The late Ferlin Husky (‘Wings Of A Dove’) was born in 1925
The late Andy Williams (‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You’) was born in 1927
The late Ken Lewis (The Ivy League – ‘What More Do You Want’, and co-writer of ‘Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat’ for Herman’s Hermits) was born in 1940
Helen Thomas ‘Nicky’ Stevens (Brotherhood Of Man – ‘United We Stand’) is 66
Mickey Thomas (lead singer with The Elvin Bishop Band – ‘Fooled Around And Fell In Love’ and Starship – ‘We Built This City’) is 66
John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne (lead singer with Black Sabbath – ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Crazy Train’ as a solo artist) is 67
Paul Nicholas (born Paul Beuselinck – ‘Heaven On The Seventh Floor’) is 71
Ralph McTell (‘Streets Of London’) is 71
Jim Freeman (The Five Satins – ‘In The Still Of The Night’) is 75
Julia Stanley married Alfred Lennon at the Mount Pleasant Register Office in Liverpool—1938>
Rock Factoid: Their son, John, married Cynthia Powell at the same location 24 years later but the similarities didn’t end with that.
Julia and Alfred’s wedding dinner was at Reece’s, a restaurant in nearby Clayton Square, where John and Cynthia also celebrated their wedding.
Both couples spent their wedding night apart; Julia and Alfred had essentially eloped and following the wedding, Julia returned to her parents’ home while Alfred went back to his rooming house. Cynthia and John were apart because John had to play a gig at the Riverpark Ballroom in nearby Chester.
Frank Sinatra recorded ‘Old Man River’—1944
Elvis Presley’s first single on RCA Records was released—1955
Rock Factoid: The two songs (‘I Forgot To Remember To Forget’ / ‘Mystery Train’) had been the final release on Sun Records in August 1955. RCA Victor Records acquired Presley’s Sun contract in November 1955 and seeking to recover their investment as quickly as possible, simply re-released the songs on their label.
The Beatles met Brian Epstein at his Liverpool record store to discuss his offer to manage them—1961
Bobby Vee released ‘The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’ / ‘Anonymous Phone Call’—1962
Keith Richards was electrocuted and knocked unconscious while playing ‘The Last Time’ during a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento, California—1965
Rock Factoid: The strings of Richards’ guitar touched an ungrounded microphone and an enormous jolt of electricity sent him flying backward through the air.
“I woke up in the hospital an hour later. It was fifty-fifty. The doctor said electrocution victims come around or they don’t.” … Keith Richards
The Beatles released a single (‘We Can Work It Out’ / ‘Day Tripper’) and an album (‘Rubber Soul’) in England—1965
The Monkees made their concert debut at Honolulu International Center Arena in Hawaii—1966
Ray Charles was given a 5-year suspended sentence and a $10,000 fine for a drug conviction in Boston—1966
The Monkees recorded ‘Writing Wrongs’. Michael Nesmith was the only member of the band to appear on the recording—1967
Elvis Presley’s Comeback Special aired on NBC—1968
John Lennon was asked by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber to play the title role in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’—1969
Rock Factoid: Lennon wasn’t offered the role of Jesus in the 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar, but Rice and Lloyd Webber did offer him the role of Jesus in the stage production. Still smarting from the whole “Beatles bigger than Jesus” fiasco from 1966, Lennon turned it down … although he did say he would have been interested if Ono could play the part of Mary Magdalene.
The Dave Clark Five released ‘Bring It On Home To Me’ / ‘Darling, I Love You’ in the U.S. The A-side, a cover of the Sam Cooke original, failed to hit the Billboard Hot 200—1969
The Rolling Stones released ‘Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)’ / ‘Dancing With Mr. D’—1973
Ringo Starr released ‘You’re Sixteen’ in the U.S.—1973
A 40-foot inflatable pig being used by Pink Floyd for an album cover broke its moorings and drifted across London—1976
The Royal Albert Hall received 3.5 million applications for a total of 11,212 tickets for upcoming ABBA shows—1976
Bob Marley was shot and wounded outside his house in Jamaica—1976
11 fans were suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati before a concert by The Who—1970
Rock Factoid: The concert was a sellout, with 18,348 tickets sold. The majority of these, 14,770, were for unassigned general admission tickets that included an arrangement for festival seating (first-come, first-served).
Rock Factoid #2: Before the show, as a sizeable crowd began to gather at one of the entryways, The Who decided to perform a late sound check. Some members of the crowd heard this and mistakenly believed that the concert was starting. In the confusion some people in the back of the crowd began pushing toward the front, resulting in a mass rush toward the entrance. This caused many people to get trampled while some suffered more serious injuries. Eleven concertgoers were unable to escape the throng of people pushing toward them and were killed by asphyxiation. There were a total of twenty-six other injuries.
Duran Duran released ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ in the U.S.—1982
Irving Taylor (songwriter – ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’ and ‘Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb’) died (natural causes)—1983
Gilby Clarke replaced Izzy Stradlin as rhythm guitarist for Guns N’ Roses—1991
Kevin Mills (bass guitar for The Newsboys – ‘Boycott Hell’) died (motorcycle accident)—2000
Grady Martin (guitarist) died (heart failure)—2001
Rock Factoid: Martin played with countless musicians, but his most memorable moments occurred on that unforgettable lead guitar riff for Roy Orbison (‘Oh, Pretty Woman’), the guitar lead for Marty Robbins (‘El Paso’) and the guitar solo for Johnny Horton (‘Honky Tonk Man’).
Mike Smith (producer) died (emphysema)—2011
Rock Factoid: Smith will forever be remembered as the Decca executive who rejected The Beatles in 1962, but he should also be remembered for his production skills. He produced ‘Halfway To Paradise’ (Billy Fury), ‘Silence Is Golden’ (The Tremeloes), ‘The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde’ (Georgie Fame), ‘Yellow River’ (Christie) and many more.
Edgar ‘Chico’ Edwards (The Spinners – ‘Truly Yours’) died (cause unknown)—2011
Ronald Mosely (Ruby & The Romantics – ‘Our Day Will Come’) died (prolonged illness)—2011
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2015 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.