September 14 – 20th-This Week in Rock
Answer to this Week’s Trivia Question:
Great jazz guitarist George Benson receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. September 19, 1996
September 14 – 20th-BORN THIS WEEK
Steve Gaines September 14, 1949 (guitar, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Paul Kossoff September 14, 1950 (guitar, Free)
Amy Winehouse September 14, 1983 (English singer and songwriter)
Snooky Pryor – 9/15/1921 (American Chicago blues harmonica player)
B.B. King – September 16, 1925 (American singer-songwriter, guitarist, & record producer)
Kenney Jones – September 16, 1948 (drums, Small Faces)
Ean Evans – September 16, 1960 (bass, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Hank Williams – September 17, 1923 (country singer-songwriter)
Happy Birthday Kerry Livgren!
Kerry Livgren – September 18, 1949 (guitar, Kansas)
AJ Ghent – September 18, 1986 (blues slide player)
Brian Epstein – September 19, 1934 (Manager, The Beatles)
Cass Elliot – September 19, 1941 (singer, The Mamas, and the Papas)
Lol Crème – September 19, 1947 (multi-instrumentalist/10cc)
Stanley Sheldon – September 19, 1950 (bass, Peter Frampton)
Nile Rodgers – September 19, 1952 (Guitar, Chic)
John Panozzo – September 20, 1948 (drummer, Styx)
Chuck Panozzo – September 20, 1948 (bass, Styx)
September 14 – 20th-DIED THIS WEEK
Rick Wright – September 15, 2008 (keyboards, Pink Floyd)
Johnny Ramone – September 15, 2004 (guitar, Ramones)
Jimi Hendrix – September 18, 1970 (greatest guitarist ever)
Jimmy Witherspoon – September 18, 1997 (jump blues singer)
Jim Croce – September 20, 1973 (singer-songwriter)
MUSIC RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS
Big Brother and the Holding Company’s LP Cheap Thrills enters the charts – September 14, 1968
Eric Clapton’s “I Shot The Sheriff” hits #1 – September 14, 1974
Boston, “More Than A Feeling” releases – September 18, 1976
“Play That Funky Music” hits the Billboard pop charts September 18, 1976
The Doors’ LP Greatest Hits is certified platinum – September 18, 1981
The unofficial biker anthem “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf is certified Gold – September 19, 1968
CCR gets UK # 1 single with “Bad Moon Rising” – September 19, 1969
Diana Ross’ “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” hits #1 – September 19, 1970
David Bowie’s “Fame” hits #1 – September 20, 1975
The Who’s LP Who Are You is certified gold – September 20, 1978
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Rolling Stone magazine reports that Pete Townshend of The Who is working a “rock opera”, which is pretty much what it sounds like. Furthermore, the story is about a boy who is deaf, dumb, and blind but excels at the game of pinball. Furthermore, it turns into the legendary album and Broadway show “Tommy”. September 14, 1968
Jim Morrison, is waiting to perform with The Doors. Later that night, he collapses on stage during the opening band’s set, that happens to be Jefferson Airplane. Meanwhile, Morrison has been binge drinking and smoking hashish for days before he collapses. The Doors go onstage as a trio – September 15, 1968
Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997,” rewritten and re-recorded with new lyrics paying tribute to the recently deceased Princess Di, sells a record 600,000 copies in one day in Britain alone. It goes on to become the biggest-selling single of all time – September 15, 1997
Dylan Oldest Person To Top Billboard!
Bob Dylan becomes the oldest person to top Billboard’s Albums chart at 65-years-old – September 16, 2006
The Doors appear on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. Not wanting to offend their viewers, the network asks The Doors to change one of their lyrics from “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” to something more sanitary in their hit song “Light My Fire”. Jim Morrison agrees to the lyric change. He goes and sings the original offending line anyway. Which bans them from the show for life – September 17, 1967
The Who perform “My Generation” on the CBS-TV show the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Ever the prankster, Keith Moon enlists a stagehand to help him rig his drum kit to explode at the end of the performance. The stagehand is a little overzealous in the amount of fireworks that he decides to use. The resulting explosion injured Keith Moon’s leg and caused Pete Townshend to suffer permanent hearing loss. It’s all fun and games ‘til someone loses an ear, Keith – September 17, 1967
Pink Floyd Brings Rock To Switzerland!
Switzerland’s Montreux music festival starts out as only classical music concerts. Until its “crashed” by a rock band Pink Floyd. September 18, 1971
10 years after their singer Jim Morrison’s death, the Door’s greatest hits album finally reaches platinum status. September 18, 1981.
KISS appears for the first time ever publicly without their iconic makeup. The occasion was a promotional event on MTV for KISS’ new album Lick It Up: September 18, 1983
Frank Zappa, John Denver, and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testify at a Senate hearing. Where the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) argue for a ratings system on music. Testifying that it’s censorship, the PMRC wins a victory. Warning labels are now on albums containing explicit lyrics.
Great jazz guitarist George Benson receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. September 19, 1996
The Roxy club in Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip opens. The inaugural act is Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Hey hey, my my, the Roxy club will never die. September 20, 1973
The first ARMS (Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis) concert is happens in London. The show is a benefit for former Faces guitarist Ronnie Lane, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. The impressive lineup includes Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts, John Paul Jones. September 20, 1983
Furthermore, be sure, to check out the other blog posts: https://jbonamassa.com/category/blog