Elvis Chronicles...Lady Day Sunset...Little Richard Comes Out
This is the week that was in matters musical...
1952, eight-year-old
Gladys Knight wins $2,000 on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour...appropriately,
she sings "Too Young"...
this week in 1953, a young sideburned truck
driver drops in at the Memphis Recording Service studio, plunks down
his four bucks and records "My Happiness" on an acetate disc as a
gift for his mother...a year to the week later he's back in what's
now known as Sun Studios to record the first commercially-available
Elvis single, "That's Alright Mama"...the song, with a hopped-up
beat, is a cover of a tune originally cut by bluesman Arthur "Big
Boy" Crudup...in that same week in '54, Presley turns up at the grand
opening of a Memphis drugstore where he performs on the back of a
flatbed truck...two years to the week later, Billboard calls Presley,
"the most controversial entertainer since Liberace"...
1959, Billie
Holiday dies in a New York hospital while in custody for smack
possession...
this is an eventful week in the career of Soul Brother
Number One, James Brown...in '65 his "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"
soars to the top of the pop and R&B charts marking his first huge
crossover hit...this week in '69, Brown stalks out of L.A. mayor Sam
Yorty's office when hizzoner fails to show on time for a ceremony
proclaiming James Brown Day...in 1989 Brown is moved from a minimum
to medium-security prison following the discovery of $40,000 in cash
and checks in his cell...he's serving a six-year sentence on a
variety of charges....and in this same week in 1991, JB is honored by
his home state of Georgia for an artistic comeback following his
early release from prison...
1965, Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is
released and becomes his biggest hit...
1967, Jimi Hendrix opens for
The Monkees at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York...
this too was
an eventful week in Rolling Stones annals...in 1964 their cover of
Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" peaks at #48 and in this same week in
1972, Boston mayor Kevin White helps get Mick Jagger and Keith
Richards out of jail in Warwick, R.I., following their arrest for
roughing up a photographer...hizzoner wants to ensure the Stones make
their gig at the Boston Garden...and in that same week, a bomb
detonates at the Montreal Forum destroying some of the Stones' PA
gear...and finally, this week in '99, the Stones report taking in
over $337 million from their Bridges to Babylon and No Security Tours
...
1968, Iron Butterfly's album "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" hits the charts
with its side-long title tune featuring unintelligible lyrics and one
of the longest drum solos in rock history...
1979, the ordained
Reverend Richard Penniman, formerly known as Little Richard, tells a
revival meeting crowd, "If God can save an old homosexual like me, he
can save anybody"...
1980, Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux is
involved in an auto wreck and succumbs to his injuries two days later
...
1987, Guns 'n Roses' first album, "Appetite for Destruction" is
released...and in '91, the band's former drummer, Steve Adler, sues,
claiming his bandmates pressured him into heroin use then fired him
after Adler went into rehab...
1990, Roger Waters performs "The Wall"
at the former site of the Berlin Wall...Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell,
Phil Collins, and Bryan Adams are unlikely participants in the
performance...and in that same week, the BBC's Radio One issues an
apology following an expletive-riddled live performance by Madonna...
1999, a Paul McCartney single is bootlegged and distributed on the
Web prior to its official release...ironically, the tune's named "I
Got Stung"...
and that was the week that was.
Birthdays
July 17: The Sweet's Mick Tucker (1948), Black Sabbath's Terry
"Geezer" Butler (1949), Nicolette Larson, Doobie Brother Chet
McCracken, and Phoebe Snow (1952), JC of PM Dawn (1973)
July 18: Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929), Dion DiMucci and Brian Auger
(1939), Martha Reeves (1941), Tim Lynch of The Flamin' Groovies
(1946), Golden Earring's Caesar Zuiderwijk (1950), Ricky Skaggs
(1954), Terry Chambers of XTC (1955), Pearl Jam's Jack Irons (1962)
July 19: Buster Benton (1932), Average White Band's Alan Gorrie
(1946), Brian May and Bernie Leadon (1947), Keith Godchaux (1948),
Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952)
July 20: Buddy Knox (1933), Kim Carnes and The Moody Blues' John
Lodge (1945), Carlos Santana (1947), Twisted Sister's Jay Jay French
(1954), Van Halen's Michael Anthony (1955), Paul Cook of The Sex
Pistols (1956), Soundgarden's Chris Cornell (1964), Stone Gossard of
Pearl Jam (1966)
July 21: Kay Starr (1922), R&B saxophonist Plas Johnson (1931), Cat
Stevens (1947), Al Di Meola (1954)
July 22: George Clinton (1940), Supertramp's Richard Davies and
Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes (1944), Don Henley (1947), Indigo
Girl Emily Saliers (1963)
July 23: Cleve Duncan of The Penguins (1935), Tony Joe White (1943),
Dino Danelli of The Rascals (1945), Andy Mackay of Roxy Music (1946),
David Essex (1947), Depeche Mode's Martin Gore (1961), Slash (1965),
Alison Krauss (1971), Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child (1980)
Departures
July 17: manager Chas Chandler (1996), John Coltrane (1967), Billie
Holiday (1959)
July 18: Bobby Fuller (1966)
July 23: Keith Godchaux (1980)
