TRANSGLOBAL EXISTENTIAL SCIENCE AND MUSIC FOUNDATION
CANON OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
The TESAM Canon of Rock 'n' Roll has no pretense whatsoever to give you an accurate history of rock ’n’ roll. Nor does it claim to be complete or perfect. The internet does however provide the opportunity to create a canon without a deadline, unlike printed publications.
This canon is the personal product of a musician that has an affinity with this kind of music, and who is also the founder and single board member of TESAM. Someone who honors the people that inspire him to create his music. Who can only play his music and create his songs as long as he is healthy enough, relatively safe, has sufficient privacy, is able to hold on to a valuable work morale, and has sufficient freedom of speech.
Deaths are an important part of this canon of rock ’n’ roll. The biographies it refers to also matter. That’s because this reveals important information on how the stars lived, how healthy the were, what drove them.
Don’t let this be merely a black page though, for it’s not their death that made them worthwhile but how they lived. Let’s hope we learn enough about them to avoid the health problems they and others encountered. It was creativity that brought us their great music, not how healthy they are or have been.
Please do not misjudge rock ’n’ roll music as referring to an unhealthy lifestyle. We are concerned with pioneers of innovative music, stars, heroes, brilliant musicians. Read between the lines and you will discover facts that reveal a new world, a healthier, safer world for mankind to live in.
Everyone who experiences this development is, of course, a blessed soul.
CANON OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
The TESAM Canon of Rock 'n' Roll has no pretense whatsoever to give you an accurate history of rock ’n’ roll. Nor does it claim to be complete or perfect. The internet does however provide the opportunity to create a canon without a deadline, unlike printed publications.
This canon is the personal product of a musician that has an affinity with this kind of music, and who is also the founder and single board member of TESAM. Someone who honors the people that inspire him to create his music. Who can only play his music and create his songs as long as he is healthy enough, relatively safe, has sufficient privacy, is able to hold on to a valuable work morale, and has sufficient freedom of speech.
Deaths are an important part of this canon of rock ’n’ roll. The biographies it refers to also matter. That’s because this reveals important information on how the stars lived, how healthy the were, what drove them.
Don’t let this be merely a black page though, for it’s not their death that made them worthwhile but how they lived. Let’s hope we learn enough about them to avoid the health problems they and others encountered. It was creativity that brought us their great music, not how healthy they are or have been.
Please do not misjudge rock ’n’ roll music as referring to an unhealthy lifestyle. We are concerned with pioneers of innovative music, stars, heroes, brilliant musicians. Read between the lines and you will discover facts that reveal a new world, a healthier, safer world for mankind to live in.
Everyone who experiences this development is, of course, a blessed soul.
165 items
1858 The Wayfaring Stranger first known publication
1865 The Ship that Never Returned by composer and songwriter
Henry Clay Work
1890s Broadside print of the Butcher Boy
1900 12 25 Murder of Delia Green
1903 09 27 Wreck of the Old 97
1913 First known publishing of Man of Constant Sorrow (Farewell Song),
possibly written by Richard ‘Dick’ Burnett
1923 Jimmy Cox writes Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
1924 12 04 Recording of I’ll See You in my Dreams
1929 12 19 Death of Blind Lemon Jefferson, age 36; cause: probably acute
myocarditis
1934 04 28 Death of Charley Patton, age 42 or 43; cause: mitral valve disorder
1934 12 01 Death of Blind Blake, age 37-38; cause: pulmonary tuberculosis
1937 07 11 Death of George Gershwin, age 38; cause: brain tumor
1938 08 16 Robert Johnson’s mysterious death, age 27
1946/7 Release That’s All Right by Arthur Crudup
1951/04 Release Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
1953 01 01 Death of Hank Williams at age 29
1953 08 Elvis Presley checks into the offices of Sun Records for his first
professional recordings
1953 09 Luthier and designer Roger Rossmeisl migrates into the United States
1954 07 06 Recording of That’s All Right by Elvis Presley at Sun Record Studio
