March 29th – April 4th – This Week in Rock
BORN THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
3/29/1947 – Bobby Kimball (vocals, Toto)
3/29/1949 – Michael Brecker (jazz saxophone)
3/29/1959 – Perry Farrell (vocals, Jane’s Addiction)
4/1/1945 – John Barbata (Drums, Jefferson Airplane & Jefferson Starship)
4/2/1939 – Marvin Gaye (R&B and Soul Singer-Songwriter)
4/2/1952 – Leon Wilkerson (bass, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
4/3/1943 – Richard Manuel (Lead Vocals & Piano, The Band)
4/4/1913 – Muddy Waters (Blues Singer-Songwriter & Guitarist)
4/4/1932 – Clive Davis (Record Mogul, Arista Records)
4/4/1948 – Berry Oakley (Bass, The Allman Brothers Band)
4/4/1948 – Pick Withers (Drums, Dire Straits)
4/4/1952 – Gary Moore (Guitar, Thin Lizzy & Skid Row)
DIED THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
3/29/1999 – Joe Williams (Jazz Singer)
3/29/2001 – John Lewis (The Modern Jazz Quartet)
3/30/2013 – Phil Ramone (Music Producer – Billy Joel)
3/30/2008 – Sean Levert (Levert)
3/31/1993 – Mitchell Parish (Songwriter – Deep Purple, Stardust)
3/31/1986 – O’Kelly Isley (The Isley Brothers)
4/1/2004 – Paul Atkinson (Guitarist for The Zombies)
4/1/1917 – Scott Joplin (Ragtime Pianist & Composer)
4/1/1984 – Marvin Gaye (R&B and Soul Singer-Songwriter)
4/2/2003 – Edwin Starr (Soul singer)
4/2/1996 – Guitar Gabriel (Blues musician)
4/3/1990 – Sarah Vaughan (Jazz Vocalist)
MUSIC RECORDINGS, RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS:
3/29/1969 – Blood, Sweat, and Tears’s self-titled LP hits #1
3/29/1975 – Jeff Beck releases his most successful US album, Blow By Blow3/30/1971 – Jimi Hendrix’s The Cry of Love goes gold, posthumously.
3/30/1987 – Prince releases his ninth studio album.
3/31/1958 – Chuck Berry releases “Johnny B. Goode”
3/31/1992 – Bruce Springsteen releases Human Touch and Lucky Town on the same day.
4/1/1966 – David Bowie releases the flop “Do Anything You Say.”
4/1/2008 – The Rolling Stones release the Shine A Light soundtrack
4/2/1971 – Janis Joplin’s Pearl hits #1
4/2/1977 – Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours hits #1 and spends 31 non-consecutive weeks there.
4/2/1956 – Johnny Cash records “I Walk the Line.”
4/3/1967 – The Beatles record one of our favorite album tracks, “Within You Without You.”
4/3/2001 – Bruce Springsteen releases Live In New York City
4/4/1964 – The Beatles hold the top five spots on the Billboard singles chart:
1. Can’t Buy Me Love
2. Twist and Shout
3. She Loves You
4. I Want To Hold Your Hand
5. Please Please Me.
What’s more, the kind of popular band had nine other singles scattered around the Hot 100. Earlier in the month, The Beatles had had a similar showing on the Canadian and Australian charts. Beatlemania in full effect!
4/4/1970 – Deja Vu, the first Crosby, Stills, and Nash album to include a certain Mr. Neil Young, tops the Billboard charts.
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY:
3/29/1975 – Led Zeppelin becomes the first band in history to have six albums on the Billboard chart simultaneously: Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin IV, House of the Holy, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin III.
3/29/1980 – Brian Johnson becomes the new lead singer of AC/DC after the tragic loss of Bon Scott.
3/29/1980 – Dark Side of the Moon is on the US charts for the 303rd week.
4/1/1969 – A group of sessions musicians at FAME studios in Alabama open the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios not far away.
4/1/1985 – David Lee Roth official leaves Van Halen to start a solo career.
On April 1, 1970, John Lennon & Yoko Ono played an April Fool’s joke announcing to the press that they would both be undergoing sex-change operations.
On April 2, 1990, Nirvana began working on demo versions of some early tunes including “Dive”, “Pay to Play”, and “Sappy”. They also sketched out some songs that would ultimately end up on their smash blockbuster album Nevermind including “In Bloom”, “Lithium”, and “Polly”. The demos were produced by Butch Vig, who also produced the actual Nevermind album.
On April 3, 2007, Keith Richards denied ever having snorted his own father’s ashes, despite claiming that he did indeed do so on a prior occasion.
On April 4, 1968, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Al Khoper, Buddy Guy, Ted Nugent, and Joni Mitchell played an all-night tribute jam in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was tragically assassinated earlier that day.
On April 4, 1996, the late Jerry Garcia’s ashes are scattered at the Ganges River by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Garcia’s widow, Deborah.
And that’s your week in rock history!