Tuesday, July 18, 2017

17 JULY

In Music History

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2011Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale gets wasted at the Archive Bar in Brisbane, where a local Beatles tribute band is performing. After crashing the stage and drunkenly screeching along to "Let It Be," he refuses to leave and is arrested when police arrive. He spends a night in jail and is fined $350.
2009Gordon Waller (of Peter and Gordon) dies of a heart attack at age 64.
2006Bill Miller (Frank Sinatra's longtime pianist) dies from complications following a heart attack in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 
2004At the end of her show at the Aladdin Hotel in Vegas, Linda Ronstadt dedicates her encore, a cover of the Eagles' "Desperado," to filmmaker Michael Moore, urging fans to go see his current movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. A shocked audience reacts mostly with boos; approximately half walk out on the spot.
1996Chas Chandler (bassist for The AnimalsJimi HendrixExperience) dies of an aortic aneurysm at age 57.
1995Carole King's Tapestry album is certified Diamond for sales of 10 million in the US.
1993After two-and-a-half years, the Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusiontour comes to an end at a show in Buenos Aires. It is the last time Axl and Slash share a stage until the 2016 GnR reconciliation.
1987Keith Richards signs a solo deal with Virgin Records.
1981Universal Pictures releases the romantic drama Endless Lovestarring Brooke Shields. The film's theme song "Endless Love," featuring a duet by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, spends nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earns Richie an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.
1979Gary Moore leaves Thin Lizzy in mid-tour; Midge Ure replaces him as lead guitarist.
1976Country singer Luke Bryan is born Thomas Luther Bryan in Leesburg, Georgia.
1976Heart releases "Magic Man."
1975Bob Marley and the Wailers play a historic concert at London's Lyceum Theater that features the acclaimed Legend version of "No Woman No Cry."
1975The divorce between Ringo Starrand Maureen Cox is finalized in London. Starr marries Barbara Bach in 1981.
1974In West Hampstead, London, The Moody Blues open the world's first Quadrophonic recording studio.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd Finally Makes it to Baton Rouge

1991
Fourteen years after the deadly crash of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Baton Rouge-bound aircraft, the surviving members of the band, reunited under the name "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991," return to the Louisiana city to kick off a new tour. Shirts sold for the event read, "Baton Rouge! After 14 years! We're finally here..."

In promotion of Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991, the first album of original material released by the band since 1977's double-platinum Street Survivors, surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrdkick off a nationwide tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The location is symbolic and significant: 14 years earlier the band was on its way to the city when their plane crashed into a Mississippi swamp, killing three of its band members, including frontman Ronnie Van Zant.

The band at Baton Rouge includes founding member Gary Rossington (guitar) and also longtime members Leon Wilkeson (bass), Billy Powell (keyboards) and Artimus Pyle (drums), but they are going by the name "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991" out of respect for those killed. It's a touchy subject: When this new version of the group toured in 1987 (as the "Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Band"), they drew ire from many close to the band, including Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy. This despite Ronnie's brother, Johnny Van Zant taking over on lead vocals, a decision made after getting approval from his family.

The press honors the new "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991" name for a while as per the band's request, but as time goes by the "1991" addition is dropped as fans acclimate to the new Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Tickets to the Baton Rouge show cost $10, and tickets from the originally scheduled show in 1977 are honored (these tickets also allow free entry for a guest). Over 100 fans have the original tickets, and are admitted backstage to meet the band.

Though ostensibly a tour to promote the new album, the band plays most of their old classics as well, which is what most concertgoers have come for (the new album is poorly received by critics and fans alike). Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to perform with an assortment of lineups for decades after they make this return. Much has changed, and while none of the band members or their fans claim that it is exactly like the original, it sure feels like it when the lighters go up for "Free Bird."

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