1954 07 19 Release That’s All Right by Elvis Presley
1955 01 19 Release movie Unchained featuring Unchained Melody
1955 Johnny Cash, first attempt to audition for Sun Records
1955 Release Rock Island Line by Lonnie Donegan
1955 03 19 Blackboard Jungle featuring Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets
1956 12 05 Million Dollar Quartet session by Sun Records
1956 12 07 Rock Rock Rock! release movie featuring Chuck Berry
1957 09 20 Release Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly
1957 09 24 Release Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley just before the movie
1958 03 06 Recording of All I Have to Do Is Dream by the Everly Brothers, words
and music by Boudleaux Bryant
1959 02 03 Death of Buddy Holly (22), Richie Valens (17), the Big Bopper (28),
caused by an airplane crash
1960 03 19 Bob Dylan’s eponymous debut album release
1960 04 17 Death of Eddy Cochran, age 21. Cause: car accident; involving Gene
Vincent
1960 06 16 Psycho movie release
1961 10 18 West Side Story movie release
1962 10 05 Release Love Me Do by the Beatles
1964 01 13 Release The Times They Are a-Changin’ by Bob Dylan (LP with the
same title and song)
1964 01 20 Release Meet The Beatles album
1964 06 17 The Beatles, outstanding, registered performance in Melbourne,
Australia
1964 07 07 A Hard Days Night The Beatles movie release
1964 08 28 The Beatles meet Bob Dylan in New York’s Delmonico Hotel
1964 12 11 Death of Sam Cooke, age 33. Disputed verdict justifiable
homicide
1965 07 19 Release Help! single in the US (before the album and the film in the
UK)
1965 07 20 Release single Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
1965 07 25 Bob Dylan live at Newport Folk Festival, his electric debut
1965 08 01 Help! the Beatles movie release
1965 10 27 Death of Peter La Farge, age 34, probably by Thorazine
1965 12 03 Bob Dylan San Francisco press conference
1966 04 17 Recording of Doctor Robert by The Beatles
1966 05 16 Release Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys
1966 06 20 Release Yesterday and Today by The Beatles, with the changed
cover
1966 06 20 Release Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan
1966 10 10 Release Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys
1967 02 03 Death of Joe Meek, cause suicide (after murder of his landlady Violet Shenton), age 37
1967 03 12 Release of The Velvet Underground and Nico
1967 05 17 Release Don’t Look Back - documentary by D.A. Pennebaker
1967 05 26 Release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles
1967 08 27 Death of Brian Epstein, age 32, overdose of Carbrital, a hypnotic
preparation combining the barbiturate pentobarbital with the bromide
carbromal and alcohol
1967 09 25 Release of the album Strange Days by the Doors
1967 12 10 Death of Otis Redding and 4 of his band members, plane crash
1968 01 22 Release Gris-Gris by Dr. John, the Nighttripper
1968 10 25 Release of Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1968 11 19 Jefferson Airplane performs on the Schuyler Hotel rooftop, New York
1968 12 06 Release Beggars Banquet by the Rolling Stones
1969 02 24 Performance Jimi Hendrix Hear My Train A Comin’, Royal Albert Hall,
London, UK
1969 05 12 Premiere Easy Rider
1969 05 23 Release Tommy by the Who
1969 07 11 Release Space Oddity by David Bowie
1969 07 03 Death of Brian Jones by misadventure (drowning, enlarged heart and
liver), age 27
1969 07 04 Release Give Peace a Chance by the Plastic Ono Band
1969 08 05 Release The Stooges’ self-titled first album
1969 08 15 -18 Woodstock
1969 09 26 Release Abbey Road by the Beatles
1969 10 21 Death of Jack Kerouac, age 47 (after a life of heavy drinking)
1969 12 06 Altamont Speedway Free festival causing 4 death
1970 08 18 Death of Jimmy Hendrix, age 27. Cause never revealed
1970 09 03 Death of Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, age 27, cause barbiturate overdose
1970 10 04 Death of Janis Joplin, age 27, cause heroin overdose possibly
compounded by alcohol
1970 10 27 Jesus Christ Superstar by Webber & Rice, album release UK
1971 06 Release of the single Riders on the Storm by the Doors
1971 07 03 Death of Jim Morrison, age 27
1971 10 12 Death of Gene Vincent from a combination of a ruptured ulcer, internal
haemorrhage and heart failure, age 36
1971 10 29 Death of Duane Allman, age 24
1972 05 12 Release Exile on Main St. by the Rolling Stones
1972 11 08 Release of Transformer by Lou Reed
1973 02 Release of the single Hocus Pocus by Focus in the US and Canada
1973 09 19 Death of Gram Parsons, age 26
1973 06 26 Release Jesus Christ Superstar the movie
1973 07 14 Death of Clarence White, age 29, caused by a car accident
