August 14th

 

Musical birthdays today include David Crosby (79), country singer Connie Smith (79), Larry Graham, former bassist for Sly and the Family Stone (74), ex-Steeleye Span lead singer Maddy Prior (73), Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap (69), Sarah Brightman (60), Charlatans guitarist Mark Collins (54), Scissor Sisters lead singer Ana Matronic (46), and rapper & producer Black Milk [né Curtis Cross] (37). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pioneering American jazz violinist Stuff Smith, born on this date in 1900...  for avant-garde composer & acoustician Pierre Schaeffer, born in 1910... for  jazz singer & pianist Buddy Greco, born in 1926... for Augustus Montague Toplady, composer of the hymn 'Rock of Ages', who died on this day in 1778... for bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, who passed away in 1958... for singer Johnny Burnette (best known for the top 10 hit 'You're Sixteen'), who was killed in a boating accident in California at the age of 30 today in 1964... for guitarist Roy Buchanan, who hanged himself in his cell in the Fairfax Co., VA jail with his own shirt on this day after being arrested for public drunkenness. Buchanan released 15 solo albums and was a sometime collaborator with Jeff Beck (1988)... for The Platters' lead singer Tony Williams, who died in 1992... and for Lita Roza, the first woman to have a № 1 single in the UK [with a version of 'How Much Is That Doggie in the Window' in 1953] who left us today in 2009.

Also on August 14: The first performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle in its entirety in one location begins at the Bayreuth Festival (1876)... Unhappy with Pete Best's role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other three members of the group decide to sack him. John Lennon places a call to Ringo Starr, nearing the end of a 3-month engagement with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at a Butlin's Holiday Camp in north Wales, to offer him the job. Best will play his final show with the group at the Cavern tomorrow night (1962)... Sonny and Cher top the US charts with 'I Got You, Babe'. Bono is said to have been inspired to write the song by Bob Dylan's use of the term of endearment in 'It Ain't Me, Babe' (1965)... 16-year-old Bruce Springsteen plays his first public show, as lead singer of The Castiles at a gig at the Surf 'n' See Club in Seaside, NJ. Also on the bill are Little Anthony and the Imperials, with lead guitarist Steve van Zandt (1966)... The № 1 song in the UK today is 'Fire' by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Brown frequently performs the number live whilst wearing a top hat set alight (1968)... The 3-day Yorkshire Folk, Blues and Jazz festival opens in Calderton, W. Yorks. Atomic Rooster, Yes, The Kinks and Elton John are among those performing. Headliners Pink Floyd will miss their spot on the first day because they are fogbound at Orly Airport in Paris, and will not appear (1970)... In a peculiar case of life imitating art, a woman calling herself Billie jean Jackson files a $150 million paternity suit in a Los Angeles court, naming Michael Jackson (1987)... Foo Fighters make their US network television debut, performing 'This Is a Call' on the Late Show with David Letterman (1995)... An oil-stained pizza menu signed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison goes for $48,000 to an anonymous collector bidding by phone at an auction in Melbourne, Australia. Ringo Starr, suffering from laryngitis, was not on the tour (2001)... Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts announces that he is being treated for throat cancer (2004)... Boy George is spotted sweeping streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan as part of a five-day community service sentence. He will be moved into a fenced-off area only 30 minutes later after being mobbed by the media and fans. The 45-year-old former Culture Club frontman was found guilty earlier in the year of cocaine possession and filing a false burglary report (2006).