I wouldn’t want to live in the past. But I still like to visit every now and then. Here are the musical birthdays we’ll be celebrating and the anniversaries we’ll be marking over the next week:
Monday March 11
1970 | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released their debut album Deja Vu. It spawned three Top 40 singles: Teach Your Children, Our House and Woodstock.
1993 | Oasis recorded their first demos in Liverpool. The songs cut included Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Columbia and Fade Away.
2008 | Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City. The 49-year-old thanked her detractors, including those who “said I couldn’t sing, that I was a one-hit wonder. Also inducted: John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five.
2016 | Keyboardist Keith Emerson died in Santa Monica of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after becoming “depressed, nervous and anxious” because nerve damage in his hands had hampered his playing.
Tuesday March 12
1917 | Leonard Chess was born. He went on to found Chess Records, home to John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed.
1955 | Saxophonist Charlie Parker died of a heart attack in New York City while watching Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra on TV. He was 34. A coroner though he was he was between 50 and 60 years old, due to years of drug and alcohol abuse.
1967 | The Velvet Underground & Nico released their self-titled debut. A flop that was almost entirely ignored by critics, it is now recognized as one of the greatest and most influential albums of its time.
1969 | Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office, followed by a lunch at The Ritz Hotel. George Harrison and his wife Patti were arrested on the same day and charged with possession of 120 joints of marijuana.
2007 | Amy Winehouse made her U.S. TV debut on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing Rehab. The song went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Wednesday March 13
1960 | U2 bassist Adam Clayton was born. Clayton has received 22 Grammy Awards. To this day, no one is quite sure why.
1965 | Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds. He wanted to continue in a blues vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of For Your Love.
1966 | Rod Stewart left the blues band Steampacket to go solo. Arguably the UK’s first supergroup, The band included Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, organist Brian Auger and guitarist Vic Briggs.
1995 | Radiohead released their second album The Bends. It featured the tracks High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees.
https://youtu.be/XmSdTa9kaiQ
Thursday March 14
1933 | Producer, composer and musician Quincy Jones was born.
1882 | Metallica played their first gig in Anaheim, Calif. They formed in 1981 after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an ad looking for “metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden.”
1983 | Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such formed Bon Jovi. The nightmare continues.
Friday March 15
1912 | Blues guitarist and singer Sam (Lightnin) Hopkins was born.
1940 | Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh began his long, strange trip on this astral plain.
1941 | Beach Boys member Mike Love was born. Love wrote lyrics for Fun, Fun, Fun, California Girls and Good Vibrations.
1944 | Sly Stone was born. His hits with The Family Stone included Dance To The Music and Everyday People.
1947 | Guitarist Ry Cooder was born. He has worked with Captain Beefheart, Gordon Lightfoot, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, John Lee Hooker and countless others.
1955 | Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Col. Tom Parker, giving him half of his income. That reminds me: Does anyone need a manager?
2014 | Stooges drummer Scott (Rock Action) Asheton died of a heart attack at age 64.
2015 | Toto bassist Mike Porcaro died following a battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Saturday March 16
1970 | Motown singer Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumour at the age of 24. She had collapsed onstage in 1967 during a concert with Marvin Gaye in Virginia.
1977 | The Sex Pistols were dropped by A&M Records after six days. The band made £75,000 from the deal.
2015 | Free bassist Andy Fraser died of a heart attack in California at age 62.
2017 | Harmonica player James Cotton died from pneumonia at age 81.
Sunday March 17
1919 | Singer-pianist Nat King Cole was born. He had more than 100 hits and was the first black man to host an American TV series.
1941 | Jefferson Airplane singer-guitarist Paul Kantner was born.
1957 | Elvis Presley bought Graceland in Memphis from Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. The 23-room building on 13.8 acres of land had originally been Graceland Christian Church and was named after the builder’s daughter.
1967 | Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan was born.
1984 | Van Halen’s Jump hit No.1. David Lee Roth has said the lyrics were inspired by a TV news story about a man jumping off a building. Then again, DLR generally talks a lot of shit.
2010 | Box Tops and Big Star singer Alex Chilton died of heart problems in New Orleans at the age of 59, days before he was to play SXSW. A moving memorial show was held in his honour.
