From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MARCH 12
1953: Popular WDIA disc jockey Rufus Thomas signs with Memphis label Sun Records in order to release a song titled, “Bear Cat,” an answer song record to “Big Mama” Thorton’s hit, “Hound Dog.”
1955: Master jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, dies at the age of 34. The hard-living Parker’s postmortem suggests he may have died from pneumonia, a heart attack, burst stomach ulcers, or cirrhosis of the liver.
1958: A Philadelphia court sentences Billie Holiday to one year probation for pleading guilty two years earlier for heroine possession.
1959: Philadelphia’s own Fabian, discovered by Philadelphia’s own Dick Clark, is named “Most Promising New Talent” in an American Bandstand viewers poll.
1965: The Beatles wrap up their location shooting of Help! in the Bahamas. In an interview with the New York Times, Beatles manager Brian Epstein declares that the band will still be popular in ten years. Epstein also stated in the interview that the Rolling Stones were “just another fine group,” in his opinion.
1969: Infamous London police officer Det. Sgt. Norman Pilcher, well known for singling out and busting rock stars, enters George Harrison’s house in Esher, Surrey, England and arrest the Beatle and his wife Patti for possession of marijuana (specifically, cannabis resin). That same morning, Beatle Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman in the office registry in Merylbone, London and again in the Anglican church in St, John’s Wood. The other three Beatles don’t attend.
1971: Paul McCartney’s lawsuit dissolving the Beatles is upheld when a London court grants his request to appoint a non-biased receiver to handle the group’d business affairs in the wake of the band’s management dispute.
1996: Nancy Sinatra gives her famous white go-go boots, the one that were made for walkin’, she donates the pair to the Beverly Hills Hard Rock Cafe where it has been on display there for the past sixteen years.
2003: On the eve of the Rolling Stones’ first tour of China, the Chinese government submits a list of forbidden songs to the group, songs which the band is prohibited from playing anywhere during their stay while in that country. Songs include “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” and “Let’s Spend The Night Together.”
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . M A R C H 1 2
