Today In Music, September 16th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 16th September):

Birth

1944. Betty Kelly (Martha And The Vandellas) born in Detroit, Michigan.

On Tour

1979. Passing through London’s Heathrow Airport enroute for the United States, Elton John reveals what he’s been keeping under his hat until now – a new head of hair! Speaking of the hair transplant, Elton said, “I had the operation done in Paris and I have another two operations to go before it’s completely finished”. He refused to reveal how much the treatment cost but did say, “Looking at it now, I think it was absolutely worthwhile”.

In Court

1970. Robbie Krieger and John Densmore are called to give evidence at Jim Morrison‘s obscenity trial in The Circuit Court for Dade County, Miami, Florida. Judge Murray Goodman, presiding.

In Hospital

1970. Sandie Shaw announces that she’s preganant. The news came after the singer had collapsed in her car on the way to Heathrow Airport where she was due to leave for the Venice Festival. Doctors today revealed the reason for her exhaustion. Sandie’s been married to the fashion designer Jeff Banks for the last two years. The baby, which is due early next year, will be the couple’s first. Sandie’s performance in Venice has been cancelled and she’ll be resting for the next few days.

On Television

1965. Shindig! (ABC, U.S.A.) Opening medley (song excerpts): The McCoys, The Byrds, Jerry Naylor, The Everly Brothers and Chad & Jill; The Everly Brothers; The Byrds; Billy Preston; Jerry Naylor; Ketty Lester; The Byrds; The McCoys; Chad and Jill (Chad Stuart of Chad and Jeremy, and his wife Jill); Chad Stuart; The Rolling Stones; Finale: Everly Brothers. Here’s the first segment of the show which will link to the other two parts to give you the complete programme. 8m 57s.

Death

1977. Marc Bolan dies when the Mini in which he is travelling skids and hits a tree on Barnes Common in London. The car is being driven by Marc’s girlfriend, Gloria Jones, who survives.

And on this day in 1997, the Performing Rights Society erects a marker at the site of Marc’s fatal crash. On hand to assist in the proceedings is his son, Rolan.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, August 4th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Monday 4th August):

Birth

1927. Ralph Peer, a producer working for The Victor Talking Machine Company cuts the first “Country” records when he records Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family in a hotel room in Bristol, Tennessee. Rodgers is paid $ 50 a song for the session.

On Tour

1979. Fairport Convention play their last gig as a working band at Cropredy, Oxfordshire. The village will become the site of an annual reunion concert.

In Custody

1970. Jim Morrison is arrested after falling asleep on an old lady’s porch after drinking too much. He is charged with public drunkenness.

In Court

1965. South African singing star Eve Boswell is granted a divorce from her estranged husband Trevor Garfield McIntosh at a Johannesburg divorce court. The 41 year old singer was awarded a restitution order against Mr. McIntosh in June after telling the court that he had left and would not return after 23 years of marriage.

On Television

1965. Shindig! (U.S.A.) 47. Opening medley (song excerpts): Jerry Naylor/Billy Preston/Jackie & Gayle, Bobby Sherman/Righteous Brothers; Nooney Rickett Four; Billy Preston; Marianne Faithfull; Jerry Naylor; Bobby Sherman; The Righteous Brothers; Linda Clark; Jackie and Gayle; The Great Scots; Bobby Sherman; Bobby Hatfield; Dixie Cups; Nooney Rickett Four; Linda Clark with Jackie and Gayle; Billy Preston; Terry Allen; The Great Scots; Dixie Cups; Jerry Naylor; -Marianne Faithfull; The Righteous Brothers; Linda Clark; Finale: Nooney Rickett Four (with the Righteous Brothers, Jackie and Gayle, and other guests). The clip above will link to another 7 which build to give you the whole show. A great slice of mid sixties pop TV.

Death

1992. Ralph Cooper Snr. (Master of Ceremonies at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre) dies in Manhattan, New York, aged 80.

Babble

Another week and another blog. The last couple of weeks have seen the blog getting forgotten till late in the day and sometimes missed out altogether. Friends and family assure me it’s a midlife crisis but who knows. I know you all expect me to regale you with tales of my rock and roll lifestyle and excesses but I’ll probably disappoint when I say the highlight of my weekend was a visit on Saturday by the archive Puli’s brother. The archive Puli – Loki, was put to shame when brother Hu turned up sporting the world’s most incredible coat carefully draped around the frame of a small tank. Even his owners thought he was three times the weight of the archive dog.

Anyway, I know I’m sad but I thought I’d share a couple of pics of the visit with you. I’ll also drop in a vaguely rock and roll anecdote: About 7 years ago, I had a very well known rock journalist and his employers visiting as they were considering buying the archive. One of the directors of the company pointed at a single dreadlock hanging on my notice board and asked what it was. He’d been in the house for at least an hour and had met all three of the Pulis that were in the house. Needless to say, I looked him in the eye and honestly told him it was one of Bob Marley’s locks. There were gasps of awe from the assembled throng and I never had the heart to own up to the fact that it was a memento from my first Puli, Emma whose adventures have been on Rockmine since its earliest days. You’ll find them at The Archive Dogs Pages. Here’s a shot of Hu, in all his glory.

