July 24th

Musical birthdays today include former Great Society guitarist David Miner (84), ex-Them guitarist Jim Armstrong (82), chansonnier Yves Duteil (77), jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis (73), country singer Pam Tillis (69), Extreme drummer Paul Geary (65), Jennifer Lopez (57), country singer Jerrod Niemann (47), Killswitch Engage guitarist Joel Stroetzel (46), and The Wanted vocalist Joel McGuiness (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for film score composer Léo Arnaud, born on this day in 1904... for jazz trumpeter Charles 'Cootie' Williams, born in 1911... for big band singer Bob Eberly, born in 1916... for jazz pianist Billy Taylor, born in 1921... for Tornados bassist Heinz Burt, who would have been 83 today... for classical pianist Peter Serkin, who would have been 79.. for Japan bassist Mick Karn, who would have been 56... for Edgar Winter's White Trash drummer Bobby Ramirez, who was killed in a bar brawl today in 1972 at the age of 24... and for America frontman Dan Peek, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on July 24th: A riot breaks out during a Rolling Stones gig at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, after Keith Richards aims a kick at an unruly audience member who has been spitting at the group throughout the show. Two policemen and 30 fans are injured in the ensuing melee, and the damage is estimated at over £4,000 (1964)... The Times of London publishes a petition bearing the signatures of the four Beatles and Brian Epstein, among others, calling for the legalisation of marijuana. On the same day, the members of the group meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose lecture on Transcendental Meditation (TM) they attended at the Hilton Hotel in London. TM involves the silent repetition of a word or sound to produce a state of mind that reduces stress, calms the mind, and energizes both mind and body. The Maharishi invites The Beatles to travel with him to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend more lectures. and they accept his invitation, planning to attend during Britain's August bank holiday (1967)... Paul Revere and the Raiders go to № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Indian Reservation'. The song was first recorded in 1959 by Marvin Rainwater and released as 'The Pale Faced Indian' (1971)... Led Zeppelin play what proves to be their final North American concert, as they close their current tour with a second consecutive sold out night at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CA (1977)... The Robert Stigwood film 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', is released, featuring The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. The film receives scathing reviews from most critics but will break even at the box office, albeit barely (1978)... The Go-Go's release their debut album Beauty and the Beat (1981)... Survivor are at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Eye of the Tiger' (1983)... Aretha Franklin attends the funeral of her father, a retired Baptist minister. The Reverend C.V. Franklin had been in a coma for the last 5 years after being shot by burglars during a robbery of his home in Detroit (1984)... UB40 have the № 1 single in the US with their version of 'Can't Help Falling in Love with You'. They are also topping the album chart at home in Britain with Promises and Lies (1993)... Phil Collins marries for the third time. The 48-year-old drummer weds marketing consultant Orianne Cevey in Lausanne, Switzerland. Guests at the nuptials include Elton John, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler (1999)... A garden centre in west London is sued over claims it killed a collection of the late singer Freddie Mercury's prized koi fish. Mercury's former partner Mary Austin, who inherited the Japanese koi collection, claims that 84 fish died when the electricity powering a temporary pond was accidentally turned off by a worker from Clifton Nurseries in Maida Vale. At the time of Mercury's death, he had amassed one of the best collections of the fish in the UK. One koi can be worth £250,000 (2002)... Robert Plant joins three local musicians at a fundraising charity show in Monmouth, Wales ~ tickets cost £3. The event is a tribute to his friend, former Led Zeppelin producer Pat Moran, who died of a rare form of dementia in January. Plant delights the small crowd in the Monmouthshire town with songs from his Led Zeppelin days as well as tunes from his solo career (2011).

