December 13th

 

Musical birthdays today composer Alvin Curran (84), guitarist Jeff Baxter (76), Ted Nugent (74), Tom Verlaine (73), Alabama lead singer Randy Owen (72), country singer John Anderson (67), Morris Day (64), saxophonist Eric Marienthal (65), Iggy & the Stooges drummer Toby Dammit (56), Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy (48), Blink-182 guitarist & singer Tom DeLonge (47), Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee (41), Taylor Swift (33), and Wicca demi-goddess, latter-day flower child & working class heroine Maya Bonhomme (23).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya, born on this day in 1903... for Christopher Plummer, born in 1929... for popular singer Harry Barris, who died on this date in 1962... and for Lovin' Spoonful lead guitarist Zal Yanovsky, who left us today in 2002. 

Also on December 13: Mahler conducts the premiere of his 2nd Symphony (Resurrection) in Berlin (1895)... George Gershwin is at the piano for the Carnegie Hall premiere of his suite An American in Paris with Walter Damrosch conducting (1928)... Dickie Valentine is at № 1 in the UK with 'Christmas Alphabet'. It will still be at the singles chart on the 25th of December, making it the first Yuletide № 1 that is actually about Christmas (1955)... Jimi Hendrix makes his TV debut on ITV's 'Ready Steady Go!' [Marc Bolan is also on the program]. After the show, Hendrix goes into the studio with the Experience to record 'Foxy Lady' (1966)... Diana Ross takes the Latino Casino in Philadelphia to court for $27,500 for damages and emotional distress;  her two pet dogs died after eating cyanide tablets left by an exterminator in her dressing room... Badfinger release the album Straight up (1971)... In Washington DC on a tour stop, George Harrison, Billy Preston and Ravi Shankar meet President Gerald Ford at the White House after the chief executive's son Jack extends an invitation (1974)... During  a solo concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon, Robert Plant is joined on stage by Jimmy Page for a performance of the early rock standard 'Treat Her Right' (1984)... Bruce Hornsby & the Range go to № 1 in America with 'The Way It Is' (1986)... Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder is ordered to pay £160,000 to his former management team over a dispute in his contract. Ryder told the court he was so high after smoking particularly potent joint that he hadn't bothered to read the fine print (1999)...  It  is announced that after 74 years the UK music weekly Melody Maker is to close down. The Christmas edition will be the last issue before the publication merges with the New Musical Express to create a more sizeable broad-based magazine... Sir Paul McCartney holds his first-ever London book signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly (2000).