ROCK and ROLL MEMORIES
BIRTHS … DEATHS … EVENTS
SUNDAY August 31
The late Bob Welch (singer/guitarist/songwriter with Fleetwood Mac – ‘Sentimental Lady’ and ‘Ebony Eyes’ as a solo artist) was born in 1945
Rock Factoid: Welch re-recorded and released a solo version of‘Sentimental Lady’ after he left Fleetwood Mac. His solo version was a much bigger hit, peaking at #8. Debbie Gibson (‘Lost In Your Eyes’) is 44
Regina Ann ‘Gina’ Schock (drummer with The Go-Go’s – ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’) is 57
Glenn Tilbrook (guitarist and lead singer with Squeeze – ‘Cool For Cats’) is 57
Van Morrison (‘Brown Eyed Girl’) is 69
Jerry Allison (drummer with The Crickets and the guy who married the real ‘Peggy Sue’ although they later divorced) is 75
Rock Factoid: The song was originally called ‘Cindy Lou’ and was named for Buddy’s niece. The title was later changed to ‘Peggy Sue’ in reference to Peggy Sue Gerron, who was, at the time, Allison’s girlfriend.
Sidney Turner became one of rock’s first rebels and he did it with a record player. After threatening his neighbors by saying “I will drive you mad,” he played Bill Haley’s ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ at full volume for two and a half hours. A London judge fined Turner $10 for “creating an abominable noise”
—1955
Elvis Presley appeared in concert at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. Twenty-six thousand fans attended Presley’s third – and final – concert outside the U.S. Ticket prices ranged from $1.50 to $3.50—1956
Elvis Presley released ‘Just Because’ / ‘Blue Moon’—1956 The Rolling Stones recorded ‘When Blue Turns To Grey’—1964
The Beatles finished their 1965 North American tour in San Francisco—1965
The first Isle of Wight Festival opened with The Pretty Things, Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Orange Bicycle, Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tickets cost $3—1968
The Rolling Stones released ‘Street Fighting Man’ / ‘No Expectations’ in the U.S.—1968
Rock Factoid: Mick Jagger had attended a March 1968 anti-war rally at London’s U.S. embassy, but the student riots and rising turmoil in France were the real inspirations for the song.
“There was all this violence going on. I mean, they almost toppled the government in France; De Gaulle went into this complete funk, as he had in the past, and he went and sort of locked himself in his house in the country, so the government was almost inactive. And in America, you had the rioting at the Democratic convention in the same year. So there was a lot of street violence going on. By contrast, London was very quiet.” …Mick Jagger
Rock Factoid #2: The song was kept out of the Top 40 (reaching #48) of the U.S. charts because many radio stations refused to play the song based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics.
Pentangle, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton and Bob Dylan – making his first live appearance in three years and backed by The Band – played on Day 2 of the Isle of Wight Festival—1969
The Rolling Stones released the ‘Goat’s Head Soup’ album—1973
The final Partridge Family episode aired on ABC—1974
Carole King released ‘Jazzman’—1974
George Harrison was found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” of‘He’s So Fine’ (published by Bright Tunes) in writing ‘My Sweet Lord’—1976
Rock Factoid: The lawsuit ultimately put a nearly $600,000 dent in Harrison’s checkbook but it could have been worse.
For two years, while George was negotiating a settlement with Bright Tunes, ex-Beatles manager Allen Klein was trying to buy the copyright to ‘He’s So Fine’ from Bright Tunes. In essence, Klein was trying to buy a lawsuit in which a millionaire Beatle would be forced to pay damages.
Meanwhile, the earnings of ‘My Sweet Lord’ attributable to ‘He’s So Fine’ were concluded to be $1,599,987. In the spring of 1978, with dollar signs in his eyes, Allen Klein succeeded in purchasing the copyright of ‘He’s So Fine’ from Bright Tunes for $587,000. Klein then asked that the full amount of damages, $1,599,987, be paid to him.
Though there were other considerations, the court determined that Klein’s attempt to buy the copyright from Bright Tunes destroyed George’s ability to negotiate a fair settlement. The court concluded Klein was not entitled to profit from its purchase of the rights to ‘He’s So Fine’ and Klein was awarded $587,000 — the exact amount he paid for the rights to the song — and that is the amount paid to Klein by George. So Allen Klein got nothing for his scheme and in the end, George wound up owning the song.
