This is the week that was in matters musical…
1967, Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, of course … little Lisa Marie will join the family nine months later…
1969, Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest Jimi Hendrix at Toronto International Airport for possession of heroin … Hendrix is released on $10,000 bail and claims that the drugs were planted … the charges will later be dropped…
1974, the #1 Billboard Pop Hit is “Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk Railroad … the original 1962 version by Little Eva had also hit the top of the pops … the song will hit pay dirt one more time when Kylie Minogue rides it to #3 in 1988…
1976, Bruce Springsteen is given the bum’s rush by security guards when he’s caught trying to scale the fence at Graceland…
1976, Paul McCartney returns to the stage in the U.S. for the first time in a decade as the Wings Over America tour takes flight in Ft. Worth, Texas…
1981, Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach … the two met and fell in love the year before while filming Caveman…
1984, Mick Fleetwood files for bankruptcy…
1994, the historic San Francisco Fillmore reopens after 27 years … performers at the show include American Music Club, Ry Cooder and David Lindley, and headliners Smashing Pumpkins … promoters originally hoped to secure Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen for the opening, but settled on the Pumpkins as a last resort…
1995, Tupac Shakur marries girlfriend Keisha Morris while incarcerated at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York … the rapper is in jail on a felony sexual abuse conviction…
1998, somewhere between doing the splits and a backflip while onstage in Anchorage, Alaska, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler injures his knee … luckily for the Alaskan fans, the injury occurred during the last encore … fans in other cities aren’t as lucky, as the band must cancel the remaining 14 dates of its North American tour so Tyler can have surgery and recover…
1999, citing the lack of a strong enough lineup, organizers say Lollapalooza will not happen for the second consecutive year…
1999, at a Des Moines, Iowa, show, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson stalks off the stage upon noticing that someone has slapped a big yellow smiley face sticker on one of his props … in the resulting melee, 23 are arrested…
1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…
2002, Suicidal Tendencies guitarist Mike Clark dislocates his shoulder in a motocross accident … he will make a full recovery…
2002, Metallica resumes work on their eighth full-length studio album, St. Anger … the rocky sessions, interrupted by guitarist-vocalist James Hetfield entering rehab and group therapy sessions with the band, are filmed by a documentary crew for the film Some Kind of Monster…
2002, Sharon Osbourne announces that her family will return for another season of their hit reality show The Osbournes on MTV … the show, which chronicles the daily lives of Sharon, Ozzy, Jack, and Kelly, is the most successful for MTV in its 21-year history…
2003, on his official website, KISS bassist Gene Simmons blasts musicians and actors who have spoken out recently against the U.S. war in Iraq … says Gene, “I don’t think celebs make very much impact with the masses at all” … this despite the fact that Simmons has used his site twice before to voice his support for the operation, going so far as to say,” …everyone who is marching today in a war protest can line up to my left to suck my b***s”…
2004, to celebrate the first anniversary of iTunes, Apple announces that the online music store will soon be featuring music videos and movie trailers … users will also be able to play purchased songs on up to five different machines instead of the original limit of three … the service sold over 70 million songs in its debut year…
2005, 37 years after Cream played its farewell concert, the revived ’60s supergroup performs the first of four sold-out concerts … the two-hour set encompasses all of Cream’s biggest hits including: “Sunshine of Your Love,” “Spoonful,” and “White Room,” triggering countless acid flashbacks among veteran concertgoers…
And that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
April 27: countdown DJ Casey Kasem (1932), Jimmy Cross (1939), Main Ingredient’s Cuba Gooding Sr. (1944), Badfinger’s Pete Ham (1947), soul songstress Ann Peebles (1947), Kate Pierson of The B-52’s (1948), Ace Frehley (1951), Sheena Easton (1959), Marco Pirroni of Siouxsie and the Banshees (1959)
April 28: John Walters of Dr. Hook (1945), Steve Gilpin (1950), Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth (1953), Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals (1961), Too Short (1966), Daisy Berkowitz of Marilyn Manson (1968)
April 29: Duke Ellington (1899), Carl Gardner of The Coasters (1928), Ray Barretto (1929), Lonnie Donegan (1931), Klaus Voorman (1942), Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys (1943), Soft Machine’s Hugh Hopper (1945), Tammi Terrell (1945), Tommy James (1947), keyboardist-accordion player John Cascella (1947), Francis Rossi of Status Quo (1949), Mark Kendall of Great White (1958), Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips (1968), Master P (1970), Mike Hogan of The Cranberries (1973)
April 30: Percy Heath (1923), Willie Nelson (1933), Jerry Lordan (1934), Bobby Vee (1943), Chris “Choc” Dalyrimple of Soul For Real (1971), J.R. Richards of Dishwalla (1972), Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees (1973)
May 1: pioneering Delta blues singer Charley Patton (1891), Big Maybelle born Mabel Louis Smith (1924), Harry Belafonte (1927), Sonny James (1929), Little Walter born Marion Walter Jacobs (1930), Titus Turner (1933), Shirley Horn (1934), Judy Collins (1939), Rita Coolidge (1944), Mimi Farina (1945), Ray Parker Jr. (1954), Johnny Colt of the Black Crowes (1966), Tim McGraw (1967), D’Arcy Wretsky-Brown of Smashing Pumpkins (1968), punk rocker Nick Traina (1978)
May 2: Bing Crosby (1903 [or ’01 or ’04 depending on your reference]), Link Wray born Frederick Lincoln Wray, Jr. (1929), organist Richard “Groove” Holmes (1931), John Lee Gardner of the Mothers of Invention (1933), Hilton Valentine of The Animals (1943), Goldy McJohn of Steppenwolf (1945), Lesley Gore (1946), Larry Gatlin (1948), Lou Gramm of Foreigner (1950), Prescott Niles of The Knack (1954), Joe Callis of Human League (1955)
May 3: Pete Seeger (1919), James Brown (1933), Engelbert Humperdinck (1936), Frankie Valli born Frank Castelluccio (1937), Mary Hopkin of “Those Were the Days” fame (1950), Christopher Cross (1951), Bruce Hall of REO Speedwagon (1953)
Depatures:
April 27: Al Hirt (1999), blues and soul singer Z.Z. Hill (1984), Phil King of Blue Oyster Cult (1972)
April 28: Percy Heath (2005), The (Five) Willows singer John Steele (1997), B.W. “Buckwheat” Stevenson (1988), T. Rex bassist Steve Currie (1981), Tommy Caldwell of The Marshall Tucker Band (1980), Charley Patton (1934)
April 29: Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist Keith Ferguson (1997), Mick Ronson (1993), Friends of Distinction leader Floyd Butler (1990), J.B. Lenoir (1967), blues pianist Leroy Carr (1935)
April 30: Nazareth drummer Darrell Sweet (1999), Body Count drummer Beatmaster V born Victor Ray Wilson (1996), Muddy Waters (1983), rock writer Lester Bangs (1982), Richard Farina (1966)
May 1: Sergio Franchi (1990), Spike Jones (1964)
May 2: jazz drummer Billy Higgins (2001)
May 3: Dion bandmember Peter Falcaglia (1995), Paul Butterfield (1987), Triumvirat bassist/guitarist Helmet Koellen (1977), guitarist Les Harvey (1972)
Ah, Homer Simpson’s favourite band… “The wild shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner… the bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher… the competent drumwork of Don Brewer…”
“Grand Funk Railroad paved the way for Jefferson Airplane, which cleared the way for Jefferson Starship. The stage was now set for the Alan Parsons project, which I believe was some sort of hovercraft…”