The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com
APR 14: Happy birthday to Ritchie Blackmore, born today in 1945. 🎂 As one of the founding members of Deep Purple, his guitar riffs mixed with hard rock and organ sounds put his band on the hard rock map.🎸 Blackmore also was in Rainbow, another heavy metal band which moved into the pop area in the 80s. He began his career as a session musician before joining Deep Purple in 1968. In the mid-70s he quit and formed Rainbow. Since the 80s, he has played with all of his former bands in some incarnation or another, as well as worked on solo projects.
APR 16: Born today in 1947, singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. He is best known for his hits “Right Down The Line ”, “Baker Street”, and “Stuck In The Middle With You”. In 1972, Rafferty and Joe Egan formed Stealers Wheel. After the breakup of Stealers Wheel, Rafferty continued on as a solo artist. He passed away in 2011 from liver failure.😢 APR 17: Today in 1998, Linda McCartney passed away after a battle with breast cancer.😢 She married Paul McCartney in 1968 and after the breakup of the Beatles they formed Wings in 1971. Linda was also an accomplished photographer. When she began to shoot rock musicians, it was apparent that she was a natural photographer and director, as she was able to get unruly rockers to do what she wanted! She loved nature and animals and she became an avid animal rights activist.
APR 18: On this day in 1962, Elvis was at #1 with “Good Luck Charm”. It would stay atop the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The single would be certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1992!
APR 19: On this day in 1980, Brian Johnson joined AC/DC. Johnson replaced Bon Scott who passed away in February 1980. The band was auditioning singers after Scott’s untimely passing and Angus Young recalled a time when he and Scott were discussing singers: "I remember Bon playing me Little Richard, and then telling me the story of when he saw Brian singing [with Geordie, Johnson’s band]." He says about that night: "There's this guy up there screaming at the top of his lungs and then the next thing you know he hits the deck. He's on the floor, rolling around and screaming. I thought it was great, and then to top it off – you couldn't get a better encore – they came in and wheeled the guy off!'" Turns out he had appendicitis! AC/DC decided Johnson fit their style and he was hired. In March of 2016, Johnson had to step down from touring due to hearing problems.
APR 20: Billboard Hot 100 at age 84! 🥳 The song "I Wish I Was 18 Again" peaked at #49. His previous charting record, a spoken word comedy routine, was in 1933 with his wife Gracie Allen.
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