 

July 23rd

Musical birthdays today include soul singer Madeleine Bell (84), singer-songwriter Tony Joe White (83), former Rascals drummer Dino Danelli (82), Roxy Music saxophone & woodwinds player Andy Mackay (80), David Essex (79), ex-BTO guitarist Blair Thornton (76), Manhattan Transfer vocalist Janis Siegel (74), operatic mezzo-soprano Susan Graham (66), Depeche Mode guitarist & principal songwriter Martin Gore (65), Slash [né Saul Hudson] (61), former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson (61), producer & former Color Me Badd vocalist Sam Watters (56), Alison Krauss (55), ex-Destiny's Child vocalist Michelle Williams (46), and Sum 41 drummer Steve Jocz (45).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues, born on this day in 1920... for original Rush drummer John Rutsey, who would have been 74 today... for jazz harmonica player Chris Michalek, who would have been 55... for composer Domenico Scarlatti, who died on this date in 1757... for Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux, who was killed in an automobile accident today in 1980 at the age of 32... for bandleader Kay Kyser, who passed away in 1985... for Greek variety singer Aliki Vougiouklaki, who died in 1996... for Motown songwriter & producer Ron Miller, who died in 2007... and for Amy Winehouse, who left us today in 2011. 

Also on July 23rd: Handel begins composing Saul, the first of his oratorios to texts by Charles Jennens, with whom he will collaborate on 'The Messiah' (1738)... Chet Baker completes the sessions that will yield the album marking his debut as a vocalist, the aptly titled Chet Baker Sings (1956)... Frank Sinatra has the № 1 album in the US with Strangers in the Night, which will go on to become the singer's only platinum LP (1966)... The Beatles record 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide except Me and My Monkey' as part of the White Album sessions (1968)... The Rolling Stones have their eighth and final UK № 1 single with 'Honky Tonk Women' (1969)... Jethro Tull release A Passion Play (1973)... John Bonham is charged with assault after a Led Zeppelin concert at the Coliseum in Oakland, CA. Bonham and band manager Peter Grant had the help of one of the band's bodyguard in roughing up a security employee at the venue whom they accused of stealing. After pleading guilty to misdemeanors, the accused settle out of court for two million dollars. The tour will eventually be interrupted and then cancelled following the death of Robert Plant's son (1977)... Paul Young has his first UK № 1 single with his version of Marvin Gaye's 'Wherever I Lay My Hat, (That's My Home.)' The title will be parodied by Super Furry Animals in 1999 with their 1999 song 'Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)... The № 1 album in the US is Synchronicity by The Police, who also kick off the American leg of their 107-date world tour in support of the record with a show at Comiskey Park in Chicago (1983)... In Dallas, TX, Ringo Starr kicks off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles. His backup band includes guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston and Bruce Springsteen's sax man Clarence Clemons (1989)... The International Astronomical Union names an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter after the late Frank Zappa (1994)... Fiona Apple's debut album Tidal is released (1996)... 59 year old Paul McCartney, who lost his first wife Linda to cancer three years ago, becomes engaged to 33 year old Heather Mills, an activist for the disabled. It will be the first marriage for the 33-year-old Mills, a former swimwear model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after she was run down by a police motorcyclist in 1993 (2001)... James Brown announces his separation from his fourth wife using an advertisement featuring the Disney character Goofy. The 70-year-old placed the notice in Variety magazine ~ it features a picture of himself, his wife Tomi Rae and their two-year-old son James Joseph Brown II posing with Goofy at Walt Disney World (2003)... On the afternoon of tonight's concert at First Energy Park in Lakewood, NJ, Bob Dylan is picked up by a young policewoman who received a report of  a man 'acting suspiciously' in the area. The police officer drove up alongside Dylan and asked him his name, but she did not recognise him. When he was unable to produce any identification, Dylan was driven back to his hotel where staff were able to vouch for him. The misunderstanding arose when Dylan was out for a walk in the afternoon while on tour with Willie Nelson; John Cougar Mellencamp was also on the bill for the show at the local baseball stadium (2009)... Beyoncé soldiers through a concert in Montreal after her hair becomes tangled in the blades of a fan. The singer was performing 'Halo' from an audience pit when the incident occurred. She continues to sing her encore while security guards try to extract her from the fan, which is mounted on the edge of the stage (2013). 

