| The Week of May 11th | | Sunday May 11
Eric Burdon ("Spill The Wine" and leader of the Animals) is 67
Led Zeppelin meet Elvis Presley after the King's concert at the Los Angeles Forum (Robert Plant and Elvis launch into an impromptu rendition of "Love Me"), 1974
The Everly Brothers perform for the first time at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, 1957
Buddy Holly & the Crickets audition for "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" TV program, but are rejected, 1957
Ritchie Valens receives a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1990
The Mamas & the Papas, Otis Redding and Al Kooper are all inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk, 2007
John Lennon appears on the "Dick Cavett" TV show and says the FBI has tapped his phone, 1972
The Byrds make their TV debut, singing "Mr. Tambourine Man" on NBC's "Hullabaloo", 1965
The ABC-TV "Stage 67" special, "Rodgers & Hart Today" stars Bobby Darin, the Supremes, Petula Clark and the Mamas & the Papas, 1967
Jackson Browne guests on Fox-TV's "The Simpsons", 2003
Annette makes the first of six guest appearances on CBS-TV's "Make Room For Daddy", 1959
The soundtrack for the movie, "Woodstock" is released in 1970
Monday May 12
Steve Winwood ("Roll With It" and member of Traffic, Blind Faith and the Spencer Davis Group) is 60
Billy Swan ("I Can Help") is 66
James Purify of James & Bobby Purify ("I'm Your Puppet") is 64
George Carlin ("Wonderful WINO") is 71
Burt Bacharach (wrote "Close To You" and most of Dionne Warwick's hits) is 79
Mick Jagger marries his first wife, Bianca, 1971
Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from cousin Myra, 1971
Meat Loaf files for bankruptcy, 1983
Dionne Warwick is arrested at a Miami airport for marijuana possession (the charges are dropped after she completes a drug program and makes a contribution to charity), 2002
Archie Bell is drafted into the U.S. Army, 1967
A British radio station debuts the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album in its entirety, 1967
The Frank Sinatra Timex TV special, "Welcome Home Elvis" (including the two singing a medley of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft") airs on ABC, 1960
The movie, "Let's Rock", with Paul Anka, Danny & the Juniors and the Royal Teens, opens in 1958
Tuesday May 13
Stevie Wonder ("Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday") is 58
The late Mary Wells ("My Guy") is born in 1943
The late Ritchie Valens ("Donna") is born in 1941
The Rev. Little Richard officiates as Bruce Springsteen marries actress Julianne Phillip (it lasts four years), 1985
Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from his second wife, six months after marrying the third (cousin Myra), 1958
Bo Diddley is hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska after suffering a stroke, 2007
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is hurt as she slams her Mercedes into a wall in San Francisco, 1971
Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong pleads guilty to selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet, 2003
Johnny Tillotson is the opening act and sees fans rip the shirt off Elvis Presley's back after their Jacksonville, Florida concert, 1955
A radio station in Jacksonville, Florida knocks out the city's phone service giving away tickets to Elvis Presley's concert, 1975
The Beatles' "Let It Be" film opens in New York City, 1970
The Conway Twitty movie, "Platinum High School" opens, 1960
Donny & Marie Osmond's "A Little Bit Of Country, A Little Bit Of Rock 'n' Roll" special on ABC-TV includes guests Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker, 1979
Elvis Presley's "Tickle Me" movie premieres in Hollywood (it opens nationally two weeks later), 1965
Badfinger begin recording "No Matter What", 1970
The Kinks record "Sunny Afternoon", 1966
Wednesday May 14
The late Bobby Darin ("Mack The Knife") is born in 1936
Frank Sinatra ("In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning") dies of a heart attack in 1998
Former Yardbirds guitarist Keith Relf is electrocuted by his guitar and dies, 1976
