The late Gene Clark (singer/songwriter with The Byrds – ‘I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better’ and ‘Silver Raven’ as a solo artist) was born in 1944
Rock Factoid: Clark wrote or co-wrote many of The Byrds’ best-known originals from their first three albums. “At one time, he was the power in the Byrds, not McGuinn, not Crosby – it was Gene. He was the songwriter. He had the gift that none of the rest of us had developed yet. We learned a lot of songwriting from him and in the process learned a little bit about ourselves.” … Chris Hillman, Byrds
Rock Factoid #2: It was resentment by other band members about the extra income Clark derived from his songwriting that led to internal squabbling and his decision to leave the group in early 1966. Following his departure, The Byrds hit the Top 40 just two more times in ten years.
Rock Factoid #3: Clark reunited with The Byrds when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in January 1991 but he died of natural causes brought on by a bleeding ulcer four months later. He was only 46.
The late Dean Paul Martin (the ‘Dino’ in Dino, Desi & Billy – ‘I’m A Fool’ – and the son of Dean Martin) was born in 1951
Rock Factoid: After his brief run at success with Dino, Desi & Billy (when he was 13), Martin became a professional tennis player and actor. An avid pilot, he obtained his pilot’s license at the age of 16 and became an officer in the California Air National Guard in 1981. He rose to the rank of captain. He died in 1987 when his F-4 Phantom jet fighter crashed in California’s San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm, killing him and his Weapons Systems Officer, Captain Ramon Ortiz.
The late Jeff Buckey (‘Hallelujah’ – and the son of folksinger Tim Buckley) was born in 1966
Isaac Hanson (guitarist with Hanson – ‘MMMBop’) is 35
Ben Wilson (keyboardist with Blues Traveler – ‘Girl Inside My Head’) is 48
Jim Babjak (lead guitarist with The Smithereens – ‘Blood And Roses’) is 58
Rod Clements (multi-instrumentalist with Lindisfarne – ‘The Things I Should Have Said’) is 68
Martin Barre (guitarist with Jethro Tull – ‘Aqualung’) is 69
Bob Gaudio (keyboards and songwriter with The Four Seasons – ‘Sherry’) is 73
Rock Factoid: At the age of 15, he was a member of The Royal Teens and co-wrote ‘Short Shorts’ for them.
Rock Factoid #2: Gaudio co- wrote virtually all of The Four Seasons hits; ‘Sherry’, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Walk Like A Man’, ‘Dawn (Go Away)’, ‘Ronnie’, ‘Save It For Me’, ‘Big Man In Town’, ‘Bye Bye Baby’, ‘Silence Is Golden’, ‘Rag Doll’, ‘Who Loves You’, ‘December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)’ and Frankie Valli’s solo single, ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’
Gordon Lightfoot (‘Sundown’) is 77
Gerry McGee (guitarist with The Ventures – ‘Walk – Don’t Run’) is 78
From bad to worse. Alan Freed learned that his trial for inciting a riot in Boston during a rock show he promoted in May 1958 was being postponed until January 1959. The delay was due to prosecutors investigating that Freed broke Massachusetts anti-anarchy law—1958
John Weightman, Headmaster of Surrey Grammar School in Guildford, England, banned all pupils from having Beatle haircuts saying, “This ridiculous style brings out the worst in boys physically. It makes them look like morons.”—1963
The Beach Boys recorded ‘Pet Sounds’ (the song, not the album)—1965
The Who began their second tour of North America in Kansas City, KS. They opened for The Buckinghams—1967
Elton John’s ’11-17-70′ album was recorded at A&R Recording Studios in New York City during a live radio broadcast on WABC-FM—1970
The Byrds released the ‘Farther Along’ album. It was a colossal flop. It peaked at #152 on the Billboard album chart and failed to chart at all in the UK—1971
The Faces released ‘A Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse’—1971
Rock Factoid:The album, which peaked at #6 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK contained the bands biggest hit single, ‘Stay With Me’ (#6 in the UK, #17 in the U.S.)
