Yearly Archive: 2014

The late Carlo Little (drummer with Lord Sutch & The Savages – ‘Jack The Ripper’) was born in 1938

The late Eddie Kendricks (‘Keep On Truckin’) and member of The Temptations (‘My Girl’) was born in 1939

The late Paul Butterfield (‘Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin’) was born in 1942

The late Dave ‘Dee’ Harman (lead singer with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich – ‘The Legend Of Xanadu’) was born in 1943
Rock Factoid: Prior to his music career, Harmon was a police cadet and was at the scene of the automobile accident that took the life of American rocker Eddie Cochran and injured Gene Vincent in April 1960. Harmon confiscated Cochran’s guitar from the accident and held it until it could be returned to the singer’s family.
Rock Factoid #2: George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr met at Abbey Road studios on January 3-4 1970 to record ‘I Me Mine’. The song begins with George saying, in a joking reference to John Lennon’s absence and Harman’s recent departure from Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, “You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us, but Mickey and Tich and I would just like to carry on the good work that’s always gone down in number two.” (meaning Abbey Road Studio Two).

The late Bob Stinson (guitarist with The Replacements – ‘I Will Dare’) was born in 1959

Mike Mills (bass guitar with R.E.M. – ‘Man On The Moon’) is 56

Wanda Hutchinson (The Emotions – ‘Best Of My Lovev) is 63

Paul Rodgers (lead singer with Free – ‘All Right Now’, Bad Company – ‘Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love’, The Firm – ‘Radioactive’ and later with Queen + Paul Rodgers) is 65

Jim Bonfanti (drummer with The Choir – ‘It’s Cold Outside’ and The Raspberries – ‘Go All The Way’) is 66

Art Neville (keyboardist with The Neville Brothers – ‘Whatever It Takes’) is 77

Tommy Steele (lead singer with The Steelmen – ‘The Only Man On The Island’ and ‘Come On, Let’s Go’ as a solo artist) is 78

Tennessee Ernie Ford’s ‘Sixteen Tons’ hit #1 on both the pop and country charts—1955

The Beatles appeared at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. Chas Newby joined the band (replacing Stuart Sutcliffe, who had temporarily remained in Hamburg), a position he would hold for only two weeks and four performances—1960
Rock Factoid: “I started playing acoustic guitar and then progressed to the bass guitar. I never wanted to be a professional musician – I had always longed to be a scientist.” … Chas Newby
Rock Factoid #2: During his brief stint with the Beatles, Chas was on vacation from a university he was attending. John Lennon asked him to go with The Beatles to Germany when they were to make their second trip there, but he chose to return to the university instead.
Rock Factoid #3: After earning his degree in chemical engineering, Newby would go on to develop the windshields used to protect fighter pilots that are still used today. After retirement from chemical engineering, he become a teacher (now retired) at Droitwich Spa High School in Worcestershire, England.
Rock Factoid #4: “The Beatles were making about one pound each per night. And that is when they had a gig. Maybe 12 pounds per month. I was getting my entire college paid for by an outside firm. You’ve got to understand that the chances of them making it were miniscule. People sometimes don’t believe me when I say I’ve no regrets but I really haven’t. I have enjoyed my life immensely.” … Chas Newby

Pink Floyd released ‘Point Me At The Sky’ / ‘Careful With That Axe Eugene’. It was the last single they would release in Britain for eleven years. ‘Point Me At The Sky’ wasn’t released in the U.S. and some members of Pink Floyd declared the song to be one of their most embarrassing moments —1968

The Who played at the Marquee Club in London. Also on the bill was a new group called Yes. Members paid a whopping $1.80 to get in while guests had to scrounge up $2.40—1968

Victoria May ‘Miss Vicki’ Budinger married Tiny Tim on The Tonight Show—1969

The Beach Boys gave a Royal Command Performance for Princess Margaret at London’s Royal Albert Hall—1970

David Bowie released his ‘Hunky Dory’ album—1971

During his appearance on Saturday Night Live, Elvis Costello stopped his performance of ‘Less Than Zero’, saying “there’s no reason to do this” and launched into ‘Radio Radio’, a song he had been told not to perform—1977

Karen Carpenter made her final live appearance—1982

American Delta blues musician/songwriter Big Joe Williams (wrote ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’) died (prolonged illness)—1977

Singer Wayne Newton won a $19.2 million suit against NBC News. NBC had aired reports claiming a link between Newton and mob figures. The reports were proven to be false—1986

Grover Washington, Jr. (saxophonist who scored a Top 40 hit with ‘Just The Two Of Us’ featuring Bill Withers on vocals) died (heart attack)—1999

Rex Allen (singer – ‘Sparrow In The Treetop’ and an actor in several 1950s westerns) died (after his caretaker accidentally ran over him with a car in his driveway)—1999

Keith Richards stole a guitar from a fan outside a party at New York’s Russian Tea Room. The fan never pressed charges, explaining, “It’s Keith, man.”—1999

Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the Elvis Presley estate for $100 million … sort of. As Lisa Marie explained, “There’s the Elvis Presley Estate, which are the things in the house and all of his stuff, which will never be touched. We sold 85 percent of the licensing and marketing—we still own 15 percent. But everything in Graceland is still ours. It will never be touched.” —2004

Dick Heckstall-Smith (saxophonist with Blues Incorporated – ‘Gotta Move’ and Graham Bond Organisation – ‘Train Time’) died (cancer)—2004

Denis Payton (saxophonist with The Dave Clark Five – ‘Any Way You Want It’) died (cancer)—2006

Joel Dorn (producer who won Grammy Awards for his work on Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ and ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’) died (heart attack)—2007

Captain Beefheart (born Don Van Vliet – singer/songwriter with The Magic Band – ‘Diddy Wah Diddy’) died (complications from multiple sclerosis)—2010

Robin Rogers (‘Need Your Love So Bad’) died (cancer)—2010

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