Saturday, May 12, 2018

This Date in Rock Music History: May 13

1958:  Jerry Lee Lewis was granted a divorce from his second wife six months after marrying 14-year-old cousin Myra.







1963:  The Kingsmen released their version of "Louie, Louie".  It didn't become a hit until being re-released in October.









1963:  Bobby Vinton released the single "Blue On Blue".
1965:  Elvis Presley's new movie, Tickle Me, premiered in Hollywood, California.
1966:  The Kinks recorded "Sunny Afternoon" at Pye Studios in London.







1967:  Scott McKenzie released the single "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)".










1967:  "The Happening" became the Supremes' 10th #1 song of their career on this date.  Only Elvis Presley & the Beatles had more to this juncture.  "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley was a strong #2, Nancy & Frank Sinatra fell to 3 with "Something' Stupid.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Young Rascals' smash "Groovin'" rose from 19 to 4, the Monkees had #5 with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", the Buckinghams moved up one with "Don't You Care", the Dave Clark Five were a familiar Top 10 fixture at #7 with "You Got What It Takes", the original Peaches and Herb were at 8 with "Close Your Eyes", The Happenings entered the Top 10 with "I Got Rhythm" and Tommy James & the Shondells were still hanging around in their 14th week with "I Think We're Alone Now".
1970:  Badfinger began recording the song "No Matter What" at Abbey Road Studios in London.
1970:  The Beatles movie Let It Be premiered in New York City.
1971:  After an all-night recording session, lead singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane crashed her car into a concrete wall in the vicinity of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  Slick had made the foolish decision to race guitarist Jorma Kaukonen into a tunnel, and nearly died as a result.







1972:  "Morning Has Broken" hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for Cat Stevens.
1972:  First Take from Roberta Flack continued to rule the Album chart for the third straight week, with Neil Young's great album Harvest close behind.  The self-titled America album was at 3, Yes at #4 with Fragile and Graham Nash & David Crosby had a winner with their album.  The rest of the Top 10:  Smokin' from Humble Pie at #6, Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers Band at #7, Manassas from Stephen Stills was #8, Carole King remained at #9 in her 58th week with Tapestry and Paul Simon's debut solo release was at #10.



1972:  Roberta Flack made it five weeks at #1 with "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".
1974:  More than 50 people were injured when youths started throwing bottles outside a Jackson 5 concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.  43 people were arrested for the incident.
1975:  Listeners in Jacksonville, Florida knocked out phone service in that city while calling in to win tickets from a radio station to an Elvis Presley concert.
1977:  Dolly Parton performed for the first of three nights at the Bottom Line in New York City.   Olivia Newton-John, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Candice Bergen, and John Belushi are among those in the audience.
1978:  Jimmy Buffett sang "Son Of A Sailor" on the television show Saturday Night Live.
1978:  "Feels So Good" hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for Chuck Mangione.
"More Than a Woman"--Never released as a single, but of course one of The Top Underrated Songs of All-Time...

  1978:  The count was up to 17 weeks at #1 for the Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever".  Wings had a distant #2 with London Town while Eric Clapton Slowhand was #3.  Kansas remained at #4 with Point of Know Return and Jefferson Starship checked in at 5 with Earth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Jackson Browne's Running On Empty was #6, Chuck Mangione moved up to 7 with Feels So Good, Warren Zevon had a Top 10 album in Excitable Boy, Billy Joel's great album The Stranger was finally on its way down at #9 in its 32nd week and Champagne Jam, a very underrated album from the Atlanta Rhythm Section was #10.






