This is the week that was in matters musical …
1929, from a studio in New York City, Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra in performance for the first radio program broadcast over a network …
1957, rock-and-roll wildman Jerry Lee Lewis records “Great Balls of Fire” … in Sydney, Australia, another wildman, Little Richard, announces his intention to give up rock-and-roll and live for the Lord
… he flies to Los Angeles the following day and is baptized as a Seventh Day Adventist … the erstwhile piano pounder and shouter will abide by his decision for five years before resuming his musical career …
1958, Eddie Cochran records the rockabilly anthem “C’mon Everybody” … the Sex Pistols will also enjoy a hit with their cover in 1979 …
1959, Bobby Darin becomes the youngest to ever headline at the Copa Room of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas … he displaces the prior record-holder Johnny Mathis who headlined when he was 23 … Darin is 22 …
1960, Tommy Roe & The Satins release “Sheila” on Judd Records … the single will prove a flop … a revised version will be released two years later by Tommy Roe alone on ABC-Paramount and will streak to the top of the chart, the first of over 20 hits for the artist … just a little reminder to stay in the game …
1961, the Beatle haircut is born when Paul and John are celebrating John’s 21st birthday in Paris … they meet up with Jurgen Vollmer, a friend from Hamburg who wears his hair brushed forward in a cut popular with French teens … Paul and John like the style and have Jurgen give them haircuts in their hotel room … the rest is sartorial history …
1962, Little Richard and Sam Cooke begin a European tour in Doncaster, England … playing keyboards on the tour is a 16-year-old Billy Preston and the M.C. is Gene Vincent of “Be-Bop-A-Lula” fame, who wasn’t allowed to perform because his work permit had expired … for later concerts it is oddly decided by authorities that Vincent will be allowed to sing, but only in front of the stage, not on it …
1967, David Crosby is bounced from The Byrds by leader Roger McGuinn after months of acrimony … Crosby complained that some of his songs the band recorded weren’t being released or, if they were, promoted properly including “Triad,” a song promoting a relationship between two men and a woman … McGuinn called it a “freak-out orgy tune”… Crosby took the song to the Jefferson Airplane who will release their version in 1968’s Crown of Creation … although recorded by The Byrds it was not released until 1987 …
1968, Fleetwood Mac are at CBS Studios in central London … the Sunday session begins with a recording of guitarist/leader Peter Green’s instrumental “Albatross” … the tune is reminiscent of Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” but features twin guitar harmonies by Green and Danny Kirwan over a gently loping bassline by John McVie, with Mick Fleetwood playing tom-toms with mallets … the recording is a huge international hit and influences John Lennon in writing “Sun King” for The Beatles Abbey Road album … years later, Green still plays the tune in concert …
1969, blues giant Muddy Waters is severely injured in a car crash in which three others are killed …
1970, the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber opens on Broadway to mixed reviews, harsh criticism from Webber, and condemnation from some religious groups … the show will close in 1973 after 711 performances …
1973, Elvis and Priscilla Presley head to Splitsville after six years of hip-shakin’ matrimony …
1976, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are injured during an Aerosmith concert in Philadelphia when a fan throws a cherry bomb onto the stage … The Sex Pistols enter Landsdowne Studios in London with producer Dave Goodman and engineer Hugh Padgham to attempt to record their debut single “Anarchy In The U.K.” … unhappy with the results they try again a week later at Wessex Studios with Chris Thomas producing and Bill Price engineering … a key to the recording is Thomas layering Steve Jones’ guitar parts to create a roaring wall of sound …
1980, Bob Marley collapses in New York while preparing for a tour … he is diagnosed with cancer and will die seven months later …
1987, the three members of ZZ Top book their seats on the first passenger flight to the moon … at press time, they are still awaiting their confirmations …
1990, members of the British alt-rock band The Stone Roses are fined $5,100 each after being convicted of trashing their former record company’s offices …
1996, former Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin pleads guilty to disorderly conduct … the charges are related to fellow band member Jonathan Melvoin’s death from a heroin overdose …
2001, U2 launches the third leg of its Elevation tour with a South Bend, Indiana, concert, inviting the world to see and hear it for free … the performance is webcast and accessible to U.S. fans on U2.com …
2004, five Vote for Change concerts are mounted on the same night in Florida, considered a state up for grabs in the 2004 presidential election … Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and John Fogerty perform in Orlando where Chapman sings a stirring rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” … the lineup in Gainesville is Dave Matthews, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Jurassic 5 … in Kissimmee, Pearl Jam and Death Cab for Cutie do their bit to try and unseat the incumbent … Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, and Sheryl Crow perform in Jacksonville, where the three sing a show-closing rendition of the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” … meanwhile in Clearwater, the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor hit the stage … Taylor describes himself as a “big old yellow-dog Democrat” and reveals that his songs “Line ‘Em Up” and “Slap Leather” were composed to celebrate the end of the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan respectively … the following night, John Mellencamp and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds perform in Chicago in support of the John Kerry candidacy … Howard Stern tells his 12 million listeners that in 2006 he will move over to Sirius Satellite Radio … six stations fired the breast-fixated broadcaster from their rosters after Clear Channel Broadcasting was hit with $495,000 in FCC fines … though Clear Channel president John Hogan admitted that Stern hadn’t committed any recent sins, the company decided to drop him anyway … reportedly the decision was based on Stern’s lifetime fascination with biology … his “lectures” on applied female anatomy in particular … Stern fires back saying, As soon as I came out against Bush, that’s when my rights to free speech were taken away. It had nothing to do with indecency.
