BIRTHDAYS
1899: Sonny Boy Williamson
1932: “Little Richard” Penniman
1938: John “J.J.” Cale
1946: Ingram Cecil Connor a.k.a. Gram Parsons
1947: Kim Simmonds (Savoy Brown)
1947: Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield)
1965: Johnny Rzeznik (The Goo Goo Dolls)
EVENTS
1965: The Beatles played their last ever show in their hometown of Liverpool.
1969: The Rolling Stones released their ‘Let It Bleed‘ album.
1977: Death of saxophonist, Roland Kirk [aged 42].
2019: Death of New Zealand singer / saxophonist, Rick Bryant, of Mammal, Rough Justice, Blerta, The Neighbours, Jive Bombers, Windy City Strugglers, etc. [aged 71].
2021: Death of singer / songwriter / keyboardist, John Miles [aged 72]. Apart from his own projects, John sang and worked with Alan Parsons (‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’), Tina Turner (albums and tours), Jimmy Page (‘Outrider’ album and tour) and many more over the years.
The best album by The Stones? ‘Let It Bleed’ was released 54 years ago!!
Happy 58th Birthday to Johnny Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls. He wrote the song “Iris”, which was released in 1998 ~ coincidentally, the same year as Iris, our first daughter was born. (We had already decided her name, before the song was released).
BIRTHDAYS
1942: Bob Mosley (Moby Grape)
1942: Chris Hillman (The Byrds)
1951: Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
EVENTS
1964: The Beatles released their 4th album ‘Beatles For Sale’. It spent 11 weeks as the UK No.1 album.
1971: The Montreux Casino in Switzerland burnt to the ground during a gig by Frank Zappa, inspiring Deep Purple to write “Smoke on the Water” for the album they were recording there, ‘Machine Head’.
1971: Led Zeppelin started a 2-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with the ‘Four Symbols’ album. It remained on the U.S. chart for 5 years.
1976: Death of guitarist / singer / songwriter, Tommy Bolin [aged 25].
1980: An official statement was issued by Led Zeppelin, announcing their disbandment. “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were”.
1993: Death of composer / musician / satirist, Frank Zappa [aged 52].
2018: Death of singer / songwriter, Wayne Elliott, of New Zealand rock band, Knightshade [aged 67].
There is a lot less brilliant music, magic, humour and intelligence in the world without the amazing Frank Zappa, who died on this day in 1993. We miss ya, BIG time, FZ!
BIRTHDAYS
1940: John Cale (The Velvet Underground)
1944: Ralph McTell
1946: Vic Malcolm (Geordie)
1947: Percy Jones (Brand X / Eno / Soft Machine / Tunnels / Sessions)
1948: John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne
1949: Mickey Thomas (Jefferson Starship)
1952: Duane Roland (Molly Hatchet)
1957: Jerry Pearse-Smith (Rose Bayonet)
Geoff Dunn & Jerry Pearse-Smith, of Rose Bayonet. Happy Birthday, Jezza!
EVENTS
1965: The Who released their debut album, ‘My Generation’.
1965: The Beatles released their ‘Rubber Soul’ album. It went to the top of the charts around the world, staying at No. 1 in UK for 8 weeks.
1965: The Beatles set out on what would be their last ever UK tour at Glasgow’s Odeon Cinema.
1969: The Rolling Stones recorded “Brown Sugar” at Muscle Shoals studios.
1972: Death of bassist, Bill Johnson, originator of the slap bass style [aged 98].
1976: An escaped giant 40ft inflatable pig could be seen floating above London, having been photographed for Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’ album cover.
1980: Kiss played a concert at Western Springs, Auckland. It was the last time that Ace Frehley would perform with the group for many years.
1981: Rose Bayonet performed their first gig with new singer, Geoff Dunn! It was the first of three consecutive nights at The Terminus Tavern, in Wellington.
1985: George Thorogood & The Destroyers played a concert at Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland ~ I was there!
1986: Judas Priest were sued by two families, alleging that the band’s music was responsible for their sons shooting themselves. The case was eventually dismissed.
2001: Death of session guitarist, Grady Martin [aged 72].
2014: Death of keyboard player, Ian McLagan of The Faces [aged 69].
2015: Death of singer, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots & Velvet Revolver [aged 48].
2016: Death of saxophonist / trumpeter, Herb Hardesty [aged 91].
2021: Death of drummer, Melvin Parker [aged 77]. Melvin was best known as part of James Brown’s band, playing on the hits “Out of Sight”, “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” & “I Got You (I Feel Good)”.
2023: Death of singer / guitarist / writer / producer, Myles Goodwin of April Wine [aged 75].
Happy Birthday, Ozzy Osbourne! He’ll be celebrating 75 years on Earth today. Let’s go back to where it all started for Ozzy, with Black Sabbath. Recorded live in Paris in ’70, here’s “War Pigs”!
