Musician Birthdays: Robin Trower (guitarist of Procol Harum, famous for hit, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. Born in 1945)

– In 1964: The Beatles filmed the last day of train scenes for the movie A Hard Days Night. During their six days of filming aboard a moving train, The Beatles traveled a total of 2,500 miles on the rails.

– In 1964: Capitol Records releases a song called ‘Letter To The Beatles’ by The Four Preps. The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he’s lost his girlfriend to The Fab Four. On its first day, the record shot to No.85 on the charts and it looked like The Preps were going to have another hit on their hands. Unfortunately they had included a few bars from ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ without permission and Capitol was forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit.

– In 1967: Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at the Marquee, London, England. The Marquee club has often been defined as ‘the most important venue in the history of pop music’, not only for having been the scene of the development of modern music culture in London, but also for having been an essential meeting point for some of the most important artists in rock music.

– In 1968: Bob Dylan started a ten week run at No.1 on the UK chart with John Wesley Harding. The album marked Dylan’s return to acoustic music after three albums of electric rock music and was exceptionally well received by critics, also reaching No.2 on the US charts. The commercial performance was considered remarkable, considering that Dylan had made Columbia Records release the album without much publicity.

– In 1970: Having recently changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward made their concert debut at The Roundhouse, London.

– In 1971: Led Zeppelin appeared at Leeds University, Leeds, England, during their ‘Back To The Clubs’ tour. This was the first tour which saw Zeppelin performing ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Going To California.’

– In 1977: The Jacksons CBS show was aired for the last time on US TV finishing at the bottom of the ratings.

– In 1981: Robert Plant played a secret gig at Keele University, England with his new band The Honey Drippers.

– In 1985: Mick Jagger released his solo single ‘Just Another Night’ a No. 12 hit in the US and No. 32 on the UK charts.

– In 1985: REO Speedwagon started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’, it made No.16 in the UK.

– In 1991: Mariah Carey started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Someday’, her third US No.1 & No.38 hit in the UK.

– In 1991: ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ gave The Clash their only UK No.1 single after the track was used for a Levi’s TV advertisement. The track was first released in 1982 from their album Combat Rock album.

– In 1996: Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher walked off stage during a gig at the Vernon Valley Gorge ski resort in New Jersey because his hands were too cold to play.

– In 1997: Notorious BIG was gunned down and killed as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Born Christopher Wallace the rapper was pronounced dead on arrival at Cedars Sinai Hospital. He was 24 years old.

– In 2004: Tom Jones was banned from wearing tight leather pants by his own son and manager Mark Jones. His son said it was time to ‘dress his age’ as he was in danger of becoming a laughing stock at 63.

– In 2010: Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex after pleading guilty to gun possession. The charges were linked to his arrest in 2007 when a gun was found on his tour bus. His sentencing came after several delays; the first date was postponed to allow the rapper to have dental work and the second had to be rearranged after a fire broke out in the New York court complex.

I see everyone in facebook using this new music software called, “Spotify” for Facebook Timeline. I finally installed it earlier tonight. It’s actually pretty cool software. Sound quality is good too, and the site is safe to use with no virus’s/spyware. I like it.

It’s nice software ’cause you get to see what other peoples taste in music is like. Which is why I signed up for it. So people can get an idea of what I like to listen to. I guess that’s what the site is for and why they call it “Spotify”.

I had to get the Timeline in order for people to see it. Pretty cool. I’ll listen to tunes through that while browsing the net.

Kev

I talk about Joe Satriani a lot in this blog. Some of you may ask, how does he inspire me? Well for one, this guy makes me want to play better. Everyone sees him as a virtuoso and shredder type of player, he is, but he is way more than that. The guy is also a songwriter when he plays guitar.

No matter what Satch does in his career, “Surfing With the Alien” will always be the best thing he has done. That album means so much to me for a lot of reasons and that album helped me get motivated to play guitar in the beginning. Nothing will top “Surfing With the Alien”. It’s such an incredible album, I’ll never get tired of listening to it. I’ve always believed that if you’re a guitar player and if you haven’t heard that album yet, you’re not a true guitar player. Every guitar player should have listened to that album at some point.

I do buy Satch’s other albums and I buy his stuff with Chickenfoot, but like I said before, nothing will top, “Alien”. Satch’s other solo albums are pretty good, but he too has been staying away from the hard rock/shred instrumental that he’s known for. He’s been making a lot of electronica music lately. I haven’t been buying his newer albums lately though. His change of direction doesn’t interest me. I want him to go back to the Satch that we knew him before.

Honestly though, I don’t think he’ll ever make a good album as good as “Alien”, ever again though, even if “Crystal Planet” came pretty close to it.

Satch is great. He makes everyone want to play guitar. I had the opportunity to see him in concert one year and I’ll never forget that show. It was a blast seeing him. That “Alien” album is part of what made me want to become a musician and hopefully someday play like him.

