This Week in Music History for the Week of 9-15

Summary

Podcast Summary: takin' a walk – "This Week in Music History for the Week of 9-15"

Host: Buzz Knight
Guest/Co-host: Harry Jacobs
Date: September 14, 2025
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this episode, Buzz Knight and recurring guest Harry Jacobs take listeners through notable events from music history that occurred during the week of September 15th to the 21st. The duo discuss the enduring legacies, untimely losses, and influential moments of artists including Marc Bolan of T. Rex, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Croce. The conversation is informal yet insightful, peppered with personal anecdotes, deep dives into specific artists’ impacts, and reflections on the culture surrounding these musicians.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Marc Bolan and T. Rex (02:32–04:15)

• Remembering Marc Bolan: On September 16, 1977, Marc Bolan of T. Rex died in a car accident.
  • The band's original name was "Tyrannosaurus Rex" before truncating it.
  • Signature Tracks: “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” recognized as T. Rex’s hallmark hit. Other songs like "Jeepster," "Hot Love," "Telegram Sam," and "Metal Guru" are mentioned, though not all were as familiar to the hosts.
• Light-Hearted Banter: Buzz and Harry joke about their lack of knowledge on certain T. Rex tracks and reminisce about their own musical backgrounds.
  • Buzz Knight (03:31): “If I played it for you, you would know it. We’d be like Garth and Wayne, pop into the music.”

The Grateful Dead – Legacy and Culture (04:15–10:58)

• Landmark Event: On September 17, 1978, the Grateful Dead performed in Egypt after a year-long hiatus, highlighting the band’s international appeal.

• Discussion on Appeal and Community:

  • Harry admits he respects the Dead’s prominence, but doesn’t personally connect with the jam band style.
    • Harry Jacobs (04:41): “Fish and the Dead and that music for me wasn’t ever anything that did anything for me… but I don’t have the patience to listen to a 20-minute jam.”
  • Buzz pushes back, emphasizing the Dead’s innovation in fostering community and pioneering fan-recorded live shows.
    • Buzz Knight (06:04): “I think the thing with the Grateful Dead is they created the biggest sense of community ever… weren’t they the first band you ever heard of that allowed for people to tape the concerts?”
  • Both hosts reflect on how the Grateful Dead’s branding, openness with fans, and merchandising created a template followed by bands like Phish and the Allman Brothers.
    • Harry Jacobs (07:15): “That brand, that red, white and blue symbol, that’s their logo, is epic.”

• Jerry Garcia’s Bluegrass Influence:

  • Buzz discusses Garcia’s role in making bluegrass more mainstream with his project Old & In the Way, calling it a bluegrass "supergroup."
    • Buzz Knight (08:24): “He did something that to this day has an enduring legacy… with the Old and In the Way project… just a bigger audience in general… it’s brilliant to this day.”
    • Members listed: Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, John Kahn (10:27).

• Behind-the-Scenes Anecdotes:

  • Harry relays stories from New York promoter John Scher, highlighting the practical challenges of managing Jerry Garcia, including his addictions, and the larger-than-life presence Garcia had in places like Burlington, Vermont at the time of his passing.

Remembering Jimi Hendrix (11:05–14:21)

• Anniversary: September 18, 1970 marks the passing of Jimi Hendrix, a charter member of the tragic “27 Club.”

  • The hosts reflect on Hendrix’s larger-than-life stage persona contrasted with his gentle offstage demeanor.
    • Buzz Knight (11:37): “Just not only an unbelievable player, but a sweetheart.”
    • Harry Jacobs (11:53): “Just a low key, mellow, very gentle [guy].”
  • Harry shares his first exposure to Hendrix’s music via his father’s copy of "Are You Experienced."
    • Harry Jacobs (12:14): “My first exposure… was Fire and Purple Haze. And I thought if I had heard then that he was this gentle guy. It doesn’t go with the music.”

• Musicians Influenced:

  • Discussion on the song "Little Wing" becoming a blues standard.
    • Harry recalls guitarists like Duke Levine and Stevie Ray Vaughan continuing Hendrix’s legacy through their covers.
      • Harry Jacobs (13:49): “When you hear that lick today, you go, oh, that’s immediately recognizable, certainly as a guitar player.”

