1923 –The late Sam Phillips (Sun Records owner who discovered Elvis Presley) was born.
Rock Factoid: In 1951, Phillips produced ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, a band led by 19-year-old Ike Turner. The recording produced what was arguably the very first rock ‘n’ roll song.
Rock Factoid #2: His discovery of Presley is legendary but it’s important to remember Phillips was also the first to sign other iconic artists such as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Phillips – who died in 2003 – was included in the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
1923 –The late George Malone (second tenor with The Monotones – ‘Book Of Love’) was born.
Rock Factoid: Lead singer Charles Patrick was listening to a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial on the radio and was struck by the line, “wonder where the yellow went.” He took that line and together with Malone and fellow Monotone Warren Davis, the three members of the band came up with, “Oh I wonder wonder who, be-doooo who,
Who wrote the book of love.”
1959 – Buddy Holly’s final recordings (‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ / ‘Raining In My Heart’) were released.
Rock Factoid: Less than one month later, Holly, along with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, would die in a plane crash.
1962 – Tony Sheridan (with The Beat Brothers a/k/a The Beatles) released ‘My Bonnie’ / ‘The Saints’ in England.
1963 – The Beach Boys recorded ‘Shut Down’ and ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’. The two songs were released as a single in March 1963, peaking at #23 on the Billboard charts.
1965 –The Supremes recorded ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’.
1970 – Brook Benton released ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’.
1973 – Bruce Springsteen released his debut album (‘Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ’).
Rock Factoid: Two songs from the album (‘Blinded By The Light’ and ‘Spirit In The Night’) were released as singles by Columbia, but both failed to chart.
1976 – Former Beatles bodyguard and road manager Mal Evans was killed during a confrontation with Los Angeles police.
Rock Factoid: Evans, 40, was suffering with depression and had become embroiled in an argument with his girlfriend. When the police were called, Evans pointed a rifle (some sources say it was an air rifle) at the responding officers. The officers told him to drop the rifle and he refused. The officers then fired six shots, four of which struck and killed Evans. After he had been killed, police discovered Mal’s “weapon” wasn’t loaded. Evans’ ashes were sent by mail back to England, but were temporarily misplaced and lost in the postal system (although later found).
Rock Factoid #2: In the Beatles’ film Help!, Evans played the confused swimmer who popped up through an ice-hole in Austria, and again on a beach in the Bahamas.
1998 – Congressman Sonny Bono (‘I Got You Babe’ with Cher) died in a skiing accident – or so the story goes.
Rock Factoid: Bono’s widow Mary told an interviewer that Sonny had been addicted to and was seriously abusing prescription drugs, mainly Vicodin and Valium. She further claimed that Sonny’s drug use caused the accident. “I am 100 percent convinced that is why he died,” she said. “What he did showed absolute lack of judgment.” However, his autopsy showed no indication of any substances or alcohol.
Rock Factoid #2: Strangely for what was called a ski accident, Bono had no smashed ribs, broken knees, neck trauma or hand injuries that would have come from trying to ward off a collision with a tree. While the five-page autopsy report concluded that the death was caused by “craniocerebral injuries due to blunt force trauma,” other injuries detailed in the document included a black eye, swollen lips, bloody nose, bruised jaw, and two upper teeth knocked out, all on the right side of the head.
Private investigator Bob Fletcher insists the lack of damage to the back of Bono’s brain, known as “contra-coup” injuries, is proof that he was beaten to death. Fletcher says people who hit objects face-first normally have brain injuries caused when the organ rebounds off the back of their skull. And other physical evidence doesn’t add up, either, he says. Signs that he actually hit the tree – including bark impressions on his face and plant debris on his clothes – were also missing. Fletcher also noted the back of Bono’s clothes were soaked with blood – but he had no back wounds.
Rock Factoid #3: Before Bono’s death, Fletcher had been probing the activities of high ranking U.S. military and government officials he claims were raking in millions from arms and drug deals in Central America and Southeast Asia. He says he sent his findings, including videotaped evidence, to Bono, who was reportedly livid about the level of corruption. “Sonny was going to make it his No. 1 priority when Congress resumed after the Christmas and New Year break,” Fletcher said. “He was going to go after the biggest names. Just 10 days later, I received a call that he was dead.”
Rock Factoid #4: Former FBI Special Agent Ted Gunderson (died in 2011), after reviewing the findings, said, “The official version of Sonny Bono’s death is hogwash. It’s nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. Sonny was ambushed and viciously battered to death.”
2004 – John Guerin, a prolific session drummer who worked with Elvis Presley, Elton John, The Beach Boys, Madonna, Everly Brothers, Bread, The Association, The Monkees, Seals & Crofts, The Byrds, Willie Nelson, Todd Rundgren, Frank Zappa and Gram Parsons, among others, died from pneumonia in West Hills, California at the age of 64.
2009 – Sam ‘Bluzman’ Taylor (guitarist with Joey Dee & The Starliters – ‘Peppermint Twist’ and ‘Funny’ as a solo artist) died of heart disease at the age of 74.
Rock Factoid: Three days before Otis Redding died in a plane crash in December 1967, he had recorded ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock of The Bay’ with the help of producer and guitarist Steve Cropper, the song’s co-writer.
After Redding’s death, Cropper had a difficult time doing the final mix of the track. He briefly thought about asking the Staple Singers to add a gospel touch, but eventually settled on seagulls from a sound-effects record and the whistling of Sam Taylor at the end. Three months’ later, the evocative single topped the U.S. charts and became Redding’s posthumous signature song.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.