This is the week that was in matters musical…
1888, the first noted use of mobile recording equipment occurs at the Crystal Palace in London, when a recording machine is set up in the press gallery to record a performance of “Israel in Egypt” during a Handel Festival …
1967, a worldwide audience of 40 million witnesses a satellite broadcast of The Beatles performing “All You Need is Love” … chiming in on backing vocals are Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, and Keith Moon …
1968, the Small Faces album Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake hits #1 on the U.K. album chart … the original album comes in a circular sleeve that is a parody of “Ogdens’ Nut-brown Flake” a brand of tobacco produced in Liverpool … the B-side features an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, with narration in “Unwinese,” by gobbledygook expert Stan Unwin, who incorporates modern slang into his surreal narrative … this proves to be the group’s last album with Steve Marriott, who quits to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton …
1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays at the Denver Pop Festival, after which Hendrix makes the infamous announcement: “This is the last gig we’ll be playing together” … bassist Noel Redding quits the band … Mick Taylor makes his stage debut with The Rolling Stones at a concert in Rome … replaced by Ron Wood after his retirement in 1975, he holds the distinction of being the only Stones guitarist to quit the band and live …
1970, the cops in Niagara Falls discover Chubby Checker packing pot and some other illegal substances …
1977, Elvis makes his last public appearance at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis … “Can’t Help Falling In Love” is the last song he sings … Elton John achieves a lifelong ambition when he becomes Chairman of the Watford Football Club …
1978, Peter Frampton suffers a broken arm and cracked ribs in a Bahamian auto wreck … perhaps this provided the inspiration for the lyric, “Oh won’t you show me the way” …
1985, John Lennon’s 1965 Rolls Phantom V limo, sporting a psychedelic paint job, fetches $3,006,385 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York … U.S. patent granted to Seymour Duncan for stacked single-coil humbucker pickup design … Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M.’s third album, enters Billboard‘s album chart, where it will peak at #28 …
1993, in what could easily be construed as a mercy marriage, the very beautiful Julia Roberts marries the not-quite-so-beautiful Lyle Lovett … like Cher and Greg Allman’s marriage, this one also tanks after two years … perhaps a pattern is emerging …
1994, five fans are shot and injured by a crazed gunman at the Glastonbury Festival …
1995, Pearl Jam pulls the plug on its current tour saying they don’t want to cooperate with monopolistic Ticketmaster…
1998, Johnny Cash returns to the stage for the first time since being diagnosed with Shy-Drager Syndrome months earlier … he walks onstage surprising Kris Kristofferson who is singing “Sunday Morning Coming Down” at a Cash and Waylon Jennings tribute concert at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville … the song was the one a young and unknown Kristofferson had hand-delivered to Cash after landing a helicopter on his lawn in a creative attempt to get his music into the hands of someone who could help him gain recognition as a songwriter …
1999, Eric Clapton auctions off 100 of his guitars to raise funds for his Crossroads Center, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center in Antigua … among the guitars sold is his famous “Brownie,” which fetches a cool $497,500 …
2000, Michael Jackson is slapped with a lawsuit by German promoter Marcel Avram … the suit alleges that Jackson refused to perform two scheduled events … it is a small problem for Jackson compared with future trials he will face … nine people die and 24 are injured at a Pearl Jam concert at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival … but this time it’s not the fault of the band … the fatalities occur as the crowd surges toward the stage because the PA isn’t getting enough sound to the back …
2001, Liverpool renames the city’s airport after John Lennon … it’s the first time in U.K. history that an airport is named after a famous person … the new logo for the airport included the famous self-portrait by John Lennon and the strapline “above us only sky,” taken from the lyrics of Lennon’s “Imagine,” one of the most popular songs of all time …
2004, pop vixen Britney Spears and her boyfriend, dancer Kevin Federline, announce their engagement … the engagement comes about six months after Spears is granted an annulment to dissolve her Las Vegas marriage to a childhood friend … following the tradition established by Cher, Spears and Federline untie the knot after two years … rapper turned actor DMX is arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport for allegedly attempting to steal a car and identifying himself as a federal agent … he is charged with possession of a weapon and crack … it must be some sort of misunderstanding … he was probably just researching a part where he plays a crack federal agent commandeering a vehicle …
2005, former guitarist for Static-X, Tripp Eisen, pleads guilty in an Orange County, California, court to having sex with a minor … the following October 7 he is arraigned on charges involving a 14 year-old girl that include among other things kidnapping and enticing a minor in New Jersey … he enters a not-guilty plea and is sprung on bail …
2007, James Blunt’s multimillion-selling ballad “You’re Beautiful” is voted the most irritating song of all time … Despite reaching number one in 11 countries and making the singer a star around the world, the track polled more votes than “Axel F” by Crazy Frog … other tracks in the top 10 included “Mmm Bop” by Hanson, “Mr. Blobby” by Mr. Blobby, and “The Birdie Song” by the Tweets … Hollywood music emporium Amoeba Music is paid a visit by none other than Sir Paul McCartney … the legendary former Beatle makes a rare appearance at the shop to play an intimate live gig … flying in from as far away as Japan to attend the free “secret” show, diehard Macca-maniacs camp out on Sunset Boulevard for three days… Sir Paul rewards their devotion with 90 minutes of Fab Four classics, songs off his hot-selling new Memory Almost Full album, and plenty of amusing stage banter and audience interaction … the Spice Girls, following a calculated publicity buildup, announce an agreement to get together for 11 concerts around the world … the shows will be their first concerts since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original group since Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career … two stage hands die after part of the set from a Rolling Stones concert collapses on top of them while dismantling it …
2008, Celine Dion’s rendition of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” is given the dubious distinction of being the “Worst Ever Cover Song” in a Total Guitar magazine survey … editor Steven Lawson decries Dion’s version as “sacrilege” … the Canadian singer’s never released the song as a single, but performed it as a duet with Anastacia during the Live Divas Las Vegas concert six years ago … DO NOT WATCH THE SECOND VIDEO BELOW! …
2009, guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen is no longer a solo act … he marries Janie Liszewski, his girlfriend of three years … the 54-year-old groom’s 18-year-old son Wolfgang serves as best man, while brother Alex Van Halen, an ordained minister, officiates at the 20-minute, nondenominational service … among the 100 guests is Van Halen’s ex-wife, Valerie Bertinelli, whom he divorced after 25 years of marriage …
…and that was the week that was.
