Here are the Births, Deaths and Events this week in Rock 'n' Roll History Sunday May 11 Eric Burdon ("Spill The Wine" and leader of the Animals) is 67 Ernie Fields ("In The Mood") dies, 1997 Led Zeppelin meet Elvis Presley after the King's concert at the Los Angeles Forum (Robert Plant and Elvis launch into an impromptu rendition of "Love Me"), 1974 The Everly Brothers perform for the first time at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, 1957 Buddy Holly & the Crickets audition for "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" TV program, but are rejected, 1957 Ritchie Valens receives a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1990 The Mamas & the Papas, Otis Redding and Al Kooper are all inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk, 2007 Paul Petersen signs with Motown Records (but never has a U.S. hit with them), 1967 John Lennon appears on the "Dick Cavett" TV show and says the FBI has tapped his phone, 1972 The Byrds make their TV debut, singing "Mr. Tambourine Man" on NBC's "Hullabaloo", 1965 The ABC-TV "Stage 67" special, "Rodgers & Hart Today" stars Bobby Darin, the Supremes, Petula Clark and the Mamas & the Papas, 1967 Jackson Browne guests on Fox-TV's "The Simpsons", 2003 Annette makes the first of six guest appearances on CBS-TV's "Make Room For Daddy", 1959 The soundtrack for the movie, "Woodstock" is released in 1970 Monday May 12 Steve Winwood ("Roll With It" and member of Traffic, Blind Faith and the Spencer Davis Group) is 60 Billy Swan ("I Can Help") is 66 James Purify of James & Bobby Purify ("I'm Your Puppet") is 64 George Carlin ("Wonderful WINO") is 71 Burt Bacharach (wrote "Close To You" and most of Dionne Warwick's hits) is 79 Perry Como ("Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes") dies in 2001 Mick Jagger marries his first wife, Bianca, 1971 Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from cousin Myra, 1971 Meat Loaf files for bankruptcy, 1983 Dionne Warwick is arrested at a Miami airport for marijuana possession (the charges are dropped after she completes a drug program and makes a contribution to charity), 2002 Archie Bell is drafted into the U.S. Army, 1967 A British radio station debuts the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album in its entirety, 1967 The Frank Sinatra Timex TV special, "Welcome Home Elvis" (including the two singing a medley of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft") airs on ABC, 1960 The movie, "Let's Rock", with Paul Anka, Danny & the Juniors and the Royal Teens, opens in 1958 Tuesday May 13 Stevie Wonder ("Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday") is 58 The late Mary Wells ("My Guy") is born in 1943 The late Ritchie Valens ("Donna") is born in 1941 The late Nervous Norvus ("Transfusion"-- nee James Drake) is born in 1912 Joan Weber ("Let Me Go, Lover") dies in 1981 The Rev. Little Richard officiates as Bruce Springsteen marries actress Julianne Phillip (it lasts four years), 1985 Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from his second wife, six months after marrying the third (cousin Myra), 1958 Bo Diddley is hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska after suffering a stroke, 2007 Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane is hurt as she slams her Mercedes into a wall in San Francisco, 1971 Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong pleads guilty to selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet, 2003 Johnny Tillotson is the opening act and sees fans rip the shirt off Elvis Presley's back after their Jacksonville, Florida concert, 1955 A radio station in Jacksonville, Florida knocks out the city's phone service giving away tickets to Elvis Presley's concert, 1975 The Beatles' "Let It Be" film opens in New York City, 1970 The Conway Twitty movie, "Platinum High School" opens, 1960 Donny & Marie Osmond's "A Little Bit Of Country, A Little Bit Of Rock 'n' Roll" special on ABC-TV includes guests Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker, 1979 Elvis Presley's "Tickle Me" movie premieres in Hollywood (it opens nationally two weeks later), 1965 Badfinger begin recording "No Matter What", 1970 The Kinks record "Sunny Afternoon", 1966 Wednesday May 14 The late Bobby Darin ("Mack The Knife") is born in 1936 Troy Shondell ("This Time") is 64 Charlie Gracie ("Butterfly") is 72 Frank Sinatra ("In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning") dies of a heart attack in 1998 Former