This is the week that was in matters musical …
1958, Eddie Cochran’s biggest hit, “Summertime Blues,” enters Billboard magazine’s Top 100, where it will peak at #18 and sell over a million copies … it will later be covered by such groups as Blue Cheer and The Who …
1963, “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes hits the charts … the song will later be cited as the perfect pop song by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys … one can maybe hear a touch of it in Brian’s own “Good Vibrations” …
1968, The Beatles release the single “Hey Jude” that eclipses Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” as the longest single to receive Top 40 airplay by nearly a minute at 7:06 … it is the first release from newly formed Apple Records and becomes The Beatles’ biggest hit, going to number one around the world … the recording took two days and involved a 36-piece orchestra who also clapped and sang the na-na-nahs on the fadeout … the epic ballad begins with Paul playing the piano and ends with 50 layered instruments … “Piece of My Heart” by Big Brother & The Holding Company with Janis Joplin singing lead enters the charts … it is Joplin’s and the band’s first hit …
1970, Duane Allman begins sessions as a member of Derek & The Dominos … Eric Clapton praises Allman as the catalyst in a double-album project, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, that is completed in only 10 days … The Kinks’ transvestite-themed single “Lola” is released … the song, which revived the band’s flagging popularity, was inspired by their manager’s drunken club experience unknowingly dancing with a she-man … Ray Davies had to re-record the line “You drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola” at the last minute because the BBC refused to play the song with its original, “it tastes just like Coca-Cola,” line fearing repercussions from the beverage maker … Lola reappears in “Paranoia,” a later Kinks tune …
1971, Paul McCartney’s jaunty single “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is the number one pop hit of the week … the former Beatle reveals that he actually had an Uncle Albert who used to get drunk and quote the Bible …
1976, Boston releases their self-titled debut album … it spawns three hit singles and shoots to the top of the charts … one of the fastest-selling debut albums of all time, it’s finally unseated by Whitney Houston’s debut in 1986 … ironically, this is the same year Boston finally releases their third album, their release cycle slowed by guitarist Tom Scholz’s momentum-killing perfectionist leanings … by this time most of the band, including Sib Hashian and his afro, have left the band in frustration …
1977, three people are nabbed in Memphis for attempting to steal the remains of Elvis … to prevent such thievery, Elvis is moved from the cemetery to a more secure resting place at Graceland …
1978, art-punk practitioners Television break up just a month after returning to New York from a West Coast tour … their proto-New Wave approach and unique guitar style sets aside nearly every accepted rule of rock guitar, making them guitar heroes to a legion of young rockers …
1989, Izzy Stradlin of Guns N’ Roses is arrested in Phoenix for causing an in-flight public disturbance … he verbally abuses a flight attendant, urinates on the floor, and smokes in the non-smoking section of the plane … Izzy is apparently upset about the potty queue … the flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis makes an unscheduled landing in Phoenix to dump him off …
1993, Snoop Dogg is arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was fired at and killed in a gang fight … Snoop and his bodyguard McKinley Lee are ultimately acquitted but the rapper will remain entangled in legal battles surrounding the case for three years … his video “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” with Tupac Shakur chronicles the difficulties each rapper faced as a result of their unrelated criminal prosecutions …
1995, in a landmark rock ‘n’ roll event, veteran rocker Neil Young headlines the Reading Festival with Seattle’s Pearl Jam backing him up …
1996, Isaac Hayes, co-writer of the song “Soul Man,” writes a letter to senator Bob Dole protesting his use of the song in his presidential campaign that had changed the chorus to “I’m A Dole Man” …
2002, Eminem draws boos at the MTV Video Music Awards after he calls Moby a girl and tries to pick a fight with the diminutive techno popper … Moby had called the rapper’s music misogynistic and homophobic … Em also mixes it up with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog after Triumph tells the crowd “Eminem should lighten up. I mean, my mom was a bitch too, but I don’t go writing songs about it.” … this portion is removed from repeat broadcasts …
2003, 200 fans are ejected from the Charlotte, North Carolina, stop of the Ozzfest tour for alcohol and drug use … the show started at around 10 a.m. and the first group of partied-out attendees was ushered out just after noon, proving Ozzy Osbourne fans are not into pacing themselves …
2006, Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton undergoes treatment for throat cancer, forcing him to sit out the first half of the band’s Route of All Evil Tour, the first time he has missed any shows in the band’s history … longtime band friend David Hull fills in until his return … one of the last iTunes holdouts, Linkin Park reverses their position and Apple begins selling all three of their studio albums along with bonus cuts and videos …