Kev

Musician Birthdays: Mickey Dolenz (singer of the Monkees, famous for hits “I’m a Believer”, “Last Train to Clarksville”, etc. Born in 1945)

– In 1962: The Beatles made their radio debut on the BBC’s ‘Teenagers Turn’, (Here We Go), singing Roy Orbison’s ‘Dream Baby’. It was reportedly the first time they wore suits onstage.

– In 1965: David Bowie made his TV debut with The Manish Boys on a UK program called ‘Gadzooks! It’s All Happening’ when they performed their current single ‘I Pity The Fool.’

– In 1965: Bob Dylan’s single ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ was released in the US. The lead track from his Bringing It All Back Home album, gave Dylan his first top 40 hit on the Billboard chart when it peaked #39. Subterranean Homesick Blues is also noted for its innovative film clip, in what became one of the first ‘modern’ promotional film clips, the forerunner of what later became known as the music video. The clip was shot in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London, the cue cards which Dylan holds were written by Donovan, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Neuwirth and Dylan himself. While staring at the camera, he flips the cards as the song plays. There are intentional misspellings and puns throughout the clip.

– In 1966: Bob Dylan recorded ‘Just Like A Woman’ for his ‘Blonde On Blonde’ album at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

– In 1968: Albert King, Janis Joplin and Tim Buckley appeared at New York’s Filmore East, New York.

– In 1969: The Small Faces split up after singer Steve Marriott announced he was leaving the band. Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones linked up with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart and formed The Faces.

– In 1973: Ron Mckernan, keyboard player with The Grateful Dead, died aged 27 from liver failure brought on by alcohol poisoning.

– In 1973: Paul McCartney was fined £100 ($170) for growing cannabis at his farm in Campbeltown, Scotland. McCartney claimed some fans gave the seeds to him and that he didn’t know what they would grow.

– In 1975: Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Have You Ever Been Mellow’, the singers second US No.1.

– In 1986: Whitney Houston went to No.1 on the US album chart with her self-titled album. It spent a total of 14 weeks at the No.1 position.

– In 1990: Cher won the worst dressed female, and worst video for ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, in The Rolling Stone Magazine’s awards, Donny Osmond won the most unwelcome comeback award.

– In 2003: Former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler was injured when the Honda motorbike he was riding was involved in a collision with a Fiat Punto car. The 53-year-old singer and guitarist suffered a broken collar bone and six broken ribs in the accident which happened in London’s smart Belgravia district in mid-morning traffic.

– In 2009: A blue plaque in honour of The Who drummer Keith Moon was unveiled on the site of the Marquee Club in Soho, London, where in 1964 the band played the first of 29 gigs there. Fans on scooters turned up to pay tribute to Moon, who was 32 when he died of an accidental overdose in 1978. The blue plaque, which means the site is of historic importance, was awarded by the Heritage Foundation.

– In 1962: The Beatles recorded their first radio appearance, at the Playhouse Theatre, Hulme, Manchester, for the BBC radio program Teenager’s Turn – Here We Go’. After a rehearsal, the Beatles put on suits for the first time and, along with the other artists appearing on the program, record the show in front of a teenage audience.

– In 1965: During a Rolling Stones gig at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, England a female fan fell from the circle while the group were playing. The crowd below broke her fall and the girl escaped serious injury just breaking a few teeth.

– In 1966: Brian Wilson released ‘Caroline No’ the first solo single by a Beach Boy. Before it evolved into the final song we know today, the song was originally written as ‘Carol I Know’.

– In 1967: Working on their next album The Beatles recorded additional overdubs for ‘Lovely Rita’, including harmony vocals, effects, and the percussive sound of a piece of toilet paper being blown through a haircomb.

– In 1969: Led Zeppelin appeared at the Bluesville 69 Club at the Hornsey Wood Tavern, Finsbury Park, London, England. The venue was a function room at the back of the pub, and was so small that the stage was only just big enough for John Bonham’s drums, and the rest of the group had to stand on the floor at the same level as the crowd.

– In 1970: Simon and Garfunkels album ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ started a ten week run at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split-up by the time of release.

– In 1973: During a showcase gig at Max’s Kansas City, New York, CBS records boss John Hammond suffered a heart attack. The event was to mark the signing of his new act Bruce Springsteen.

– In 1976: Elton John was immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds in London. The first rock star to be so since The Beatles.

– In 1987: The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, ‘Licensed To Ill.’

Musician Birthdays: David Gilmour (guitarist, singer of Pink Floyd and he also has a solo career, born in 1944)

– In 1965: The Temptations went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Smokey Robinson penned song ‘My Girl’, making the group the first male act to have a No.1 for Motown, The single only reached No.43 in the UK but made No.2 when re-issued.

