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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

July 28th

July 28th Birthday, Pink Floyd keyboardist, songwriter and vocalist Rick Wright, born in Hatch End, Middlesex, England, in 1943. He passed away on September 15th, 2008 at the age of 65.

July 28th Birthday, Blues rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield, a member of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Electric Flag and a solo artist, born in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. He passed away from a drug overdose on February 15th, 1981 at the age of 37.

July 28th Birthday, Singer, songwriter Jonathan Edwards, born in 1946 in Aitkin, Minnesota.

July 28th Birthday, Free and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, born in Lambeth, London, England in 1948.

July 28th Birthday, Vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and an original member of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stephen Ross Porter, born in Eltham, London, England in 1949. He passed away on October 27th, 1980 at the age of 31.

July 28th Birthday, Angel and House Of Lords keyboardist Greg Guiffria, born in 1951.

July 28th Birthday, Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, born in Hamilton, Ohio in 1954.

Today In Rock and Roll History

July 28th

July 28th, 1956 Gene Vincent made his first appearance on national TV performing “Be Bop A Lula” on The Perry Como Show.

July 28th, 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis made his first appearance on The Steve Allen Show performing “Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Goin On.”

July 28th, 1958 The Everly Brothers release “Devoted To You” backed with “Bird Dog” on 45. “Devoted To You” was co-written by the husband-and-wife team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. “Bird Dog” was written by Boudleaux Bryant alone. Both songs charted. “Devoted To You” hit No. 10 on September 20th, while “Bird Dog” was No. 1 on the Country Singles charts and No. 2 on the Pop Singles charts on September 13th.

July 28th, 1961 The Tokens record “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title “Mbube” for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda’s original was written in Zulu. The English lyrics were written by George David Weiss. In 1949, Alan Lomax, then working as folk music director for Decca Records, brought Solomon Linda’s 78rpm recording to the attention of his friend Pete Seeger of the folk group The Weavers. In November 1951, after having performed the song for at least a year in their concerts, The Weavers recorded an adapted version with brass and string orchestra and chorus and released it as a single titled “Wimoweh,” a mishearing of the original songs chorus of “Uyimbube,” meaning “You are a lion” in Zulu. The Tokens version was released by RCA Victor Records on November 17th. On December 23rd “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” began four weeks at No. 1.

July 28th, 1967 Deram Records in Britain release “A Bad Night” by Cat Stevens on 45. Written by Stevens, the record was produced by Mike Hurst.

July 28th, 1971 Apple Records release “Bangla Desh” by George Harrison on 45. Out two days later in Britain, it was issued as a non-album single to raise awareness for the millions of refugees from the country formerly known as East Pakistan, following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the outbreak of the Bangla Desh Liberation War. Indian Bengali musician Ravi Shankar approached George Harrison to help somehow with the situation, so Harrison wrote and produced the song and together, the pair put together the Concerts For Bangla Desh, two shows in New York at Madison Square Garden on August 1st. “Bangla Desh” peaked at No. 23 on September 11th.

July 28th, 1973 More than six hundred thousand people turned out to the “Summer Jam” at Watkins Glen, New York to see the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band and others in concert.

July 28th, 1975 Warner Brothers Records release “Sabotage,” the sixth studio album by Black Sabbath. Co-produced by Tony Iommi and Mike Butcher at Morgan Studios in London, the record peaked at No. 28 on September 27th.

July 28th, 1976 Atlantic Records release “You Are The Woman” by Firefall on 45. Written by founding member and lead singer Rick Roberts and produced by Jim Mason, the single peaked at No. 9 on December 11th.

July 28th, 1979 Polydor Records release “Down To Earth” by Rainbow. The record was produced by Roger Glover at Chateau Pelly de Cornfeld in France with vocals cut at Kingdom Sound Studios in Long Island from March through July. Glover stepped in during the recording process to play bass and write lyrics for the record. The LP featured the hit “Since You’ve Been Gone” and was the only Rainbow album to feature singer Graham Bonnet. The record peaked at No. 66 on October 6th.

July 28th, 1984 Epic Records in Britain release “Diamond Life,” the first album by Sade. The record was recorded at Power Plant Studios in London with producer Robin Millar. The LP featured the hits “Smooth Operator” and “Your Love Is King.” The record came out in the US in January 1985 and peaked at No. 5 on June 1st.

July 28th, 1986 Columbia Records release “The Bridge,” the tenth solo album by Billy Joel. The record featured the hits “A Matter of Trust,” “Modern Woman” and “This Is the Time.” “The Bridge” was produced by Phil Ramone at several studios, The Power Station, Chelsea Sound North and RCA Studios in New York and Evergreen Studios on Burbank, California. Steve Winwood and Ray Charles make guest appearances on the LP. The album charted for forty-seven weeks and peaked at No. 7 on September 20th.

July 28th, 1984 “The Only Flame In Town” by Elvis Costello and The Attractions enters the US Pop Singles charts on Columbia Records. Issued in England and America in July, the track features the harmony vocals of Daryl Hall and saxophone by Gary Barnacle. The song was from the band’s “Goodbye Cruel World” LP, co-produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. “The Only Flame In Town” peaked at No. 56 on August 28th.

