This is the week that was in matters musical…
1939, “Cherokee” is recorded for the first time by Charlie Barnet and his orchestra … the tune will be recorded by scores of jazz greats and often played at a breakneck pace to humble neophytes…
1953, a young sideburned truck driver–last name of Presley–drops in at the Memphis Recording Service studio, plunks down his four bucks, and records “My Happiness” on an acetate disc as a gift for his mother…
1954, Elvis is back in Sun Studios (formerly the Memphis Recording Service) to record the first commercially – available Elvis single, “That’s Alright Mama” … the song, with a hopped-up beat, is a cover of a tune originally cut by bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup … that same week, Presley turns up at the grand opening of a Memphis drugstore where he performs on the back of a flatbed truck…
1964, The Rolling Stones cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” makes it to number 48 on the chart … it is the first in their long line of hits…
1966, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker get together to form one of rock’s most celebrated trios, Cream…
1966, 50-year-old crooner Frank Sinatra marries 20-year-old Mia Farrow…
1968, Steppenwolf releases the ultimate biker anthem “Born To Be Wild”…
1968, the Beatles’ full-length animated film Yellow Submarine debuts at the Pavilion Theatre in London with John, Paul, and George in attendance…
1972, a bomb explodes near a Rolling Stones equipment truck in Montreal … the bomb was placed under a ramp and blows the cones out of a lot of PA cabs … nobody is hurt, it’s never determined who placed the bomb, and the show goes on as planned…
1972, Boston mayor Kevin White helps get Mick Jagger and Keith Richards out of jail in Warwick, R.I., following their arrest for roughing up a photographer … hizzoner wants to ensure the Stones make their gig at the Boston Garden…
1973, The Everly Brothers arrive at an ignominious career low when the sweet-harmonizing siblings’ set at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, is stopped by the theme park’s entertainment director who feels Don is doing a poor job … brother Phil sees red, smashes his guitar, and stalks offstage … Don performs the third set as a solo and announces that the Everly Brothers are history…
1973, singer and guitarist for the Byrds, Clarence White is run down and killed by a drunk driver while loading equipment after a gig in Palmdale, California…
1974, John Lennon is given two months to leave the United States by the INS, who have denied him an extension on his visa, supposedly because he pled guilty to a pot charge in England in 1968 … it will be revealed later that he is under surveillance by the FBI…
1978, as Bob Dylan leaves England after completion of his U.K. tour, over 200,000 gather at Blackbush Airport to see him off…
1982, Moon Unit Zappa, still a young teenager, makes her debut with dad, Frank, recording “Valley Girl,” which becomes FZ’s highest-charting single at #32 and wins Grammy nominations for father and daughter alike…
1986, after 28 years of collaboration, Columbia Records drops Johnny Cash, who then signs with Mercury…
1988, a California appeals court puts the quash on the old “let’s-blame-our-child’s-suicide-on-a-rock-band” game when it upholds a lower court’s decision dismissing a suit against Ozzy Osbourne and CBS … the suit held Ozzy and CBS responsible for the death of a teen who committed suicide after listening to Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution”…
1989, Venice, Italy, is overrun by 200,000 loonies who show up in town for a free Pink Floyd concert and annoy the locals with noise, littering, and drug use…
1991, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler files suit against the band, claiming they peer-pressured him into heroin addiction, then ousted him from the band when he entered a rehab program … eventually, Adler will accept an out-of-court settlement to the tune of 2.5 million bucks…
1995, a bear-bone flute is found in an archaeological dig in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia … at an estimated 45,000 years old, it is the oldest musical instrument ever found…
1996, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin loses his gig with the Smashing Pumpkins after he ODs on smack with touring percussionist-keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in a New York hotel room … Melvoin dies and Chamberlin is told to take a hike … he will not rejoin the band until 1999 … Chamberlin has already been booted for a short time on this tour after having overdosed in Thailand and again in Portugal…
