May 7th

Musical birthdays today include Christy Moore (80), Thelma Houston (79), former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann (79), ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden (74), former Art of Noise keyboardist Anne Dudley (69), Motörhead lead guitarist Phil Campbell (64), Trans-Siberian Orchestra Johnny Lee Middleton (62), trip hop singer Martin Topley-Bird (50), Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helden (39), and Natalie Mejia (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Johannes Brahms, born on this day in 1833... for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born in 1840... for DJ & early rock singer Jim Lowe, born in 1924... for jazz & pop singer Teresa Brewer, born in 1932... for soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, who would have been 90 today... for Johnny Maestro, who would have been 86... for New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, who would have been 80... for composer Antonio Salieri, who died on this date in 1825... for big band drummer & Glenn Miller sideman Ray McKinley, who died in 1995... for country singer Eddie Rabbitt, who passed away in 1998... and for pop singer Teri Moïse, who took her own life today in 2018 at the age of 43. 

Also on May 7th: Beethoven's Choral 9th Symphony has its premieres at the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna. The composer himself, by now totally deaf, keeps time, but the musicians follow the assistant conductor (1824)... RKO Pictures release the film 'Shall We Dance' with a complete George Gershwin score (1937)... Van Cliburn signs his first recording contract with RCA (1958)... The Mamas and the Papas go to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Monday Monday'. Reportedly, John Phillips was the only member of the group who liked the song (1966)... Jimi Hendrix plays London's Saville Theatre with Ringo Star, Brian Jones and members of The Beach Boys and The Moody Blues in attendance... Pearls Before Swine begin recording an album called One Nation Underground. The LP includes a song called 'Miss Morse', which would be banned in New York when it was discovered that lead singer Tom Rapp was singing F-U-C-K in Morse code. After disc jockey Murray The K played the record on the air, local Boy Scouts correctly interpreted the chorus and phoned in a complaint... In Baltimore, MD, John Coltrane plays his final live gig (1967)... Reginald Dwight legally changes his name to Elton Hercules John (1972)... Led Zeppelin hold a launch party at the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC for their own label, Swan Song Records (1974)... The Eagles have the № 1 single in America with 'Hotel California' (1977)... 90,000 tickets are sold in eight hours for Bob Dylan's forthcoming London dates at Earls Court (1978)... Paul Weller unveils his new group Style Council at an anti-nuclear benefit gig in London (1983)...  Wilson Pickett is arrested after running into an 86 year old man, and for yelling death threats whilst driving his car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, NJ. Pickett is also charged with driving with open containers of alcohol in his car (1991)... A leather Jacket worn by John Lennon in the years 1960 to 1963, sells at Christies of London for £24,200 (1992)... A Los Angeles federal jury recommend a $1.5 million award to a British record company that sued rapper-producer Dr Dre for song plagiarism. London-based Minder Music Ltd. sued Dre in 2000, claiming his 1999 song, 'Let's Get High,' used the bass line of The Fatback's 1980 song, 'Backstroking' that was featured on Dre's successful '2001' album, which sold 9 million copies worldwide (2003).

May 6th

Musical birthdays today include bluesman Eddie C. Campbell (87), jazz bassist David Friesen (84), Bob Seger (81), Mary MacGregor (78), They Might Be Giants co-frontman John Flansburgh (76), Fastball lead singer Tony Scalzo (62), Stereolab lead singer Laetitia Sadier (58), Foo Fighters lead guitarist Chris Shiflett (55), and Evile lead singer Matt Drake (45).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for dance band leader Billy Cotton, born on this day in 1899... for jazz & skiffle guitarist Denny Wright, born in 1924... for former Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh, who would have been 76... for jazz violinist & bandleader Ted Weems, who died on this date in 1963... for jazz trombonist Kai Winding, who died in 1983... for Marlene Dietrich, who passed away in 1992... for songwriter Otis Blackwell [best remembered for 'Great Balls of Fire' and 'Don't Be Cruel'], who died in 2002... for Go-Betweens frontman Grant McLennan, who passed away in 2006... and for Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider, who left us three years ago today.

