Rock 'n' Roll History for
July 25


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1942 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Capitol Records achieved their first #1 hit with a song called "Cow Cow Boogie" by 17-year-old Ella Mae Morse, accompanied by Freddie Slack And His Orchestra. Although Ella Mae's follow-up recordings sold fairly well, she never obtained a huge following, but continued to make records until 1957.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Songwriter Mike Stoller, the co-writer of "Hound Dog", survives the sinking of the ship Andrea Doria after it collided with the MV Stockholm, near Nantucket, Massachusetts. Fifty-one others died.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Ventures version of "Walk Don't Run" enters the US Pop chart and introduces the instrumental Surf sound to Rock 'n' Roll. The song will peak at #2 a month later, kept out of the top spot by "It's Now or Never" by Elvis Presley. It was The Ventures first national release and would vault them into stardom. Rolling Stone magazine would later rank it at #82 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

July 25
Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" debuted on Billboard's Pop music chart, where it would rise to #1 three weeks later. The song was adapted from the Italian tune "O Sole Mio", written in 1899. Presley's rendition would become one of the biggest selling records of all time, moving over twenty million copies worldwide. Around the globe, it topped the record charts in nine other countries.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Beatles topped both the US and UK album charts with "A Hard Day's Night", and had the number one single in both countries with the LP's title track. Oddly, the album issued in America had a different track listing than the one released in Great Britain. In 2000, the North American version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Bob Dylan, backed by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, shocked the audience at the Newport Folk Festival with his new electric sound. The crowd booed him off the stage after three tunes. After being urged by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) to return to the stage and go acoustic, Dylan sang two songs to the now-silent audience - "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Mr. Tambourine Man".

1966 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Monkees' Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones record the vocals for "Last Train To Clarksville" at RCA Victor Studios in Hollywood, California. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart's band, Candy Store Prophets, performed the instrumental parts. Oddly, the very competent guitarist and Monkees member Mike Nesmith does not appear on the track at all. When the song is released next August 16th, it will climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and reach #23 in the UK.

July 25
Motown Records releases The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" as the second single from their chart topping, ninth studio album, "The Supremes A' Go-Go". The record will reach number one in America, Canada and Great Britain.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Beatles and several other UK Rock groups urge the British government to legalize marijuana. Their comments are made in a London Times advertisement, signed by all four members of the group. Medical use of cannabis, when prescribed by a registered specialist doctor, was legalized in the UK in November, 2018.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Neil Young appeared with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the first time when they played at The Fillmore East in New York. Young was initially asked to help out with live material only, but ended up joining the group on and off for the next thirty years.

July 25
The English Progressive Rock band Yes release their self-titled, debut album on Atlantic Records. Although the LP received positive reviews by critics in the United Kingdom and United States, it was not commercially successful and failed to chart in either country.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Carpenters "Close To You" topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first of twenty US Top 40 hits for the brother and sister team. The song itself had been written in 1963 by Hal David and Burt Bacharach and was first offered to Herb Alpert, who said he didn't feel comfortable singing 'so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair'.

July 25
The English quartet, Mungo Jerry cracked the Billboard Hot 100 with their debut single, "In The Summertime", which will go on to reach #3. The song had already topped the UK chart in mid-June.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
The Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" is released. A month later it will crack the Hot 100 and eventually reach #15, but did not chart in the UK. Songwriter Tom Johnson's lyrics where fictional, and not about any of the real towns of China Grove, Texas, China Grove, North Carolina, or China Grove, Alabama. Even the mention of "samurai swords" is inaccurate, as they were in fact Japanese, not Chinese.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
KISS introduce their new drummer, Eric Carr, at a concert at the Palladium in New York City. Carr, who wears fox make-up, replaces Peter Criss, who was made up as a cat.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Air Supply becomes the first Australian band to top the Billboard Hot 100 when "The One That You Love" reaches number one. They would go on to place seven consecutive singles in the top five.

July 25
"Jessie's Girl", by Australian rocker Rick Springfield, was the top selling single in America. It would go on to be named Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at next year's Grammy Awards.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
57-year-old Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton is found dead in a Los Angeles boarding house of heart and liver disorders due to her longstanding alcohol abuse. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952, which stayed at the top of the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks in 1953.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Eurythmics enjoyed their only UK number one single with "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)". The song, that featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder, would top out at #22 in the US.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
62-year-old singer Charlie Rich died in Hammond, Louisiana of a blood clot in the lungs. Rich began as a Rockabilly artist for Sun Records in Memphis in 1958 and had hits with "Lonely Weekends" (#22 in 1960) and "Mohair Sam" (#21 in 1965). He gained wider success in 1973 when his ballads "Behind Closed Doors" (#15) and "The Most Beautiful Girl" (#1) crossed over from the Country charts into the Hot 100.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
52-year-old Erik Braunn, the lead guitarist on Iron Butterfly's 1968 Classic Rock anthem "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. Braunn was just 16 years old when he joined Iron Butterfly and spent only two years with the band, from 1967 to 1969, the era of their greatest success. After leaving the group, Braunn continued to work as a songwriter, musician and producer, occasionally reuniting with his former band mates.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
George Williams of The Tymes died of cancer at the age of 68. The Philadelphia quartet topped the Billboard chart in 1963 with "So Much In Love" and reached #1 in the UK in 1975 with "Ms Grace".

2008 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
69-year-old Connie Francis was admitted to Long Island Jewish Medical Center's coronary care unit with dangerously high blood pressure. She was released a short time later. Over the course of her career, she had appeared in seven feature films and enjoyed twenty-nine Billboard Top 40 hits.

July 25
The Rolling Stones split with longtime label EMI and signed a new deal with the Universal Music Group, which covers not only future studio albums but the band's lucrative back catalog from 1971's "Sticky Fingers" onward.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
A Memphis, Tennessee auction house announced that a collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia, including his grand piano, gold-rimmed sunglasses and his Triumph TR-6 sports car would be among the items up for bid at an upcoming sale.

July 25
Paul McCartney's former wife, Heather Mills, told the press that the trauma and pain she went through after losing her leg in a traffic accident was nothing compared to the way she felt after she and the former Beatle split up. The two separated in 2006 after four years of marriage and went on to fight a bitter public divorce battle which saw her gain a $38.9 million settlement.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Don McLean pleaded guilty to a number of charges related to a domestic violence incident in January, 2016. He was fined $3,000 in court costs, was ordered to have no contact with his now ex-wife, and to undergo a mental health evaluation in the next sixty days. Just under a year later, the Knox County Court would dismiss the domestic violence assault charge.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Singer/songwriter Michael Johnson, who scored hits with "Bluer Than Blue" (#12 in 1978), "Almost Like Being In Love" (#32 in 1979) and "This Night Won't Last Forever" (#19 in 1979), passed away at the age of 72 after a long illness.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

July 25
Peter Green, guitarist and co-founder of the influential Rock group Fleetwood Mac, died in his sleep at the age of 73. Green, who left the band in 1970 amid his struggles with mental health, had formed the group with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Jeremy Spencer in 1967.



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