I try not 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 May 6
1945 | Ramblin’ gamblin’ man Bob Seger was born in (where else?) Detroit. I hear he likes that old-time rock ’n’ roll — and selling pickup trucks.
1965 | Mick Jagger and Keith Richards worked out the opening guitar riff of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction in a Clearwater, Fla. hotel room. Richards had come up with the riff in the middle of the night.
https://youtu.be/OZ8GZ3PFVGM
Tuesday May 7
1946 | Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann was born in Palo Alto, Calif. — while New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan was born in Brooklyn. Go figure.
1972 | The Rolling Stones released Exile On Main St., much of which was recorded in Keith Richards’ Nellcote villa in the south of France.
https://youtu.be/Ctg5FCS1wCM
Wednesday May 8
1911 | American blues singer-songwriter Robert Johnson was born. Much of the music you like would not exist without him.
1965 | Bob Dylan filmed the cue-card promo clip for Subterranean Homesick Blues outside the Savoy Hotel in London. The cue cards were created by Dylan, Donovan, Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth (the latter two can be seen in the background of the video).
Thursday May 9
1970 | American Woman by Winnipeg’s Guess Who started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart. The song was apparently written during an impromptu onstage jam. A fan who had taped the gig presented it to the group and they developed it into a song.
Friday May 10
1957 | John Ritchie — you might know him as Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was born in London.
1960 | The Silver Beetles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Tommy Moore — auditioned for promoter Larry Parnes and singer Billy Fury for a job as Fury’s backing group. They didn’t get the gig.
Saturday May 11
1941 | Animals frontman Eric Burdon was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
1981 | Jamaican singer-songwriter and reggae icon Bob Marley died of cancer at age 36.
Sunday May 12
1948 | English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood, whose resume includes Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and his own solo career, was born in Birmingham.
1965 | The Rolling Stones recorded (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction at RCA Hollywood studios, less than a week after it was written. They had actually tried to cut it earlier in the week, but were reportedly unhappy with the results.
https://youtu.be/NrchpTdAV78
