Today in Music History (July 19)

1954 - Sun Records releases the first Elvis Presley single, “That's All Right”, a cover of Arthur Crudup's 1946 tune "That's All Right, Mama". Only about 7,000 original copies were pressed, but the disc became a local hit in Memphis.

1968 - Pink Floyd play the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.

1969 – The week’s episode of ‘The Johnny Cash Show’ includes appearances by Ed Ames, Roy Clark, The Monkees and Joni Mitchell. Cash introduced The Monkees by playing the first verse of their hit “Last Train To Clarksville” with The Monkees on backing vocals, The Monkees then performed a version of the Johnny Cash song “Everybody Loves a Nut”, with Cash.

1972 - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are arrested in Warwick, Rhode Island on charges of assault after a fight broke out with a newspaper photographer.

1975 - While on the Natty Dread tour, Bob Marley & the Wailers appear at the Lyceum Theatre in London. The show was recorded and the live single “No Woman, No Cry” was later released.

1975 - Paul McCartney and Wings hit #1 with “Listen To What The Man Said”, his fourth US #1. Wings also had the #1 album with Venus And Mars, McCartney's fourth #1 album since The Beatles.

1976 - Deep Purple split up at the end of a UK tour. David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, Jon Lord and Ian Paice formed a band with Tony Ashton. The classic line up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice reformed in 1984. Glenn Hughes returned to Trapeze and Tommy Bolin put together his own band, (but would die before the end of the year).

1987 - Bruce Springsteen plays his first ever show behind the Iron Curtain in East Berlin in front of 180,000 people. The show was broadcast on East German TV.

1989 - James Brown changes accommodations behind bars after $40K in cash and checks was discovered in his minimum security cell. The Godfather of Soul had been given a six year sentence the previous December after several run-ins with the law, including illegal gun possession, resisting arrest, assault and leading the authorities on a number of car chases.

1991 - Steven Adler, ex-drummer with Guns N' Roses, files a suit in Los Angeles alleging he was fraudulently removed from the group and that the band introduced him to hard drugs.

1997 - Oasis go to #1 in the UK with “D'You Know What I Mean?”, the first single from their third album Be Here Now.

2001 - Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol' Dirty Bastard, is sentenced to spend between two and four years behind bars after being found guilty of drug possession.

2010 - Ozzy Osbourne and his former Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi settle a long-running legal dispute over the use of the group's name. They later released a joint statement confirming they have settled the dispute "amicably".

Today’s Birthdays include…keyboardist George Frayne aka Commander Cody (76); bassist for Scottish funk and R&B group the Average White Band, Allan Gorrie (74); former Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon and Queens’s Brian May (both 73); and Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets drummer Kevin Haskins (60).

Happy Birthday: Geezer Butler

A metal icon, his old band's primary lyricist and perhaps one of the genre's most underrated instrumentalists, Mr. Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (71).

John William Coltrane [September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967]

Milestones: Sting - 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles' [1985]

Plagued by internal discord that eventually broke up the band, Synchronicity was for all intents and purposes a dry run for what became his solo career. And so, free of the other Policemen, Mr. Sumner teamed up with a cast of first-rate jazz musicians for his first full-length album. Despite the critical shorthand of this being his “jazz” album and there being a taste of it throughout, courtesy of the assembled musicians (including the great Branford Marsalis), it opens with “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”, a funky pop tune that was the album’s first single and remains the highest charting song—reaching #3 in the US—of his post-Police output. (It’s also, thematically speaking, the exact opposite of the Synchronicity hit “Every Breath You Take”. Hmm…)

As his old band broke up at the height of their popularity, commercial expectations were high for this one. And in that regard it delivered, as it became a Top 5 album in both the US and UK. (As well receiving 4 Grammy nominations.) But it ultimately suffers from “serious artist” disease, in this case the afflicted trying a tad too hard to shed his pop star image and history. However, there are some rewarding moments throughout, as evidenced by “Consider Me Gone” and the singles “Fortress Around Your Heart”, “Love Is The Seventh Wave” (which quotes “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”) and the aforementioned “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”.

