January 7th in Rock & Roll History
The late Jack Greene (‘There Goes My Everything’) was born in 1930
The late Eldee Young (upright bass with Young/Holt Unlimited – ‘Soulful Strut’ and The Ramsey Lewis Trio – ‘The In Crowd’) was born in 1936
The late Paul Revere (born Paul Revere Dick – keyboards with Paul Revere & The Raiders – ‘Kicks’) was born in 1938
The late Rory Storm (born Alan Caldwell – lead singer with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes {Ringo Starr’s first group} – ‘Only In America’) was born in 1938
The late Lefty Baker (born Eustace Britchforth – guitarist with Spanky & Our Gang – ‘Like To Get To Know You’) was born in 1939
The late Danny Williams (‘White On White’) was born in 1942
Kathy Valentine (bass guitarist with The Go-Go’s – ‘We Got The Beat’) is 56
Kenny Loggins (‘Your Mama Don’t Dance’ as half of Loggins & Messina and ‘Footloose’ as a solo artist) is 67
Andy Brown (drummer with The Fortunes – ‘Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again’) is 69
Mike McGear (born Peter Michael McCartney – member of British comedy/pop group The Scaffold – ‘Thank U Very Much’ – and the younger brother of Paul McCartney) is 71
Muddy Waters recorded the classic ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’—1954
Production began on the Rock Around The Clock movie with Bill Haley—1956
Johnny Cash released the original studio version of ‘Folsom Prison Blues‘—1956
Sarah Vaughan recorded ‘Broken-Hearted Melody’—1958
Faron Young recorded ‘Hello Walls’—1961
Chubby Checker’s ‘The Twist’ returned to #1 on the Billboard chart. It had reached #1 two years earlier—1962
Bobby Vee recorded ‘Charms’—1963
Gary ‘U.S.’ Bonds sued Chubby Checker, claiming ‘Dancing Party’ sounded too much like his ‘Quarter To Three’. The suit was settled out of court—1963
Cyril Davies (British blues harmonica ace, and a member of Blues Incorporated, which included the likes of Jack Bruce – later with Cream, and Charlie Watts – later with the Rolling Stones) died (leukemia)—1964
The Beach Boys recorded ‘Don’t Worry Baby’—1964
The Dave Clark Five released ‘At The Scene’ / ‘I Miss You’ in the U.S.—1966
Bob Dylan was elected President of the United States—1968
Rock Factoid: A ‘grass ballot’ vote for president was held by pioneering underground FM radio station KMPX in San Francisco. Dylan was elected President; Paul Butterfield, Vice-President; George Harrison, Music Ambassador to the United Nations; the members of Jefferson Airplane were all elected Secretaries of Transportation and the members of the Grateful Dead were all elected Attorneys General.
The Friends of Distinction recorded ‘Love Or Let Me Be Lonely’—1970
Max Yasgur, whose property was used for the 1969 Woodstock concert, was sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighboring farmers—1970
Rolling Stones Records released ‘Jamming With Edward’, a mix of jam sessions recorded by Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Nicky Hopkins and Ry Cooder during the Stones’ ‘Let It Bleed’ recording sessions—1972
Former record executive Kenneth Moss was sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail (and four years probation) for involuntary manslaughter for the 1974 drug induced death of Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh—1976
Carl White (lead singer with The Rivingtons – ‘Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow’) died (heart attack)—1980
Larry Williams (‘Bony Maronie’) died (self-inflicted gunshot) —1980
Rock Factoid: Rumors persisted for years after his death that he was murdered because of his involvement in drugs, crime and prostitution.
Williams – a chauffeur for Lloyd Price before he started his own recording career – was no stranger to trouble with the law. He had been convicted of dealing drugs in 1960 and served a prison term. He also shot at (and narrowly missed) Little Richard in 1977 over a drug debt.
Rock Factoid #2: Several of his compositions were covered by other artists. The Rolling Stones recorded ‘She Said Yeah’ and The Beatles recorded ‘Slow Down’, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’.
Two bronze busts worth $70,000 were stolen from a garden at George Harrison’s estate in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Thieves climbed a 10-foot wall and cut the figures of two monks from their stone foundations—1997
James Carr (‘The Dark End of The Street’) died (lung cancer)—2001
The Beatles Book Monthly closed down after 40 years. Author Sean O’Mahony, who set up the magazine in 1963, said there was nothing more to say as the number of things the former Beatles were doing got to be less and less as the years went on—2003
Bobby Robinson (produced ‘Kansas City’ by Wilbert Harrison and ‘Ya Ya’ by Lee Dorsey) died (natural causes)—2011
Maureen Gray (‘Dancing The Strand’) died (bile duct cancer)—2014
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