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Rock and Roll Birthdays

Today's Rock and Roll Birthdays

April 7th

April 7th Birthday, Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday, born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1915. She died on July 17th, 1959, aged 44.

April 7th Birthday, Sitarist and mentor to George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, born in Benares State, British India in 1920. He died on December 11th, 2012, aged 92.

April 7th Birthday, The Drifters vocalist Charlie Thomas, born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1937.

April 7th Birthday, Jefferson Airplane, New Riders Of The Purple Sage and Peanut Butter Conspiracy drummer Spencer Dryden, born Spencer Charles Dryden in 1938 in New York City. He died on January 11th, 2005, aged 66.

April 7th Birthday, Original Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams, who had a solo career after Tull and formed British blues band Blodwyn Pig, born in 1943 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. Abrahams passed away on December 19th, 2025 at the age of 82.

April 7th Birthday, The Chiffons’ singer Patricia Bennett in The Bronx, New York City in 1947.

April 7th Birthday, German electronic music pioneer Florian Schneider from the band Kraftwerk, born in the French occupation zone in southern Germany in 1947. He died on April 21st, 2020, aged 73.

April 7th Birthday, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young drummer Dallas Taylor, born in Denver, Colorado in 1948. He died on January 18th, 2015, aged 66.

April 7th Birthday, Guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer John Oates, from Hall and Oates, born in New York City in 1948.

April 7th Birthday, Singer, songwriter Janis Ian, born in New York City in 1951.

April 7th Birthday, The Knack drummer Bruce Gary, born in Burbank, California in 1951. He died on August 22nd, 2006, aged 55.

Today In Rock and Roll History

April 7th

April 7th, 1962 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet Brian Jones, then calling himself Elmo Lewis, at The Ealing Club in London.

April 7th, 1969 ABC Records release “Heather Honey” by Tommy Roe on 45. Written by Roe, produced by Steve Barri with an arrangement by Jimmy Haskell, the record peaked at No. 29 on May 31st.

April 7th, 1969 Columbia Records release “Songs From A Room” by Leonard Cohen. Charlie Daniels plays uncredited bass, fiddle and acoustic guitar on the album. Produced by Bob Johnston, the LP reached No. 63 in America on May 10th, No. 3 in Britain.

April 7th, 1969 SGC Records release “Nazz Nazz,” the second album by Nazz. Produced and arranged by the group with horn and string arrangements by Todd Rundgren, the record was planned as a double album called “Fungo Bat.” Internal disagreement about the record would cause a split, with Rundgren leaving for a solo career before the band’s third LP, formed primarily from songs left over from the double album sessions for “Nazz Nazz.” The record reached No. 118 on March 7th, 1970 on the album charts.

April 7th, 1970 Atco Records release “On Tour with Eric Clapton” by Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Co-produced by Jimmy Miller and Delaney Bramlett, the album was mostly recorded in Croyden, England during their European Tour of 1969. The record peaked at No. 29 on May 9th.

April 7th, 1970 UNI Records release “Soolaimon (African Trilogy)” by Neil Diamond on 45. Written by Diamond and produced by Tom Catalano, the track was issued as a single from the ambitious “Tap Root Manuscript” album. “Soolaimon” was part of a longer suite of songs on the LP that prefigured the use of World Music in rock and roll. The record peaked at No. 30 on May 30th.

April 7th, 1971 Atlantic Records release “4 Way Street,” the double live album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Recorded at shows at The Fillmore East, New York, June 2nd through June 7th, 1970, at The Chicago Auditorium, Chicago, July 5th, 1970 and at The Forum, Los Angeles, June 26ththough June 28th, 1970. The record went to No. 1 in the album charts on May 15th.

April 7th, 1971 The Bee Gees record “Don’t Want To Live Inside Myself” at IBC Studios in London, co-produced by The Brothers Gibb and Robert Stigwood. Written by Barry Gibb, the song was released as the second single from the “Trafalgar” LP. The song entered the singles charts in October and peaked at No. 53 on November 20th.

