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Today in Rock History – August 8

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1969, The photo session for the cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman held up the traffic. The band then returned to the studio and recorded overdubs on “The End,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy,”) and “Oh! Darling.”

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, supported by Jethro Tull.

1969, Yes played at Mother’s, Birmingham, England.

1969, Alice Cooper performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the 9th National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival at the Plumpton Race Track in Streat, England, along with Soft Machine, Keith Tippett, East of Eden, the Bonzo Dog Band, Roy Harper, The Who, and many others.  It was the kickoff night of a three day event.

1970, Blood Sweat & Tears started a two week run at number one on the US album chart with Blood Sweat & Tears 3.

1970, Janis Joplin bought a headstone for the grave of her greatest influence Bessie Smith at the Mont Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Blues singer Smith died in 1937 after being refused admission to a whites only hospital.

1971, Hawkwind appeared at the Red Lion in London.

1972, Yes performed at the Paramount Theater, Seattle, Washington.

david-bowie-young-americans1974, Recording sessions for David Bowie album Young Americans begins at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios.

1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young played at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey.

1975, Cannonball Adderley, the jazz bandleader who charted with “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” dies from a stroke in Gary, Indiana. He was 46.

1975, The lineup at this year’s Summerfest at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York  was The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, and The Outlaws.

1977, Alice Cooper played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, Neil Diamond appeared at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1979, KISS brought their act to Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1980, The Greater London Council banned The Plasmatics from blowing a car up on stage during their UK live debut at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Mesa Auditorium in Phoenix, Arizona.

1981, The Pretenders kick off their second American tour in Fort Pierce, Florida.

1981, MTV makes its first live concert stereo broadcast. The band is REO Speedwagon.

1981, ZZ Top played at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1982, The Grateful Dead are joined onstage by John Cippolina, founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, for the final six songs of the second set of their show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.

1983, The Police performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1986, David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash was released from prison after serving three years for drug and weapons possession. His conviction would be overturned by a Texas appeals court in November 1987.

1987, U2 scored their second US number one single from their Joshua Tree album with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The song received two nominations for the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, for Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

1991, On A Friday, later to become known as Radiohead, appeared at The Jericho Tavern, Oxford, England. The band had met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school. “On a Friday” referred to the band’s usual rehearsal day in the school’s music room.

1992, A riot broke out during a Guns N’ Roses and Metallica gig at Montreal stadium when Metallica’s show was cut short after singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics. Guns N’ Roses took the stage but frontman Axl Rose claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to a riot by the audience who overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires.

2007, The US National Musical Publishers’ Association joined other businesses in seeking to sue YouTube claiming songwriters were not being properly compensated when their music appeared on the site. The legal action had been combined with those of several other companies, including Viacom and Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central.

Born on August 8: Joe Tex (1933); John David, drums, Dr Hook (1942); Airrion Love, singer, The Stylistics (1949); Ali Score, A Flock Of Seagulls (1956); Christopher Foreman, guitar, Madness (1958);  Dave “The Edge” Evans, U2 (1961); Scott Stapp, singer, songwriter, Creed (1973)

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Today in Rock History – July 31

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1965, In England, the Yardbirds with Jeff Beck perform at the Cleethorpes Jazz Festival.

1965, Beatles VI enters the fourth of its six weeks atop the US album charts. Beatles VI includes two tracks recorded specifically for the North American market, “Bad Boy” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” both covers of Larry Williams songs.

1966, Cream play their first gig in Windsor, England.

1966, The Who perform at Brittania Pier in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

1967, Mick Jagger was given a conditional discharge, and Keith Richard’s conviction for permitting his house to be used for the purpose of smoking cannabis resin was quashed by appeal court.

1968, Tommy James and The Shondells were at number one on the singles chart with “Mony Mony.” The song was also a hit for Billy Idol in 1987.

1968, Working at Trident studios in London, England, (with its 8-track equipment, EMI was still using 4-track recorders), The Beatles recorded four takes of “Hey Jude.”

1969, Ten Years After played at the Boston Tea Party in Boston. Magic Terry & The Universe were the support act.

1969, Elvis Presley kicked off a four week run at the Las Vegas International Hotel, his first live show since 1961. He reportedly netted $1.5 million (£937,500) for the shows. On the menu was an Elvis special, polk salad with corn muffins and honey.

1970, After Decca Records demands a final single from the Rolling Stones to make them fulfill their contract, Richards and Jagger deliver the unreleasable “Cocksucker Blues.” The single becomes the title of a Stones documentary that the band decides is also unreleasable.

1970, The Powder Ridge Festival was supposed to take place from July 31st through August 2nd in Middlefield, Connecticut.  None of the advertised acts performed due to a last minute court injunction initiated by the local township. Only Melanie performed on a small stage. In addition to the Allman Brothers Band, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, Joe Cocker, Little Richard and others were on the intended lineup.

1971, Pink Floyd leave England to set out on their first tour of the Far East.

1971, The documentary Gimme Shelter premieres at London’s Rialto cinema. The film includes footage from the infamous concert at Altamont.

1971, James Taylor went to number one on the singles chart with the Carole King song “You Got A Friend.” The song would go on to win the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

1971, A security guard was stabbed to death during a concert by The Who at New York’s Forest Hill Stadium.

