Today In Rock & Roll History

The late Tommy Dorsey (‘I’m Getting Sentimental Over You’) was born in 1905

The late Ray Collins (lead vocalist on The Mothers of Invention’s early albums, including ‘Freak Out!’ and ‘Absolutely Free’) was born in 1936
Rock Factoid: Frank Zappa’s sardonic, musically complex songs and the group’s outlandish live shows gained them a reputation in Hollywood’s Sunset Strip clubs, and ultimately a contract with MGM Records, but troubled by the group’s low-comedy aspect, Collins said, “I wanted to make beautiful music” when he announced his departure.

The late Geoff Goddard (songwriter – ‘Johnny, Remember Me’) was born in 1937

The late Hank Medress (founder of The Tokens – ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’) was born in 1938
Rock Factoid: After his singing career ended, Medress went on to produce the Chiffons (‘He’s So Fine’) and Tony Orlando and Dawn (‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon’)

Matt Sorum (drummer with Guns N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’ and Velvet Revolver – ‘Big Machine’) is 55

Joe Correro, Jr. (drummer with Paul Revere and The Raiders – ‘Don’t Take It So Hard’) is 69

Fred Lipsius (saxophone with Blood, Sweat and Tears – ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’) is 72

Warren ‘Pete’ Moore (sang bass with The Miracles – ‘Shop Around’ and co-writer of ‘Going To A Go-Go’, ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’, ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ and ‘I’ll Be Doggone’) is 76

Jerry Fuller (songwriter/producer) is 77
Rock Factoid: Fuller wrote ‘Travelin’ Man’, ‘Young World’ and ‘It’s Up To You’ for Ricky Nelson; ‘Lies’ for The Knickerbockers; ‘Young Girl’, ‘Lady Willpower’ and ‘Over You’ for Gary Puckett.
Rock Factoid: Fuller produced ‘Little Green Apples’ for O.C. Smith and ‘Show And Tell’ for Al Green) is 75

WCFL radio in Chicago banned all Elvis Presley records (and was promptly picketed by the local Elvis Fan Club)—1957

Gary Lewis & The Playboys recorded ‘This Diamond Ring’ although it was Leon Russell (keyboards), Carol Kaye (bass guitar), Hal Blaine (drums) and Tommy Allsup (the man who lost the coin flip with Ritchie Valens that fateful day in 1959, on guitar) who did the actual instrumental work—1964

Bobby Goldsboro recorded ‘Little Things’—1964

‘Little’ Johnny Jones (blues singer/pianist – ‘Big Town Playboy’) died (pneumonia)—1964

From our “my, how times have changed department”: The Kinks, The Who, Georgie Fame & The Blue Fames, The Hollies and Wilson Pickett performed at the Glad Rag Ball, Empire Pool, London. Ticket cost? $4.20—1965

The Supremes performed for Queen Elizabeth in London. Midway through their performance, Diana Ross interrupted the show with a plea for greater interracial understanding. She received a two-minute standing ovation from the audience—1968

Barbra Streisand released ‘The Way We Were’—1973
Rock Factoid: The song, which spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

Linda Ronstadt released ‘You’re No Good’—1974

The J. Geils Band recorded their second live album (‘Blow Your Face Out’) during a concert at Cobo Hall in Detroit—1975

George Harrison released ‘This Song’ / ‘Learning How To Love You’ in the UK—1976
Rock Factoid: ‘This Song’ was written after Harrison unsuccessfully tried to convince a judge that his 1970 song ‘My Sweet Lord’ did not intentionally infringe the Chiffons’ 1963 hit, ‘He’s So Fine’.
‘This Song’ released Harrison’s frustration with the infringement case in the form of an uptempo, piano-driven boogie. It featured Monty Python’s Eric Idle calling out (in falsetto) “Could be Sugar Pie Honey Bunch – No, sounds more like Rescue Me!” just before the instrumental break.

George Harrison released the ‘Thirty Three & 1/3’ album in the UK—1976
Rock Factoid: The title for the album reflected his age at the time of recording, as well as the speed at which an album would play on a turntable.