Arrivals:
June 23: June Carter, singer-songwriter, actor, comedienne, and wife of Johnny Cash (1929), British singer and actor, Adam Faith (1940), Stu Sutcliffe, original bassist in The Beatles (1940), Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (1941), Paul Goddard of Atlanta Rhythm Section (1945), Steve Shelley, drummer with Sonic Youth (1962)
June 24: jazz and R&B sax player Jimmy Forest (1920), theatrical rocker Arthur Brown (1942), multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood of Traffic (1944), Jeff Beck (1944), Colin Blunstone of The Zombies (1945), Mick Fleetwood born Michael John Kells Fleetwood (1947), Dire Straits bassist John Illsley (1949), Terry Wilson AKA Astro of UB40 (1957), Curt Smith of Tears for Fears (1961), pop singer Glenn Medeiros (1970), Mario Calires of The Wallflowers (1973)
June 25: Clifton Chenier, king of zydeco accordion (1925), soul singer Eddie Floyd of “Knock on Wood” fame (1935), Harold Melvin of The Blue Notes (1939), Clint Warwick of The Moody Blues (1940), Johnnie Richardson, female half of R&B duo Johnnie & Joe (1940), Harry Womack of The Valentinos (1945), singer-songwriter Carly Simon (1945), Ian McDonald, founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner (1946), Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult (1946), multi-instrumentalist Brian Macleod of Chilliwack (1952), Tim Finn of Split Enz (1952), David Paich of Toto (1954), George Michael (1963)
June 26: influential and prolific bluesman Big Bill Broonzy (1898), Elvis Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker, born Andreas Cornelius Van Kuijk (1909), The 5th Dimension’s Billy Davis Jr. (1938), Canned Heat’s Larry Taylor (1942), keyboardist-singer Georgie Fame, born Clive Powell (1943), Rindy Ross of Quarterflash (1951), The Clash’s Mick Jones (1955), singer-songwriter Chris Isaak (1956), Patty Smyth, lead singer of Scandal (1957), Terri Nunn of Berlin (1959), Colin Greenwood of Radiohead (1969), EMF drummer Mark Decloedt (1969), country singer Gretchen Wilson (1973)
June 27: hit songwriter Doc Pomus, born Jerome Solon Felder (1925), Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis (1951), Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club (1958), country singer Lorrie Morgan (1959), Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (1961), vocalist Ray Slijngaard (1971)
June 28: pianist-writer Arnold Shaw (1909), bluegrass guitarist Lester Flatt of The Foggy Mountain Boys AKA Flatt and Scruggs (1914), bassist Andy Couson of All About Eve (1963), pop singer Beverly Craven (1963)
June 29: Frank Kirkland, drummer with Bo Diddley (1927), Leonard Lee, of the pop duo Shirley and Lee (1936), singer Little Eva, born Eva Narcissus Boyd (1943), twins Derv and Lincoln Gordon of The Equals (1948), Ian Paice, drummer Deep Purple / Whitesnake (1948), Colin Hay, lead singer of Men at Work (1954), Five Star singer Stedman Pearson (1964), Nicole Scherzinger of Eden’s Crush (1978)
Departures:
June 23: bassist Pete Quaife of The Kinks (2010), John Novarese, owner of Hi Records (1996), Tony Romeo, producer of the Cowsills and Partridge Family (1995)
June 24: Ira Tucker Sr., lead singer of The Dixie Hummingbirds (2008), Hank Medress, lead singer of The Tokens (2007), Carlos “The King of Tango” Gardel (1935), opera singer Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones AKA “Black Patti” (1933)
June 25: Michael Jackson (2009), Sky Saxon, lead singer and founder of The Seeds, born Richard Marsh (2009), legendary producer Arif Mardin (2006), guitarist Bob Sanderson of The Royaltones (1994), Jimmy Soul, born James McCleese, of “If You Want To Be Happy” fame (1988), Hillel Slovak, original guitarist of The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1988), songwriter Boudleaux Bryant (1987), blues guitarist Pee Wee Crayton (1985), lyricist-composer-singer Johnny Mercer (1976)
June 26: songwriter Brandon Chase (1996), Pink Fairies guitarist Mick Wayne (1994), bebop trumpeter Clifford Brown (1956)
June 27: singer-actress Gale Storm (2009), bassist John Entwistle of The Who (2002), blues singer/guitarist Prez “Kidd” Kenneth (1995), Steve Peregrin Took, percussionist T-Rex (1980), guitarist Stefanie Sargent of 7 Year Bitch (1992), opera diva Carlotta Patti (1889)
June 28: Bill Aucoin, manager who discovered KISS (2009), American punk rocker G.G. Allin (1993), punk rocker Rob Graves (1990), Harry Mills of The Mills Brothers (1982)
June 29: jazz-blues organist Richard “Groove” Holmes (1991), Lowell George, slide guitarist and founder of Little Feat (1979), C&W singer Johnny Bond (1978), American singer/songwriter Tim Buckley (1975), pianist Shorty Long of The Ink Spots (1969), revolutionary alto sax and bass clarinet player Eric Dolphy (1964)