• The “27 Club” Members:

  • Hendrix is remembered alongside Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, and Amy Winehouse.

Jim Croce’s Sudden Loss (14:29–16:55)

• Anniversary: September 20, 1973 – Jim Croce died in a plane crash.
  • Noted for a string of hits, including “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” “Operator,” and “Time in a Bottle,” the latter of which was Harry’s high school prom theme.
    • Harry Jacobs (14:43): “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown… was just a great pop song.”
  • Buzz notes interviewing Croce’s son, A.J. Croce, and discusses the phenomenon of children and grandchildren of legendary artists making music.
    • Buzz Knight (15:10): “Immensely influenced by his dad, even though he doesn’t really sound like him per se, but you could just sense the love.”
    • Also mentioned: Julian Lennon (son of John Lennon), Thomas Gabriel (Johnny Cash’s grandson), and Tommy Prine (John Prine’s son).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fandom & Community:
  • Buzz Knight (06:45): “They’re a model for building a community, really, when you think about it—the merchandise aspect, the free spirit of the taping, and, you know, the enduring legacy of their brand.”
• On Artistic Legacies:
  • Harry Jacobs (13:49): “When you hear that lick today, you go, oh, that's immediately recognizable, certainly as a guitar player.”
• Running Gag:
  • The hosts coin Buzz as the “king of the rabbit holes,” poking fun at the depth of their tangents.
    • Harry Jacobs (17:33): “You invented the rabbit hole. It should be trademarked Buzz Knight 1965.”

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Episode Timeline / Timestamps

• [02:02] Episode begins / Introduction of the theme
• [02:32] Marc Bolan & T. Rex discussion
• [04:15] Grateful Dead in Egypt, band’s community legacy
• [08:24] Jerry Garcia’s bluegrass contributions
• [10:27] Old & In the Way group members
• [11:05] Death of Jimi Hendrix, his influence and persona
• [12:14] Harry’s personal Hendrix introduction
• [13:49] “Little Wing” as a blues standard, impact on musicians
• [14:29] Remembering Jim Croce, musical legacy, musical families
• [16:55] The phenomenon of musical “offspring” and legacies
• [17:14] Recap and episode wrap-up

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Tone and Style

Friendly, knowledgeable, and casual, this episode thrives on rapport between Buzz and Harry—balancing deep appreciation for music history with playful self-deprecation. Their rabbit-hole approach delivers context, storytelling, and warmth for both diehard fans and newer listeners.

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Summary

This episode is an affectionate, conversational stroll through significant moments in music history that shaped the week of September 15th–21st. Buzz Knight and Harry Jacobs combine fun reminiscences with music industry insight, spotlighting the ways artists from Marc Bolan and Jerry Garcia to Jimi Hendrix and Jim Croce changed the soundscape forever—both through their music and through the broader cultures they inspired.

Listeners come away not just with a litany of anniversaries, but with richer stories about fandom, legacy, and the personal connections forged through music across generations.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Buzz Knight]

I'm Buzz Knight and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast. And welcome to another look at this week in music history for the week of September 15th to the 21st. Is that correct? Harry Jacobs?

[Harry Jacobs]

It is Indeed correct. The 15th through the 21st, I can.

[Buzz Knight]

Look at a calendar actually, and I could actually recite dates. This is unbelievable. Harry, you are the man that looks at all the minutiae, all the little things in music history. So let's break it down. What is happening for this week?

[Harry Jacobs]

This is an interesting week. You know, this is one of those weeks where there's, there's not a tremendous amount going on. We get a few, we got a few good ones. Mark Bolan of T Rex died in a car accident in 1977. On September 16, the band was actually named Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was just like the, just like the dinosaur. And then they, you know, they they cut it down. They were formed in, I think the. The mid-60s, 66 or 67. Not a. A ton of songs. Right. We know the, the hit, which was get it on Bang a Gong.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah. And the other one, that was actually a pretty cool one was Jeepster, if I'm not mistaken.

[Harry Jacobs]

There were, there were a few listed. Hot Love Telegram, Sam, Metal Guru. I don't know any of those.

[Buzz Knight]

How about Jeepster, though?