1973 08 01 Release American Graffiti
1973 10 26 Release Quadrophenia by the Who
1973 12 20 Death of Bobby Darin, age 37, caused by sepsis and a weakened heart
1974 04 15 Release of Radar Love by the Golden Earring in the US
1975 03 14 Monty Python and the Holy Grail premiere USA
1975 03 19 Tommy movie release
1975 10 01 Murder of Al Jackson, drummer of Booker T. And the M.G.’s
1975 11 19 One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest movie release USA
1975 11 21 Release A Night at the Opera by Queen
1976 05 12 Death of Yardbirds singer Keith Relf, age 33. Cause: electrocution while playing electric guitar
1976 09 21 Release Small Change by Tom Waits
1977 04 08 Release The Clash' first self-titled album
1977 08 Release Rock ’n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers by Jonathan Richman &
The Modern Lovers
1977 08 16 Death of Elvis Presley, age 42
1977 08 29 Release Lust for Life album by Iggy Pop
1977 10 14 Release of single Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
1978 02 10 Release Van Halen self-titled album
1978 04 07 Release of Roxanne by The Police
1978 04 26 Release The Last Waltz
1978 05 18 The Buddy Holly Story movie release
1978 06 13 Grease movie release
1978 09 07 Death of Keith Moon
1978 10 02 Release Dire Straits first album
1979 02 02 Death of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, overdose, age 21
1979 03 14 Hair movie release
1979 05 14 Quadrophenia premiere
1979 08 17 Life of Brian movie release
1979 11 07 The Rose movie release
1980 01 10 Release London Calling by The Clash
1980 05 18 Death of Ian Curtis by suicide, Joy Division, age 23
1980 11 07 Death of Steve McQueen, age 50, a type of cancer most likely caused
by asbestos
1980 12 08 Death of John Lennon, age 40, shot by a mentally ill fan
1981 02 02 Release Once in a Lifetime by the Talking Heads
1981 04 05 Death of Bob Hite of Canned Heat
1981 06 12 Release of Ghost Town by The Specials
1982 03 05 Death of John Belushi of the Blues Brothers
1982 12 03 Release The Bad Seed EP by the Birthday Party
1983 02 04 Death of Karen Carpenter
1983 04 01 Release of the single Church of the Poison Mind by Culture Club
1984 04 24 Release Stop Making Sense , concert film of the Talking Heads
1985 07 13 Live Aid concert organised by Bob Geldof
1985 12 31 Death of Ricky Nelson, age 45, plane crash (DC-3)
1986 09 01 Release of Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
1986 09 15 Release Blood & Chocolate featuring I Want You - Elvis Costello
1987 02 22 Death of Andy Warhol, age 58. Cause: post-operative heart failure
1987 05 La Bamba movie release
1987 09 11 Murder of Peter Tosh of the Wailers
1987 09 21 Death of Jaco Pastorius, brain hemorrhage as a result of being assaulted, age 35
1988 05 13 Death of Chet Baker after falling out of a window in Amsterdam, age
58
1988 12 06 Death of Roy Orbison, age 52. Cause: heart attack
1989 07 14 Release of Wicked Game by Chris Isaak
1991 11 24 Death of Freddy Mercury, age 45. Cause: bronchopneumonia as a
complication of AIDS
1993 12 04 Death of Frank Zappa caused by (testicular) carcinoma
1994 04 05 Death of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, by suicide, age 27
1994 05 21 Pulp Fiction movie release
1995 06 14 Death of Rory Gallagher, age 47
1995 08 09 Death of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, age 53
1997 01 01 Death of Townes van Zandt, age 52
1997 05 29 Death of Jeff Buckley, age 30
1998 01 18 The Big Lebowski movie release
1998 05 20 Jackie Brown movie release
1999 03 02 Death of Dusty Springfield, caused by breast cancer
2000 05 13 O Brother, Where Art Thou movie release
2001 03 29 Blow movie release
2002 12 22 Death of Joe Strummer caused by an undiagnosed congenital heart
defect
2003 10 21 Death of Elliott Smith, age 34, caused by stab wounds, suicide or homicide, extreme mix of psychiatric medication, LAPD's investigation remains open
2004 02 20 Debut of Brian Wilson presents Smile, Royal Festival Hall, London
2004 09 28 Release of Brian Wilson presents Smile
2007 01 25 Chapter 27 movie release assassination of John Lennon
2009 02 04 Death of Lux Interior of the Cramps, age 62
2009 10 29 Nowhere Boy movie release youth of John Lennon
2011 02 06 Death of Gary Moore, age 58
2011 07 23 Death of Amy Winehouse, age 27, misadventure (alcohol induced)
2016 01 18 Death of Glenn Frey of the Eagles due to medication, age 67
2016 04 21 Death of Prince, aged 57, by legally prescribed opiates
2017 10 02 Death of Tom Petty caused by medication overdose, age 66
2023 04 29 90th birthday of Willie Nelson, The Hollywood Bowl