 

 

July 22nd

Musical birthdays today include funk pioneer George Clinton (85), Supertramp lead singer Rick Davies (82), French chanteuse Mireille Mathieu (80), Don Henley (79), session guitarist and producer Richard Bennett (75), jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno (72), ex-Bad Company lead singer Brian Howe (72), jazz guitarist Al DiMeola (72), Savatage lead singer Jon Oliva (66), Indigo Girl Emily Saliers (63), Greek pop singer Despina Vandi (57), Savage Garden co-founder Daniel Jones (53), Rufus Wainwright (53), and Selena Gomez (34). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for  operatic soprano Licia Albanese, born on this day in 1909... for country singer Margaret Whiting, born in 1924... for bassist and Stan Getz sideman William 'Keter' Betts, born in 1930... for Ronettes vocalist Estelle Bennett, who would have been 85... for Bobby Sherman, who would have been 83... for original Charlatans keyboardist Rob Collins, killed in a DWI accident today in 1996 at the age of 33... for Megadeath drummer Gary 'Gar' Samuelson, who died in 1999... for chansonnier Sacha Distel, who passed away in 2004... and for Chi-Lites lead singer Eugene Record, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on July 22nd: J.S. Bach takes his last communion (1750)... Verdi's I Masnadieri [The Bandits], his first opera written on commission for a patron outside of Italy, premieres at Her Majesty's Theatre in London with the composer himself conducting the orchestra (1847)... The Beatles' first US album, Introducing the Beatles, is pressed by Vee-Jay Records, who believe that they have obtained the legal rights from EMI affiliate Trans-Global Records. When it is finally released in January, 1964, Capitol Records hits Vee Jay with an injunction against manufacturing, distributing, advertising, or otherwise disposing of records by the group (1963)... Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother & the Holding Co. appear at the Convention Hall, San Diego, CA (1967)... Aretha Franklin is arrested for disorderly conduct in a Detroit parking lot. After posting $50 bail, she knocks down a road sign while leaving the police station (1969)... John and Yoko spent a second day filming the ‘Imagine’ promotional film at their home in Tittenhurst Park, Ascot. Today's footage includes the morning walk on the grounds through the mist and John singing ‘Imagine’ in the white living room on his white piano (1971)... Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale is released (1974)... Stiff Records release My Aim Is True, the debut album by Elvis Costello in the UK. The musicians who are featured on the album are uncredited on the original release due to contractual difficulties. Later printings of the LP will identify them as members of the band Clover (1977)... Little Richard, now known as the Reverend Richard Penniman, tells his Los Angeles congregation about the evils of rock & roll music, declaring "If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody" (1979)... Courtney Love marries her first husband, James Moreland, lead singer of the band Leaving Trains (1989)... Donovan is forced to postpone a comeback tour of the US because of a 30-year-old marijuana bust in the UK. American authorities delay granting him a waiver to enter the country, insisting that they must 'investigate further' (1996)... Simple Minds close their official fan club owing to dwindling membership (1999)... Research by a car insurance company shows that listening to the wrong sort of music when driving can lead to aggression and distraction. Dr Nicola Dibben, a music psychologist, says "Singing while driving stimulates the mind." Songs recommended included Pulp’s ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘Hey Ya’ by Outcast, but the doctor says that songs like The Prodigy’s 'Firestarter' should be avoided (2005)... 
Johnny Cash is at № 1 on the US album chart with American V: A Hundred Highways. Released posthumously on July 4, the vocal parts were recorded before Cash's death in 2003, but the instrumental tracks were not recorded until '05 (2006).

July 21st

br /> Musical birthdays today include Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens [né Steven Georgiou] (78), ex-Christians keyboardist Henry Priestman (71), former Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin (65), Cox Family banjoist & singer Sidney Cox (61), Tonic frontman Emerson Hart (57), Irish folk singer Cara Dillon (51), and rapper Really Doe (46).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Sara Carter, born on this day in 1898... for violinist Isaac Stern [of whom Yo-Yo Ma once said "He leaves no tune un-Sterned"], born in 1920... for  jazz singer Kay Starr, born in 1922... for saxophonist Plas Johnson, born in 1931... for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein, who would have been 71 today... for film score composer Jerry Goldsmith, who died in 2004... and for bluesman and Dylanologist Long John Baldry, who left us on this day in 2005. 

