This is the week that was in matters musical…
1928, a candle starts a fire at a Gypsy caravan in France … the left hand of 18-year-old guitarist Django Reinhardt is badly burned, rendering two fingers useless … with his right leg also injured, Django is bedridden for 18 months and uses that time as therapy to rebuild his guitar chops so that by the mid-1930s he is a master of swing guitar and ultimately one of the best guitarists of any genre …
1936, country singer Hank Snow records for the first time … the songs are “Lonesome Blue Yodel” and “Prisoned Cowboy”…
1956, Elvis makes his second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show… meanwhile, R&B singer Clarence Henry’s “Ain’t Got No Home” is released on the Argo label … because he sings like a frog on the record, for the rest of his career he will be known as Clarence “Frogman” Henry …
1960, Ben E. King, former lead singer for The Drifters, records his first solo numbers, “Spanish Harlem” and “Stand by Me”… the songs will climb to number 10 and number 4 respectively on the pop chart, and “Stand by Me” will prove to have long legs …
1964, “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison turns gold … it’s his ninth and last Top Ten single … this same week, The Supremes release “Come See About Me”…
1965, The Who release “My Generation” as a single …
1970, Jim Morrison gets six months in the slammer for exposing his privates in Miami … in other news, Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas marries actor Dennis Hopper … they divorce eight days later, proving wrong those who said the marriage wouldn’t last a week …
1972, Philly soul singer Billy Paul gets on the soul charts with “Me and Mrs. Jones” … the song will hold the top position for three weeks and will become a soul classic …
1975, Queen releases “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a single … with three and-a-half minutes being the standard limit to the length of a single, the band and producer Roy Thomas Baker have to convince EMI executives to release the six-minute recording without any edits … the single tops the U.K. chart for nine weeks and goes to number two in the U.S. … it will go to #1 again in the U.K. in 1991 after lead singer Freddie Mercury’s AIDS-related death … meanwhile, justifying his title of The Boss, Bruce Springsteen makes both the cover of Time and Newsweek…
1983, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon becomes the longest-listed album ever on the Billboardchart–491 continuous weeks …
1986, The Beastie Boys release their album License To Ill, which will become the first rap album to reach number one on the album chart …
1988, Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain smashes his guitar onstage for the first time at the Evergreen State Dorm Room Party in Olympia, Washington …
1991, three members of Pink Floyd are injured in a Mexican auto race when their car plunges down a 230-foot embankment near San Luis Potosi … guitarist Steve O’Rourke suffers a broken leg, David Gilmour receives blows to the head, and drummer Nick Mason, though injured, continues the race …
1995, business manager Yolanda Saldivar is sentenced to life for the murder of Tejano singing star Selena … she murdered the singer upon being confronted about embezzled funds … that same week, Gloria Estefan performs for Pope John II as part of the celebration of the pontiff’s 50 years in the priesthood … she is the sole pop act invited to the event …
1998, Stray Cats leader Brian Setzer sues former bandmate Ken Kinneally who played with the guitarist in the pre-Stray Cats group, The Bloodless Pharoahs … Setzer charges that Kinneally licensed 1978 studio tracks without his consent that turned up on the Collectibles Records LP Brian Setzer & the Bloodless Pharoahs … other courtroom news this week, three former members of the S.F. punk outfit the Dead Kennedys sue former leader Jello Biafra charging he diverted money due to the plaintiffs for his own use …
1999, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle, the surviving members of The Who, reunite for the first time in two years for a concert in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand … simultaneously, Tina Turner announces plans for her final stadium concert tour …
2002, hip-hop giant Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is shot dead in his Jamaica, Queens, recording studio … police pursue many leads and theories as to motive: unpaid drug bills, rival rappers, armed robbery, insurance scams, a rivalry with Murder, Inc. over 50 Cent, and more … the crime remains unsolved to this day …
2006, Kurt Cobain passes Elvis on the Forbes magazine list of “Top-Earning Dead Celebrities” … it’s estimated that the Nirvana frontman raked in $50 million over the past year … a substantial part of that sum results from licensing Nirvana songs for movies and TV … in other news, the absinthe flows like wine as Marilyn Manson opens his new Hollywood art gallery Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art … on display is a painting of Adolf Hitler with breasts and a flaccid male member …