BIRTHDAYS
1906: Peter Goldmark (Inventor of the long-playing microgroove record)
1923: Maria Callas
1931: Wynton Kelly (Miles Davis Quartet / Cannonball Adderley group)
1941: Tom McGuinness (Manfred Mann Band)
1960: Rick “Sav” Savage (Def Leppard)
1960: Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley (Hanoi Rocks)
1968: Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters)
1971: Donna Matthews (Elastica)
1978: Christopher Wolstenholme (Muse)
1986: Tal Wilkenfeld (Bassist for Jeff Beck / Herbie Hancock / Jackson Browne / Allman Brothers Band / Prince / Trevor Rabin / Ryan Adams & more)
EVENTS
1968: Chas Chandler quit his historic role as manager of Jimi Hendrix, halfway through the recording of Jimi’s third album, ‘Electric Ladyland’.
1982: Death of David Blue, of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue [aged 41].
1984: Deep Purple performed at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland ~ I was there!
1997: Death of guitarist, Michael Hedges [aged 43].
2006: Death of Mariska Veres (Maria Ender), singer of Shocking Blue [aged 59].
2014: Death of Rolling Stones saxophonist, Bobby Keys [aged 70].
2021: Death of Richard Cole, tour manager for Led Zeppelin from 1968 – 1980 [aged 75].
Nine years ago today, we lost sax man, Bobby Keys (pictured above with best mate, Keith Richards, with whom he shared the same birthday). The legendary Mr. Keys played on countless classic Rolling Stones songs, albums and tours, plus sessions with Buddy Holly, Dion, Bobby Vee, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Joe Cocker, Barbra Streisand, B.B. King, Carly Simon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more! Here he is in action on one of the greatest singles ever released…”Brown Sugar”.
BIRTHDAYS
1944: Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult)
1944: Bette Midler
1946: Gilbert O’Sullivan
1951: Jaco Pastorius
1956: Julee Cruise
1958: Lisa Fischer
1959: Stephen Batt a.k.a. Steve Jansen (Japan)
EVENTS
1957: Buddy Holly appeared on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’, performing “That’ll Be The Day” & “Peggy Sue”.
1967: The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their second album, ‘Axis: Bold as Love’.
1973: Black Sabbath released their fifth album, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’.
1993: Death of Black Sabbath / Badlands singer, Ray Gillen [aged 34].
1993: Death of violinist, Stephane Grapelli [aged 89].
2009: Dream Theater played a concert at Civic Theater, Auckland ~ I was there!
Jaco Pastorius would have been 72 today. Here’s to you, Jaco ~ one of the greatest bass players ever! Since it was Jimi’s birthday only a few days ago, here’s Jaco playing some Hendrix, as part of his bass solo (using a looped digital delay ~ filmed way back in 1978).
The great ‘JACO’ movie doco was released in 2015… “Produced by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, JACO includes some incredible insights from an array of artists including Flea, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Geddy Lee, Bootsy Collins, Carlos Santana and others as well as Jaco’s family, and friends. It unveils the story of his music, his life, his demise, and ultimately the fragility of great artistic genius. There are few musicians who fundamentally change their instrument, and even fewer still who transcend their instrument altogether. Jaco Pastorius did both.”
BIRTHDAYS
1915: Brownie McGhee
1943: Leo Lyons (Ten Years After)
1945: Roger Glover (Deep Purple)
1949: Terry Reid
1953: David Sancious (The E Street Band)
1955: William Broad a.k.a. Billy Idol
1957: John Ashton (Psychedelic Furs)
1957: Richard Barbieri (Japan / Porcupine Tree)
1959: Cherie Currie (Runaways)
EVENTS
1963: ‘With The Beatles’ became the first million selling album by a group in the UK.
1974: Sweet released their ‘Desolation Boulevard’ album.
1979: Pink Floyd released their double LP, ‘The Wall’.
1981: Yes released the ‘Classic Yes’ compilation.
1999: Death of violinist, Don “Sugarcane” Harris [aged 61].
2022: Death of songwriter / singer / keyboardist, Christine McVie (a.k.a. Christine Perfect) of Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack [aged 79].
2023: Death of singer / songwriter, Shane MacGowan of The Pogues [aged 65].
Happy 78th Birthday today to Roger Glover of Deep Purple! Many Happy Returns also to my Mum, our good friend, RL and others.
The photo above was taken by my mate, Mikki, when we caught Deep Purple (again) at Vector Arena, Auckland on 24 February, 2013. Here’s the Purps in action, on a track from 1972 which features Roger’s great bass playing (especially at around the 3:30 mark). Awesome stuff and made to look so easy!
BIRTHDAYS
1933: John Mayall
1944: John Alder a.k.a. Twink (The Fairies / The In Crowd / Tomorrow / Santa Barbara Machine Head / Pretty Things / Pink Fairies / Stars / Hawkwind / Fallen Angels / The Rings)
1947: Ronnie Montrose
1951: Barry Goudreau (Boston)
EVENTS
1969: The Beatles scored their 18th No.1 on the US singles chart with “Come Together” / “Something”.
