1927, bluesman Texas Alexander records “Range In My Kitchen Blues” for Paramount Records in New York City …

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1939, pioneering electric guitarist Charlie Christian sits in with Benny Goodman’s group at a club in Beverly Hills … Goodman isn’t interested in hearing an electric guitar, but Charlies’ manager John Hammond sneaks him onstage while Goodman is on a break … he proceeds to wow audiences and musicians alike with his seemingly endless single-string virtuosity …

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1962, “Your Heart Belongs to Me” by the Supremes debuts on the Hot 100 chart … it is the first of their eventual 47 hits … Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as The Beatles’ drummer … rumor has it Lennon and McCartney are frustrated by Best’s good looks, which attract the most groupies … fact is, Best isn’t cutting it as a drummer whereas Ringo is the missing piece of the puzzle …

1965, The Jefferson Airplane play their first live show at the Matrix Club in San Francisco … the band will ink a deal with RCA before the year’s end, one of the first rock bands on the Bay Area scene to do so …

1966, John Lennon generates more controversy after his recent Jesus comments by publicly expressing his admiration for American draft dodgers while the band is in Toronto …

1967, recording sessions resume for the classic Love album Forever Changes … sessions that began in June were marked with bickering and personnel changes that resulted in the producer bringing in members of L.A.’s famed session stars “The Wrecking Crew” to record backing tracks for three tunes prompting group members to get their recording chops together … Fleetwood Mac plays their first gig at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival a month before bassist John McVie joins the band even though the band’s name is derived from drummer Mick Fleetwood’s and McVie’s last names … the rhythm section these two form will be the only constant throughout the entire history of the band …

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1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience performs their instrumental version of the “Star Spangled Banner” for the first time in concert … a full month before Jose Feliciano sings his controversial version at Game 5 of the World Series in Detroit … a year later Hendrix will perform it at Woodstock, this time it is filmed and thereby influences countless other desecrations of our sacred national anthem …

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1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival is held on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York … anywhere from 300,000 to nearly half a million (depending on whose estimate you believe) will gather to celebrate what is billed as “3 Days of Peace and Music” and enjoy performances by a who’s who of rock, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ten Years After, Joe Cocker, Santana, Sly & The Family Stone, and Jefferson Airplane …

1970, Jim Morrison’s trial for allegedly exposing himself during a 1969 concert begins in Miami … Morrison will be found guilty on one count of profanity and one count of indecent exposure but will appeal the convictions …

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1977, The Police play their first gig as a threesome after guitar man Henri Padovani leaves the band … Peter Frampton comes alive in three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden …

1985, Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon nearly drowns after his yacht capsizes during a race off the coast of England …

1988, Michelle Shocked’s album Short Sharp Shocked is released with an authentic cover shot of the artist being carted off by a pair of L.A. cops … her label, Cooking Vinyl, overprints sunglasses on a policeman’s face and obscures a badge number to protect the innocent …

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1990, in a tragic freak accident, part of a lighting rig falls on Curtis Mayfield during a performance in Brooklyn, New York … the incident leaves Mayfield paralyzed from the neck down …

1995, Courtney Love blows her cork when the audience at a Hole concert doesn’t get ecstatic over her performance on the last night of the Lollapalooza tour in Mountain View, California … security guards carry her off the stage when she begins to physically fight with audience members …

1998, Pete Townshend plays to an SRO crowd at Chicago’s House of Blues and raises $300,000 for Maryille Academy, a home for abused and neglected children …

1999, The Backstreet Boys break box office records by selling all 765,000 tickets for their North American tour in just one day, taking in a cool $30 million, most of it within just a single hour …

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2003, during a radio interview, Ted Nugent says that the people of Illinois are “spineless, apathetic, embarrassing wimps” for their lack of involvement in their state government … Nugent’s comments result from his displeasure over the state’s gun laws … despite his scorn, Nugent will play the Illinois State Fair later in the day … fortunately for the Motor City Madman, the audience is apparently a bunch of embarrassing wimps who are too spineless and apathetic to demand refunds …

2005, a reworked version of the musical Lennon opens on Broadway following a debut in San Francisco that met with hostile reviews … the storyline of the rejiggered show has been revamped into a more linear flow when critics and audiences alike were mystified by the original libretto … Eminem cancels a European tour and checks into rehab … a representative says the sojourn is for a “dependancy on sleep medication” … the 11-date tour cancellation costs the rapper about $18 million in ticket sales … Madonna breaks her collarbone, hand, and three ribs when she’s tossed from a horse in England … the ride was in celebration of her 47th birthday …

2006, My Chemical Romance Toilet is obliged to cancel a San Diego festival date when singer Gerard Way and drummer Bob Bryar injure themselves while shooting a video …

2008, the format of Rolling Stone magazine is being downsized from large-format pages to traditional magazine size to spur lagging sales … The Allman Brothers sue Universal Music Group for more than $10 million charging that they are owed royalties on downloads and CD sales of material they cut on the Capricorn label between 1969 and 1980 …

2009, Eddie Van Halen is reported to be mending from surgery intended to deal with severe pain in his left hand … it is estimated that healing will be a four- to six-month process …

2010, after a ten-year absence, the first Lilith Fair completes its tour in Dallas … performers in this celebration of women in music included The Bangles, Brandi Carlisle, Colbie Caillat, Emmylou Harris, Erykah Badu, The Go-Go’s, Indigo Girls, Kelly Clarkson, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Norah Jones, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Suzanne Vega, and of course, the originator of Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachlan who told Chris Harris of Rolling Stone magazine it was wonderful to see established and new artists alike have the opportunity to play in front of much larger or more diverse audiences than usual …

… and that was the week that was in matters musical.

Arrivals:

August 11: Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann (1942), David Box—a Buddy Holly soundalike who ironically also died in a plane crash (1943), Jim Kale of Guess Who (1943), Eric Carmen (1949), Joe Jackson (1955), Bragi Olafsson of The Sugarcubes (1962), guitarist Charlie Sexton (1968), Ali of A Tribe Called Quest (1970), Chris “Mack Daddy” Kelly of Kriss Kross (1978), J-Boog of B2K (1985)

August 12: R&B singer-songwriter Percy Mayfield (1920), singer-songwriter Joe Jones (1926), Porter Wagoner (1927), Buck Owens, creator of “The Bakersfield Sound” (1929), pop songstress Jennifer Warren (1941), Mark Knopfler (1949), August Darnell of Kid Creole and the Coconuts (1950), jazz guitarist Pat Metheny (1954), Suzanne Vega (1959), Roy Hay of Culture Club (1961)

August 13: jazz pianist George Shearing (1919), “Baby Boy” Robert Warren (1919), Don Ho (1930), Dave “Baby” Cortez (1938), Son Seals (1942), Dan Fogelberg (1951), Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1953), Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones (1958)

August 14: swing and jazz violinist Stuff Smith (1909), R&B singer Jackie Brenston (1927), songwriter Carol Joyner Gourley (1938), Dash Crofts of Seals and Crofts (1940), David Crosby (1941), Tim Bogart of Vanilla Fudge (1944), inventor of the slap bass, Larry Graham (1946), Slim Dunlap of The Replacements (1951), Sharon Bryant of Atlantic Star (1956), Kevin Cadogan of Third Eye Blind (1970)

August 15: blues harp player Buster Brown, born Waymon Glasco (1911), Oscar Peterson (1925), bluegrass-country singer Rose Maddox (1925), Bill Pinkney of The Drifters (1925), R&B singer Bobby Byrd (1934), singer Bobby Helms (1936), Peter York of the Spencer Davis Group (1942), songwriter Jimmy Webb (1946), Tom Johnston of The Doobie Brothers (1948), Tommy Aldridge of Black Oak Arkansas (1950), MCA of The Beastie Boys (1967)

August 16: baritone jazz crooner Al Hibbler (1915), jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans (1929), English country and pop singer Karl Denver (1931), chanteuse Eydie Gormé (1931), lead singer of The Dubs, Richard Blandon (1934), New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell (1935), R&B singer-songwriter Barbara George (1942), songwriter and touring musician Kin Vassy (1943), Barry Hay of Golden Earring (1948), J.T. Taylor of Kool & The Gang (1953), Tim Farriss of INXS (1957), Madonna (born Louise Ciccone) (1958), Chris Pederson of Camper Van Beethoven (1960), Emily Erwin of Dixie Chicks (1972), singer-songwriter-pianist Vanessa Carlton (1980)

August 17: ’50s pop singer Georgia Gibbs (1919), Sam Butera, tenor sax player with Louis Prima (1927), Mark Dinning of “Teen Angel” fame (1933), bluesman Luther Allison (1939), Sib Hashian of Boston (1949), guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson (1954), XTC’s Colin Moulding (1955), Gilby Clark of Guns N’ Roses (1962), singer-songwriter Maria McKee (1964), Steve Gorman of Black Crowes (1965), Jill Cunniff of Luscious Jackson (1966), Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block (1969), Posdnuos of De La Soul (1969)

Departures:

August 11: pedal steel player Don Helms (2008), singer-talk show host Mike Douglas (2006), conductor Rafael Kubelick (1996), The Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1996), bandleader-pianist Sonny Thompson (1989), Percy Mayfield—one day short of his 64th birthday (1984)

August 12: free jazz drummer Rashied Ali (2009), singer-talk show host Merv Griffin (2007), Luther Allison (1997), John Cage (1992), Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto (1985), Buddy Holly producer Norman Petty (1984)

August 13: Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward (2010), guitar legend Les Paul (2009), John Loder, founder of the punk label Southern Records (2005), composer David Tudor (1996), blues drummer Fred Below (1988), soul singer Joe Tex, born Joseph Arrington Jr. (1982), soulful sax man King Curtis (1971), R&B star Joe Hinton (1968)

August 14: Johnny Duncan (2006), Esther Wong, owner of the L.A. punk venue Madame Wong’s (2005), Tony Williams, lead vocalist of The Platters (1992), Hawkwind vocalist Robert Calvert (1989), guitarist Roy Buchanan (1988)

August 15: record producer-pianist Jim Dickinson (2009), William Herbert “Lum” York, bass player for Hank Williams (2004), singer-songwriter Joe Seneca (1996), Jamaican singer-songwriter Jackie Edwards (1996), Thomas Wayne (1971), Stick Mcghee, born Granville McGhee, most associated with his song, “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” (1961), influential bluesman Big Bill Broonzy (1958)

August 16: jazz drummer Max Roach (2007), percussionist Ray Romero (2006), country fiddler Vassar Clements (2005), Bobby DeBarge, member of R&B groups Switch and DeBarge (1995), Christian rock songwriter Mark Heard (1992), Stacy Sutherland, guitarist for The 13th Floor Elevators (1978), The King, Elvis Presley (1977), legendary bluesman Robert Johnson (1938)

August 17: Skatalite trumpeter, Dizzy Moore (2008), Bernard Odum, bassist with James Brown (2004), guitar-maker to the stars, Tony Zemaitis (2002), Chicago soul singer Johnny Sayles (1993), Phil Seymour, drummer and singer with The Dwight Twilley Band (1993), singer-actress Pearl Bailey (1990), soul singer Lorraine Ellison (1985), Paul Williams, singer and guitarist for The Temptations (1973)

Read the rest of this crap at Toxic Web →

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1937, George Beauchamp is granted patent #2,089,171 by the U.S. Patent Office for an “Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument” … the original “frying pan” electric guitar … George was a Hawaiian musician living in Los Angeles … Bunny Berigan and his orchestra record the jazz standard “I Can’t Get Started” … the chord changes from this oft-covered tune become a staple for bebop musicians a decade later …

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1949, Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five record “Saturday Night Fish Fry,” an influential proto-rock song …

1957, John Lennon and his band The Quarry Men play their debut date at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, a venue devoted to jazz and skiffle … after the band performs “Come Go With Me,” “Hound Dog,” and “Blue Suede Shoes,” irate club owner Alan Sytner sends a note up to the stage reading, “Cut out the bloody rock!” … so it was back to standard skiffle fare such as “Rock Island Line” and “Midnight Special” …

1960, 25,000 copies of the death-rock single “Tell Laura I Love Her” by Ray Peterson are destroyed by Decca Records after a critic deems the song “too tasteless and vulgar for English sensibility” … it is interesting to speculate what that critic may have made of Ozzy Osbourne or the Sex Pistols a little later on …

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1964, Rod Stewart makes his television debut singing with the Hootchie Coochie Men on the British show The Beat Room … The Rolling Stones know they have arrived when they get the chance to hang out with two of their idols, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, while recording at Chicago’s Chess studios … the band’s name resulted from a tune by Muddy …

1965, singer-organist Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five suffers two fractured ribs when he’s pulled off the stage by an enthusiastic fan …

1967, Beatle George Harrison hangs out at a love-in in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park … he’s less than enchanted recalling It was full of hideous, spotty little teenagers. It turned me off to the whole thing … a fan stows away on The Monkees’ tour plane … the girl’s father vows to have charges brought against the band for transporting a minor across state lines …

1968, performing at England’s National Jazz and Blues Festival, Jerry Lee Lewis whips the crowd into a frenzy that begins to turn violent … three rockers leave with bleeding mouths, a stage assistant loses four teeth, and thanks to a six-inch scaffold coupling pin being thrown through the bass drum of Andrew Steele, his band The Herd, doesn’t get heard … fearing a full-scale riot, officials ask Lewis to leave the stage … I don’t care about you all dancing on the stage, Lewis tells his fans, but some of these people do. … interestingly, The Herd’s lead guitarist is none other than a young Peter Frampton, who later splits from the band after a long hitless spell to form Humble Pie with Steve Marriott …

1969, photographer Ian Macmillan gets on a stepladder in the middle of London’s Abbey Road to snap The Beatles as they stride across the zebra crossing … several crossings and six pictures later, the session is over … Paul picks the best one, which ends up as the cover for Abbey Road … because The Fabs (as George called them) are so famous, no other graphics are used …