Buddy Holly's optometrist gives him contact lenses for his 20/800 eyesight, but he can't get used to them, so the trademark glasses stay, 1956
Michael Jackson receives a humanitarian award from U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House, 1985
Bobby Darin is honored on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars on what would have been his 71st birthday, 2007
Paul McCartney and John Lennon guest on NBC-TV's "Tonight Show" 9with guest-host Joe Garagiola), 1968
Cliff Richard's first movie, "Serious Charges" premieres in 1959
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young release "Ohio", ten days after the shooting of four students at Kent State University that inspires it, 1970
Jan & Dean begin recording "Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)", 1964
The Rascals record "People Got To Be Free", 1968
Thursday May 15
Lenny Welch ("Since I Fell For You") is 69
June Carter Cash ("Jackson" with husband Johnny Cash) dies of complications from heart surgery the previous week, 2003
Elvis Presley inhales the cap from one of his teeth and is taken to a Los Angeles hospital to have it removed from his lung, 1957
Ike Turner spends a day in a Los Angeles jail over a mistaken warrant, 2007
Paul McCartney first meets Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert in London (they marry two years later), 1967
The Rolling Stones sign with Decca Records in London (who had turned down the Beatles the year before), 1963
Two short John Lennon films are shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France, 1971
Brenda Lee guests on "Make Room For Daddy" on CBS-TV, 1961
Friday May 16
Isaac "Red" Holt of Young-Holt Unlimited ("Soulful Strut") and the Ramsey Lewis Trio ("Hang On Sloopy") is 76
The late Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson of the Dell-Vikings (sang lead on "Whispering Bells") is born in 1935
Sammy Davis, Jr. ("What Kind Of Fool Am I") dies of throat cancer in 1990
Jim Henson (the voice of the Muppets' Ernie on "Rubber Duckie" and Kermit on "Rainbow Connection") dies of pneumonia, 1990
Ernie Freeman ("Raunchy" and the piano player on B. Bumble & the Stingers' "Bumble Boogie") dies of a heart attack in 1981
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones falls in his Connecticut home, breaking his ribs and forcing postponement of the Stones' upcoming tour, 1998
Randy Bachman leaves the Guess Who, 1970
The Who's Pete Townshend is arrested onstage after mistakenly kicking a cop he thought was a fan rushing the stage, 1969
"Ohio Players Day" is declared in their home town of Dayton, Ohio, 1976
Ray Charles is inducted into the Atlanta Celebrity Walk, 1991
The Hoboken, New Jersey post office is named after native son Frank Sinatra, 2003
Parma, Italy names streets after Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, 2007
Motown Records is formed in 1960
Michael Jackson introduced the "moonwalk" at the taping of the Motown 25th Anniversary TV special (don't ask why the 25th anniversary was only 23 years after Motown
formed), 1983
Diana Ross stars in the NBC-TV movie, "Double Platinum", 1999
Cher guests for the second time on NBC-TV's "Will & Grace", 2002
The Beach Boys release their "Pet Sounds" album, 1966
Tony Joe White records "Polk Salad Annie" in 1968
Frank Sinatra records "Summer Wind", 1966
Saturday May 17
Lawrence Welk ("Calcutta") dies of pneumonia in 1992
Little Johnny Taylor ("Part Time Love") dies from a heart attack in 2002
Mick Jagger puts his hand through a window at a Log Island, New York restaurant, 1975
"Jerry Lee Lewis Day" is held in his home town of Ferriday, Louisiana, 1958
Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard appear together for the first time onstage, in Sheffield, England, 1995
The first Monterey Folk Festival features Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary, 1963
Barry Manilow appears on CBS-TV's "Murphy Brown", 1993
The Bob Dylan documentary film, "Don't Look Back" premieres in San Francisco, 196775
The Donna Summer/Village People movie, "Thank God It's Friday" debuts in Los Angeles, 1978
Jean Knight records "Mr. Big Stuff" and King Floyd cuts "Groove Me" at the same Jackson, Mississippi recording session, 1970 |