to let the band in the studio during their album’s final mix … The record is not released until the band’s successful performance at the Montery Pop Festival the following year …
1969, The Woodstock Music and Art Festival is held on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York … nearly half a million gather to celebrate “3 Days of Peace and Music” (and mud, lots of mud) and enjoy performances by a Who’s Who of rock-and-roll, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ten Years After, and Jefferson Airplane … Joni Mitchell misses Woodstock when her manager books her on Dick Cavett’s TV show … The Canadian-born singer goes on to pen the seminal song about the festival, “Woodstock” … Mick Jagger is accidentally shot in the hand during the filming of Ned Kelly in Australia … his wound is not serious … Miles Davis goes into the studio in New York for the first sessions of the landmark album, Bitches Brew with Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Benny Maupin, John McLaughlin, Larry Young, Harvey Brooks, Lenny White, Don Alias, and Jumma Santos …
1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival starts a nine-week run at No.1 on the U.S. album chart with their fifth studio release Cosmo’s Factory. The name of the album stems from the warehouse in Berkeley where the band practiced. Bandleader John Fogerty’s insistence on constant rehearsals leads drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford to start referring to the place as “the factory.”
1970, Derek and the Dominoes perform at the Van Dike in Plymouth, England …
1972, Chicago starts a nine-week run at No.1 on the U.S. album charts with Chicago V … David Bowie plays the first of two nights at the Rainbow Theatre in England on his current 182-date Ziggy Stardust world tour …
1974, Led Zeppelin begin a 2-night stand at Pirates World in Dania, Florida. Also on the bill are The Royal Ascots, Brimstone and The Echo …
1980, Queen appears at The Spectrum in Philly …
1988, “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, and Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” are announced as the most played jukebox songs of the first hundred years. The jukebox has been around since 1906, but earlier models had been first seen in 1889 … “Crazy” is recorded during this week in 1961 by Cline, who tracked the Willie Nelson gem while on crutches due to injuries from a car crash in which she was thrown through the window …
1990, Garth Brook’s “Friends in Low Places” soars toward the #1 spot on the charts … the song will eventually receive the Country Music Association (CMA) Single of the Year Award
1997, U2 plays the first of two sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium, London, England, on their Pop Mart tour …
2003, Norwegian Elvis Presley impersonator Kjell Henning Bjoernestad sets a world record by singing the King’s hits nonstop for over 26 hours. The previous mark was set by British Elvis fan Gary Jay who sang for 25 hours 33 minutes and 30 seconds.
2006, a man in America looking at a webcam located in England foils three men who are breaking into a shop in Liverpool. The man is logged onto a site streaming live footage of Mathew Street, the site of an upcoming Beatles festival, when he sees the men smashing a shop window and climbing inside. He phones the Merseyside police who arrest the men.
2011, hot summer concert tickets include Lady Gaga, Kid Rock, Janet Jackson, Katy Perry, and Jimmy Buffet …
… and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 18: lyricist Otto Harbach (1873), folk singer Cisco Houston (1918), pop singer Johnny Preston (1939), Dennis Elliot of Foreigner (1950), Ron Stryker of Men at Work (1957), rapper-singer-songwriter Everlast, born Erik Schrody (1969)
August 19: jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles (1918), Cream drummer Ginger Baker (1939), singer Johnny Nash of “I Can See Clearly Now” fame (1940), vocalist Billy J. Kramer of the Dakotas (1943), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple (1945), Queen’s John Deacon (1951), country singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack (1966)
August 20: jazz trombonist-vocalist Jack Teagarden (1905), country singer Jim Reeves (1924), jazz guitarist Jimmy Raney (1927), Paul Robi of The Platters (1931), bluesman J.J. Malone (1935), country singer-songwriter Justin Tubb (1935), Isaac Hayes (1942), John Povey of The Pretty Things (1942), James Pankow of Chicago (1947), Robert Plant (1948), Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy (1951), Rudy Gatlin of The Gatlin Brothers (1952), Doug Fieger of The Knack (1952), singer-songwriter John Hiatt (1952), Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit (1970)
