July Anniversaries

July 31

• 1964 - A Rolling Stones concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is stopped after only 12 minutes when violence breaks out in the audience.
• 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.
• 1969 - Elvis Presley kicked off a four week run at the Las Vegas International Hotel, (his first live show since 1961). He reportedly netted $1.5m for the shows. On the menu an Elvis special, polk salad with corn muffins & honey.

July 30

• 1954 - Slim Whitman, Billy Walker, Sugarfoot Collins, Sonny Harvelle, Tinker Fry, Curly Harris and a young Elvis Presley, all appeared at the Hillbilly Hoedown, Overton Park Shell, in Memphis Tennessee.
• On this date, July 30, 1955, Johnny Cash came to Sun Studio to record one of his iconic hits - "Folsom Prison Blues". And, today, like all days, we remember Sun founder Sam Phillips, who passed on this date in 2003. 
  
• 1968 - The Beatles' Apple Boutique in London closed after heavy losses.
• 1970 - The Rolling Stones fired Allen Klein as their manager.

July 29

• 1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
• 1959 - The Isley Brothers recorded "Shout."
• 1963 - Peter, Paul and Mary's "Blowin' In The Wind" was released.
• 1965 - The Beatles film "Help!" premiered in London.
• 1966 - According to legend, Bob Dylan was seriously injured when he crashed his motorcycle near Woodstock, NY.
• 1966 - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England.
• 1966 - Datebook published Maureen Cleave’s interview with John Lennon in which he said ‘We’re bigger than Jesus now.” American Christians reacted with outrage, organizing ‘Beatle bonfires’ burning the group's records.
• 1968 - The Byrds left on their tour of South Africa without Gram Parsons, who decided to hang out with The Rolling Stones.
• 1970 - The Rolling Stones' contract with Decca ends. The band informs manager Allen Klein that "neither he nor ABKCO Industries have any authority to negotiate recording contracts on their behalf" and begins to consider starting its own label.
• 1973 -  Led Zeppelin lost $203,000 in cash when a thief made off with their safe deposit box from two Madison Square Garden concerts in New York City.
• 1974 -  Mamas And The Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England.
• 1980 - David Bowie opened in the title role of "Elephant Man."

JULY 28

• 1939 - Judy Garland recorded "Over the Rainbow."
• 1957 - Jerry Lee Lewis made his television debut on "The Steve Allen Show."
• 1973 - A rock festival took place in Watkins Glen, NY. About 600-thousand people watched the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and The Band perform.
• 1987 - The Beatles sued Nike and Capitol Records over the use of their song "Revolution" in shoe commercials.

JULY 27

• 1940 - Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare."
• 1958, Fan's of rock & roll music were warned that tuning into music on the car radio could cost you more money. Researchers from the Esso gas company said the rhythm of rock & roll could cause the driver to be foot heavy on the pedal, making them waste fuel.
• 1963 - Dezo Hoffman takes photos, movies of Beatles in bathing suits and go-karts
• 19743 - Debut album by The New York Dolls released.
• 1976 - John Lennon finally had his request for permanent residency in the United States approved.
• 1976 - Tina Turner files for a divorce from Ike.

 

JULY 26:

 

• 1968 - The Jackson Five signed a one-year contract with Motown Records.
• 1968 - Decca pulls the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet from its release schedule, citing problems with the sleeve.
• 1969 - Elvis Presley opened his first live engagement in almost eight years.
• 1977 - Elvis Costello was arrested as he performed outside a CBS Records sales conference at The London Hilton Hotel and was fined £5.
• 1979 - A revised version of the Clash's debut album was released in the U.S.
• 1990 - Brent Mydland, the German keyboardist with the Grateful Dead, dies at age 37.
• 1992 - Mary Wells, whose "My Guy" was Motown's first No. 1, dies of throat cancer at age 49.

 

JULY 25:

 

• 1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric as he plugs in at the Newport Folk Festival
• 1969 - Neil Young made his first appearance with Crosby, Stills and Nash. 
• 1971 - The Beach Boys released their album "Surf's Up." 

 

JULY 24:

• 1956 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ended their ten year partnership.
• 1963 - Beatles attend Fourmost recording session for "Hello Little Girl."
• 1964 - A riot broke out during a Rolling Stones gig at The Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, after Keith Richards aims a kick at a guy who was spitting at the group. Two policemen and 30 fans were injured.
• 1967 - Beatles and Brian Epstein buy a newspaper ad urging marijuana be legalized. The band also met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose lecture on Transcendental Meditation (TM) they had gone to hear at the Hilton Hotel in London.
• 1969 - Paul records demo of "Come and Get It" for the Iveys aka Badfinger.
• 1971 - Paul Revere and the Raiders went to No.1 on the singles chart with 'Indian Reservation'.
• 1971 - The No. 1 record in the U.K. is T. Rex's "Get It On."
• 1972 - Bobby Ramirez drummer with Edger Winters White Trash was killed after becoming involved in a brawl in a Chicago bar. The fight started after comments were made about the length of his hair.
• 2003 - The film "Masked and Anonymous," starring Bob Dylan, opened in New York.

