September 19th

 Musical birthdays today include Bill Medley (85), folk singer Sylvia Tyson (85), pop & Broadway musical singer Freda Payne (83), David Bromberg (80), ex-10cc lead singer Lol Creme (78), Daniel Lanois (74), free jazz guitarist Henry Kaiser (73), Nile Rogers (73), Rex Smith (70), former Runaways lead guitarist Lita Ford (67), Jarvis Cocker (62), Trisha Yearwood (61), heavy metal guitarist & drummer Jimmy Bower (57), rapper Amil (47), indie pop duo Tegan & Sara Quinn (45), and singer-songwriter Eamon (42). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Brian Epstein, born on thisday in 1934... for former Chieftains fiddler Martin Fay, who would have been 89... for Cass Elliot, who would have been 84... for country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, who died today in 1973 at the age of 26... and for session drummer Earl Palmer [who played on the original studio recordings of 'Tutti Frutti', 'You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin' and 'River Deep, Mountain High' among many others], who left us today in 2008. 

Also on September 19: Mahler conducts the premiere of his 7th Symphony at the National Theatre in Prague (1908)... 16-year-old English singer Cliff Richard joins his first band, The Dick Teague Skiffle Group (1957)... Chubby Checker hits № 1 on the Billboard chart with 'The Twist' (1960)... The Beatles begin recording 'Piggies' (1968)... Creedence Clearwater Revival score their only British № 1 single with 'Bad Moon Rising' (1969)... The first Glastonbury Festival opens with T Rex and Jethro Tull among the headliners (1970)... Max Weinberg makes his live debut as the drummer in the E Street Band, at a gig at The Main Point in Philadelphia (1974)... The first of a five-night series of MUSE [Musicians United for Safe Energy] concerts takes place at Madison Square Garden ~ performing this evening are Bruce Springsteen, Carly Simon, Jackson Browne and The Doobie Brothers (1979)...  The № 1 album in the US today is the Rolling Stones' Tattoo You ~ it will stay atop the charts for the next two months... Simon & Garfunkel reunite for a free concert in Central Park in NYC (1981)... Tipper Gore and other US political wives form the PMRC [Parents Music Resource Center] as Frank Zappa, Dee Snider and other musicians testify at Congressional hearings on obscenity in popular music (1985)... Pearl Jam release their second album, Vs. It sets a record for most copies sold in its first week in shops that will stand for 5 years, despite the group's refusal to produce any videos for the album's singles (1993)... James Brown is sued by his own daughters for nearly one million dollars of song royalties they say they are owed. The suit brought by Deanna Brown Thomas and Dr. Yamma Brown Lummar, a Houston physician, alleges that Brown is withholding the money because of family grudges (2002)... Former Cream bassist Jack Bruce undergoes a successful liver transplant after being diagnosed with cancer (2003).