August 21: William “Count” Basie (1904), big-band singer Savannah Churchill (1920), gospel singer Clara Ward (1924), songwriter Carolyn Leigh (1926), Kenny Rogers (1938), country picker James Burton (1939), Tom Coster of Santana (1941), Harold W. Reid of The Statler Brothers (1939), Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (1952), Steve Smith of Journey (1954), Joe Strummer of The Clash (1955), Budgie—born Pete Clark—of Siouxsie and the Banshees (1957), Kim Sledge of Sister Sledge (1958), Liam Howlett of Prodigy (1971)
August 22: Claude Debussy (1862), classic blues singer Addie “Sweet Peas” Spivey (1910), pianist and bandleader Sonny Thompson (1916), John Lee Hooker (1917), Carolina Slim, born Edward P. Harris (1923), Bob Flanigan of The Four Freshmen (1926), producer Jerry Capehart (1928), Freddie Milano of The Belmonts (1939), Jackie De Shannon (1944), Donna Godchaux of The Grateful Dead (1947), Teresa Davis of The Emotions (1950), country chirper and writer Holly Dunn (1957), Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (1958), Debbi Peterson of The Bangles (1961), Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears (1961), Tori Amos (1963), James DeBarge of DeBarge (1963), Layne Staley of Alice in Chains (1967), Matchbox 20’s Paul Douchette (1972), Howie Dorough of Backstreet Boys (1973)
August 23: dancer Gene Kelly (1912), country star Tex Williams (1917), The Drifters’ Rudy Lewis (1936), Jamaican producer Bunny Lee (1941), Ramon Phillips of The Nashville Teens (1941), Keith Moon (1947), Rick Springfield (1949), Shadows of Knight’s Jim Sohns (1949), Jim Jamison of Survivor (1951), Steve Clark of Def Leppard (1960), Dean DeLeo of the Stone Temple Pilots (1961), Colin Angus of The Shamen (1961), The Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder (1962)
August 24: bluesman and Elvis influence Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1905), jump-blues shouter Wynonie Harris (1915), country songwriter Fred Rose (1917), William Winfield of The Harptones (1929), David Frieberg of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1938), Mason “Classical Gas” Williams (1938), Ernest Wright of Little Anthony and the Imperials (1939), Procol Harum manager and pirate radio operator Tony Secunda (1940), Joe Chambers of The Chambers Brothers (1942), soul singer Fontella Bass (1942), Jimmy Soul, born James McCleese (1942), John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943), Jim Capaldi of Traffic (1944), Malcolm Duncan of Average White Band (1945), Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep (1945), Heart’s Mike DeRosier (1951), Juan Nelson (1958), Mark Bedford of Madness (1961), Pebbles, born Perri McKissack (1964)
Departures:
August 18: Pervis Jackson, founding member of the Spinners (2008), film composer Elmer Bernstein (2004), founder of the Country Gentlemen, bluegrass picker Charlie Waller (2004), Leonard “Chick” Carbo, lead singer of The Spiders (1998), Belgian impresario and concert promoter Freddy Cousaert (1998), highly regarded R&B and funk session pianist Richard Tee, born Richjard Ten Ryk (1993), psychedelic concert poster artist Rick Griffin (1991)
August 19: LeRoi Moore, saxophonist with The Dave Matthews Band (2008), Joseph Hill, lead singer and founder of reggae band Culture (2006), Dorsey Burnette, bass player of rockabilly institution The Rock and Roll Trio (1979), 12-string guitarist Blind Willie McTell, composer of “Statesboro Blues” (1959)
August 20: Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan (1999), singer Rio Reiser (1996), masterful steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys (1988), jazz trumpeter Thad Jones (1986)
August 21: producer Jerry Finn (2008), Nashville session drummer Buddy Harman (2008), Robert Moog (2005), Tarheel Slim, born Alden Bunn (1977), country guitarist Sam McGee (1975)
August 22: singer Ralph Young (2008), honky-tonk legend Floyd Tillman (2003), blues pianist Leonard “Baby Doo” Caston (1987), bluesman John Lee Granderson (1979)
August 23: high-note jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (2006), Eleanor O. Guest, one of Gladys Knight’s Pips (1997), Skinny Puppy drummer Dwayne Goettel (1995), Broadway songwriter-director Oscar Hammerstein II (1960)
August 24: producer-arranger Gene Page (1998), Doug Stegmeyer, bassist for Billy Joel (1995), Jesse Bolian of The Artistics (1994), Gene Knight of The Showmen (1992), Motown drummer Larrie Londin (1992), bluesman L.C. Greene (1985), trumpeter-pop singer Louis Prima (1978)