Chuck Berry was released from Lompoc Prison in California after serving 100 days for tax evasion—1979

The Kinks released ‘Come Dancing’ / ‘Noise’ in the UK—1982
Rock Factoid: ‘Come Dancing’ was a look back at childhood memories of Kinks’ frontman Ray Davies as he recalled his older sister going on dates to the local Palais dance hall where big bands would play.
Rock Factoid #2: The song’s lyrics afforded Davies’ sister a happier life than she had in reality. Living in Canada with an abusive husband, the 31-year-old Rene was visiting her parents in England at the time of Ray’s thirteenth birthday – June 21, 1957 – and she surprised him with a gift of the Spanish guitar he’d tried to persuade his parents to buy him.
Rock Factoid #3: That evening, Rene decided to go dancing with friends at the Lyceum Ballroom in London’s West End. That was not, in the opinion of her mother, a good idea: Rene had had rheumatic fever as a child, and it had weakened her heart. But, as Ray later recalled, Rene had always loved to dance, and her life was hard and her violent husband very far away; she was not inclined to deny herself a cherished pleasure. On the dance floor of the Lyceum that evening Rene collapsed and died, as the big band played a tune from Oklahoma!

Tom Evans (bass guitar/vocals with Badfinger – ‘Come And Get It’) died (suicide)—1983
Rock Factoid: Evans was found hanging in his backyard after a heated telephone argument with former bandmate Joey Molland (regarding song royalties) the previous evening. No suicide note was left but Marianne Evans said her husband had been depressed over financial difficulties and had long been troubled by the 1975 suicide of fellow band member Pete Ham.
“Tommy said, ‘I want to be where Pete is. It’s a better place than down here.'” … Marianne Evans

Don Henley released his second solo album (‘Building the Perfect Beast’)—1984
Rock Factoid: The album reached #13 on the Billboard Album Chart and included four singles which all reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100; ‘Boys Of Summer’, ‘All She Wants To Is Dance’, ‘Not Enough Love In The World’, and ‘Sunset Grill’.

The Kinks released the ‘Word Of Mouth’ album—1984

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences stripped the 1989 Best New Artist Grammy Award from the group Milli Vanilli because Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan didn’t actually sing on their debut album—1990

Bobby Russell (wrote ‘Little Green Apples’, ‘Honey’, The Joker Went Wild’ and ‘The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia’) died (coronary heart disease)—1992

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers appeared on Saturday Night Live with Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl filling in on drums—1994

The Beatles Anthology documentary began its three-day run on ABC-TV—1995

Bruce Springsteen released ‘The Ghost Of Tom Joad’ album—1995

Frank Sinatra’s 80th birthday tribute was taped at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, and Hootie and The Blowfish—1995

Paul McCartney’s ‘Liverpool Oratorio’ premiered in the U.S. at Carnegie Hall—1997

Motley Crue opened their retail store S’crue on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The store closed two months later—1998

Mick Jagger released his fourth solo album, ‘Goddess In The Doorway’—2001

Child abuse activists blasted Michael Jackson after he dangled his baby from a third-floor hotel balcony in Berlin, Germany—2002

One year to the day later, police raided Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch in California. Police were armed with an arrest warrant for Jackson (who was in Las Vegas) following allegations of sexual abuse of a 12-year old boy—2003

Greg Ridley (bass guitar with Spooky Tooth – ‘Love Really Changed Me’ and Humble Pie – ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’) died (pneumonia)—2003

Gary Glitter was arrested in Vietnam after being detained at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tried to board a plane to Bangkok—2005
Rock Factoid: Police said Glitter – who came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s with a sustained solo UK chart run and several hits including ‘Rock And Roll, Parts One And Two’ and ‘Do You Wanna Touch Me’ – was being held under suspicion of committing lewd acts with two girls under the age of 18 (specifically, they were 10 and 11)—2005
He initially faced possible child rape charges carrying the death penalty, but prosecutors did not find enough evidence for those charges, so Glitter was instead tried for lesser child sexual abuse charges. In 2006, he was convicted of committing obscene acts with minors and sentenced to three years imprisonment. He was released from prison on August 19, 2008

Terry Melcher (recording artist and producer) died (melanoma)—2004
Rock Factoid: Melcher and Bruce Johnston recorded (as The Rip Chords) ‘Hey Little Cobra’ before Johnston joined the Beach Boys. Melcher, son of actress Doris Day, went on to produce The Byrds, Paul Revere & The Raiders and Glen Campbell.

Kevin DuBrow (lead singer with Quiet Riot – ‘Metal Health’) died (cocaine overdose)—2007
Rock Factoid: DuBrow’s body was discovered on November 25. Autopsy results indicated he had been dead for “approximately six days” but some sites list November 25 as the date he died.

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2015 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.