A look at the birthdays, deaths, and events that helped to create the soundtrack of our lives.
BIRTHDAYS
1941 – John Steel (drummer with The Animals – ‘House Of The Rising Sun’) was born. He’s 75 today.
1943 – The late Barry Beckett (session keyboardist with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section – immortalized as “The Swampers” in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ – and a prolific producer) was born.
Rock Factoid: As a member of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Beckett played keyboards on ‘Kodachrome’ (Paul Simon), ‘Take A Letter, Maria’ (R.B. Greaves), ‘Respect Yourself’ (Staple Singers), ‘Old Time Rock And Roll’ and ‘We’ve Got Tonight’ (Bob Seger), and many more.
Rock Factoid #2: Beckett produced ‘Torn Between Two Lovers’ (Mary MacGregor), ‘There’s A Tear In My Beer’ (Hank Williams, Jr.), ‘If I Had You’ (Alabama), ‘When I Close My Eyes’ and ‘Me And You’ (Kenny Chesney) and co-produced Bob Dylan’s ‘Slow Train Coming’ and ‘Saved’ albums.
1944 – Florence LaRue Gordon (The 5th Dimension – ‘Aquarius’) was born and is celebrating her 72nd birthday today.
1948 – The late Margie Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser (The Shangri-Las – ‘Leader Of The Pack’) were born.
1948 – Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier – ‘School’s Out’) was born. He’s 68 today.
EVENTS
1954 – The Drifters recorded ‘Honey Love’.
1955 – James Brown recorded ‘Please, Please, Please’ at King Studios in Cincinnati, OH.
1959 – The Winter Dance Party tour continued even though the tour’s primary stars – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper – had died in Iowa less than 24 hours earlier.
Rock Factoid:
Bobby Vee & The Shadows performed in Moorhead, MN, while Jimmy Clanton, and Frankie Avalon were hired as the tour’s new headliners.
Frankie Sardo, Dion & The Belmonts, and The Crickets, all part of the tour from the beginning, continued playing, and Fabian joined the tour three days before its completion.
1963 – Ruby & The Romantics released ‘Our Day Will Come’.
1966 – The Rolling Stones released ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ / ‘As Tears Go By’ in England.
1968 – The Beatles recorded ‘Across The Universe’.
Rock Factoid: Believing the song needed falsetto harmonies, Paul McCartney invited two fans (Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road and 17-year-old London native Gayleen Pease) who were standing outside into the studio to sing on the song.
1974 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono began an 18-month separation. Lennon would later call it his “lost weekend.”
1974 – Elton John released ‘Benny and The Jets’ in the UK. But wait, I thought the name of the song ‘Bennie and The Jets’. Explain it to me, Ray.
Rock Factoid: It’s simple, really. The song was spelled Benny on the sleeve of the UK single (as shown above) but it was Bennie on the U.S. single and the ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ album.
1974 – Blue Swede released their version of ‘Hooked On A Feeling’. B.J. Thomas had reached #5 with the original recording in 1968. Blue Swede made it to #1.
1976 – Fleetwood Mac released ‘Rhiannon’ in the U.S. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1977 – Fleetwood Mac released ‘Rumours’.
Rock Factoid: It is the 13th best-selling album in U.K. history, certified 11× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry, The record has received a Diamond Award by the Recording Industry Association of America for a 19× platinum certification, and is the 10th best-selling album in U.S. history
1982 – Alex Harvey (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band – ‘Delilah’) died of a heart attack.
1983 – Karen Carpenter (‘Close To You’) died of heart failure as a result of anorexia nervosa.
1984 – Paul Gardiner (bass guitar with Gary Numan – ‘Cars’) died of a heroin overdose.
1986 – Janet Jackson released the ‘Control’ album.
Rock Factoid: It became her first album to top the Billboard 200 and five of its commercial singles – ‘What Have You Done For Me Lately’, ‘Nasty’, ‘Control’, ‘When I Think Of You’, and ‘Let’s Wait Awhile’ – peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100.
In short, she was no longer Michael’s little sister. She was a superstar.
1989 – Trevor Lucas (guitarist with Fairport Convention – ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’) died of a heart attack.
2000 – Doris Coley Kenner Jackson (The Shirelles – ‘Soldier Boy’) died from breast cancer.
2001 – Jimmy Buffett was ejected from a Miami Heat-New York Knicks basketball game in Miami for cursing (repeatedly) at a referee.
2003 – Doors drummer John Densmore filed an injunction against guitarist Robbie Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Police drummer Stewart Copeland and The Cult singer Ian Astbury for touring as The Doors of the 21st Century.
2004 – Three days after her revealing Super Bowl XXXVIII performance with Justin Timberlake, better known as “the wardrobe malfunction,” Janet Jackson was dropped from the lineup of presenters at the Grammy Awards.
2007 – Barbara McNair (actress/singer – ‘You’re Gonna Love My Baby’) died of cancer.
2008 – For the first time ever, NASA beamed a song – The Beatles’ ‘Across The Universe’ – directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST.
Rock Factoid: The transmission over NASA’s Deep Space Network was aimed at the North Star – Polaris – 431 light years from Earth, and was beamed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA’s founding—2008
2011 – Steve Cutler (guitarist with The Picture – ‘Neverland’) died in a car accident.
2013 – Reg Presley (lead singer with The Troggs – ‘Wild Thing’) died at 71 from lung cancer and complications from a series of strokes.
Rock Factoid: He spent the later part of his life researching subjects such as alien spacecraft, lost civilizations, alchemy, and crop circles, and outlined his findings in the book Wild Things They Don’t Tell Us in 2002.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2016 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.