Today In Music, January 15th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday, 15th January):

Birth

1949. Ronnie Van Zandt (Lynyrd Skynyrd) born in Jacksonville, Florida.

On Tour

1998. Oasis are donating the proceeds from tonight’s show in Toronto and next week’s show in Vancouver to the Canadian Red Cross Disaster Appeal Fund to help families devastated by the recent ice storm. The band saw the storm’s effects for themselves when they were forced to cancel last night’s gig in Montreal because of extreme weather conditions.

In Custody

1970. The jailing of Welsh language pop singer Dafydd Iwan sparks a wave of protest by members of the Welsh Language Society – 40 people stage a sit-down protest in the foyer of Cardiff Police Station; in Carmarthen 40 students barricade themselves in a hall near the courthouse and in Aberystwyth, 25 people stage a sit-down protest at the Magistrates’ Court. Other protests are not succesful – an attempt to storm the police station in Penarth fails and the protesters are escorted away.

In Court

1964. Vee Jay Records files lawsuits against Capitol Records and Swan Records over the manufacturing and distribution of The Beatles records. At the same time, in Chicago, Capitol Records is granted an injunction restraining Vee Jay from making, advertising or selling any Beatles product.

On Television

1967. The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS, U.S.A.) 902. Rolling Stones, Petula Clark. Here are the Stones with “Let’s Spent The Night Together”. The record received a wide-spread ban on American radio for its controversial lyrics. Both the TV and record companies pleaded with the band to sing “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”. The first chorus sees Mick Jagger just appearing to mumble but his facial expression gives everything away. During the second chorus, the camera catches Bill Wyman raise his eyes at what’s going on around him!

Death

1994. Harry Nilsson dies at his home in Los Angeles from a heart attack, aged 52.

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Today In Music, January 11th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Sunday, 11th January):

Birth

1958. Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) born in Los Angeles.

On Tour

1963. The Rolling Stones sack their drummer, Tony Chapman, after tonight’s gig at the Ricky Tick Club at The Star & Garter in Windsor. The incensed Chapman goes to Bill Wyman and tries to pursuade him to leave with him and start their own goup but Bill refuses.

In Court

1972. John Lee (singer with New World) is fined £ 10 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to assaulting Mrs. Lillian Zoeller, a traffic warden, on December 29th by throwing a bucket of water over her. The singer had arrived at the Alexanda Theatre, Birmingham where he was appearing in the pantomime, Robinson Crusoe. He was late for a curtain call and parked in a suspended parking bay. Explaining his situation to the traffic warden who was nearby, he was warned to move his car or she would issue a ticket for illegal parking but he rushed into the theatre. A few minutes later as she was reaching to place the ticket on the car she was hit by a volume of cold water and looked up to see a window in the theatre being closed.

In Hospital

1985. Eric Clapton‘s first child, Ruth Kelly, is born in Doncaster maternity Hospital. Clapton met her mother, Yvonne, on the island of Montserrat in 1984. Within a week of meeting, the couple were conducting an affair. Since Ruth’s birth, he has lavished presents on mother and child as well as ensuring maintenance payments are regularly made.

On Television

1977. Rockpalast (WDR, WestGermany) Leo Kottke (WDR Studio-L Köln). Here are the first 8 minutes of the gig – “Up Tempo”, “Hear The Wind Howl” and “Busted Bicycle”.

Death

2003. Mickey Finn, percussionist with T. Rex, dies in Mayday Hospital, Croydon, London. He had been suffering from kidney and liver problems, aged 55,

 

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Today In Music, November 8th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 8th November):

Birth

1944. Bonnie Bramlett (Delaney And Bonnie) born Bonnie Lynn O’Farrell in Acton, Illinois.

On Tour

1969. The Rolling Stones set a new world record for the highest grossing one-night stand in pop history. Tonight’s two shows at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles raised $260,000 of which the band receives $ 108,000 (£ 71,000). The first of the evening’s two performances was two hours late in starting due to the over-run of an ice-hockey match. The 7 o’clock show started at 9 p.m. and the 10 o’clock show began at 1 a.m. The Stones didn’t leave the arena until 5 a.m.

In Custody

1988. Ranking Dread (real name Errol Codling) is escorted by police to Heathrow airport outside London and deported from the U.K. The expulsion is officially as a result of immigration offences but he is returning to Jamaica to face questioning over the death of a policeman. Codling was arrested earlier this year after a raid on an illegal drinking club when he was found in possession of drugs but no action was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service. The singer, who had a UK Top 10 hit in 1980 with “Fatty Bum Bum”, is reported to have been on Scotland Yard’s list of most wanted Yaries for some time. The Yardies, a Mafia-style organisation, are said to be heavily involved in drugs and prostitution in London.