Also on July 21st: Jimi Hendrix plays his first NYC gig since his star-making appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, as he and the Experience open a three-night stand at the Cafe au Go Go in Greenwich Village (1967)... The Beatles begin work on John's song 'Come Together' at Abbey Road Studios (1969)... Jim Croce goes to № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown'... Canned Heat, Chuck Berry, Nazareth, The Edgar Broughton Band, Groundhogs, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Medicine Head all appeared at this year's Buxton Festival in Derbyshire. The Hell's Angels arrive in force and proceeded to drink the site dry. They payed for the booze on hand, but when reinforcements are required, a deputation is sent into the audience to collect donations of 10p per person. About 20 minutes into his set, Chuck Berry shows one of the Angels how to do his duck-walk properly. He does a magnificent example from one end of the stage to the other and disappears into the wings. The band plays on, the Angels bop to the beat, and Chuck legs it to his car, drives off at high speed, and will not play in Britain for another two years (1973)... Despite vehement protests to the BBC by phone, letter and telegram, The Sex Pistols make their debut appearance on Top Of The Pops, where they lip-synch to their third single, 'Pretty Vacant'. The performance helps push the song up the charts into the top ten (1977)... Guns N’ Roses released their first album on Geffen Records. Appetite for Destruction features the singles 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Sweet Child o' Mine', and 'Paradise City'. To date, the album has worldwide sales in excess of 28 million, including 18 million in the US, making it the best-selling stateside debut album of all time (1987).. Roger Waters' 'The Wall' takes place at the Berlin Wall in the Potzdamerplatz. Over 350,000 people attend [including me ~ ed. note] and the event is broadcast live throughout the world. Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Sinead O'Connor and others participate (1990)... At the Wetlands in NYC's TriBeCa, Oasis make their live American debut as part of the New Music Seminar (1994)... In Philadelphia, Madonna kicks off the North American leg of her 47-date Drowned World tour, her first major tour in 8 years (2001)... Never-before seen photographs of the Beatles' first US concert in Washington, DC sell in NYC for more than $360,000. The Fab Four played their first US concert on February 11, 1964, at the Washington Coliseum, two days after their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. DC resident Mike Mitchell was 18 at the time and took photographs from just a few feet away. Among the highlights is a backlit photograph Mitchell snapped while standing directly behind the Fab Four which sells for more than $68,000 (2011).

July 20th

Musical birthdays today include Kim Carnes (81), Moody Blues bassist John Lodge (81), Carlos Santana (79), original AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans (74), Twister Sister guitarist Jay Jay French [né John Segall] (73), former Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook (70), ex-Simple Minds keyboardist Mick MacNeil (68) country singer Radney Foster (67), former Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris (64), Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard (60), Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor (59), rapper Kool G Rap [né Nathaniel Wilson] (58), ex-Bikini Kill drummer & vocalist Tobi Vail (57), and former Ash guitarist & vocalist Charlotte Hatherley (47). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for country singer Cindy Walker, born on this day in 1918... for jazz bassist & producer Peter Ind, born in 1928... for West End & Broadway musicals singer Sally Ann Howes, born in 1930... for early rock singer Buddy Knox, born in 1933... for  Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, who would have been 61... for rapper DJ Screw [né Robert Davis, Jr.], who would have been 53... for R&B singer Roy Hamilton, who died on this date in 1969... and for folk singer & producer Artie Traum, who left us in 2008.