Also on May 6th: At Rudy Van Gelder's studio, Dexter Gordon records Doin' Allright, his first album for Blue Note (1961)... In their Clearwater, Florida hotel room, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards work out the opening guitar riff of 'Satisfaction', following Richard's purchase of a Gibson fuzz-box earlier that day (1965)... At Abbey Road, The Beatles record overdubs for 'I'm Only Sleeping' and experiment with the mixing. The song features then then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet, with both parts played by George Harrison... Bob Dylan opens the UK leg of his world tour at the ABC Club in Belfast (1966)... Atlantic Records release Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway's eponymous duet album (1972)... Paul Simon sets out on his first tour without partner Art Garfunkel since 1964, using The Jesse Dixon Singers as a back- up group on stage. Simon's tour of America and Europe will be recorded and released as the album Live Rhymin' (1973)...The Boomtown Rats play their first gig in England, appearing at London's Club 51 (1977)... Oasis score their first UK № 1 single with 'Some Might Say' (1995)... In the wake of the uproar generated by Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines’ comments about President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, a Pueblo, CO radio station suspends two of its disc jockeys for playing music by the group (2003)... Starbucks bans the sale of Bruce Springsteen's latest album Devils and Dust over concerns about its adult content. A spokesman for the the retailer - which stocks CDs at its branches in the US - says that they will be promoting other albums instead (2006).

May 5th

Musical birthdays today include session guitarist Steve Stevens (80), 
original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward (78), Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch (67), Dream Theater lead singer James LaBrie (63), Megadeath drummer Shawn Drover (60), Gallows frontman Wade MacNeil (42), and Adele (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Blind Willie McTell, born on this day in 1901... for Buena Vista Social Club singer Pío Leyva, born in 1917... for early rock saxophonist John 'Ace' Cannon and for soul singer Johnnie Taylor, both born in 1934... for electronic musician & composer Delia Derbyshire, who would have been 89... for Tammy Wynette, who would have been 83... for the Reverend Gary Davis, who died on this date in 1972... for country singer Jerry Wallace, who passed away in 2008, and for singer & music journalist Greg Quill, who left us today in 2014.  

Also on May 5th: Carnegie Hall opens its doors for the first time, with Tchaikovsky leading the NY Philharmonic in a rendition of his own Marche solenelle. Also on the program is Beethoven's Leonore overture, under the baton of Walter Damrosch, the regular conductor of the Philharmonic (1891)... In Paris, composer Claude Debussy performs in public for the last time, playing the piano for the premiere of his own 1st Violin Sonata (1918)... Elvis scores his first US № 1 single with 'Heartbreak Hotel' (1956)... John Coltrane and bandmates finish recording the Giant Steps album, including 'Naima' (1959)... On a recommendation by George Harrison, Dick Rowe, head of A&R at Decca records (and the man who turned down The Beatles), goes to see The Rolling Stones play at the Crawdaddy Club in London. The band will be signed to the label within a week (1963)... Manfred Mann are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pretty Flamingo'. The recording features future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965. On their Top Of The Pops appearance, singer Paul Jones performs whilst standing on one leg (1966)... Buffalo Springfield announce that they have disbanded (1968)... The Beatles' single 'Get Back' is released in the US. John will claim in 1980 that "there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there", adding that Paul looked at Yoko in the studio every time he sang the line 'Get back to where you once belonged' (1969)... Columbia records release Paul Simon's second solo album There Goes Rhymin' Simon... David Bowie has first UK № 1 album with Aladdin Sane. Across the Atlantic, Elvis' Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite is the top-selling LP (1973)... Television appear at CBGB with The Stilettoes ~ soon to change their name to Blondie ~ as their opening act (1974)... Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr marries Chrissie Hynde in a horse-drawn carriage in NYC's Central Park... Duran Duran have the № 1 single in the US and the UK with 'The Reflex' (1984)... 
Radiohead release 'The Drill EP', their first record in the UK. The band are still called 'On a Friday', the day when the songs on this EP were recorded; they will change their name to Radiohead the following month (1992)... Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan receives both a public apology and a donation of £7,500 to the Warchild charity from the German tabloid 'Sport' after they ran a story claiming she had performed a gig in Hamburg whilst wearing no underwear... 
Rage against the Machine have the № 1 album in the US with Evil Empire (1996)... Two disc jockeys from Denver's KRFX-FM, Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, stop a live interview with Ted Nugent after the Detroit rocker uses racial slurs against Asians and Blacks. The station receives scores of complaints from listeners (2002)... Justin Timberlake undergoes an operation at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Hospital to remove nodules from his vocal chords (2005).

May 4th

Musical birthdays today include jazz double bassist Ron Carter (89), country singer Stella Parton (77), The Pogues bassist Darryl Hunt (76), Camel bassist Colin Bass (73), soul singer Oleta Adams (73), Pia Zadora (73), singer-songwriter Marilyn Martin (72), Mötley Crüe lead guitarist Mick Mars (71), Sharon Jones (70), Randy Travis (67), New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander (56), Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt (54), 'N Sync vocalist Lance Bass (47), and Panic! at the Disco bassist Dallon Weekes (45).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori [credited with the invention of the piano], born on this day in 1655... for former Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy, born in 1923... for jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, born in 1926... for operatic soprano Roberta Peters, born in 1930... for guitarist Dick Dale, who would have been 89... for soul singer Tyrone Davis, who would have been 88... for Nickolas Ashford, who would have been 83... and for Paul Butterfield, who left us today in 1987. 

