HC's Rock Rewind - January 1 - 14

HC's Rock Rewind

A look back at the past two weeks in Rock History

by Team HC

Week of January 1st - 7th

Another Auld Lang Syne of memorable events occurred during this week in rock history. Fleetwood Mac took on two new members, a key member of the Rolling Stones announced his departure from the band, and Gibson launched one of the company’s most visually striking guitars. Read on for a look back at other significant moments that shaped rock and roll during this historically eventful week.

Events

1950 – Sam Phillips opens the Memphis Recording Service, later to be renamed Sun Studio.

1958 – Gibson launches the legendary “Flying V” electric guitar. Albert King, Dave Davies and Lonnie Mack are among the many renowned players who come to be associated with the instrument.

1959 – ABC’s “American Bandstand” leads the daytime television ratings for the first time.

1966 – Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” tops the U.S. singles chart.

1969 – The Beatles begin rehearsals for what will eventually become their Let It Be album.

1970 – B. J. Thomas’s recording of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” tops the U.S. singles chart. It remains in the top spot for four weeks.

1971 – George Harrison’s triple album, All Things Must Pass, begins a seven-week run atop the U.S. album chart.

1973 – Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” reaches the Number One spot on the Hot 100 chart.

1975 – Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac. Among the songs the two bring to the band are “Landslide” and “Rhiannon.”

1979 – The soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever” tops 25 million in worldwide sales, making the double-LP the best-selling album in history at that point.

1979 – Prince makes his live debut, performing at the Capri Theatre in Minneapolis.

1980 – David Bowie makes his final appearance in the title role of “The Elephant Man” at the Booth Theatre on Broadway.

1987 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1989 – Nirvana enters into a one-year recording contract with the Sub Pop record label.

1993 – The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman announces he is leaving the band. Wyman had been the group’s bassist for 30 years.

2010 – Chris Cornell announces via a tweet than Soundgarden are reuniting. The group had split up 13 years earlier, in 1997.

Releases

1967 – The Doors:  The Doors

1969 – Creedence Clearwater Revival:  Bayou Country

1970 – Syd Barrett:  The Madcap Laughs

1973 – Thin Lizzy:  Vagabonds of the Western World

1973 – Aerosmith:  Aerosmith

1973 – Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band:  Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

1974 – Joni Mitchell:  Court and Spark

1976 – Journey:  Look into the Future

1976 – Bob Dylan:  Desire

1976 – Peter Frampton:  Frampton Comes Alive!

1979 – Elvis Costello & the Attractions:  Armed Forces

1979 – Joe Jackson:  Look Sharp!