2007, The Stones wrap their Bigger Bang tour having grossed $558 million, eclipsing the record formerly held by U2’s 2005 Vertigo tour that brought in a paltry $389 million … commenting on the end of the long-running tour, Mick Jagger acknowledges, “I’m sort of glad it’s done. I need to do some resting.” … rock pioneer Bo Diddley suffers a heart attack …
2008, a blogger who posted nine unreleased songs from the forthcoming Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy is arrested for violating a three-year-old law that prohibits such leaks … according to Kevin Cogill’s girlfriend, the cops “let me get him a shirt and shoes without laces before they took him away” … Cogill is a former employee of Universal Records’ distribution department …
2009, Noel Gallagher announces he’s leaving Oasis …
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
August 25: Charlie Burse of The Memphis Jug Band (1901), composer Leonard Bernstein (1918), jazz reedman Wayne Shorter (1933), Walter Williams of The O’Jays (1942), jazz guitar phenom Pat Martino (1944), Tavares drummer Francis A. Donia (1945), Gene Simmons, born Chaim Witz (1949), Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford (1951), Elvis Costello, born Declan McManus (1954), Billy Ray Cyrus (1961), Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard (1962), Mia Zapata of The Gits (1965), DJ Terminator X of Public Enemy (1966), country chirper Jo Dee Messina (1969)
August 26: jazz and blues shouter Jimmy “Mr. Five by Five” Rushing (1903), Chris Curtis of The Searchers (1941), Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson (1948), Bill Rush of The Asbury Dukes (1952), Branford Marsalis (1960), Shirley Manson of Garbage (1966), Dan Vickrey of Counting Crows (1966), Adrian Young of No Doubt (1969)
August 27: bluegrass guitarist Carter Stanley (1925), harpist-keyboardist Alice Coltrane (1937), avant-garde guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1940), Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille (1942), Jeff Cook of Alabama (1949), Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company (1949), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson (1953), Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (1956), gospel powerhouse Yolanda Adams (1962), Tony Kanal of No Doubt (1970), rapper Ma$e (1977), John Siebles of Eve 6 (1979), Mario (1986)
August 28: John Perkins of The Crew Cuts (1931), David Soul (1943), Daniel Seraphine of Chicago (1948), Wayne Osmond (1951), Shania Twain (1965), LeAnn Rimes (1982)
August 29: bluesman Jimmy Bell (1910), bebop innovator Charlie “Yardbird” Parker (1920), versatile jazz and blues chanteuse Dinah Washington (1924), gospel singer Marion Williams (1927), Dick Halligan of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1943), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1944), Chris Copping of Procol Harum (1945), Stone Canyon Band bassist Patrick Woodward (1948), Dave Jenkins of Pablo Cruise (1949), Rick Downey of Blue Oyster Cult (1953), punk rocker G.G. Allin (1956), Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Frazer (1958), Michael Jackson (1958), singer-bassist Me’shell NdegeOcello (1969), Carl Martin of Shai (1970), Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20 (1975), David Desrosiers of Simple Plan (1980)
August 30: blues pianist Mercy Dee Walton (1915), Kitty Wells (1919), vaudeville-blues singer Olive Brown (1922), John McNally of The Searchers (1931), bluesman Luther “Georgia Snake Boy” Johnson (1934), John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas (1935), Mick Moody of Whitesnake (1950), Horace Panter of General Public aka Sir Horace Gentleman of The Specials (1953), Martin Jackson of Swing Out Sister (1958), drummer Nicky Hammerhead (1960), Rich Cronan of LFO (1974)
August 31: jazz pianist Todd Rhodes (1900), tunesmith Alan Jay Lerner (1918), “Spider” John Koerner (1938), Jerry Allison of The Crickets (1939), Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (1940), Van Morrison (1945), Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions (1948), Gina Schock of The Go-Go’s (1957), Squeeze singer-songwriter Glenn Tilbrook (1957), Tony DeFranco (1959), Chris Whitley (1960), Debbie Gibson (1970)
Departures:
August 25: R&B star Aaliyah (2001), bandleader Stan Kenton (1979)
August 26: songwriter Ellie Greenwich (2009), Laura Branigan (2004), Ronnie White of The Miracles (1995), zydeco squeezebox star Rockin’ Dopsie (1993), “Professor” Eddie Lusk (1992), honking sax man Jimmy Forrest (1980), Lee Hays of The Weavers (1981)
August 27: Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990), KRS-One rapper Scott LaRock (1987), Bob Scholl of The MelloKings (1975), Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1967)
August 28: DJ AM (2009), CBGB founder Hilly Kristal (2007), Sun Records rockabilly and songwriter Ronnie Self (1981)
August 29: rockabilly pioneer Ervin L. “Wee Willie” Williams (1999), rockabilly singer-songwriter Charlie Feathers (1998), record store mogul “Waxie Maxie” Silverman (1989), country star Archie Campbell (1987), eccentric DJ and Clash producer Guy Stevens (1981), blues legend Jimmy Reed (1976)
August 30: jazz vocalist Chris Conner (2009), trumpeter-bandleader Maynard Ferguson (2006), Swedish producer Denniz Pop aka Dag Volle (1998), Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground (1995), Thomas Sylvester aka “Papa” Dee Allen of War (1988)
August 31: Carl Wayne, singer for The Move (2004), Cajun artist Joe Berry (2004), jazz vibes man and bandleader Lionel Hampton (2002), rocker Vince Taylor (1991), bluesman Son Bonds (1947)