This is the week that was in matters musical …
1958, Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke are both injured in an Arkansas auto wreck that kills their chauffeur …
1960, Greg Allman turns 13 and gets a guitar for his birthday … 14-year-old brother Duane eclipses him quickly on that instrument while Greg excels at organ and vocals … they’ll play together in the Kings, the Allman Joys, and Hourglass before they rule the southern rock universe with the Allman Brothers Band, which they’ll form in 1969 …
1963, “Louie Louie” is released by the Kingsmen … one of the most covered songs of all time, it is charged that the slurred lyrics are obscene … the song is banned on some radio stations especially in Indiana where Governor Matthew Welch determines that the ditty is definitely dirty … even the FBI gets caught up in the controversy though the Bureau ultimately wraps up its 31-month investigation, including playing the record at various speeds, inconclusively stating that they are “unable to interpret any of the wording in the record” … in 2003, 754 guitarists play a 10-minute rendition of the song at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Washington … the event is thought to be the world’s largest jam session … in 2004, Rolling Stone would rank “Louie Louie” #55 in the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time as voted on by musicians and critics …
1964, The Nashville Teens become One Hit Wonders in the U.S. by reaching #14 with “Tobacco Road” … the follow-up single “Google Eyes” by the same songwriter, John D. Loudermilk, goes nowhere …
1965, promoter Bill Graham rents the building destined to become Fillmore East for a lordly $60 … his first rock show bill features The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead … at the Longshoreman’s Hall, the Family Dog present “A Tribute to Ming the Merciless” featuring The Mothers and The Charlatans …
1966, The Monkees first single “The Last Train To Clarksville” hits #1 on the U.S. charts replacing “96 Tears” by ? & the Mysterians … in London, John Lennon meets Yoko Ono at an art gallery previewing her “Unfinished Paintings and Objects” …
1967, the movie How I Won the War featuring John Lennon in an acting role, opens in the U.S. ….it is the first film to feature a solo performance by a Beatle … Lennon in costume as a soldier from the movie is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine that hits the newstands for the first time … Pink Floyd appear on The Pat Boone Show in the U.S …. singer-guitarist and erstwhile band leader Syd Barrett refuses to answer interview questions from the host and does not even try to lip-synch to the pre-recorded track for the single “See Emily Play” … the following day, he repeats his non-performance in front of the cameras for Dick Clark’s American Bandstand …
1968, Cream perform their last U.S. concert at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence …
1969, The Rolling Stones gross a record-breaking $260,000 for two shows for 36,000 fans at the L.A. Forum …
1970, Bob Dylan records “George Jackson” a tribute to the black militant leader killed in a California prison shootout …
1971, Led Zeppelin releases their fourth album that has no official name and is variously referred to as: the runes album, ZoSo and “Led Zeppelin IV” (a name actually used by Jimmy Page) …
1972, Johnny Paycheck starts pulling down a regular salary when he officially joins the cast of the Grand Ole Opry …
1977, The Jam release their second album in the U.K., This Is The Modern World … many record shops there pull the Sex Pistols album cover Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols from their front window claiming it is indecent because of the word “bollocks” … Virgin Records boss Richard Branson says his shops will continue to display the album in their windows …
1978, The Clash release their second album Give ’Em Enough Rope … Donna Summer’s cover of “MacArthur Park” becomes the #1 Pop Hit … a decade earlier, actor Richard Harris had taken his bombastic reading of the Jimmy Webb tune noted for its incomprehensible lyrics to #2 … unlike “Louie Louie” with unintelligible lyrics, in 1996 readers of Dave Berry’s syndicated newspaper column voted “MacArthur Park” the Worst Song of All Time …
1980, The Human League split up with synth players Ian Marsh and Martyn Ware leaving … vocalist Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright keep the name going … The B-52s new single “Strobe Light” is from their album Wild Planet …
1981, Depeche Mode releases their first album Speak and Spell containing the singles “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Dreaming Of Me” …
1985, the theme from the TV show Miami Vice composed and recorded by former Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboard player Jan Hammer, rides the top of the Billboard Hot 100 … the soundtrack LP also goes to #1 in the album chart where it will reside for 11 weeks, beating the former TV-theme record-holder, The Music from Peter Gunn …
1986, Willie Nelson plays a corrupt cop in a guest appearance on Miami Vice …
1991, blues, soul, rock, and country are all well represented when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts Bobby “Blue” Bland, Booker T & The MGs, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, The Isley Brothers, The Yardbirds, and Sam and Dave …