Also on May 4th: Haydn conducts the premiere performance of his 104th and final symphony at the King's Theatre, London (1795)... At the Opéra Garnier in Paris, the Symphony Society of New York opens the first tour of Europe by an full American symphony orchestra (1923)... Gene Vincent records 'Be Bop-A-Lula' at Owen Bradley's studio in Nashville (1956)... John Coltrane records 'Giant Steps' and other material for the album of the same name (1959)... The Young Rascals go to № 1 in the US with 'Groovin''. Atlantic Records Jerry Wexler was originally opposed to releasing the song as a single, but DJ Murray the K talked him into it (1967)... Neil Young writes 'Ohio' on hearing the news of the Kent State shootings, and immediately records the song with Crosby, Stills & Nash (1970)... Led Zeppelin land in NYC to open their 1973 North American tour, which would be reported by campaign's end as the 'biggest and most profitable rock & roll tour in the history of the United States'. The group would gross over $4 million from the dates, flying between gigs in 'The Starship', a Boeing 720 passenger jet complete with bar, shower room, TV and video in a 30' lounge and a white fur bedroom (1973)... Grand Funk Railroad have the № 1 single in America with 'The Loco-Motion.' It is only the second time ever that a cover version of a former № 1 [the original version by Little Eva in 1962] has also topped the charts (1974)... The Patti Smith Group, David Johansen, Dead Boys, Blondie, Suicide and Richard Hell & the Voidoids all appear at a Punk Benefit for the Poor show at CBGB (1978)... Korova Records release Echo & the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain (1984)... Stevie Ray Vaughn plays the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the opening gig on what will prove to be his final tour (1989)... Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill is the № 1 album in Britain (1996)... Metallica publish a demand that online music service Napster cut off 335,000 users who they claim have been illegally trading their songs. The band passed on the names of all those they considered to be stealing their material over the internet in the latest development in an ongoing battle over the protection of music copyright on the web (2000)...  Thieves break into the childhood home of Motown star Martha Reeves and steal approximately $1 million worth of uninsured recording equipment, including speakers, microphones and karaoke machines. A suspect is arrested at his home later in the day after trying to sell the goods to a pawnshop for $400 (2008).

May 3rd

Musical birthdays today include Frankie Valli (92), former Troggs bassist Pete Staples (82), Mary Hopkin (76), music biographer Alan Clayton (75), original Pavement drummer Gary Young (73), Angela Bofill (72), former Soft Cell keyboardist Dave Ball (67), country singer Shane Minor (57), ex-Reamonn frontman Rea Garvey (53), Interpol frontman Paul Banks (48), and former Destiny's Child vocalist Farrah Franklin (45).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for impresario and opera producer Richard D'Oyly Carte, born on this day in 1844... for Bing Crosby, born in 1903... for Pete Seeger, born in 1919...  for jazz pianist John Lewis, born in 1920... for country singer Dave Dudley, born in 1928... for James Brown, born in 1933... for chansonnier Georges Moustaki, born in 1934... for Stone the Crows guitarist Alex Harvey, who was electrocuted on this day in 1972 at the age of 27 when he touched an improperly grounded microphone during a  gig in Swansea, Wales... for Franco-Italian pop singer Iolanda Gigliotti AKA Dalida, who took her own life today in 1987 at the age of 54... and for Jamaican saxophonist & flautist Cedric Brooks, who left us today in 2013.  