1972, Yes appeared at Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas.

1974, The Grateful Dead performed at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut.

1975, Aerosmith played at Market Hall, Dallas, Texas.

1975, The Rolling Stones appeared at the Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina.

1976, George Benson started a two-week run at number one on the album chart with Breezin.

1977, Yes played at the Civic Center, Wheeling, West Virginia.

1979, AC/DC appeared at The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana on their If You Want Blood Tour.

1979, James Taylor plays New York’s Central Park for free to show his support for a campaign to restore the park’s Sheep Meadow.

1980, During An Eagles concert at Long Beach, California, tempers boiled over between Glen Frey and Don Felder, who spent the entire show describing to each other the beating each planned to administer backstage. “Only three more songs until I kick your ass, pal,” Frey told Felder. The group’s next album was mixed by Frey and Felder on opposite coasts after the two decided they couldn’t bear to be in the same state, let alone the same studio.

1980, Van Halen performed at the Checkerdome, St. Louis, Missouri.

1982, King Crimson appeared at The Convention Hall, Asbury Park, New Jersey.

1983, David Bowie played at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1985, The Eurythmics had the number one position on the UK singles chart with “There Must Be An Angel, (Playing With My Heart.”) The song which was the Eurythmics’ first and only chart topping single features a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder.

1992, Michael Jackson made an unscheduled appearance on his hotel balcony in London after a man had threatened to jump from an apartment building across the street. 28 year-old Eric Herminie told police he would leap to his death if he didn’t see Jackson, who was in Britain for a series of concerts. Jackson spent a couple of minutes waving to Herminie, who then climbed back into the building.

2001, BBC producer John Walters died at age 63. Walters produced and worked with Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Peel teamed up with Walters to broadcast some of the most groundbreaking music of an era. He joined the BBC in 1967, and became producer on John Peel’s Top Gear show two years later. Walters played the trumpet with the Alan Price Set in the 1960’s.

2012, Bruce Springsteen played his longest show ever – 4 hours and 6 minutes, at the Helsinki Olympiastadionin Finland, at the end of a European tour.

Born on July 31:  Amhet Ertegun (1923)  Bob Welch (1943)  Gary Lewis (1946); Hugh McDowell, cello, Electric Light Orchestra (1953); Bill Berry, R.E.M. ( 1958); Jim Corr, guitar, keyboards, vocals, The Corrs (1964); John Lowery, guitar, Marilyn Manson (1971); Will Champion, drummer, Coldplay (1978)

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Today in Rock History – July 20

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1965, Bob Dylan releases “Like a Rolling Stone.” The single becomes his first major hit, reaching number two on the US charts. The song remained on the charts for twelve weeks. It was recorded on June 15th and 16th at Columbia Studio A, on Seventh Avenue in New York. Then session musician Al Kooper improvised the organ riff for which the track is known.

1967, Jerry Lee Lewis kicks off his first English tour since he was hounded out of the country for being married to his 13-year-old cousin in May 1958.

1968, Cream started a four-week run at number one on the US album chart with Wheels On Fire. It reached the third spot in the UK.

1968, The Who and The Troggs played at the Virginia Beach Dome in Virginia Beach, Virginia

1968, Paul McCartney’s girlfriend Jane Asher announces on British TV that her engagement had been broken off. McCartney met future spouse Linda Eastman on a business trip earlier in June.

1968, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Blue Cheer performed at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.The

1968, Hugh Masekela started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Grazing In The Grass.”

1968, Iron Butterfly’s second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, entered the album chart for the first time. The album contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP which went on sell over four million copies in the US alone.

1968, Jane Asher announced on the national British TV show, Dee Time, that her engagement to Paul McCartney was off. Paul reportedly was watching at a friend’s home and was surprised by the news. She was said to have inspired many of McCartney’s songs, such as “All My Loving,” “And I Love Her,” and “We Can Work It Out.” Jane went on to have a career in films and television as well as becoming a successful author and business woman.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed in front of 2500 fans at Musicarnival in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

1969, King Crimson played at the Marquee Club, London.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appear at Century’s Huntington Theater, Huntington, New York.

1971, The Carpenters show Make Your Own Kind Of Music started a six week run on NBC-TV.

1972, The Rolling Stones performed at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Boston Garden, Boston. Tickets were $4.50 – $6.50.

1974, David Bowie appeared live at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

1974, The Ramones decide to make their drummer Joey Ramone the lead vocalist.

1974, Tim Buckley, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison, The Doobie Brothers and The Allman Brothers all appeared at Knebworth Park, England.

1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at The Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island. This also saw the live debut of “Miami” Steven Van Zandt as a member of The E Street Band.

1975, The Summerfest concert lineup at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York was Judy Collins, Dan Fogelberg, Seals & Crofts, with The Eagles as headliners.

1975, Yes played at Rynearson Stadium, Ypsilanti, Michigan.

1976, Buzzcocks made their live debut supporting The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester. In the audience was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division) and Mark E Smith, (The Fall) and Mick Hucknall. Tickets cost £1.

1977, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Arizona State University Activities Center, Tempe, Arizona.

1979, Van Halen played at the Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Salem Fairgrounds, Salem, Oregon.

1983, ZZ Top played at Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio.