1970, Janis Joplin springs for a headstone to mark Bessie Smith’s grave … the blues singer was one of her idols … four days later she makes her last concert performance at Harvard Stadium …

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1972, Paul and Linda McCartney are busted for pot possession following a Wings show in Gothenburg, Sweden … the couple is fined and released

1973, Stevie Wonder is seriously injured in North Carolina when the auto in which he’s riding is hit by logs rolling off a truck … he emerges from a coma after four days sans his sense of smell …

1975, Hank Williams Jr. tumbles 500 feet down a Montana mountain … after two year’s worth of surgeries he will resume his career … Robert Plant and his family are injured in an auto wreck on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes …

1978, Muddy Waters plays for President Jimmy Carter at the White House …

1984, David Crosby gets a wakeup-call when he is sentenced to five years in prison on cocaine and firearms charges … he had dozed through much of the trial … “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. is the Billboard #1 pop hit … Parker is later sued by Huey Lewis who claims the tune is a ripoff of his “I Want a New Drug”… the case is settled out of court with the proviso neither party talks about the deal … in 2001, during an episode of VH1′s Behind the Music, Lewis reveals that Parker paid up to settle the case … Parker then sues Lewis for violating the settlement terms …

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1985, introduced to the benefits of owning publishing rights by friend Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson purchases the ATV music catalog that includes 251 Lennon/McCartney songs at auction for $47.5 million … McCartney and Yoko Ono had attempted to purchase the songs only to be outbid by Jackson … McCartney and Jackson’s friendship ends promptly as a result …

1986, David Crosby is released from prison after doing time on drug and weapon charges …

1990, during a New Kids on the Block concert in Montreal, armed robbers make off with souvenir stand proceeds totaling $260,000 …

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1992, citing a sore throat, Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses cuts short the band’s set in Montreal … many of the 55,000 fans in attendance riot … this is a fitting end to a concert in which Metallica also cuts their set short after singer James Hetfield suffers third-degree burns from a pyro effect … Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro dies from cardiac arrest triggered by an allergic reaction to an insecticide he is spraying in his garden

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1996, Oasis roadie James Hunter is crushed to death when he’s caught between a forklift and truck … former Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil runs into trouble at an Indiana club date … after starting the show four hours late, Neil pulls the plug after just three songs saying he is feeling ill and suggesting that the audience of “rednecks” doesn’t appreciate his talent … a riot by 500 surly ticket holders is narrowly averted by the prompt arrival of the cops … After touring as part of the sixth annual Lollapalooza festival, the Ramones perform their 2,263rd and final show in Los Angeles …

1999, after running into legal roadblocks, the leading record labels drop their suit against Diamond Multimedia, makers of the Rio MP3 music player … they had charged that the device would encourage online piracy …

2000, the Jimi Hendrix estate successfully evicts the holder of the web domain jimihendrix.com …

2004, The Dave Matthews Band is sued for dumping waste from its tour bus into the Chicago River and onto a sightseeing boat … a number of passengers report seeing a long, black tour bus on the bridge when the waste drenched them, according to news reports … that waste splashes onto approximately 109 tour boat passengers, including disabled people, senior citizens, a pregnant woman, a small child, and an infant, the suit states … bus driver Stefan Wohl pleads guilty to dumping the waste, and is sentenced to 18 months probation and 150 hours of community service …

2005, Leonard Cohen files a suit against his former business manager charging that Kelley Lynch ripped him off for $5 million from 1994 through 1999 while Cohen was chilling in a Buddhist center … FCC chairman Kevin Martin announces that his agency is investigating payola by record labels in the wake of Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s settlement of $10 million with New York over charges that the company plied key radio stations with lavish gifts and money to get its releases played … the list of artists who benefitted from Sony’s generosity include Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Gretchen Wilson, Audioslave, and Celine Dion … Marc Cohn, the singer-songwriter who struck gold in 1991 with his hit “Walking in Memphis” is shot in the head during a carjacking in Denver … amazingly he survives the injury and is expected to make a full recovery …

2007, during Pearl Jam’s set at Lollapalooza Eddie Vedder sings, George Bush, leave this world alone to rousing cheers from the crowd … however the audience viewing at home on AT&T’s Blue Room website are treated to 16 seconds of silence when the company providing AT&T’s feed pulls the plug on the audio stream … later AT&T is apologetic … commenting on the censorship, guitarist Mike McReady writes, When one person or company decides what others can hear, that is totalitarian thinking… DNA testing on a dozen people who claim they were fathered by the late James Brown reveals two who are legitimate offspring …

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2008, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who has a long history of supporting liberal causes, files suit against presidential candidate John McCain and the Ohio Republican Party for using his 1977 hit “Running on Empty” without permission … The Police cap their 150-show world tour with a two-hour tour de force at Madison Square Garden … the first Police tour in 20 years, it started shakily and gained momentum as it went along … reflecting on the early shows, drummer Stewart Copeland is brutally frank, At the beginning, we were crap. Each one of us had our own opinion of what was wrong … which could be summed up as ‘the other two guys’ …

2009, rock legend Steven Tyler of Aerosmith falls onto a couple of fans in the crowd of thousands from the stage at a South Dakota concert … security rushes to help him and the crowd cheers when Tyler gets back up and is taken backstage, where a physician attends to him … Tyler suffers head, neck, and shoulder injuries in the tumble but jokes about the fall as he is loaded into the helicopter to be taken to a hospital …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

August 4: Louis Armstrong (1901), Frankie Ford (1939), David Carr of The Fortunes (1940), Timi Yuro (1940), Klaus Schultze of Tangerine Dream (1947), Paul Layton of The New Seekers (1947), Clannad’s Máire Ní Bhraonáin (1952), Paul Reynolds of A Flock of Seagulls (1962), Jody Turner of Rock Goddess (1963), Immature’s Marques Houston (1981)

August 5: jazz singer Jeri Southern (1926), Vern Gosdin (1934), R&B vocalist Damita Jo (1940), guitarist Lenny Breau (1941), percussionist Airto Moreira (1941), sax player Rick Huxley of The Dave Clark Five (1942), country star Sammi Smith (1943), Rick Derringer of The McCoys (1947), Gregory Leskew of Guess Who (1947), Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister (1955), Pat Smear of Foo Fighters (1959), Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive (1959), Mark O’Connor (1961), Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys (1964)

August 6: Delta bluesman Willie Brown (1900), The Ravens’ Jimmy Ricks (1924), jazz bassist Charlie Haden (1937), Isaac Hayes (1938), Judy Craig of The Chiffons (1946), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (1946), Pat McDonald of Timbuk 3 (1951), Randy DeBarge (1958), singer-songwriter Elliot Smith (1969), Geri Halliwell a.k.a. Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls (1972)

August 7: multi-instrumentalist jazz bandleader Benny Carter (1907), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1910), pianist Mose Vinson (1917), lyricist Felice Bryant (1925), The Platters’ Herb Reed (1931), multi-instrumentalist jazz titan Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936), Magic Slim—born Morris Holt (1937), pop vocalist Ron Holden (1939), B.J. Thomas (1942), Rodney Crowell (1950), Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden—not THE Bruce Dickinson (1958), Jacqui O’Sullivan of Bananarama (1960), Ian Dench of EMF (1964), Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses (1966), Toxic (19??)

August 8: bandleader Lucky Millinder (1900), honky-tonk vocalist Webb Pierce (1921), blues and jazz singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1923), Sonny Til of The Orioles (1925), Mel Tillis (1932), Joe Tex (1933), pop singer Connie Stevens (1938), Philip E. Balsley of the Statler Brothers (1939), John “Jay” David of Dr. Hook (1942), English guitar virtuoso John Renbourn (1944), Airrion Love of The Stylistics (1949), Stax-Volt drummer Willie Hall (1950), Madness guitarist Chris Foreman (1955), Ali Score of Flock of Seagulls (1956), Dennis Drew of 10,000 Maniacs (1957), Ricki Rockett of Poison (1959), U2′s The Edge a.k.a. David Evans (1961), Kool Moe Dee (1962), Aaron Abeyta of NOFX (1965), Creed singer Scott Stapp (1973), JC Chasez of *NSYNC (1976), Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees (1976)

August 9: barrelhouse pianist Robert Shaw (1908), string band musician Odell Thompson (1911), Bill Henderson of The Spinners (1939), jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette (1942), Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring (1946), Barbara Mason (1947), Cars bassist Benjamin Orr (1955), rapper Kurtis Blow (1959), Whitney Houston (1963), Arion Salazar of Third Eye Blind (1970)

August 10: Leo Fender (1909), country singer-sausage king Jimmy Dean (1928), bluegrass ace Jimmy Martin (1927), country-pop entertainer Larry Finnegan (1938), Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (1940), Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes (1943), Ian Anderson (1947), Patti Austin (1950), INXS drummer Jon Farriss (1961), singer Neneh Cherry (1964), Todd Nichols of Toad The Wet Sprocket (1967), Michael Bivins of New Edition (1968), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (1977)

Departures:

August 4: Lee Hazlewood (2007), classical and rock violinist Monroe Clark (2006), R&B/blues singer-guitarist “Little” Milton Campbell (2005), jazz singer Jeri Southern (1991), pop impresario Larry Parnes (1989)

August 5: Robert Hazard, singer-songwriter who wrote Cyndi Lauper’s smash “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (2008), bassist Randy Hobbs of The McCoys and Johnny Winter (1993), drummer Jeff Porcaro of Toto (1992), N’awlins bluesman Isidore “Tuts” Washington (1984), avant-garde bassist George Scott (1980), country guitarist Luther Perkins (1968), one-man blues band Joe Hill Louis (1957)

August 6: Bootsy’s brother Phelps ‘Catfish’ Collins (2010), Willy DeVille, founder of Mink DeVille (2009), Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti (2007), jazz bassist Keter Betts (2005), legendary Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer (2005), Rick James (2004), guitarist Tommy Mottola (2004), the U.K.’s answer to Louis Armstrong, Nat Gonella (1998), new wave singer Klaus Nomi (1983), blueswoman Memphis Minnie (1973), trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke (1931)

August 7: folk musician/folklorist Mike Seeger (2009), country guitarist William “Billy” Byrd (2001), harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler (2001), record store mogul Sam Goody (1991), R&B chanteuse Esther Phillips (1984), Homer a.k.a. Henry Haynes of Homer & Jethro (1971)

August 8: pianist Irving Sidney “Duke” Jordan (2006), alto sax man Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (1975)

August 9: composer David Raskin (2004), producer Bob Herbert (1999), Jerry Garcia (1995), New Orleans session sax man Clarence Ford (1994), Brandon Mitchell, rapper with Wreckx-N-Effects (1990), trumpet player Bill Chase (1974), Joe Gilbert of Joe and Eddie (1966)

August 10: singer-songwriter-soul man Isaac Hayes (2008), Widespread Panic guitarist Mikey Houser (2002), Bill Baker of The Five Satins (1994), New Orleans sax man Clarence Ford (1994), Ed Roberts of Ruby And The Romantics (1993), jazz singer Ernestine Allen (1992), Lillian Roxon, one of rock’s first music critics (1973), swing bandleader Freddie Slack (1965), blues diva Lucille Bogan of “Shave ‘em Dry” infamy (1948)

Read the rest of this crap at Toxic Web →

1939, Kathryn “Kate” Smith records a revised version of a composition Irving Berlin had originally written in 1918, titled “God Bless America” … the 5’10″, 235-pound entertainer becomes famous for singing the song before Philadelphia Flyers hockey games, at which it was said “It ain’t begun ’til the fat lady sings!” …

1948, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra are featured in the first televised symphonic concert …

1952, Cleveland DJ Alan Freed mounts his first rock ‘n’ roll show dubbed The Moondog Coronation Ball … the venue holds 10,000 but 30,000 rock-hungry teens turn up causing the cops to call off the show … the resulting riot is a precursor to the coming age of rock …

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1956, Carl Perkins receives severe injuries in a Delaware auto accident … he was on his way to the Big Apple to perform on Perry Como’s TV variety show … the El Capris enjoy a minor hit with the tune “(Shimmy Shimmy) Ko Ko Wop” … the song will resurface as a hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1960 … in an early instance of political correctness, it’s retitled “Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop” …

1957, Elvis Presley buys Graceland Farms, a house and farm on the outskirts of Memphis that is still a mecca for fans of “The King” …

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1958, Tom and Jerry, aka Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, release their first song, appropriately titled “Our Song” &hellip Hank Williams Jr. makes his stage debut in Swainsboro, Georgia, at the tender age of eight, continuing a family tradition …

1962, Bob Dylan releases his self-titled debut album selling a measly 5,000 copies in its first year …

1963, The Beatles first album Please Please Me is released in the UK … no one seems to take notice either … Not! …

1965, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Bill Wyman are busted for peeing on a petrol station wall after they’re refused admittance to the loo …

1967, The Grateful Dead release their first album … Jerry Garcia reveals that it was recorded on “dietwatcher’s speed and pot” and that “the tempo was way too fast” …

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1968, Donovan travels to India to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi … the Beatles are soon to follow … Donovan teaches Lennon a finger-picking technique (Travis-picking) that he teaches to Harrison. It makes its way onto the songs “Julia” and “Dear Prudence” … the latter written about actress Mia Farrow’s sister who was also there at the time &hellip Donovan pens the hit “Jennifer Juniper’ for his girlfriend Jennifer Boyd who is also present … a late night jam in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon with Eric Clapton and Buffalo Springfield is broken up by the police who, upon arriving, smell marijuana … Stills escapes through a window; Clapton is somehow set free; the rest, including Neil Young, spend the night in jail and later plead guilty to disturbing the peace in exchange for having the drug charges dropped … The Bee Gees make their U.S. television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. They performed “To Love Somebody” and “Words” … Sullivan says it “was a very good shooow” …

