On This Day In Music 3rd June
1926 Irwin Allen Ginsberg born in in Newark, New Jersey, A leading figure in the Beat Generation, he first met Bob Dylan in 1963 and they remained life long friends. In 1971 Ginsberg and Dylan collaborated on a series of poetry readings set to music. Allen Ginsberg is one of the figures in the background for the iconic film promo of Bob Dylan card flipping the lyrics of Subterranean Homesick Blues. Ginsberg died of liver cancer on April 5th 1997 aged 70.
1939 Ian Hunter born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. British singer-songwriter who is best known as the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople, from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974,. (1972 UK No.3 single ‘All The Young Dudes’), solo 1975 UK No.14 single ‘Once Bitten twice Shy’. One half of Hunter Ronson with Mick Ronson. Wrote the book ‘Diary Of A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’).
1942 Curtis Mayfield born in Chicago, Illinois , US singer, songwriter, died 26/12/99, The Impressions, (1965 US No.7 single ‘Lilies Of The Field’). Solo, (1971 UK No.12 single ‘Move On Up’, 1972 US No.4 single ‘Freddie’s Dead, Theme From Superfly’).
1943 Michael Clarke born in San Francisco, California. Drummer, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds, (1965 US & UK No.1 single ‘Mr Tambourine Man’). Clarke died of liver failure on December 19th 1993.
1946 John Paul Jones (John Baldwin) born in Kent, England. Bass Guitarist with Led Zeppelin. He played on Hurdy Gurdy Man – Donovan, there’s A Kind Of Hush – Herman’s Hermits & To Sir With Love – Lulu.
1946 Eddie Holman born in Norfolk, Virginia. US Soul Singer.
1947 Mickey Finn born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England. UK Guitarist & Percussionist. He joined T Rex in Oct’69. (died 11/1/02). (1971 UK No.1 single ‘Hot Love’, plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles). Finn apparently died from alcohol-related liver problems, in Croydon, Surrey, on 11 January 2003, aged 55.
1947 Dave Alexander born in Whitmore Lake, Michigan.Bass guitarist with Iggy Pop And The Stooges. Died 10th February 1975.
1949 Clive Shakespeare born in Southampton, England. Guitarist with Sherbert. He wrote most of their hits with Garth Porter. He left the group in 1976. Clive Shakespeare died on 15 February 2012, aged 64, from prostate cancer.
1949 Elvis Presley received an ‘A’ in language but only a ‘C’ in music on his 8th grade report card at Humes High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
1950 Suzi Quatro (Suzi Quatrocchio) born in Detroit, Michigan. US Rock Singer & Bass Guitarist.(1973 UK No.1 single ‘Can The Can’, plus 10 other UK Top 40 singles, 1979 US No.4 single with Chris Norman, (Stumblin’ In’).
1950 Florian Pilkington-Miksa born in Paddington, London. English rock drummer. He is best known as a member of both the original and reformed lineups of Curved Air. He also has also performed with Kiki Dee.
1951 Deniece Williams (Deniece Chandler) born in Gary, Indiana. US singer, (1978 US No.1 & UK No.3 single with Johnny Mathis ‘Too Much Too Little Too Late’, 1984 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’). Worked as a backing singer with Stevie Wond
1952 Billy Powell – US Pianist/Keyboard player with Lynyrd Skynyrd, (1974 US No. 8 single, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, 1982 UK No.21 single ‘Freebird’).
1953 Elvis Presley graduated from J.C. Hulmes High School in Memphis; his graduation photo shows him to have a split curl in the middle of his forehead, later to become his trademark. He was the first member of his family to graduate high school.
1954 Dan Hill born in Canada. Canadian Singer. (1978 US No.3 & UK No. 13 single ‘Sometimes When We Touch’).
1956 Danny Wilde (birth name Danny Thomas) born in Maine, USA. Vocalist/Guitarist & one half of the duo the Rembrandts.
1957 The Isley Brothers released their first single ‘The Angel’s Cried’.
1961 El Debarge, Debarge, (1985 UK No.4 single ‘Rhythm Of The Night).
1962 David Cole, C & C Music Factory, died 24/1/95, (1991 UK No.4 single ‘Things That Make You Go Hmmm…, 1991 US No.1 single ‘Gonna Make You Sweat’). Produced Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin.
1964 During a photo session Ringo Starr was taken ill suffering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, days before a world tour was about to start. After a last-minute phone call from George Martin, session drummer Jimmy Nichol rushed over to EMI Studios, where he and The Beatles ran through six songs from their tour repertoire in a quick rehearsal. Nichol replaced Ringo and became a Beatle for eleven days.
1964 Kerry King, guitarist with American thrash metal band Slayer who released the 1986 album ‘Reign in Blood’.
1965 Mike Gordon, bass, banjo, piano, harmonica and percussion, Phish. Also an award-winning filmmaker.
1967 Aretha Franklin went to No.1 on the US singles chart with her version of the Otis Redding hit ‘Respect’. A No.10 hit on the UK chart. Aretha scored her first UK No.1 20 years later with a duet with George Michael ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’.
