5/26 – 5/31 – This Week In Rock

This Week’s Trivia Answer:

The Who and Led Zeppelin play their first and only gig together at in Columbia, Maryland. Zeppelin is the opening act. To make matters worse, the band’s name is spelled “Lead Zeppelin on the tickets. May 25, 1969

BORN THIS WEEK IN ROCK

Bob Dylan – May 24, 1941 (Rock Singer-Songwriter)
Albert Bouchard –  May 24, 1947 (Blue Oyster Cult, Drums, Guitar)
Jessi Colter –  May 25, 1943 (Country Singer-Songwriter)
Mamie Smith –  May 26, 1883 (Blues Singer)
Levon Helm – May 26, 1940 (Drummer, vocalist for The Band)
Sean Kinney – May27, 1966 (Drummer and co-founder of Alice in Chains)
T-Bone Walker – May 28, 1910 (blues singer-songwriter and guitarist)
Papa John Creach – May 28, 1917 (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, violin)
Gladys Knight – May 28, 1944 (Soul singer)
John Fogerty – May 28, 1945 (Creedence Clearwater Revival, guitar)
Irmin Schmidt – May 29, 1937 (Can, Keyboards)
Gary Brooker – May 29, 1945 (Procol Harum, piano)
Ron Levy – May 29, 1951 (Blues pianist)
Nicky “Topper” Headon – May 30, 1955 (The Clash, drums)
Sven Pipien – May 30, 1967 (The Black Crowes bass)
John Bonham – May 31, 1948 (Led Zeppelin, drums)
Tommy Emmanuel – May 31, 1955 (Acoustic Guitarist)

DIED THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY

Elmore James – May 24, 1963 (Blues Singer-Songwriter, Guitar)
Duke Ellington – May 24, 1974 (Jazz Composer & Pianist)
Gene Clark – May 24, 1991 (The Byrds, Vocals)
Sonny Boy Williamson – May 25, 1965 (Blues Singer-Songwriter, Harmonica)
Eric Gale – May 25, 1994 (Jazz Guitarist)
Marshall Lytle – May 25, 2013 (Bassist, Bill Haley And His Comets)
Gregg Allman – May 27, 2017 (Allman Bros)
Doctor Ross – May 28, 1993 (Blues singer/harmonica player
Carl Radle – May 30, 1980 (Derek and the Dominos, bass)
John Kahn – May 30, 1996 (The Jerry Garcia Band, bass)

MUSIC RELEASES AND THE TOP OF THE CHARTS

The Beatles’ “Get Back” goes to #1 on Billboard’s Pop chart: May 24, 1969.

Deep Purple, “Smoke On The Water” releases. May 26, 1973

The Freewheeling’ Bob Dylan is released – May 27, 1963.

“River Deep, Mountain High” by Ike and Tina Turner is Released – May 28, 1966

The Doobie Brothers’ LP Stampede is certified gold – May 28, 1975.

The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” hits #1 – May 29, 1971

Alice Cooper’s LP Welcome To My Nightmare is certified gold – May 30, 1975.

The Eagles, release “One Of These Nights” on May 31, 1975.

Breakfast In America By Supertramp is certified Gold – May 31, 1979

This Week in Rock History

Peter Green plays his final Fleetwood Mac gig at the Bath Festival in Somerset, England. May 24, 1970

The Who and Led Zeppelin play their first and only gig together at in Columbia, Maryland. Zeppelin is the opening act. To make matters worse, the band’s name is spelled “Lead Zeppelin on the tickets. May 25, 1969

John Lennon and Yoko Ono check in to room 1742 in Montreal’s Hotel La Reine for their honeymoon. This is where they begin their second “bed-in” for peace. May 26, 1969

Marianne Faithful records a version of “As Tears Go By” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The recording features Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on the bass, foreshadowing good things to come. May 26, 1964

Known for outlandish things, the rock group KISS provides Marvel Comics with a small vial of their blood. By mixing with the printer’s ink, it’s for their upcoming faux-autobiographical comic. May 26, 1976

Firemen arrive at the burning home of Eric Clapton. They find him running in and out of the home to save his guitar collection. With about three million dollars in damage, the house is completely gutted. May 26, 1996

Bill Graham organizes a Vietnam Veterans benefit concert featuring The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, and Country Joe. May 28, 1982

Bing Crosby records “White Christmas.” May 29, 1942

Herndon Stadium in Atlanta holds one of the first outdoor rock concerts, featuring Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed, and B.B. King. Nine thousand people attend. May 29, 1959

Three dozen audience members who attend the day’s Grateful Dead show at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom are treated for hallucinations after drinking apple juice purposely spiked with LSD (some say by the band themselves). May 29, 1971

KISS play their last concert in their traditional makeup (although, reformed with all original members, they would return to the painted faces in 1996). May 29, 1983

The Beatles begin recording “The White Album”. May 30, 1968

Sadly, Led Zeppelin begins recording what will be their final studio album. While still together, they record “In Through The Out Door”. May 30, 1978

Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and B.B. King gather for a benefit concert to raise money for New Orleans public schools struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Too ill to perform, Katrina survivor Fats Domino attends as a special guest. May 30, 2009

Chuck Berry opens his amusement park “Berry Park” in Missouri – May 31, 1961

During his vocal overdub on the Beatles song “Revolution 1,” John Lennon begins to shout and scream “all right” and other wordless nonsense vocalizations over the long six-minute jam of the original recording, joined by Yoko Ono (attending her first Beatles session). The screaming and conversation between he and Yoko would become an integral part of the eventual track “Revolution 9” May 31, 1968

The Who secures their place as the World’s Loudest Rock Band. With a 120-decibel, 76,000-watt blast of a performance at Charlton Athletic Grounds in London. The record would stand for nearly a decade May 31, 1976.

The Rolling Stones play a sold-out gig at the 100 Club in London, for 400 people. Very lucky people. May 31, 1982

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