Monthly Archive: December 2015

Britney Spears (‘Baby One More Time’) is 34

Nate Mendel (bass guitar with Foo Fighters – ‘Learn To Fly’) is 47

Rick Savage (bass guitar with Def Leppard – ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’) is 55

Ted Bluechel Jr. (drummer with The Association – ‘Never My Love’) is 73

Tom McGuinness (bass guitar with Manfred Mann – ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’) is 74

Gene Autry’s ‘Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer’ made its first appearance on the music charts—1949

Andy Williams recorded ‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You’—1962

Ringo Starr’s tonsils were removed at University College Hospital in London—1964

George Harrison’s Gretsch ‘Country Gentleman’ guitar (he had played it at The Royal Command Performance) was crushed when the instrument fell from the back of The Beatles’ limo, bound for Glasgow for the first stop of the band’s last British tour—1965

The Monkees recorded ‘Magnolia Simms’. Michael Nesmith was the only member of the band to appear on the recording—1967

The Monkees’ ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd’ sold over one-million copies within three weeks of its release and became the group’s fourth #1 album—1967

George Harrison’s solo album (‘Wonderwall Music’ soundtrack) was released in the U.S.—1968
Rock Factoid: It was the first album to be issued on the Beatles’ Apple Record label, and the first solo album by a member of the band.

Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes was kidnapped but escaped unharmed—1969

George Harrison took a brief part time gig as guitarist with the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends Tour—1969

Blues musician Taj Mahal performed for the inmates on death row at Wilmington State Penitentiary in Delaware—1971

Led Zeppelin released ‘Black Dog’ / ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ in the U.S.—1971

The Who were arrested in Montreal after causing $6,000 worth of damage to their hotel suite. They spent six hours in jail and paid a $2,100 fine in return for hotel management not pressing charges—1973

The Beach Boys recorded ‘Sweet Sunday Kinda Love’—1977

Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge were divorced—1979

David Blue (folk singer/songwriter – wrote ‘Outlaw Man’ which was covered by The Eagles) died (heart attack—1982

MTV premiered Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video—1983

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled The Shirelles, Gene Pitney and B.J. Thomas were owed $1.2 million in unpaid royalties—1991

At a Rolling Stones concert at the Pontiac Silverdome outside of Detroit, 31 year old Eric Zylema fell 23 feet to his death while dancing on a handrail—1997

Peter Garrett, lead singer with Midnight Oil (‘Beds Are Burning’) announced he was leaving the band to focus on running for a seat in the Australian Senate—2002
Rock Factoid: He won.

David Mount (drummer with Mud – ‘Tiger Feet’) died (heart attack after a battle with throat cancer)—2006

Mariska Veres (lead singer with Shocking Blue – ‘Venus’) died (cancer)—2006

Odetta (born Odetta Holmes – ‘Take This Hammer’) died (heart disease)—2008

Eric Woolfson (songwriter/pianist/vocalist with The Alan Parsons Project – ‘Time’) died (kidney cancer)—2009

Howard Tate (singer/songwriter – ‘Ain’t Nobody Home’) died (Multiple myeloma and leukemia)—2011

Bobby Keys (saxophonist) died (cirrhosis)—2014
Rock Factoid: Keys played sax on songs such as ‘Brown Sugar’ (Rolling Stones), ‘Wah Wah’ (George Harrison), ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’ (John Lennon), ‘Photograph’ (Ringo Starr), ‘After Midnight’ (Eric Clapton), ‘The Letter’ (Joe Cocker), and, oh hell, I could go on and on, but let’s just say Bobby Keys was an amazing musician.

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