After returning from performing, ironically, at a peace festival in Moscow, Ozzy Osbourne got outrageously drunk and informed his wife Sharon, “I’ve decided you have to go,” and tried to strangle her—1979
Rock Factoid: “I called the police, and they locked him up. I didn’t press charges but he went into rehab for three months. He was totally insane from all the drink and drugs he was doing, and well, these things happen.” … Sharon Osbourne
Much Music, Canada’s first music video channel premiered. The first video to air was ‘The Enemy Within’ by Rush—1984
Mick Jagger released ‘Let’s Work’ / ‘Catch As Catch Can’. Despite high expectations, the single peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100—1987
The largest pre-order of albums in the history of CBS Records occurred when 2.5 million copies of Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ album were shipped to record stores in the U.S.—1987
The Rolling Stones kicked off their first tour in seven years at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia in support of their ‘Steel Wheels’ album—1989
Princess Diana of Wales died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris—1997
In Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson held a 100th birthday celebration concert. The crowd had no problem with performances by The Doobie Brothers, Kid Rock and Tim McGraw but when an unannounced Elton John took the stage, thousands in the audience – expecting something a little more on the hard rock side for a finale – walked out—2003
Carl Wayne (lead singer with The Move – ‘Blackberry Way’) died (esophageal cancer)—2004
Johnny Bragg (co-wrote ‘Just Walkin’ In The Rain’) died (cancer)—2004
Rock Factoid: As a teenager in 1943, Bragg had already served time in jail for riding in a stolen car when he found his girlfriend in bed with another man and beat her. The girl, desperate for a way to explain the bruises to her mother, claimed Johnny had raped her. The police picked him up, tricked him into signing a confession (Bragg left school at age 11 and was illiterate) and then pinned six more unsolved rapes on him, one of them involving a white woman. Even though his girlfriend retracted her accusation, Bragg was sentenced to six 99-year sentences to run consecutively in the Tennessee State Prison.
Bragg was allowed to form a musical group with other inmates and they became known as the Prisonaires. The group performed at the Governor’s mansion and for visiting dignitaries such as President Harry Truman. In 1953, they were allowed to visit a recording studio in Memphis and record ‘Just Walkin’ In The Rain’ which Bragg had co-written. A young singer named Elvis Presley soon demoed the song but it became a smash hit when Johnnie Ray recorded it in 1956.
Tennessee Governor Frank Clement commuted Bragg’s sentence in 1959 but he soon committed a parole violation and spent time in and out of prison until 1977.
MONDAY September 1
The late Conway Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins – ‘Hello Darlin’) was born in 1933
Gloria Estafan (born Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo – ‘Don’t Wanna Lose You’) is 57
Greg Errico (drummer with Sly & The Family Stone – ‘Hot Fun In The Summertime’) is 66
Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees (‘To Love Somebody’) is 68
Rock Factoid: In January 2006, Gibb purchased the former home of country legends Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in Hendersonville, Tennessee, intending to restore it and turn it into a songwriting retreat. The 13,000 square foot house was destroyed by fire on April 10, 2007.
Archie Bell (‘Tighten Up’) is 70
Atlantic Records bought Ray Charles’ contract from Swingtime Records—1952
Elvis Presley recorded ‘Love Me’ and ‘I Need You So’—1956
‘The Biggest Show Of Stars’ package tour kicked off at the Brooklyn Paramount—1957
Rock Factoid: The package featured Buddy Holly & The Crickets, The Drifters, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, Clyde McPhatter and Frankie Lymon.
Rock Factoid #2: On some dates artists were unable to play because of segregation laws.
