July 9 Music et al

Roots of Rock

July 9, 1955:  “Rock Around the Clock” became the first rock and roll recording to hit the top of Billboard’s Pop charts, a feat it repeated on charts around the world. (see Aug 21)

July 9 Music et al

Dick Clark

July 9, 1956: Dick Clark took over as the host of Philadelphia’s TV dance show on WFIL, called Bandstand. He got the job after the former host Bob Horn was arrested for DUI. The show would go national on ABC the following year, with the name changed to American Bandstand. (see Sept 9)

July 9 Music et al

Bob Dylan

July 9, 1962: Dylan recorded “Blowin’ In the Wind” A few weeks earlier when he performed it live he stated, “This here ain’t no protest song or anything like that, ’cause I don’t write no protest songs” while onstage at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village, talking about a song he claims to have written in just 10 minutes. (see July 30)

Cultural Milestone

July 9, 1962: the first one-man exhibition for artist Andy Warhol opens at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, consisting of 32 silk-screened portraits of Campbell’s soup cans. (see March 5, 1963)

The Beatles

see Paperback Writer for more

July 9 – 15, 1966: “Paperback Writer” #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. From Rolling Stone magazine: In the annals of Beatles singles, we have what we might think of as a game-starter in “Please Please Me,” a game-ender in something like “Let It Be,” and a host of game-changers, the most important of which is rarely discussed as one of the band’s top efforts.

And yet, “Paperback Writer” – “just a little bluesy song,” according to its modest/understating author, Paul McCartney – which was cut 50 years ago in mid-April 1966, and released May 30th of that year, is perhaps the single that best suggests how the Beatles were about to change things up in their most radical way yet.

July 9 Music et al

July 3 Music et al

Muddy Waters

July 3, 1960: Muddy Waters records “At Newport 1960” album at Newport Jazz Festival. The album itself is released in November 1960.

 

July 3 Music et al

Beatles

July 3, 1961: the Beatles return to England from Hamburg. (see August)

July 3 Music et al

Four Tops

July 3 – 9, 1965: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

July 3 Music et al

Brian Jones

July 3, 1969: Brian Jones found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England (see July 5) (NYT article)

see Newport Jazz Festival for more

July 3 – 6, 1969: the festival’s 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. Its lineup included, besides jazz, Friday evening appearances by rock groups Jeff Beck, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Ten Years After, and Jethro Tull. Saturday’s schedule mixed jazz acts such as Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck with others including John Mayall and Sly & the Family Stone. James Brown was among those who appeared Sunday afternoon, followed in the evening by Johnny Winter, Herbie Hancock, B. B. King, and Led Zeppelin.

July 3 Music et al

Jim Morrison

July 3, 1971: Jim Morrison died. Another member of the 27 Club.

From the Rolling Stone: magazine obituary

“Jim Morrison, a man who sang, wrote and drank hard as lead singer of the Doors, has died – peacefully – at the age of 27. Morrison’s death, despite (and because of) strategic efforts on the part of his wife Pamela and friends, was shrouded in mystery.

He died in the early morning of Saturday, July 3rd, but it was July 9th, two days after he had been buried in a Paris cemetery, before his manager let word out to the American press.”

fJuly 3 Music et al

July 1 Music et al

Fear of Rock

July 1, 1956,: Elvis was scheduled to appear on the Steve Allen Show, but Allen was nervous about Elvis’s controversial style. “We want to do a show the whole family can watch and enjoy and we always do.”

So Allen had Elvis dress in a tuxedo sing his hit song “Hound Dog” to an actual basset hound. (see Sept 9)

July 1 Music et al

Windy

July 1 – 28, 1967: “Windy” by the Association is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Sgt Pepper’s

July 1, 1967 – October 13, 1967: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band  Billboard #1 album. (see July 24)

Future Woodstock Performers

July 1, 1968:The Band released its first album, Music From Big Pink. Rick Danko, age 26; Robbie Robertson, age 25; Levon Helm, age 28; Richard Manuel, age 25; Garth Hudson, age 31)

Abbey Road

July 1, 1969, The Beatles began recording the Abbey Road album.

That same day, John Lennon crashed his car in Scotland. From Beatles Bible: While holidaying in Scotland with Yoko Ono, her daughter Kyoko and his son Julian, John Lennon crashed his white British Leyland Austin Maxi car in Golspie in the Highlands.

Lennon was a notoriously bad driver who had rarely been behind the wheel since passing his test in 1965. He was poor at navigating roads and often failed to notice other traffic.

The roads around Golspie were narrow. The weather was poor, and Lennon panicked after spotting a foreign tourist driving towards him. Lennon lost control of his Austin Maxi, driving it into a roadside ditch. He, Ono and Kyoko sustained cuts to the face and Ono’s back was injured.

They were taken to Golspie’s Lawson Memorial Hospital where Lennon was given 17 facial stitches, Ono 14 in her forehead, and Kyoko, four. (see August 20)

“Imagine”

July 1, 1971: John Lennon recorded “Imagine.” From Beatles Bible: Lennon’s second solo album was his greatest commercial success. On it he tempered some of the more abrasive and confrontational elements of its predecessor, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, offering instead a more conventional pop collection that contains some of his best-loved songs. (see August)

July 1 Music et al