January 6 Born – Earl Scruggs (1924) Bobby Lord (1934) – Country music artist, Grand Ole Opry performer. Paul Wilson (1935) – The Flamingos. Nino Tempo (aka Antonino LoTempio, 1935) – session saxophonist/ clarinetist. Doris Troy (1937) Van McCoy (1940) Syd Barrett (aka Roger Keith Barrett, 1946) Sandy Denny (aka Alexandra Elene Denny, 1947) – Fairport Convention. Kim Wilson (1951) – singer/harmonica player for The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Malcolm Young (1953) – AC/DC. Kathy Sledge (1959) – Sister Sledge. Neil Simpson (1959) – bassist for Climax Blues Band. Muzz Skillings (aka Manuel Skillings, 1960) – bassist for Living Colour. Michael Houser (1962) – guitarist for Widespread Panic. Mark O’Toole (1964) – bassist for Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
January 6 R.I.P. – Georgeanna Tillman (1980) – sickle cell anemia. Age 36. The Marvelettes. Dizzy Gillespie (1993) – pancreatic cancer. Age 75. Harold Lucas (1994) – lung cancer. Age 61. The Clovers. Johnnie Mae Matthews (2002) – cancer. Age 79. Singer/songwriter/ producer, “The Godmother of Detroit Soul.” Lou Rawls (2006) – lung and brain cancer. Age 72. "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow (2007) – Alzheimer's disease. Age 72. Pedal steel guitarist. Tom Ardolino (2012) – diabetes. Age 56. Drummer for NRBQ. January 6 album releases – Frank Sinatra – Come Fly With Me (1958) The Beatles – Introducing…The Beatles (1964) Paul McCartney and George Martin – The Family Way (Soundtrack) (1967) Smokey Robinson and The Miracles – LIVE! (1969) Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive! (1976) U.S. Ginger Baker – Horses & Trees (1986) Neil Young – Lucky Thirteen (1993) Humble Gods – Born Free (2004) Phantom Planet – Phantom Planet (2004) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) January 6 events – 1955 – Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black record “Fool, Fool, Fool” and “Shake, Rattle And Roll” at an afternoon demo session at the KDAV radio station in Lubbock, Texas. In the evening, the trio performs for the first time at Ralph Lowe’s Cotton Club in Lubbock. 1956 – Lonnie Donegan's version of "Rock Island Line" hits the UK singles chart. 1956 – Elvis Presley performs in the gym at Randolph High School in Mississippi: his last ever appearance in a small auditorium. 1957 – Maynard Ferguson and His Orchestra appear at Peacock Lane in Hollywood, and record the show for album release. 1957 – Elvis Presley makes his third and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1958 – Gibson Guitars launch their Flying V line. 1958 – Johnny Cash releases his single, “Ballad Of A Teenage Queen” b/ w “Big River” on Sun Records. 1958 – Carl Perkins releases his single, “Glad All Over” b/w “Lend Me Your Comb” on Sun Records. 1958 – Singer Bobby Helms films his musical segment, appearing as himself, for the film A Case Against Brooklyn. 1961 – Saxophonists Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Johnny Griffin appear together at Minton’s Playhouse in New York City, and record the show for album release. 1961 – The cast and crew of Elvis Presley’s current production, Wild In The Country, throw the singer a birthday party. 1964 – Marvin Gaye records “You’re A Wonderful One” at Hitsville U.S.A. 1964 – The Rolling Stones begin their first tour as headliners as part of the Group Scene 1964 package tour at the Granada Theatre in Harrow on The Hill, Middlesex. Also on the tour are The Ronettes, Marty Wilde, The Swinging Blue Jeans and Dave Berry and The Cruisers. 1965 – The Righteous Brothers, Bobby Sherman, The Blossoms, Donna Loren, Adam Faith and Sal Mineo all appear on Shindig! 1966 – The Who, The Kinks, Ian Whitcomb, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Sandie Shaw, and The Barron Knights all appear on Shindig! 1967 – The Who appear at the Central Pier in Morecambe. 1968 – The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour album hits #1 in the U.S. for an eight week stay. 1968 – Dick Clark’s new program, Happening '68, debuts on ABC-TV, starring Paul Revere & The Raiders. 1969 – Ray Stevens releases his single, “Gitarzan” b/w “Bagpipes (That’s My Bag).” 1970 – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young make their UK stage debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 1973 – Stoneground plays their final concert together at Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, with opening acts Cold Blood, and Sylvester and The Hot Band. The show is recorded for album release. 1975 – While waiting to buy tickets for a February 4 concert by Led Zeppelin at the Boston Gardens, 2,000 people begin to riot and destroy the facility, causing $30,000 in damages. The concert is immediately cancelled. 1977 – The Jacksons release their single, “Show You The Way To Go” b/w “Blues Away.” 1977 – EMI drops The Sex Pistols from their roster, giving the band £40,000 to release them from their contract. 1978 – The Bee Gees release their single “Stayin’ Alive” b/w “If I Can’t Have You” in the UK. 1982 – Prince releases his single, “Let’s Work” b/w “Ronnie, Talk To Russia.” 1983 – R.E.M. begins recording their first album at Reflection Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina. 1984 – Yoko Ono releases the John Lennon single, “Nobody Told Me” b/w Ono’s “O’ Sanity.” 1987 – Eric Clapton starts what will become an annual event, playing the first of six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Clapton will continue this tradition until 2009. 1987 – Elton John cancels all concert appearances for a year to recover from his recent throat surgery. 1993 – Bill Wyman announces he is quitting The Rolling Stones. 1993 – Reports surface that David Bowie has lost over £2.5 million in unpaid royalties in an Italian Mafia-linked bootleg fraud. 1994 – Nirvana makes their only appearance ever in Spokane, Washington, at the Coliseum. 1996 – Gov’t Mule appears at the Cotton Club in Atlanta, Georgia. 1996 – James Brown's wife Adrienne dies in a Los Angeles hospital at age 47 after suffering a heart attack during a major plastic surgery operation. Her death causes spousal abuse charges against the singer to be dropped. 1997 – Two bronze busts worth £50,000 are stolen from a garden at George Harrison's Friar Park estate in Oxfordshire when thieves scale a ten foot wall and cut the figures from their stone plinths. 1998 – Pearl Jam releases their single, “Given To Fly” b/w “Pilate” and “Leatherman.” 2001 – Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour wins the right to his dot com name after taking legal action to reclaim davidgilmour.com from Andrew Herman, who had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site. 2006 – Rapper Ms. Dynamite is arrested after kicking in the door to the Paragon Lounge nightclub in London. While being questioned by police, she punches a female officer in the face, adding the charge of assaulting a police officer to her initial arrest of disorderly conduct. 2006 – A collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia bought by Sleaford council worker Julie Wall, who embezzled nearly £600,000 to purchase the collection, is set to be sold by a High Court to compensate the local authority. The collection includes rare recordings and foreign pressings of Elvis records.
