“What I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts.”
~David Bowie
The late Casey Kasem (American Top 40) was born in 1932
The late Cuba Gooding, Sr. (Main Ingredient – ‘Everybody Plays The Fool’ and the father of actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.) was born in 1944
The late Pete Ham (Badfinger – ‘Baby Blue’) was born in 1947
Sheena Easton (‘Morning Train’) is 58
Paul Daniel ‘Ace’ Frehley (original lead guitarist with Kiss – ‘Rock And Roll All Night’ and ‘New York Groove’ as a solo artist) is 66
Kate Pierson (vocalist with the B-52’s – ‘Love Shack’) is 69
Herb Murrell (Stylistics – ‘Betcha By Golly, Wow’) is 70
Session drummer Jim Keltner is 75
Rock Factoid: Keltner is well known for his session work on solo recordings by three members of The Beatles: George Harrison (‘Living In The Material World’, ‘Dark Horse’, ‘This Song’, ‘All Those Years Ago’, ‘Got My Mind Set On You’, ‘Any Road’); John Lennon (‘Jealous Guy’, ‘Mind Games’, ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’): Ringo Starr (‘Photograph’); and Harrison’s Traveling Wilburys in which Keltner was credited as Buster Sidebury (‘Handle With Care’, ‘End Of The Line’).
Rock Factoid #2: He also played on Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’, Carly Simon’s ‘Anticipation’, Gary Wright’s ‘Dream Weaver’, Roy Orbison’s ‘Careless Heart’, and, well I can’t list them all (too many) so I’ll just say he’s also recorded with Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, Arlo Guthrie, Harry Nilsson, Rita Coolidge, Jesse Ed Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Freddie King, Bee Gees, Jack Bruce, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Bill Wyman, Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand, and many, many others.
Maxine Brown (The Browns – ‘The Three Bells’) is 85
1956 – In an attempt to market their own version of Elvis Presley, Capitol Records signed Gene Vincent to a recording contract.
1959 – Lloyd Price released ‘Personality’.
1960 – Elvis Presley recorded ‘G.I. Blues’.
1964 – The Beatles released ‘Love Me Do’ / ‘P.S. I Love You’ in the U.S.
1964 – The Dixie Cups released ‘Chapel Of Love’.
1964 – Peter & Gordon released ‘A World Without Love’ (written by Paul McCartney). It would become their only #1 song.
1964 – John Lennon’s book (In His Own Write) was published in the U.S.
1967 – The Beatles recorded ‘Magical Mystery Tour’.
1968 – Simon & Garfunkel released ‘Mrs. Robinson’.
Rock Factoid: Paul Simon wrote the song with “Mrs. Roosevelt” as the working title but changed it to “Mrs. Robinson” for The Graduate.
Rock Factoid #2: Baseball great Joe DiMaggio was not originally pleased with one line in the song (Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you). “What I don’t understand, is why you ask where I’ve gone. I haven’t gone anywhere!” Simon told him “I didn’t mean the lines literally. I thought of him as an American hero and that genuine heroes were in short supply. He accepted the explanation and thanked me.”
1981 – Ringo Starr married actress Barbara Bach.
1990 – With the decision made to not replace the late Roy Orbison, the Traveling Wilburys began recording their second album.
1999 – Al Hirt (‘Java’) died from liver disease.
2000 – Vicki Sue Robinson (‘Turn The Beat Around’) died of cancer.
2006 – While on vacation in Fiji, Keith Richards suffered a head injury after falling out of a tree. He subsequently underwent cranial surgery at a New Zealand hospital.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2017 RayLemire.com. / Streamingoldies.com. All Rights Reserved.