Today in Rock and Roll History

[too larry]

2013 - Hugh McCracken
American rock guitarist and session musician Hugh McCracken died of leukemia in New York City at the age of 70. He appeared on many recordings by Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B. King, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Monkees, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, James Taylor, Phoebe Snow, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Graham Parker, Eric Carmen, Loudon Wainwright III, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, The Four Seasons, Hall and Oates, Gary Wright and Andy Gibb. Because of such high demand for his work, McCracken declined Paul McCartney's invitation to help form his new band, Wings after appearing on his 1971 album Ram.

 

[injinji]

March 31st
1949 - RCA Victor
RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with the Long Playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78rpm record that was currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boasted that with 45rpm records, the listener could hear up to ten records with speedy, silent, hardly noticeable changes.

 

[injinji]

1958 - Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic 'Johnny B. Goode' single was released. It entered the US charts six weeks later and peaked at No.8 on the chart. The song's original lyrics referred to Johnny as a 'colored boy', but Berry later acknowledged that he changed it to 'country boy' to ensure radio play.

 

[injinji]

1995 - Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page escaped being knifed when a fan rushed the stage at a Page and Plant gig at Auburn Hills, Michigan. The fan was stopped by two security guards, who he knifes instead. After his arrest, he told police that he wanted to kill Jimmy Page because of the Satanic music he was playing.

 

[injinji]

2015 - Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious at her Los Angeles home. The singer songwriter was admitted to intensive care where she underwent tests. Los Angeles fire officials said paramedics had answered a 911 call in Bel Air, where Mitchell lives, and had taken a patient whom they did not identify to hospital.

 

[Amos Otis]

March 31st
1949 - RCA Victor
RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with the Long Playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78rpm record that was currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boasted that with 45rpm records, the listener could hear up to ten records with speedy, silent, hardly noticeable changes.

My parents had a 45 player much like the one shown, and my uncle worked for the company that placed 'juke boxes' in area locations. Part of his job was collecting the money, and changing out old records for new ones. About once a month, my uncle would drop off a box of used 45s to us. I credit this, and my parents' love for music, for my lifelong deep love and enjoyment of music of many styles.

 

[injinji]

1964 - Beach Boys
Beach Boys recorded their next single 'I Get Around', which became their first US No.1 in the summer of this year. The song begins with a multi-part a cappella introduction that quickly shifts into rock-style verses sung by Mike Love and a pop chorus sung in falsetto by Brian Wilson.

 

[injinji]

1965 - Ready Steady Goes Live!
The first edition of new music show 'Ready Steady Goes Live!' was shown on UK TV, featuring presenters Cathy McGowan and Keith Fordyce.

Two or three months later. . . . .

 

[injinji]

1987 - Buddy Rich
One of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Buddy Rich died aged 69 due to complications caused by a brain tumour. Rich worked with many acts including, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey's band, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. Rush's Neil Peart organized a pair of 90s tribute albums (titled Burning for Buddy), which also featured the work of Kenny Aronoff, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Max Roach, Steve Smith and Matt Sorum.

 

[injinji]

1990 - Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was fined by Walton-on-Thames Magistrates court, after being booked for speeding at 105mph; Clapton was also banned from driving for three months.

 

[injinji]

1998 - Rob Pilatus
Rob Pilatus, one half of pop duo Milli Vanilli was found dead in a Frankfurt Hotel room after taking a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like 'Blame it on the Rain' and 'Girl, You Know It's True,' selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album.

 

[injinji]

April 3rd
1956 - Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley appeared on ABC-TV's 'The Milton Berle Show' live from the flight deck of the USS Hancock in San Diego, California. He performed 'Heartbreak Hotel' 'Shake Rattle And Roll' and 'Blue Suede Shoes.' It was estimated that one out of every four Americans saw the show.

 

[injinji]

1964 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan made his first appearance on the UK charts with 'The Times They Are A-Changin''. Dylan wrote the song as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change for the time. In January 1984, a young Steve Jobs recited the second verse of 'The Times They Are a-Changin'' in his opening of the 1984 Apple shareholders meeting, where he famously unveiled the Macintosh computer for the first time.

 

[injinji]

1990 - Sarah Vaughan
American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan died of lung cancer. She had the 1954 US No.6 single 'Make Yourself Comfortable' and released over 50 albums. March 27, is "Sarah Lois Vaughan Day" in both San Francisco and Berkeley, California in honour of the singer.

 

[injinji]

2003 - Homer Banks
Stax records songwriter Homer Banks died aged 61. Wrote 'I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down', recorded by Sam & Dave and a UK hit for Elvis Costello. Rod Stewart, The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, Millie Jackson and Johnny Taylor all covered his songs.

 

[injinji]

2007 - Keith Richards
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards denied that he snorted the ashes of his late father. Jane Rose, Richards' manager, told MTV News the remarks were made ‘in jest’, and she could not believe they had been taken seriously. Richards had said in an interview with the NME: ‘He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.’ But NME interviewer Mark Beaumont was convinced that Richards was not joking when speaking to him about the alleged incident. ‘He did seem to be quite honest about it. There were too many details for him to be making it up,’ he later told BBC news.

 

[injinji]

2015 - Bob Burns
Bob Burns, the American drummer who was in the original line-up of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a car crash in Georgia when his car struck a mailbox and a tree with the front of the vehicle. Burns was the only occupant of the car and was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. He appeared on the band's 'Sweet Home Alabama,' 'Gimme Three Steps' and 'Free Bird.'

 

[injinji]

1962 - Brian Jones
While at Ealing Jazz Club, in Ealing, West London, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones for the first time. Jones was calling himself Elmo Lewis and was playing guitar with singer Paul Jones, who was performing under his real name of P. P. Pond.

 

[injinji]

1966 - The Beatles
Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on the new John Lennon song 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and the new Paul McCartney song 'Got to Get You Into My Life' for the forthcoming Revolver album.

 

[injinji]

1988 - Alice Cooper
During a European tour, Alice Cooper accidentally hung himself in a rehearsal when a safety rope snapped; he dangled for several seconds before a roadie saved him.