In Court

1968. At the Court Of Session in Edinburgh, The Small Faces are ordered to pay £ 2,000 in damages for breach of contract. Lord Thompson, presiding, granted a decree in absence to promoter Albert Bonici of Elgin. Bonici claimed the group breached a contract to appear in Aberdeen, Nairn, Montrose and Perth during August of last year. None of the Small Faces were in court and they were not represented by counsel. No defences were lodged against the action.

On Television

1974. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 90. Guests: Golden Earring; Little Anthony and the Imperials; Orphan. Here are Golden Earring with “Radar Love”. The camp introduction by Little Richard is quite amusing.

Death

1968. Blues singer and bottleneck guitarist James “Kokomo” Arnold dies in Chicago, Illinois aged 67.

 

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Today In Music, October 7th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday, 7th October):

Birth

1943. Dino Valenti (Quicksilver Messenger Service) born in New York.

On Tour

1969. 2,000 East German Rolling Stones fans clash with police near the Berlin Wall. The fans gathered expecting to see The Stones play a concert on top of a building at the western-most section of the Wall but there was no performance. 200 police chase the fans into the centre of the city where they clash with some of the 250,000 members of the Free German Youth organisation who had gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the communist state. More than 50 of the fans are detained in custody by police.

In Court

1975. The U.S. Court Of Appeals overturns the Immigration Departments deportation order on John Lennon. This opens the way for him to apply for resident status.

In Hospital

1995. Simon Gilbert (Suede) is knocked unconscious when he and a friend are attacked by 12 queer-bashers after leaving a pub in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Both men are taken to Warwick Hospital where they are treated before being discharged. The un-named friend has six stiches for a head wound and later returns to the hospital suffering from concussion.

On Television

1970. The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, U.S.A.) Johnny with George Lindsey & June Carter, The Statler Brothers, The Carter Family. Here are Johnny and Joni Mitchell dueting on “Girl From The North County”.

Death

1966. Overton Amos Lemons, better known as R+B singer Smiley Lewis, dies of cancer in New Orleans.

Babble

Well, here I am once again in the north. I was told yesterday that the memorabilia exhibition couldn’t go ahead and yet everyone seems to want it to be staged. Just how and when are the two big questions. I’m going to give it until tomorrow and then I’ll have to make the decision to consign it to the fantasy world within the wardrobe and just imagine I’ve staged the show or get it sorted once and for all.

I was offered a date in November but that’s meant to tie in with a book launch that should have been held on June 21st. The book, on growing up in Liverpool in the sixties, was seemingly available back in May so I’m not sure why a launch is being held six months on. My biggest worry is that the launch is meant to be run by Waterstone’s local branch but the company’s web site has no information regarding ANY events in Elgin or Inverness in either October or November. I have found one book that fits the description but it was launched at the Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre back in April. Its author, Nicholas Murray is giving a poetry reading on October 13th in Venice. Maybe it’s just me but I can’t then see what he’d be doing in Elgin. Obviously it may not be him and as there’s nothing on the Elgin venue’s website mentioning anything that fits the bill.

I hope from this you’ll get some sense of my frustration. I know I’m dealing with a theatre but it surely doesn’t need to involve suspending all disbelief. I found a fascinating description of the concept here. The world of Narnia really has been moved to Moray. I just hope that I can find my way back out of the wardrobe. Despite the frustration, I’m going to give it one last shot. If I can’t get an agreement to use the venue we’d agreed on (which I’ve decided not to name because it will just give them free publicity) from Thursday to Saturday or another space to stage it, then I give up. 

Strangely, the link to my Two Red Shoes Ballroom blog from the Northern Scot is proving nowhere near as successful as flyers were in Nairn back in August. 1,400 flyers and a dozen A4 posters pulled in 180 people a day and all this one’s getting is 55! Before I leave here, I think I’ll get flyers into the local library and other places. Then I’ll just forget these eerily unreal place.

 

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Today In Music, August 5th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 5th August):

Birth

1959. Pete Burns (Dead Or Alive) born Pete Jozeppi in Port Sunlight, Merseyside.

On Tour

1980. David Bowie starts a three week run as “The Elephant Man” at Chicago’s Blackstone Theater.

In Rubble

1973. The Rolling Stones‘ producer, Jimmy Miller suffers the loss of at least £ 75,000 of studio gear when the Mercer Arts Center in New York (which houses Jimmy Miller Productions) collapses into a pile of rubble. The hotel next door collapses at the same time and although two people are killed, recent Rolling Stones Records signing, Kracker, who are staying there, escape unhurt.