1969, John and Yoko are married in Gibraltar … two days later they begin their famous “bed-in for peace” …

1970, David Bowie and Angela Barnett (the inspiration for his hit song “Golden Years”) are married at Bromley Register Office in Beckenham Lane, Kent …

1973, Yoko Ono is granted permission to live in the U.S. permanently … the person who grants her permission must not be a big Beatles fan …

1977, The John Denver TV special “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” is aired on ABC …

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1982, soul-singing smoothie Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the waist down in Philly when he flips his Rolls attempting to avoid another auto … Randy Rhoads, lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne’s band, is killed when a plane he is flying in crashes into a home and explodes … the band has stopped at the Leesburg, Florida, home of its bus driver, Andrew Aycock, a licensed pilot … Aycock “borrows” a plane from a nearby airfield and invites Rhoads and costume designer Rachel Youngblood to take a quick flight … as Ozzy and the rest of the band sleep on the bus, Aycock circles and buzzes it three times without incident … on the fourth pass, the aircraft bumps the bus, clips a wing, and crashes into a nearby house, erupting in flames … all three onboard are killed … a postmortem exam finds cocaine in Aycock’s system …

1985, Spin magazine begins publishing … Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley are married in New York … less than 10 years later the uptown girl tells the piano man she’s movin’ out and they divorce …

1987, U2 releases The Joshua Tree, which spends 9 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts, only surpassed by Whitney Houston’s album from the previous year and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack … but it is proof nobody puts Bono in a corner … The “Soul Train Music Awards” debuts, becoming the first televised awards ceremony exclusively celebrating black producers, songwriters, and recording artists …

1990, Gloria Estefan is seriously hurt when a tractor-trailer smacks into her band’s tour bus near Scranton, Pennsylvania … she returns to touring 11 months later …

1991, Eric Clapton’s 4-year-old son, Conor, falls 56 floors out the window of a New York apartment building in a freak accident … the little boy is in the custody of his mother, Italian actress Lori Del Santo … they are visiting New York and staying in a friend’s apartment … the housekeeper has just cleaned a room and opened the window to air it out when young Conor comes dashing by and falls out the window … Clapton is in his hotel nearby … he had just taken Conor to the circus the previous evening … “Tears in Heaven,” “The Circus Left Town,” and “Lonely Stranger” are all inspired by the deep impact the accident has on Conor’s grieving father …

1994, Bruce Springsteen wins the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Streets of Philadelphia” … the song is from the film Philadelphia, and is the first ever written by Springsteen specifically for a film … Four guns and 25 boxes of ammo are confiscated from Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) after his wife, Courtney Love, calls police fearing he is going to commit suicide … He does commit suicide about 3 weeks later … The Rolling Stones announce that Darryl Jones will replace drummer Bill Wyman who no longer wants to tour …

1996, The Beatles last charting single, “Real Love,” begins its climb up the Top 100 and will eventually rise to #11 … the song is based on a demo cut by John Lennon in 1979 to which the other Beatles added new vocals 16 years after Lennon’s death … The original four Sex Pistols reunite in 1996 for the six-month Filthy Lucre Tour, with dates in Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Japan …

1999, rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard is arrested yet again, this time in New York City when police claim to have found crack cocaine in his vehicle after pulling him over for missing license plates … ODB is charged with misdemeanor drug possession and driving with a suspended license … he will be arrested again five days later after police pull him over because once again, the vehicle he is driving has no license plates …

2000, the Recording Industry Association of America certifies 17 million copies sold of Shania Twain’s album Come On Over, making it the best-selling album by a solo female artist and surpassing Garth Brooks’ No Fences for best-selling country album of all time … Brooks eventually proved he’s “still the one” with the release of Double Live, currently the only country album with more sales than Come On Over, proving once again he has plenty of friends in low places …

2002, The Ramones are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the 17th annual induction dinner … Pearl Jam frontman and self-admitted Ramones fanatic Eddie Vedder is their presenter … with a freshly cut mohawk atop his shaved head, Vedder delivers a 16-minute-long tribute to the band before bringing them onstage …

2004, Courtney Love repeatedly flashes her breasts during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman … later that night she plays an unannounced gig at the New York club, Plaid, where she throws a mic stand into the audience and is arrested for reckless endangerment … the next night she turns up at the Bowery Ballroom with the legend “EAT MY F**K” emblazoned in 10-inch high letters on her tank top, then tops off the night with a Kodak moment in which she is photographed breast-feeding a fan at a local Wendy’s … like the man said, “All you need is Love” …

2005, rapper Lil’ Kim is convicted of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury in connection with a 2001 shooting involving her manager and a former member of her posse …

2006, Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer withdraws a civil suit he filed against Prince resulting from the Purple One’s redecoration of the mansion he rents from the basketballer … among Prince’s improvements: lavender stripes painted on various surfaces, installation of purple-and-black carpets, and modifications to the plumbing system to accommodate several beauty-salon chairs … Aerosmith is obliged to cancel the rest of its tour dates when Steven Tyler is operated on for unspecified throat problems …

2007, members of the ’70s Scots pop band Bay City Rollers sue Arista, their former label, charging that they are owed millions in unpaid royalties … Elsrock, an outdoor heavy-metal rock festival, is given conditional approval to put on its show outside the town of Rijssen, located in the Netherlands’ Bible Belt … the proviso prohibits cursing and blasphemy … the 2006 version of the festival had outraged residents … in explaining why the permit was granted, Mayor Bort Koelewijn cites “the stated readiness of the organizers to make sure that no blasphemous words are used, and that the honor of God’s name is not besmirched” …

2008, a judge awards Heather Mills nearly $50 million in her divorce from Paul McCartney … R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe publicly reveals he’s gay in an interview with Spin magazine …

2010, Justin Bieber releases My World 2.0, taking him from a YouTube sensation to mega-superstar and garners several nominations and accolades … Bieber Fever and Beiber backlash sweeps the nation and the world …

… and that was the week that was in matters musical.

Arrivals:

March 17: clarinetist Alcide Nunez (1934), film composer Alfred Newman (1900), singer-drummer-bandleader Ray Ellington, born Henry Pitts Brown (1916), singer-songwriter-pianist Nat “King” Cole, born Nathaniel Adams Coles (1917), Adam Wade (1937), Zola Taylor of The Platters (1938), Clarence Collins of Little Anthony & The Imperials (1939), Vito Picone of The Elegants (1940), Paul Kantner of The Jefferson Airplane (1941), singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful (1944), Elis Regina (1945), Harold Brown of War (1946), Ian Gomm of Brinsley Schwartz (1947), Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Lavoie (1949), producer Patrick Adams (1950), Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham (1951), Mike Lindup of Level 42 (1959), The Flaming Lips’ bassist Michael Ivins (1963), Paul Black of L.A. Guns (1965), Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan (1967), Gene Ween of Ween (1970), Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole (1972), Marc Gunn of Brobdingnagian Bards (1972), Caroline Corr of The Corrs (1973), German metal keyboardist Oliver Palotai (1974), Justin Hawkins (1975), Mason Jennings (1975), Miles Kane of The Last Shadow Puppets (1986)

March 18: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844), jazz pianist Jean Goldkette (1893), Lester “Smiley” Burnett (1911), composer John Kander (1927), Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey (1927), Robert Lee Smith of The Tams (1936), Charley Pride (1938), Wilson Pickett (1941), singer Eric Woolfson of The Alan Parsons Project (1945), dub-style reggae pioneer Keith Hudson (1946), B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum (1947), John Hartman of The Doobie Brothers (1950), Bill Frisell (1951), Irene Cara (1959), James McMurty (1962), guitarist Jeff LaBar of Cinderella (1963), Vanessa Williams (1963), Courtney Pine (1964), Rozalla (1964), Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains (1966), Lush’s Miki Berenyi (1967), Queen Latifah born Dana Owens (1970), Jamiroquai’s Stuart Zender (1974), Devin Lima of LFO (1977), Adam Levine of Maroon 5 (1979), Lykke Li (1986)

March 19: German composer Max Regar, born Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (1873), saxophonist Ornette Coleman (1930), Chicago blues singer Sam Myers (1936), New Orleans R&B singer Clarence “Frogman” Henry (1937), R&B artist Walter Jackson (1938), singer-songwriter Richard Dobson (1942), Grateful Dead keyboard player Tom Constanten (1944), The Monkees’ Mickey Dolenz (1945), The Zombies’ Paul Atkinson (1946), Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters (1946), Austrian singer-songwriter Wolfgang Ambros (1952), bassist Billy Sheehan (1953), The B-52s’ Ricky Wilson (1953), Bay City Rollers’ Derek Longmuir (1955), Bruce Willis (1955), Terry Hall of The Specials (1959), Brazilian jazz pianist-singer Eliane Elias (1960), composer Yoko Kanno (1964), Gary Jules (1969), Brant Bjork, drummer for Kyuss (1973), rapper Bun B (1973), Brann Dailor, drummer for Mastodon (1975)

March 20: big band leader Bob Chester (1904), Oswald “Ozzie” Harriet (1906), Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1915), British singer Vera Lynn (1917), gospel singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1921), guitarist Jerry Reed (1937), blues saxist Eddie Shaw (1937), blues pianist Marcia Ball (1949), Carl Palmer of ELP (1950), guitarist Jimmy Vaughan (1951), Slim Jim Phantom of Stray Cats (1961), singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (1964), Indian playback singer Alka Yagnik (1966), Belgian singer Natacha Atlas (1969), Franz Ferdinand vocalist Alex Kapranos (1972), vocalist Chester Bennington of Linkin Park (1976), Nick Wheeler of All-American Rejects (1982), Norwegian R&B singer Winta (1984)

March 21: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839), Florenz Ziegfeld of the Ziegfeld Follies (1867), Delta bluesman Bo Carter (1893), Delta blues legend Eddie “Son” House (1902), Chicago bluesman Otis “Big Smokey” Smothers (1929), blues pianist Otis Spann (1930), Solomon Burke (1940), Vivian Stanshall of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1943), Rosemary Stone of Sly and the Family Stone born Rosemary Stewart (1945), Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry (1946), Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (1949), Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (1950), Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos (1951), Russell Thompkins of The Stylistics (1951), Robert Sweet of Stryper (1960), guitarist Shawn Lane of Black Oak Arkansas (1963), Prodigy’s MC Maxim (1967), Ace of Base’s Jonas Berggren (1967), Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel (1968), rapper Notorious B.I.G. born Christopher Wallace (1972), Kevin Federline (1978), Deryk Whibley of Sum 41 (1980), Rochelle Wiseman of The Saturdays (1989), rapper Diggy Simmons (1995)

March 22: jazz tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson (1929), composer Stephen Sondheim (1930), William Shatner (1931), radio host J.P. McCarthy (1933), Roger Whitaker (1936), Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor (1942), jazz guitarist George Benson (1943), Keith Relf of The Yardbirds (1943), Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs (1944), Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy (1944), Harry Vanda of The Easybeats (1947), Patrick Olive of Hot Chocolate (1947), Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948), McCoys/Johnny Winter bass player Randy Jo Hobbs (1948), drummer Jay Dee Daughtry of The Patti Smith Group (1952), R&B/soul singer Stephanie Mills (1957), Pete Wylie (1958), Richard Ploog of The Church (1962), Euronymous, born ø ystein Aarseth of the band Mayhem (1968), Swedish singer Andreas Johnson (1970), Beverley Knight (1973), singer Shannon Bex (1980), songwriter David Choi (1986), Australian singer-songwriter Lisa Mitchell (1990)

March 23: Joey d’Ambrosio of Bill Haley & His Comets (1934), jazz vibraphonist Dave Pike (1938), swamp bluesman Louisiana Red (1936), Brit blues guitarist Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs (1944), bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman (1945), folk songwriter David Olney (1948), Ric Ocasek of The Cars (1949), disco singer Karen Young (1952), Chaka Khan, born Yvette Marie Stevens (1953), Epic Soundtracks, born Kevin Godfrey, founding drummer of the punk band Swell Maps (1959), singer Marti Pellow, born Mark McLachlan, of Wet Wet Wet (1965), Damon Albarn of Blur (1968), classical pianist Jan Liseicki (1995)

Departures:

March 17: Alex Chilton, born William Alexander Chilton of Box Tops and Big Star (2010), blues musician Lester “Mad Dog” Davenport (2009), Narvin Campbell of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2006), Lumumba Nelson aka Professor X of the ’90s rap posse X-Clan (2006), MTV VJ J.J. Jackson (2004), Lillian McMurry, co-founder of Trumpet Records (1999), ’80s R&B and pop singer Jermaine Stewart (1997), Elvis sound-alike Terry Safford (1996), Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim, born Albert Luandrew (1995), singer Yvonne Fair of The Chantels (1994), Ric Grech, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic (1990), New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell (1989), Samuel George, singer-drummer with The Capitols (1982)

March 18: New Orleans pianist Eddie Bo (2009), rapper Darnell “King Tut” Brittingham (2009), session bassist Wayne Pedzwater (2005), The Mamas & the Papas co-founder John Phillips (2001), jazz trumpeter Billy Butterfield (1988)

March 19: drummer Jeff Ward of Nine Inch Nails and Ministry (1993), Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood (1990), Randy Rhoads (1982), Chicago’s first big blues star, bottleneck slide man Tampa Red (1981), Paul Kossoff of Free (1976)

March 20: blues guitarist Mel Brown (2009), Klaus Dinger of Neu!, Kraftwerk, and La Düsseldorf (2008), Canadian funk/rock musician Gene Eugene (2000), jazz saxophonist George Howard (1998), jazz and R&B guitarist Billy Butler (1991), Cadence Records founder Archie Bleyer (1989), Greek bouzouki virtuoso Minolis Chiotis (1970), Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye (1874)

March 21: singer Bobby Short (2005), Motown songwriter Johnny Bristol (2004), songwriter Fred Spielman (1997), Leo Fender (1991), Dino Martin Jr., son of Rat Packer Dean Martin, and singer in his own right (1987)