JULY 23:

• 1955 - Chess Records releases "Maybellene," the first single by a guitarist called Chuck Berry. The song goes to No. 5 and permanently enters the rock pantheon.
• 1966 - Napoleon XIV releases the perennial novelty favorite "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" In reality he was record engineer Jerry Samuels.
• 1980 - Keith Godchaux (Grateful Dead) died of injuries that he sustained in a car accident in Marin County, CA.
• 2011 - Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27.

 

JULY 22:

• 1963 - The Beatles' first U.S. album, "Introducing The Beatles," was released on the Vee Jay label.
• 1965 -Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman were each fined £5 at East Ham Magistrates Court, London after being found guilty of insulting behavior at a Romford Road service station, for urinating against a wall.
• 1968 - The Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album was released.
• 1969 - Aretha Franklin was arrested for disorderly conduct after creating a disturbance in a Detroit parking lot.
• 1971 - John and Yoko spent the second day filming the ‘Imagine’ promotional film at their home in Tittenhurst Park Ascot, England, including John Lennon singing ‘Imagine’ in the white room on his white piano.
• 1972 - Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Sweden for possession of drugs.
• 1972 - The Who's "Join Together" was released.
• 1975 - No. 1 on the Billboard charts is Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti. No. 2 is Olivia Newton-John's Have You Never Been Mellow. No. 3 is Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.
• 1975, The Rolling Stones go into the Musicland Studios in Munich to begin recording "Black and Blue."
• 1977 - Elvis Costello's first album, "My Aim Is True," was released in Britain. It was later released in the U.S. with an extra track.
• 1979 - Little Richard, now known as the Reverend Richard Pennman told his congregation about the evils of rock & roll music, declaring 'If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody.'
• 1994 - Ted Nugent records a P.S.A. warning kids against inhaling aerosol spray cans. 

 

JULY 21:

• 1956 - Billboard dubs Elvis Presley "the most controversial entertainer since Liberace."
• 1969 - Duke Ellington and a portion of his band performed a 10-minute composition on ABC-TV titled, "Moon Maiden." The event took place just one day after Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. 
• 1977 - The Sex Pistols made their debut on UK music TV show Top Of The Pops.
• 1980 - Keith Godchaux (Grateful Dead) was injured in a car accident. He died two days later.  
• 1989 - Weird Al Yankovic's first movie, "UHF," opened. 
• 1990 - Roger Waters staged a production of "The Wall" at Potsdamer Platz, Germany. Sinead O'Connor, Bryan Adams, Phil Collins, the Band, and Cyndi Lauper among others took part in the benefit. 
• 1993 - Bob Dylan films the video for "Blood in My Eyes" in North London.

 

JULY 20:

• 1954 - The Blue Moon Boys (Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black) made their live debut appearing on the back of a flatbed truck outside a new drug store in Memphis.
• 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.
• 1974 - The Ramones decide to make their drummer Joey Ramone the lead vocalist.
• 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'Little) Steven Van Zandt as a member of The E Street Band.
• 1987 - Mick Jagger shoots the video for "Let's Work" in New York.

 

JULY 19:

• 1954 - Elvis Presley's first single was released by Sun Records. It was "That's All Right" b/w "Blue Moon of Kentucky." 
• 1958 - The manager of The Drifters, George Treadwell, fired the entire group and hired the unknown Ben E King and The Five Crowns as their replacements.
• 1963 - Another setback for the still-struggling Rolling Stones. On their way to perform at the coming-out party of the daughter of an English lord, Brian Jones falls ill. The Stones cancel.
• 1966 - Frank Sinatra, at the age of 50, married the 20-year-old actress Mia Farrow.
• 1968 - Pink Floyd played the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts.
• 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 (and never leaves).
• 1980 - A production of The Elephant Man starring David Bowie opens in Denver.
• 1995 - Elvis Presley's former doctor Dr. George Nichopoulous, lost his medical license for being "too liberal" when prescribing addictive drugs.

  

JULY 18:

• 1953 - Elvis Presley recorded "My Happiness" as a gift for his mother. It was his first recording. 
• 1960 - Hank Ballard and the Midnighters released "The Twist." The song didn't become a hit until later in the year when Chubby Checker covered it. 
• 1974 - The U.S. Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the country by September 10. The Immigration and Naturalization Service denied him an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge.

 

JULY 17:

• 1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for The Monkees at The Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York. 
• 1968 - The Beatles’ feature-length cartoon, "Yellow Submarine," premiered at the London Pavilion. 
• 1974 - The Moody Blues open the first quadraphonic studio in London. 

 

JULY 16:

• 1959 - The Coasters recorded "Poison Ivy." 
• 1966 - In London, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker formed the band Cream. 
• 1976 - Loggins and Messina broke up. 
• 1981 - Harry Chapin died in a car crash at the age of 38. He was on his way to a benefit concert. 

 

JULY 15: 

• 1973 - Ray Davies announced that he was leaving The Kinks. He returned to the group within the week. 
• 1978 - Bob Dylan performed before the largest open-air concert audience (for a single artist). About 200,000 fans turned out at Blackbushe Airport in England. 

 

Thanks to Wikipedia, On This Day and Yeah Baby Tunes.