The Beatles held a meeting at Paul McCartney’s house in London to decide their next course of action following the death of manager Brian Epstein. They decided (at Paul’s insistence) to postpone their planned trip to India so they could begin production of the Magical Mystery Tour movie—1967
Boz Scaggs joined the Steve Miller Band (he stayed for less than two years)—1967
The Rolling Stones sued former manager Allen Klein for “falsely representing the group with intent to deceive.”—1972
The Kinks released the double album ‘Everybody’s In Show Biz/Everybody’s A Star’—1972
Ode Records President Lou Adler was kidnapped in Malibu, California and released after a $25,000 ransom was paid—1976
Generation X, featuring Billy Idol on vocals, released their debut single ‘Your Generation’—1977
U2 released their debut album (actually an EP with three songs and therefore appropriately named ‘Three’) in Ireland—1979
Howie Epstein made his live debut as the new bassist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at the Santa Cruz Auditorium in Santa Cruz, CA—1982
Guitarist Mick Jones was fired by the other members of The Clash—1983
Paul McCartney released the ‘Press To Play’ album. It was the weakest selling album of his solo career—1986
Although he admitted possessing marijuana, U2 bass guitarist Adam Clayton was not convicted on the condition that he donate money to a women’s center in Dublin—1989
Barry Cowsill (bass guitar with The Cowsills – ‘Hair’) died (Hurricane Katrina although his body was not recovered until December 28)—2005
A chart commissioned by BBC Radio 2 and compiled by the Official UK Charts Company, listed the all-time best-selling singles by The Beatles—2009
10 / ‘Get Back’
9 / ‘Hello Goodbye’
8 / ‘Help!’
7 / ‘From Me To You’
6 / ‘Hey Jude’
5 / ‘Day Tripper’/’We Can Work It Out’ (Double A-Side)
4 / ‘I Feel Fine’
3 / ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’
2 / ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’
1 / ‘She Loves You’
Hal David (lyricist) died (stroke)—2012
Rock Factoid: Hal David’s incredible body of work includes the lyrics to ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’, ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’, ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’, ‘Do You Know the Way To San Jose’, ‘Walk On By’, ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’, ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, ‘One Less Bell To Answer’, ‘Close To You’, ‘Alfie’, ‘What’s New Pussycat’, ‘The Look Of Love’, ‘To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before’ and many, many more.
Joe Kelley (bass guitar with The Shadows Of Knight – ‘Gloria’ and later the lead guitarist – ‘Oh Yeah’) died (cancer)—2013
TUESDAY September 2
The late Tom Glazer (‘On Top Of Spaghetti’) was born in 1914
The late Hugo Montenegro (‘The Good, The Bad And The Ugly’) was born in 1925
The late Robert Lee Dickey (the original Bobby Purify of James & Bobby Purify – ‘I’m Your Puppet’) was born in 1939
Steve Porcaro (keyboards with Toto – ‘Rosanna’) is 57
Fritz McIntyre (keyboards with Simply Red – ‘Holding Back The Years’) is 62
Michael ‘Mik’ Kaminski (electric violin with the Electric Light Orchestra – ‘Roll Over Beethoven’) is 63
Martin Grebb (keyboards with The Buckinghams – ‘Kind Of A Drag’) is 68
Rosalind Ashford (Martha & The Vandellas – ‘Dancing In The Street’) is 71
Joe Simon (‘Power Of Love’) is 71
Jimmy Clanton (‘Venus In Blue Jeans’) is 76
Sam Gooden (The Impressions – ‘People Get Ready’) is 80
Forget what you’ve been told. Elvis Presley did not buy his mother the famous pink Cadillac on this date—1955
Rock Factoid: Although legend says Presley gave his mother the pink and white Cadillac Fleetwood in September 1955, here’s the real story.
Elvis bought the car – originally blue in color with a black top – for his mother (although she never drove) in July 1955. The body of the car was painted “Elvis Rose” but the black roof remained unchanged. On September 2, 1955, guitarist Scotty Moore was involved in an accident while driving the car in Texas, causing $1,000 damage. The upholstery was replaced and the top of the car was painted white in late February 1956.
