ROCK & ROLL HISTORY

The late Wes Montgomery (jazz guitarist – ‘Four On Six’) was born in 1923

The late Sylvia Robinson (‘Pillow Talk’ as a solo artist and one-half of Mickey & Sylvia – ‘Love Is Strange’) was born in 1936

Kiki Dee (born Pauline Matthews – ‘I’ve Got The Music In Me’ as a solo artist and ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ with Elton John) is 68

David Gilmour (guitarist with Pink Floyd – ‘Comfortably Numb’) is 69

Hugh Grundy (drummer with The Zombies – ‘She’s Not There’) is 70

Mary Wilson (Supremes – ‘Baby Love’) is 71

1958 – The Everly Brothers recorded ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’.

1959 – The Drifters recorded ‘There Goes My Baby’.

1961 – George Formby (British comedian and singer, best known for his ukulele playing style that inspired, among others, a very young George Harrison) died of a heart attack at the age of 56.
One of Formby’s trademark songs was ‘Leaning On A Lamp Post’ which became a Top 10 hit for Herman’s Hermits in 1966.
Formby’s best known catch phrase was “Turned out nice again!” which is the backwards message heard at the end of the Beatles’ ‘Free As A Bird’. In the ‘Free As A Bird’ video, the final character seen is that of a Formby lookalike playing a ukulele-banjo as the curtain falls. George Harrison played the ukulele in the studio for the song, and asked to appear as the performer seen only from behind at the very end of the video. Director Joe Pytka denied the request.

1964 – Elvis Presley’s Kissin’ Cousins premiered in the U.S. The film finished at #26 on the year end list of the top-grossing movies of 1964 and screenwriters Gene Nelson and Gerald Drayson Adams were nominated by the Writers Guild of America in the category of best written musical.

1964 – Singer Eddie Fisher and actress Elizabeth Taylor were divorced.

1967 – The Beatles added the sounds of an imaginary audience and the noise of an orchestra tuning up to the beginning of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
The crowd noise from a 1961 recording of the comedy show Beyond The Fringe and the sounds of the orchestra came from out-takes of an orchestral overdub session for ‘A Day In The Life’. George Harrison then recorded his guitar intro.
For the segue into ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, they inserted screams of fans from the live recordings of ‘The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl’.

1967 – The Monkees released ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You’ / ‘The Girl I Knew Somewhere’.

1970 – The Radha Krishna Temple released ‘Govinda’ / ‘Govindah Jai Jai’ in England on Apple Records. The A-side was a musical recitation of verses 30 and 32 of an old Hindu text called Sri Brahma Samhita. With both sides produced by George Harrison (who played guitar, bass and organ on both), the single went to #23 in the British singles chart.

1970 – Charles Manson’s album ‘Lie: The Love and Terror Cult’ was released to raise funds for his defense. The album cover parodied Manson’s cover appearance on Life magazine with the “f” taken out.

1970 – The Beatles released ‘Let It Be’ / ‘You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)’ in England.

1973 – Negotiations to bring Elvis Presley to the UK for shows at London’s Earl’s Court failed. Promoters had offered $500,000 for six concerts but were told by ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker that Presley had commitments for filming movies and touring in the U.S. until the end of the year.
The final Elvis tour of 1973 ended on August 30 and there were no movies scheduled. The real reason Parker ended negotiations was Parker was worried that he would not have been able to acquire a U.S. passport and might even have been deported upon filing his application. In addition, applying for the citizenship required for a US passport would probably have exposed his carefully concealed foreign birth.
He claimed he was a U.S. citizen born in Huntington, West Virginia who had been orphaned young and had a colorful carnival youth. In reality, he was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk from Breda, Holland.

1976 – All 22 Beatles singles (plus ‘Yesterday’ which, despite having topped the American charts in 1965, had never previously been released in England as a single) were reissued in the U.K. All 23 again made the Top 100 (at one point ALL simultaneously).

1981 – The Electric Light Orchestra recorded ‘Hold On Tight’ at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany.

1982 – Billboard magazine reported that Dick Clark had donated the American Bandstand podium to the Smithsonian Institution.

1994 – While singing ‘My Way’ at The Mosque in Richmond, VA, Frank Sinatra collapsed onstage and lost consciousness. Sinatra was nearing the end of the performance and was in the last verse of his song when he fell off a stool and hit his head on a stage speaker.
Sinatra was coherent by the time paramedics reached the stage and tried to give him oxygen. “He said, ‘Get that thing away from me. I don’t need it.’ They put him in a wheelchair and he waved to the audience and blew a kiss.” … drummer Gregg Field

2000 – Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Moonglows and Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
Drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer, bassist James Jamerson, guitarist Scotty Moore, and saxophonist King Curtis were inducted into the Sidemen wing. Billie Holliday and Nat ‘King’ Cole were inducted as Early Influences and record label executive Clive Davis was inducted as a Non-Performer.
Clapton’s induction made him the only performer in rock and roll history to be a three-time member of the Hall. He had previously been inducted with The Yardbirds and Cream.

2001 – Mike ‘Smitty’ Smith (drummer with Paul Revere & The Raiders – ‘Kicks’ and The Brotherhood – ‘Forever’) died of natural causes at the age of 58.

2004 – Peggy DeCastro (The DeCastro Sisters – ‘Teach Me Tonight’) died of lung cancer at the age of 82.

2006 – King Floyd (‘Groove Me’) died at the age of 61 from complications of a stroke and diabetes.

2007 – After his father’s body had been exhumed and examined by doctors, Jay Richardson, son of J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, confirmed that no foul play took place aboard the plane which crashed in 1959, killing Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly.

2007 – The U.S. National Recordings Registry added Carl Perkins’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’, The Rolling Stones’ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, The Velvet Underground & Nico’s self-titled debut album, The Wailers’ ‘Burnin’, Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, Pete Seeger’s ‘We Shall Overcome’ and Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ to the list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

2009 – David Williams (session guitarist) died of cardiac arrest at the age of 58.
Williams played on Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’, ‘Rock With You’, ‘Bad’ and ‘Billie Jean’; The Pointer Sisters’ ‘Where Did The Time Go’; The Four Tops’ ‘When She Was My Girl’; Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s ‘Say Say Say’.

2010 – Mark Linkous (singer/guitarist/songwriter with Sparklehorse – ‘Morning Hollow’) committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. He was 47.

2011 – Bobby Phillips (bass singer with The Cadillacs – ‘Speedo’) died at the age of 74 of natural causes.

2011 – Carl Rainge (The Spaniels – ‘I Need Your Kisses’) died at the age of 74 after a long, undisclosed illness.

2011 – Herman ‘Roscoe’ Ernest III (drummer on Patti LaBelle’s ‘Lady Marmalade’ and a member of Dr. John’s band, The Lower, for 30 years) died of cancer at the age of 59.

2013 – Alvin Lee (lead singer/guitarist with Ten Years After – ‘I’m Going Home’) died at the age of 68 from complications following surgery.

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2015 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.
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