1986, Carlos Santana celebrated his 39th birthday, and 20th anniversary in the music business, with a concert in San Francisco. Previous group members were assembled for the event, as 17 of them performed together on stage.

1990, Madonna played the first of three sold out nights at Wembley Stadium, London, England, on her 57-date Blond Ambition World Tour.

1994, The Grateful Dead’s only performance on this date in history took place at Deer Creek Music Center, just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana.

1999, The Rolling Stones reported a gross income of $337 million, (£168m), from almost two years of touring from their Bridges to Babylon and No Security tours. The Stones had played to over 5.6 million people, selling out all but 20 shows.

2000, The Evergreen Ballroom in Lacey, Washington was destroyed by a fire. During the ballroom’s heyday in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, many of music’s greats played there: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and Fats Domino. Glen Campbell had lived in the kitchen at the venue for a while before he became famous.

2009, Jackson Browne settled his lawsuit against US Senator John McCain and the Republican Party after his 1977 hit “Running On Empty” was used without permission in a 2008 McCain presidential campaign ad that aired on TV and the Internet. McCain and the Republican Party apologized for using the song in the ad, and said that McCain himself “had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the video.”

2011, Pictures of The Beatles’ first US concert in Washington DC on February 11th, 1964, taken by a then 18-year-old Mike Mitchell, sold at Christie’s auction house for $361,938. Security in those days was very casual and Mitchell was just feet from the band as he snapped the black and white photos which he stored for years in a box in his basement.

2015, American country musician, songwriter and record producer Wayne Carson died at the age of 72 after suffering congestive heart failure. He co-wrote “Always on My Mind,” a hit for Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and others. He also penned “The Letter,” recorded by The Box Tops, Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, and “Soul Deep.”

Born on July 20: Buddy Knox, singer, songwriter (1933); Kim Carnes, singer; and John Lodge, The Moody Blues (1945); Carlos Santana (1947); Jay Jay French, guitar, Twisted Sister (1952); Paul Cook, drums, Sex Pistols (1956); Michael McNeil, keyboards, Simple Minds (1958); Chris Cornell, vocals, guitar, Soundgarden (1962); and Stone Gossard, guitar, Pearl Jam (1966)

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Today in Rock History – July 19

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1965, The Who were recorded for broadcast on Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio!

1967, Elvis Presley was working on his latest movie Speedway, co-starring Nancy Sinatra at the MGM Soundstage, Hollywood, California. It was Presley’s twenty-seventh film.

1967, The Who played at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.

1967, The Beatles were at number one on the UK singles chart with “All You Need Is Love” the group’s twelfth UK chart topping single. The Beatles had been selected to represent the UK for the first-ever global-wide satellite broadcast. The group agreed to be shown in the studio recording a song written especially for the occasion, which was aired on June 25.

1968, Pink Floyd played the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts.  Opened in January 1967 as a psychedelic club, many many famous artists, including Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The J. Geils Band, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Who, Santana, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After and Sly & the Family Stone all appeared.

1968, Number one Pop Hit: “Grazing in the Grass,” by Hugh Masekela. A version of the song by The Friends of Distinction reaches number three in 1969.

1968, Bo Diddley played the first of two nights at the Hippodrome, San Diego, California.

1968, Spirit appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Who performed at Mothers in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1969, Led Zeppelin played at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Love Valley Festival, which brought almost 100,000 people to the small North Carolina town of Love Valley.

1971, Queen performed at the Rugby Club, Hayle, West Cornwall, England.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, Arkansas.

1973, Hawkwind appeared at the Paradiso, Amsterdam.

1974, The Ozark Music Festival was held over three days on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. One of the largest music festivals ever held, some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people. Acts who appeared included, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Blue Öyster Cult, The Eagles, America, Marshall Tucker Band, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Boz Scaggs, Ted Nugent, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Electric Flag, Joe Walsh, Aerosmith and Spirit.

1974, Eric Clapton appeared at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

bowie-boxing-gloves1974, David Bowie wraps up his tour supporting Diamond Dogs in New York with two shows at Madison Square Garden. The shows are videotaped for MainMan by John Dove.

1974, Lynyrd Skynyrd performed at Memorial Auditorium, Dallas, Texas.

1974, The Grateful Dead play at Selland Arena, in Fresno, California.

1975, Paul McCartney and Wings went to number one on the singles chart with “Listen To What The Man Said,” his fourth chart topper.  Wings also had the number one album chart with Venus And Mars. It was Paul McCartney’s fourth chart topping album since the breakup of The Beatles.

1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rehearsed for a full 19 hours at The Record Plant in New York City the day before their Born To Run Tour kicked off.

1975, The Rolling Stones play Denver, where Elton John joins them on stage.

Deep Purple – 1976

1976, Deep Purple split up at the end of an UK tour. David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, Jon Lord and Ian Paice formed a band with Tony Ashton. The classic line up of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Lord & Paice reformed in 1984. Glenn Hughes returned to Trapeze and Tommy Bolin put together his own band, (but would die before the end of the year).

1978, The Rolling Stones played at Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas.

1979, Van Halen performed at Century II Convention Hall, Wichita, Kansas.

1980, Queen scored their third number one album with The Game, featuring the single “Another One Bites The Dust.”

1980, A production of The Elephant Man starring David Bowie opens in Denver.

