bmusic - Newsletter No. 221

In 1949, Hank Williams made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. His performance, with the audience demanding several encores of "Lovesick Blues," is still considered one of the Opry's greatest moments. The success of his recording of that song had led to the Opry contract, and he remained with the show until August 1952, when he was fired for perpetual drunkenness. Williams died on New Year's Day 1953 of a heart attack brought on by excessive drinking.

In 1962, the Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin at EMI Records in London. Martin was later quoted as saying he thought "they were pretty awful," but signed them to a contract the following month.

In 1966, Janis Joplin performed for the first time with Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.

In 1966, "Rain," the flip side of "Paperback Writer," by the Beatles was released. It was the first record to use reverse tapes. John Lennon said he "just happened to have the tape on the wrong way 'round."

In 1969, guitarist Brian Jones said he was leaving the Rolling Stones because he said he no longer saw eye-to-eye with the other members of the band. He was replaced within a week by Mick Taylor, formerly with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Jones announced that he would form his own band, but on July 3rd, 1969, he was found dead in the swimming pool at his home. The coroner's verdict was death by misadventure.

In 1972, Bruce Spingsteen signed a 10 album contract with Columbia Records. His first LP, "Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey," appeared the following January.

In 1974, keyboardist Rick Wakeman left prog-rockers Yes following completion of the album "Tales From Topographic Oceans." He had openly expressed his bewilderment and disillusionment with the album and the band. Wakeman rejoined Yes in 1976, but split again from the group in 1980.

In 1977, Joe Strummer and Topper Headon of The Clash were arrested in London for spray-painting the group's name on a subway wall.

In 1979, Chuck Berry was charged with three counts of tax evasion, just one day before he was to play on the White House lawn for president Jimmy Carter at the Black Music Association Gala.

In 1979, Chuck Berry pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to income tax evasion. The charge stemmed from a 1973 debt of $110,000. Berry began serving a four-month prison term in August at a federal prison in Lompoc, California.

In 1981, the rock supergroup Asia was formed by Steve Howe and Geoff Downes from Yes, Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and John Wetton of Uriah Heep.

In 1986, Irish rocker Bob Geldof was awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of the millions of dollars he had raised for the starving of Africa.

In 1989, someone firebombed a McDonald's restaurant in London, two days after Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders advocated such action. Hynde told a news conference launching an all-star album in aid of Greenpeace that people "should petrol-bomb McDonald's."

In 1990, a Florida court found 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" album "obscene" and it's sale was banned. A store owner was charged for selling the album two days after the ruling took effect.

In 1991, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin were among the mourners at a funeral in Detroit for former Temptation David Ruffin. About 25,000 fans gathered outside the church. Ruffin had died nine days earlier of a drug overdose. Following the service, police arrested another former member of the Temptations, Eddie Kendricks, for failure to pay nearly US$30,000 in alimony.

In 1993, police in Port St. Lucie, Florida, charged a 16 year-old boy with murder after he confessed to killing a woman who did not like the lyrics he was rapping. Victor Brancaccio punched and kicked 78 year-old Mollie May Frazier in the head and chest after she objected to the obscenities in a song he was playing over headphones and singing along to. The song was "Stranded on Death Row" by Dr. Dre.

In 1993, Prince celebrated his 35th birthday by announcing he was changing his name and splitting with his band, the New Power Generation. Prince said he wanted to be referred to with the symbol that combines the symbols for male and female. The same combination symbol had served as the title of his previous album. He didn't bother telling anyone how to pronounce it.

In 1994, Lisa (Left Eye) Lopes of the rap group TLC was charged with arson after a fire gutted the US$800,000 home of her boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rison of the Atlanta Falcons.

In 1995, Hole lead singer Courtney Love, widow of Nirvana star Kurt Cobain, was treated in a Seattle hospital for an apparent overdose of prescription drugs. Emergency workers were called to Love's home, the same home where Cobain had killed himself with a gunshot to the head the previous year.

