The late Samuel ‘Buck’ Ram (manager/songwriter for the Platters, including ‘Only You’ and ‘The Great Pretender’) was born in 1907

Livingston Taylor (‘I Will Be In Love With You’ and the brother of James Taylor) is 64

Leroy ‘Lonnie’ Jordan (singer/keyboardist with War – ‘The Cisco Kid’) is 66

David Porter (songwriter – co-wrote ‘Hold On, I’m Comin’, ‘I Thank You’ and ‘Soul Man’) is 73

Dr. John (born Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. – ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’) is 74

Elvis Presley’s contract with Sun Records, including all previously released and recorded material, was sold to the RCA label for (unheard of at the time) $35,000 (plus $5,000 he owed Elvis in back royalties)—1955
Rock Factoid: Sun Records owner Sam Phillips – often considered the loser in the deal – did better than most people realize. He invested the money in a local hotel business called Holiday Inn which was about to go national.
Rock Factoid #2: Having accrued a fortune from his investments, Phillips sold Sun Records and its catalog to music industry veteran Shelby Singleton in 1969.

George Harrison was deported from West Germany because, being 17, he was legally too young to be – let alone work – in a nightclub after midnight—1960
Rock Factoid: In August 1960, German promoter Bruno Koschmider had signed the Beatles to perform at the Indra Club, but when the club was closed due to noise complaints, Koschmider moved them to another of his clubs, the Kaiserkeller. When the band violated their contract by performing at the rival Top Ten Club, Koschmider reported the underage Harrison to the authorities, leading to his deportation.

Elvis Presley’s Girls! Girls! Girls! premiered—1962

Dusty Springfield made her first solo appearance on the Billboard charts with ‘I Only Want To Be With You’—1963

The Who released ‘The Who Sell Out’—1967

John Lennon recorded the heartbeat of his unborn son just hours before Yoko Ono miscarried. The recording appeared on the duo’s album ‘Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions’ as a track called ‘Baby’s Heartbeat’—1968

The Supremes and The Temptations released ‘I’m Going To Make You Love Me’—1968

The Beach Boys recorded ‘All I Want To Do’—1968

Carly Simon released the ‘No Secrets’ album—1972

Marty Balin, after having vowed to never work with Jefferson Airplane again, reunited with Jefferson Starship onstage during a concert at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom—1974

Los Angeles Police arrested Eagles drummer Don Henley—1980
Rock Factoid: The Los Angeles fire department had responded to Henley’s call to help someone at his house who apparently was having a seizure. The person turned out to be a naked 16-year-old prostitute who had been taking large amounts of cocaine and Quaaludes. Henley admitted the girl arrived after he called a madam to find girls to party with, but he claimed he didn’t have sex with her, didn’t know how old the prostitute was, and didn’t know how many drugs she had taken. The girl was arrested for prostitution, while a 15-year-old girl also found in the house was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
Rock Factoid #2: Henley pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful possession of marijuana, cocaine and Quaaludes. He would later receive a $2,000 fine and two years probation.

Steely Dan released the ‘Gaucho’ album—1980

Joni Mitchell married Larry Klein (her bass player)—1982

Pink Floyd released ‘The Delicate Sound Of Thunder’—1988

Mick Jagger married Jerri Hall (it lasted eight years)—1990

The Beatles released ‘Anthology 1’—1995
Rock Factoid: The set followed The Beatles chronologically from the birth of The Quarrymen, through the end of 1964 … except that it began with ‘Free As A Bird’, billed as the first new Beatles song in 25 years.
Rock Factoid #2: The cover photo was a bit of a slap at former drummer Pete Best. His face was torn away from the ‘Savage Young Beatles’ record jacket in the center of the album cover, revealing the face of his successor, Ringo Starr, behind it. But it worked out well financially for Best. His contribution to ten of the songs on the album (recorded between 1960 and1962) netted him over $3 million in royalties.
Rock Factoid #3: It was the first Beatles album to officially enter the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 with 855,473 copies sold. It was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA after just six weeks in the U.S. market.

Paul McCartney recorded ‘Little Willow’—1995
Rock Factoid: Maureen Starkey Tigrett was the wife of Ringo Starr from 1965-1975. She later married Isaac Tigrett, founder of the Hard Rock Café. She died of complications from a bone-marrow transplant for treatment of leukemia on December 30, 1994. McCartney wrote ‘Little Willow’, which appeared on his 1997 album ‘Flaming Pie’ as a tribute in her memory and dedicated the song to her children.

Matthew Ashman (guitarist with Adam & The Ants – ‘Catholic Day’ and Bow Wow Wow – ‘I Want Candy’) died (diabetes-related complications)—1995

Peter Grant (managed the Yardbirds, Bad Company and Led Zeppelin – and considered one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history) died (heart attack)—1995

Alvin Cash (‘Twine Time’) died (ulcer complications)—1999

British pop mogul Jonathan King (‘Everyone’s Gone To The Moon’) was jailed for seven years for sex attacks on five youths, all of them under the age of sixteen—2001

The acoustic guitar on which George Harrison learned how to play was sold at a London auction for $470,000—2003
Rock Factoid: Harrison bought the used “Beginner’s Guitar” made in Holland by Egmond and distributed by Rosetti, from schoolmate Raymond Hughes for the U.S. equivalent of $5.95 with money he got from his mother.

Teddy Randazzo (member of The Three Chuckles – ‘Runaround’) died (natural causes)—2003
Rock Factoid: He co-wrote ‘Pretty Blue Eyes’ (a hit for Steve Lawrence), ‘Goin’ Out Of My Head’, ‘Hurt So Bad’ and ‘I’m On The Outside Looking In’ (all hits for Little Anthony & the Imperials).

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