Led Zeppelin recorded ‘All My Love’, a song written in memmory of Robert Plant’s 6-year old son Karac, who died while Led Zeppelin were on their 1977 North American tour—1978
Rock Factoid: Plant stated that this song was one of Led Zeppelin’s “finest moments” but guitarist Jimmy Page – showing his insensitive side – had a different opinion. In a 1998 interview, Page said, “I wasn’t really keen on ‘All My Love’. I was a little worried about the chorus. I could just imagine people doing the wave and all of that. And I thought, ‘that’s not us.'”
John Glascock (bass guitar with Jethro Tull – ‘Songs From The Wood’) died (following heart surgery)—1979
Aretha Franklin gave a royal command performance for England’s Queen Elizabeth in London—1980
John Lennon and Yoko Ono released the ‘Double Fantasy’ album—1980
Rock Factoid: Initial critical reaction to the album was largely negative. Boston Phoenix music critic Kit Rachlis confessed he was “annoyed” by the artists’ assumption “that lots of people care deeply about John Lennon and Yoko Ono.” Geoffrey Stokes of Voice heavily criticized the albums “basically misogynist” theme: “vampire-woman-sucks-life-out-of-man-who-enjoys-every-minute-of-his-destruction.” Harsh stuff but consumers didn’t think much of it, either.
In the UK album charts, ‘Double Fantasy’ had peaked at #14 then quickly slipped to # 46. In the U.S., the album had peaked at #11 … but after Lennon was murdered in December 1980, the album jumped to #1 in both countries.
David Crosby (Crosby, Stills & Nash) broke his ankle, leg and shoulder in a motorcycle crash—1990
After a long battle to claim royalties, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago, former members of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (and the writers of ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’), were awarded an estimated $4 million in back payments—1992
Rock Factoid: Although early vinyl single releases of ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ credited Lymon, Santiago and Merchant as co-writers of the song, later releases and cover versions were attributed to Lymon and record producer George Goldner. Goldner’s name was later replaced by Morris Levy when Levy bought Goldner’s interest in Gee Records, the Teenagers’ record company.
Rock Factoid #2: In 1996, this ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit under the statute of limitations and authorship because Santiago and Merchant did not bring the case to court soon enough. This gave the song rights back to Lymon and Levy.
Meat Loaf collapsed onstage in London and underwent heart surgery to cure an irregular heartbeat—2003
Alan Hull (guitarist/singer/songwriter with Lindisfarne – ‘Lady Eleanor’ and ‘Treat Me Kindly’ as a solo artist) died (heart thrombosis)—1995
Don Gibson (‘Sea Of Heartbreak’) died (natural causes)—2003
Rock Factoid: Gibson wrote ‘Oh Lonesome Me’ and ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ (which has been recorded by over 700 artists, including Ray Charles who reached #1 with it).
Arthur Conley (‘Sweet Soul Music’) died (intestinal cancer)—2003
The Beatles released ‘Let It Be… Naked’—2003
Rock Factoid: Most of the songs on ‘Let It Be… Naked’ differed significantly from the original versions on ‘Let It Be’.
First, they were in a different running order than the original album. Second, all of Phil Spector’s orchestral and choral overdubs were removed, and his “Wall of Sound” mixing technique was not used. Additionally, all lead vocals and drums were placed in the middle of the stereo picture, giving the album a more modern sound and feel. Finally, all studio and rooftop dialogue from the original album was removed, resulting in a number of sharp fade-outs where dialogue had been previously audible.
Ruth Brown (the ‘Queen Mother of The Blues’ – ‘This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’) died (following a heart attack and stroke)—2006
Gary Garcia (one-half of pop duo Buckner & Garcia – ‘Pac-Man Fever’) died (cause unknown)—2011
Billy Scott (lead singer with The Prophets – ‘I Got The Fever’) died (liver and pancreatic cancer)—2012
Jimmy Ruffin (‘What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted’ and elder brother of the late David Ruffin of The Temptations) died (cause unknown)—2014
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2015 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.