April 7th

Musical birthdays today include country singer Bobby Bare, Sr. (83), original Jethro Tull lead guitarist Mick Abrahams (75), former Chiffons vocalist Patricia Bennett (71), Kraftwerk drummer Florian Schneider (71), John Oates (69), Janis Ian (67), Our Lady Peace Drummer Jeremy Taggart (43), and former Liberty X lead singer Kelli Young (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Percy Faith, born on this day in 1908... for Billie Holiday, born in 1915... for Ravi Shankar, born in 1920... for Babatunde Olatunji, born in 1927... for former Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden and jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, both of whom would have been 80 today... for producer and Record Plant co-founder Gary Kellgren, who would have been 79... for composer Anton Diabelli, who died on this date in 1858... for bassist and John Coltrane sideman Jimmy Garrison, who passed away in 1976... for Dr. Feelgood lead singer Lee Brilleaux, who died in 1994... and for producer & engineer Andy Johns, who left us today in 2013. 

Also on April 7th: Bach's St. John Passion is performed for the first time at a Good Friday service at the Nicholaskirche in Leipzig (1724)... French composer Rouget de Lisle completes 'La Marseillaise' (1792)... In Vienna, Beethoven conducts the premiere performance of his 3rd Symphony, commonly known as the Eroica (1805)... Rogers & Hammerstein's musical South Pacific first opens on Broadway (1949)... The CBS Radio Network premieres the first regularly scheduled nationally broadcast rock music show in America, Alan Freed's 'Rock 'n' Roll Dance Party (1956)... At the Ealing Jazz Club in West London, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet Brian Jones for the first time. Jones is calling himself Elmo Lewis and playing guitar for singer P.P. Pond (1962)... At Abbey Road, The Beatles continue work on Revolver, as John completes vocal overdubs on 'Tomorrow Never Knows', and the group move on to Paul's new song 'Got to Get You into My Life' (1966)... The top 5 singles on the Billboard chart today: № 5, 'Bridge Over Trouble Water' by Simon and Garfunkel; № 4, 'Spirit in the Sky', by Norman Greenbaum; № 3, 'Instant Karma' by John Lennon; № 2, 'ABC' by The Jackson Five; and at № 1, 'Let It Be' by The Beatles... Miles Davis finishes recording A Tribute to Jack Johnson at the CBS 30th St. Studios... (1970)... Atlantic Records release Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's album 4 Way Street (1971)... Ritchie Blackmore announces that he is leaving Deep Purple to form his own band, Rainbow ~ he will be replaced by Tommy Bolin (1975)... Siouxie and the Banshees play a gig to raise money for the UK disability charity Mencap, but have to come up with another £2000 of their own money to pay for damage done to the seats during the show by the audience (1979)...Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kick off their first full European tour with a show in Hamburg (1981)... Wham! become the first western pop group to perform live in China, when they play at the Workers Gymnasium in Beijing (1985)... Courtney Love is arrested on drugs and theft charges after a reported overdose. At this time, Love is still unaware that her husband Kurt Cobain is dead at their home. [His body was not discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system at their house] (1994)... Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher marries actress Patsy Kensit in London (1997)... Paul McCartney buys Courtney Love's 4-bedroom 1930's Beverly Hills bungalow for $3.995 million (2001).