Also on May 3rd: Kitty Wells records 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels'. Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session at Owen Bradley’s Nashville studio because of the $125 union scale recording payment. The song goes on to become the first Billboard № 1 single by a solo female country singer (1952)... 'The Fantasticks' opens off Broadway (1960)... The Beatles spend the day filming for their forthcoming film Help! on Salisbury Plain with the British Army's Third Tank Division (1965)... The Beach Boys open their US tour on which the co-headliner is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The second half of the concert, which features the Maharishi, consists of a lecture to the audience on 'spiritual regeneration.' The overwhelmingly negative reaction causes more than half of the remaining tour dates to be cancelled... The Jimi Hendrix Experience record 'Voodoo Chile' (1968)... Epic Records release Sly & the Family Stone's Stand!, the group's breakout album (1969)... In Copenhagen, at the opening gig of their current European tour, Led Zeppelin give the only known performance of a Page-Plant composition entitled 'Four Sticks', and also play 'Misty Mountain Hop' live for the first time (1971)... David Bowie opens a sold out six-night stand at Wembley Stadium, his first UK gigs since announcing his retirement from live performance three years previously... Paul McCartney makes his first live concert appearance in the US since 1966 when he and Wings kick off their 'Wings over America' tour at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX (1976)... The Police make their British TV debut, performing 'Roxanne' on the BBC's 'Top of the Pops'(1979)...  Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band start a six week run at № 1 on the US album chart with 'Against The Wind' (1980)... Robert Palmer goes to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Addicted To Love'. Palmer originally recorded the song as a duet with Chaka Khan, but her vocal track had to be removed owing to contractual difficulties (1986)... In Dublin, Katrina and the Waves become the first British winners of the Eurovision song contest in 16 years with 'Love Shine a Light'...  The Notorious B.I.G. starts a three week run at № 1 on the US singles chart with his posthumous hit 'Hypnotize', released as a single shortly after the rapper's murder in March (1997)... The first Bob Dylan radio program is aired on XM Satellite Radio. Artists played on the show included Blur, Prince, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Mary Gauthier, L.L. Cool J and The Streets (2006)... Sean 'Diddy' Combs is honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 38-year-old singer dedicates the star to his father, who was shot dead in 1972 (2008)... Bob Dylan goes to № 1 on the UK album chart with Together Through Life, his seventh LP to top the British charts. Dylan's 33rd studio album is the first to reign on the UK chart with since 1970. His first № 1 in 1964, was ‘The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'. Bob now holds the record, previously held by Tom Jones, for the longest gap between solo № 1 albums (2009).

May 2nd

Musical birthdays today include Engelbert Humperdinck (90), jazz pianist Connie Crothers (85), former Roulettes drummer Bob Henrit (82), original Steppenwolf Keyboardist Goldy McJohn (81), Larry Gatlin (78), ex-Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm (76), Sol Invictus frontman Tony Wakeford (67), Blow Monkeys frontman Bruce 'Dr. Robert' Howard (65), and Lily Allen (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, born on this day in 1895... for songwriter Doris Fisher [best remembered for 'You Always Hurt the One You Love'], born in 1917... for singer & sitarist Vasantrao Deshpande, born in 1920... for Theodore Bikel, born in 1924... for Link Wray, born in 1929... for classical violinist Michael Rabin, who would have been 88 today... for reggae singer Alexander 'Judge Dread' Hughes, who would have been 81... for Lesley Gore, who would have been 80... for Jethro Tull bassist John Glascock, who would have been 75... for composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, who died on this date in 1864... for trumpeter & bandleader Larry Clinton, who died in 1985... and for original Slayer lead guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who left us today in 2014.

Also on May 2nd: Verdi's opera Il Trovatore has its American premiere at the Academy of Music in NYC (1855)... Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is performed for the first time at a children's concert given by the Moscow Philharmonic (1936)... The Beatles have their first № 1 single in the UK, the first of 11 in a row, with 'From Me to You' (1963)... The Who give a press preview of their new rock opera 'Tommy' at Ronnie Scott's in London. The double album about a 'deaf, dumb and blind kid' who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, is the first musical work to be billed overtly as a rock opera. In 1998 it will be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its 'significant historical and artistic value' and has now sold over 20 million copies worldwide... The Beatles record 'Something' at Abbey Road... Pink Floyd's show at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce is recorded for inclusion on Ummagumma (1969)...  Bruce Springsteen auditions for CBS Records A&R man John Hammond in New York. Springsteen plays a short set for him in his office; Hammond is so impressed that he arranges a showcase performance that night at the Gaslight Club for other Columbia executives. The future Boss passes the second audition as well (1972)... At Birmingham University, Joy Division play what will prove to be their last gig with Ian Curtis (1980)... Spandau Ballet have their only UK № 1 single with 'True' (1983)... A security guard alerts the police after a man wearing a wig, fake moustache and false teeth walks into Zales Jewellers in Los Angeles. Three squad cars arrive and police detain the man, who turns out to be Michael Jackson in disguise... The Cure release Disintegration (1989)... The video for the R.E.M. song 'Losing My Religion' is banned in Ireland because its religious imagery is deemed unfit for broadcast...  Nirvana book into Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California for 16 days. On a budget of $65,000 and with Butch Vig producing, the band begin recording what will become the Nevermind album (1991)... Total Guitar magazine's readers have voted Guns N' Roses' anthem ‘Sweet Child O' Mine’ as the greatest guitar riff ever, ahead of Nirvana's ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. Led Zeppelin's ‘Whole Lotta Love’ came third, followed by Deep Purple's ‘Smoke On The Water’. Total Guitar editor Scott Rowley says: "To a new generation of guitarists, Guns N' Roses are more thrilling than the Sex Pistols" (2004)... Eric Clapton joins former Cream members Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce for the first of four nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, 36 years after they split up. Tickets were changing hands for more than £500 on eBay and fans flew over from the USA to witness the reunion, which Clapton, aged 60, is said to have agreed to because of the failing health of the other former members of the band (2005)... Bob Dylan mingles unnoticed with other Beatles fans during a minibus tour to John Lennon's childhood home. He is one of 14 tourists to examine photos and documents in the National Trust-owned home, where Lennon grew up with his aunt Mimi and uncle George. Dylan, who was on a day off on a European tour, paid £16 for the public trip to the 1940s house in Woolton, Liverpool (2009).

