Rock 'n' Roll History for
July 4


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Elvis Presley, accompanied by Scotty Moore, Bill Black, DJ Fontana, and The Jordonaires, headlined a charity concert at Russwood Park in Memphis. Over 7,000 fans endured 97 degree heat, waiting for the 5:30 show, which included many other acts, to being. All proceeds were donated to the Cynthia Milk Fund and the Variety Club's Home For Convalescent Children.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Buddy Holly And The Crickets set out on a Summer Dance Party tour in Angola, Indiana, with Holly at the wheel of his brand new Lincoln Continental.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Bobby Darin's multi-million selling hit, "Dream Lover" tops the UK chart. The track, which would reach #2 in the US, included Neil Sedaka on piano. With sales of over 200,000 in Great Britain, the disc earned a Silver Record from the British Phonographic Industry.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
"I Get Around" becomes the first US number one single for The Beach Boys. In the UK, it would be the band's initial Top Ten hit, reaching #7. The B-side of the single was "Don't Worry Baby", which itself charted at number 24 in America. Although all of the Beach Boys either played or sang on the record, noted session man Hal Blaine was brought in to play drums.

July 4
The Rolling Stones are this week's panelists on the UK music show Juke Box Jury, where they determine that most of the new records played are "misses" and not "hits." Their boisterous behavior and crude language cause a stir among many viewers.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The Beatles were booed by fans at the airport in Manila, Philippines after they failed to make a private appearance before President Marcos, his wife and 300 Filipino children. The group claims they were not told of the engagement. Marcos then makes a statement regretting the airport incident. After paying taxes on their gate receipts, the band leaves the country, vowing never to return.

July 4
The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer In The City" is released on the Kama Sutra label. The song would become the band's fifth straight Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and their only one to reach #1. It also topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart and reached #8 on the UK's Record Retailer Chart.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Grand Funk Railroad performs at the Atlanta Pop Festival in Hampton, Georgia. Capitol Records executives see the band at the show and later sign them to a record deal. The band will record twelve Billboard charting albums and twelve Hot 100 singles for the label between 1969 and 1974.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The three-day Atlanta Pop Festival opens at Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia in front of a crowd of 200,000. Jimi Hendrix played his feedback filled version of "The Star Spangled Banner". Two days later, Georgia Governor Lester Maddox says he will seek legislation to ban all Rock festivals in the state, but no laws were ever passed.

July 4
"Tighter and Tighter" by Alive 'n' Kickin' debuts on the Billboard Top 40, on its way to #7. It would also reach the number five position on the Cashbox Best Sellers list and the RPM chart in Canada. The million selling single would prove to be the only major hit for the Brooklyn, New York group, who split up two years later.

July 4
US disc jockey Casey Kasem broadcasts his first American Top 40 radio show, where he counts down the hits from the Billboard Hot 100. He would continue the broadcasts until 1988 when, after a contract dispute with ABC, he was replaced by Shadoe Stevens. Kasem would return as host in 1998. Replays of the orignal shows are still in syndication.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Despite the fact that they have the #4 song in the US with "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and a current Platinum album with "Pretzel Logic", Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagan play their final gig together in Santa Monica, California. They would not tour again for the next eighteen years.

July 4
The TV show titled Tony Orlando and Dawn premiers on CBS. The one hour show featured music and comedy sketches and ran for forty-four episodes, ending in December, 1976.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
In what was surely a clever publicity stunt, Paul Revere married Sandra Campbell at King's Island Amusement Park in Cincinnati on America's Bicentennial. With the bride and groom dressed in period costumes, Paul's band, The Raiders attended in their American Revolutionary uniforms. The Rev. Gene Skipworth of Forest Park United Methodist Church performed the ceremony in an authentic Uncle Sam costume. Unfortunately, the couple divorced three years later.

July 4
Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is released in the US, where it will reach #1 next August 7th. Later certified Platinum by the RIAA, the record would top the chart in the UK and six other countries around the world.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The Beach Boys perform at a free Fourth of July concert for 500,000 people in Washington, D.C.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Diana Ross kicks off her first world solo tour with a concert at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Her opening act was trumpeter Miles Davis.

