April 27th – May 3rd – This Week in Rock – History
This Week’s Trivia Answer – April 27th – May 3rd
5/1/1979 – Elton John performs in Israel, making him the first Western artist to do so.
April 27th – May 3rd – Born This Week in Rock
4/27/1951 – Ace Frehley (guitar, KISS)
4/29/1922 – Toots Thielemans (jazz harmonica player)
4/29/1933 – Willie Nelson
4/29/1934 – Otis Rush (blues guitarist)
4/30/1896 – Rev. Gary Davis
5/01/1930 – Little Walter
5/02/1950 – Lou Gramm (foreigner, Lead Vocals)
5/03/1919 – Pete Seeger
5/03/ 1933 – James Brown
Died This Week in Rock History:
4/28/1934 – Charley Patton (blues vocalist & guitarist)
4/29/1993 – Mick Ronson (guitarist, David Bowie)
4/29/2008 – Micky Waller (rock drummer, Jeff Beck)
4/30/1983 – Muddy Waters (Father of Chicago Blues, Songwriter, Performer)
5/01/2017 – Bruce Hampton – (Guitarist & Jazz Fusion bandleader)
5/02/2017 – Kevin Garcia – (Bass player with Grandaddy)
5/02/2013 – Jeff Hanneman Guitarist / founding member of Slayer)
Music Releases and Top of the Charts:
4/27/1968 – Simon and Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson” is released
4/30/1966 – The Young Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” hits #1 – the song would later be a Grateful Dead concert staple
4/30/1966 – Aftermath by The Rolling Stones hits #1 in the U.K.
4/30/1977 – The Steve Miller Band, “Jet Airliner” is released.
5/01/1956 – Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” hits #1
5/01/1972 – The Rolling Stones, “Brown Sugar” is released.
5/01/1976 – Led Zeppelin’s Presence – an underrated album according to blues titan Joe Bonamassa – tops the charts.
5/02/1963 – The Beatles’ “From Me To You” reaches #1 in the U.K., their first single to do so.
5/02/1977 – Eric Clapton, “Wonderful Tonight” is released.
This Week in Rock History:
511 audience members are in custody in Los Angeles for smoking marijuana during Pink Floyd’s five nights in L.A. This happens on 4/27/1975.
4/28/1963 – London hustler and PR man Andrew Loog Oldham gets his first glimpse of the Rolling Stones onstage at the Crawdaddy Club; the very next day, he becomes their manager.
4/28/1968 – Hair, the hit Broadway rock musical about the hippie movement, opens in New York City at the Biltmore Theatre. Included in the show are famous songs such as “Good Morning Starshine,” “Aquarius,” “Let The Sunshine In,” and “Easy To Be Hard,” which have all been recorded by other pop or rock artists as well. The show ran for 1,729 performances and closed in the summer of 1972.
4/28/1982 – Certain “experts” gave testimony to the California State Assembly Consumer Protection Committee that when Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” is played backward, you can hear the following words: “I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there’s no escaping it.
Here’s to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan.” Since this is very obviously 100% true, “Stairway To Heaven” should be avoided at all costs. No, we’re kidding, always listen to “Stairway,” we love it and it’s the best.
Elvis Records Jailhouse Rock
4/30/1957 – Elvis Presley records the song “Jailhouse Rock” which would be the first song ever to debut at #1 on the UK charts.
4/30/1970 – Allman Brothers tour manager Twiggs Lyndon is arrested for stabbing a club manager to death over a contract dispute. Incredibly, Lyndon gets off by pleading temporary insanity caused by being the tour manager for the Allman Brothers.
4/30/1976 – The Who’s Keith Moon pays $100 to nine different New York cabdrivers to block off a full city block, allowing the drummer to throw all his furniture through the hotel room window and onto the street. Hey, a fare’s a fare!
Led Zeppelin breaks the single-act attendance record for a concert when 76,229 fans pay to see them on at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI. On April 30, 1977. This in turn breaks the previous record set by the Who, also at the Silverdome.
4/30/1980 – The film “McVicar” receives its premiere in London. McVicar is played by Roger Daltrey of The Who.
4/30/1988 – For the first time since its release, Pink Floyd’s landmark LP Dark Side Of The Moon leaves the Billboard charts, only to return a few months later.
4/30/1991 – Geffen’s DGC label signs a band called Nirvana to a $290,000 contract.
5/01/1955 – Chuck Berry, a St. Louis guitarist is signed to Chess Records in Chicago after blues-man Muddy Waters recommends him to the label.
Bob Dylan on The Johnny Cash Show!
5/01/1969 – Bob Dylan guest stars on ABC-TV’s The Johnny Cash Show, featuring the two icons collaborating on three Dylan songs: “I Threw It All Away,” “Living The Blues,” and “Girl From The North Country.”
The Rolling Stones announce their upcoming tour by performing “Brown Sugar” on the back of a flatbed truck. Furthermore, they perform “Brown Sugar” while driving down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.” On 5/01/1975.
5/1/1979 – Elton John performs in Israel, making him the first Western artist to do so.
5/01/1999 – An exhibition of Paul McCartney’s art, called The Paintings of Paul McCartney, began at the Lyz Art Forum in Siegen, Germany. The exhibit contained 70 McCartney paintings, including one titled “Bowie Spewing” which depicted a young David Bowie, um, spewing.
5/02/1969 – Pink Floyd records a live show at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce in England. Later its released as the live album, Ummagumma.
5/02/1972 – An aspiring rock musician named Bruce Springsteen auditions for a CBS Records A&R man, John Hammond, in Hammond’s office in New York. Excited by the short set, he arranges another audition in New York at the Gaslight Club for other executives of Columbia to attend. Anyway, Bruce gets the job and is “The Boss.”
Nirvana Records Nevermind
5/02/1991 – Nirvana begins recording what would become a slightly successful album, 1991’s Nevermind.
5/02/2005 – After 36 years, Cream reunites at London’s Royal Albert Hall for a four-night stint.
5/02/2007 – In Wroclaw, Poland,1,876 guitarists gather to set a new Guinness World Record by performing “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix.
5/02/2006 – A New Zealand hospital releases Keith Richards after he gets a concussion by falling out of a coconut tree.
5/03/1968 – Jimi Hendrix records an awesome song that he calls “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
5/03/1971 – Led Zeppelin begins their European tour in Copenhagen, playing to 4,000 fans. Also, the reason the show is special because it’s the only performance of “Four Sticks.” As well as, the live debut of “Misty Mountain Hop.”
Paul McCartney opens his first tour with his new band as the Wings Over America tour begins in Ft. Worth, TX on May 3, 1976.
5/03/2006 – XM Satellite Radio aired the first Bob Dylan radio show. On the show, the impressive DJ played tracks by Prince, Wilco, L.L. Cool J, and Blur, among others.
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