In 1995, Pearl Jam cancelled two shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego after a sheriff expressed safety concerns. Lead singer Eddie Vedder said officials over-reacted, "creating an impossible situation."

In 1995, two days after their show cancellation in San Diego, Seattle rockers Pearl Jam announced they were giving up their 18 month fight against Ticketmaster in the U.S. The band said it was impossible to run a tour without the agency. Pearl Jam had claimed Ticketmaster was a monopoly and that its service charges were unreasonable. The band filed a complaint with the US Justice Department and members testified before Congress. And now Australian concert venues are dominated by Ticketmaster (now Ticketmaster7) control.

In 1995, country singer Ty Herndon was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to an undercover policeman in a Fort Worth, Texas park. Herndon's arrest came about 90 minutes before he was to perform before a convention of Texas police chiefs. His appearance was cancelled. Herndon was charged with indecent exposure, a charge that was later dropped. He pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamines and was sentenced to five years probation.
Good one mate!

In 2002, RnB star R. Kelly was granted US$750,000 bail after being taken into custody on child pornography charges days earlier.

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Births In 1892, songwriter and composer Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana.
Porter's most famous tunes include "Night and Day," "Begin the Beguine" and "Let's Do It". Cole Porter died on October 15th, 1964, in Santa Monica, California.

In 1910, Chester Arthur Burnett, the bluesman known as Howlin' Wolf, was born in West Point, Mississippi. He was one of the most influential musicians of the post Second World War era, and his blues helped shape rock 'n' roll. He died in 1976 of complications from kidney disease.

In 1915, Les Paul, one of the most influential guitarists in popular music history, was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Les Paul designed guitars which were marketed by the Gibson company, and became the favorites of pop, rock and country musicians. The Les Paul Gibson is, along with the Fender Stratocaster, the most famous name in solid-body electric guitars. Paul also built the first eight-track tape recorder, which helped pioneer multi-track recording. And he invented "sound-on- sound" recording, which has since become known as overdubbing.

In 1922, Judy Garland, whose real name was Frances Gumm, was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her greatest triumph came in 1939 with the film "The Wizard of Oz," which introduced the song "Over the Rainbow." Garland's recording of the tune sold over a million copies.

In 1934, soul singer Jackie Wilson was born in Detroit. His string of hits included "Higher and Higher," "Lonely Teardrops" and "Baby Workout." In September, 1975, he collapsed on stage in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He remained in a coma until his death on January 21st, 1984.

In 1940, singer Nancy Sinatra, the eldest child of Frank Sinatra, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.

In 1941, Jon Lord, keyboard player with Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Australia's own Hoochie Coochie Men.

In 1941, jazz keyboardist Chick Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

In 1943, Reg Presley, lead singer of the 1960's British group, the Troggs, was born in Andover, England. Their 1966 hit, "Wild Thing," sold five million copies, and greatly influenced the punk bands that were to come in the mid-'70s.

In 1944, Boz Scaggs was born in Ohio. Following two albums with the Steve Miller Band in the late 1960's, he spent nearly a decade trying to make it as a solo act. Scaggs finally made it in 1976 with the album "Silk Degrees."

In 1947, Mitch Mitchell, drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was born in London.

In 1949, drummer Frank Beard of the group ZZ Top. Incidentally, Beard is only unbearded member of 'The Top'.

In 1949, Alan White, drummer with Yes.

In 1951, singer Bonnie Tyler.

In 1952, Jimmy Lea, bass and piano player with the 1970's hard rock band Slade was born in Wolverhampton, England.

In 1958, Prince, formerly "The Aritst Formerly Known As", was born Roger Nelson.

In 1959, Per Gessle of the Swedish pop duo Roxette.

In 1960, Mick Hucknall, lead singer of the British band Simply Red.

In 1962, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran who was born Nicholas James Bates.

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Deaths In 1966, singer Roy Orbison's first wife, Claudette, was killed in a motorcycle accident which Orbison witnessed. Two years later, he suffered another tragedy - two of his three children died in a fire at their Nashville home. Orbison put his career on hold, before remarrying and returning to performing in 1969.

