September 9 – September 15 – This Week in Rock!
THE ANSWER TO THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Bob Dylan becomes the oldest person to top Billboard’s Albums chart at 65-years-old – September 16, 2006.
BORN THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Otis Redding September 9, 1941 (singer-songwriter, R&B)
Bruce Palmer September 9, 1946 (bass, Buffalo Springfield)
John McFee September 9, 1950 (guitar, The Doobie Brothers)
Michael Bublé September 9, 1975 (jazz vocalist)
Joe Perry September 10, 1950 (guitarist, Aerosmith)
Danny Hutton September 10, 1942 (vocals, Three Dog Night)
Pat Mastelotto September 10, 1955 (drums, King Crimson)
John Martyn September 11, 1948 (singer-songwriter)
Tommy Shaw September 11, 1953 (vocals and guitar, Styx)
Victor Wooten September 11, 1964 (funk bassist)
Harry Connick Jr September 11, 1967 (jazz vocalist)
Mickey Hart September 11, 1943 (drums, Grateful Dead)
Barry White September 12, 1944 (singer-songwriter, R&B)
Neil Peart September 12, 1952 (drums, Rush)
Lewie Steinberg September 13, 1933 (bass, Booker T. and the MGs)
Peter Cetera September 13, 1944 (bass, Chicago)
Craig MacGregor September 13, 1949 (bass, Foghat)
Shawn Amos September 13, 1967 (blues musician)
Steve Gaines September 14, 1949 (guitar, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Paul Kossoff September 14, 1950 (guitar, Free)
Amy Winehouse September 14, 1983
DIED THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Ernie Ball – September 9, 2004 (music entrepreneur)
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – September 10, 2005 (blues musician)
Peter Tosh – September 11, 1987 – (guitar and keyboard, Bob Marley and the Wailers)
Johnny Cash – September 12, 2003 – (singer-songwriter)
Tupac Shakur – September 13, 1996
Grant Hart – September 13, 2017 (drummer, Husker Du)
Rick Wright – September 15, 2008 (keyboards, Pink Floyd)
Johnny Ramone – September 15, 2004 (guitar, Ramones)
MUSIC RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS
Sam and Dave, “Soul Man” is released – September 9, 1967
John Lennon, Imagine is released – September 9, 1971
The Eagles, “Witchy Woman” is released – September 9, 1972
The Who’s LP “Who Are You” enters the charts – September 9, 1978
Beatles’ Revolver hits #1 – September 10, 1966
Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” is certified gold – September 10, 1975
Bob Dylan, Hard Rain is released – September 10, 1976
Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is released – September 10, 1991
The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” is certified gold – September 11, 1967
Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were” Here is released – September 12, 1975
Santana’s LP Santana hits #1 – September 13, 1969
Bruce Springsteen’s LP Born To Run enters the charts – September 13, 1975
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
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Elvis makes his Ed Sullivan Show debut, playing his songs “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Love Me Tender”, and “Ready Teddy” – September 9, 1956.
Rod Stewart records his very first single, which is a cover of the Willie Dixon-penned tune “Good Morning Little School Girl”. The cut featured future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on bass –
September 10, 1964.
The BBC bans the song “Star Star” by The Rolling Stones. The song used a dirty phrase in the chorus. 12 times. – September 10, 1973.
The band the New York Dolls break up – September 10, 1974.
Bing Crosby invites David Bowie to make a very special appearance on his annual Christmas TV special. He suggested that the pair sing a duet. Bowie agreed, and the two wound up filming an incredible rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” mashed up with Bowie’s original composition “Peace on Earth” – September 10, 1977.
B.B. King plays at Cook County Jail where his famous recording is released a year later – September 10, 1970
The Who play their first concert without Keith Moon, who died the previous year. To fill in, the band gets ex-Faces drummer Kenny Jones. He eventually becomes Moon’s permanent replacement –
September 11, 1979
The Beatles’ Help hits #1: September 11, 1965
The practice of “Payola” is banned by the FCC. The controversial Payola practice involved the act of paying DJ’s to play specific songs. This became a huge scandal involving such well-respected DJ’s as Dick Clark and Alan Freed – September 13, 1960.
Rolling Stone magazine reports that Pete Townshend of The Who is working on something called a “rock opera”, which is pretty much what it sounds like – a musical utilizing rock music rather than classical or traditional standard pop music. The topic of the rock opera was to be a boy who was dead, dumb and blind but who excelled at the game of Pinball. This, of course, would turn into the legendary album and show Tommy – September 14, 1968
Jim Morrison, he is supposed 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 when 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
Bob Dylan becomes the oldest person to top Billboard’s Albums chart at 65-years-old – September 16, 2006
That’s all for This Week in Rock History! Be sure to check back next week for the latest Rock history tidbits!