April 7th, 1971 Epic Records release “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Edgar Winter’s White Trash on 45. The song was a cover of the Otis Redding original, produced by Rick Derringer. The record peaked at No. 81 on May 27th.

April 7th, 1973 Grunt Records release “Thirty Seconds Over Winterland,” a live album by Jefferson Airplane. The LP was recorded at 1972 concerts in August and September at Chicago Auditorium in Chicago and Winterland Arena in San Francisco. The record peaked at No. 52 on June 2nd.

April 7th, 1973 Capitol Records release “Close Your Eyes” by Canadian band Edward Bear on 45. Co-written by Edward Bear drummer and singer Larry Envoy, the record entered the charts a week later and peaked at No. 37 on June 2nd.

April 7th, 1975 Richie Blackmore quits Deep Purple to form his own group, Rainbow, with vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

April 7th, 1978 Warner Brothers Records release “The Last Waltz” by The Band. The album was issued as a companion piece to The Last Waltz film documentary of The Band’s final gig with Robbie Robertson, with a large cast of guest artists. The double Pp set reached No. 16 on June 24th.

April 7th, 1979 “Love Is Gonna Come At Last” by Badfinger enters the singles charts following a March release on Elektra Records. Written by Joey Molland, Badfinger reformed with guitarist Molland and bassist Tom Evans and recorded the “Airwaves” album in the last three months of 1978 with producer David Malloy in Los Angeles. “Love Is Gonna Come At Last” peaked at No. 69 on April 21st.

April 7th, 1979 “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band enters the singles charts. The song was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama and Sound Suite Studios in Detroit, Michigan, co-written by Muscle Shoals studio musicians George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III. “Old Time Rock and Roll” was issued as the fourth single from Seger’s “Stranger in Town” LP and reached No. 28 on May 26th.

April 7th, 1980 MCA Records release “Here Comes My Girl” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers on 45. Mike Campbell wrote the music and part of the melody. Petty finished it with words, a vocal arrangement and a chorus inspired by The Byrds. The single peaked at No. 59 on May 24th.

April 7th, 1981 Humble Pie guitarist Steve Marriot suffers crushed fingers when he catches his hand in a closing door in Chicago. Rumors that Marriot will never play again prove to be unfounded.

April 7th, 1990 “Dog City” by Crack The Sky enters the album charts on Grudge Records. Original group members John Palumbo, Joey D’Amico and Rick Witkowski, along with Carey Zeigler on guitar, Vince DePaul on keyboards, appear on the album. The LP peaked at No. 164 on April 28th.

April 7th, 1998 Modern Records release the three-disc solo career retrospective, “Enchanted,” by Stevie Nicks. Containing a number of Nicks’ rarities, the set peaked at No. 85 on May 16th.

Miscellaneous April

April 1953 Specialty Records release “Don’t Take It Out On Me” backed with “Lucy Mae Blues,” the third single by Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims. Both songs were written by Frankie Lee Sims, a cousin to musician Lightnin’ Hopkins. “Lucy Mae Blues” became a regional hit in Texas.

April 1954 Specialty Records release “The Story Of My Life” backed with “A Letter To My Girl Friend,” the third single by electric blues pioneer Guitar Slim and His Band. Both songs were written by Slim, credited to his given name Eddie Jones.

April 1963 Ron Romans record “Tell Me” and “Love Of My Life.” Daani Records released them as the A and B-side of a single. The A-side was written by Frank Zappa associate Kenny Williams, while “Love Of My Life” was a Zappa/Dave Aerni co-write. The song was recorded at PAL Recording Studio in Cucamonga, California with Zappa playing guitar and drums. Zappa rerecorded “Love Of My Life” with The Mothers Of Invention on the 1968 LP “Cruising With Ruben and The Jets.

April 1964 Chess records release the “Folk Singer” album, the fourth by Muddy Waters. The album features Waters on acoustic guitar, Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar.

April 1965 Fantasy Records release “Where You Been” backed with “You Came Walking,” the second single by The Golliwogs on 45. 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.

