July 19 – 25th – This Week in Rock!
This Week’s Trivia Question Answer: On July 22nd, 1963, Vee-Jay records presses The Beatles’ first album.
This Week in Rock – Birthdays:
Buster Benton – July 19, 1932 (guitar, Willie Dixon)
Bernie Leadon – July 19, 1947 (guitar, The Eagles)
Brian May – July 19, 1947 (guitar, Queen)
Keith Godchaux – July 19, 1947 (keyboards, The Grateful Dead)
Allen Collins – July 19, 1952 (guitar, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Carlos Santana – July 20, 1947 (guitar, Santana)
Paul Cook – July 20, 1956 (drums, Sex Pistols)
Chris Cornell –July 20, 1964 (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Temple of The Dog)
Floyd Jones – July 21, 1917 (guitar, electric blues)
Cat Stevens – July 21, 1948 (British singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist)
George Clinton – July 22, 1941 (band leader, Parliament Funkadelic)
Don Henley – July 22, 1947 (drums and vocals, The Eagles)
Al Di Meola – July 22, 1954 (jazz fusion / Latin guitarist)
Blair Thornton – July 23, 1950 (guitar, Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
Slash – July 23, 1965 (guitar, Guns N’ Roses)
Alison Krauss – July 23, 1971 (bluegrass singer)
Jim McCarty – July 25, 1943 (drums, The Yardbirds)
Verdine White – July 25, 1951 (bass, Earth, Wind, & Fire)
Thurston Moore – July 25, 1958 (guitar, Sonic Youth)
Brian Blade – July 25, 1970 (jazz drummer)
Died This Week in Rock:
Long John Baldry – July 21, 1941 (blues singer & voice actor, Elton John, Rod Stewart)
Art Neville – July 22, 2019 (Keyboardist, singer with the Neville Brothers and the Meters)
Keith Godchaux – July 23, 1980 (keys, The Grateful Dead)
Amy Winehouse – July 23, 2011
Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton – July 25, 1984
Tal Farlow – July 25, 1998 (jazz guitarist)
MUSIC RELEASES AND TOP OF THE CHARTS
The Beatles, “Help!” releases – July 19th, 1965
Genesis’ “Invisible Touch” hits #1 – July 19, 1986
Bob Dylan, “Like A Rolling Stone” releases – July 20th, 1965
Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction releases – July 21, 1987
John Mayall’s Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton releases – July 22, 1966
Johnny Cash tops the albums chart with his posthumous album American V: A Hundred Highways – July 22, 2006
Byrds release Sweetheart of the Rodeo – July 22, 1968
The Doors’ L.A. Woman is certified gold – July 22, 1971
The Who releases “Join Together” – July 22, 1972
Chuck Berry releases his first single “Maybelline” – July 23, 1955
“Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra hits #1 – July 23, 1966
The final album by Police “Synchronicity” goes to #1 – July 23, 1983
Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow” is certified Gold – July 24, 1967
The Doobie Brothers releases “China Grove,” on July 25, 1973.
THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY:
Billboard magazine publishes their first combined record sales chart, ranking the hits of all major labels. Sitting atop the ten entries is Tommy Dorsey’s “I’ll Never Smile Again,” lead vocals by Frank Sinatra – July 20th, 1940.
The British paper “Mersey Beat” announces that the Beatles or rather, the Beat Brothers, have sign their first recording contract. Not with Capitol, but instead with famed German producer Bert Kaempfert – July 20th, 1961
Roger Waters performs the album The Wall at the Berlin Wall. Over 200,000 attended – July 21, 1990
On July 22nd, 1963, Vee-Jay records presses The Beatles’ first album.
Vanilla Fudge performs their first major show in New York City at the Village Theater in NYC – July 22nd, 1967
John Lennon and Yoko Ono work on the “Imagine” promotional film for the second day at their Tittenhurst Park Ascot, England home – July 22nd, 1971
Billy Joel and Elton John start their first of five duet concerts at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. On July 22nd, 1994
Backstage at the “Days On The Green” festival in Oakland, CA, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham allegedly sees a member of promoter Bill Graham’s staff slap his son for taking down a dressing room sign. Bonham kicks the employee, and band manager Peter Grant. Immediately, he breaks into the staff member’s trailer and beats him savagely.
At the end of their gig at the Fillmore in San Francisco, Crosby, Stills and Nash invite Neil Young on stage to back them on a couple of songs. On July 25, 1969, Young becomes a member of the band.