Today in Music History for June 23:
In 1920, Canadian dixieland jazz saxophonist and bandleader Lance Harrison was born in Vancouver. He died Nov. 26, 2000.
In 1929, June Carter Cash, a member of the Carter family of country singers, was born in Maces Spring, Va. She married Johnny Cash in 1968 and is credited with helping him turn his life around after a bout with pill addiction. The couple's recording of "Jackson" was awarded a Grammy in 1967 for best country recording by a group. She died May 15, 2003, at a Nashville hospital of complications from heart surgery.
In 1948, singer and guitarist Myles Goodwyn, leader of the Canadian rock group "April Wine," was born in Woodstock, N.B. Formed in Halifax in 1970, "April Wine" later made Montreal its home base. Probably Canada's leading touring band in the '70s, "April Wine's" first international success came in 1972 with the single "You Could Have Been a Lady." Their biggest U.S. hit was "Just Between You and Me," which made No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. The group shared the stage with "The Rolling Stones" at a March 1977 concert at the El Mocambo nightclub in Toronto. The band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2010 Juno Awards.
In 1956, "Stranded in the Jungle" by "The Cadets" was released. It reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains a favourite oldie.
In 1967, John Entwhistle, bass guitarist with "The Who," married Alison Wise. Entwhistle told a London newspaper that he knew they would marry from their first date -- when Alison carried his amplifier to a gig.
In 1967, Arthur Conley was awarded a gold record for "Sweet Soul Music." It was the only major hit for Conley, a discovery of Otis Redding.
In 1970, Ringo Starr arrived in Nashville to start recording with such session musicians as steel guitarist Pete Drake and harmonica player Charlie McCoy. The result was the album, "Beaucoup of Blues."
In 1970, Chubby Checker and three other people were arrested in Niagara Falls, Ont., and charged with possession of marijuana and hashish.
In 1972, "Smokey Robinson and The Miracles" performed together for what was billed as the last time. They reunited for a few performances.
In 1975, Alice Cooper broke six of his ribs after he fell off the stage during a concert in Vancouver. Several dates on his Welcome to "My Nightmare Tour" had to be cancelled.
In 1975, "Jefferson Starship's" "Red Octopus" was released. The album marked the return of singer Marty Balin, went to No. 1 on the charts and became the band's biggest seller.
In 1979, disco singer Donna Summer captured the No. 1 and No. 3 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls." She was the first solo entertainer to hold two of the top three positions simultaneously.
In 1987, teen singer Tiffany began a tour of shopping malls with a stop in Paramus, N.J. These mall visits were a major boost to Tiffany's career.
In 1989, "The Who" officially began their reunion tour with the first of two concerts at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. The tour actually began with a warm-up show in Glens Falls, N.Y. two days earlier. But the Toronto concert was "The Who's" first all-out stadium performance since their so-called farewell tour ended in Toronto in 1982. The nearly three-hour shows contained all their trademarks -- Roger Daltrey's microphone juggling and Pete Townshend's acrobatic leaps -- and a generous sampling of the band's hits. But Townshend was forced to play an acoustic guitar, instead of his customary electric instrument, because years of amplified rock had nearly destroyed his hearing.
In 1991, a brawl at an Atlanta nightclub led to charges of aggravated assault and battery against "Run-D.M.C." lead rapper Darryl McDaniels. He and two other members of the rap group, Raymond White and Michael Dobson, were charged with attacking two bouncers at the club. McDaniels later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct while intoxicated and was fined $600, while White and Dobson were each fined $400.
In 1994, Barry Manilow's first musical, "Copacabana" -- based on his 1976 hit song -- opened in London.
In 1996, the "Sex Pistols" played in Britain for the first time in 19 years, performing before 30,000 people in London. The four members were rumoured to have made as much as US$1.5 million each for the series of reunion concerts that was dubbed "The Filthy Lucre Tour."
In 1996, heavy metal kings "Metallica" played a rare club date, performing for 850 radio station contest winners at the Phoenix in Toronto.
In 2009, country music duo "Montgomery Gentry" became the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Since their 1999 debut, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry had several hits with their Southern-rock style of country including "Hillbilly Shoes," "My Town," "Lucky Man" and "Roll with Me."
In 2010, Rock 'n' roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman underwent a successful liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2007 but chronic damage to his liver led to the transplant. (He died of liver cancer on May 27, 2017.)
In 2010, Toronto rapper Drake's long-awaited debut didn't disappoint in its first week. "Thank Me Later" was the top-selling album in Canada (31,000) and the United States (447,000). He was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won a pair of Junos earlier in the year, even though he had yet to put out an album.
In 2010, The Library of Congress announced the 25 recordings they were preserving for their cultural significance. Among them: "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Loretta Lynn), "Red Headed Stranger" (Willie Nelson), "Radio Free Europe" (R.E.M.), "The Band" (The Band), "Horses" (Patti Smith), "Dear Mama" (Tupac Shakur) and the 1923 recording "Canal Street Blues" by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band for epitomizing the sound of New Orleans.
In 2010, Pete Quaife, original bassist for "The Kinks," died of kidney failure in Herlev, Denmark. He was 66.
In 2010, Allyn Ferguson, an Emmy-winning composer who co-wrote the themes for the 1970s TV shows "Charlie's Angels" and "Barney Miller," died at age 85.
In 2011, a U.S. federal judge sentenced Grammy-winning reggae singer Buju Banton to 10 years in prison, the lowest sentence legally allowed for his role in a large cocaine trafficking deal in 2009.
In 2012, after 14 years as one of Ireland's most successful boy bands, "Westlife" performed together for the last time, at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin. The band sold over 44 million records worldwide.
In 2013, singer Bobby (Blue) Bland, who blended Southern blues and soul in songs such as "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Further on up the Road," died at age 83. Since 2008, Bland had been using a wheelchair to limit his walking but would stand up at his performances, as he did in November when he sang at his induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1992 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, calling him “second in stature only to B.B. King as a product of Memphis’ Beale Street blues scene.”
In 2016, bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley died of skin cancer at his home in Sandy Ridge, Va., at the age of 89.
In 2016, a federal court jury in Los Angeles found that Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant did not steal the intro for their classic rock anthem "Stairway to Heaven" from a riff of Spirit's 1960s instrumental "Taurus." (An attorney for the trust of the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe filed a notice of appeal.)
In 2019, the co-writer and producer of some of Fats Domino's most famous hits died. Rock n' roll pioneer and New Orleans music legend Dave Bartholomew was 100 years old. Bartholomew got his start as a trumpet player and bandleader in the 1930s. He befriended Domino in the late 1940s and collaborated with the singer-piano player on such classics as "Ain't That a Shame," "Let the Four Winds Blow," and "I'm Walkin'."
---
The Canadian Press