1980, An exhibit featuring paintings by Joni Mitchell, John Mayall, Klaus Voormanm, Ron Wood and Commander Cody opened at the Vorpal Gallery, Laguna Beach in California.

1981, Bruce Springsteen headlined at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1983, ZZ Top played at the Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio.

1986, Genesis went to number one on the US singles chart with “Invisible Touch.” Former lead singer Peter Gabriel was at number two with “Sledgehammer” from his album So.

1987, Bruce Springsteen played his first ever show behind the Iron Curtain when he appeared in East Berlin in front of 180,000 people. The show was broadcast on East German TV.

1997, Oasis went to number one on the UK singles chart with “D’You Know What I Mean.” The first single from their third album Be Here Now.

2010, Ozzy Osbourne and his former Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi settled a long-running legal dispute over the use of the group’s name. Ozzy had filed suit against the guitarist in May of last year, accusing Iommi of falsely proclaiming to be the sole owner of the Black Sabbath name by lodging an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The pair released a joint statement confirming they have settled the dispute “amicably”.

Born on July 19: Thomas Allen (Papa Dee,) percussionist, War (1931); George Frayne, aka Commander Cody  (1944); Bernie Leadon, guitar, The Eagles (1947); Brian May, Queen (1947); Keith Godchaux, Grateful Dead (1948);  Allen Collins, guitar, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952); Kevin Haskins, Bauhaus (1960)

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Today in Rock History – July 16

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Who-1965-live1965, The Who play the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestersire, England, along with The Yardbirds, Shades of Blue and The Hellions. It is one of the oldest music festivals in Britain, held annually in Cheltenham in June/July since 1945.

1966, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton formed the group Cream. The band is widely regarded as being the world’s first successful supergroup. In their career, they sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. Their music included songs based on traditional blues such as “Crossroads” and “Spoonful”, and modern blues such as “Born Under a Bad Sign”, as well as more eccentric songs such as “Strange Brew”, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “Toad”.

1966, Tommy James and the Shondells started a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Hanky Panky,” a song first recorded by The Raindrops. It was a number 38 hit in the UK

1967, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins, Janis Ian, David Blue, Mike Settle, Tom Paxton and Eric Andersen all appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.

1968, Big Brother & the Holding Company and Sly & the Family Stone open the Fillmore West, the new name given to San Francisco’s Carousel Ballroom since Bill Graham took over.

1969, During recordings at Abbey Road studio’s in London The Beatles continued  work on two George Harrison songs, “Here Comes The Sun” and “Something.”  “Here Comes The Sun” was composed at Eric Clapton’s house in Surrey on a “beautiful spring morning” earlier that year.

1970, Pink Floyd recorded a show at the BBC Paris Cinema, in London, England for broadcast on the John Peel Sunday Concert, on BBC Radio 1.

1971, Hawkwind played at Northcote Arms, Southall, England.

1972, Smokey Robinson made his last appearance with The Miracles at a concert in Washington DC.

1972, The Grateful Dead performed at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut.

1973, NBC broadcasts David Bowie’s TV special.

1975, The Rolling Stones performed at the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, just outside San Francisco.

1976, The Allman Brothers Band announces it is splitting, shortly after singer Gregg Allman testified against a drug-dealing road manager.

1977, Shaun Cassidy went to number one on the singles chart with “Da Doo Ron Ron,” his only chart topper. Shaun is the half brother of David Cassidy.

1981, US singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, who had success in the ‘70s with “Taxi,” “W-O-L-D” and the chart topping “Cat’s In The Cradle,” is killed aged 38 suffering a cardiac arrest while driving on a New York expressway. His car is hit from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing the gas tank to explode.

1993, The first of the three day Phoenix Festival in England started, featuring Sonic Youth, Faith No More, The Black Crowes, Julian Cope, Pop Will Eat Itself, Radiohead, Living Colour, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp, tickets £49 ($83.)It was held at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon.

2000, Coldplay went to number one on the UK album chart with their debut release Parachutes. The release spawned the hit singles “Shiver,” “‘Yellow,” “Trouble,” and “Don’t Panic.”  It won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2002.

2000, Matchbox 20 went to number one on the US singles chart with “Bent.” The single was taken from their second album Mad Season.

2007, The White Stripes played their shortest live show ever at George Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Jack White played a single C# note accompanied by a bass drum/crash cymbal hit from Meg. At the end of the show, Jack announced, “We have now officially played in every province and territory in Canada.” They then left the stage and performed a full show later that night in St John’s.

2012, Jon Lord, the former keyboard player with Deep Purple, died aged 71. Lord was a co-founder of Deep Purple in 1968 and co-wrote many of the group’s songs including “Smoke On The Water.” He also played with bands including Whitesnake. He had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer since the previous August.

2014, Blues guitarist Johnny Winter died at the age of 70 in Zurich, just days after playing at the Lovely Days Festival in Austria. Winter, who was instantly recognisable by his long white hair, worked with some of the greatest bluesmen, producing three Grammy winning albums for Muddy Waters.