– In 1966:  The Rolling Stones started recording sessions for their tenth UK single ‘Paint It Black’ at RCA studios in Hollywood.

– In 1967: The Beatles recorded sound effects onto the song ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ at Abbey Road studios in London. The beginning audience murmurs and sounds of a band preparing for a performance are added, along with screams from a tape of the Beatles in concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

– In 1970: Charles Manson released an album called ‘Lie’ to help raise money for his defense in the Tate-LeBianca murder trial. The album jacket was made to look like a cover of Life magazine with the letter f removed from the word Life. In the mid sixties, Manson had been a wanna-be musician who befriended Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson, eventually talking the group into recording one of his songs, ‘Cease To Exist’. The title was changed to ‘Never Learn Not To Love’ and was released as the B side of the single ‘Bluebirds Over The Mountain’, which eventually climbed to number 61 in the US in early 1969.

– In 1971: Led Zeppelin appeared at the National Boxing Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, the group’s first show in Dublin, where they played ‘Stairway To Heaven’ live for only the second time.

– In 1998: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher appeared handcuffed in a Brisbane court on charges of head butting a fan during a gig in Australia. Gallagher was released on bail.

– In 2004: David Crosby was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana after leaving his bag in a New York hotel. The luggage was found by a hotel employee looking for identification, finding instead a handgun and marijuana. The employee called authorities, and Crosby, discovering the missing luggage himself, telephoned to say he would return for it. He was met by New York police, who arrested him.

– In 2009: Michael Jackson was mobbed by screaming fans as he took his two youngest children to see Oliver! at Drury Lane. The youngest two of Jackson’s three children – seven-year-old Prince Michael II (known as Blanket) and 11-year-old Paris, hid their faces as they were escorted through the crowd. Jackson was in London, England to announce his series of summer concerts at the O2. Jackson died three weeks before the shows were to start.

Musician Birthdays: Andy Gibb (one of the singers of the Bee Gees, famous for the hit, “Staying Alive”, born in 1958), John Frusciante (former guitarist of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, famous for hits, “Under the Bridge”, “Give It Away”, “Californiacation”, etc. Born in 1970)

– In 1955: Elvis Presley made his TV debut when he appeared on the weekend show ‘Louisiana Hayride’ on KWKH TV, broadcast from Shreveport Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

– In 1963: Country singers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. They were traveling to Nashville after appearing at a benefit concert for the widow of Kansas City disc jockey ‘Cactus’ Jack Call, who had died in a car crash. On 7 March, country singer Jack Anglin was killed in a car crash on his way to Cline’s funeral. Cline was the first country singer to cross over as a pop artist.

– In 1963: The Beatles recorded what would be their third single ‘From Me to You’ just five days after John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song. Originally planned as the B-side of the record, it was switched to the A-side during the recording session, with ‘Thank You Girl’ demoted to the B-side.

– In 1971: Led Zeppelin started a 12-date ‘Thank You’ tour for British fans, appearing at the clubs from their early days and charging the same admission prices as in 1968. The first show was at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland where they played songs from their upcoming fourth album, including the first public performances of ‘Black Dog’, ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘Going To California’ and ‘Rock And Roll’.

– In 1973: The former US manager of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jeffrey was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France. Jeffery was en-route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.

– In 1982: Actor and singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Belushi was one of the original cast members on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, played Joliet ‘Jake’ Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House. His tombstone reads “I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on.”

– In 1983: Michael Jackson started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Billie Jean’, his fourth solo US No.1, also No.1 in the UK. And on this day Jacksons album ‘Thriller’ went to No.1 for the first time on the UK album chart, it went on to become the biggest selling album of all time with sales over 50 million.

– In 1992: R.E.M. cleaned up in The Rolling Stone Music Awards winning Album of the year, for ‘Out Of Time’, Artist of the year, Best single for ‘Losing My Religion’, Best video for ‘Losing My Religion’ and Best band, Best guitarist and Best songwriter awards.

– In 1999: Sir Elton John won a court case against The Daily Star, after they had published long-lens photographs of Spice Girl Victoria Adams and footballer David Beckham while they were staying at Elton’s home.

– In 2000: Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with her version of the Don McLean 1972 hit ‘American Pie’. It was her 50th UK hit and the singers ninth UK No.1 and taken from the soundtrack to the 2000 film The Next Best Thing.

– In 2002: The first episode of ‘The Osbournes’ TV show was aired on MTV in the US. Focusing on the madman and his family (his wife Sharon, and two of their three children). Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.

– In 2007: Records by the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon were chosen for preservation by the US Library of Congress. The Stones’ Satisfaction and Paul Simon’s Graceland album entered the National Recordings Registry, which preserves historic works for future generations. Other recordings chosen this year included Carl Perkins’ Blue Suede Shoes, Be My Baby by The Ronettes, A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke and the eponymous album The Velvet Underground and Nico.