... and more December 22 birthdays –
Russell “Red” Steagall (1938) – Country singer/actor/radio and
television host.
James Gurley (1939) – guitarist for Big Brother and The Holding
Company.
Colin “Barry” Jenkins (1944) – drummer for The Nashville Teens and The
Animals.
Pamela Courson (1946) – “cosmic mate” and common-law wife of Jim
Morrison.
Rick Nielsen (1948) – guitarist for Cheap Trick.
Barry Sless (1955) – guitarist/pedal steel player for Phil And
Friends.
Ricky Ross (1957) – vocalist for Deacon Blue.
Richey Edwards (1967) – guitarist for Manic Street Preachers.
December 22 R.I.P. –
Rockin’ Robin Roberts (1967) – car crash. Age 27. Singer, The Wailers
(“Louie, Louie”).
D. Boon (1985) – van crash. Age 27. Singer/songwriter/guitarist for
Minutemen.
Joe Strummer (2002) – congenital heart defect. Age 50. The Clash.
Dave Dudley (2003) – heart attack. Age 75. Country music singer ("Six
Days On The Road").
Dennis Linde (2006) – idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Age 63. Country
songwriter (“Burning Love”).
Joe Ames (2007) – heart attack. Age 86. The Ames Brothers.
December 22 album releases –
Madeline Bell – Comin’ Atcha (1973)
DMX – Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood (1998)
December 22 events –
1941 – Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra, with Willie Smith on
vocals, records “Blues In The Night.”
1948 – Hank Williams records his breakout hit, “Lovesick Blues,” as
well as “Lost On The River” and “There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight” at
Herzog Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1955 – Alan Freed's twelve-day Rock 'N' Roll Holiday Jubilee stage
show opens in Manhattan, featuring Count Basie, LaVern Baker, The
Cadillacs, The Wrens, The Valentines, The Chuckles, and others.
1956 – Billboard magazine announces that Elvis Presley placed 17 chart
hits this year. Pat Boone only managed five.
1962 – Bob Dylan performs at the Singers Club in London: his second
gig of his first UK tour.
1966 – At Abbey Road Studios, producer George Martin and engineer
Geoff Emerick synch-up the two versions of John Lennon’s “Strawberry
Fields Forever” by slightly slowing down the first version (originally
in the key of C) and speeding up the second (in the key of A), which
puts the song’s key at somewhere close to B flat.
1967 – UK DJ John Peel hosts the all day and night event, Christmas On
Earth Continued, at the Olympia Exhibition Hall in London. Acts
include The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Animals,
Keith West and Tomorrow, 1984 (featuring guitarist Brian May), and
Soft Machine.
1968 – Eric Burdon quits The Animals for a solo career.
1968 – The Vogues perform “Turn Around, Look At Me” on The Ed Sullivan
Show. Also on the show are Patti Page and Mike Douglas.
1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet with Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau and Minister of Health John Munro to discuss drug
abuse.
1975 – Ike and Tina Turner's suitcase, containing $86,000 in concert
receipts, is stolen.
1976 – Isaac Hayes files for bankruptcy.
1978 – Former Faces drummer Kenney Jones joins The Who.
1978 – The stage version of Harry Nilsson's musical The Point opens in
London, featuring ex-Monkees Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz.
1980 – In the UK, Stiff Records releases an album called The Wit And
Wisdom Of Ronald Reagan, which contains no sound. The album’s running
length is 40 seconds of complete silence.
1982 – In Hollywood, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton record Bob Seger's
"We've Got Tonight."
1984 – CBS Records announces the upcoming release of Mick Jagger's
first solo album, titled She's The Boss.
1987 – Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx overdoses on heroin and is
pronounced “dead on arrival” in an ambulance when his heart stops
beating for two minutes. Sixx is given two shots of adrenaline in his
chest to revive him.
1988 – The Smiths play their final gig together at the Wolverhampton
Civic Hall.
1991 – Gregg Allman makes his acting debut as drug lord Will Gaines in
the film Rush, which premieres in theaters.
1991 – James Brown launches an unsuccessful lawsuit against the
producers of the movie The Commitments, claiming one of the characters
too closely resembles him.
2000 – Madonna marries film director Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in
Scotland.
2005 – Internet search engine Google announces that Janet Jackson was
the most searched name of the year due to her “wardrobe malfunction”
at the Super Bowl.
2008 – A 1973 cassette tape of a drunk John Lennon recording a six-
minute cover version of Lloyd Price's “Just Because” sells at an
auction in Los Angeles for $30,000.
2009 – The FBI releases 333 pages of documents compiled about Michael
Jackson between 1992 to 2005. The files reveal that they made several
investigations into death threats against him made by obsessed fans,
alleged inappropriate involvement between Jackson and an underage
male, as well as fears that he may have become the target for
terrorists.
2009 – Rolling Stone magazine reports that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler
has checked himself into rehab for his addiction to prescription
painkillers.
2010 – The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London is given Grade II
listed status. The crossing, the first of its kind to be listed, is
recognized for its "cultural and historical importance" following
advice from English Heritage.