[Harry Jacobs]

No, I don't remember Jeepster. It sounds familiar to me.

[Buzz Knight]

If I played it for you, you would know it. We'd be like Garth and Wayne, pop into the music.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yes, yes, indeed we would.

[Buzz Knight]

What an embarrassing look.

[Harry Jacobs]

That would be bad with the mullets and everything else. Yeah, nothing. Nothing to be like. Like we're not bad enough already. We gotta, we gotta look at that.

[Buzz Knight]

We'll drive away every listener possible. We'll even drive away our. One of our biggest listeners, Justin from the cheese shop.

[Harry Jacobs]

Right there. You go in, in. Carl. Is that. Is Carlisle? Is that where he is?

[Buzz Knight]

He's in Concord, Massachusetts.

[Harry Jacobs]

Concord, okay.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

All right.

[Buzz Knight]

In your mail. He may be mailing you some cheese. You never know.

[Harry Jacobs]

That would be delightful. I wonder how the breed travels.

[Buzz Knight]

Very well.

[Harry Jacobs]

Mark Boland, September 16th of 1977. Passed away, September 17th to 78. The Grateful Dead reconvened for their first live concerts since they took a hiatus the year before. And they played at Egypt's Nileside Sound and Light Theater with Wecky. That's a venue I've never heard of.

[Buzz Knight]

That's. That's crazy.

[Harry Jacobs]

I never, I never got into the Dead. I guess I got the thing made sense to me, but, you know, Fish and the Dead and that, that music for me wasn't ever anything that did anything for me. Now, that being said, there are a handful of Grateful Dead songs that I love Hell in a Bucket, I love Alabama Getaway, I love Touch of Gray. I've always liked, you know, Trucking, Friend of the Devil. There's a handful of songs, you know, the, the hits and maybe a B side or two that I really like, but I don't have the patience to listen to a 20 minute jam.

[Buzz Knight]

That's not their main deal, though. They're. They're not just the jam band in that regard.

[Harry Jacobs]

What is their deal? Explain that to me, because I think if you were to say to me, what's the deal with the Dead? I would say there's this band that released a handful of singles that were all really good and playable on rock radio, but when you go see them, Live. You got to get yourself high so you can deal with, you know, a 30 minute version of trucking.

[Buzz Knight]

It's pretty unfair. Man, that's harsh. Listen, I think the thing with the Grateful Dead is that sound.

[Harry Jacobs]

You sounded like a hit. That was your inner hippie. Harsh, man. That's harsh, man.

[Buzz Knight]

Harsh, man. I think the thing with the Grateful Dead is they created the biggest sense of community ever. And at least in a band world, they were. They were one of the first to create that community. And think about it, weren't they the first band you ever heard of that allowed for people to tape the concerts.

[Harry Jacobs]

Like that was unique.

[Buzz Knight]

Completely embraced that.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah, very unique. It was a big deal to have those, you know, to have bootlegs, you know, back in the day.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

And. And you're right, they did embrace that.

[Buzz Knight]

They're. They're a model for building a community, really, when you think about it, the merchandise aspect of it, the free spirit of the taping aspect of it, and, you know, the enduring legacy of their brand. They made it look very easy, but. And, and yet I'm sure it wasn't. And in their own way, they were brilliantly calculated on how they created this.

[Harry Jacobs]

Listen, that brand, that red, white and blue symbol, that's their logo, is epic. And. And the Dead and company, or the Dead and Friends, however they're referring to themselves these days, played at the Sphere, and that logo was all over the Sphere. It looked magnificent. Did you see that?

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah. So they're. They're a model for branding when you think about it. And, you know, certainly Fish took that and made it their own. I'm not a fan of them, but that's what they did too. And then some of the other bands who followed along with that sort of jam band community, I mean, the Almond Brothers certainly did that in their own way as well.

[Harry Jacobs]

To me, the Almonds were very similar in that way too. You're right. But. But there was appeal to me that there wasn't with the Dead, maybe because of the community, you know, not to be judgy. I don't. I don't know. There was just something. Something never clicked with me with the Dead for some reason, outside of the studio stuff, which I really. Much of it, I really enjoyed. That makes sense.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah. And. And the other thing I'll say about Jerry, as in Garcia, is he did something that to this day has an enduring legacy when it comes to helping to make bluegrass music more mass appeal and. And have a, you know, just a bigger audience in general with the old and in the way project that he did, which was really virtually a. A super group. Now, don't press me on all the members, but it was kind of a super group of bluegrass stars. You know, the whole in the way thing, which is. Is brilliant to this day, you know.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah, that makes sense. You know the name John Shear, right?

