... and more December 20 birthdays – Irene Dunne (1898) – actress, Broadway singer (Show Boat). Denny Vaughan (1922) – Canadian singer, TV show host, “The English Elvis.” Kim Weston (aka Agatha Weston, 1939) – Motown singer with Marvin Gaye (“It Takes Two”). Stevie Wright (1948) – The Easybeats. Alan Parsons (1948) Guy Babylon (1956) – tour keyboardist with Elton John. Anita Ward (1957) – Disco singer (“Ring My Bell”). Mike Watt (1957) – bassist for Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Billy Bragg (1957) – British singer/songwriter. Chris Robinson (1966) – vocalist for The Black Crowes.
December 20 R.I.P. – Arthur Rubenstein (1982) – Age 95. Classical pianist. Hank Snow (1999) – Age 85. Country music artist. Charles Grean (2003) – natural causes. Age 90. Composer/producer (“The Thing”). Son Seals (2004) – diabetes. Age 62. Blues guitarist/singer. James Gurley (2009) – heart attack. Age 69. Guitarist for Big Brother and The Holding Company. Sean Bonniwell (2011) – lung cancer. Age 71. Singer/songwriter/ guitarist for The Music Machine. December 20 album releases – George Harrison – The Concert For Bangla Desh (1971) The Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (1971) George Harrison – Dark Horse (1974) UK December 20 events – 1880 – New York City’s Broadway is lit by electricity, and becomes known as the “Great White Way.” 1932 – Al Jolson records “You Are Too Beautiful,” “April Showers” and “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody.” 1950 – Lefty Frizzell makes his Grand Ole Opry debut. 1954 – Nat "King" Cole records "A Blossom Fell," and, with The Four Knights on backing vocals, "If I May," at Capitol in Hollywood. 1957 – Elvis Presley receives his draft notice. 1958 – John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison appear as The Quarrymen at the wedding reception of George's older brother, Harry, which is held at the Harrison family home at 25 Upton Green, Speke, Liverpool. 1962 – The Osmond Brothers – a youth barber-shop quartet from Ogden, Utah, consisting of Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond - make their debut on The Andy Williams Show, performing “Side By Side” and “Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas.” 1963 – Sam Cooke records “(Ain’t That) Good News” for RCA. 1966 – The Beatles add their vocals to “When I’m Sixty-Four” at Abbey Road. 1967 – Ian Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick form Jethro Tull; named after the 18th-century inventor of the seed drill. 1967 – Folk singer Joan Baez is sentenced to 45 days in jail, stemming from her arrest during an anti-war demonstration on October 16 in Oakland, California. 1967 – Country music artist Jimmie Rodgers undergoes brain surgery in San Diego to relieve building pressure, stemming from a “mysterious attack” on the San Diego Freeway on December 1. 1971 – The Main Ingredient records “Everybody Plays The Fool” in New York. 1975 – Joe Walsh replaces Bernie Leadon in The Eagles. 1980 – Twelve days after his murder, John Lennon’s single “(Just Like) Starting Over” hits #1 in the UK: his first ever #1 solo record there. 1981 – The Broadway musical Dreamgirls, based loosely on The Supremes, premieres at the Imperial Theatre, where it will run for the next four years. 1982 – Columbia Records’ country music division head Don Law passes away at age 80. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Law produced some of the biggest country hits, including “Big Bad John,” “Wolverton Mountain,” “El Paso,” and “The Battle Of New Orleans,” among others. 1986 – Randy Travis joins the Grand Ole Opry. 1994 – Beach Boy Mike Love drops his lawsuit against the band for unpaid royalties, settling out of court. 1995 – Former Guess Who vocalist Burton Cummings performs the first of three nights at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, recording each show for a live album release. 1999 – Readers of UK’s Guitar magazine vote Noel Gallagher as the most overrated guitarist of the millennium. Jimi Hendrix is voted the greatest. 2000 – Ritchie and J, from the band Five, are released on bail following a court appearance in connection with a fight in a Dublin pub. 2001 – Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee files papers with the Los Angeles Superior Court, branding his ex-wife Pamela Anderson as an unfit mother, alleging his sons tell him “We hate Mommy,” and his son Brandon says “fuck,” which he learned from Anderson. 2006 – Procol Harum’s Matthew Fisher wins his High Court copyright battle over the song “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” when Justice Blackburne rules he is entitled to 40% of the copyright. Fisher had wanted half, but the court decided lead singer Gary Brooker's input was more substantial. Fisher's claim for back royalties of up to £1million was also rejected. 2005 – ABC-TV announces that Dick Clark will return to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show after missing the 2004 program due to a stroke. 2006 – Rolling Stone magazine writer Ian Halperin reports that Michael Jackson is close to death, saying that Jackson is suffering from a rare lung condition and needs a lung transplant, and also claiming that the singer has lost 95% of his vision in one eye and is so ill he can barley speak. 2007 – After two years in the court system, Valerie Bertinelli’s divorce from Eddie Van Halen becomes finalized. 2012 – Billboard magazine names Adele as the top artist of the year.