Born on July 16: Tony Jackson, bass, vocals, The Searchers (1940); Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer,  The Aces (1941); Stewart Copeland (1952); Edward Joel Kowalczyk, Live (1971); Jeremy Enigk, vocalist, guitarist, Sunny Day Real Estate (1974); Luke Hemmings, guitarist, vocalist, 5 Seconds of Summer (1996)

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Today in Rock History – July 12

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courtesy: rollingstones.com
courtesy: rollingstones.com

1962, The Rolling Stones made their live debut at the Marquee Jazz Club, London, with Dick Taylor on bass (later of The Pretty Things) and Mick Avory on drums, (later of The Kinks). They were a last minute fill-in for Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, who had been plucked to appear on BBC radio’s Jazz Club program.  Billed as The Rollin’ Stones, culled from a song by one of their heroes, Muddy Waters. They were paid £20 for the gig. Ian Stewart’s appointment diary noted that the band played songs by Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.

1964, The Beatles appeared at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton with The Fourmost and the Shubdubs (whose drummer, Jimmy Nicol, would later fill in for an ill Ringo Starr on The Beatles’ world tour). Also in the US,  The Ed Sullivan Show re-broadcast the February 9th show, The Beatles’ first live television appearance on the program. On the way to the gig George Harrison was involved in a minor crash in his brand new Jaguar in Kings Road, Fulham, London. Passing pedestrians collected bits of broken glass as souvenirs.

1968, Pink Floyd played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, One hit wonders Zager and Evans started a six week run at number one on the singles chart with “In The Year 2525.”

1969, Led Zeppelin headline the Summer Pop Festival, alongside with Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Al Kooper and Buddy Guy at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets cost $3.75 – $6.75.

1969, Elvis Presley was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 cents

1969, Yes and King Crimson appeared at the Nottingham Racecourse, Nottingham, England.

1970, Pink Floyd headlined on the third and final day of the 1st Open Air Pop Festival, at Reiterstadion Soers, in Aachen, West Germany. Among the other acts on the bill were Deep Purple, Amon Duul II, Traffic, and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

1972, The Rolling Stones appear at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. The set list: Rock and Roll, Celebration Day, (Bring It On Home intro) Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love (incl. Let That Boy Boogie, I’m Going Down), Communication Breakdown, The Ocean.

1974, Frank Zappa plays the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1974, Eric Clapton performed at Madison Square Garden, New York

1975, Yes appears at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York.

1976, The Grateful Dead played the first of six nights at the Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, California.

1977, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Aerosmith headlines at the Long Beach Civic Arena, Long Beach, California.

1979, American singer songwriter Minnie Riperton died of cancer aged 31. The Stevie Wonder produced “Loving You” gave Minnie a number one single in 1975. She worked at Chess records singing backup for various artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. She also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971. Also a member of Wonderlove in 1973, a backup group for Stevie Wonder.

1979, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice joined Whitesnake. He would stay with the band until late 1981.

Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park – 1979. Courtesy: Chicago Reader

1979, Chicago Radio Station WLUP’s morning DJ Steve Dahl hosts Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. Between games of a double header, a bonfire is started into which disco records are pitched while the crowd chants “Disco sucks.”   The promoters expected a crowd of a few thousand fans. Instead, 40,000 people showed up to take advantage of the 98 cent admission, if they brought a disco record. Dahl’s fans stormed the field and started a small riot.  While broadcasters tried to calm the crowd and get them back to their seats, fans paid no heed and tore up the field.  The White Sox had to forfeit the second game of the double header.

1980, During their 23-date 11 O’clock Tick Tock tour, U2 played at The Moonlight, West Hampstead in London.

1980, Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra had the UK number one single with “Xanadu,” taken from the film of the same name. It gave Olivia Newton-John her third UK chart topping single.

1981, Van Halen played at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.

1983, Former Traffic member Chris Wood died of pneumonia after years of battling drug and alcohol abuse. He played flute, sax, and keyboards.

1983, David Bowie appeared at the Montreal Forum, Montreal.

1986, Simply Red scored their first US number one single with “Holding Back The Years.” Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall wrote the song when he was seventeen, while living at his father’s house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later.

1996, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was charged with drug possession after the death of the band’s keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin in his New York Hotel room.

2003, Saxophonist, composer and arranger Benny Carter died aged 95. He worked with Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and composed many TV theme’s including Ironside and M-Squad.

2003, REM, The White Stripes, Idlewind, The Cardigans, The Proclaimers, The Music, The Charlatans, Coldplay, Supergrass, The Darkness, Turin Brakes, The Coral and Feeder all appeared at the two-day T In The Park festival in Scotland.

2007, Rod Stewart was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace for his services to music.

Born on July 12: Christine McVie (1943); Wilko Johnson, guitar, Dr. Feelgood (1947); Philip Taylor Kramer, bass guitar, Iron Butterfly (1952);  Dan Murphy, guitar, Soul Asylum (1962); Dominic Howard, drums, Muse (1977)

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Today in Rock History – July 11

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The First Edition

1964, The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program Lucky Stars (Summer Spin,) performing “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Things We Said Today,” and “You Can’t Do That.” To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames.

1965, The Who performed two shows on this Sunday, first at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinkley, and later at the Savoy Ballroom, South Parade, Southsea, Portsmouth. The second show was supported by the Crow and promoted by Rikki Farr of the Birdcage Club Portsmouth.

1967, Having left the New Christy Minstrels the day before, Kenny Rogers forms the First Edition with fellow ex-Minstrels Thelma Camacho, Mike Settle, and Terry Williams.