1978:  "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman became the fourth song from Saturday Night Fever to reach #1 on this date.  It finally toppled "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees, which fell to #5 after eight consecutive weeks at the top.  The Bee Gees also set a Rock Era record by writing four songs that were consecutive #1's for 15 weeks.  They were "Stayin' Alive", "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" for Andy Gibb, "Night Fever" and finally the #1 for Elliman.  That broke the record set by the Beatles, when they wrote three songs ("I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" and "Can't Buy Me Love"), that topped the charts for a total of 14 weeks.  "The Closer I Get To You", from Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway was #2 and Wings had the third most popular song "With A Little Luck".  Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams teamed for #4--"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" and "Night Fever", John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John had already moved on with "You're the One That I Want" from the great Grease Soundtrack, Jefferson Starship's fine "Count On Me" was #8, Kansas placed their classic "Dust In The Wind" at #9 after 16 weeks and "Imaginary Lover" became the second Top 10 for the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
1979:  The Donny & Marie Osmond television special A Little Bit of Country, A Little Bit of Rock 'n' Roll aired on ABC with guests Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker.
1981:  Joan Weber, whose one and only hit, "Let Me Go, Lover" spent four weeks at #1 in 1955, died of heart failure at the age of 45 in Ancora, New Jersey. 
1985:  Bruce Springsteen married Julianne Phillips in Lake Oswego, Oregon.


1989:  "Ill Be There For You" was Bon Jovi's 12th career hit and fourth #1.  It replaced "Like A Prayer", which fell to #2 for Madonna.  Jody Watley remained at 3 with "Real Love", while Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" was destined for the top.  The rest of the Top 10:  Donny Osmond's comeback "Soldier Of Love" hit #5, Cher & Peter Cetera came in at 6 with "After All", "Second Chance" was at #7 for .38 Special, Michael Damian's remake of "Rock On" was #8, Guns N' Roses had #9 with "Patience" and Bette Midler moved from 19-10 with "Wind Beneath My Wings".
2003:  Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong ("Earache My Eye") pleaded guilty to federal drug charges of selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet.
2006:  Godsmack topped the Album chart with IV.
2007:  Bo Diddley was hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska after suffering a stroke.
2010:  Jimmy Dean died at the age of 81 of natural causes at his home in Varina, Virginia.
2010:  Patti LaBelle received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from her hometown university of Temple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2012:  Donald Dunn, bass guitarist of the Mar-Keys ("Last Night") and Booker T. & the M.G.'s, died in his sleep May 13, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan.  He was 70.


Born This Day:
1930:  Teddy Randazzo, who wrote many of Little Anthony's hits, was born in Brooklyn, New York; died of a heart attack November 21, 2003 at his home in Orlando, Florida.  (Note:  some websites say Randazzo was born May 20, but he was born on May 13, according to the newspaper 'The Honolulu Advertiser'.)

1941:  Ritchie Valens was born in Pacoima, California; died February 3, 1959 at the age of 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.  (Note:  some websites claim Pacoima is a neighborhood, but it is a census-designated place, and the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times' and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame confirm Valens was born in Pacoima.)







1943:  Mary Wells was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1949:  Pete Watts, bass player of Mott the Hoople, was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England.  (Note:  many websites make the mistake of saying Watts was born in Yardley, Birmingham, England.  Yardley is an area of Birmingham, not a town, and Birmingham is not a county.  At the time of Pete's birth, Birmingham was located in the county of Warwickshire.) 







1950:  Steveland Morris, the great Stevie Wonder, was born in Saginaw, Michigan.













1950:  Danny Kirwan, singer and elite guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, was born in Brixton, London.
1951:  Paul Thompson, drummer for Roxy Music, was born in Jarrow, England.  (Note:  some websites claim Thompson was born in Jarrow, Northumberland, England.  Jarrow is not and has never been a part of the county of Northumberland.  At the time of Thompson's birth, Jarrow was part of the county of Durham.)
1966:  Darius Rucker, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Hootie & the Blowfish, was born in Charleston, South Carolina.
1967:  Melanie Thornton, lead singer of LaBouche, was born in Charleston, South Carolina; died November 24, 2001 in a plane crash near Bassersdorf, Switzerland.



1969:  Buckethead (real name Brian Carroll), virtuoso guitarist of Guns N' Roses
1979:  Michael "Mickey" Madden, bassist of Maroon 5, was born in Austin, Texas.

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