Also on July 20th: Billboard publish their first comprehensive record chart. The magazine previously put out best-seller lists submitted by the individual record companies, but the new chart combines the top sellers from all major labels. Their first № 1 song is ‘I'll Never Smile Again’ by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (1940)... Dimitri Shostakovich makes the cover of Time Magazine (1942)... Jan & Dean go to № 1 in the US with 'Surf City' (1963)... Capitol records release the Beatles' album Something New for the US market (1964)... Bob Dylan releases 'Like a Rolling Stone' (1965)... Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues', recorded live at the institution in January, goes to the top of the Billboard Country chart... Iron Butterfly's second LP, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, enters the US chart for the first time. The album, which is often considered the first heavy metal record to chart, contains the 17-minute title track that fills the second side of the LP which goes on sell over four million copies in the US alone... Jane Asher announces on the national British TV show 'Dee Time' that her engagement to Paul McCartney is off. Paul reportedly is watching at a friend's home and is surprised by the news (1968)... The Carpenters' summer replacement variety show 'Make Your Own Kind of Music' debuts on NBC-TV (1971)... Tim Buckley, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison, The Doobie Brothers and The Allman Brothers are all on the bill for a one-day festival at Knebworth Park, England (1974)... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at the Palace Theater in Providence, RI. The show also marks the live debut of Steven Van Zandt, AKA Miami Steve, as a member of The E Streeters (1975)... The Buzzcocks make their live debut as the opening act for The Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. In the audience are Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook [soon to form Joy Division], Mark E Smith [0f The Fall] and Mick Hucknall. Tickets cost £1 (1976)... Alex Cox's film 'Sid & Nancy', based on the life of Sid Vicious and with Gary Oldman in the title role, has its world premiere in London (1986)... Church groups throughout middle America claim that pictures of Britney Spears printed in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on newsstands today, encourage child pornography. The shots show a scantily-clad Britney in her bedroom (1999)... The Evergreen Ballroom in Lacey, WA is destroyed by a fire. During the ballroom's heyday from the '50s through the '70s, the site hosted gigs by Elvis, Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and Fats Domino among others. Glen Campbell had lived in the kitchen at the venue for several months before achieving stardom (2000)... Jackson Browne settles 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 over the Internet. McCain and the Party apologize for using the song in the ad and say that the Senator himself 'had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the video' (2009).

July 19th

Musical birthdays today include variety singer Vicki Carr [née Florencia Cardona] (85), Average White Band bassist Alan Gorrie (80), original Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon (79), Brian May (79), ex-Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins (64), Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn (58), Symphony X lead singer Russell Allen (55), trip hop/hip hop producer Wax Tailor [né Jean-Christophe Le Saoût] (51), ex-Dirty Pretty Things bassist David 'Didz' Hammond (45), and Grizzly Bear drummer Christopher Bear (44).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for operatic baritone Aldo Protti and Juilliard String Quartet founding member Robert Mann, both born today in 1920... for country singer Sue Thompson, born in 1925... for bluesman Buster Benton, born in 1932... for Commander Cody [né George Frayne IV], who would have been 82... for Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux, who would have been 78... for Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member Allen Collins, who would have been 756.. for rock journalist & Swell Maps co-founder Nikki Sudden [né Adrian Godfrey], who would have been 70... for country singer Lefty Frizzell, who died on this date in 1975... and for folklorist & musicologist Alan Lomax, who left us in 2002.

Also on July 19th: Franz Liszt gives his final public performance in Yelizavetgrad in the Russian Empire [today Kirovohrad, Ukraine] (1886)... In Vienna, Anton Webern conducts the first performance of his own Five Pieces for Orchestra, one of the shortest known compositions for a full symphony ~ the first movement consists of 6 1/3 bars and lasts 19 seconds (1911)... Sun Records releases Elvis' first single, 'That's All Right' (1954)... George Treadwell, the manager of The Drifters, fires the entire group and hires the then unknown Ben E. King and five other vocalists to replace them (1958)... In the first of the sessions which will produce his album This Is Our Music, Ornette Coleman records the only standard ~ 'Embraceable You' ~ that appears on any of his albums for Atlantic (1960)... Elvis wraps filming on his movie 'Speedway', co-starring Nancy Sinatra (1967)... Among the guests on Johnny Cash's weekly variety show on ABC are Joni Mitchell and The Monkees. Cash himself performs 'Last Train to Clarksville', and The Monkees return the favour by playing the host's own 'Everybody Loves a Nut' (1969)... The tumult of the Stones '72 American tour continues as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are arraigned for assault & battery in Warwick, RI after getting into a scuffle with a newspaper photographer (1972)... Paul McCartney & Wings have both the № 1 song and album in America with 'Listen to What the Man Said' and Venus and Mars, respectively... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band rehearse for a reported 19 hours at the Record Plant in NYC before kicking off the Born to Run tour (1975)... Deep Purple split up at the end of a UK tour. David Coverdale goes on to form Whitesnake, while Jon Lord and Ian Paice form a band with Tony Ashton. The classic line up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice will reform in 1984. Glenn Hughes returns to Trapeze and Tommy Bolin puts together his own band [but will die before the end of the year] (1976)... An exhibition featuring paintings by Joni Mitchell, John Mayall, Klaus Voormanm, Ron Wood and Commander Cody opens at the Vorpal Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA (1980)...  Roy Orbison Day is proclaimed in Odessa, TX, as the singer plays there for the first time in 15 years. Orbison receives the keys to the city in a pre-concert ceremony (1981)... Bruce Springsteen plays behind the Iron Curtain for the first time, as he and the E Street Band bring the Tunnel of Love tour to 150,000 concertgoers in East Berlin (1987)... James Brown changes accommodations behind bars after $40,000 in cash and cheques are discovered in his minimum security cell. The Godfather of Soul was given a six year sentence the previous December after several run-ins with the law, including charges of illegal gun possession, resisting arrest, assault and leading the authorities on several high-speed of car chases. His new home will be at a medium security cell at the Stevenson Correctional Institute in Columbia, SC (1989)... The Spice Girls make their debut on Top of the Pops, performing 'Wannabe', the first of their nine UK № 1s (1996)... Ozzy Osbourne and his former Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi settle a long-running legal dispute over the use of the group's name. Ozzy filed suit against the guitarist in May of last year, accusing Iommi of falsely claiming to be the sole owner of the Black Sabbath name by lodging an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The pair release a joint statement confirming they have settled the dispute 'amicably' (2010). 