1968, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Velvet Underground performed at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.

david-bowie-space-oddity-rca1969, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie was released in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK, and not until 1973 in the US.

1969, The Grateful Dead appeared at the New York State Pavilion, Flushing Meadows, New York.

1969, Led Zeppelin performs at The Laurel Pop Festival along with Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Al Kooper, Buddy Guy, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers at the Laurel Race Couse on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. Ticket prices ranged from $4.75 – $10 (£3 – £6.75).

1970, The soundtrack album Woodstock started a four-week run at number one on the album chart.

1970, Three Dog Night started a two-week run at number one in the with their cover of the Randy Newman song “Mama Told Me Not To Come.”

1971, Creedence Clearwater Revival played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1971, The Bruce Springsteen Band opened for Humble Pie at the Sunshine Inn, Asbury Park, New Jersey. After the show an impressed Peter Frampton from Humble Pie, tells Springsteen and the band he’d like to have them open for them on a national basis. Frampton also said he would be happy to get the band an audition with his record label, A&M Records.

1972, The Rolling Stones played at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio.

1973, Brownsville Station performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland.

1974, KISS was at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The site is now a parking lot for the new baseball and football stadiums in Pittsburgh.

1975, Fleetwood Mac release their self titled tenth album under the Fleetwood Mac name. It was the first to feature Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 over a year after entering the chart, spent 37 weeks within the top 10, and more, than fifteen months within the top 40. It launched three top twenty singles, “Over My Head,” “Rhiannon,” and “Say You Love Me,” the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number eleven.

1975, Yes performed at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio.

1976,  Frank Sinatra marries Barbara Marx, his fourth and final wife. She had been married to Zeppo Marx.

1976, ZZ Top played at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

1977, This was opening night of a new punk venue, The Vortex Club, on Wardour Street, London, with Siouxise, Adam And The Ants, The Slits and Sham 69.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.

1979, Van Halen played at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas.

1981, Def Leppard releases High ‘n’ Dry, their second album. It was the last to feature Pete Willis as a full member. He was sacked during the “Pyromania” sessions in July 1982. It featured the title track, plus “Let It Go”, “Another Hit and Run,” and “Switch 625.”

1981, The Specials had their second and final UK number one single with “Ghost Town.” Despite being a song about Coventry, the band chose to film the video of themselves driving a Vauxhall Cresta around some empty London streets.

1982, The Rolling Stones played at Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy.

1983, Robert Plant releases The Principle Of Moments, scoring big with his second solo album. His supporting players include Robbie Blunt, Paul Martinez, Jezz Woodroffe, Phil Collins and Barrimore Barlow. It featured the hits “Big Log” and “In The Mood”.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1992, A range of eight men’s ties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the US by the end of the year.

1994, The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, their 20th British and 22nd American studio album. The Stones recapturing some of their classic mojo and swagger. Voodoo Lounge is also the Stones’ first album without long-time bassist Bill Wyman, who left the band in early 1993.

1996, Jonathan Melvoin, keyboard player with the Smashing Pumpkins, died from a drug overdose in New York City aged 34. Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin who was with Melvoin tried, but failed to revive him after Chamberlin was allegedly advised by 911 operators to put Melvoin’s head in the shower. Several songs were inspired by his death, including Sarah McLachlan’s hit single “Angel.” He was the brother of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin of Prince and the Revolution. Melvoin had also been a member of The Dickies.

1999, Limp Bizkit started a three week run at number one on the US album chart with Significant Other, the band’s first US chart topper.

2002, The funeral of The Who’s bass player John Entwistle took place at a church in The Cotswolds. More than 200 mourners filed into the 12th century church of St Edward in Stow-on-the-wold.

2009,“I Gotta Feeling” by the The Black Eyes Peas started a 14-week run at number one on the US singles chart ending the 12-week run of the band’s previous single “Boom Boom Pow.” It made the band only the fourth to replace themselves at the top spot in chart history, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, and OutKast.

2014, Producer and drummer Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), from the influential punk rock band the Ramones died at his home in New York aged 65, following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer. He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones before his death. In 1970, Erdelyi was an assistant engineer for the production of the Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys.

Born on July 11: Jeff Hana, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1949); Bonnie Pointer, singer, The Pointer Sisters (1951); Pete Murphy, vocals, Bauhaus (1957); Richie Sambora, guitarist Bon Jovi; (1959) Suzanne Vega (1959); and Kimberly Jones, aka Lil’ Kim (1975)

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Today in Rock History – July 10

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rolling-stones-satisfaction1965, The Rolling Stones started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the group’s first chart-topper there. In the UK, the song was initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.

1966, Johnny Tilotson, The Jive Five, The Tymes, The Shangra-Las and local band The Castiles (with Bruce Springsteen on vocals) all appeared at the Surf ‘n See Club in Seabright New Jersey.

1968, Eric Clapton announced that Cream would be splitting up following a farewell tour later in the year.

1968, The Nice were banned from appearing at London’s Royal Albert Hall after burning an American flag on stage. Two years later, Keith Emerson, leader of the Nice, joined Greg Lake and Carl Palmer in Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

1968, Diana Ross & the Supremes and Stevie Wonder appeared at San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1969, Bob Dylan, Iron Butterfly, and Blues Image all appeared at the Mississippi River Festival at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois.

