BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS
DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP
THIS MONTH’S MEETING THE SECOND SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH 2:30 PM
HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209
NEXT MEETING, MARCH 10TH 2:30 PM THE SECOND SUNDAY
PLEASE NOTE THE NEW MEETING STARTING TIME: 2:30
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
What a learning experience it was last month when our guest speaker, film producer Tom Wier educated us on the musical career of Wayne Perkins. From his early days in local bands to session player at Muscle Shoals to recording in Europe, Wayne’s life in the music business was fascinating. Thanks to Tom for not only sharing this local musicians story with us but keeping it alive with his film, Nobody Really Knows Me.
This month we had scheduled to have back with us for another session, Larry Parker. Unfortunately Larry has had a set back in some health issues and had to cancel. Larry lives just north of Atlanta and he does not trust driving over. So we will use the February meeting to play some 45’s that probably had no airplay. Those are sometimes better than the ones we heard.
The March meeting is at this time a scheduled business meeting. We will need to appoint duties to those who will volunteer to help do upcoming BRC Record Shows and club business. Please attend if you will help with these important issues. If we don’t get enough help, as as been stated before, there probably won’t be a 2025 record show. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MEETING.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON
I know last month’s newsletter was about those in the world of music we lost in 2023 and I do promise to lighten up with happier info in 2024 but this month is special for music lovers who keep up with the past. It was on February 3, 1959 that we had the event that came to be known as ‘The Day The Music Died’. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in the infamous plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa after their performance at the Surf Ballroom on February, 2. There are so many stories about that night and all the events that led up to the crash and I won’t take time here to rehash them but thinking about that crash made me think of other artists who had their ‘last’ live performances. Where did some of the other iconic performers perform live for the last time before their demise? We hear so much about Buddy Holly’s last performance but hardly anything about the other artists we lost after that. I’ll start with the three that came so close to one another and it just so happens that all of their first names began with the letter ‘J’.
Jimi Hendrix – Jimi’s last live performance was on Sept 6, 1970 at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in West Germany. Now before those who have kept up with such events that I am writing about cause a stir, I also must say that Jimi did perform on Sept 16, ten days later when he was in the audience and went on stage and jammed with Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club outside of London in Soho. He performed with the band doing ‘Mother Earth’ and Tobacco Road’. He died less than 48 hours later. But his last live performance where he was a scheduled performer was in West Germany.
(Jamming with Eric Burdon & War. Just a small portion of a 20:00 minute recording)
Janis Joplin – Janis’ last live performance was at Harvard Stadium in Boston, MA. The show was on August 7, 1970. She would die from a drug overdose on October 4, 1970. Her last LP, ‘Pearl’ was released after her death and would go to the top of the charts and also give her her only #1 single, ‘Me And Bobby McGee’. If you can find it on youtube or some other place you might want to check out her appearance on the Dick Cavett Show just a few months before her death. She tells a lot about her life and the hard times she had in high school and even at college. I felt it was rather sad time for her. She does say in the interview she intends to attend an upcoming high school reunion and how she wants to show them what she has become now. And by the way, the last song and words ever recorded by Janis was her funny little song, ‘Mercedes Benz’. And so the last studio recorded words of Janis was at the end of that song when she said’ That’s it’, and then she laughed.
(1971 from the Janis Joplin LP Pearl)
Jim Morrison – I have thought many times of what groups or solo acts that I never saw but would like to have at my ‘dream concert’. I won’t go into the list at this time but I will say that I would have the Doors on that list except that Jim Morrison, due to his drinking and drugs seemed to be unable to perform the way I would have wanted to see the group. So I will stick to the LP’s. And that is just what happened at the Doors last performance with Jim. It happened on December 12, 1970 at the Warehouse in New Orleans. During the performance Jim often forgot the lyrics or made up new ones. In the following spring the group got together and recorded the LP, L.A. Woman. And then 3 months later Jim was dead. The last studio recording this group did during that session with Jim was ‘Riders On The Storm’.
Otis Redding – One of the performers I would want at my ‘dream concert’ would have been The Big O, Otis Redding. One thing that Otis and Buddy Holly’s death have in common is that they died in a plane crash the night after what would be their last performance. On December 9, 1967 Otis and his backing band, The Bar-Kays performed at Leo’s Casino in Cleveland, OH and then boarded their plane for their next performance in Madison, WI. Into the heavy rain and fog the plane took off and shortly after crashed. All but one on the plane died, trumpet player Ben Cauley.
(not from Leo’s Casino but at a TV appearance the same day – a youtube clip)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – On October 20, 1977 all of the original members of the band performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, SC. They too would board a plane after the show and head to their next show which was to be Baton Rouge, LA. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed into a wooded area in Mississippi. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt, guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister backing vocalist Cassie Gaines would be killed. Their last LP, Street Survivors would be released just 3 days before the crash. Originally released with the ‘fire’ cover’ and then pulled and reissued without the fire on the cover. Although the band would regroup and perform again this was the last time they performed as the original group. Lynyrd Skynyrd has continued, even after all the founding members have passed away.