March 22: drummer Reg Isidore who worked with Robin Trower (2009), Israel “Chacao” L"pez, Cuban mambo musician (2008), singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dan Hartman (1994), Don Murray of the Turtles (1996), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1991), one-hit-wonder Mark Dinning of “Teen Angel” fame (1986)

March 23: Walter Turnbull, founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem (2007), Cindy Walker, country songwriter who also wrote hits for Ray Charles and Roy Orbison (2006), opera singer Eileen Farrell (2002), songwriter-producer J.D. Miller (1996), Don Murray, drummer for The Turtles (1996), Ripley Ingram, tenor vocalist with The Five Keys (1995), Alan Barton of Black Lace and Smokie (1995), Donald Ibrah’m Swann (1994), Jeanine Deckers aka the Singing Nun (1985), Frank Kirkland, Bo Diddley’s drummer (1973)

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1949, future Dead Boys leader Stiv Bators is born Stivan John Bator in Youngstown, Ohio …

The Dead Boys – “Ain’t It Fun”

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1954, The Penguins record the doo-wop classic “Earth Angel” … the song will choreograph a million back-seat couplings …

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1956, “Love Me Tender” is the first single to enter the pop charts at #1 … Elvis’ recording, based on the sentimental Civil War ballad “Aura Lee,” also appears on the country and western and R&B charts …

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1957, Paul McCartney makes his live debut with the Quarry Men at New Clubmoor Hall Conservative Club in Liverpool …

1958, Tommy Facenda, a backup vocalist for Gene Vincent, charts with a single called “High School U.S.A.” … the tune is released in 28 versions, each name-dropping a different major high school across the country … the combined sales get the single to #28 on the pop chart …

1961, The Beatles join forces with Gerry & The Pacemakers for a one-off show … the combine is billed as The Beatmakers …

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1962, “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit … cannily released to coincide with Halloween, the novelty tune with a Boris Karloff-like spoken vocal reappears on the charts in 1970 and 1973 …

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1965, a San Francisco collective calling itself The Family Dog presents a rock ‘n’ roll dance and concert at the Longshoremen’s Hall … on the bill for “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” are The Jefferson Airplane, The Charlatans, The Marbles, and The Great Society …

1966, Joan Baez is arrested along with 124 others at an anti-draft demonstration outside an induction center in Oakland, California …

1967, the “tribal rock” musical Hair opens off-Broadway … Jimi Hendrix sits in with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers at a club in northwest London … Jimi borrows Mick Taylor’s Les Paul sunburst and manages to burn some incredible blues even while playing lefty with a guitar strung for a right-handed guitarist, that is, upside-down with low E string nearest the floor …

1968, RCA releases Jose Feliciano’s groundbreaking, bluesy rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” … the blind singer had been roundly booed for his performance of the song at a World Series game earlier that month … Led Zeppelin make their live debut appearing at University of Surrey, England … John and Yoko are busted for possessing pot at their London apartment … a month later, they plead guilty and are fined $150 … this would later cause problems with the U.S. immigration office and the FBI …

1969, with about a year’s worth of practice, practice, practice, under their belts, Led Zeppelin kicks off their third U.S. tour at New York’s Carnegie Hall … also in The Big Apple, The Who start a six-night stand at the Fillmore East with a two-hour show featuring their new rock opera Tommy … Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records, dies of a heart attack at age 52 … one-hit-wonders the Crazy World of Arthur Brown reach #2 on the pop charts with “Fire” co-written by lead singer Brown and organist Vincent Crane … Brown’s stage act is highlighted by his wearing a crown that’s on—wait for it—fire …

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1971, a crowd expecting ’50s teen idol Rick Nelson to play all his old hits at a Madison Square Garden show turns surly when he insists on performing new material … the hostile reception is later memorialized in his song “Garden Party” that becomes a hit the following year … a line from the song goes, “If memories are all I’d sing, I’d rather drive a truck” … Creedence Clearwater Revival is sued by a music publisher claiming that John Fogerty’s song “Travelin’ Band” is a ripoff of “Good Golly, Miss Molly” … the suit is later dropped …

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1972, in the wake of weak sales of their latest album Mardi Gras, and dissension by band members over John Fogerty’s lock on writing and publishing of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s music, the band calls it quits … leader Fogerty goes on to a robust solo career while rhythm section Stu Cook and Doug Clifford eventually form Creedence Clearwater Revisited over the opposition of Fogerty … Chuck Berry scores his first and only #1 Pop Chart hit with “My Ding-a-Ling,” an ever-so-slightly salacious bit of silliness …

1973, The Stones’ “Angie” is the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit … supposedly a paean to David Bowie’s missus, the song is covered by Tori Amos in the ’90s …

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… the Supreme Court refuses to review a Federal Communications Commission directive ordering broadcasters to censor songs with drug-oriented lyrics before airing them … it will be another three decades before the FCC becomes concerned over breasts … seriously, FCC dudes, you need to lighten up …

1974, soul singer Al Green is seriously burned when a disturbed girlfriend tosses a pot of boiling grits on him … the incident results in Green becoming a minister … it will be 2003 before he releases another recording of secular music …

Al Green – “Let’s Stay Together”

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1976, Ike and Tina Turner split up their act …

Ike & Tina Turner – “Proud Mary”

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… the Sex Pistols sign to EMI records for $68,000 … Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots reach #1 on the U.S. hit parade with “Disco Duck” …

1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd fans are stunned this week when they learn that band members Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant have died along with three members of their entourage in a plane crash in a swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi …

Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Gimme Three Steps”

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1978, Keith Richards receives a suspended one-year sentence after pleading guilty to heroin possession in Toronto … he’s also ordered to play a charity concert for the blind … The Police make their U.S. debut at CBGB’s in NYC … the tour consists of 23 gigs in 27 days across the U.S. in a station wagon packed with their gear …

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1979, Swedish popsters ABBA appear in Vancouver for their first North American concert … The Buggles top the U.K. pop chart with “Video Killed The Radio Star” …

1980, The Dead Kennedys unleash their latest 45rpm vinyl assault “Kill The Poor” … the picture sleeve shows a bulldozer with a scoop full of dead bodies …

1985, A-Ha becomes the first Norwegian group to score a #1 U.S. hit with “Take On Me” …

1986, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards rock out at an affair honoring Chuck Berry on his 60th birthday captured on film for the movie Hail, Hail, Rock ‘n’ Roll …

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… former Tubes singer Jane Dornacker, who had gone on to a new career as a traffic reporter, dies in a New York helicopter crash … this week also marks the first time ever that three femme popsters hold down the first three positions on the pop chart … in order they are: Janet Jackson with “When I Think of You,” “Typical Male” by Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper with “True Colors” …

1991, John Mellencamp is hospitalized in Seattle after suffering a dizzy spell … a doctor later attributes his malady to “too much coffee, stress, and not enough breakfast” …

1992, the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Tribute concert in Madison Square Garden includes guest George Harrison, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn, and Tom Petty … Sinead O’Connor is booed off the stage by the hostile crowd reacting to the singer’s appearance two weeks earlier on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a picture of the Pope …

1993, Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” video is ranked No. 1 in video history by Rolling Stone … it had also racked up a record-setting nine MTV awards … Nirvana’s In Utero debuts in the top slot on the U.S. album chart …

1995, Generation X loses another distinctive voice when Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon is found dead of a cocaine overdose on the band’s tour bus in New Orleans … Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde makes a return trip to her hometown of Cleveland to sing the national anthem at game three of the World Series …

1997, Elton John’s loving tribute to Princess Diana, a remix of “Candle In The Wind,” is declared by the Guinness Book of Records to have become the biggest-selling single of all time, having sold 31.8 million copies in less than 40 days and raising $34 million for charity …

1998, the publisher of Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen” files suit against Cooper’s primary makeup-rock competitors KISS, claiming they ripped off his song “Eighteen” for their song “Dreamin’” … Cooper has nothing to do with it and hasn’t even heard the KISS tune … asked about the outcome years later, Cooper says, “I think we all forgot to show up at court. Paul Stanley bought me a cheeseburger to make up for the whole thing” …

2001, VH1 hosts its Concert for New York, which raises over $30 million for victims of 9/11 with performances by such heavy hitters as The Who, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, and Bon Jovi …

2003, singer-songwriter Elliot Smith takes his life in Los Angeles … a hero of the Portland, Oregon, indie-rock scene in the ’90s, Smith gained national prominence after director Gus Van Sant tapped him for the soundtrack to the 1997 film Good Will Hunting … Smith’s song “Miss Misery” was nominated for an Oscar the following year … a posthumous release, From A Basement On A Hill, includes material the singer was working on when he died …

2005, Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is arrested in connection with the beating of six gay men in June 2004 … Banton had a hit with the song “Boom Bye Bye,” whose lyrics refer to burning and shooting gays … Rivers Cuomo, frontman for Weezer, announces he’ll return to Harvard University to complete his last semester for a bachelor’s degree … Cuomo’s higher education had been interrupted a couple of times by touring and recording in the College of Musical Knowledge … Paul McCartney joins forces with the co-sponsor of his 2005 tour, Fidelity Investments, to establish the Music Lives Foundation … the non-profit will fund music programs and provide students with instruments in the U.S. and U.K… . observing what would have been John Lennon’s 65th birthday, Yoko Ono plants a tree at England’s Coventry Cathederal … school children sing “Imagine” during the ceremony …

2006, New Zealand country singer Keith Urban checks into rehab to deal with an alcohol addiction, causing him to miss the Country Music Association Awards show where he is nominated in four categories … Neil Young’s 20th Bridge School acoustic concerts host an array of unusual performances including Trent Reznor playing unplugged in front of a string quartet … other headliners include Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cutie, and Brian Wilson … Young sits in with, and energizes, many of the sets … after completing the first leg of a North American tour, Who leader Pete Townshend reveals a new, curmudgeonly persona in an interview with Rolling Stone … the aging rocker disses aging rockers proclaiming that he doesn’t want to witness “old guys in their self-congratulatory mode” … rambling on, he says, “I don’t want to go out and see Bob Dylan. I don’t want to go out and see The Stones. I wouldn’t pay money to go see The Who, not even with new songs.” … leading some old-time Who fans to wonder if going out to see the latest incarnation of the Moon-less, Entwistle-less band could result in them being fooled again …

2007, former member of The Smiths and current Modest Mouse multi-instrumentalist Johnny Marr is appointed visiting professor at Salford University, near Marr’s home town of Manchester, England … he’ll teach classes about recording and pop music …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

October 14: R&B guitarist and bandleader Jimmy Liggins (1922), monster picker Mickey “Guitar” Baker of Mickey & Sylvia (1925), rockabilly pioneer Bill Justis (1927), Robert “Barefootin” Parker (1930), Barry McGuire of The New Christy Minstrels (1935), pop vocalist Marv Johnson (1938), British rocker and leader of The Shadows Cliff Richard (1940), Colin Hodgkinson of Whitesnake (1945), Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward (1946), English musician-producer Thomas Dolby (1958), A.J. Pero of Twisted Sister (1959), R&B singer Karyn White (1965), Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks (1974), Shaznay Lewis of All Saints (1975), R&B artist Usher (1978)

October 15: blues singer Victoria Spivey (1906), orchestra leader Bobby Gimby (1918), R&B singer Marv Johnson (1938), Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters (1946), Chris De Burgh of “Lady in Red” fame (1948), Tito Jackson of The Jackson Five (1953), R&B singer Ginuwine, born Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (1975)

October 16: Mississippi bluesman Big Joe Williams (1903), songwriter-producer Burt Kaempfert (1923), Nico of the Velvet Underground (1938), Fred Turner of BTO (1943), Bob Weir (1947), Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet (1959), Michael Balzary, better known as Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers (1962), Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips (1969), Chad Gray, lead vocalist for Mudvayne and Hellyeah (1971), pop/blues-rock singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer (1977)

October 17: jazz drummer Cozy Cole (1909), British record executive Louis Benjamin (1922), noted classical music recording engineer and audio technology developer John Mosley (1933), trombonist Rico Rodriguez of The Specials (1934), Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts (1941), pop singer Gary Puckett (1942), Jim Tucker of The Turtles (1946), Mike Hossack, 2nd drummer of the Doobie Bros. (1946), country singer Alan Jackson (1958), Rene Dif of Aqua (1967), reggae singer Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley (1968), Chris Kirkpatrick of ‘N Sync (1971), Eminem born Marshall Bruce Mathers (1972), hip hop/reggae musician Wyclef Jean (1972)

October 18: Chuck Berry (1926), Ronnie Bright of the Coasters (1938), The Association’s Russ Giguere (1943), singer-songwriter Laura Nyro (1947), Joe Egan of Stealers Wheel (1946), Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon (1949), Doobie Brother Keith Knudsen (1948), trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (1961), Dan Lilker, bassist for Anthrax, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth (1964), Peter Svensson of The Cardigans (1974)

October 19: barrelhouse blues pianist Piano Red, born William Lee Perryman (1911), Kings of Rhythm drummer Billy Gayles (1931), Dave Guard of The Kingston Trio (1934), Peter Tosh of The Wailers (1944), soul singer George McCrae who had the hit “Rock Your Baby” (1944), Jeannie C. Riley “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (1945), Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid (1946), Wilbert Hart of The Delfonics (1947), Patrick Simmons of the Doobie Brothers (1948), Nino DeFranco, singer and guitarist with The DeFranco Family (1956), Karl Wallinger of World Party (1957), singer/Broadway actress Jennifer Holliday (1960), Dan “Woody” Woodgate of Madness (1960), Pras Michel of The Fugees (1972)