[Buzz Knight]

I do.

[Harry Jacobs]

The New York music promoter. I became friendly with John and Jim McDonald, the guy who. Who ran things on the marketing side when I was in Rochester. I get to know those guys and, you know, Jim's got some interesting stories about. These are my words, not his. The adult daycare he had to provide for Jerry Garcia. They were influential in putting the dead in. In Madison Square Garden and. And promoting them in the northeast, among other places. But. But Jim has some interesting tales about Jerry, stuff I won't necessarily repeat. But, you know, Jerry was, you know, an opioid addict. Right? That was the. You know, listen, a lifetime of chili cheese fries and chocolate shakes and heroin took its toll.

[Buzz Knight]

Not a good combination.

[Harry Jacobs]

No, it's not at all. But, you know, at any rate, that's the dead thing. I was in Burlington, Vermont. I think I shared this with you the. The day he died that week I was there. And it was like the pope died in that place.

[Buzz Knight]

That's the hippie.

[Harry Jacobs]

That's one of the hippie capitals of America. So.

[Buzz Knight]

That's right. And I did just pull up because I didn't want to leave it hanging. Olden in the way. That was the group in 1973, it made. It was made up of Peter Rowan, Vassar Clemens, who was a well known bluegrass master. Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, another great player, and a guy named John Kahn. So they were really like kind of a. A bluegrass supergroup that Jerry formed that took bluegrass more into the mainstream.

[Sponsor Voice]

So how's that, everybody, for a rabbit.

[Buzz Knight]

Hole that we just went down?

[Harry Jacobs]

That's a lot of information, boss.

[Buzz Knight]

I know.

[Harry Jacobs]

How about we move. How about we move on to something I can align with a little bit better? It's a little easier to talk about.

[Buzz Knight]

All right.

[Harry Jacobs]

September 18, 1970, a member of the 27 Club passed away. You want to think about this for a minute?

[Buzz Knight]

I thought about it, but I want you to go.

[Harry Jacobs]

Okay.

[Buzz Knight]

He.

[Harry Jacobs]

He put his guitar up to his mouth and played with his teeth. He lit a guitar on fire.

[Buzz Knight]

He. James Hendricks.

[Harry Jacobs]

James Marshall Hendrix. Died 1970, September 18th. It cuts short this. This career he would have had.

[Buzz Knight]

And by all indications, some who who knew him have spoken about a Felix Cavalieri as an example. Just not not only an unbelievable player, but a sweetheart.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah, I've heard the same thing.

[Buzz Knight]

Complete sweetheart.

[Harry Jacobs]

Just a low key, mellow, very gentle.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah, yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

Isn't that you? You wouldn't. And I guess when I was a kid, I was introduced to, you know, one of my first albums, you know, was, Are you experienced? And that was a. That copy of that album, I believe, was my father's.

[Buzz Knight]

Interesting.

[Harry Jacobs]

My first, My first exposure, you know, was. Was, you know, Fire and Purple Haze. And I thought if I had heard then that he was this gentle guy. It doesn't go with the music. Right, right. That was a crosstown traffic. Think about how aggressive some of the music is and was. But you don't think about Hendrix as a, you know, as a gentle soul.

[Buzz Knight]

True. No, absolutely. Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

People that played guitar with him, loved him. Eric Clapton adored him.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah, right.

[Harry Jacobs]

Great, great stories about Jimi Hendrix and his guitar playing. You know, when you look at. I always go back to this because it's. It's a little bit of what I. What I noodle around with. But when you look at the song Little Wing, it's become a blues standard. Oh, for sure, right. Everybody plays it, you know, everybody plays it. Duke Levine. Duke Levine, who's connected to Peter Wolf, our friend here on, you know, your friend for a long time, Duke Levine. I used to go see him at the Firehouse in Worcester in. In the late 80s. And Duke would play a great ver. He was a kid, you know, this was 40 years ago. And Duke would play a great version of Little Wing and I always had. I loved watching him play anyway, still do. But I, I think about Duke Levine playing Little Wing and then all the people, including Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan and. And people that were legendary guitar players that still play that lick. When you hear that lick today, you go, oh, that's immediately recognizable, certainly as a guitar player.