April 1966 Are You Kidding Me? Records issue “The Ballad Of The Yellow Beret” backed with “Florida Time” by The Beach Bums, actually Bob Seger’s first released record. Done as an answer record to Sgt. Barry Sandler’s “The Ballad Of The Green Beret,” “The Ballad Of The Yellow Beret” is executed in a humorous manner but the lyrics are a sharp criticism of men who dodged the draft in the US. The song is credited to D. Dodger. “Florida Time” is closer to the style of The Beach Boys, written by long-time Seger producer “Punch,” with both sides produced and arranged by The Omens.

April 1966 Paradise Records out of Texas release “Splash Day” backed with “Life’s A Misery” by The Warlocks on 45. The band featured brothers Rocky and Dusty Hill. The band would change their name to American Blues when drummer Frank Beard joined. Beard and Dusty Hill would later join Billy Gibbons in ZZ Top.

April 1969 Liberty Records in Britain release “Folkjoke Opus,” the third album by Roy Harper. Produced by Shel Talmy, the LP sessions included Nicky Hopkins on piano and Clem Cattini on drums. Ron Geesin scored the arrangements on the record.

April 1970 CBS Records in Britain release “Zero She Flies,” the third album by Al Stewart. The LP was produced by Roy Guest at Sound Technics Studios in London. Gerry Conway and Trevor Lucas from Fairport Convention played sessions on the record.

April 1971 Harvest Records release “Stormcock,” the fifth studio album by Roy Harper. Produced by Peter Jenner at EMI Studios in London, David Bedford played keyboards and did the arrangements and Jimmy Page played guitar on “The Same Old Rock,” credited as S. Favius Mercurius.

April 1973 Chrysalis Record in England release “Parcel Of Rogues,” the fifth studio album by Steeleye Span. The LP was co-produced by Steeleye Span and Jerry Boys at Sound Techniques Studios in Chelsea, London. The band toured the album in the US opening for Jethro Tull.

April 1975 Asylum Records release “Fountain Of Sorrow” by Jackson Browne on 45. Written by Browne, it was the second single issued from his “Late For The Sky” LP. The 45 version was two minutes shorter than the nearly seven-minute-long album version.

April 1975 Bob Seger releases “Beautiful Loser,” his first single for Capitol Records. The 45 peaked at No. 103 on the Pop Singles charts.

April 1978 DB Records in Georgia release “Rock Lobster” backed with “52 Girls,” the debut single by The B-52’s. The A-side was co-written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson. “52 Girls” was co-written by Jeremy Ayers and Ricky Wilson.

April 1978 Virgin Records release “This Is Pop” backed with “Heatwave,” the third single by XTC. “This Is Pop” was written by Andy Partridge and “Heatwave” was written by Colin Moulding. Both songs were produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The A-side was an album track, re-recorded for its’ single release.

April 1979 Asylum Records release “Alison,” Linda Ronstadt’s cover version of the Elvis Costello song on 45, produced by Peter Asher.

April 1980 Harvest Records release “The Unknown Soldier,” the tenth studio album by Roy Harper. Co-produced by Harper and Peter Jenner at Abbey Road Studios in London, David Gilmour Andy Roberts, Andy Newmark, Kate Bush, B.J. Cole, Pete Wingfield and others play on the record. David Bedford did the orchestral arrangements.

April 1981 RCA Records release the soundtrack to the movie Christiane F., Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. The record was a collection of previously released songs by David Bowie that spanned the years 1976-1978. Bowie appears in an in-concert sequence of the movie during the Isolar Tour of 1976.

April 1982 Warner Brothers Records release “Deep Sleep” by The B-52’s on 45. The track came from the David Byne produced “Mesopotamia” EP, recorded at Blank Tape Studios in New York City. The song was co-written by Keith Strickland, Kate Pierson and Robert Waldrop.

April 1982 Woody Records in Britain release “O.T.T.” backed with “Mystery Song” by Roy Wood on 45. Both songs were written and produced by Roy Wood.