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2005, Marilyn Manson announces he’s working on a line of perfumes and cosmetics … a recently discovered live recording of the Thelonious Monk Quartet featuring John Coltrane debuts in the #2 spot on the Billboard jazz chart … the tape of the 1957 Carnegie Hall performance was discovered in a dusty Library of Congress archive the previous January by a researcher … Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe is treated in Casper, Wyoming, for second-degree burns after sparks from a pyrotechnic display during a show burn his arms and face …
2006, a victim of plummeting record sales, record retailer Tower Records is liquidated … 3,000 employees in 20 states lose their jobs … Elton John is joined by, among others, Elvis Costello, Moby, Liv Tyler, and Neil Young in a fundraiser for his AIDS charity … Young wows the crowd with an acoustic set that includes a duet with John on “Your Song” … Weird Al Yankovic scores his first Top Ten hit with “White & Nerdy” … after a 30-year hiatus, proto punk band The Stooges hit a Chicago studio to cut a new record … Weezer files suit against Miller Brewing Co. after the beer monolith airs ads that include images of ticket stubs for its shows along with those of Audioslave, Devo, and Incubus … Incubus also filed suit in 2005 charging misappropriation of its name … the Weezer action seeks millions in damages for dilution of the value of the Weezer name and good will
… Grace Slick is on hand to help California Guvernator Arnold Schwarzenegger christen the first of a new fleet of Virgin Airlines planes with the moniker “Jefferson Airplane” … while the pair do the champagne thing, “White Rabbit” plays … commenting on the the name choice, Slick observes dryly that, The Grateful Dead would’ve been a bad name so they picked us.
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2007, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor announces that he is no longer under contract with Interscope Records, allowing him to be able to distribute any future Nine Inch Nails and solo work in whatever form he desires … he also expresses his belief that being free from contract will enable him to have more direct contact with his fanbase and get his material to them in a more efficient and cost-effective manner … this is bad news for the record industry coming on the heels of Radiohead going indie with its web-only distribution of In Rainbows and Madonna’s split with Warner to cut a deal with Live Nation that covers both concert and record business …
2008, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is badly injured when he falls off a stage in Iowa City … Ritchie Blackmore marries longtime live-in musical partner Candice Night at the Castle on the Hudson in England … they have been recording and performing as Blackmore’s Night since 1997 … Eminem releases his memoir The Way I Am … in it the rapper reveals that his blonde hair was the result of an Ecstacy trip and that his 2003 song “Superman” was the outcome of a romance with Mariah Carey … Robert Plant squashes rumors of a Led Zep reunion tour when he posts a statement on his website saying, It’s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its ugly head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move on.
… apparently this word hasn’t reached Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham who have been reported to be continuing rehearsals without Plant at the mic …
2010, Slash launches Slasher Films to produce horror films rooted in the style of ’70s and ’80s thrillers … says Slash of the new endeavor, … creating films that take you back to the days where horror movies actually scared the hell out of you is something I’ve always wanted to do.