Elvis Presley recorded ‘When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again’, ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Too Much’—1956
The Beach Boys recorded ‘No-Go Showboat’, ‘Spirit Of America’, ‘A Young Man Is Gone’, ‘Ballad Of Ole’ Betsy’, ‘Cherry, Cherry Coupe’, ‘Car Crazy Cutie’, ‘Custom Machine’and ‘Be True To Your School’—1963
The Angels become the first white all-female group to have a #1 record when ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’ hit the top of the Billboard charts—1963
The Rolling Stones recorded ‘Little Red Rooster’, ‘Off The Hook’ and ‘Under The Boardwalk’—1964
The Beatles appeared at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, PA. In the days prior to the concert, the city had been the site of several race riots. John Lennon was so shocked to see a whites-only crowd of 12,000 fans he considered not performing until manager Brian Epstein convinced him to take the stage—1964
Phil Collins answered a newspaper ad and was hired by Genesis to be the band’s new drummer—1970
As music festivals go, the Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival on the Indiana/Illinois border ranks among the worst ever held—1972
Rock Factoid: Promoters of the festival – which ran from September 2-4 – anticipated 50,000 music fans but over 200,000 showed up. There were only three county deputy sheriffs on-site and the event quickly grew out of control. Many bands scheduled to appear – including Black Sabbath, Joe Cocker, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors (post-Jim Morrison) and Canned Heat – pulled out as the festival drifted steadily into anarchy.
Rock Factoid #2: After realizing there was only enough food, toilets, security – and yes, beverages – for 30,000, the crowd went crazy. A truck bringing food into the festival was hijacked, looted and burned.
Rock Factoid #3: When vendors overcharged for food and drinks, “fans” robbed their stands before burning them to the ground. Drugs were freely available in a makeshift “shopping district” where pushers proudly displayed their wares.
Rock Factoid #4: Three unfortunate concertgoers drowned in the Wabash River and to make matters worse, as the festival ended, the remnants of the crowd burned down the music stand.
Rock Factoid #5: The one real similarity to Woodstock? A torrential rain soaked the festival.
George Harrison married Olivia Arias—1978
Rolling Stone Ron Wood released his ‘1, 2, 3, 4’ solo album—1981
Van Halen performed their final concert with their original lineup as part of the Monsters of Rock tour in Nuremburg, Germany. Other performers included AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio and Mötley Crüe—1984
The Concert for The Hall of Fame was presented at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It was the grand-opening celebration for the $92-million, I.M. Pei-designed museum—1995
Roquel Billy Davis (songwriter who co-wrote ‘Lonely Teardrops’(Jackie Wilson), ‘Rescue Me’ (Fontella Bass), ‘You Got What It Takes’ (Marv Johnson) and later moved on to write advertising jingles for Coca-Cola, Miller Beer, Nescafé and Nabisco) died (after a long illness)—2004
Ronald Isley, lead singer with the Isley Brothers, was sentenced to three years in prison for multiple counts of tax fraud. He was also ordered to pay more than $3 million to the IRS for “pathological evasion” which occurred when he cashed royalty checks belonging to his brother O’Kelly, who had died ten years earlier—2006
Fritz Fryer (born David Roderick Carney Fryer – lead guitarist with The Four Pennies – ‘Juliet’) died (pancreatic cancer)—2007
Guy Babylon (keyboards and arranger with Elton John’s band) died (heart attack while swimming in his pool)—2009
WEDNESDAY September 3
The late Freddie King (‘Hide Away’) was born in 1934
Steve Jones (guitarist with The Sex Pistols – ‘Pretty Vacant’) is 59
Don Brewer (drummer and vocalist with Grand Funk – ‘We’re An American Band’) is 66
Eric Bell (original guitarist with Thin Lizzy – ‘Gonna Creep Up On You’ and later The Noel Redding Band – ‘Love And War’) is 67
George Biondo (bass guitar with Steppenwolf – ‘Who Needs Ya’) is 69
Al Jardine (rhythm guitar/vocalist with The Beach Boys – ‘Help Me Rhonda’ and ‘A Postcard From California’ as a solo artist) is 72
Rock Factoid: When Jardine left the group (or was what left of the original band after Carl and Dennis Wilson had died) in 1998, he was very unhappy with what the Beach Boys had become.
“We were like a traveling jukebox, and then we added cheerleaders to the jukebox and it started to look like an overly decorated Christmas tree.”