1992, Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” reaches the end of the #1 road when it makes its 13th and final appearance in the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s top slot … Axl Rose is convicted of property damage in the wake of a Guns N’ Roses show in Missouri … he gets two years’ probation and is ordered to pay $50,000 in fines to community groups …
1995, Michael Jackson’s ATV Music catalog and Sony Corp. merge to form the world’s third biggest music publishing company worth an estimated $300 million … among the goodies Jackson brings to the table are a raft of classic Beatles tunes … The Wizard of Oz in Concert is performed at the Lincoln Center in New York … the cast includes Jewel as Dorothy, Jackson Browne as the Scarecrow, and Roger Daltrey as the Tin Man …
1996, Michael Jackson announces that he and friend Debbie Rowe are expecting a child … the King of Pop denies tabloid reports that the baby had been conceived using artificial insemination and that Rowe was paid to bear the child …
1998, Ahmet Ertegun and Bobby “Blue” Bland are honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Blues Foundation … Little Jimmy Dickens’ appearance at the Grand Ole Opry marks his 50th year as a member of the cast … Dickens is best-remembered for his 1965 hit, “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” … Rick James has a stroke when a blood vessel in his neck ruptures during a head-banging performance in Denver …
2005, Mike Love of the Beach Boys files suit against his cousin Brian Wilson claiming that a British promotion for Wilson’s 2004 album Smile that gave away 2.6 million Beach Boys compilations discs cut into the band’s sales … this marks the seventh time that Beach Boys have sued one another … despite all the litigation and unpleasantness, in July 2010 Al Jardine announces the surviving original members of the Beach Boys: Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, Brian Wilson, Jardine, and early member David Marks will reunite for at least one reunion show in 2011 … Mike Love reacts by saying there were no specific plans but states I’ve had a few conversations recently with my cousin Brian about doing some musical projects together … in the fall we’ll get more focused on it
… Madonna notches her 36th Top Ten single with “Hung Up,” tying her with Elvis Presley as the act with the most Top Ten hits … The Beatles have 34 … the song is also her 47th Top Forty single—at this point, the most for any female artist …
2006, Yoko Ono observes John Lennon’s 66th birthday in Reykjavik, Iceland, where she dedicates the site of a planned Imagine Peace Tower, a beam of light 100 feet high that will shine around the clock … Nelly Furtado makes a cameo appearance on the Portuguese soap Floribella …
2007, The Eagles’ first studio album in 28 years, Long Road Out of Eden debuts at number one with sales of 710,000 copies, this despite its only being available at Wal-Mart stores and the band’s website … the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hosts a tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis with Chrissie Hynde, Wanda Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, and others covering The Killer’s songs … Lewis’ cousin, the televangelist Jimmy Swaggart turns in a bluesy rendition of the hymn “Precious Lord Take My Hand” after delivering an emotional speech about learning to play piano on the same instrument as his cousin … uncharacteristically, Lewis plays a serious and haunting version of “Over the Rainbow” … the website Wolfgang’s Vault makes more than 300 vintage rock concerts featuring acts such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Led Zep available via streaming audio … they are part of a huge archive of soundboard recordings made by the late rock promoter Bill Graham … Garth Brooks passes Elvis to become the second-best-selling artist of all time with 123 million albums shipped … however, he has a long way to go to catch The Beatles, who hold the record with 170 million discs…
2008, Van Morrison reprises his 1968 critically revered LP Astral Weeks live at the Hollywood Bowl, supported by a full string section as well as performers on the original studio release—Richard Davis on bass and Jay Berliner on guitar … A man accused of illegally posting songs on the Internet from an unreleased album by the rock band Guns N’ Roses has agreed to plead guilty …
2009, Apple Corps and EMI Music announced an upcoming release of the entire Beatles’ catalog digitally in MP3 and FLAC formats … the tracks won’t be available in iTunes, or any other online store in fact, but only on 30,000 limited-edition, apple-shaped USB sticks …
2010, Neil Young’s hybrid Lincoln causes a fire in his California memorabilia warehouse … Young had converted the car to run on batteries and a biodiesel-powered generator as part of his LincVolt project to create the world’s most efficient full-size vehicle … fire crews were able to save about 70 percent of the warehouse’s contents, including other cars and music equipment belonging to Young …
… and that was the week that was in matters musical.