1967 The Doors ‘Light My Fire’ was released in the US, where it went on to be No.1 on the singles chart two months later. When The Doors were booked to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show they were asked to change the line “girl, we couldn’t get much higher”, as the sponsors were uncomfortable with the possible reference to drug-taking. The band agreed to do so, and did a rehearsal using the amended lyrics; however, during the live performance, lead singer Jim Morrison sang the original lyric, after which they were informed they would never appear on the Ed Sullivan show again.
1968 Samantha Sprackling, vocals, Republica, (1997 UK No.7 single ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’).
1970 The Kinks Ray Davies was forced to make a 6,000 mile round trip from New York to London to record one word in a song. Davies had to change the word ‘Coca- Cola’ to ‘Cherry Cola’ on the bands forthcoming single ‘Lola’ due to an advertising ban at BBC Radio
1970 Deep Purple released their fourth studio album ‘Deep Purple In Rock’. This was the first album to feature the classic Mk II lineup of – Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.
1971 Brothers Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez born in Miami, Florida. Vocalists with No Mercy
1972 Appearing at the Crystal Palace Garden Party, England, Joe Cocker, The Beach Boys, Melanie, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na.
1972 The Rolling Stones kicked off their seventh North American tour at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada. The 32 date tour grossed $4 million (£2.35 million), making it the richest rock tour in history.
1972 Family gospel group of father and three daughters The Staple Singers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I’ll Take You There’, it made No.30 in the UK.
1972 Jethro Tull started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Thick As A Brick’.
1972 Pink Floyd released Obscured By Clouds in the UK. The album which was recorded in Paris France in less than two weeks peaked at No.6 on the UK chart and No.46 on the US chart.
1974 Kelly Jones, vocals, guitar, Stereophonics, (1999 UK No.1 album, ‘Performance and Cocktails’ spent 97 weeks on the UK chart. 2001 UK No.4 single ‘Handbags And Gladrags’).
1974 Boots record dept advertised 69p off Top selling albums, ‘Quo’ by Status Quo was £2.75, offer price £2.02, David Bowie’s ‘Diamond Dogs’, was £2.38, now £1.69 and ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ by Sweet was £2.31 and now £1.69. All Top 50 singles were priced at 40p
1974 Kelly Jones, vocals, guitar, Stereophonics, (1999 UK No.1 album, ‘Performance and Cocktails’ spent 97 weeks on the UK chart. 2001 UK No.4 single ‘Handbags And Gladrags’).
1975 Ozzie Nelson, father of US pop star Ricky Nelson died aged 68. Nelson had fronted his own radio and TV show in the 40’s and 50’s.
1978 Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Too Much Too Little Too Late’, it made No.3 in the UK.
1983 US session drummer Jim Gordon murdered his mother by pounding her head with a hammer. A diagnosed schizophrenic, it was not until his trial in 1984 that he was properly diagnosed. Due to the fact that his attorney was unable to use the insanity defense, Gordon was sentenced to sixteen years-to-life in prison in 1984. A Grammy Award winner for co-writing Layla with Eric Clapton, Gordon worked with The Beach Boys, John Lennon, George Harrison Frank Zappa and many other artists.
1985 Tavion La’Corey Mathis, singer, Pretty Ricky, (2007 US No.1 album ‘Late Night Special’).
1989 Queen scored their sixth UK No.1 album with ‘The Miracle’. Containing ‘I Want It All’.
1989 The Fine Young Cannibals started a seven-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘The Raw & The Cooked’.
1990 The Big Day, free festival took place in Glasgow, Scotland with Wet Wet Wet, Deacon Blue, Hothouse Flowers, Sheena Easton, Texas, Hue and Cry, John Martyn, Eddi Reader, The Average White Band and others. Channel 4 TV ran a six-hour live broadcast from the event.
1995 Bryan Adams started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman’ Taken from the film ‘Don Juan De Marco’ it became Adams third US solo No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.
1996 Crowded House announced they were breaking up following a concert at London’s Hanover Grand.
2001 Shaggy started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Angel’ his fourth No.1 which was based on the melody of ‘Angel Of The Morning’, a hit for PP Arnold in 1968. His album ‘Hot Shot’ also went to No.1 on the UK album chart on this day.
2002 Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard, Ozzy Osbourne, The Corrs, Will Young, Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 all appeared at The Queen’s Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, London.
2003 Barry Manilow suffered a broken nose after he accidentally walked into a wall at his home in Palm Springs, California and knocked himself unconscious. Although he passed out for four hours, he didn’t endure any lasting effects as doctors determined that surgery was not necessary.
2006 Red Hot Chili Peppers were at No.1 on the UK and US album charts with Stadium Arcadium the bands ninth studio album.
2011 American singer, songwriter Andrew Gold died in his sleep aged 59 from a heart attack. Had the 1977 US No.7 single ‘Lonely Boy’, 1978 UK No.5 single ‘Never Let Her Slip Away’ and as a member of Wax the 1987 UK No.12 single ‘Bridge To Your Heart’.
2016 English folk musician and singer-songwriter Dave Swarbrick died aged 75. His work for the group Fairport Convention from 1969 has been credited with leading them to produce their seminal album Liege & Lief (1969) which initiated the electric folk movement.