He would set his future musical template on his next album, but this one was a decent if flawed first step.

Released in the Summer of 1985.

Victor Victor [1948-2020]

Today in Music History (July 13)

1985 - The Live Aid benefit concerts take place simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Among the featured artists were David Bowie, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Pretenders, Queen, Run-DMC, Sting, U2, and The Who. (Thanks to the time zone differential between London and Philadelphia, Phil Collins was able to perform at both shows.) More than 170,000 attended the concerts (72,000 in London; 100,000 in Philadelphia) and approximately 1.9 billion people, across 150 countries watched the live broadcast. It raised close to $200m.

Today’s Birthdays include...The Byrds’ vocalist/guitarist Roger McGuinn (78); the legendary Cheech Marin (73); Dictators/Twisted Sister bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza (65); and screenwriter/film director/music journalist/honorary musician Cameron Crowe (63).

Today in Music History (July 12)

1954 - 19 year old Elvis Presley signs with Sun Records.

1962 - The Rolling Stones play their first ever show, at London’s Marquee Club, with Dick Taylor on bass (later of The Pretty Things) and Mick Avory on drums, (later of The Kinks). Billed as The Rollin’ Stones, they were paid £20 for the gig (a little more than $500 in 2019 money).

1964 - The Beatles' legendary Ed Sullivan Show appearance from February 9th, is re-broadcast for the first time.

1979 - Singer/songwriter Minnie Ripperton dies of cancer at age 31. Aside from her solo career she'd worked at Chess Records singing backup for various artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters, sang lead for the esteemed rock/soul outfit Rotary Connection, and was also a member of Wonderlove in 1973, a backup group for Stevie Wonder. In addition, she was the mother of actress/musician Maya Rudolph.

1988 - Michael Jackson arrives in the UK for his first ever-solo appearances. He performs a total of eight nights to 794,000 people.

Today’s Birthdays include...Fleetwood Mac vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie (77); guitarist Wilko Johnson of Dr. Feelgood fame (73); singer/songwriter Walter Egan (72); drummer Simon Fox—BeBop Beluxe, Pretty Things, Trevor Rabin—(71); former Soul Asylum guitarist Dan Murphy (58); Tim Gane, guitarist for Stereolab (56); and guitarist John Petrucci, founding member of Dream Theater (53).

Thursday Throwback: Jimi Hendrix

1969 receipt from a shopping trip at Manny's Music, NYC.

Today in Music History (July 6)

1954 – Memphis radio station WHBQ becomes the first to play an Elvis Presley record when they give “That's Alright, Mama” a spin.

1957 – Paul McCartney first meets John Lennon at a Liverpool church festival concert by John's group, the Quarrymen.

1965 – Marty Balin starts recruiting members for the band that will become Jefferson Airplane.

1971 – Louis Armstrong dies of a heart attack in his sleep in Corona, Queens, New York, a month shy of his 70th birthday.

1973 – “Keep Yourself Alive”, the first single and opening track from Queen’s self-titled debut album, is released.

Today’s birthdays include…original Santana drummer Mike Shrieve (71); singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith (66); Spandau Ballet drummer John Keeble (61); and rapper 50 Cent (45).

Today in Music History (July 5)

1955 - Chuck Berry's song "Maybellene" is copyrighted in Berry's name alone, but Alan Freed's name is added as a form of payola.

1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson invites The Four Seasons to play at the White House.

1969 - The Rolling Stones put on a free concert in London's Hyde Park, a tribute to their founding member Brian Jones, who died two days earlier.

1983 - Suicidal Tendencies release their self-titled debut album. The album spawns Suicidal Tendencies' biggest hit to date, "Institutionalized."

1994 - Hootie & the Blowfish release their debut album, Cracked Rear View, the best-selling album in the history of Atlantic Records.

Today's birthdays include...The Band's Robbie Robertson (77); Hugh Anthony Cregg III aka Huey Lewis (70); MC, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor/filmmaker Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known as Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA (51); and Cardigans drummer Bengt Lagerberg (47).