1978: David Bowie performed his ‘Low & Heroes’ concert at QEII Park, Christchurch ~ I was there!
2001: Death of legendary musician / Beatle, George Harrison [aged 58].
2016: Death of New Zealand singer, Ray Columbus [aged 74].
2023: Death of guitarist / songwriter, Scott “Top Ten” Kempner, of The Dictators & Del-Lords [aged 69].
I will never forget the David Bowie show in Christchurch, on 29 November, 1978 (my first outdoor concert). A schoolboy at the time, my friend Pete and I caught the bus up from Dunedin and stayed at his Aunty’s place that night.
Opening with the eerily atmospheric “Warszawa”, it looked at first as if Bowie was conducting the band, but he was actually hidden in the shadows, playing clavinet. Then “Heroes” kicked in and from here on we were treated to one of the finest two hour musical performances I have ever witnessed. The stark lines of white fluorescent lighting was incredibly effective and David owned the stage with his charismatic presence and rich, earthy voice. Most of the songs from ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album got played, as of course were many tracks from his latest two albums, ‘Low’ & ‘Heroes’ ~ all excellent indeed! The song that most impressed me though was “Station to Station”, opening the second part of the concert with wailing guitars and train noises (created on keyboards) shaking the ground. Another of the many highlights was “Jean Genie”, and “Suffragette City”, with Bowie kicking high in the air at crescendo. The encore of “TVC15”, “Stay” and “Rebel Rebel” completed a magnificent concert!
BIRTHDAYS
1929: Berry Gordy (Founder of Motown Records)
1943: Randy Newman
1949: Hugh McKenna (Sensational Alex Harvey Band)
1962: Matt Cameron (Soundgarden / Pearl Jam / Temple of the Dog)
EVENTS
1971: Rory Gallagher released his second album, ‘Deuce’.
1974: Yes released their ‘Relayer‘ album.
1974: John Lennon made his last ever concert appearance, when he joined Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1980: Alan Parsons Project released the album, ‘Turn of a Friendly Card’.
1980: The Jam released their fifth album, ‘Sound Affects’.
1987: David Bowie performed his ‘Glass Spider’ concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland ~ I was there!
1993: Death of Steppenwolf drummer, Jerry Edmonton [aged 47].
2005: Death of drummer, Tony Meehan of The Shadows [aged 62].
The totally amazing, mind-boggling ‘Relayer‘ album was released by YES, 49 years ago today! The epic glory of “The Gates of Delirium”, the phenomenal musicianship of “Sound Chaser” and the blissful caress of “To Be Over”. A 10 out of 10 LP, in my book! 🙂
Happy 61st Birthday to Matt Cameron, drummer for mighty good bands ~ Soundgarden, Pearl Jam & Temple of the Dog. Here’s Matt in action on a key track from Soundgarden…
BIRTHDAYS
1942: James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix
1945: Randy Brecker
1952: Daryl Stuermer (Jean-Luc Ponty Band / Genesis)
1962: Mike Bordin (Faith No More)
1962: Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
1965: Fiachna O’Braonain (Hothouse Flowers)
1969: Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge / Slash)
1978: Mike Skinner (The Streets)
EVENTS
1967: The Beatles released their ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ album.
1969: The Rolling Stones played the first of four shows at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
1970: George Harrison released his triple album set, ‘All Things Must Pass’.
1971: Alice Cooper released the ‘Killer’ album, the fourth LP by the original group.
1983: Ozzy Osbourne released his double live album, ‘Speak Of The Devil’. (It was titled as ‘Talk Of The Devil’ in the UK).
2006: Death of DJ, Alan “Fluff” Freeman [aged 79].
Jimi Hendrix ~ He only walked on the third stone from the sun for 27 years, but the huge impression of musical expression he made will be felt forever!
BIRTHDAYS
1939: Annie Mae Bullock a.k.a. Tina Turner
1945: John McVie (Fleetwood Mac)
1946: Burt Reiter (Focus)
1970: Ron Jones (The Flaming Lips)
EVENTS
1968: Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with Yes & Taste as support.
1976: Kevin Godley & Lol Creme left 10cc to work as a duo.
1983: David Bowie performed his ‘Serious Moonlight’ concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland ~ I was there! (My ticket & program are shown above)
1990: Public Enemy played a concert at Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland ~ I was there!
1995: Alice In Chains were at No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album.
2011: Death of Keef Hartley, of John Mayall Band, Keef Hartley Band & Dog Soldier [aged 67].
2023: Death of guitarist Geordie Walker, of Killing Joke [aged 64].
Bowie‘s amazing performance at Western Springs on 26 November, 1983 still holds the record for largest audience of paying attendees at a concert in New Zealand. There were over 83,000 ticket-holders in the crowd (including my sister and I). Estimations take the figure to around 90,000, as many more people jumped the perimeter fences to get in. Check out this very interesting mini-doco about the event:
