Today in Rock and Roll History

July 6th
1957 - John Lennon
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at The Woolton Church Parish Fete where The Quarry Men were appearing. As The Quarry Men were setting up for their evening performance, McCartney eager to impress Lennon picked up a guitar and played ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ (Eddie Cochran) and ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ (Gene Vincent). Lennon was impressed, and even more so when McCartney showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars, something they'd been paying someone else to do for them.

Who knew the Beetles came together because John didn't know how to tune his guitar.

1971 - Louis Armstrong
American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died. Had many hits including the 1964 US No.1 'Hello Dolly!', 1968 UK No.1 'What A Wonderful World’ plus ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, ‘Ain't Misbehavin’, and ‘We Have All the Time in the World.’ He made frequent use of laxatives as a means of controlling his weight, resulting in Armstrong appearing in humorous, advertisements for laxative product Swiss Kriss; the ads bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet, as viewed through a keyhole, with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!"

2003 - Skip Battin
Skip Battin bassist and songwriter with The Byrds died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. (1965 US & UK No.1 single 'Mr Tambourine Man'). Also played with New Riders Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

1966 - Kinks
The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sunny Afternoon', the group's third and last UK No.1.

2015 - Bob Dylan
Climate scientists from five leading universities found that 163 of Bob Dylan's 542 songs reference the climate – almost a third – making him the musician most likely to mention the weather in his lyrics. The Beatles came in at number two, mentioning the weather in 48 of the 308 songs they wrote.

1984 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's current European tour came to an end at Slane Castle, County Meath in Ireland. Dylan was joined on stage by Van Morrison and they duetted on It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. U2's Bono, who was sent to interview Dylan for the Irish rock magazine Hot Press, ended up duetting with Dylan on Blowin’ In The Wind and Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat. Carlos Santana also joined Dylan on stage and played guitar on the last seven songs of the set.

1971 - David Bowie
David Bowie started recording sessions at Trident Studios in London, for what would become the concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. The character of Ziggy was initially inspired by British rock 'n' roll singer Vince Taylor, whom Bowie met after Taylor had had a breakdown and believed himself to be a cross between a god and an alien.

1995 - Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead gave their last concert with leader Jerry Garcia at Chicago's Soldier Field. Jerry would die of a heart attack a month later while in drug rehab.

1965 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with '(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction' the group's first chart-topper there. In the UK, the song was initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.

1968 - Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton announced that Cream would break-up after their current tour. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world's first platinum-selling double album and Cream are widely regarded as being the world's first successful supergroup.

injinji said:

1968 - Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton announced that Cream would break-up after their current tour. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world's first platinum-selling double album and Cream are widely regarded as being the world's first successful supergroup.

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As I learned more about Clapton, I began to admire him less. However, him not showing up for a gig with John Mayall's Blues Breakers gave a start for Mick Taylor, so that's a good thing. Not showing up for a gig is inexcusable. Skip Spence lost a good gig with Jefferson Airplane because of it. Well, he had drug and mental health problems, too.

topcat said:

As I learned more about Clapton, I began to admire him less. However, him not showing up for a gig with John Mayall's Blues Breakers gave a start for Mick Taylor, so that's a good thing. Not showing up for a gig is inexcusable. Skip Spence lost a good gig with Jefferson Airplane because of it. Well, he had drug and mental health problems, too.

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I was watching the weekly skews the other night and they were talking about what a racist Clapton is. There is video of him saying Briton is for the white man. That the folks from the Caribbean could go back. I never knew that. He is still a hell of a musician.

injinji said:

I was watching the weekly skews the other night and they were talking about what a racist Clapton is. There is video of him saying Briton is for the white man. That the folks from the Caribbean could go back. I never knew that. He is still a hell of a musician.

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I didn't know that, either. It can be difficult separating the artist from the man/woman.

topcat said:

I didn't know that, either. It can be difficult separating the artist from the man/woman.

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Agreed. I don't listen to Skynard anymore. Too much red hat. But Clapton was everywhere in the 60's and 70's. It would be hard to cut him out of the rotation.

1970 - Randy Newman
Three Dog Night started a two-week run at No.1 in the US with their version of the Randy Newman song 'Mama Told Me Not To Come', which was also a No.3 hit in the UK. The song was first covered by Eric Burdon on his first solo album in 1966 and gave Tom Jones & Stereophonics a No.4 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 2000.

1992 - Jerry Garcia
A range of eight ties, designed by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the US by the end of the year.

2014 - Tommy Ramone
Producer and drummer Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), from the influential punk rock band the Ramones died aged 65 following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer. He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones before his death. Erdelyi was also an assistant engineer for the production of the Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys.

2019 - David Bowie
Toymakers Mattel announced a new collectable David Bowie doll inspired by his signature Ziggy Stardust fashion. Dubbed Barbie as Bowie, the doll is dressed as the late singer's glam-rock alter ego, complete with a pair of red platform boots and topped with his fiery-red mullet.

1983 - Chris Wood
Former Traffic member Chris Wood died of liver failure after a lengthy illness. He also played with Jimi Hendrix in 1968, appearing on the Electric Ladyland album and worked with Free, John Martyn and the Small Faces.

On this day in history on July 13, 1985, the Live Aid concert events were held in Philadelphia and London.

Billed as the Global Jukebox, Live Aid served as an international fundraising platform designed to raise money and bring some relief to those suffering in Africa from the Ethiopian famine. The concerts took place simultaneously in London, England at Wembley Stadium and in Philadelphia at John F. Kennedy Stadium (now the site of the Wells Fargo Center). Orchestrated by Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof, the legendary promoter Bill Graham, as well as Larry Magid and Allen Spivak of Electric Factory Concerts in Philadelphia, the Live Aid concerts were star studded affairs with some of the biggest musical acts in the world. It is estimated that the concerts were watched by almost 2 billion people worldwide in 110 countries, and raised approximately $127 million for famine relief.

Performers in Philadelphia for Live Aid included The Hooters, Black Sabbath, Run-D.M.C., Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Beach Boys, Madonna, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Led Zeppelin, Patti LaBelle, Hall & Oates, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, and Bob Dylan. Stars such as Jack Nicholson and Chevy Chase also helped to emcee the event. An incredible 100,000 people packed into Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium for Live Aid and 72,000 attended the Wembley concert. Tickets for this once in a lifetime event cost $35.00.