2007, Cass County Sheriff Paul D. Laney snares 36 Ozzy Osbourne fans wanted for various infractions in a sting … the Ozzheads were offered free tickets to Osbourne’s show in Fargo, ND, only to be popped when they showed up at the venue … Ozzy is not amused saying, “Sheriff Laney should be apologizing to me for using my name in connection with these arrests. It’s insulting to me and to my audience, and it shows how lazy this particular sheriff is when it comes to doing his job.” …
2008, producer Phil Spector’s retrial on charges of murdering actress Lana Clarkson convenes … his first trial ended with a hung jury …
2009, Rosanne Cash releases her new album The List, revealing that the collection of cover songs is based on a list of 100 classic American songs created by her father, Johnny Cash, aboard his tour bus in 1972 … Rosanne recalls the moment her father handed her the list saying, “This is your education.” … meanwhile, Classic Rock Awards Honor Anvil frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow for the warts-and-all documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil… accepting the DVD/film of the year award Steve says “I’m a guy who’s worked my whole life for this, and it’s the most rewarding moment I’ve ever had.” …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
October 27: Nashville pianist Floyd Cramer (1933), session guitarist Kermit Chandler (1945)
October 28: good ‘ol boy Charlie Daniels (1936), singer-songwriter Ted Hawkins (1936), blues-rock saxist-organist Graham Bond (1937), Hank Marvin of The Shadows (1941), singer Wayne Fontana (1945), Rickie Reynolds of Black Oak Arkansas (1948), Telma Hopkins of Tony Orlando & Dawn (1948), Stephen Morris of New Order (1957), William Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain (1958), Ben Harper (1969), American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini (1978)
October 29: composer Vivian Ellis (1904), jazz arranger-composer Neal Hefti (1922), The Big Bopper J.P. Richardson (1930), Denny Laine of the Moody Blues and Wings (1944), Mickey Gallagher of Frampton’s Camel (1945), Peter Green, founder of Fleetwood Mac (1946), Roger O’Donnell of The Cure (1955), Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot (1955), Randy Jackson of the Jackson 5 (1961), Einar Orn Benediktsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), Peter Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (1965), Douglas “SA” Vincent Martinez of 311 (1969), Toby Smith of Jamiroquai (1970)
October 30: trumpeter Clifford Brown (1930), rockabilly star Ray Smith (1934), Grace Slick born Grace Wing (1939), Otis Williams of the Temptations (1941), Timothy Schmit of Poco and The Eagles (1947), Jim Messina (1947), David Green of Air Supply (1949), Gavin Rossdale of Bush (1967)
October 31: Dale Evans (1912), Bernard Edwards of Chic (1952), South African rocker Johnny Clegg (1953), U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. (1961), Adam Horovitz a.k.a. King Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys (1966), Vanilla Ice born Robert Van Winkle (1967), Linn Berggren of Ace Of Base (1970)
November 1: blues songstress Sippie Wallace (1898), Peacock Records founder Don Robey (1903), Barry “Ballad of Green Berets” Sadler (1940), Rick Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic (1946), Dan Peek of America (1950), Ronald Bell of Kool and the Gang (1951), Lyle Lovett (1957), Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers (1962), Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen (1963), Willie D of The Geto Boys (1966), LaTavia Roberson of Destiny’s Child (1981)
November 2: trumpet legend Bunny Berigan (1908), Keith Emerson (1944), J.D. Souther (1945), Dave Pegg of Jethro Tull (1947), Maxine Nightingale (1952), Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band (1957), Matt Sorum of Cult, Guns N’ Roses, and Velvet Revolver (1960), k.d. lang born Katherine Dawn Lang (1961), Bobby Dall of Poison (1963), Reginald Arvizu of Korn (1969), John Hampson of Nine Days (1971), Nelly (1978)
Departures:
October 27:producer Tom Dowd (2002), rockabilly artist Donnie Owens (1994), T-Rex founding member Steve Peregrine-Took (1980)
October 28: country star Porter Wagoner (2007), R&B keyboard man Jon Thomas who sang “It’s Hurtin’ Me” (1995), R&B singer Billy Wright (1991), jazz arranger Oliver Nelson (1975), R&B reedman Earl Bostic (1965)
October 29: saxophonist Henry Berthold “Spike” Robinson (2001), jazz bandleader Woody Herman (1987), King Harvest drummer Wells Kelly (1984), guitar master Duane Allman (1971)
October 30: crooner Robert Goulet (2007), Ramones co-manager Linda Stein (2007), Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC (2002), TV host and musician Steve Allen (2000), hard swingin’ sax man Chu Berry (1941)
October 31: John Holohan, drummer for Bayside (2005), record exec Lester Sill (1994), A Chorus Line producer Joseph Papp (1991), guitarist Malcolm Hale of Spanky and Our Gang (1968)
November 1: Grand Funk Railroad manager Terry Knight (2004), classic blues singer and pianist Sippie Wallace (1986), pioneer Delta blues singer Tommy Johnson (1956)
November 2: Sammy Kaye Band singer Wandra Merrell (1994), Mississippi John Hurt (1966)