1969, The funeral of Rolling Stone Brian Jones took place in his home town at Hatherley Road Parish Church, Cheltenham. Canon Hugh Evan Hopkins read Jones’ own epitaph, “Please don’t judge me too harshly.” Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts from The Stones attended the funeral.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York.

1970, The Who single “Summertime Blues” backed with “Heaven and Hell” is released. The A-side comes from the album Live at Leeds while the B-side is a quickly recorded mono studio version of the Entwistle song done for the BBC, with a new vocal slapped on. It reaches number 38 in Britain and in the US, it makes number 27 in the Billboard charts.

1971, The Who performed during their “unpublicized” tour of the UK at Civic Hall, Dunstable, England.

1972, Harry Nilsson released Son of Schmilsson. His eighth album featured friends Ringo Starr and George Harrison, plus Klaus Voorman, Nicky Hopkins, Peter Frampton, Chris Spedding, Bobby Keys and Lowell George. It included the hit “Spaceman, ” and the satirical classics “You’re Breaking My Heart” and “Joy.”

1972, Pink Floyd release “Free Four”/”Stay” as a 7″ single in the US.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed for two hours and forty minutes to 11,000 fans at the Milwaukee Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1974, David Bowie played the first of five dates at The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia the recordings of which made up the David Live album released later that year.

1975, The Rolling Stones played at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1976, One hit wonders Starland Vocal Band started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Afternoon Delight.”

1976, Aerosmith performed at Comiskey Park in Chicago, home of the White Sox baseball team. The stadium was demolished in 1991, when a new stadium was opened next door.  The Beatles performed at Comiskey in 1965.

1977, Cher gave birth to a baby boy Elijah Blue.  Gregg Allman was the father.

1978, Rolling Stone Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious after falling from the stage during a Stones concert at the Coliseum in St Paul, Minnesota.

1979, Chuck Berry was sentenced to five months in jail after being found guilty of tax evasion.

Bob Marley, courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com)

1980, Bob Marley and the Wailers began what would be Marley’s last ever UK tour when they appeared in Dublin, Ireland.

1980, During their 23 date 11 O’Clock Tick Tock tour, U2 appeared at The Clarendon Hotel in London.

1981, The Moody Blues performed at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1981, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

1984, King Crimson appeared at Le Spectrum in Montreal, Quebec.

1987, Producer and record company executive John Hammond died. He brought Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen to Columbia Records. Hammond also worked as a producer with Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and Count Basie.

2002, David Bowie, Suede, Divine Comedy, Green Day, No Doubt, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, Joe Strummer, New Order, Doves and Shed 7 all appeared at the four day Move festival, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, England.

2008, The drum skin used on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album sold for £541,250 ($1 million) at Christie’s Memorabilia auction in London. Other items sold included John Lennon’s lyrics for “Give Peace a Chance” which sold for £421,250 ($832,257.) A pair of tinted prescription sunglasses belonging to Lennon, which he wore for the cover of the single “Mind Games,” sold for £39,650 ($79,000.) A rare 1/4 inch reel to-reel master tape recording of the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing at the Woburn Music Festival in 1968 went for £48,050 ($95,00), a Marshall amplifier used by Hendrix in concert fetched £25,000 ($50,000).

Born on July 10: Jerry Miller, Moby Grape (1943); Arlo Guthrie (1947); Ronnie James Dio (1949); and Greg Kihn (1950)

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Today in Rock History – July 8

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beatles-nowhere-man-ep1966, The Beatles released the Nowhere Man 4-track EP in the UK, which included “Drive My Car,” “Michelle,” and “You Won’t See Me.” All four tracks were taken from The Beatles’ sixth UK studio album, Rubber Soul.

1966, The Who appeared at Top Rank Suite in Cardiff, Wales.

1966, The Rolling Stones performed at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

1967, UK music weekly the Melody Maker ran a front-page comment condemning the 3-month jail sentence given to Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for possession of Benzedrine tablets. Jagger was later given a conditional discharge.

1967, The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as support act. They requested Hendrix because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Hendrix manager Chas Chandler later admitted that he engineered the tour in an effort to gain publicity for Hendrix.

1968, Pink Floyd kicked off their second North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Visa problems meant a delayed start to the tour, and the band had to spend time in Canada while the paperwork was sorted out.

1969, Marianne Faithful collapsed on the set of Ned Kelly after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital, (she was later dropped from the movie).

1970, The Everly Brothers Show started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC- TV.

1971, Yes performed at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

1971, A minor riot occurred during a Mott The Hoople gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Some fans were injured and two boxes were damaged causing a temporary ban on rock gigs at the venue.

1972, Bill Withers started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Lean On Me.”

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky.

1972, Donny Osmond was at number one on the singles chart with his version of the Paul Anka song “Puppy Love.” The first of three solo chart toppers for Donny.

1972, The Concert 10 Festival was held at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Acts performing included, Claire Hamill, The Groundhogs, Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces with Rod Stewart, Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, and Three Dog Night.

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy1973, Led Zeppelin’s fifth album Houses Of The Holy was on both the US and UK album charts. The album spent a total of 39 weeks on the US chart. The cover art for Houses Of The Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis.