2000, the Aiken County, South Carolina, sheriff’s office finally catches up with James Brown, who’s been overseas at a gig … utility worker Russell Eubanks has filed a complaint that Brown threatened him while brandishing a steak knife when Eubanks came to Brown’s home to respond to a power-outage report … after two hours of questioning, the sheriff’s office reports that Brown was “very cooperative” and was not arrested … police records will reveal that Brown apparently thought Eubanks was an intruder and that racial slurs were exchanged…
2002, Bob Seger wins the Port Huron to Mackinac Island Sailboat Race, his second sailing title in two years…
2004, at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Linda Ronstadt inspires the ire of Bush supporters in the audience by lauding Michael Moore’s new movie Fahrenheit 9/11 onstage … the incensed audience members boo and some of them leave in a huff, tearing down Linda Ronstadt posters on their way out … Aladdin president Bill Timmins responds by refusing to let Ronstadt return to her suite and having her escorted off the property … Michael Moore calls Timmins’ actions “simply stupid and un-American”…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals
July 13: drummer Steven Jo Bladd of the J. Geils Band (1942), Roger McGuinn (1942), Cheech Marin (1946), Louise Mandrell (1954), Mark Mendoza of Twisted Sister (1956), rock journalist and movie maker Cameron Crowe (1957), Gerald Levert (1966), Coldplay’s Will Champion (1978)
July 14: Woody Guthrie (1912), D.J. Zenas Sears (1913), Cliff Trenier (1919), Lowman Pauling of the “5” Royales (1926), Bob Scholl (1938), Vince Taylor (1939), soul singer Ty Hunter (1940), Trevor Horn of Buggles and Yes (1949), Chris Cross (1952), Tanya Donelly of Belly (1966), Ellen Reid of Crash Test Dummies (1966), Tameka Cottle of Xscape (1975), Taboo of Black Eyed Peas (1975)
July 15: Cowboy Copas (1913), Motown drummer William “Benny” Benjamin (1925), potty-mouth soul star Millie Jackson (1944), Peter Lewis of Moby Grape (1945), Linda Ronstadt (1946), guitarist for .38 Special Jeff Carlisi (1952), Johnny Thunders (1952), Joe Satriani (1956), Ian Curtis of Joy Division (1956)
July 16: Sollie McElroy of the Flamingos (1934), Denise LaSalle (1939), Ruben Blades (1948), Stewart Copeland (1952), Ed Kowalczyk of Live (1971)
July 17: Texas R&B singer Peppermint Harris (1925), Spencer Davis (1941), The Sweet’s Mick Tucker (1948), Black Sabbath’s Terry “Geezer” Butler (1949), Nicolette Larson (1952), Doobie Brother Chet McCracken (1952), Phoebe Snow (1952), JC of PM Dawn (1973)
July 18: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (1929), Papa Dee Allen of War (1931), Dion DiMucci (1937), Ian Stewart (1938), Brian Auger (1939), Martha Reeves (1941), Tim Lynch of The Flamin’ Groovies (1946), Golden Earring’s Caesar Zuiderwijk (1950), Ricky Skaggs (1954), Terry Chambers of XTC (1955), Pearl Jam’s Jack Irons (1962), Tony Fagenson of Eve 6 (1962)
July 19: ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax (1902), Buster Benton (1932), Bo Diddley’s fellow guitarist-vocalist Lady Bo born Peggy Jones (1940), Clarence White of The Byrds (1944), Average White Band’s Alan Gorrie (1946), Bobby Neal (1947), Brian May (1947), Bernie Leadon (1947), Keith Godchaux (1948), Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952), Kevin Haskins of Love & Rockets (1960)
Departures
July 13: Arthur “Killer” Kane of the New York Dolls (2004), Chicago blues pianist Eddie Boyd (1994)
July 14: “British Queen of the Blues” Beryl Bryden (1998), Phillippe Wynne of the Spinners (1984), Malcolm Owen of the Rutts (1980), progressive country guitarist Clarence White of The Byrds (1973)
July 15: rapper Too Poetic aka Anthony Berkeley (2001), Bobby Day (1990), Rick Garberson (1979)
July 16: Styx drummer John Panozzo (1996), Sun Records’ Bill Justis (1982), Harry Chapin (1981), Peter Cowap of Herman’s Hermits (1977)
July 17: Paul Young of Mike and the Mechanics (2000), Marc Hunter of Dragon (1998), Hendrix manager Chas Chandler (1996), blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes (1983), John Coltrane (1967), Billie Holiday (1959), harpin’ blues man Henry Strong (1954)
July 18: Haroon Shamsher of Joi (2001), Nico (1988), Jimmy Liggins (1983), Hi Records owner Joe Cuoghi (1970), Bobby Fuller (1966)
July 19: highlife bandleader Emmanual Tettey “E.T.” Mensah (1996), R&B sax man Red Prysock (1993)