October 20: jazz innovator Jelly Roll Morton, born Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe (1890), Johnny Moore of The Blazers (1906), master producer Tom Dowd (1925), electric sax man Eddie Harris (1934), rockabilly-ette Wanda Jackson (1937), Jay Siegel of The Tokens (1939), Ric Lee of Ten Years After (1945), Al Greenwood of Foreigner (1951), rocker Tom Petty (1950), Mark King of Level 42 (1958), James George “Soni” Sonefeld of Hootie and The Blowfish (1964), rapper Snoop Dogg born Cordazar Calvin Broadus (1971)

Departures:

October 14: Tex-Mex star Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta (2006), conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (1990), crooner-actor Bing Crosby (1977)

October 15: Canadian punk rocker Frank Kerr (2008), songwriter Terry Gilkyson (1999), singer-songwriter-actor Tasha Thomas (1984), Bobby Lester of The Moonglows (1980), pop songwriting giant Cole Porter (1964)

October 16: jazz vocalist Etta Jones (2001), singer Ella Mae Morse of “Cow Cow Boogie” fame (1999), Santana keyboardist Rich Kermode (1996), jazz drummer Art Blakey (1990), jazz drummer Gene Krupa (1973), Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess Records (1969)

October 17: pop songstress Teresa Brewer (2007), composer Berthold Goldschmidt (1996), Chris Acland of Lush (1996), Criss Oliva of Savatage (1993), country-pop singer Tennessee Ernie Ford (1991), blues singer-songwriter Alberta Hunter (1984), New Orleans guitarist Edgar V. Blanchard (1972)

October 18: soul singer Dee Dee Warwick (2008), reggae star Lucky Dube (2007), singer-actress Julie London (2000), Broadway singer-dancer Gwen Verdon (2000), New Orleans sax man Lee Allen (1994), songwriter Ed Labunski (1980), Houston bluesman L.C. Williams (1960)

October 19: actor-singer-comedian Rudy Ray Moore (2008), harmonica great James “Snooky” Prior (2006), rock journalist Greg Shaw (2004), Alice Cooper lead guitarist Glen Buxton (1997), Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy (1989), Delta bluesman Son House (1988)

October 20: bassist Paul Raven of Killing Joke and Ministry (2007), jazz pianist and vocalist Shirley Horn (2005), country and western singer-songwriter Merle Travis (1983), Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines—all of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977)

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1957, rock-and-roll wildman Jerry Lee Lewis records “Great Balls of Fire” …

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… 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 rock-and-roll anthem “C’mon Everybody” …

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… the Sex Pistols will also enjoy a hit with their cover in 1979 … an article in Billboard reports that Phil Spector, the writer and arranger of the Teddy Bears’ hit “To Know Him is to Love Him,” is studying to be a court reporter … though the reclusive producer, famed for creating “wall of sound” recordings in the 1960s, never takes up that profession, his trial and conviction for the 2003 murder of Lana Clarkson provides him with lots of courtroom experience …

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 …

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 …

1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience plays its first ever gig at a concert in Paris supporting French pop start Johnny Halliday … the Experience played a 15-minute set of “Hey Joe” (soon to be their first single), “Killing Floor,” and soul standards “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “Respect,” and “Have Mercy” … in San Francisco, Grace Slick replaces expectant mother Signe Anderson in The Jefferson Airplane … Grace leaves her current band Great Society and brings along two songs that will be at the forefront of the San Francisco music scene: “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit” …

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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 …

1969, blues giant Muddy Waters is severely injured in a car crash in which three others are killed …

Muddy Waters – “Blues And Trouble” (1969)

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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 …

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 boy band 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 Chamberlain pleads guilty to disorderly conduct … the charges are related to fellow band member Jonathan Melvoin’s death from a heroin overdose …

1998, the Crossroads Centre of Antigua opens … the treatment facility for drug addicts is bankrolled by Eric Clapton …

2000, British scandal sheet, The Daily Mirror, reports that singer Toni Braxton will skip England’s MOBO Awards ceremonies celebrating black singers after one of her breast implants explodes …

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 …

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, 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” … the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mounts an exhibit titled Revolution Rock: The Story of the Clash featuring 150 artifacts including lyric sheets and Joe Strummer’s well-worn Telecaster … Grace Slick is on hand to help California Gubernator 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.” …

2008, 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 “Superman” was the outcome of a romance with Mariah Carey … in their first gig together in four years, Grateful Dead alumni Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann play a benefit for Barack Obama at Penn State University … on the other hand, Robert Plant squashes rumors of a Led Zeppelin 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 … and here’s a union, not a reunion: 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 …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

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)

October 13: Paul Simon (1941), Robert Lamm of Chicago (1944), Sammy Hagar (1947), Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention (1950), Marie Osmond (1959) R&B vocalist Ashanti (1980)

Departures:

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)

October 13: singer-actor Al Martino (2009), Ralph “Pee Wee” Middlebrooks of The Ohio Players (1996), Shirley Brickley of The Orlons (1977), Ed Sullivan (1974)

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1944, Dinah Shore’s “I’ll Walk Alone” moves to the top spot on the American singles chart … it is the first-ever #1 U.S. hit for a female artist …

1954, singing “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” Elvis makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry … he elicits an unenthusiastic response from the hard-core country audience …

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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 …

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1962, The Beatles release their first single in the U.K., “Love Me Do,” backed by “P.S. I Love You” … according to rumor, in an act of faith manager Brian Epstein orders 10,000 copies for the record store chain he owns … all 10,000 are purchased, assuring The Beatles a spot in the British Top 20 …

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1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience is formed in London … his song “Fire” will become one of the most played songs in rock … despite the song’s sexual overtones, the actual inspiration came while spending a cold December night at the home of bassist Noel Redding’s mother … Jimi asked if he could stand next to her fireplace … though she agreed, apparently her Great Dane did not … hence the spoken line before the solo, “Aw, move over, Rover, and let Jimi take over” …

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1967, Woody Guthrie dies in Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York, at the age of 55 … the legendary singer-songwriter had been in and out of various New York area hospitals since 1954, receiving treatment for Huntington’s disease, a hereditary illness that Guthrie’s mother, Nora, also died of and son Arlo suffers from … in 1998 and 2000, urban folk troubadour Billy Bragg and Wilco will issue two CDs of songs based on lyrics Guthrie wrote before his death that were given to Bragg by his widow Nora … State narcs execute a raid on the Grateful Dead house in Haight-Ashbury … Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir are arrested along with managers Rock Scully and Danny Rifkin, equipment manager Bob Matthews, and six friends … the cops, though they had no warrant, knocked down the front door, then confiscated money and records belonging to the band as well as the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization whose office is part of this den of iniquity … after everyone has been bailed out the next morning, the band hosts a press conference in their living room … when Rifkin is asked by a reporter how long it took for the manager to grow his hair long, Rifkin produces a large, frothy bowl of whipped cream that he says has been reserved for the first reporter to ask a stupid question … when the reporter cringes, Rifkin relents …

1968, after rising to the top with three million-seller albums, supergroup Cream begins its farewell tour … 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 bass 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 …

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1970, Janis Joplin is found dead in her room at Hollywood’s Landmark Hotel, the victim of a heroin overdose … she had just finished recording her second solo album, entitled Pearl … at the time of her death, Joplin is only 27 years old … Jimi Hendrix is buried on October 1, 1970, at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Renton, Washington … the planned memorial service is canceled because of lack of time and concerns with crowd control …

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1986, CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather is attacked while walking down Park Avenue in New York City about 11 PM … 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 ten years later R.E.M. will write a song loosely based on the event titled “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” …

1990, record store owner Charles Freeman of Fort Lauderdale, FL, is convicted of obscenity charges for selling the 2 Live Crew rap album Nasty As They Wanna Be … he is fined $2,000 …

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 …

1997, there’s a madness to the Method Man, who is being sued after he leaps off the stage and lands on a Wu-Tang fan, knocking her unconscious … the suit is against band members Method Man, RZA, and Redman, as well as the student government that sponsored the show … the fan, Juanita L. Evans, says she was distracted by Redman and therefore didn’t see the flying Method Man … it’s like the old adage says, “When in doubt, sue everyone” …

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.” …

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” …

2007, in the first lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against illegal downloaders to go to trial, the RIAA is awarded a $220,000 judgment against Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, MN, who was charged with downloading 24 copyright-protected songs … the RIAA had originally offered to settle with Thomas in 2005 for $4,750, which was refused by the defendant who argued that she hadn’t downloaded the tunes … more than 26,000 suits have been filed against alleged song pirates by the RIAA to date … it later became known that the RIAA withheld roughly $400 million from artists for years … the RIAA gained the money through lawsuits claiming to defend the rights of artists, although none of the artists whose music was “illegally” downloaded have received any of the settlement money … the RIAA has also lobbied for a decrease in artist royalty payments … an odd way to protect artist’s rights, to say the least … 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, E Street Band axeman Nils Lofgren undergoes double hip replacement surgery … one of the last artists to resist making his music downloadable throws in the towel when Rhapsody.com begins offering Kid Rock’s catalog online … at Rock’s stipulation, only entire albums—not singles—are offered … the Kid is still holding out where iTunes is concerned … he is quoted as saying, “It’s funny, I have a shitload of stock in Apple, but it’s just not very American to me when Apple tells you how they want to sell your product and they tell you what it’s worth” …

2009, the ninth annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park … spread over seven stages, acts comprise a virtual who’s-who of roots and country music … an estimated 750,000 fans enjoy sets by Doc Watson, Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Ralph Stanley, and a host of other living legends … monster Nashville producer and guitarist Buddy Miller wows the crowd with his gritty road show that includes a guest appearance by Robert Plant … Hardly Strictly is an entirely free event—a gift to the city from real estate developer and bluegrass fan Warren Hellman …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

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), Patrice Rushen (1954), 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), saxist Jerry Martini of Sly & the Family Stone (1943), pop singer Scott McKenzie (1944), 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 Graugh of Sublime (1967), teen pop singer Tiffany (1971)

October 3: R&B pianist and saxophonist Monk Higgins, born Milton Bland (1930), influential American rock-and-roller Eddie Cochran, who co-wrote “Summertime Blues” (1938), former Mountain bass player and Cream producer Felix Pappalardi (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)

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 Stringfield (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 tATu (1984), Ashlee Simpson (1984)

October 5: blues musician George “Little Hat” Jones (1899), Delta singer and guitarist Jessie Mae Hemphill (1934), 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 (1954), Paul Thomas of Good Charlotte (1980)

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)

Departures:

September 30: Moonglows singer Prentiss Barnes (2006), Jacques Levy (2004), Texas rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Dawson (2003), disco-era songwriter Paul Jabara (1992), pop singer Mary Ford (1977)

October 1: 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 River (1996), guitarist Danny Gatton (1994), 1950s R&B singer Varetta Dillard (1993), J.Frank Wilson, lead vocalist of J.Frank Williams 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)

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)

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1953, in what will later be considered the golden age of vocal groups, seven of the R&B chart’s Top 10 positions are occupied by doo-wop acts including The Orioles, The Clovers, The Five Royales, The Royals, The Spaniels, The Dominoes, and The Coronets …

1954, Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips secures his place in rock ‘n’ roll history when he spins a test pressing of Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right” on radio station WHBQ … it’s the first time an Elvis record hits the airwaves …

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1956, Elvis Presley’s much-anticipated single “Love Me Tender” notches a music biz record when advance orders for the record top one million …

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1963, “She Loves You” is played on the radio by influential DJ Murray “The K” Kaufman on WINS in New York … it is the first time a Beatles song is played on U.S. airwaves … Murray later becomes a staunch Beatles advocate and supporter, helping them to break into New York and America …

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1966, The Yardbirds, with lead guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, embark upon a British tour with The Rolling Stones and Tina Turner …

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1975, soul man Jackie Wilson suffers a heart attack in mid-performance at the Latin Casino in Camden, N.J. … the singer, dubbed “Mr. Excitement,” falls off the stage and strikes his head on the concrete floor, causing permanent brain damage … he lapses into a coma and spends the rest of his life hospitalized until death overtakes him in 1984 … the soul group The Spinners donate $60,000 for his medical care but much of that money is consumed in lawyer’s fees due to relatives tussling over control of Wilson’s estate … the singer will be laid to rest in an unmarked grave … the Wilson family is haunted by tragedy … son Jackie Jr. was killed in 1970 during a burglary, daughter Sandra will die of a heart attack in 1977, and daughter Jacqueline will be shot to death in a 1987 drive-by shooting …

X-rated version of “Think Twice” with Lavern Baker.

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1976, Jerry Lee Lewis nearly lives up to his nickname while taking a little target practice at a soda bottle with his .357 magnum … The Killer completely misses the bottle and shoots his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, twice in the chest … Owens reportedly clutches his chest and staggers out onto the front porch before collapsing … Owens lives to sue Lewis, who is charged with shooting a firearm within city limits … British bobbies take The Runaways into custody following the disappearance of a hair dryer from a hotel room …

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1980, David Bowie makes his Broadway debut playing the title character in The Elephant Man …

1982, the first compact discs and players hit the market in Japan … a joint venture between Sony and Philips, the CD will become a dominant musical format within five years …

1988, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” becomes the first a capella song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 … the single will also land George Bush the elder in hot water when he uses it in his presidential campaign without permission … in 2008, Billboard listed the tune in its top ten One Hit Wonders from the last 50 years … McFerrin, a classically trained musician and conductor, later expresses reservations about the single, saying “It’s not that I don’t love the song. My songs are like my children: some you want around and some you want to send off to college as soon as possible.” …

1991, Garth Brooks’ album Ropin’ the Wind debuts at number one on the Billboard Pop chart … it is the first country album to do so …

1993, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler settles his lawsuit with his former band and its managers for $2.5 million just before the case goes to the jury, this despite having signed an agreement in 1990 giving up his partnership interest in the band … during the trial guitarist Slash had testified that Adler had signed the agreement while he was “strung out” … Adler had been booted from the band when he couldn’t kick his heroin habit … five years to the day later, Adler is back in court, this time for sentencing on charges of having beaten two women he dated as well as violating probation on an earlier domestic case … he gets 150 days jail time …

1996, Smashing Pumpkins get off to a delayed tour start … the band needed extra time to integrate former Filter drummer Matt Walker and former Frogs’ keyboardist Dennis Flemion … the pair replace former keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin who died three months earlier from a heroin OD and drummer Jimmie Chamberlin who was canned following a drug possession bust … leader Billie Corgan will later acknowledge the replacements were a bad idea that hurt the band’s music and reputation … in 1999 a rehabilitated Chamberlin will rejoin the Pumpkins …

1997, wearing a white cowboy hat, Bob Dylan performs his “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” in Bologna, Italy, with an apparently bored John Paul II looking on … the Audio Engineering Society unveils the new DVD Audio format in New York …

2002, Mike Batt of The Planets settles a lawsuit filed by the John Cage Trust for “an undisclosed six-figure sum” … at issue is one minute of silence on the band’s latest CD Classical Graffitti … the avant-garde composer’s estate had claimed Batt plagiarized Cage’s 1952 composition “4’33″—which was completely silent—when he credited his piece “A One Minute Silence” to “Batt/Cage” …

2004, Cat Stevens is kicked out of the United States after a jet bound for Washington from London is diverted to unload him … the former pop singer now known as Yusuf Islam, born Stephen Georgiou, enjoyed a string of hits in the 1960s and 70s, including “Wild World” and “Morning Has Broken” … he released two songs, including a rerecording of “Peace Train,” to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq … officials say he was refused entry under the Immigration and Naturalization Act “based on national security grounds” … Dolly Parton, who is considering breast-reduction surgery, complains, “My boobs are killing me and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer.” …

2005, Wyclef Jean signs a deal with HBO to star in a comedy that the former Fugee describes as “like a hip-hop version of Curb Your Enthusiasm” … he goes on to say that “it’s based on real shit” …

2006, U2 and Green Day join forces by performing at New Orleans’ Superdome at the Saints’ first game in the arena since Hurricane Katrina shredded the venue more than a year earlier … broadcast on ESPN, the game draws 15 million viewers, the second-highest audience ever for a cable broadcast … following a six-month hiatus prompted by Steven Tyler’s surgery for a broken blood vessel in his larynx and bassist Tom Hamilton’s chemo treatments for throat cancer, Aerosmith reunites for a show at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts … it’s been a tough year for the band with Tyler slicing his hand while opening a suitcase and battling hepatitis C …

2007, Van Halen kicks off its first reunion tour since 1984 in Charlotte, North Carolina with David Lee Roth aboard … the band rips through a best-of set list with Eddie Van Halen and Roth bouncing off each other without a hint of the bad blood that has existed between the pair for decades …

Van Halen – “So This Is Love?”

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… amazon.com launches its MP3 music download site … it’s expected that Amazon’s variable pricing scheme will put pressure on iTunes to adopt a similar strategy … Bruce Springsteen gives his hometown supporters a thrill when he and the E Street Band play a rehearsal show at the diminutive Asbury Park Convention Hall as warm-up for a world tour … The Boss warns the crowd that “There may be some mistakes. But I doubt it.” …

2008, talking about his forthcoming solo album that’s been in the works for a decade, former Velvet Revolver and Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland says, “It may turn off some STP fans. That’s just the way it is. At my age, I just do what I wanna do. There’s art and there’s commerce, and I’ve already accomplished the commerce part of my career” … working on his next gazillion dollars, Jay-Z launches his new label, StarRoc Records …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

September 23: R&B and jazz bandleader Tiny Bradshaw (1905), Marion Keisker, assistant to Sun Records’ Sam Phillips who urged him to record Elvis (1917), blues guitarist-harpist Joe Hill Louis (1921), jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926), jazz bassist Jimmy Woode (1928), Wally Whyton, leader of the British skiffle band The Vipers (1929), blues guitarist Fenton Robinson (1935), blues, rock, and jazz guitarist Roy Buchanan (1939), singer-songwriter Charlie Fox (1939), British one-man blues band Duster Bennett (1943), songwriter-producer-session pianist Don Grolnick (1947), Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf (1947), Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh (1950), John Baker Saunders, bassist for Seattle band Mad Season (1954)

September 24: gospel, blues, and doo-wop singer Allen Bunn (1924), Carl Feaster of The Chords (1930), actor and singer-songwriter Anthony Newley (1931), Ventures drummer Mel Taylor (1933), James “Shep” Sheppard of Shep & The Limelites (1935), session reed player Steve Douglas (1938), Barbara Allbut of The Angels (1940), Phyllis Allbut of The Angels (1942), Linda McCartney (1942), Gerry Marsden of Gerry And The Pacemakers (1942), Cedric Dent of Take 6 (1962), Marty Cintron of No Mercy (1971)

September 25: Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich (1906), Erik Darling of The Rooftop Singers (1933), bluesman Roosevelt “Booba” Barnes (1936), Ian Tyson of folk duo Ian and Sylvia (1933), Joseph Russell of The Persuasions (1939), Wade Flemons of Earth, Wind and Fire (1940), co-founder of Love, Bryan MacLean (1946), Italian rocker Zucchero (1955), actor and hip-hop artist Will Smith (1968), Diana Ortiz of Dream (1985)

September 26: George Gershwin (1898), New Orleans guitarist Rene Hall (1912), country singer Marty Robbins (1925), George Chambers of The Chambers Brothers (1931), Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music (1945), country singer Lynn Anderson (1947), Olivia Newton-John (1948), Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos (1954), Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship (1954), country vocalist Carlene Carter (1955), Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl (1962), Cindy Herron of En Vogue (1965), Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon (1967), Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men (1972), pop and R&B singer Christina Milian (1981)

September 27: bluesman “Mighty” Joe Young (1927), producer Don Nix (1941), Randy Bachman of BTO (1943), Meat Loaf aka Marvin Lee Aday (1947), Greg Ham of Men At Work (1953), reggae bassist Robbie Shakespeare (1953), teen throb Shaun Cassidy (1958), Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind (1964), Mark Calderon of Color Me Badd (1970), Avril Lavigne (1984)

September 28: Ed Sullivan (1902), bluesman Houston Stackhouse (1910), country singer Tommy Collins (1930), gospel singer Joseph Hutchinson (1931), Chicago blues songstress Koko Taylor (1935), soul singer and former Drifter Ben E. King (1938), bassist Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf (1943), jazz pianist Kenny Kirkland (1955), George Lynch of Dokken (1955), Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1959), pop singer Jennifer Rush (1960), teen popster Hilary Duff (1987)

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)

Departures:

September 23: blues harmonica player-vocalist-songwriter Gary Primich (2007), Etta Baker, Piedmont blues guitarist prominent in the folk revival of the 1960s (2006), Mississippi blues singer-guitarist Houston Stackhouse (1980), Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh (1974)

September 24: British folk singer-songwriter Matthew Jay (2003), folk rocker Tim Rose (2002)

September 25: Jamie Lyons of The Music Explosion (2006), Steve Canaday of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1999), Led Zeppelin’s hard-hitting drummer John Bonham (1980)

September 26: eclectic British vocalist Robert Palmer (2003), songwriter Carl Sigman (2000), jazz diva Betty Carter (1998), pianist and writer Arnold Shaw (1989), blues guitarist Auburn “Pat” Hare (1980), “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith (1937)

September 27: rockabilly guitarist Paul Burlison (2003), D.O.A. drummer Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery (1994), Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (1979)

September 28: D.J. Scott Muni (2004), country star Bob Gibson (1996), Marcels baritone singer Allen Johnson (1995), jazz titan Miles Davis (1991), Rory Storm born Alan Caldwell (1972), D.J. Dewey Phillips (1968), bandleader Lucky Millinder (1966)

September 29: engineer-producer-label exec Greg Ladanyi (2009)

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1958, while crossing the Atlantic on his way to a couple of years of Army service in Germany, Elvis is asked to put together a talent show and ends up playing piano in the impromptu band he organizes …

1959, The Isley Brothers’ classic “Shout” is released … the song is later covered by The Beatles in a TV special, and again in 1978 by Otis Day and the Knights in the movie Animal House …

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1962, Bob Dylan makes his first appearance at Carnegie Hall … The Springfields are the first British vocal act to score a U.S. Top 20 hit with the single “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” … their lead singer is Mary O’Brien, who will later sustain a major solo career using the stage name Dusty Springfield …

1967, London’s UFO Club, memorable for being the place Pink Floyd launched its career, is shuttered following the drug bust of its owner …

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1969, in the midst of rock’s golden era, The Archies’ bubblegum ditty “Sugar Sugar” hits #1 and stays there for four weeks … proving once again that you can’t go broke underestimating the public’s taste …

1970, 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix dies in a basement bedroom at the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill Gate, London – see yesterday’s post … the room is rented to Monika Danneman who later claims that she and Jimi were to be married … he had taken about nine hits of quinalbarbitone and is already quite dead when the medics arrive, despite Danneman’s later claims that he had been alive at that time … the coroner’s report cites “inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication” as the cause of death … in 1993 the investigation into Hendrix’s death is reopened by Scotland Yard in order to clear up discrepancies about how and when the ambulance was called … Danneman is vilified in books and other media, and in 1996, commits suicide after losing a libel case brought by Kathy Etchingham, who originally reopened the Hendrix case … Black Sabbath releases its second album Paranoid featuring “War Pigs” and “Iron Man,” songs that will become heavy metal classics …

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1973, Gram Parsons of the Byrds dies after a fatal combination of alcohol and morphine in Joshua Tree, California … his coffin is stolen from the airport by his manager, Phil Kaufman, and a former Byrds roadie before it can be sent to New Orleans for a family burial … according to Kaufman, he and Parsons had made a pact months earlier that when one of them died “the survivor would take the other guy’s body out to Joshua Tree, have a few drinks, and burn it” … giving new meaning to the phrase, “smoked a gram,” the two make their way into the desert night after toasting their departed friend at a local bar, pour five gallons of gasoline onto the body, and light it … the fire is spotted quickly, before the cremation is complete … days later, Kaufman will be found and charged with stealing a coffin and sentenced to pay $750 for the casket …

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1977, Marc Bolan of T. Rex is killed outside of London when his intoxicated wife crashes their mini-GT into a tree …

1980, a newly formed Geffen Records signs John Lennon … Joe Walsh announces he is entering the race for President of the United States against political heavyweights Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan … his campaign slogan is “Free Gas For All” and he states his purpose for running is to raise awareness of the importance of the elections … Walsh will re-enter the political fray in 1992 to run for Vice President of the United States …

1983, the members of KISS appear on MTV, only this time, their traditional “Kabuki makeup from hell” is off … after losing original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, the band are trying to reinvent themselves by exposing their bare faces in public … the ploy seems to work, as their next release Lick it Up becomes their first platinum album in four years …

1984, Mötley Crüe makes its concert debut at the Monsters of Rock festival in England …

1998, hard rock act White Zombie will no longer feast on the brains of the living … the group disbands shortly after the release of singer Rob Zombie’s solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe … together for the first time in 24 years, the members of ’70s British rock band Mott The Hoople get back together to perform at the Virgin Megastore in London …

2005, soul singer D’Angelo is seriously injured when his Hummer hits a fence in Virginia and flips … INXS announces they have hired a former Canadian Elvis impersonator, J.D Fortune, to replace former frontman Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide in 1997 … the band eventually splits with Fortune, who literally blows it thanks to his predilection for white powder … apparently Fortune favors the strung (out) … Garbage announces on the band’s website that it’s on an indefinite hiatus … the posting reads, “We have made a decision to take some time off. We are not breaking up.” …

2006, three bad boys of rock, Pete Doherty of Babyshambles, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, and Tom Chaplin of Keane, all residents at London’s Priory rehab treatment center, are reported to be jamming together … this despite Hawkins having referred earlier to Doherty as being “a talentless waste of skin” … apparently their shared rehab dilemma has healed old wounds … meanwhile the British tabloids have dubbed the trio “The Arctic Junkies” … perhaps if Ben and Jerry’s got onto the act, we’d have a new ice cream flavor called, “Junky Monkey” … the documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing debuts at the Toronto International Film Festival … the movie chronicles the fallout that resulted from the group’s criticism of the Bush administration … also debuting at the festival is the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon that examines the U.S. government’s campaign to deport John Lennon due to his anti-Viet Nam war stance …

2007, it’s reported that director Martin Scorsese is working on a documentary about George Harrison and will have the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the late Beatle’s widow, Olivia … Chicago alt-rock station Q101 spins the hook-laden single “Great Divide” to positive response from listeners while failing to disclose it’s the work of the has-been brother act Hanson … Spike, the station’s music director, notes, “There’s a stigma attached to them” … DJs credited the tune to “a mystery artist” …

2008, in a real turnabout, Metallica fans ask the veteran heavy metalists to turn it down … in recording the band’s latest album, Death Magnetic, the sound was cranked and compressed so severely that the CD is riddled with distortion … 11,000 fans sign an online petition asking the band to remix and reissue the album … it is soon discovered that the same tracks appearing in the game Guitar Hero aren’t compressed to a flat waveform and sound much better … Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks implores Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder to write a song in support of the team’s World Series aspirations … Vedder’s “All The Way” is the result, but the Cubbies still fail to make the Series … after patching up some personal differences, the original stoner act, Cheech and Chong, hits the road with a series of shows that include classic bits from the duo’s records and movies as well as new material … commenting on the reunion that took 27 years, Tommy Chong says, “We went from Nixon to Bush. That’s about all that’s changed.” … acknowledging that the pair are still “herbalists,” Chong notes they no longer need to carry a stash with them … “if you need weed you can get weed faster than a pizza almost anywhere” …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