 

July 18th

Musical birthdays today include Dion DiMucci (87), guitarist Lonnie Mack (85), Martha Reeves (85), country singer Ricky Scaggs (72), original XTC drummer Terry Chambers (71), original Red Hot Chili peppers drummer Jack Irons (64), rapper M.I.A. [née Mathangi Arulpragasam] (51), System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian (51), Ryan Cabrera (45), Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie (42), and rapper Hopsin [né Marcus Hopson] (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for operatic soprano Pauline Viardot, born on this day in 1821... for chansonnier Henri Salvador, born in 1917... for conductor Kurt Masur, and for jazz bassist & Dexter Gordon sideman Don Bagley, born in 1927... for Screamin' Jay Hawkins, born in 1929... for Rolling Stones keyboardist Ian Stewart, who would have been 90... for Village People vocalist Glenn 'the Biker' Hughes, who would have been 76... for Bobby Fuller, whose body was found in his parked car on this day in 1966. He was 23 ~ the cause of death has never been officially determined... for Nico [née Christa Päffgen], who died today in 1988... and for folksinger Mimi Fariña, who left us in 2001.

Also on July 18th: 18-year-old truck driver Elvis Presley makes his first ever recording when he pays $3.98 at the Memphis Recording Service singing two songs, 'My Happiness' and 'That's When Your Heartaches Begin'. The so-called vanity disc is intended as a gift for his mother. It will surface 37 years later as part of an RCA compilation called Elvis ~ the Great Performances (1955)... Brenda Lee has the № 1 single in America with 'I'm Sorry' (1960)... The Byrds release the album Fifth Dimension (1966)... The Beatles record 'Cry Baby Cry' and 'Helter Skelter'. One of the takes of the latter song turns into an extended jam lasting 27'18", making it the longest single recording in the entire Beatle archive (1968)... Ringo records his vocal to 'Octopus' Garden' (1969)... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band open a four night stand at Max's Kansas City in NYC. The opening act is Bob Marley & the Wailers, making their American live debut (1973)... The US Justice Department orders John Lennon out of the country by September 10th. 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 (1974)... Def Leppard make their live debut at the Westfield School, Sheffield, in front of 150 students (1978)... Billy Joel has both the № 1 single and album in the US with 'It's Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me' and Glass Houses, respectively (1980)... Bobby Brown marries Whitney Houston at her New Jersey estate (1992)... At a church in the village of Blidoe on the Baltic archipelago island of Roslagen off central Sweden, a piano piece by Claude Debussy found in 2001 is performed for the first time. Composed in 1917 during World War I, he gave the piece to his coal supplier, a native of Blidoe, for keeping his house warm during the winter in Paris. Entitled 'The evening that was lit up by the embers', the composition is played by French pianist Jean-Pierre Armengaud (2003)... Paul Simon files a law suit against Rhythm USA Inc., a Georgia-based subsidiary of a Japanese firm, claiming the company never had his permission to sell wall clocks that play ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The suit claimed that as one of the best known songs throughout the world, a proper licensing agreement would earn at least a $1 million licensing fee (2007).