In 1967, Laverne Andrews of the Andrews Sisters died of cancer at the age of 51.

In 1972, blues and jazz singer Jimmy Rushing died in New York City of leukemia. He was 68.

In 1987, Yogi Horton, a drummer for R'n'B singer Luther Vandross, jumped to his death from the 17th floor of a New York hotel. Horton reportedly told his wife that he was tired of living in Vandross's shadow.

In 1957, alto saxophonist and big band leader Jimmy Dorsey died in New York City of cancer at age 53.

In 1978, country singer Johnny Bond died of a heart attack in Burbank, California. He was 63. Bond was a guitar playing sidekick in western films starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy.

In 1986, bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman, who was known as the "King of Swing," died in New York at the age of 77. Of all the big bands, none was bigger than Goodman's in the 1930's and '40s. His orchestra, in 1937, was the first jazz band to play Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1962, Goodman became the first to take a jazz band to the Soviet Union.

In 1991, Claudio Arrau, considered one of the best classical pianists of the century, died in Muerzzuschlag, Austria of complications from intestinal surgery. The Chilean-born artist was 88. Arrau was known especially for his interpretations of Beethoven.

In 1993, singer and songwriter Arthur Alexander, whose pop and soul classics were covered by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, died in Nashville, Tennessee, of respiratory and heart failure. He was 53. Alexander's 1962 Top 30 hit "You Better Move On" was one of the first hits to come out of the famed Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama.

In 1994, film and television composer Henry Mancini died in Beverly Hills, California, of liver and pancreatic cancer. He was 70. Mancini first gained wide public attention in the late 1950's with his score for the private eye series "Peter Gunn," one of the first TV soundtracks to use jazz. He won 20 Grammy Awards and four Academy Awards, including two Oscars in 1962. One was for the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" score and the other for "Moon River," the most popular song from that movie, and which has since become a pop standard.

In 1998, Oak Ridge Boys member Steve Sanders shot himself.

In 2000, Ireland's Golden Tenor Frank Patterson died from a brain tunour.

In 2001, Cambodian folk flautist Ponn Yinn. Yinn survived the Khmer Rouge purge and helped preserve his country's culture. He was arrested and while detained, he was forced to play a makeshift flute nightly into loudspeakers to drown out the screams of people being slaughtered in fields nearby.

In 2002, producer/composer/arranger/saxophonist George Cates. Besides working with some of the biggest stars of music history Cates had his own hits with "Moonglow" and "Theme From Picnic". He was the musical director for the Lawrence Welk Show for thirty years (Cates composed the show's theme tune "Champagne Time") as well as being a producer for Coral and Dot Records.

In 2004 Ray Charles died at the age of 73.
Charles lost his eyesight at the age of seven as a result of glaucoma and discovered the piano in his early teens. Soon after he discovered his remarkable soul/R & B voice that became famous for with his stirring renditions of "Georgia On My Mind" and many other jazz, soul, gospel and R & B classics, not to mention his own compositions including "I've Got A Woman" and "A Fool For You".
Charles lost his long-running battle with liver cancer at his Beverly Hills home on June 11th.

In 2006 organist Billy Preston passed away this past week from kidney failure after being in a deep coma since late 2005. He underwent a kidney transplant procedure in 2002 but, as has widely been reported, it wasn't kidney failure that caused Preston's lapse into a coma in November, 2005, rather he was not properly treated for pericarditas while in the Los Angeles area and suffered respiratory arrest in the ICU unit of a local LA hospital on November 21, 2005, from which he never fully recovered.

Once described as "the greatest Hammond organ player in the world", Preston played with massive names such as Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Sly & The Family Stone, Quincy Jones, The Band, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, as well as his own solo releases. He led a somewhat chequered life throughout the past couple of decades, spending much time in prison and rehab after being convicted of an insurance fraud for setting fire to his own $1 million home and battling drug and alcohol addictions. Oftentimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle" Preston was touted by Ray Charles, another he'd often worked with, as his successor.

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