September 16: Scepter Records founder Florence Greenberg (1913), organist-composer Korla Pandit, “The Godfather of Exotica” (1921), B.B. King (1925), Bernard Calvert of The Hollies (1943), Betty Kelly of Martha and The Vandellas (1944), Kenny Jones of Small Faces and The Who (1948), David Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers (1950), Wire’s Colin Newman (1954), Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones (1956), pop singer-songwriter Richard Marx (1963), salsa singer-songwriter Marc Anthony (1968)

September 17: composer Gustav Holst (1874), country music icon, Hank Williams (1923), Bill Black, Elvis’s standup bass player (1926), LaMonte McLemore of The 5th Dimension (1940), Steely Dan drummer Jimmy Hodder (1947), James Gang bassist Dale Peters (1947), Fee Waybill, lead singer of The Tubes (1950), Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (1951), R&B and gospel singer Bebe Winans (1962), Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian (1968), Vinnie Brown of Naughty By Nature (1970), Maile Misajon of Eden’s Crush (1976), Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan (1979)

September 18: jazz vocalist of “Mr Wonderful” fame, Teddi King (1929), pop singer Jimmie Rodgers (1933), teen idol Frankie Avalon (1939), Kerry Livgren of Kansas (1949), Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin (1952), Joanne Catherall of Human League (1962), Ian Spice of Breathe (1966), Ricky Bell of Bell Biv Devoe (1967)

September 19: R&B singer-songwriter Brook Benton (1931), Beatles manager Brian Epstein (1934), Nick Massi, bassist and bass singer of The Four Seasons (1935), Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers (1940), singer-songwriter-pianist Paul Williams (1940), Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas & The Papas, born Ellen Naomi Cohen (1941), singer-actress Freda Payne (1942), bluegrass guitarist David Bromberg (1945), Lol Creme of 10cc (1947), U2 producer Daniel Lanois (1951), Nile Rodgers of Chic (1952), country artist Trisha Yearwood (1962), James Tapp AKA rapper Soulja Slim (1977)

September 20: singer and New Orleans-style pianist Eddie Bo (1930), funk and jazz guitarist Eric Gale (1939), John Panozzo, drummer for Styx (1948), Alannah Currie of The Thompson Twins (1959), Cowboy, of The Furious Five, born Robert Keith Wiggins (1960), Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme (1966), Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, twin sons of Ricky Nelson (1967), Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden (1968), Rick Woolstenhulme of Lifehouse (1979)

September 21: jazz drummer Chico Hamilton, born Forestorn Hamilton (1921), singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934), pop singer Dickey Lee, born Dickey Lee Lipscomb (1969), Don Felder of The Eagles (1947), lead singer-guitarist of Oasis, Liam Gallagher (1972)

September 22: Mike Patto, leader and vocalist for ’70s Brit rock band Patto (1942)

Departures:

September 16: Motown songwriter Norman Whitfield (2008), the legendary Johnny Ramone (2004), Izadora Rhodes of Weather Girls (2004), CBS producer Tom Wilson (1978), Marc Bolan of T-Rex (1977), opera diva Maria Callas (1977), Leroy Griffin of The Nutmegs (1966)

September 17: rock guitarist Al Casey, who worked with Lee Hazelwood, The Beach Boys, and others (2006), Rob Tyner of MC5 (1991), Dave Patillo of doo-wop group The Red Caps (1967)

September 18: singer-songwriter Charlie Fox of “Mockingbird” fame (1998), blues and jazz singer Jimmy Witherspoon (1997), R&B jump blues singer Roy Milton (1983), Jimi Hendrix (1970), country blues harmonica player Will Shade (1966)

September 19: saxophonist Danny Flores of “Tequila” fame (2006), Motown writer-producer Willie Hutch (2005), crossover country singer Skeeter Davis, born Mary Frances Penick (2004) Australian folkie Slim Dusty (2003), contemporary Christian singer Rich Mullins (1997), Motown arranger and session keyboardist Earl Van Dyke (1992), Gram Parsons of The Byrds, born Cecil Ingram Connor (1973)

September 20: Texas swing singer-yodeler Don Walser (2006) Broadway composer Jule Styne (1994), singer-songwriter Steve Goodman (1984), singer-songwriter Jim Croce (1973), Maury Muehleisen, guitarist with Jim Croce (1973), Country Music Hall of Famer Red Foley (1968)

September 21: former Fender CEO William “Bill” Schultz (2006), Bad Company bassist Raymond “Boz” Burrell (2006)

September 22: big band singer Connie Haines (2008)

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1814, after watching the British attack Fort McHenry Francis, Scott Key writes the words that will become the lyrics to “The Star Spangled Banner” … the melody comes from a popular British drinking song … the tune will be adopted as the U.S. national anthem over 100 years later on March 3, 1931, and because of its rather extreme range from lowest note to highest note and idiosyncratic lyrics, the song continues to be badly butchered by amateur and (allegedly) professional singers … repeated efforts to replace “Banner” with the more peaceful, vocal-friendly “America, The Beautiful” are rebuffed …

1955, Little Richard records “Tutti Frutti” in New Orleans at Cosmo Matassa’s J&M Studios … backing musicians include Huey Smith (“Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu”) on piano, Lee Allen on tenor sax, and Earl Palmer on drums, all part of Fats Domino’s band … original lyric: “tutti frutti, good booty” …

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1960, the FCC bans payola, outlawing the pervasive practice of record companies making payments to radio DJs to spin their releases … the practice resurges four decades later and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer collects hefty fines from all the major labels for engaging in the pay-to-play game …

1963, after trying to cash in on the Twist craze, record companies move on to the surf music boom … which brings us to the rise in popularity of folk music among the masses … though it’s not his idea, Muddy Waters records Muddy Waters: Folk Singer for Chess Records at Tel Mar Studios in Chicago…helping Muddy connect with his folkier side are Buddy Guy on second acoustic guitar, Clifton James on drums, and Chess stalwart Willie Dixon on bass…a folk album in name only, the tunes are mostly written by Muddy and/or Willie and includes blues classics like “Good Morning Little School Girl”…

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…in 1968, Chess will subject Muddy to recording a psychedelic-blues album with funk session men complete with wah-wah pedal…Electric Mud features Muddy gamely working his way through The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend The Night Together”…how about that for acknowledging your roots?…next thing you know Otis Redding will be recording “Satisfaction”…

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1964, a pair of enterprising Beatles fans pack themselves into a carton marked “Beatles Fan Mail” and arrange to have it delivered to the Baltimore Civic Center where the Fab Four are appearing … their plot is foiled when the girls are discovered by guards checking deliveries … Rod Stewart rasps his first single—the blues chestnut “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” …

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&hellip a different kind of rasping characterizes Dave Davies guitar as he power chords The Kinks “You Really Got Me” to #1 in the U.K. this same week …

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1965, 8-track players are introduced … notable for their low fidelity and propensity for eating their closed-loop tapes, they will give way to superior cassette-based players in the 1970s … The Toys, a New York-based girl group, score a #2 pop hit with “Lover’s Concerto” … the song is based on a Bach minuet …

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1966, zany situation comedy interspersed with A Hard Day’s Night-style music videos, hey hey it’s The Monkees, the half-hour show debuts on NBC-TV starring four young men—Mickey Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones—who answered an audition ad in Variety … the group is formed, and a surefire hit single released to promote the show … the success of the Pre-Fab Four will force a David Jones in England to change his name to David Bowie … after scoring hits in the guise of a crooner and rock ‘n’ roller, Bobby Darin reinvents himself as a folk singer with the release of “If I Were a Carpenter” … the Tim Hardin tune reinvigorates his flagging career …

1967, The Beatles begin filming Magical Mystery Tour, which they will soon experience as their first “flop” …

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1968, Roy Orbison’s home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, burns down while he’s touring England … his two eldest sons die in the fire …

1969, during Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s set at the Big Sur Festival, a yahoo in the crowd starts heckling the band for being rich rock stars … Stills, wearing a flamboyant fur coat, leaps off the stage, chases the heckler down, and administers a pounding while from the stage Crosby pleads for “Peace and love, peace and love” … Stills gets back onstage and reflects, “Y’know, we think about what that guy was saying, and we look at these coats and these pretty guitars and fancy cars and say, ‘Wow man, what am I doin’?” … building on their successful performance at the Woodstock festival, Santana release their first album … Jimi Hendrix, also fresh from Woodstock, appears on The Dick Cavett Show and performs a medley of “Machine Gun/Izabella” … here’s a classic quote from the interview, Cavett: Do you consider yourself a disciplined guy, do you get up every day and work? Hendrix: Oh, I try to get up every day …

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1970, an English group called Mungo Jerry join the ranks of the U.S. one-hit-wonders with their good-timey single “In The Summertime” … the jugband-inflected ditty peaks at number 3 on the U.S. charts … followup singles stiffed in the States … quite a comedown for a group promoted as “The New Beatles” with 10 Top 40 hits in England … Jimi Hendrix is interviewed by Keith Altham for BBC Radio and Record Mirror … it will be his final interview …

1978, The Grateful Dead do a three-night stand at the Son Et Lumiere Theater in Giza, Egypt, with the Great Pyramids as a backdrop …

1979, the first rap single “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang is released … Patti Smith plays a concert before 85,000 fans at a stadium in Florence, Italy … after the show she retires from showbiz in Detroit with former MC5 guitarist Fred Smith …

1980, XTC’s new album is Black Sea containing “Majors and Generals” and “Respectable Street” …

1981, Devo’s contribution to the Heavy Metal soundtrack, an update of Lee Dorsey’s “Working In A Coal Mine” is turned into a single … San Francisco’s The Residents’ release Mark of the Mole, the first album in “The Mole Trilogy” …from the Land Down Under, Men At Work release their debut single “Who Can It Be Now?” …

1984, the burgeoning MTV network holds its first Video Music Awards ceremony at New York’s Radio City Music Hall … the show is co-hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd and honors the top music videos of the year … the event is conceived as a hip alternative to the Grammys … winners including Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, The Police, and Herbie Hancock are awarded Moon Man trophies that depict an astronaut with an American flag, one of the network’s earliest icons …

1987, former Wailer Peter Tosh is shot to death in his Jamaican home during a robbery … an article in Rolling Stone suggests the killing was actually the result of a feud … Tosh’s previous home had been burned down by an arsonist a year earlier …

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… brilliant but mentally troubled bassist Jaco Pastorius tries to get back into the Midnight Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is severely beaten by a bouncer … Jaco dies two weeks later from his injuries … the soundtrack to La Bamba, featuring Los Lobos, begins a two-week stay at #1 on the U.S. album charts …

1988, British glam-rock star Gary Glitter makes a court appearance on charges of producing child porn and sexual assault … he is later convicted and imprisoned … Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” tops the charts in the U.S. … the signature opening riff was improvised by guitarist Slash while warming up …

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1991, in a publicity stunt, Alice Cooper sells copies of his new album Hey Stoopid in New York’s Times Square for 99 cents a pop … Nirvana’s anthemic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is released … it’s part grunge, punk, and heavy metal …

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…future American Idol judge Paula Adbul racks up her sixth #1 single on the U.S. charts with “The Promise Of A New Day” …

1995, Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” tops the U.S. charts … it will later go on to win a Grammy …

1996, Wal-Mart refuses to carry Sheryl Crow’s second album because the song “Love is a Good Thing” includes the lyrics, “Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/With a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores.” … rapper/film actor Tupac Shakur dies in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas …

2000, the soundtrack for Almost Famous is released …it’s notable for including four vintage Led Zeppelin tracks—a first for any soundtrack … Robert Plant and Jimmy Page agree to the tunes’ inclusion after falling in love with Cameron Crowe’s filmed semi-autobiographical remembrance of a rock journalist-groupie in the ’70s … Page/Plant withhold permission for use of “Stairway to Heaven” so the scene that is built around it is cut from the final print … years later, the cut scene is included as a special-edition DVD extra … viewers can cue up their copy of “Stairway” and watch the actors reacting to the song—for example, air drumming—as it plays in the main character’s living room …

2004, Johnny Ramone dies in his Los Angeles home after five years battling prostate cancer … Johnny exits surrounded by his wife Linda Cummings and friends Eddie Vedder, singer Rob Zombie and his wife Sherrie Zombie, Lisa Marie Presley, Pete Yorn, Vincent Gallo, and Talia Shire …

2007, Mötley Crüe files a $20 million lawsuit against drummer Tommy Lee after his announcement that he’s leaving the band … also in a litigious mood this week, Prince is reported to be preparing lawsuits against websites such as BitTorrent, YouTube, and eBay charging wholesale piracy of his songs and videos … in his campaign to stamp out Prince-targeted piracy he has retained London-based Web Sheriff, a company that scours the web for illegal usage of copyrighted material …

2008, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s Rickenbacker guitar is ripped off following a Helsinki gig … a generous reward is offered for the axe that has been a mainstay of the band’s studio and live dates since the early 1980s …

2009, fans around the world queue up at record outlets to get their hands on the newly remastered Beatles back catalog … aside from the 14 individual album reissues, shoppers spring for two different $200 box sets … EMI ships 5,000,000 discs and sees 235,000 of them sold in the first two days giving the faltering CD business a much-needed boost… Phil Collins today revealed he will never drum again because he is suffering from a painful spine injury … Collins, 58, whose hits include “In The Air Tonight”, said: “After playing drums for 50 years, I’ve had to stop” … Kanye West apologizes for interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs … Swift was making her acceptance speech for best female video at the MTV VMA awards in New York … the rapper rushed the stage and grabbed the mic from Swift telling the audience that Beyonce should have won for her video “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”… “Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time,” said West, as an embarrassed Beyonce looked on from the audience …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

September 9: Jacob Carey of The Flamingos (1926), jazz drummer Elvin Jones (1927), Otis Redding (1941), Inez Foxx (1942), Billy Preston (1946), Iron Butterfly’s Doug Ingle (1945), Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics (1952)

