This Month in music History

October 1 • 1975: Al Jackson of The MG’s is shot to death in his Memphis, Tenn. home by an intruder; oddly, his wife had shot him in the chest in July October 2 • 1994: John Mellencamp announces he has had a mild heart attack brought on by a four-pack-per -day cigarette habit • 1967: All six members of the Grateful Dead are arrested for drug possession after a raid at their 710 Ashbury Street house in San Francisco • 1951: Sting is born Gordon Sumner, in Newcastle, England October 3 • 1967: Woody Guthrie dies in Queens, New York, at the age of 55 • 1954: Stevie Ray Vaughan is born October 4 • 1992: Singer Sinead O’Connor rips up a picture of Pope John Paul during an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” • 1970: Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose in a Los Angeles hotel room at the age of 27 • 1956: Johnny Cash is jailed for one night for drug possession October 5 • 1992: Guns N’ Roses holds the top two positions on the charts with their albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II • 1954: Humanitarian and Boomtown Rats leader Bob Geldof is born • 1949: Brian Johnson of AC/DC is born October 6 • 1994: Glen Frey undergoes colon surgery October 7 • 1957: “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark premieres on U.S. television October 8 • 1980: Bob Marley collapses during a concert in Pittsburgh and will never perform again • 1966: The U.S. Government officially declares LSD an illegal substance October 9 • 1975: Sean Ono Lennon is born to John Ono Lennon and Yoko Lennon Ono • 1940: John Lennon is born October 10 • 1978: Steve Perry joins Journey • 1953: David Lee Roth is born • 1917: Thelonius Monk is born October 12 • 1997: John Denver is killed when the plane he is piloting crashes over Monterey Bay, Calif. • 1979: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull suffers an eye injury after a rose is thrown on stage and a thorn pierces his eye • 1978: Nancy Spungen, girlfriend to ex-Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, is found dead of knife wounds in room 100 of New York City’s Chelsea Hotel October 13 • 1941: Singer/songwriter/musician Paul Simon is born October 16 • 1977: John Mayer is born • 1971: Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft” is released • 1962: Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers is born Michael Balzary • 1947: Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead is born October 17 • 1990: Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme is the first album to top the U.S. album chart on CD without a vinyl counterpart • 1974: Eminem is born Bruce Marshall Mathers III October 18 • 1931: Phonograph inventor Thomas Edison dies • 1926: Chuck Berry is born October 19 • 1965: Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd is born October 20 • 1977: Lynyrd Skynyrd loses Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines when their plane crashes into a Mississippi swamp • 1971: Snoop Doggy Dogg is born Calvin Broadus October 21 • 1995: Shannon Hoon, lead singer of Blind Melon, dies of a cocaine overdose at the age of 28 October 24 • 1962: James Brown records “Live From The Apollo” October 25 • 1991: Concert promoter Bill Graham dies in a helicopter crash October 27 • 1975: Bruce Springsteen is on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines as a result of his “Born To Run” popularity • 1967: Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver is born October 28 • 1936: Charlie Daniels is born October 29 • 1971: At the age of 24, Duane Allman dies in surgery after he is injured in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Ga. October 30 • 1986: License To Ill by The Beastie Boys becomes the first rap album to reach #1 October 31 • 1966: King Ad-Rock of The Beastie Boys is born Adam Horovitz

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