1974, David Bowie plays Philadelphia’s Tower Theatre. The week-long series of concerts is recorded and later released as David Live.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1977, ZZ Top performed at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

1978, Gerry Rafferty’s album City To City went to number one on the US charts knocking off Saturday Night Fever, which had reigned supreme at the top of the charts for almost six months.

1978, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow, both were fined.

1979, The B-52’s made their UK live debut at London’s Lyceum Ballroom, supported by The Tourists.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at the Tendastrisce, Rome.

1981, The Grateful Dead perform at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1983, Iron Maiden played at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1984, Bob Dylan’s current European tour came to an end at Slane Castle, County Meath in Ireland. Dylan was joined on stage by Van Morrison and they duetted on “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” U2’s Bono, who was sent to interview Dylan for the Irish rock magazine Hot Press, ended up duetting with Dylan on “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.” Carlos Santana also joined Dylan on stage and played guitar on the last seven songs of the set.

1995, TLC started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Waterfalls,” the group’s second US chart topper, and a top four hit in the UK.

2002, Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry’s treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a “conspiracy” among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson’s record label said the remarks were “ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.”

2006, Queen guitarist Brian May made a “substantial” donation to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides. Although the exact amount was not revealed it was said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years. May’s money would go towards funding cash rewards for islanders so hundreds more hedgehogs can be saved.

2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 am, but Prince took to the stage at 2.45 am. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance. His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.

Born on July 8: Jaimoe Johanson, Allman Bros (1944); Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode (1960);  Toby Keith (1961); Joan Osborne (1963); Beck (1970); Jamie Cook, guitarist, Arctic Monkeys (1985)

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Today in Rock History – July 7

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Alpha TV Studio – Birmingham UK July 1963 – Philip Townsend

1963, The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on Thank Your Lucky Stars. Also seen on the show were Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The Stones made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966

1965, The Who played at a gala opening of The Manor House club in London.

1966, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Sunny Afternoon,” the group’s third and last chart topper.

1966, The Who played at the Locarno Ballroom in London, England.

1967, The Monkees begin a nationwide tour, with Jimi Hendrix supporting.

1967, Dusty Springfield begins a three-week residency at New York’s Copacabana nightclub.

1968, The Yardbirds played their last gig before splitting up when they appeared in Luton, England.

1969, Arlo Guthrie and Joni Mitchell appeared in Edwardsville, Illinois.

1969, George Harrison recorded his new song “Here Comes the Sun” with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent, recovering from a car crash in Scotland.

1970, The Who headline at the Tanglewood Music Amphitheater in Lenox, Massachusetts with Jethro Tull and It’s a Beautiful Day opening. It is one of The Who’s very best performances and is projected on a 15′ X 21′ television screen on the lawn outside the venue. The show is videotaped and intended for use on a Fillmore at Tanglewood television special that never airs. “Heaven and Hell”, “I Can’t Explain” and “Water” are later released on the first video edition of 30 Years Of Maximum R&B and the surviving section of the concert on YouTube in 2014.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1971, Yes appeared at the Orlando Sports Stadium, also known as the Eddie Graham Sports Complex, an indoor venue which opened in 1967, and closed in 1995.

1971, 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her a slight injury.

1972, Chicago performed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at Chicago Stadium, Chicago.

1973, Hawkwind played at the Sports Centre, Bletchley, England.

1973, Billy Preston started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Will It Go Round In Circles,” his first of two chart toppers.

1974, David Bowie performed at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

1975, Paul McCartney & Wings release “Live and Let Die.”

1975, Keith Moon has “Happy Birthday Ringo” written in the sky above Los Angeles in honor of his fellow drummer’s 35th birthday. He then sends the bill to Ringo.

1976, Neil Young appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1978, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.

The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats

1979, The Boomtown Rats made a personal appearance at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in London.

1980, Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. They finished the show with a 17-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love.”

1980, The Who perform at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

1984, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the US album chart with Born In The USA. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.

1984, Prince started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “When Doves Cry,” his first US chart topper, which went on to sell over two million copies. It reached the fourth spot in the UK.

1989, It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums.

2001, Stereophonics, David Gray, The Dandy Warhols, The Proclaimers, Paul Weller, Texas, Coldplay, Beck, Toploader, Ash, Starsailor, Nelly Furtado, James, and Muse all appeared at  T In The Park festival, Scotland, weekend tickets, £64 ($109.)

2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The official cause of death was listed as pancreatic cancer.  He joined Pink Floyd in 1965, and crafted most of the material from their first album, but only contributed one song for the second offering.  Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD. By April 1968, he was kicked out of the band. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.

2007, The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organized by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to “heal the planet.” Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London’s Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, The Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.

2009, Michael Jackson’s family and fans said farewell to the pop superstar at an emotional memorial service. The singer’s coffin was placed in front of the stage during the public event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after an earlier private funeral.

2010, Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr onstage at a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to help celebrate the former Beatle drummer’s 70th birthday.  Ringo’s All-Starr Band were joined by Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Angus Young and Steven Van Zandt, as Paul belted out “Birthday” and Ringo delivered “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

Born on July 7: Mary Ford, American singer (1928); Joe Zawinul, pianist, Miles Davis band, Weather Report (1932); Ringo Starr (1940);  Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); Rob Townsend, drummer, Family (1947); Lynval Golding, guitar, The Specials (1952); Mark White, bass, The Spin Doctors (1962)

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