Frank Sinatra left the Tommy Dorsey Band to begin a solo career—1942
Elvis Presley recorded ‘Ready Teddy’ and ‘Rip It Up’—1956
Jerry Butler & The Impressions made their TV debut on American Bandstand—1958
A Rolling Stones concert in Dublin, Ireland ended in a riot after 30 fans jumped onto the stage. Mick Jagger was knocked to the floor as the rest of the band fled the stage—1965
The Four Seasons released ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’—1966
After much pleading from John, Paul and George, Ringo Starr rejoined the Beatles—1968
Rock Factoid: “I got a telegram saying, ‘You’re the best rock ‘n’ roll drummer in the world. Come on home, we love you.’ And so I came back. We all needed that little shake-up. When I got back to the studio I found George had it decked out with flowers. There were flowers everywhere.” … Ringo Starr
The Dave Clark Five announced they had decided to split—1970
Rock Factoid: Dave Clark has long maintained they broke up even though they were “still at the top.”
In reality, the band’s last Top 40 hit ‘You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby’ peaked at #35 in 1967, a full three years before the split.
Their last attempts to crack the charts failed miserably in 1970 when they recorded very weak covers of The Youngblood’s ‘Get Together’ (which they called ‘Everybody Get Together’) and‘Here Comes Summer’ (a #14 hit for Jerry Keller in 1959).
Al ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson (guitarist/vocalist with Canned Heat – ‘On The Road Again’) died (drug overdose)—1970
The last photo of John Lennon in England
John Lennon flew from London to New York City. He never set foot on British soil again—1971
Rock Factoid: Many fans from Liverpool were saddened by what they saw as John abandoning the city to make it big in London and then abandoning the country after the breakup of the Beatles. That set John’s Aunt Mimi into a rage:
“It makes me livid when people make snide remarks about John’s millions and ask what he ever did for Liverpool. To set the record straight, he gave away one-tenth of his income every year secretly to a charity for spastic children. He didn’t make a big fanfare about it. It was just something he wanted to do without fuss. If people have the chance to make money, they would be mad not to. The secret is to make sure it doesn’t ruin your life and make you swollen headed. John still cared deeply about people and about the world. In his last letter to me, there was one paragraph that summed it all up. It read, ‘So many people are dying so young from getting cancer or some other such horror. I count my blessings, Mimi, believe me.'”
Just weeks after his death, Elvis Presley had 27 albums and 9 singles in the UK Top 100 charts—1977
Ike Turner was released from prison having served 18 months of a four-year prison term—1991
Rock Factoid: In an interview with Variety, Turner claimed to have spent over $11 million on cocaine. He was arrested 10 other times.
Dave Myers (guitarist and bass guitar with The Four Aces and one of Chicago’s premiere session bass guitarists) died (complications from diabetes)—2001
Major Lance (‘Um, Um, Um, Um, Um’) died (heart disease)—1994
Carter Albrecht (keyboardist/guitarist with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – ‘One Last Time’) died (shot in the head and killed by a Dallas, TX neighbor, who was firing a “warning shot” at a man banging on his door)—2007
Janis Martin (early rockabilly artist who was dubbed the ‘female Elvis’) died (cancer)—2007
Mike Edwards (cellist with Electric Light Orchestra – ‘Roll Over Beethoven’) died (freak accident)—2010
Rock Factoid: Edwards, who left ELO in 1975 to become a practicing Buddhist – and adopted the name Swami Deva Pramada – was killed instantly when a bale of hay weighing 1,300 pounds rolled down a hillside and gathered momentum before flipping over a hedge and landing on the front cab of his white van.
THURSDAY September 4
The late Ty Longley (guitarist with Great White – ‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy’) was born in 1971
Rock Factoid: Longley was the sole member of the band to die in The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003. The fire also claimed ninety-nine other lives.
Beyoncé Knowles (Destiny’s Child – ‘Say My Name’ and‘Irreplaceable’ as a solo artist) is 33
Guto Pryce (bass guitar with Super Furry Animals – ‘Run! Christian, Run!’) is 42
Martin Chambers (drummer with The Pretenders – ‘Middle Of The Road’) is 63
Ronald Lapread (bass guitar with The Commodores – ‘Three Times A Lady’) is 65
Gary Duncan (born Gary Grubb – guitarist with Quicksilver Messenger Service – ‘Pride Of Man’) is 68
Greg Elmore (drummer with Quicksilver Messenger Service –‘Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder’) is 68
Merald ‘Bubba’ Knight (Gladys Knight & The Pips – ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’) is 72
Bobby Darin’s ‘Mack The Knife’ was banned by New York radio station WCBS after several local stabbings were attributed to the song—1959
Elvis Presley recorded ‘I Need Somebody To Lean On’—1963
The Beatles (requiring seventeen takes to get it right) recorded‘Love Me Do’ and ‘How Do You Do It’ at EMI’s Studio 2—1962
Rock Factoid: Martin brought in session drummer Andy White for several more takes on ‘Love Me Do’a week later.