July 28th, 1986 IRS Records release “Life’s Rich Pageant,” the fourth studio album by R.E.M. Produced by Don Gehman at John Mellencamp’s Belmont Mall Studios in Belmont, Indiana, the record peaked at No. 21 on October 11th.

July 28th, 1993 At New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Natalie Merchant performed with 10,000 Maniacs for the last time before embarking on a solo career.

Miscellaneous July

July 1959, Chess Records release “Go Bo Diddley,” the second album by Bo Diddley.

July 1959, Chess Records release “Berry Is On Top” by Chuck Berry. Other than the song “Blues For Hawaiians,” the record was a collection of previously issued singles with nine hit 45’s.

July 1964 Nashville label RIC Records release “Beach Walkin’” backed with “Banzai Washout,” the first single by California band The Catalinas on 45. Both songs were written by Los Angeles session musician and record producer Steve Douglas. Future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and Wrecking Crew alumni Hal Blaine, Bill Pitman, Billy Strange, Leon Russell and others were part of the studio band.

July 1965 Fantasy Records release “You Can’t Be True” backed with “You Got Nothin’ On Me,” the third single by The Golliwogs. Both sides were co-written by Tom and John Fogerty, using the names Rann Wild and Toby Green. The Golliwogs renamed themselves Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967.

July 1967, Elektra Records release “The 5,000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion” by The Incredible String Band in England. Recorded at Sound Techniques in Chelsea, London with producer Joe Boyd, it was the group’s second album, regrouped as a duo following their first album in 1966. “The 5,000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion” went to No. 25 in Britain. The LP came out in America in January 1968.

July 1969, Douglas Records release “Devotion,” the second album by John McLaughlin. There are conflicting dates attributed to the release. Some say May some July and others say September. The record was recorded while McLaughlin was a member of Tony Williams Lifetime, using a backing band of organist Larry Young, bassist Billy Rich and Buddy Miles. The album did not chart in the US.

July 1970 Capitol Records release the self-titled debut album by British jazz-rock band “If.” The album reached No. 187 in the US.

July 1974, Casablanca Records release “Strutter,” the third single by Kiss. The song was co-written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The track was co-produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, taken from Kiss’ self-titled first album.

July 1975, RCA Records release “Why Do Fools Fall In Love,” the second single by Bruce Johnston, Gary Usher and Terry Melcher’s California Music. The song was credited to Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy. The song was originally a hit for Lymon and The Teenagers in 1956.

July 1976 Oyster Records release “Child In Time” by the Ian Gillan Band. It was the first solo album by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. The group featured keyboardist Mike Moran, guitarist Ray Fenwick and bassist John Gustafson. The LP was produced by Purple’s Roger Glover at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany in December 1975 through January 1976. The album reached No. 55 in England.

July 1976 Atco Records release “Viva! Roxy Music,” a live album by Roxy Music, six months in advance of its British release date in February 1977. The recordings were taped at the Glasgow Apollo in November 1973, Newcastle City Hall in October 1974 and the Wembley Empire Pool in October 1975. “Viva! Roxy Music” was produced by Chris Thomas. The same month, Island Records in Britain release a new four-song EP by Bryan Ferry, “Price Of Love” and “Shame Shame Shame” backed with “Heart On My Sleeve” and “It’s Only Love.” Island issued “Price Of Love” as a single in August.

July 1981 A&M Records in America release “Iris” by Split Enz on 45. The track came from the band’s “Waiata” album, produced by David Tickle.

July 1983 Virgin Records release “Wonderland” by XTC on 45 in England. Written by Colin Moulding, the session was co-produced by XTC and Steve Nye. It was the only single from the group’s “Mummer” LP to be released in the US, in February 1984.

July 1984 A&M Records in the US release “Message To My Girl” by Split Enz on 45 from the LP “Conflicting Emotions.” The song was written by Neil Finn, co-produced by Hugh Padgham and Eddie Rayner.

July 1987 Jet Records release “1, 2, 3” backed with “O What A Shame” by Roy Wood on 45. The A-side was a cover version of the Len Barry hit from 1967, co-written by J Madaea, D White and L Bonsoff. The B-side was written by Roy Wood. Both tracks were produced by Roy Wood.

July 1987 Virgin Records release “You’re A Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)” by The Dukes Of Stratosphere on 45. The band were XTC with guitarist Dave Gregory’s brother Ian on drums. The song was written by Andy Partridge and credited to Sir John Johns. The record was co-produced by the band and John Leckie.

July 1990 Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay release “Christmas ; MacKay and Manzanera featuring The Players” on Ryko Records. Album is a collection of Christmas songs by Andy MacKay and Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music.

July 1991 Demon Records in Britain release the soundtrack to the British TV series “G.B.H.” It was the first of two collaborations between Elvis Costello and English composer, musician and member of progressive rock band Gryphon, Richard Harvey.

July 1994 Warner Brothers Records in Britain release “You Tripped At Every Step” by Elvis Costello and The Attractions on 45, the third single released from the band’s “Brutal Youth” LP. The song was written by Costello, who co-produced the track with Mitchell Froom.