BORN THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY:
Alan “Mr. Fabulous” Rubin: February 11, 1943 (trumpet, Blues Brothers)
Ray Manzarek: February 12, 1939 (keyboards and organ, The Doors)
Steve Hackett: February 12, 1950 (guitar, Genesis)
Michael McDonald: February 12, 1952 (vocals & keyboards, The Doobie Brothers)
Brian Robertson: February 12, 1956 (guitar, Thin Lizzy/ Motorhead)
Bill Szymczyk: February 13, 1943 (producer, The Eagles, The Who, B.B. King, Elvin Bishop, etc.)
Peter Gabriel: February 13, 1950 (vocals & flute, Genesis)
Laurence Jones: February 13, 1992 (blues guitarist)
Eric Andersen: February 14, 1943 (Songwriter: Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan)
Vic Briggs: February 14, 1945 (guitar, The Animals)
Roger Fisher: February 14, 1950 (guitar, Heart)
David Brown: February 15, 1950 (bass, Santana)
Gary Clark Jr: February 15, 1984 (blues guitarist)
Billy Joe Armstrong: February 17, 1972 (guitar/singer, Green Day)
DIED THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
Whitney Houston: February 11, 2012 (soul singer)
“Screamin’” Jay Hawkins: February 12, 2000 (R&B singer-songwriter)
Sam Andrew: February 12, 2015 (guitar, Big Brother and the Holding Company)
Waylon Jennings: February 13, 2002 (Country singer-songwriter)
Doug Fieger: February 14, 2010 (guitar/vocals, the Knack)
Nat King Cole: February 15, 1965
Little Walter: February 15, 1968 (Blues harmonica and singer-songwriter)
Mike Bloomfield: February 15, 1981 (guitar, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Electric Flag)
Brownie McGhee: February 16, 1966 (Piedmont blues musician)
Thelonious Monk: February 17, 1982 (Jazz pianist & composer)
MUSIC RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS
Led Zeppelin makes it to #15 on the U.S. charts with the “Black Dog / Misty Mountain Hop” single. This was their third top 20 song in the U.S: February 11, 1972
February 12, 1966 – “19th Nervous Breakdown” by The Rolling Stones is released in the U.S.
February 12, 1973 – Elton John’s Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player is certified Gold
February 13, 1954 – “The Things That I Used To Do” by Guitar Slim hits #1 on the R&B charts
February 13, 1967 – The Beatles release the “Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane” single
February 13, 1969 – The Doors’ “Touch Me” goes Gold
February 13, 1969 – Bob Dylan records versions of “Lay, Lady, Lay”
February 13, 1970 – Black Sabbath release their first album, Black Sabbath
February 14, 1966 – Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence is certified gold
February 14, 1967 – Aretha Franklin records “Respect”
February 15, 1969 – Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People” hits #1
February 15, 1975 – Linda Ronstadt’s album Heart Like a Wheel reaches #1
February 15, 1977 – The Best of George Harrison is certified Gold
February 16, 1963 – The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” soars to the top of the charts becoming their first number one song
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY
February 11, 1963 – In a whirlwind recording session, an up and coming band called The Beatles record 14 tracks. 10 of those songs will be featured on the band’s debut album Please Please Me, and the other 4 were saved for release as singles. The recording occurred at the iconic Abbey Road studios in London, England. How many takes did Lennon need to record his electrifying lead vocals on “Twist & Shout?” One.
February 11, 1964 – The Beatles make their live concert debut in the United States, performing at the Washington Coliseum in Washington D.C. The setlist is filled with megahits and famous songs, including, “Please Please Me,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The atmosphere was frenzied, with crowd noise drowning any possible hopes of understanding anything the band said, and enthusiastic fans pelting the band with their favorite treats, jellybeans, much to the band’s chagrin.
February 11, 1970 – Members of the Allman Brothers Band and Fleetwood Mac appear on stage to jam with The Grateful Dead at The Fillmore East in New York City. You read that correctly. Jerry Garcia, Duane Allman, and Peter Green, all on stage together for an epic rendition of “Turn On Your Lovelight.” If only we had a time machine…
February 11, 1972 – First time David Bowie performs as Ziggy Stardust. Ziggy Stardust is a kind of rock music “total work of art” to borrow a phrase from classical music’s Richard Wagner, in which David Bowie combines recorded music (his album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”), live music, and theatrical and performance art elements. This was a truly revolutionary move in the history of rock and firmly cemented Bowie’s role in that history.
February 12, 1974 – The legendary New York City rock club The Bottom Line opened on this date. Located at 15 West 4th Street between Mercer and Greene in New York City – our old New York University stomping grounds, as it turns out a plethora of famous and important musicians across a variety of genres have played there including, and in no order, Eric Clapton, The Police, Prince, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, birthday boy Peter Gabriel. The club was also a veritable launching pad for a “bossy” young musician who came along by the name of Bruce Springsteen who played some legendary early shows there.
February 13, 1914 – ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, is formed in New York City.
February 13, 1966 – The Ed Sullivan Show features The Rolling Stones, the band’s third appearance on the program. The setlist included the lively “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the haunting Jagger and Richards duet, “As Tears Go By,” and an aggressive version of their newly minted smash song, “19th Nervous Breakdown.”
February 13, 2005 – Led Zeppelin were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards. Because they are the best ever, and if you disagree you can go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve said.
February 14, 1970 – The Who play their standout concert Live at Leeds in England
February 14, 1974 – A joint tour by Bob Dylan and The Band, with the latter serving as Dylan’s backing band – you gotta serve somebody, right? – concluded at the Forum in Los Angeles. The tour consisted of 39 shows in 21 cities. The final show was attended by such renowned figures as Carole King, Neil Young, Jack Nicholson, Ring Starr, and Warren Beatty. Some of the performance is used on the live double album Before the Flood. The setlist is enough to make a Dylan fanatic praise the heavens, full of classics like “She Belongs To Me,” “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” and, of course, “Blowin’ In the Wind.”
February 15, 1969 – Rolling Stone‘s front cover features an article on “groupies” – introducing a new term to the popular lexicon.
February 17, 1969 – Speaking of Bob Dylan, on this date he recorded “Girl From the North Country” at CBS Studios in Nashville with Mr. Johnny Cash (no word on whether Cash greeted Dylan by saying, “Hello I’m Johnny Cash, but we like to think so). The track made it onto the classic Dylan album Nashville Skyline.
February 17, 1972 Pink Floyd perform “Eclipse” at the Rainbow Theatre in London. A year later, this music becomes the Dark Side Of The Moon album.
February 17, 1973 – The band Free play their last live show in Hollywood, Florida before Paul Rogers and Simon Kirke form Bad Company.
And that’s all we got for you this week. So long, till next time rock fans!