Rick Nelson – Ricky, who would later prefer to be called Rick, made his last live performance on December 30, 1985 at PJ’s Alley in Guntersville, AL. His entourage boarded a plane and headed to Dallas, TX. The plane crashed into trees, poles and electrical wires killing 7 passengers. The only survivors were the 2 pilots. There was a fire on board causing toxic fumes to go throughout the plane. The fire is said to have been from a defective heater in the plane’s tail. The last song Rick sang that fateful night was Buddy Holly’s ‘Rave On.’
(issued on a 1981 ATCO EP entitled ‘Four You’)
Elvis – The man who brought Rock & Roll to everyone’s living room and record player died on August 16, 1977, less than two months after his last concert performance in Indianapolis, IN on June 26, 1977. You have to give Elvis credit for continuing to perform even with his health issues and his weight gain, probably from the drugs he was taking. Many performers would not want to be seen in his condition. There were some shows during this time that had to be canceled because he could not get out of bed.
B. B. King – Riley B. King would become one of the most loved and influential blues guitarist of all time. He must have loved performing because during his heyday he would average 200 concerts a year. In 1956 he did 342 shows. B. B. had a set of concerts at the House Of Blues in Chicago in 2014. After a show on October 14, B. B. did not feel well and was diagnosed with exhaustion and dehydration so the remaining 8 shows were canceled. That show would be his last performance and he would die on May 14, 2015.
Jackie Wilson – Mr. Excitement was a favorite singer of mine in my school days. From ‘Reet Petite’ to ‘Lonely Teardrops’ to ‘To Be Loved’ to ‘A Woman, A Lover, A Friend’, to ‘Whispers’ and (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher’ he earned his moniker well, blasting out lyrics in his singing style and with his moves on the stage. And it was on stage that Jackie’s health turned for the worse. During a Dick Clark Rock & Rock Revue on September 29, 1975 Jackie was in the middle of singing ‘Lonely Teardrops’ and just when he sang the lyrics, “My heart is crying’, he collapsed on stage. At first the audience thought that it was part of his act. But he had had a massive heart attack. Jackie would live until 1984 but never recover. He was in a coma for months before recovering but slipped back into a coma for a while longer. He spent the rest of his years in a retirement center, a hospital and a nursing home. He died on January 21, 1984. Before Elvis died he paid a large portion of Jackie’s medical bills.
I will end with 2 groups that did a last performance with one knowing it was their last and the other probably knowing it was their last.
The Band – The original members of The Band planned an elaborate final show when they did what would become known as The Last Waltz. Held at the Winterland in San Francisco on November 25, 1975, Thanksgiving Day, the guys had a big dinner and ballroom dancing. Being part of the fun and performance was Bob Dylan, the Staple Singers, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton and more. You can see this final Band performance since Martin Scorsese filmed it and made it into a movie called, The Last Waltz. All but Robbie Roberson would get together in 1983 and do a performance but it wasn’t the full original Band.
The Beatles – The Beatles basically stopped doing live concerts and performances in 1966. It became too dangerous and demanding with their popularity. Their last commercial concert was on August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA. On August 20, 1969, the Fab Four would be in the studio together for the last time. They were finishing work on their ‘Abbey Road’ LP, completing and mixing together the song ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’. The final live performance of the Beatles would be the concert done from the rooftop of Apple Records for anyone who happened to be walking by or the many who left their work nearby to listen but maybe not see the guys. It occurred on January 30, 1969. The performance lasted 42 minutes before it was stopped by the police due to the noise, traffic and complaints. After their last song, ‘Get Back’, John Lennon over the mic said “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition”.
Peter & Gordon – I must add one more that I think may have been this duos last live performance. I am doing it because I was there. Six members of the BRC gang went to Clear Lake, IA in January, 2009 to be a part of the Winter Dance Party 2009 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. The Ballroom had been doing these Winter Dance Party’s since I believe the 1970’s to commemorate the Buddy Holly last concert there. In 2009 it was the 50th anniversary of that fateful day. So some of us wanted to be there for all the music and activities. I would not say who the headliner was because it all depends on what one’s taste of music was. There was Wanda Jackson, Bobby Vee, Dodie Stevens, Johnny Preston, David Sommerville of The Diamonds and many more including Jerry Allison and Joe B. Mauldin, the remaining members of The Crickets. Also there was Peter & Gordon. They sounded just like listening to an LP or 45. It was really a great performance and a fun time. I remember that when they did a last song one of the two said, “This is when we usually walk off the stage and when the audience has called for more we come out and do more. But now we are too damn old so we’ll just stay here and sing more.” They performed around the last day of January, 2009 and then on July 17, 2009 Gordon Waller died. I have yet to find anything that shows where they performed as a duo after that night in Clear Lake.
I guess the reason the Buddy Holly plane crash is remembered more than these and others is because Rock & Roll music was still new in 1959 and the young people probably didn’t think one of the young performers would die at such a young age or maybe it was because there were 3 rockers that died that night. But for whatever reason, this month we are now 65 years past “The Day The Music Died’ but the music kept going and still goes on today.
See ya,
Charlie