Yardbirds guitarist Keith Relf is electrocuted by his guitar and dies, 1976 Buddy Holly's optometrist gives him contact lenses for his 20/800 eyesight, but he can't get used to them, so the trademark glasses stay, 1956 Michael Jackson receives a humanitarian award from U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House, 1985 Bobby Darin is honored on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars on what would have been his 71st birthday, 2007 Paul McCartney and John Lennon guest on NBC-TV's "Tonight Show" 9with guest-host Joe Garagiola), 1968 Cliff Richard's first movie, "Serious Charges" premieres in 1959 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young release "Ohio", ten days after the shooting of four students at Kent State University that inspires it, 1970 Jan & Dean begin recording "Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)", 1964 The Rascals record "People Got To Be Free", 1968 Thursday May 15 Lenny Welch ("Since I Fell For You") is 69 Trini Lopez ("If I Had A Hammer") is 71 Mike Oldfield ("Tubular Bells") is 55 June Carter Cash ("Jackson" with husband Johnny Cash) dies of complications from heart surgery the previous week, 2003 Elvis Presley inhales the cap from one of his teeth and is taken to a Los Angeles hospital to have it removed from his lung, 1957 Ike Turner spends a day in a Los Angeles jail over a mistaken warrant, 2007 Paul McCartney first meets Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert in London (they marry two years later), 1967 The Rolling Stones sign with Decca Records in London (who had turned down the Beatles the year before), 1963 Two short John Lennon films are shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France, 1971 Brenda Lee guests on "Make Room For Daddy" on CBS-TV, 1961 Friday May 16 Isaac "Red" Holt of Young-Holt Unlimited ("Soulful Strut") and the Ramsey Lewis Trio ("Hang On Sloopy") is 76 The late Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson of the Dell-Vikings (sang lead on "Whispering Bells") is born in 1935 Sammy Davis, Jr. ("What Kind Of Fool Am I") dies of throat cancer in 1990 Jim Henson (the voice of the Muppets' Ernie on "Rubber Duckie" and Kermit on "Rainbow Connection") dies of pneumonia, 1990 Marv Johnson ("Move Two Mountains") dies after suffering a stroke, 1993 Ernie Freeman ("Raunchy" and the piano player on B. Bumble & the Stingers' "Bumble Boogie") dies of a heart attack in 1981 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones falls in his Connecticut home, breaking his ribs and forcing postponement of the Stones' upcoming tour, 1998 Randy Bachman leaves the Guess Who, 1970 The Who's Pete Townshend is arrested onstage after mistakenly kicking a cop he thought was a fan rushing the stage, 1969 "Ohio Players Day" is declared in their home town of Dayton, Ohio, 1976 Ray Charles is inducted into the Atlanta Celebrity Walk, 1991 The Hoboken, New Jersey post office is named after native son Frank Sinatra, 2003 Parma, Italy names streets after Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, 2007 Motown Records is formed in 1960 Michael Jackson introduced the "moonwalk" at the taping of the Motown 25th Anniversary TV special (don't ask why the 25th anniversary was only 23 years after Motown formed), 1983 Diana Ross stars in the NBC-TV movie, "Double Platinum", 1999 Cher guests for the second time on NBC-TV's "Will & Grace", 2002 The Beach Boys release their "Pet Sounds" album, 1966 Tony Joe White records "Polk Salad Annie" in 1968 Frank Sinatra records "Summer Wind", 1966 Saturday May 17 Lawrence Welk ("Calcutta") dies of pneumonia in 1992 Little Johnny Taylor ("Part Time Love") dies from a heart attack in 2002 Mick Jagger puts his hand through a window at a Log Island, New York restaurant, 1975 "Jerry Lee Lewis Day" is held in his home town of Ferriday, Louisiana, 1958 Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard appear together for the first time onstage, in Sheffield, England, 1995 The first Monterey Folk Festival features Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary, 1963 Barry Manilow appears on CBS-TV's "Murphy Brown", 1993 The Bob Dylan documentary film, "Don't Look Back" premieres in San Francisco, 196775 The Donna Summer/Village People movie, "Thank God It's Friday" debuts in Los Angeles, 1978 Jean Knight records "Mr. Big Stuff" and King Floyd cuts "Groove Me" at the same Jackson, Mississippi recording session, 1970 © 1995-2008, Ronald P. Smith. All rights reserved.