In Court

1983. David Crosby is sentenced to five years in jail by Judge Pat McDowell in Dallas, Texas after being found guilty of possessing cocaine and carrying a gun into a bar. His lawyers lodge an instant appeal and he is released on bail.

On Television

1965. Where The Action Is (U.S.A.) The Byrds; Jewel Akens; Linda Scott; Steve Alaimo. Here are The Byrds with “All I Really Want To Do”. 2m 02s. The quality of this clip is probably the poorest I’ve ever included but its a real rarity.
Death

1978. Pete Meadon, The Who‘s first manager and writer of “Zoot Suit” dies of barbiturate poisoning at his parents’ home in London.

Babble

Regular readers will know I’ve been struggling since April to stage a rock and pop memorabilia exhibition at the Red Shoes Theatre in Elgin. In the 1960s it was one of Scotland’s busiest and best known venues for the hundreds of bands who constantly toured the U.K. The Beatles, The Who and Pink Floyd were among the star names that played there. I was in Elgin yesterday, fully intending to have one last go at rescuing the exhibition but ended up driving another half hour west to Nairn.

Nairn was home to another venue run by Albert Bonici, the Elgin promoter who’d put The Fabs and all the others on. The Ballerina Ballroom (as it was then called), which played host to The Who, Cream, Pink Floyd et al., has lain empty for years until recently when Nairn based Hollywood actress, Tilda Swinton decided to re-open the venue and stage a film festival there. The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams festival lasts 8 1/2 days, starting August 15th.

It was easy to find, driving off the main road to Edinburgh, turning left for the town centre and straight into the High Street. A few hundred yards later, I passed it. I found a parking space and walked back. The doors weren’t locked, so I just walked in. There I found Tilda’s husband, the artist and playwright, John Byrne. I explained my troubles with the Ballerina’s sister venue and he instantly showed me a huge ante-room off the main ballroom with large unobstructed walls and agreed it was a great idea and a perfect adjunct to the film festival.

So, now I’ve got 10 days to promote and create the exhibition. I’m heading back to the ballroom this morning with some of the pieces I’m planning to hang and get some images for tomorrow’s blog. My plan is to replicate the real exhibition with a virtual version online. Sadly, I’d spent a lot of time researching the bands who played the Two Red Shoes and now I’m going to have to redo that for the Ballerina. I loved the idea of boards with gig adverts, reviews and listings to spark the memories of those who’d attended them.

Anyway, enough of what’s to be done. I love ferreting through old newspapers, so I can’t complain. Click on the film festival link above for full details. For some background to the festival, there’s a really great article from The Independent dated July 23rd here.

 

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Today In Music, July 24th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday 24th July):

Birth

1935. Songwriter Les Reed (“It’s Not Unusual”, “There’s A Kind Of Hush” and many more) born in Woking, Surrey.

On Tour

1964. Britain’s biggest rock riot takes place during The Rolling Stones concert in Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom. Blackpool is besieged by drunken Glaswegians, in the city for their annual holiday. Unfortunately hundreds of them are amongst the audience of 9,000. Things turn sour when Keith Richards objects to Brian Jones being spat at by youths at the front of the stage. He retaliates with his boot, first standing on someone’s hands and then kicking another in the face. Within moments, the band are running for their lives.

It takes several hours for calm to be restored. By that time more than £ 2,000 worth of Stones’ equipment has been smashed, curtains in the hall are pulled down, seating is destroyed and the ballroom’s chandelier damaged. Two policemen and thirty members of the audience require treatment at Blackpool’s Victoria Hospital.

The band are booked in to spend the night at a hotel in Preston, twenty miles away and hastily arrange a round the clock police guard in case they’ve been followed.

In Custody

1996. Rapper Warren G is arrested at the Los Angeles gay and lesbian nightclub Peanuts following the discovery of a loaded 9mm assault weapon in his trunk. Police are called to a disturbance outside the club and notice the truck which matches the description of one used in an armed robbery last week.

The rapper later holds a press conference to admit that he was arrested at the club but insists he was there on a lesbian only night (?). He is released on $ 10,000 bail and will appear in court on August 16th to face charges of possessing a concealed loaded weapon.

In Church (well, almost)

1999. Following their civil marriage yesterday, Phil Collins, 48, and his new bride Orianne Cevey, 27, have a religious blessing at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. After the ceremony, a lavish reception is held in the hotel with guests including Eric Clapton.