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, July 22nd

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday 22nd July):

Birth

1963. Emily Saliers (The Indigo Girls) born in New Haven, Connecticut.

In The Skies

1994. The Minor Planet Circular issued today, announces that minor planet 3834 which was discovered on 11th May 1980 has been named Zappafrank in memory of Frank Zappa.

In Custody

1996. Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) is arrested in the early hours of the morning following allegations that he assaulted a fan at his hotel in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina. Soundgarden had returned to the hotel after playing the Lollapalooza at around 1am. Thayil went to his room and discovered it had been broken into. On going downstairs to discuss the matter with the hotel’s manager, he was harassed by drunk party-goers attending a wedding reception. He grabbed the disposable camera of one guest and threw it away. The guests then charged at him. In his flight, he is thought to have hit one of the group in the face. He is charged with assault on a girl and damage to property and released on $ 2,500 bail.

In Court

1997. Robbie Williams is in the High Court in London, defending a lawsuit brought by his former manager Nigel Martin-Smith. The ex-manager is seeking £ 1 million which includes £ 78,000 in unpaid commission on royalties and advances and a percentage of the singer’s earnings until 2006.

On Television

1967. American Bandstand (ABC, U.S.A.) 1784. The Doors – “Light My Fire” & “Crystal Ship”; Bee Gees (on film) – “New York Mining Disaster 1941”. Here’s “Light My Fire”.

Death

1996. Rob Collins (The Charlatans) crashes his BMW on the journey from a local pub to Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales where the band are recording their fifth album. He is resuscitated by a nurse at the crash site but dies in the ambulance on his way to hospital. A sound engineer travelling with him escapes serious injury but is in shock.

 

Go to Rockmine’s main site here.

© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, July 3rd

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Thursday 3rd July):

Birth

1940. Soul singer Fontella Bass born in St. Louis, Missouri.

On Stage

1999. Mark Sandman, lead singer and bass player of Morphine collapses onstage at a rock festival in Palestrina, about 30 miles east of Rome, Italy. The 46 year old could not be revived and was pronounced dead in the ambulance enroute to a nearby hospital. It’s thought he suffered a heart attack.

In Custody

1975. Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) is arrested for possession of cocaine in his hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky on the first night of the band’s tour. Charges are eventually dropped in October when a court decides that the warrant used in the bust was granted on a basis of “unfounded information”.

In Hospital

1978. Keith Moon is taken off a plane at Mauritius just before it was due to fly to London. The captain of the British Airways flight felt that the drummer was unfit to travel and referred him to the airline’s resident doctor who admitted him to hospital where he is detained overnight. It’s thought the illness was a reaction to sleeping pills taken before the flight.

On Television

1985. Shelley Preston steps into the limelight on the BBC-1’s “Wogan” show as the new member of Bucks Fizz. The 21 year old was chosen from more than 1,000 hopefuls who auditioned as replacements for Jay Aston last month.

Death

1971. Jim Morrison dies in Paris. Okay, that’s way too simple. Here are the three main possibilities:

a) Jim has a heart attack in the bath in his appartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis (pictured above) and dies.
b) Jim overdoses while out boozing in a nightclub or brothel.
c) Jim never dies but uses the story as a means of bowing out of public life and an impending jail sentence.

The Doors say they were sick of rumours about his death so they didn’t respond as quickly as they might have to yet another story regarding his demise. By the time Bill Siddons was sent by the band it was too late to see the body. All we’ve got is Pamela’s word that it was Jim in the coffin. Unfortunately she’s not around to question; or is she? Anyway, the closest we can get to finding out what did happen is to check out Pamela Courson’s statement to the Paris police:

 

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© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.

Today In Music, May 30th

From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Friday 30th May):

Birth

1955. Nicky “Topper” Headon (The Clash) born in Bromley, Kent.

Not On Tour

1997. Neil Young announces that he’s postponing his forthcoming five-week tour of Europe after injuring himself at home. The guitar legend had made himself a sandwich and was slicing it in half when he cut the top off a finger. Doctors have ordered him not to play for a month to allow the damaged digit to heal.

In Court

2000. Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) is back in Malibu Superior Court for a release hearing following five days in the county jail for violating parole. Judge Lawrence Mira warned him that unless he sticks rigidly to his parole conditions he’ll go back to jail. Lee will return to court on September 5th for a progress report. Meanwhile, he’ll join the rest of the band in Amsterdam on June 4th at the start of their “Methods Of Mayhem” European tour which had been threatened by his imprisonment.

In Politics

1969. The Doors‘ movie, “Feast Of Friends” is screened as part of a benefit for Norman Mailer’s campaign for New York mayor. Jim Morrison also gives a reading of “An American Prayer” and later runs through some blues standards with Robbie Krieger.

On Television

1970. Beat Club (WDR, West Germany) 55: Black Sabbath, Rare Bird, Jody Grind, Blodwyn Pig,Renaissance, Canned Heat.

Death

1993. Jazz composer Sun Ra dies in Birmingham, Alabama, several months after being hospitalised with a stroke.

Babble

Despite promising a babble that included links to new and updated pages on Rockmine, I haven’t got them finished. The moment I do, I’ll be back with more details.

 

Go to Rockmine’s main site here.

© Copyright 1995 – 2008 Rockmine Archives. Use of this content is prohibited unless licensed by Rockmine Archives.