September 10: Waldo Semon, inventor of vinyl, later used to make LPs (1898), R&B shouter Roy Brown (1925), vibist Roy Ayers (1940), Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night (1942), Jose Feliciano (1945), Barrymore Barlow of Jethro Tull (1949), Aerosmith’s Joe Perry (1950), Don Powell of Slade (1950), Johnny “Fingers” Moyett of Boomtown Rats (1956), Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama (1957), T’Pau vocalist Carol Decker (1957), Cracker’s Dave Lowrey (1960), Bush drummer Robin Goodridge (1966), Big Daddy Kane (1968)

September 11: blues musician Barbecue Bob (1902), tenor saxman Bobby Fields (1928), Bernard Dwyer of Freddie And The Dreamers (1940), fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke (1945), British guitarist-singer-songwriter John Martyn, born Iain David McGeachy (1948), Mickey Hart (1950), Tommy Shaw of STYX (1953), session guitarist Hiram Bullock (1955), Jon Moss of Culture Club (1957), Style Council keyboardist Mick Talbot (1958), bassist Victor Wooten (1964), Moby born Richard Melville Hall (1965), Harry Connick, Jr. (1967), guitarist-vocalist Richard Ashcroft of The Verve (1971), Ludacris (1977), Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland (1977)

September 12: bluesman Gus Cannon (1883), Maurice Chevalier (1888), blues singer Alger “Texas” Alexander (1900), Mel “The Velvet Fog” Torme (1925), country vocalist George Jones (1931), Redbone guitarist Tony Bellamy (1940), Warren Corbin of The Cleftones (1943), Maria Muldaur (1943), suave soulman Barry White (1944), Foundations vocalist Colin Young (1944), Iron Butterfly singer Darryl DeLoach (1947), Gerry Beckley of America (1952), Rush drummer Neil Peart (1952), Barry Andrews of XTC (1956), Larry LaLonde of Primus (1968)

September 13: swing sax player Leon “Chu” Berry (1908), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1911), suave bluesman Charles Brown (1922), Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac (1922), Joseph “Mr. Google Eyes” August (1931), producer Gene Page (1938 or 1939 or 1940), Dave Quincy of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (1939), David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1941), Peter Cetera of Chicago (1944), Fred “Sonic” Smith (1949), Randy Jones of The Village People (1952), producer Don Was (1952), Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Metallica (1961), Steve Perkins of Jane’s Addiction (1967), Fiona Apple (1977)

September 14: composer Johann Michael Haydn (1737), New Orleans pianist Archibald born Leon T. Gross (1912), “Heartbreak Hotel” co-writer and mother of Hoyt Axton, Mae Boren Axton (1914), Pete Agnew, bass player for Nazareth (1946), Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1949), Free’s Paul Kossoff (1950), Barry Cowsill, drummer-bassist for The Cowsills (1954), Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (1955), A-Ha vocalist Morten Harket (1959), Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature (1970), Everclear’s Craig Montoya (1970)

September 15: country legend Roy Acuff (1903), alto sax wizard Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (1928), New York DJ Jack Spector AKA Vic Venus (1929), Les Braid of The Swinging Blue Jeans (1937), Lee Dorman of Iron Butterfly (1942), English soul singer Jaki Graham (1956), George Howard of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes (1957), Mitch Dorge of Crash Test Dummies (1960)

Departures:

September 9: singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti (1998), bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe (1996), Sandra Tilley of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1981), singer Helen Humes (1981)

September 10: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (2005), zydeco accordionist Beau Jocque (1999)

September 11: poet-punk rocker Jim Carroll (2009), Brazilian percussionist Ramiro Musotto (2009), New Orleans funk and soul keyboardist, songwriter, and singer Wilson “Willie Tee” Turbinton (2007), jazz pianist-composer Joe Zawinul (2007), Raybeez AKA Raymond Barbieri of Warzone (1997), Peter Tosh (1987)

September 12: Grand Ole Opry star Charlie Walker (2008), R&B singer and James Brown bandleader Bobby Byrd (2007), Nashville session drummer Kenny Buttrey (2004), Johnny Cash (2003), Stanley Turrentine (2000), ABBA producer Stig “Stikkan” Anderson (1997), Jaco Pastorius (1987), country blues guitarist Frank Stokes (1955)

September 13: rapper Tupac Shakur (1996), conductor-arranger Leopold Stokowski (1977)

September 14: R&B vocalist Johnny Adams (1998), Cuban bandleader and “King of the Mambo” Perez Prado (1989), bluesman Walter “Furry” Lewis (1981)

September 15: Richard “Rick” Wright (2008), jazz pianist Bill Evans (1980)

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1956, in the wake of Johnnie Ray’s success with “Just Walking in the Rain,” Sun Records releases a cover by The Prisonaires, a smooth-singing doo-wop group composed of Tennessee State Penitentiary inmates …

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1962, The Beatles hit Abbey Road recording studio for the first time, recording “Love Me Do” in about 16 takes with drummer Andy White …

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1965, an ad in Variety announces auditions for the new TV show The Monkees … would-be Monkees who fail to make the cut include Stephen Stills; Danny Hutton, later of Three Dog Night; songwriter Paul Williams; and Charles Manson …

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1968, because of fears of street violence during the National Democratic Convention, The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” is banned from airplay in Chicago …

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1978, Who drummer Keith Moon succumbs to an overdose of the drug Heminevrin prescribed to combat his alcoholism … an autopsy reveals that he’d washed down 32 of the pills with champagne … his death occurs in the same apartment in which Mama Cass of The Mamas & The Papas met her demise in 1974 …

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… at a Teddy Pendergrass show in New York called “For Women Only,” female concertgoers receive white chocolate lollipops in the shape of a teddy bear…

1990, Tom Fogerty, an original member of Creedence Clearwater Revival and brother of John, dies of tuberculosis this week at age 48 … he had parted from the band at the height of its success in 1971, a casualty of sibling rivalry … and although he recorded a number of albums on his own, he never scored a hit after his CCR days …

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… across the pond, The Cure launches a pirate radio station beamed at London to publicize the release of the remix album Mixed Up… but the station will soon go off the air beset by technical difficulties and use of the powerful BBC signal to cover up its broadcasts …

1991, country music star Dottie West dies from internal injuries suffered in a car accident in the parking lot of The Grand Ole Opry… the crash occurred a few days earlier when an elderly neighbor, who was giving West a ride to work, lost control of the car …

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1997, Pat Smear announces he will no longer be a Foo Fighter and that Franz Stahl will take his place …

1999, record mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs is ordered to attend an anger management class after being convicted of attacking the president of Interscope Records, Steve Stoute … lucky for Stoute the Puff man doesn’t shop at Wal-Mart …

2000, Rage Against the Machine bassist Timothy Commerford pleads guilty to charges of assault and disorderly conduct at the MTV Video Music Awards … while raging against Limp Bizkit’s acceptance of the award for Best Rock Video–which was coincidentally up against Rage’s video for “Sleep Now In The Fire”–Commerford climbed a 15-foot arch that was part of the stage set … stagehands and security swarmed the stage to extricate Tim, who would “sleep now in the slammer” …

2004, the 6th Circuit Court in Cincinnati rules that artists should pay for every sample they use … previously courts had held that as long as short samples could not be identified, licensing was unnecessary … in this new decision, the court, acknowledging other cases involving digital piracy says, “If you cannot pirate the whole sound recording, can you ‘lift’ or ‘sample’ something less than the whole? Our answer to that question is in the negative.” … ironically, a two-second sample of a Funkadelic record in NWA’s 100 Miles and Runnin is at the heart of the ruling … Funkadelic and Parliament leader and founder George Clinton has historically been supportive of sampling, having produced two albums titled Sample Some of Dis and Sample Some of Dat that permit remixers to use his music without legal considerations …

2006, in a Rolling Stone interview, Elton John reveals that he’s thinking about putting out a hip-hop album … “I want to work with Eminem, Pharrell, Kanye, and Snoop. We’ll see what happens. It could be a disaster.” … Rapper Master P debuts his new musical Uncle Willy’s Family, in Meridian, Mississippi … the show is semiautobiographical, focusing on a family that has to abandon its home in the face of Hurricane Katrina … to no one’s particular surprise, it’s revealed that Whitney Houston has separated from her husband of 14 years, Bobby Brown … the marriage was punctuated by drugs and domestic disturbances … on a more positive note, Lou Reed joins Jack White and his Raconteurs at the VMA Awards show in New York, pitching in on the vocals of “White Light/White Heat” …

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2007, with just 7.4 million in album sales this week, Nielsen SoundScan reports the lowest numbers in the chart service’s history … only the High School Musical 2 soundtrack manages to move more than 50,000 units … just eight years earlier 27 albums moved that many … Lucinda Williams kicks off a novel tour in which she will play five nights each in New York and L.A. … each show will be devoted to one of her five studio albums in its entirety: her 1988 self-titled disc, Sweet Old World, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Essence, and World Without Tears …

2008, Oasis is mid-way through its headline set at the V Festival when a man runs from backstage and knocks Noel Gallagher to the ground … Security guards wrestle the attacker to the floor and drag him away with brother Liam in pursuit … after a 15-minute break, the band resumes its set to cheers from a 25,000-strong audience …

…and that was the week that was.

Arrivals:

September 2: Hugo Montenegro (1925), Sam Gooden (1939), Bobby Purify (1939), Rosalind Ashworth of Martha and The Vandellas (1943), Joe Simon (1943), Mik Kaminski of E.L.O. (1951), Simply Red’s Fritz McIntyre (1956), Steve Porcaro of Toto (1957) Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs (1958), Jonathan Segal of Camper Van Beethoven (1963), K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci (1969)

September 3: bluesman Memphis Slim born Peter Chatman (1915), Hank Thompson (1925), Freddie King (1934), Kenny Pickett (1942), Al Jardine of The Beach Boys (1943), Walter Scott (1943), Greg Leads (1944), George Biondi of Steppenwolf (1945), Thin Lizzy’s Eric Bell (1947), Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad (1948), Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols (1955), Jennifer Paige (1973)

September 4: “Lightning Bug” Rhodes, guitarist for Otis Redding and B.B. King (1939), lead singer George Lanuis of The Crescendos (1939), Merald Knight of Gladys Knight & The Pips (1942), fret wizard Danny Gatton (1945), Greg Elmore of Quicksilver Messenger Service (1946), Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Gary Duncan (1946), Ronald LaPread of The Commodores (1950), Muscle Shoals session guitarist Wayne Perkins (1951), Martin Chambers of the Pretenders (1952), Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (1960), Dan Miller of O-Town (1980), Beyoncé Knowles (1981)

September 5: Chicago blues pianist Sunnyland Slim (1907), doo-wopper Jimmy Springs of The Red Caps (1911), guitarist Willie Woods of Junior Walker & The Allstars (1936), singer-songwriter and Kingston Trio member John Stewart (1939), Al “Year of the Cat” Stewart (1945), Freddie Mercury of Queen (1946), Buddy Miles (1946), guitarist Clarence White born Cecil Ingram Connor (1946), singer-songwriter Loudon Wainright III (1947), David “Clem” Clempson of Humble Pie/Colosseum (1949), Terry Ellis of En Vogue (1966), Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine (1968), Dweezil Zappa (1969)

September 6: bluesman Jimmy Reed (1925), blues drummer Fred Below (1926), Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters (1943), Dave Bargeron of Blood, Sweat & Tears (1942), androgynous disco star Silvester aka Silvester James (1947), Perry Bamonte of The Cure (1960), Pal Waaktar of A-Ha (1961), CeCe Peniston (1969), Dolores O’Riordon of The Cranberries (1971), Nina Persson of The Cardigans (1974), Foxy Brown (1979)

September 7: Hank Williams (1923), tenor sax giant Sonny Rollins (1930), bluesman Little Milton (Campbell) (1934), Buddy Holly born Charles Hardin Holley (1936), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1940), Continental Drift bassist Jim Gault (1943), Alfa Anderson of Chic (1946), disco diva Gloria Gaynor (1949), Chrissie Hynde (1951), session guitarist Chuck Beattie (1954), Brad Houser of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (1960), Chris Acland of Lush (1966), Chad Sexton of 311 (1970), Eazy-E of N.W.A. (1973)

September 8: composer Antonin Dvorak (1841), “The Singing Brakeman” Jimmie Rodgers (1897), Western swing pioneer Milton Brown (1903), Modern Records co-founder Jules Bihari (1913), Patsy Cline born Virginia Patterson Hensley (1932), soul sermonizer Joe Tex (1933), Dante Drowty of Dante & The Evergreens (1941), Brian Cole of The Association (1944), Cathy Jean (1945), Kelly Groucutt of E.L.O. (1945), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan of The Grateful Dead (1945), Atlanta Rhythm Section’s Dean Daughtry (1946), David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals (1960)

Departures:

September 2: New York Metropolitan Opera impressario Sir Rudolf Bing (1997), composer Otto Luening (1996), violinist Cyril Reuben (1996), Ljuba Welitsch (1996)

September 3: Major Lance (1994), Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (1970)

September 4: jazz saxophonist Charlie Barnet (1991), country singer Dottie West (1991)

September 5: swamp-boogie queen Katie Webster (1999), R&B pianist Sonny Knight (1998), conductor Georg Solti (1997), Charlie Charles, drummer for Ian Dury and the Blockheads (1990), Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1978), blues guitarist Joe Hill Louis (1957)

September 6: co-founder of Atari Teenage Riot, Carl Crack (2001), stand-up country bassist Roy Husky Jr. (1997), Tom Fogerty of CCR (1990), Josh White (1964)

September 7: Erma Franklin, sister of Aretha (2002), composer Niccolo Castiglioni (1996), Keith Moon (1978)

September 8: songwriter Dick Heard (1998), Beatle publicist Derek Taylor (1997), Jack Vigliatura and Bill White of For Squirrels (1996), rapper Cowboy AKA Keith Wiggins of The Furious Five (1989)

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