This is the week that was in matters musical …
1945, Elvis Presley makes his first-ever public appearance in a talent contest at the Mississippi Alabama Dairy Show singing “Old Shep.” Elvis is 10 years old at the time and comes in second …
1963, The New Vic in London is the site of the first night of a 30-date U.K. tour that features the Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones, Mickie Most, and The Flintstones …
1965, John Coltrane releases the volcanic Live in Seattle double LP …with players including McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Donald Garrett, and a ferocious performance from Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax, the album charts the outer frontiers of Coltrane’s explorations into atonal music …
1967, Jimi Hendrix makes his stage debut in the U.K. when he jams onstage with Cream during their gig at London Polytechnic …
1969, The Beatles Abbey Road album goes to No. 1 on the U.K. chart. The final studio recording from the group includes two George Harrison songs—“Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” plus “Come Together,” “Sun King,” and “Golden Slumbers.” The cover allegedly provides clues relating to the ‘Paul Is Dead’ phenomenon: Paul is barefoot and the car number plate ‘LMW 281F’ supposedly referred to the fact that McCartney would be 28 years old if he was still alive. ‘LMW’ was said to stand for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps.’ The four Beatles allegedly represent; the priest (John, dressed in white), the undertaker (Ringo in a black suit), the corpse (Paul, in a suit but barefoot), and the gravedigger (George, in jeans and a denim work shirt) …
1973, Grand Funk tops the U.S. singles charts with “We’re An American Band” …
1974, police are called to a Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Öyster Cult concert after a fight erupts between two sound engineers. The Skynyrd roadie claims that the sound has been deliberately turned off during the band’s set …
1976, at his own birthday celebration singer Jerry Lee Lewis fires off some rounds through an office door and accidentally shoots his bass player Norman Owens in the chest. Owens survives but sues Lewis …
1983, Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler ascends to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the Jim Steinman written and produced track “Total Eclipse Of The Heart.” She becomes the only Welsh artist to score a U.S. No. 1. …
1986, CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather is attacked while walking down Park Avenue in New York City about 11 p.m. …he is knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly by a mentally unstable citizen who asks over and over, “Kenneth, what’s the frequency?” …his assailant is William Tager, a diagnosed psychotic who suspected the media of beaming hostile messages to him, and wanted Rather to tell him the frequency being used for the nefarious plot …nearly 10 years later R.E.M. will write a song loosely based on the event titled “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” …
1992, Sinead O’Connor puts a serious crimp in her career when she appears on Saturday Night Live …after singing an acapella version of Bob Marley’s “War” in which she inserts a verse about sexual abuse in the Catholic church, the Irish singer tears up a photo of the Pope and says, “Fight the real enemy” …the following week, guest host Joe Pesci holds up the photo, taped back together …during Madonna’s next SNL appearance, she holds up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco, saying, “Fight the real enemy” …nowadays, when Comedy Central airs the original episode, the incident is replaced with O’Connor holding up a picture of a black child taken from a rehearsal tape …
1998, Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, and composer Philip Glass appear in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. The concert, in front of a crowd of 4,000, is in honor of the memory of poet Allen Ginsberg and raises funds for the Tibetan Buddhist organization Jewel Heart …
1999, 59-year old Welsh chart veteran Tom Jones does something he hasn’t done in 25 years: he goes No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Reload, which features Jones accompanied by Robbie Williams, Stereophonics, Barenaked Ladies, the Pretenders, Natalie Imbruglia, and many others …
2001, Earth Wind and Fire announce that Viagra will sponsor their forthcoming 30th anniversary American tour …
2005, Sir Bob Geldof is awarded the freedom of his native Dublin after the City Council votes to provide the accolade in honor of his campaign against world poverty and debt alleviation in Africa …
Arrivals:
September 29: Gene Autry (1907), Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (1942), singer-songwriter Tommy Boyce (1944), Mark Farner of Grand Funk (1948), Mike Pinera of Iron Butterfly (1948), Suzzy Roche of The Roches (1956), Les Claypool of Primus (1963), Barry D of Jesus Jones (1965), Brad Smith of Blind Melon (1968)
September 30: jazz drummer Buddy Rich (1917), New Orleans soul man Chris Kenner (1929), soul and gospel singer Cissy Houston (1933), crooner Johnny Mathis (1935), soul singer Z.Z. Hill (1935), Frankie Lymon (1942), Dewey Martin of Buffalo Springfield (1942), producer Gus Dudgeon (1942), Marilyn McCoo of The 5th Dimension (1943), Sylvia Peterson of The Chiffons (1946), Mark Bolan of T. Rex (1947), R&B singer Patrice Rushen (1954), singer-songwriter Basia (1956), Trey Anastasio of Phish (1964), Robby Takac of The Goo Goo Dolls (1964)
October 1: piano maestro Vladimir Horowitz (1904), Texas bluesman Albert Collins (1932), Julie Andrews (1935), Capitols singer-drummer Samuel George (1942), saxophonist Jerry Martini of Sly & the Family Stone (1943), Herbert Rhoad of The Persuasions (1944), Barbara Paritt of The Toys (1944), R&B singer-songwriter Donnie Hathaway (1945), bassist-vocalist Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash (1947), Tubes singer Jane Dornacker (1947), Senegalese vocalist Youssou N’Dour (1959), Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra (1968), Xscape’s LaTocha Scott (1974)
October 2: Ron Griffiths of Badfinger (1942), singer-songwriter Don McLean (1945), Michael Rutherford of Genesis (1950), Sting, born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (1951), The Diamonds’ David Somerville (1953), Phillip Oakey of Human League (1955), soul singer Freddie Jackson (1956), singer-songwriter Robbie Nevil (1960), Siggi Baldursson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Claude McKnight of Take 6 (1962), Sean McDonald, singer and guitarist with Surgery (1965), Bud Gaugh of Sublime (1967), teen pop singer Tiffany (1971), Richard Hell of the Voidoids and Dim Stars, born Richard Myers (1949)
October 3: American rock-and-roller Eddie Cochran, who co-wrote “Summertime Blues” (1938), Chubby Checker, born Ernest Evans, who popularized the dance The Twist (1941), Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (1948), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954), Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee (1961), Gwen Stefani (1969), Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys (1971), soul and R&B singer India.Arie (1975), Ashlee Simpson (1984)
October 4: Leon Thomas, jazz vocalist who worked with Pharoah Sanders and Santana (1937), Marlena Easley of The Orlons (1944), bassist Jim Fielder of Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Mothers of Invention, and Buffalo Springfield (1947), blues singer-guitarist-songwriter Keb’ Mo’, born Kevin Moore (1951), Barbara K. MacDonald of Timbuk 3 (1958), Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys (1959), singer-songwriter Jon Secada (1961), Lena Katina of t.A.T.u. (1984)
October 5: blues musician George “Little Hat” Jones (1899), guitarist-singer-dancer Abi Ofarim (1939), Richard Street of The Temptations (1942), Steve Miller (1943), Richard Kermode, keyboardist who worked with Janis Joplin and Santana (1946), Brian Johnson of AC/DC (1947), seminal country rocker B.W. Stevenson (1949), Bob Geldof (1951), Paul Thomas of Good Charlotte (1980)
Departures:
September 29: Algerian singer Cheb Hasni (1994)
September 30: songwriter-psychologist Jacques Levy (2004), Texas rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Dawson (2003), disco-era songwriter Paul Jabara (1992), pop singer Mary Ford (1977)
October 1: Moonglows singer Prentiss Barnes (2006), Richard Avedon (2004), bassist Bruce Palmer of Buffalo Springfield (2004), Booker T. & The MGs drummer Al Jackson Jr. (1975)
October 2: “The Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry (1998), Evelyn Young, Memphis sax player who appeared on early B.B. King records (1990), New Orleans R&B and jazz pianist Pleasant “Cousin Joe” Joseph (1989)
October 3: Darryl DeLoach, original lead vocalist with Iron Butterfly (2002), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (2000), blues singer Victoria Spivey (1976), blues master Skip James, whose blues classics were covered by rockers including Cream and Canned Heat (1969), American folk icon Woody Guthrie (1967)
October 4: bebop trumpeter Art Farmer (1998), country fiddler Jerry Rivers (1996), guitarist Danny Gatton (1994), 1950s R&B singer Varetta Dillard (1993), J. Frank Wilson, lead vocalist of J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers (1991), Ray Stephens, singer with The Village People (1990), Atlanta DJ Zenas “Daddy” Sears (1988), Jimmy Springs, drummer and singer for The Red Caps (1987), Janis Joplin (1970)
October 5: The Temptations’ Eddie Kendricks (1992)