August 19th

 

Musical birthdays today include Johnny Nash (81), Billy J. Kramer (78), country singer Eddy Raven (77), Ian Gillan (76), Queen bassist John Deacon (70), Europe lead singer Joey Tempest [né Rolf Larsson (58), country singer Lee Ann Womack (54), rapper Fat Joe [né Joseph Cartagena] (51), stage musical singer Darius Campbell (40), and rapper Romeo Miller [AKA Romeo] (32).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for jazz pianist & longtime Billie Holiday accompanist Jimmy Rowles, born on this day in 1918... for Ginger Baker, who would have been 82 today... for rapper Nate Dogg [né Nathaniel Hale], who would have been 52... for Blind Willie McTell, who died on this date in 1959... for rockabilly pioneer Dorsey Burnette, who passed away in 1979... for soul singer Betty Everett, who died in 2001... and for R&B singer Donna Hightower and jazz pianist & Art Blakey sideman Cedar Walton, both of whom left us ftoday in 2014.
 

Also on August 19: Monteverdi becomes musical director of St. Mark's in Venice (1613)... In Washington, D.C., West Side Story premieres in its pre-Broadway run (1957)... The Beatles kick off their latest North American tour at the Cow Palace in San Francisco with The Righteous Brother, The Exciters and Jackie DeShannon as opening acts (1964)... 'All You Need is Love' goes to the top of the US charts, giving The Beatles their 14th stateside № 1  (1967)... After 58 episodes, The Monkees' TV show airs on NBC for the last time (1968)... Joni Mitchell, Steven Stills, David Crosby and Jefferson Airplane all appear on the Dick Cavett Show from Television Center in NYC... Miles Davis begins three days of sessions that will yield the landmark fusion album Bitches Brew (1969)... Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge are married in Malibu, CA. The couple will divorce in 1979 (1973)... The Three Degrees score their only UK № 1 with When Will I See You Again. The girl group were reportedly Prince Charles' favourite band of the '70s (1975)... The Sex Pistols began an incognito tour under the name The Spots [an acronym for Sex Pistols on Tour Secretly] (1977)... On the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the first jukebox, Patsy Cline's 'Crazy' and Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog' are announced by the Record Industry of America as the most selected songs of the 20th century (1988)... At the Tanglewood Festival, Leonard Bernstein makes his final concert appearance, conducting the Boston Symphony in a performance of Beethoven's 7th (1990)... James Brown, a man with a history of domestic violence, offers to turn over all of the proceeds from a Montauk, NY concert to a local shelter for battered women, but his contribution is refused (1996)... The Fleetwood Mac reunion album The Dance is released (1997)... A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott is unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin. The ceremony is attended by the singer/guitarist's former Thin Lizzy bandmates Gary Moore, Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham (2005).