1983 – Eurythmics:  Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

1986 – The Bangles:  Different Light

1988 – L.A. Guns:  L.A. Guns

1993 – Neil Young:  Lucky Thirteen

2006 – The Strokes:  First Impressions of Earth

2008 -- The Smashing Pumpkins:  American Gothic

Deaths

Hank Williams – Jan. 1, 1953

Tex Ritter – Jan. 2, 1974

Charlie Mingus – Jan. 5, 1979

Alexis Korner – Jan. 1, 1984

Phil Lynott – Jan. 4, 1986

Dizzy Gillespie – Jan. 6, 1993

Ted Hawkins – Jan. 1, 1995

Randy California – Jan. 2, 1997

Sonny Bono – Jan. 5, 1998

Lou Rawls – Jan. 6, 2006

Ron Asheton (The Stooges) – Jan. 6, 2009

Willie Mitchell – Jan. 5, 2010

Gerry Rafferty – Jan. 4, 2011

Patti Page – Jan. 1, 2013

Jay Traynor (Jay & the Americans) – Jan. 2, 2014

Phil Everly – Jan. 3, 2014

Births

Sam Phillips – Jan. 5, 1923

Earl Scruggs – Jan. 6, 1924

George Martin – Jan. 3, 1926

Roger Miller – Jan. 2, 1936

Paul Revere (Paul Revere & the Raiders) – Jan. 7, 1937

Rory Storm – Jan. 7, 1938

John McLaughlin – Jan. 4, 1942

Van Dyke Parks – Jan. 3, 1943

Stephen Stills – Jan. 3, 1945

Dave Cousins (The Strawbs) – Jan. 7, 1945

John Paul Jones – Jan. 3, 1946

Syd Barrett – Jan. 6, 1946

Kenny Loggins – Jan. 7, 1948

Morgan Fisher (Mott the Hoople) – Jan. 1, 1950

Chris Stein (Blondie) – Jan. 5, 1950

Malcolm Young – Jan. 6, 1953

Diane Warren – Jan. 1, 1956

Bernard Sumner – Jan. 4, 1956

Grandmaster Flash – Jan. 1, 1958

Kathy Valentine (Go-Go’s) – Jan. 7, 1959

Michael Stipe – Jan. 4, 1960

Marilyn Manson – Jan. 5, 1969

Week of January  8th - 14th

You know it's a big week in music when you have ES-335 player Dave Grohl's birthday and the release of debut albums from the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. We're celebrating the week of Jan. 8 through 14, and read on for some significant events, historic record releases and births and deaths taking place this week in rock history.

Events 

1967 - Jimi Hendrix records the massively successful "Purple Haze" at De Lane Lea Studios in London.

1969 - George Harrison leaves the Beatles, but it's only for a brief time.

1974 - Kiss ink their first major recording deal, with Casablanca Records.

1978 - The Sex Pistols perform their final show and soon after break up in San Francisco, California.

1992 - Nirvana's Nevermind record reaches No. 1 in America, taking the place of Michael Jackson's Dangerous.

2012 - The White Stripes singer Jack White appears on the History Channel program American Pickers.

Releases  

The Beatles, Introducing... The Beatles, 1964

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin, 1969

David Bowie, Low, 1977

Rush, Permanent Waves, 1980

David Bowie, Where Are We Now? (single), 2013

Deaths

Steve Clark (Def Leppard) – January 8, 1991

Chester Arthur Burnett “Howlin’ Wolf,” January 10, 1976

Margaret Whiting, January 10, 2011

Mickey Finn (T. Rex percussionist), January 11, 2003

Jimmy Griffin (Bread), January 11, 2005

Spencer Dryden (Jefferson Airplane, New Riders of the Purple Sage), January 11, 2005

Maurice Gibb (The Bee Gees), January 12, 2003

Jerry Nolan (The Heartbreakers and New York Dolls), January 14, 1992

Births

Elvis Presley – January 8, 1935

Robby Krieger – January 8, 1946

David Bowie – January 8, 1947

Joan Baez, January 9, 1941

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, January 9, 1944

Cassie Gaines (Lynyrd Skynyrd), January 9, 1948

Paul King (Mungo Jerry), January 9, 1948

Steve McRay (.38 Special), January 9, 1950

David Johansen (New York Dolls), January 9, 1953

Eric Erlandson (Hole), January 9, 1963

Carl Bell (Fuel), January 9, 1967

Steve Harwell (Smash Mouth), January 9, 1967

Dave Matthews (The Dave Matthews Band), January 9, 1967

Frank Sinatra Jr., January 10, 1944

Rod Stewart, January 10, 1945

Ronny Light, January 10, 1945

Aynsley Dunbar (Journey, Whitesnake, Jefferson Airplane), January 10, 1946

Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), January 10, 1948

Pat Benatar, January 10, 1953

Michael Schenker (Scorpions, UFO), January 10, 1955

Clarence Clemons (E Street Band), January 11, 1942

Tony Kaye (Yes), January 11, 1943

Tom Dumont (No Doubt), January 11, 1968

Tom Rowlands (The Chemical Brothers), January 11, 1971

William Lee Golden (The Oak Ridge Boys), January 12, 1939

Cynthia Robinson (Sly and the Family Stone), January 12, 1946

Charlie Gillingham (Counting Crows), January 12, 1960

Rob Zombie (White Zombie), January 12, 1966

Trevor Rabin (Yes), January 13, 1954

Fred White (Earth, Wind & Fire), January 13, 1955

Zach de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine), January 13, 1970

T-Bone Burnett, January 14, 1948

Geoff Tate (Queensryche), January 14, 1959

Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), January 14, 1969

Anne Erickson holds years of bylines in Gannett Media publications, as well as music magazines Premier Guitar, Guitar Edge and more. She also hosts radio shows with iHeartRadio and has been syndicated in Seattle, Dayton, Central Coast California and beyond. Anne is a loyal Spartan and holds a Master’s degree from MSU. She resides in Lansing, Michigan.A