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Almanac

This week in rock history...

1964: Rod Stewart cuts his first record, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"; he will go on to sing with The Jeff Beck group and later The Faces, before embarking on a solo career.  A 16-year-old lad won a Mick Jagger impersonation contest at The Town Hall, Greenwich, England; the winner turned out to be Mick's younger brother, Chris Jagger.
 
1965: The Byrds begin recording "Turn! Turn! Turn!". Unlike their first hit, "Mr. Tambourine Man", members of the group itself are permitted to play instead of session musicans.  Ringo Starr's first wife, Maureen gives birth to their son, Zak Starkey.

1966: The Rolling Stones appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York; guitarist Brian Jones performs despite a cast on his right hand which he broke in a fall in Tangier.  The Beatles receive a gold record for the single, "Yellow Submarine".

1967: The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" is certified as a million-seller. The boys also begin filming the movie Magical Mystery Tour. The idea was to cruise the English countryside in a bus "just to see what would happen". Unfortunately, nothing did and the film was a disaster. Songs from the movie would be released later on an album of the same name.

1968: Iron Butterfly's album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida enters Billboard's album chart.

1969: John Lennon put a band together for the Rock 'n' Roll Revival Concert that included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman (bass player from Manfred Mann) and drummer Alan White (who would later join Yes). Also on the bill were Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, Alice Cooper and The Doors. The concert would produce a live album called Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

1971: John Lennon's album Imagine is released. It would reach #1 on both sides of the Atlantic.

1972: The Eagles' "Witchy Woman" is released. It will crack the Billboard Hot 100 by the end of September and eventually rise to #9.

1973: The Allman Brothers started a five week run at the top of the US album chart with Brothers and Sisters, the group's only US #1 LP.

1974: Elton John is awarded a gold record for "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me".  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as well as Joni Mitchell and The Band play to 80,000 fans at London's Wembley Stadium.

1975: The Guess Who play their final concert at a show in Montreal; core members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman would return for another tour in 1987.  Wings begins a 13 month world tour where they will play in front of over two million people.  Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is certified gold.

1976: Disco band Wild Cherry's self-titled album, which includes their number one single, "Play that Funky Music", is certified gold. 

1977: Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch quits Paul McCartney & Wings to join a reformed line-up of the Small Faces.  David Bowie accepts Bing Crosby's invitation to appear as a special guest on Bing's annual Christmas television special; Bowie and Bing sing duets on "Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace on Earth"; the songs are recorded for Crosby's album Merrie Olde Christmas.

1978: The Who's drummer, Keith Moon died September 7th of an overdose of a sedative called Heminevrin, that had been prescribed to prevent seizures induced by alcohol withdrawal. The 31 year old Moon died in the same apartment that had previously belonged to Harry Nilsson and earlier, Mama Cass Elliot. He is eventually replaced in The Who by ex-Faces drummer Kenney Jones.

On a lighter note, this week in '78, The Rolling Stones' "Beast Of Burden" is released in the US where it will reach #8.

1982: After some lean years following the death of lead guitarist Terry Kath, Chicago was back on top of the Billboard singles chart with "Hard To Say I'm Sorry"; the song reached #4 in the UK.  John "Cougar" Mellencamp becomes the only male artist to have two singles in the US Top Ten as well as the number one album; "Jack and Diane" was number 4, while "Hurts So Good" sat at number 8; the album American Fool stayed on top for nine weeks, eventually reaching multi-platinum status.

1985: David Bowie and Mick Jagger's version of "Dancing In The Streets" hits #1 on the UK Pop chart.  Ringo Starr became the first Beatle to become a grandfather when son Zak and his wife Sarah had a daughter, Tatia Jayne.

1987: Despite threats from former member Roger Waters to sue promoters if the show goes on, Pink Floyd kicks off their A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour in Ottawa, Canada

1988: Elton John holds an auction of his stage costumes in London, England and nets $6.2 million.  Guns N' Roses enjoyed a number one single with "Sweet Child O' Mine" written for Axl Rose's then girlfriend, Erin Everly, the daughter of The Everly Brothers' eldest sibling, Don Everly.

1990: Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks both announce that they'll no longer perform with Fleetwood Mac. A little over two years later, they reunited with the group to sing at President Clinton's inauguration.

1991: Alice Cooper sells copies of his new record, "Hey Stoopid" for 99 cents in New York's Times Square.

1992: Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" was named Best Male Video at the ninth annual MTV Video Music Awards.  Clapton's Unplugged album enters the Billboard chart. The record would go on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year, with sales reaching over 7 million.

1996: Tom Petty's wife of 22 years, Jane, files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

2002: Gordon Lightfoot undergoes an emergency stomach operation in a suburban Toronto hospital; he would eventually recover.  The son of Rocker Rod Stewart was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to undergo drug rehabilitation after pleading no contest to attacking a man outside a Malibu, California restaurant; Sean Stewart, 22, was arrested Dec. 5th, 2001, after he was seen kicking the man in the face and stomach; Stewart was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $5,600 to the victim; he could've faced four years in state prison.

2003: Warren Zevon, singer/songwriter best remembered for his 1978 breakthrough album Excitable Boy, which contained his only hit single, "Werewolves Of London", died of lung cancer on September 7th, at the age of 56.

2007: Hughie Thomasson, guitarist for The Outlaws on their 1975 hit "There Goes Another Love Song" died of a heart attack at the age of 55.  Led Zeppelin announced that they would reform for one night only at London's 18,000-capacity O2 arena; the event is a tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder and chairman Ahmet Ertegun, who died December 14th, 2006, at the age of 83.


Source: ClassicBands.com