During their stay at the hotel, Phil arranged for Jack (his Jack Russell Terrier) to have his own suite at a cost of £ 220 a night. Jack got a double bed, minibar, sunken bath and balcony. If that wasn’t enough, a dog-sitter was booked to take Jack walkies, whenever the need arose. Orianne’s mother didn’t fare so well. While Jack was living it up in a suite, she had to make do with a standard room!

On Television

1968. Kraft Music Hall (NBC, U.S.A.) 84. The Turtles – “Elenore”. 2m 33s.

Death

1972. Bobby Ramirez (drummer with Edgar Winter’s White Trash) dies in a knife fight in a back alley off Rush Street, Chicago aged 23.

 

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Today In Music, July 18th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Friday 18th July):

Birth

1946. Tim Lynch (The Flamin’ Groovies) born in San Francisco, California.

On Tour

1972. The Rolling Stones arrive in Boston but after a scuffle at the airport, Mick Jagger, Marshall Chess and film-maker Robert Frank are charged with obstructing police officers and Keith Richards is charged with assaulting a photographer and a journalist. With the band playing Boston’s Garden Theater tonight, the city’s mayor, Kevin White, bails them out of jail. The band hits the stage two hours late but no-one seems to care. The mayor is given a standing ovation by the audience.

In Politics

1972. Frank Sinatra appears before the U.S. House Crime Select Committee in Washington, D.C. and accuses it of irresponsibly letting a convicted felon “bandy his name about”. He told the packed hearing that it was “character assassination” and said they should have immediately refuted claims, made during the testimony of Joseph “The Baron” Barboza, that the singer was a front-man for the Mafia in the Fontainbleau and Sands hotels in Miami and Las Vegas. Joseph Phillips, counsel for the committee, said that Barboza made the allegations when he was being asked about unrelated matters, without any prompting.

In Court

1966. William Oliver Smedley, 54, an accountant and former vice-president of the Liberal Party, appears in court at Saffron Walden, Essex, charged with the murder of Reginald Calvert, 37, head of the Radio City pop radio station. Smedley is reported to have sparked the incident on the night of 19th June, when he and a boarding party visited the old wartime fort at Shivering Sands, where the radio station is based. They immobilized the transmitter and left some men to guard it. It’s thought the action was taken to stop the sale of the radio station to an American company. As a result, Calvert had visited Smedley at home on June 21st. Smedley said he feared for his life and admitted to police that he shot Calvert. Mr. Peter Palmes, prosecuting, said that the only weapon Calvert carried was a small tear gas pen. The hearing continues tomorrow.

On Television

 

 

1975. The Midnight Special (NBC, U.S.A.) 125. Host: Helen Reddy. Guests: Mac Davis; Minnie Riperton; Waylon Jennings; Steve Martin; Joe Simon. Here’s Minnie Riperton with “Lovin’ You”.

Death

1966. Bobby Fuller‘s body is found in his parked car in Los Angeles. He had been badly beaten and had been forced to swallow gasoline which killed him. Strangely, the police put the 22 year old’s death down to suicide and a coroner’s report, which ignored the bruising, agreed. It was only later after an investigation that details of the true circumstances were revealed. Rumours circulating at the time suggested that he’d been having an affair with the wife of a mafia gangster.

 

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Today In Music, July 17th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday 17th July):

Birth

1949. Terry “Geezer” Butler (Black Sabbath) born in Birmingham, England.

On Tour

1998. Convicted murderess Pamela Keary escapes from prison in Minneapolis, telling fellow inmates she’s going to see The Smashing Pumpkins who are playing the city this evening. Police arrest the 17 year old at the gig.

In Court

1966. A Munich court rules that The Rolling Stones do make music and not just noise. The city authorities had hoped that the court would find against the group and they could claim back £ 1,270 tax relief for “musical performances” on the group’s concerts at Circus-Krone-Bau on September 14th last year.

In Politics

1985. Mr Barney Hayhoe, Minister Of State in the British Government, announces that the £ 190,000 in V.A.T., paid on tickets for Live Aid, will be waived. The tickets had not made it clear that the fee was voluntary and therefore would be excluded from the tax.

On Television

1976. Disco (ZDF, West Germany) 60. Silver Convention; Jürgen Drews; Rubettes; Bob Dylan (video clip); Peter Maffay; Martin Mann; Vicky Leandros; Smokie.

Death

1996. Chas Chandler (born Bryan James Chandler), member of The Animals, the man who “discovered” Jimi Hendrix and manager of Slade dies in hospital while undergoing tests for a heart aneurysm, aged 57.

 

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