Arrivals:
November 3: Brian Poole of The Tremeloes (1941), Marie McDonald Lawrie a.k.a. Lulu (1948), Adam Ant born Stuart Leslie Goddard (1954)
November 4: Four Vagabonds singer John Jordan (1913), Delbert McClinton (1940), Squeeze singer-guitarist Chris Difford (1954), James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist for the Pretenders (1956), Sean John “Puff Daddy” Combs (1969)
November 5: Roy Rogers born Leonard Slye (1911), blues and R&B innovator Ike Turner (1931), Art Garfunkel (1941), Gram Parsons (1946), Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits (1947), Don McDougall of Guess Who (1948), Mike Score of A Flock Of Seagulls (1957), Bryan Adams (1959), David Bryson of Counting Crows (1961), singer-actress Andrea McArdle (1963), Jon Greenwood of Radiohead (1971), Ryan Adams (1974)
November 6: Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone (1814), John Philip Sousa, inventor of the sousaphone (1854), composer-pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski (1860), musician, songwriter, lyricist Gus Kahn, born Gustav Gerson Kahn, who penned songs such as “It Had To Be You” and “Dream a Little Dream Of Me” (1886), ragtime pianist and composer Ole Olsen born John Sigvard Olsen, of the vaudeville act Olsen and Johnson, who hit the big time with the Broadway show and movie Hellzapoppin (1892), musician-arranger Ray Conniff, who founded The Ray Conniff Singers (1927), Joseph Pope, lead singer of The Tams (1933), singer P.J. Proby (1938), Guy Clark (1941), Glenn Frey of The Eagles (1948), Corey Glover of Living Colour (1964)
November 7: New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt (1922), Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary (1937), soul singer Dee Clark, whose biggest single was “Raindrops” (1938), Johnny Rivers, rock-and-roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, born John Henry Ramistella (1942), singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell born Roberta Joan Anderson (1943), Liam O Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers (1964), Russell Barrett of Chapterhouse (1968)
November 8: Bert Burns, R&B producer of The Drifters and Van Morrison (1929), Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie (1944), Don Murray, drummer for The Turtles (1945), Roy Wood of The Move and ELO (1946), Minnie Riperton, singer-songwriter noted for her five-and-a-half octave vocal range (1947), blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt (1949), Gerald Alston, lead singer of The Manhattans (1951), singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones (1954), singer-actor-teen idol Leif Garrett born Leif Per Nervik (1961), Stephen Patman of Chapterhouse (1968)
November 9: big band leader Tommy Dorsey (1905), bass singer Leroy Fann of Ruby & The Romantics (1936), Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival (1941), Phil May of The Pretty Things (1944), Alan Gratzer of REO Speedwagon (1948), Joe Bouchard of Blue Öyster Cult (1948), Tommy Caldwell, bassist for the Marshall Tucker Band (1949), Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa born Sandra Denton (1961), Brad “Scarface” Jordan of the Geto Boys (1969), singer-songwriter Diana King (1970), Susan Tedeschi, blues and roots-music singer and guitarist married to Derek Trucks (1970), Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees (1973), rock-country-rap musician Uncle Kracker born Matthew Shafer (1974), Sisqó, lead singer of R&B group Dru Hill, born Mark Althavean Andrews (1978)
Departures:
November 3: Robert Kirby, string arranger for Nick Drake and Elton John (2009), singer Art Wood (2006), Lonnie Donegan (2002), blues harmonica player William Clarke (1996), songwriter Mort Shuman (1991)
November 4: Shonen Knife drummer Mana “China” Nishiura (2005), jazz drummer Vernel Fournier (2000), Hi-Lites singer Ronnie Goodson (1980)
November 5: Link Wray (2005), Robert Lee “Bobby” Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers (2003), saxophonist Eddie Harris (1996), jazz pianist Bobby Scott of The Coasters (1990), Barry Sadler (1989), Vladimir Horowitz (1989), Bobby Nunn (1986), Guy Lombardo (1977), Robert “Nighthawk” McCollum (1967), Johnny Horton (1960), piano magician Art Tatum (1956), Orioles singer Tommy Gaither (1950)
November 6: Hank Thompson, Texas honky-tonk and Western swing pioneer (2007), George Osmond, patriarch of the singing Osmond Family (2007), jazz pianist Pete Jolly (2004), Don Julian, leader of The Meadowlarks (1998), novelty artist Dickie Goodman (1989), New York Dolls drummer Billy Murcia (1972)
November 7: rockabilly singer Jody Reynolds (2008), Jimmy Jones, studio bassist who worked with Wilson Pickett (1995), Carter Cornelius, leader of The Cornelius Brothers with Sister Rose (1991)
November 8: trumpeter Lester Bowie (1999), Dr. Tommy Comeaux of Beausoleil, voted best Cajun guitarist (1997), Country Dick Montana of The Beat Farmers (1995), R&B pianist James Booker (1983), R&B singer Ivory Joe Hunter (1974), pioneering blues guitarist Kokomo Arnold (1968)
November 9: English movie composer Stanley Myers (1993), Egon Wellesz, composer-teacher-musicologist and student of Arnold Schoenberg (1974), Swedish jazz composer Jan Johansson (1968), composer Frederick Preston Search (1957), Broadway and film composer Sigmund Romberg, best known for “Lover Come Back to Me” performed by Billie Holliday (1951), Mannheim composer Carl Philipp Stamitz, son of famous composer Johann Stamitz (1801)