Joe Cocker released his first single; a cover of the Beatles’ ‘I’ll Cry Instead’—1964
The Animals made their U.S. concert debut at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater—1964
While the Who shopped for a guard dog, their van and $10,000 worth of equipment was stolen—1965
Cream recorded ‘Cat’s Squirrel’—1966
The Doors released ‘People Are Strange’ / ‘Unhappy Girl’—1967
The Rolling Stones’ ‘Street Fighting Man’ was banned in Chicago and several other major U.S. cities—1968
The Beatles filmed promotional films for ‘Hey Jude’ and‘Revolution’ at Twickenham Film Studios. Only The Beatles’ lead and backing vocals were recorded live, although instruments and amplifiers were set up—1968
The Rolling Stones released ‘Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!’ The Rolling Stones In Concert’—1970
KISS released ‘Beth’—1976
Rock Factoid: The song, co-written and sung by drummer Peter Criss, was originally released as the B-side with ‘Detroit Rock City’ drawing the coveted A-side. However, radio stations showed a preference for ‘Beth’ and Casablanca Records reissued the record with ‘Beth’ on the A-side.
Gregg Allman was arrested for drunk driving in Florida. He had just received his license back after a five-year suspension—1986
David Brown (bass guitar with Santana – ‘Oye Como Va’) died (liver and kidney failure)—2000
FRIDAY September 5
The late Willie Woods (guitarist with Junior Walker & The All-Stars – ‘Shotgun’) was born in 1936
The late John Stewart (‘Gold’) was born in 1939
Rock Factoid: Stewart was a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961-1967 and during that period, recorded ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’ and ‘Reverend Mr. Black’ with them.
Rock Factoid #2: Stewart wrote ‘Daydream Believer’(Monkees) and ‘Never Goin’ Back’ (Lovin’ Spoonful).
The late Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara – lead singer with Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) was born in 1946
Rock Factoid: Although he cultivated a flamboyant stage personality, Mercury was shy and granted very few interviews. Mercury once said of himself, “When I’m performing I’m an extrovert, yet inside I’m a completely different man.”
The late George ‘Buddy’ Miles (drummer with The Electric Flag –‘Texas’ and Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys) was born in 1947
Dave ‘Clem’ Clempson (guitarist who replaced Peter Frampton in Humble Pie – ’30 Days In The Hole’) is 65
Loudon Wainwright III (‘Dead Skunk’) is 68
Dean Ford (born Thomas McAleese – lead singer with Marmalade –‘Reflections Of My Life’) is 69
Al Stewart (‘Year Of The Cat’) is 69
Joe ‘Speedo’ Frazier (lead singer with The Impalas – ‘Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home) ‘ is 71
Elvis Presley recorded ‘Treat Me Nice’ and ‘Blue Christmas’—1957
The Beach Boys recorded ‘Land Ahoy’, ‘Little Girl (You’re My Miss America)’ and ‘Summertime Blues’—1962
The Rolling Stones recorded ‘She Said Yeah’, ‘The Singer Not The Song’ and ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’—1965
Rock Factoid: Keith Richards said ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’ was a response to “Everyone bugging us and knocking on our door asking for the follow up to Satisfaction.”
Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones began work on the soundtrack of a German film, Mord und Totschlag (A Degree Of Murder)—1966
Rock Factoid: The music was composed, arranged and produced by Jones, who played most of the music on the soundtrack (sitar, organ, acoustic guitar, recorder, cello, bass guitar, autoharp, dulcimer, concert harp, banjo, clarinet and harmonica) – with additional help from Jimmy Page, Nicky Hopkins and Kenney Jones.
