... and more December 21 birthdays –
Luigi Creatore (1921) – songwriter/producer (“Honeycomb”).
Freddie Hart (aka Frederick Segrest, 1926) – Country singer/songwriter
(“Easy Loving”).
Wes Farrell (1939) – American producer/songwriter ("Boys").
Paul (aka Ray Hildebrand, 1940) – Paul and Paula.
Carla Thomas (1942) – singer, “The Queen of Memphis Soul.”
Albert Lee (1943) – session and tour guitarist.
Nick Gilder (1951) – Canadian singer (“Hot Child In The City”).
Betty Wright (aka Bessie Norris, 1953) – R&B singer/songwriter (“Clean
Up Woman”).
Emmett “Murph” Murphy III (1964) – drummer for Dinosaur Jr. and The
Lemonheads.
Brett Scallions (1971) – vocalist for Fuel.December 21 R.I.P. – Charlie Fuqua (1971) – Age 61. Singer/guitarist for The Ink Spots. Paul Jeffreys (1988) – Lockerbie airplane bomb. Age 36. Bassist for Be- Bop Deluxe. Albert King (1992) – heart attack. Age 69. Karl Denver (1998) – brain tumor. Age 67. Scottish singer (“Wimoweh”). December 21 album releases – Dionne Warwick – Here I Am (1965) Frank Zappa – Thing-Fish (1984) Sade – Promise (1985) U.S. Jodeci – Diary Of A Mad Band (1993) December 21 events – 1950 – Billy Eckstine records "I Apologize" at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. 1950 – Hank Williams records “Cold, Cold Heart” and three others songs at Castle Studio in Nashville. 1955 – LaVern Baker records “Jim Dandy” for Atlantic Records. 1959 – Lloyd Price records "Lady Luck," "No Ifs - No Ands," and "Never Let Me Go." 1959 – Jack Scott records "Burning Bridges" at Bell Sound Studio in New York. 1959 – Conway Twitty releases his single “Lonely Blue Boy” b/w “Star Spangled Heaven.” 1960 – Elvis Presley’s sixth movie, Flaming Star, opens in theaters, and Elvis is inducted into the Los Angeles Indian Tribal Council. 1964 – Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts publishes his children’s book, Ode To A High Flying Bird: a book of text and drawings about Charlie Parker. 1964 – The Temptations release their single, “My Girl” b/w “(Talking ‘Bout) Nobody But My Baby” on the Gordy label. 1966 – The Beach Boys’ single “Good Vibrations,” and their albums Little Deuce Coupe and Shut Down, Vol. 2 are certified gold by the RIAA. 1967 – The Beatles throw a costume party at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel for the cast, crew and families of their Magical Mystery Tour film. 1968 – Glen Campbell’s album Wichita Lineman hits #1 on the Billboard chart: Glen’s only album to do so. 1968 – Janis Joplin makes her solo stage debut in Memphis at a Stax/ Volt Christmas party that also features label artists Eddie Floyd and Booker T. and The MGs. 1969 – Diana Ross makes her final appearance with The Supremes on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1970 – Elvis Presley makes a visit to the White House in order to volunteer his services to President Nixon in fighting the war on drugs. Presley, who loves official badges, has been trying to get a BNDD (Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) badge for himself, and when calling the Bureau failed, Nixon himself stepped in and ordered his deputy counsel to arrange a meeting. Presley presents the President with a chrome-plated Colt .45 gun, and the next day Presley receives his badge. 1972 – Martha and The Vandellas play their final concert at Cobo Hall in Detroit. 1977 – Queen appears at the Long Beach Arena in southern California. 1977 – Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams record "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late." 1979 – Linda Ronstadt hosts a benefit show for her boyfriend, Governor of California and Presidential candidate Jerry Brown, at the San Diego Sports Arena, where she performs along with Chicago and The Eagles. 1984 – Frankie Goes To Hollywood plays the first of three nights at the Liverpool Royal Court Theatre. 1985 – Bruce Springsteen's album Born In The U.S.A. passes Michael Jackson's Thriller to become the second longest-lasting LP on Billboard’s Top Ten album chart at 79 weeks, second only to 1959's original Broadway soundtrack for The Sound Of Music, at 109 weeks.. 1988 – Bassist for The Cockney Rebels Paul Jeffreys is one of the passengers killed by a terrorist bomb on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 1990 – A memorial concert for John Lennon is held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, featuring Hall & Oates, Natalie Cole, Linda Ronstadt and Sean Lennon. 1995 – Northern Uproar singer Leon Meya receives a letter from the Spanish Ministry Of Defense ordering him to sign up for national service because Meya lived in Spain until he was five. 1996 – En route to a White House dinner with the Clintons, Tony Bennett suffers a ruptured hernia and is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. 2001 – The L.A. police department launches an investigation into why Olivia Harrison listed a non-existent Beverly Hills address as the place of husband George Harrison's death. 2003 – Eminem's ex-wife Kimberley Mathers pleads guilty in a Michigan court to a drug and driving offenses stemming from a traffic stop by police in June. Mathers was charged with possession of cocaine, driving with a suspended license and maintaining a drug house in which police discovered marijuana and Ecstasy. The 28 year-old mother turned herself in after previously failing to attend a November 1 hearing, and removing an electronic tagging device used to monitor her movements. 2003 – Tommy Hubbard from Whitby, age 14, wins the 2003 Riffathon, a nationwide guitar competition in aid of Action For Brazil's Children Trust. The final is held at the University of Surrey and is judged by Jimmy Page and Brian May of Queen. The ten Riffathon finalists each perform a Led Zeppelin classic track with a full live band. Tommy's performance of "Ramble On" won him the star prize of a 1958 re-issue Gibson Les Paul standard guitar, donated by Gibson Guitars. 2005 – The Sugababes unveil their new member just a day after Mutya Buena announces she is leaving, when self-confessed Sugababes fan Amelle Berrabah, 21, from Hampshire, is named as the new singer of the group. 2005 – Elton John and his partner David Furnish become the first gay celebrity couple to register their relationship as a civil partnership in a 20-minute ceremony taking place at the Guild Hall in Windsor. Guests include Ringo Starr, Victoria Beckham, Joss Stone, Sting, Elvis Costello, Jamie Cullum, George Michael and The Osbournes. 2010 – Kings Of Leon postpone their concert at the O2 Arena in London after fires break out on two of their tour buses which are parked in the loading bay of the venue. About 60 firefighters are at the scene and ambulance crews treat six people for smoke inhalation.
