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 April 8
1962 | Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin was born Jeffrey Dean Isbell in Lafayette, Ind.
1975 | Aerosmith released their third album Toys In The Attic. It has sold eight million copies, aided by the hit Walk This Way.
1977 | The Clash released their self-titled first album in the U.K. It was not released in the U.S. until 1979.
1994 | An electrician working at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle discovered the grunge icon’s body on the floor of the greenhouse, where he had killed himself with a shotgun after taking a massive dose of heroin.
2010 | Malcolm McLaren, the former manager of The Sex Pistols, New York Dolls and Bow Wow Wow, died from cancer at 64.
Tuesday April 9
1932 | Rock ’n’ roll pioneer Carl Perkins was botn in Tiptonville, Tenn. Paul McCartney once claimed that, “if there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.”
1969 | Bob Dylan released the country album Nashville Skyline.
1976 | Folk singer-songwriter Phil Ochs hanged himself at his sister’s home in New York City.
1988 | Dave Prater of soul duo Sam & Dave was killed when his car hit a tree in Syracuse, Ga. The 50-year-old singer was on his way to his mother’s house.
1988 | R&B singer-songwriter Brook Benton died of pneumonia at 56.
Wednesday April 10
1959 | Stray Cats singer-guitarist Brian Setzer was born in Massapequa, N.Y.
1962 | Original Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg, Germany after leaving the group. He was 22.
1970 | Paul McCartney announced The Beatles had split, saying, “I have no future plans to record or appear with The Beatles again, or to write any music with John.” A furious John Lennon, who had already left the group but kept it quiet, replied, “Paul hasn’t left. I sacked him.”
Thursday April 11
1961 | Bob Dylan played his first gig in New York City at Gerde’s Folk City, opening for John Lee Hooker.
1966 | Buffalo Springfield played their first gig at The Troubadour in Hollywood.
1981 | Eddie Van Halen married Valerie Bertinelli eight months after they met at a Van Halen concert in Louisiana.
1987 | Soul singer Joss Stone was born Joscelyn Eve Stoker in Dover.
1994 | Oasis released their first single Supersonic, which peaked at No. 31 on the U.K. charts.
Friday April 12
1933 | Singer-songwriter and ukulele player Tiny Tim was born Herbert Buckingham Khaury in New York City.
1940 | Keyboardist Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago.
1950 | Singer David Cassidy was born in Manhattan. His father was actor Jack Cassidy and his mother was actress Evelyn Ward.
1954 | Bill Haley recorded Rock Around the Clock at Pythian Temple studios in New York City.
1989 | Garth Brooks released his self-titled debut album.
Saturday April 13
1945 | Little Feat singer-guitarist Lowell George was born in Hollywood. His father raised chinchillas and supplied furs to movie studios.
1946 | Soul singer and preacher Al Green was born in Forrest City, Ark.
1951 | E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg was born in Newark, N.J.
1965 | The Beatles recorded the song Help! during an evening recording session at Abbey Road Studios.
1973 | David Bowie released his sixth album Aladdin Sane.
2009 | Phil Spector was convicted of murdering actress Lana Clarkson after a five-month trial.
Sunday April 14
1932 | Country icon Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb in Butcher Hollow, Ky. One guess what her father did for a living.
1945 | Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was born in Somerset, England.
1969 | John Lennon and Paul McCartney recorded The Ballad Of John and Yoko.
1975 | The Rolling Stones announced that Ronnie Wood would be joining the band for their forthcoming American tour.
1983 | Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon died from a drug overdose, less than a year after guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of drug-induced heart failure.
2013 | Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, where he wrote in the guest book: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.” Wow. Just … wow.