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… and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
October 6: Cliff White, session guitarist with Sam Cooke (1921), Walter Kimble, sax player with Fats Domino (1946), Millie Small of “My Boy Lollipop” fame (1948), Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (1951), David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (1954), singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet (1964), Tommy Stinson of The Replacements (1966)
October 7: banjo player-singer-songwriter-comedian “Uncle” Dave Macon (1870), Martin Murray of The Honeycombs (1941), Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1943), Kevin Godley of 10cc (1945), David Hope of Kansas (1949), John Mellencamp (1951), Tico Torres of Bon Jovi (1953), singer-songwriter Toni Braxton (1968), Radiohead’s Thom Yorke (1968), Leeroy Thornhill of Prodigy (1969)
October 8: composer Toru Takemitsu (1930), Doc Green, baritone with The Drifters (1934), Tornados guitarist George Bellamy (1940), Redbone drummer Butch Rillera (1945), Ray Royer of Procol Harum (1945), Toni Wilson of Hot Chocolate (1947), Johnny Ramone born John Cummings (1948), Hamish Stewart of Average White Band (1949), Robert “Kool” Bell of Kool & The Gang (1950), Cliff Adams of Kool & The Gang (1952), roots blues revivalist Lonnie Pitchford (1955), Steve Perry of Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (1963), C.J. Ramone, aka Christopher James Ward of the Ramones (1965), R&B singer Teddy Riley (1967)
October 9: John Lennon (1940), John Entwistle of The Who (1944), Jackson Browne (1948), Brendan Mullen, founder of L.A. punk club Masque (1949), P. J. Harvey (1969), Sean Ono Lennon (1975)
October 10: composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), Ivory Joe Hunter, R&B singer-songwriter-pianist, best known for his hit recording “Since I Met You, Baby” (1914), inventive pianist-composer Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917), “The Big Bopper” born Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. (1932), country singer Dottie West (1932), soul singer O.V. Wright (1939), singer-songwriter John Prine (1946), Edward Freche of the Neville Brothers band (1947), singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist Midge Ure (1953), David Lee Roth (1955), Tanya Tucker (1958), singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959), Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1961), Mike Malinin of Goo Goo Dolls (1967), Michael Bivens of Bel Biv Devoe (1968), Nine Days drummer Vinnie Tattanelli (1972), pop and R&B singer Mya Harrison (1979)
October 11: hard-hitting jazz drummer Art Blakey (1919), bluesman Little Willie Littlefield (1931), jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie (1941), Gary Mallaber of The Steve Miller Band (1946), blue-eyed soul singer Daryl Hall (1949), Andrew Woolfolk of Earth, Wind & Fire (1950), Haircut 100 drummer Blair Cunningham (1957), Scott Johnson of The Gin Blossoms (1962), MC Lyte (1971)
October 12: composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872), Guitar Gabriel AKA Robert Lewis Jones (1925), Sam Moore of soul duo Sam and Dave (1935), Luciano Pavarotti (1935), Melvin Franklin of The Temptations (1942), Status Quo guitarist and vocalist Rick Parfitt (1948), Irish singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy (1948), Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (1955), Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould (1960), Garfield Bright of Shai (1969), Dixie Chicks fiddle player Martie McGuire (1969)
Departures:
October 6: Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodriguez (1999), raspy-voiced Texas rockabilly singer “Groovey” Joe Poovey (1998), arranger-composer-orchestra leader Nelson Riddle (1985), Johnny O’Keefe, Australia’s first rock star (1978)
October 7: NRBQ guitarist Steve Ferguson (2009), British rocker Johnny Kidd (1966), blues singer Overton Amos Lemons aka Smiley Lewis (1966), American tenor and movie star Mario Lanza (1959)
October 8: singer-songwriter Nicky James (2007), Nat “King” Cole Trio guitarist Oscar Moore (1991), country singer Harold Dorman (1988), Cliff Gallup of Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps (1988), Dr. Demento favorite Jimmy Cross (1978)
October 9: founder of The Modern Jazz Quartet, Milt Jackson (1999), New Orleans R&B artist Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1992), Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel (1978), R&B and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1973), R&B sax honker Earl Bostic (1965)
October 10: Darren Robinson, 400-pound member of The Fat Boys known as The Human Beat Box (1995), Lenny Peters of British pop duo Peters and Lee (1992)
October 11: reggae star Alton Ellis (2008), composer Neal Hefti (2008), Werner von Trapp, member of the singing family (2007), BBC star and pop singer Andy Stewart (1993), Edith Piaf (1963)
October 12: Blue Cheer bassist-vocalist Dickie Peterson (2009), Brendan Mullen, founder of L.A. punk club Masque (2009), songwriter Baker Knight (2005), bluesman Frank Frost (1999), John Denver (1997), Ricky Wilson of the B-52’s (1985), rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent (1971)