July 4
After being divorced by his first wife, Thelma Mayfair last year, Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne marries Sharon Arden. His drummer, Tommy Aldridge, serves as Best Man.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Wayne Newton replaced The Beach Boys at the White House Fourth of July party after US Interior Secretary James Watt deemed the band "unsuitable" for the occasion because they attracted the wrong element. First Lady Nancy Reagan felt differently, and hired the group to play a private performance at the executive mansion.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The Beach Boys are joined by Ringo Starr on drums, John Lodge and Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues on guitars as well as Cory Wells, Chuck Negron and Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night during an Independence Day concert in Washington D.C. The all star ensemble rocked their way through "Back In The U.S.S.R.", "Good Vibrations", "Help Me Rhonda" and "Fun Fun Fun". Wolfman Jack was the emcee for the event that also included America, Hank Williams Jr., La Toya Jackson The O'Jays and Julio Iglesias.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The Beach Boys played to an afternoon crowd of over one million people in Philadelphia, where they were joined on stage by Mr. T, who sat in on drums. Later the same evening they performed for over 750,000 people on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
More than 40,000 people flocked to a race track in Manor, Texas where Willie Nelson presided over an 18-hour Farm Aid Two concert, aimed at helping save US farmers from financial disaster. Among the performers were The Beach Boys, Waylon Jennings and Judy Collins. The first Farm Aid concert was held in September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
John Fogerty headlines with Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson and Stevie Wonder in Welcome Home, a Benefit for Homeless Vietnam Veterans at Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
56-year-old John Phillips of The Mamas And The Papas receives a liver transplant that would keep him alive for another nine years. During his time with the group, he wrote or co-wrote their hits, "California Dreamin'", "Monday, Monday", "I Saw Her Again", "Creeque Alley", and "Words of Love".

2001 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
All 80,000 tickets to Madonna's concerts at London's Earl's Court arena sell out in just four hours.

July 4
In a major victory for record companies, a US federal judge orders the peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster to cease all operations. The application had been online since June 1st, 1999 and had about eighty million registered users.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Rhythm And Blues star Barry White passed away at the age of 58. He was known for his lush baritone voice and lyrics that oozed sex appeal on the hits "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" (US #1 in 1976) and "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" (US #2 in 1975). The last words he ever spoke were to his nurse, "Leave me alone. I'm fine."

2007 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Bill Pinkney, the last surviving member of the original Drifters passed away at the age of 81. Over the course of a recording career that stretched from 1953 to 1976, the band placed fifteen songs on the Billboard Pop chart and thirty-one on the R&B list.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Drake Levin, the lead guitarist for Paul Revere And The Raiders on their early hits that included "Steppin' Out", "Just Like Me" and "Kicks", died of cancer at the age of 62. Joining the band as a 16-year-old in 1963, Levin left to fulfill his military service obligation by joining the National Guard in 1966.

July 4
77-year-old Allen Klein, the former manager of The Rolling Stones and later The Beatles, died after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. The assets of his company, ABKCO Music & Records, include recordings by The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Bobby Womack, The Kinks, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and many others.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
The BBC reported that George Michael had been arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive after police received reports that a car had crashed into a building in north London. The following September, after admitting that he had been under the influence of cannabis, the former Wham! star would be sentenced to eight weeks in jail and handed a £1250 fine.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Sly Stone announced an August 16th release for his first album since 1982. When it arrived, the LP contained just three new songs along with a dozen re-makes of his old hits, which garnered predictably bad reviews.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Barry Manilow sang "Let Freedom Ring" and Neil Diamond belted out "Sweet Caroline" in celebration of The Fourth Of July at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

July 4
After years of feuding over the right to use the name The Doors, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore announced that they would come together one last time to honor keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who died from cancer in May at the age of 74. Speaking about the lawsuits that flowed between the two, Krieger said, "It was a very stupid idea. We had the worst lawyers."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

July 4
Billy Joel married former Morgan Stanley executive Alexis Roderick in an intimate ceremony at his estate in Long Island, N.Y. The couple were expecting their first child together later in the Summer.



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