[Buzz Knight]

It is, yeah. I love it.

[Harry Jacobs]

But Hendrick's 1970. September 18th. Lost his life at 27 years old. Like, you know, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and John Belushi. Am I missing anybody in that club?

[Buzz Knight]

Amy Winehouse, right?

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah. Amy Winehouse. That was a sad. That was a sad story.

[Buzz Knight]

I know.

[Harry Jacobs]

September 20, 1973. Our last story for the week. Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash and, you know, he. He banged out a bunch of top.

[Buzz Knight]

10 hits in a short amount of time.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown to me is one of. You know, it was just a great pop song. I mean, I'm a fan of pop music anyway, but Operator And Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Time in a Bottle. It was my. My prom theme in 1983 or four was Time in a Bottle.

[Sponsor Voice]

I interviewed A.J.

[Buzz Knight]

Croce, Jim's.

[Harry Jacobs]

Oh, his son.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah. Real, real sweet guy. And obviously immensely influenced by his dad, even though he doesn't really sound like him per se, but he, you know, you could just sense the love. I mean, he didn't know. Get really know his father really that well because he died. So.

[Harry Jacobs]

Yeah, he was. Yeah, he was kid.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

Little kid.

[Buzz Knight]

Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

You know, sometimes there are kids that are offshoots. You know, you look at, like Julian Lennon.

[Buzz Knight]

Yep.

[Harry Jacobs]

And you go, boy, he, you know, he sounds like his dad. It would be. How great would it be to hear Julian play with Paul and Ringo?

[Buzz Knight]

I know.

[Harry Jacobs]

You know, that would be a treat. And then, you know, you look at Jim's son and then you look at people that are not a son, but a grandson, like Thomas Gabriel, the grandson of Johnny Cash, who sings some Johnny Cash music. And it's just frightening. It's just haunting to hear his voice.

[Buzz Knight]

I know you shared that with.

[Harry Jacobs]

So good. I know he's so good. I remember. I remember hearing it. And every once in a while I'll hear something and I'll send it to you, or I'll see something and I'll send it to you, see you via text and go, you need to stop what you're doing and listening to this. And. And Thomas Gabriel, Johnny Cash's grandson, is one of them. He would be a great guest for you on Taking a Walk or music. Save me. He had a shitty life. Prison himself. Big dude, tattooed, probably, you know, probably over 6ft and 250 pounds. He's a monster of a guy. Not someone you'd want to run into in a dark alley. And when he opens his mouth, he sounds like Johnny Cash.

[Buzz Knight]

The other one, too is Tommy Prine, John Prine's son as well.

[Harry Jacobs]

Oh, yeah.

[Buzz Knight]

Who I've always. He had a song out a couple years ago. I was hoping for more from him, and it's kind of went silent because I was always thinking that would be really neat to talk to him as well, you know? Yeah.

[Harry Jacobs]

Well, listen there. There you go. That's this Week in music for September 15th through the 21st. Buzz.

[Buzz Knight]

Well, the king of the rabbit holes, Harry Jacobs. Thanks.

[Harry Jacobs]

I appreciate that. You should talk. You should talk.

[Buzz Knight]

Oh, I'm the. I'm the. I'm the. I'm to blame. I'm to blame.

[Harry Jacobs]

You invented the rabbit hole. It should be trademarked Buzz Knight 1965.

[Buzz Knight]

This Week in Music History for the week of September 15th to the 21st. Thank you Harry. And thank you to all of you for listening to the Taking a Walk podcast. We really appreciate it. I mean it. Really.

[Harry Jacobs]

We're not. We're not speaking anymore, you and I, for at least a week. Thank you because of that. Goodbye.

[Sponsor Voice]

This episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to to the world's most captivating destinations. When I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I get eight times points on all the purchases I make through Chase Travel and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide. No matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

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