March 14th

Musical birthdays today include Quincy Jones (89), Chicago saxophonist & winds player Walter Parazaider (77), singer-songwriter Jona Lewie (75), country singer Jann Browne (68), ex-Ministry drummer Rey Washam (61), session drummer Michael Bland (53), classical pianist Mei-Ting Sun (41), and Taylor Hanson (39). Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Georg Philipp Telemann, born on this day in 1681... for bandleader Les Brown, born in 1912... For folksinger Lee Hays, born in 1914... for bandleader Les Baxter, born in 1922... for DJ and songwriter [best remembered for 'Sea of Love'] Phil Phillips, born in 1931... for former Ohio Players guitarist Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner, who would have been 78 today... for jazz pianist & film score composer Roy Budd, who would have been 75... for songwriter Jerome 'Doc Pomus' Felder [best remembered as the lyricist to 'Save the Last Dance for Me' and 'This Magic Moment'], who died on this date in 1991... for French chansonnier Alain Bashung, who passed away in 2009... and for country singer Jack Greene, who left us today in 2013. Also on March 14th: Schubert's String Quartet in D, the only chamber work given a public performance in the composer's lifetime, premieres in Vienna (1824)... At the Savoy Theatre in London, Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado is performed for the first time (1885)... At the Met, legendary basso Fyodor Chaliapin gives his final American performance in a production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (1929)... Art Pepper convenes the first of the three sessions that will become the album 'Art Pepper + Eleven'. It will be the only outing of the saxophonist [who also plays clarinet here] as a big band ensemble leader (1959)... For the third night in a row on The Beatles' current UK tour, John Lennon is sidelined with a cold (1963)... The promotional film for 'Lady Madonna' is broadcast on 'Top of the Pops'. The Beatles were actually performing 'Hey Bulldog' when the clip was shot, but the footage was synched with 'Lady Madonna' for release (1968)... In Amsterdam, The Jimi Hendrix Experience tape a live concert for the Dutch TV show 'Fan Club (1969)... Elton John has the № 1 song in America with 'Crocodile Rock' (1973)... Eric Clapton is hospitalised with a bleeding ulcer, causing his upcoming US tour to be cancelled. The guitarist will be back in hospital five weeks from now after a car crash (1981)... Metallica make their live debut at Radio City in Anaheim, CA (1982)... Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such form Bon Jovi (1983)... Joe Jackson releases Body and Soul... Annie Lennox marries Hare Krishna Radha Raman (1984)... R.E.M. play the first of two nights at London's Borderline Club, billing themselves as 'Bingo Hand Job' (1991)... Peter Blake, who designed and photographed the iconic Sgt. Pepper album cover, files suit against EMI Records for more money. Blake accepted £200 for the job in 1967, but is now "cheesed off" that the record company has never offered him any additional royalties or bonuses (2001)... Michael Jackson is blasted by UK veterans for wearing British Army badges and insignia while on trial for child abuse in California. The singer has appeared in court most days with either an Army motif on his breast pocket or an officer's cap badge tied around his neck (2005)... Phil Blake of UK indie outfit Redtrack returns to his career as the bassist with the band after undergoing a pioneering operation to reattach his hand which was hacked to the bone in a machete attack. Blake thought he would never play guitar again after a teenage robber sliced through his arm when he refused to hand over his mobile phone (2010).