May 1st

Musical birthdays today include Judy Collins (87), Rita Coolidge (81), ex-Henry Cow sax & winds player Tim Hodgkinson (77), songwriter & producer Glen Ballard (73), Ray Parker, Jr. (72), Will Kimbrough (62), Tim McGraw (59), original Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'arcy Wretzky (58), Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Johnny Colt (58), original Suede lead guitarist Bernard Butler (56), and ex-Reel Big Fish trombonist Dan Regan (49). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Kate Smith, born on this day in 1907... for country singer Sonny James, born in 1929...  for blues harmonica virtuoso Marion 'Little Walter' Jacobs,born in 1930... for jazz singer Shirley Horn, boen in 1935... for Stax session keyboardist Carson Whitsett, who would have been 81... for former April Wine and B.T.O. bassist Jim Clench, who would have been 77... for Les Rita Mitsouko frontman Fred Chichin, who would have been 72.. for Link 80 lead singer Nick Traina, who would have been 47... for Lost Sounds guitarist Jimmy Lindsey Jr. AKA 'Jay Reatard', who would have been 46... for composer Antonin Dvořák, who died on this date in 1904... for Spike Jones, who died in 1965... for composer Aram Katchaturian, who passed away in 1978... for blues guitarist Charles 'Skip' Pitts, who died  today in 2012... and for Gordon Lightfoot, who left us two years ago today. 

Also on May 1st: Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro has its premiere at the Burgtheater of Vienna (1786)... On her 24th birthday, Kate Smith makes her US national radio debut on CBS (1931)... Herman's Hermits are at № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter' (1965)... The Beatles play their last ticketed live show in Britain at the Empire Pool, Wembley (1966)... Elvis marries Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas. The wedding license costs $15, the cake $3,500... The FBI arrests Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys on suspicion of evading the military draft. The singer, whose deferment papers are in fact in order, is released in time to join the rest of the band in Ireland for the beginning of a European tour (1967)... Reprise records release Joni Mitchell's album Clouds... Bob Dylan tapes an appearance for The Johnny Cash Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. After two solo numbers from Dylan, Johnny Cash joins him for a rendition of 'Girl From The North Country' (1969)... D.C. mayor Walter Washington proclaims a 'Marvin Gaye Day' in the nation's capital (1973)... The Carpenters perform at the White House at the personal invitation of President Richard Nixon (1974)... Led Zeppelin go to № 1 on the US album chart with Presence. The № 1 single in the country is The Bellamy Brothers' 'Let Your Love Flow' (1976)... The Clash kick off their 'White Riot' tour at the Roxy in London, sharing the bill with The Jam and The Buzzcocks (1977)... Mick Fleetwood files for bankruptcy (1984)... The five-bedroom 1902 house where Kurt Cobain was living at the time of his death goes up for sale, for an asking price of $3 million. The carriage house in which the Nirvana guitarist committed suicide was demolished last year (1997)... 'The Paintings of Paul McCartney' exhibit opens at the Lyz Art Forum, Siegen, Germany. The show features 70 canvasses by the former Beatle, including a piece called 'Bowie Spewing', Macca's representation of a young David Bowie (1999)... Coldplay become the first British band since The Beatles to place a single in the US top 10 in the first week of its release, when 'Speed of Sound' debuts in the Billboard Hot 100 at № 8 (2005)... A Minnesota man is accused of impersonating a member of Pink Floyd at a US hospital while racking up as much as $100,000 in unpaid medical bills. Phillip Michael Schaeffer, 53, went for treatment on April 20 and claimed he was Pink Floyd singer-guitarist David Gilmour and that he didn't have health insurance. The man was treated and released three days later from St. Cloud Hospital, but not before signing an autograph for an employee’s son (2013).