Russel James Gibb (June 15, 1931 – April 30, 2019) was an American rock concert promoter, school teacher and

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

from Dearborn, Michigan, best known for his role in the "

Paul is dead "Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died on 9 November 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumour began circulating in 1967, gaining broad popul ...

" phenomenon, a story he broke on radio station WKNR-FM in Dearborn, and as the owner of the

Grande Ballroom The Grande Ballroom ( ') is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and origina ...

, a major rock music venue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Education

Gibb graduated from Michigan State University, earning a degree in educational radio and television administration in 1953.

Career

Teaching

Gibb began teaching elementary school English in the

Dearborn School District The Dearborn Public Schools is a school district that includes the entire city of Dearborn, Michigan and a small portion of Dearborn Heights, both in Greater Detroit. Dearborn Public Schools is the third largest school district in Michigan, servi ...

in 1961. In 1976, he began teaching TV and video production at

Dearborn High School Dearborn High School (DHS) is a public high school located in Dearborn, Michigan. It was founded in 1893 in Dearborn near Greater Detroit. Dearborn High is one of the three high schools of the Dearborn City School District and is located at 19 ...

. He retired in 2004, having spent 42 years teaching in the Dearborn public schools. For 16 years, he produced the student run cable video show '' Back Porch Video''.

Disk jockey

Gibb started his broadcast career as a weekend TV floor manager at

WWJ-TV WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both statio ...

in Detroit. He did some weekend disc jockey work for WBRB in

Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 16,314 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of government of Macomb County. History Mount Clemens was first surveyed in 1795 after the American Revolutionary War by Christi ...

. Then, he worked at WKMH. Gibb worked as a disk jockey at WKNR-FM, when the station was transitioning from a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

format to a hard rock format. His on air nickname was "Uncle Russ". On October 12, 1969, a caller to his show told Gibb about the "Paul is dead" rumor and its clues. The rumor had been circulating sporadically for two years, but had not yet attracted much attention. Gibb and other callers discussed the rumor on the air for the next hour. Two days after the WKNR broadcast, ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other stu ...

'' published a satirical review of ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

'' by

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

student

Fred LaBour Frederick Owen LaBour (born June 3, 1948 in Grand Rapids, Michigan), better known by his stage name Too Slim, is a Grammy award-winning American musician, best known for his work with the Western swing musical and comedy group Riders in the S ...

under the headline "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light".LaBour, Fred.
McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light
''

'' 14 October 1969: 2 It identified various clues to McCartney's death on Beatles album covers, including new clues from the just-released ''Abbey Road'' LP. As LaBour had invented many of the clues, he was astonished when the story was picked up by newspapers across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Gibb further fueled the rumor with a special two-hour program on the subject, "The Beatle Plot", which aired on October 19, 1969. This show has been called "infamous", a "fraud" and a "mockumentary". It brought enormous worldwide publicity to Gibb and WKNR.

Rock music promoter

In the early 1960s, Gibb supplemented his teaching income by producing weekend

sock hops A sock hop or sox hop, often also called a record hop or just a hop, was an informal sponsored dance event for teenagers in mid-20th-century North America, featuring popular music. History Sock hops were held as early as 1944 by the American J ...

at a rented union hall under the name the Pink Pussycat. In 1966, Gibb opened the

in Detroit, and was a major player in the late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit music scene. He hired psychedelic poster artists

Gary Grimshaw Gary Grimshaw (February 25, 1946 – January 13, 2014) was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and r ...

and Carl Lundgren to help promote his shows. Most major rock acts of that era performed at the Grande Ballroom, some many times. He closed the Grande Ballroom in 1972. He was instrumental in giving the

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock ...

and Iggy Pop their start. The Grande Ballroom also was where

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

played their rock opera, ''Tommy'', for the first time in the United States. Gibb also owned and leased other live music venues around the Midwest including the

Eastown Theatre Eastown Theatre was a 2,500-seat theater located at 8041 Harper on the east side of Detroit, Michigan. Opening in 1931, it operated as a movie theater until being converted into a rock music venue in 1967. Performers included Emerson, Lake and Pa ...

, Michigan Theater (where the New York Dolls played), and the Birmingham Palladium. He invested in the rock magazine ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...

'' in 1969. Gibb was one of the promoters of the

Goose Lake International Music Festival The Goose Lake International Music Festival held August 7–9, 1970 in Leoni Township, Michigan, "was one of the largest music events of its era", and featured many of the top rock music bands of the period. History Facilities and planning The ...

in 1970, which attracted a crowd of 200,000 people.

Cable TV investor

In 1970, Gibb traveled to England and spent some time staying with

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

. He was impressed with Jagger's advanced home video system. This led to his interest in cable TV. Gibb bought the Dearborn, Michigan;

Wayne, Michigan Wayne is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 17,593 at the 2010 census. Wayne has a long history of automotive and transportation related manufacturing. Ford Motor Company currently has two plants in Wayn ...

; and

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are: * Grosse Pointe Park * Grosse Pointe * Grosse Pointe Farms * Grosse ...

, Michigan cable licenses in the late 1970s. When he sold his interests in the 1980s, he became a millionaire.

The Bicentennial

During the administration of Gerald Ford, he worked on the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

Commission as the National Director of Youth and Education.

References

Bibliography

*Andru J. Reeve. ''Turn Me On, Dead Man'' (2004) *David A. Carson. ''Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n' Roll'' (2006) *Tom Wright. ''Roadwork: Rock and Roll Turned Inside Out'' (2007)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Russ People from Dearborn, Michigan Fordson High School alumni 1931 births 2019 deaths Music promoters Educators from Michigan