Josh White (singer, guitarist, songwriter and civil rights activist who was a direct influence on Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty and Peter Yarrow – ‘Evil Hearted Man’) died (during heart surgery)—1969
Allen Klein concluded negotiations with EMI Records on behalf of the Beatles—1969
Rock Factoid: Under the new contract, the band earned 58 cents per album up until 1972, jumping to 72 cents after that. Prior to the renegotiated agreement, the Beatles 1966 contract with EMI had them earning 39 cents per album due to Brian Epstein’s ineffective negotiating skills. When the Beatles first signed up with EMI in 1962, they only made 6 cents per album.
Rock Factoid #2: The photo above may be the only time Paul McCartney was present for anything associated with Klein. Paul may have been happy to sign the royalty agreement but he never signed anything indicating he approved of Klein as an agent for the Beatles.
Concessionaire Francisco Carrasco was killed at a Texas Wishbone Ash show because he refused to give a customer a free sandwich. The killer was never caught. The tragedy inspired the song ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Widow’ —1971
George Harrison launched his Dark Horse record label—1974
Joe Negroni (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers – ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’) died (cerebral hemorrhage)—1978
The thirty year association between American Bandstand and ABC ended—1987
Rock Factoid: Dick Clark moved the program into syndication within two weeks and then to the USA Network (with a new host, David Hirsch) in 1989. It was dropped by USA later that year.
Louie Myers (guitarist with Chicago’s blues band The Aces) died (heart attack)—1994
Sonny Knight (born Joseph Smith – ‘Confidential’) died (heart attack)—2002
Peter Tetteroo (lead singer with The Tee Set – ‘Ma Belle Amie’) died (liver cancer)—2002
Joey Silva (lead singer with This Flesh – ‘Beds That Dream Of Bodies’) died (boating accident)—2010
Brody Williamson (guitarist with This Flesh – ‘Beds That Dream Of Bodies’) died (boating accident)—2010
Joe South (singer/songwriter/guitarist) died (heart failure)—2012
Rock Factoid: South wrote and recorded ‘Games People Play’and ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’.
Rock Factoid #2: He wrote ‘Rose Garden’ (a hit for Lynn Anderson), ‘Hush’ (a hit for both Deep Purple and Billy Joe Royal) and ‘Down In The Boondocks’ (another hit for Royal).
Rock Factoid #3: As a session guitarist, he played on Aretha Franklin’s ‘Chain Of Fools’ and Tommy Roe’s ‘Sheila’.
SATURDAY September 6
The late Jimmy Reed (blues singer and guitarist – ‘Shame, Shame, Shame’) was born in 1925
The late Claydes Charles Smith (guitarist with Kool & The Gang –‘Celebration’) was born in 1948
Dolores O’Riordan (lead singer with The Cranberries – ‘Linger’) is 43
Banner Thomas (bass guitar with Molly Hatchet – ‘Bounty Hunter’) is 60
Roger Waters (bass guitar/songwriter/singer with Pink Floyd –‘The Wall’) is 71
Dave Bargeron (trombonist with Blood, Sweat & Tears – ‘Go Down Gamblin’) is 72
Elvis Presley recorded ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’, ‘White Christmas’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Don’t’—1957
The Beach Boys recorded ‘County Fair’, ‘Cuckoo Clock’, ‘Heads You Win, Tails I Lose’ and ‘Moon Dawg’—1962
Priscilla White signed a management contract with Brian Epstein who then changed her stage name to Cilla Black—1963
The Dave Clark Five released ‘Do You Love Me’ / ‘Doo-Dah’ in England—1963
Jerry Lee Lewis’ recording contract with Sun Records expired and was not renewed—1963
The Rolling Stones recorded ‘I’m Free’ and ‘Blue Turns To Grey’—1965
In preparation for his role in Richard Lester’s film How I Won The War, John Lennon was given an army-style haircut and a pair of new glasses to wear—1966
Rock Factoid: Lennon’s haircut took place in the breakfast room of The Inn On The Heath Hotel in Celle, near Hanover, West Germany. The short-back-and-sides, performed by German hairdresser Klaus Baruck, made headlines around the world.
Although the hairstyle proved a temporary measure, the old-fashioned round National Health ‘granny glasses’ quickly became a trademark of his public image.
