1958 - It made the news when Buddy Holly's Fender Stratocaster guitar was stolen at a St. Louis concert on this day. Not long afterwards, Holly and his group, The Crickets toured the UK, and journos were asking the singer about the stolen guitar, rather than his music. Here's some footage you may not have seen from that tour, with reference to the stolen guitar, the film shot by Holly's first record producer, Norman Petty.
1966 - This was the day when the world saw Buffalo Springfield perform for the first time as the opening act for The Byrds in San Bernadino, California. Around the same time, the band released their first and biggest hit, For What It's Worth on TV, and this is rare footage of that TV performance.
1966 - In England, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humberdink appeared at The Odeon. This is rare footage of Hendrix duriing that tour...does he really sing Strangers In The Night? Does he really make his guitar talk and sing? Says Jimi, as makes love to every woman in this Blacktown, UK venue, "everybody has to sing or else we'll put a curse on your family and your babies will be born naked." For more info on this tour and another holy-Hendrix-grail video, go to our archives.
1968 - This was the year that Aretha Franklin just seduced the entire world with her honey sweet strong soul voice, recording yet another of her hits, this time, Think. And performing with the great, incomparable Sammy Davis Junior in this very year, this is Aretha with Think and a couple of bonus songs. For you.
1969 - Archie Bell of the Drells was released from military service after a tour of Vietnam. And this is the biggest hit from Archie and the Drells, Tighten Up.
1982 - Billy Joel was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident on Long Island, New York. He went to the hospital and stayed for over a month undergoing therapy on his injured hand, and 18 years later, in 1996, in Los Angeles, CA, Rob Pilatus from Milli Vanilli was jailed for 90 days for three violent attacks and parole violation. 1996 - In San Francisco, CA, Jerry Garcia's remaining ashes were scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge. A small portion of his ashes had been scattered in the Ganges River in India on April 4. One of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire three-decade career, and he also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band with longtime friend Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, and Legion of Mary. He co-dounded New Riders of the Purple Sage with John Dawson and David Nelson. He also released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician. He was well known by many for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" cover story. Later in life, Garcia was sometimes ill because of his unstable weight, and in 1986 went into a diabetic coma that nearly cost him his life. Although his overall health improved somewhat after that, he also struggled with heroin addiction, and was staying in a California drug rehabilitation facility when he died of a heart attack in August 1995. His body was found at the rehabilitation clinic. The cause of death was a heart attack.It is a Dead Head belief that he was found holding an apple on his chest and a smile on his face. Garcia had long struggled with drug addiction, weight problems, and sleep apnea, all of which contributed to his physical decline. On the morning of August 10, Garcia was rested at a funeral home in San Rafael, California, and on August 12, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Belvedere, Garcia's funeral was held, attended by his family, the remaining Grateful Dead and their friends, including former basketball player Bill Walton and musician Bob Dylan, and Garcia's widow Deborah Koons, who barred Garcia's other two wives from the ceremony. Cruel bitch. This will give you a bit of an idea of the vibe. And following that is Bob Weir Garcia on Letterman.