The Byrds released ‘Mr. Spaceman’ / ‘What’s Happening?!?!’—1966
Cream recorded ‘I Feel Free’—1966
Eric Clapton recorded the guitar solo for the Beatles’ ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’—1968
Rock Factoid: None of the other Beatles deemed Harrison’s song worthy of consideration for the ‘White Album’ which was recorded at a time when tensions were beginning to run high within the group. Harrison, believing the presence of Clapton might help to calm the situation, invited the guitarist, a musician the others all respected, to come to the studio to play lead guitar on the song.
Rock Factoid #2: “We tried to record it, but John and Paul were so used to just cranking out their tunes that it was very difficult at times to get serious and record one of mine. It wasn’t happening. They weren’t taking it seriously and I don’t think they were even all playing on it.
“The next day I was driving into London with Eric Clapton, and I said, ‘What are you doing today? Why don’t you come to the studio and play on this song for me?’ He said, ‘Oh, no – I can’t do that. Nobody’s ever played on a Beatles record and the others wouldn’t like it.’ I said, ‘Look, it’s my song and I’d like you to play on it.’
“So he came in and I said, ‘Eric’s going to play on this one,’ and it was good because that made everyone act better. Paul got on the piano and played a nice intro and they all took it more seriously.'” … George Harrison
Rock Factoid #3: George later did the same thing during the‘Let It Be’ sessions, bringing in Billy Preston because he felt Preston’s enthusiasm and easy-going personality would help ease the tensions within the group.
Jimi Hendrix performed his final concert when he appeared at the Love and Peace Festival on the Isle of Fehmarn, Germany—1970
Tom Wilson (producer of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’) died (heart attack)—1978
Rock Factoid: Wilson also played a key role in the success of Simon & Garfunkel. After producing the duo’s ‘Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M’ album (which included ‘The Sounds Of Silence’), Wilson took the duo’s original acoustic track and, without Simon or Garfunkel’s knowledge, overdubbed electric instruments, turning the track into a #1 pop hit and helped to launch the folk-rock genre. Simon and Garfunkel, who had already split, reunited after the song became a hit.
Country music legend Ernest Tubb (‘Walking The Floor Over You’) died (emphysema)—1984
Mike Nesmith joined the other three Monkees onstage during their reunion tour in Los Angeles—1986
Tom Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival died of respiratory failure brought on by tuberculosis and complications associated with AIDS (contracted from a blood transfusion he received while having back surgery)—1990
Nicky Hopkins, perhaps the greatest keyboard session man in rock & roll history, died (complications from intestinal surgery)—1994
Rock Factoid: How about just a few of Hopkins’ contributions to rock & roll history…
‘You Are So Beautiful’ (Joe Cocker), ‘Give Me Love’ and ‘Isn’t It A Pity’ (George Harrison), ‘Jealous Guy’ and ‘Oh My Love’(John Lennon), ‘You’re Sixteen’ (Ringo Starr), ‘Revolution’(Beatles), ‘Getting In Tune’ (The Who), ‘Mr. Pleasant’ (Kinks),‘She’s A Rainbow’, ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘Angie’ and ‘Waiting On A Friend’(Rolling Stones) … and that really is just a few.
Rock Factoid #2: The Kinks’ ‘Session Man’ on their ‘Face To Face’ album was dedicated to (and featured) Hopkins.
Elton John sang a revised version of ‘Candle In The Wind’ at the funeral of England’s Princess Diana. —1997
Rock Factoid: Following the funeral, John recorded the studio version of the song under the direction of producer George Martin. The recording (‘Candle In The Wind 1997’) was released the following week and became the fastest-selling single in history, entering the U.S. and British charts at #1.
Rock Factoid #2: The song has never been released (or re-released) on any of his albums or compilations, not even on the 1997 ‘Diana Princess of Wales: Tribute’ album (an official 2-CD release sanctioned by Diana’s family.
With Ian Astbury on lead vocals and Stewart Copeland on drums, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors performed their first concert as The Doors of The 21st Century—2002
Tommy ‘Cosmo’ Cosdon (lead singer with The Sultans – ‘It’ll Be Easy’ and ‘I’m A Little Mixed Up’ as a solo artist) died (prolonged illness)—2013
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