Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Great Album Released Today
When AC/DC lost Bon Scott, they weren't sure if they would continue. They decided to carry on. On July 25, 1980, they released their LP "Back in Black". It was their first effort without Bon. It turned out to be not only the biggest album ever released by an Australian band, but it is one of the biggest selling albums ever, right up there with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". To date the LP has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Happy 41st Birthday to "Back in Black". It was a wise choice to continue and your fans thank you! Is this one of your favorite AC/DC albums?
The Byrds released their third LP "Fifth Dimension" on July 18, 1966. Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark so the majority of the songwriting went to guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby. Even with the two writing, they recorded four cover versions and an instrumental. It was however the first by The Byrds not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire. Fifth Dimension was widely regarded as the band's most experimental album to date and is today considered influential in originating the musical genre of psychedelic rock. It was also the first time the bands logo appeared with the psychedelic artwork. Can you remember the first time you heard this album? Was it 55 years ago today when it was released? Happy 55th Birthday to The Byrds LP "Fifth Dimension"!!
One of the most under appreciated people in the history of Roc and Roll, Dion DiMucci is celebrating his 82nd birthday today. Dion started with Dion & The Belmonts in the 50's and later became a solo star. He sang songs like "Runaround Sue", "Ruby Baby", "Donna the Prima Donna", "The Wanderer" and "Abraham, Martin and John". Dion was on the Winter Dance Party tour "The Night The Music Died". He was first offered a seat on the ill-fated plane but he has said he just couldn't justify the cost as it was the same as a months rent. The Beatles loved his work to the point that they put him on the cover of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He's been there, done that, and is an incredible singer / performer. Happy Birthday Dion!!! You got it right!
The Doors released their fourth LP "The Soft Parade" on July 18, 1969. This album changing their music somewhat from what they had done in the past. They used brass and string arrangements in their songs here. This was being done by them as they had wanted to feature more jazz and blues influences in their work. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart. They did release the single "Touch Me" in December 1968, which awarded the Doors an unexpected top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and several other accolades, including a number-one listing in the Cashbox charts. Remember the first time you heard this album? And do you remember how you felt about the brass and strings? Happy 52nd Birthday to The Doors' LP "The Soft Parade"!!
It wasn't the start of Rock and Roll by any means, but it was the start of "Big Time" Rock and Roll… On July 18, 1953, an eighteen-year-old truck driver went to the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue to record a novelty 45 for his mother's birthday. The young truck driver was Elvis Presley. He made two recordings, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," saying they were a birthday present for his Mother. Elvis later admitted that he made the records to see "what I sounded like," as his mother's birthday was actually in April. It cost Elvis $3.98 to do the recordings. Marion Keisker, the studio owner Sam Phillips assistant, liked what she heard and took down Presley's information and notes that he is a "good ballad singer." As she recalled years later: "I said, 'What kind of singer are you?' He said, 'I sing all kinds.' I said, 'Who do you sound like?' He said, 'I don't sound like nobody.'" And so it began, 68 years ago today. This really is an important date in the overall scheme of this stuff.
One of our all time favorite singers, Martha Reeves is celebrating her birthday today. Martha was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha Reeves & The Vandellas or just "Martha & The Vandellas". They scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Nowhere to Run", "Jimmy Mack", and their all time classic "Dancing In The Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected council woman for the city of Detroit, Michigan. "It doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there…." Happy Birthday Martha!!!!! You gave us a reason to dance! And let's be honest, her music turned on a whole bunch of white kids to the Motown Sound. Isn't there a peace prize for that?
So when he's not playing with one of the biggest bands in the history of Rock and Roll, he's working with NASA on one of their projects.. We are talking about Queen's Brian Harold May, CBE who has 74 candles on his birthday cake today. Besides being a guitarists / singer / songwriter, he is also an astrophysicist. He uses a home-built electric guitar, called the Red Special. His compositions for the band include "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Prophet's Song", "Flash", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On". Brian May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, became regarded as a virtuoso musician and he was identified with a distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work. Following the death of Mercury in 1991, Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at No. 26 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In 2012, May was ranked the 2nd greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar World magazine readers poll. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for "services to the music industry and for charity work". Brian attained a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007 and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign, Asteroid Day. Yeah, he's stayed busy. Happy Birthday Brian!!! Do you have a favorite Queen song? And…. how many times did you see Queen live?
For those that hasn't listened to his solo work here you go. Great stuff!
It started out being called the 'Sedilia Bluegrass Festival"… The Ozark Music Festival was held July 19–21, 1974 on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. While the Woodstock Festival from 1969 is the most well-known rock festival, the Ozark Music Festival was one of the largest music festivals ever held. "No Hassles Guaranteed " was the motto of the festival. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people. A company called Musical Productions Inc. (MPI) from Kansas City promoted the festival, and assured officials from the Missouri Department of Agriculture (the state agency which oversaw the State Fair) and the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce that the three-day weekend event would be a blue-grass and “pop rock” festival with no more than 50,000 tickets sold. Even though the festival was not scheduled to start until Friday, July 19, thousands had arrived by Thursday night and there was a steady line of cars, trucks, vans, hitchhikers and even an occasional hippie camper slowly winding towards Sedalia and the fairgrounds. While in line, festival-goers were advised that once inside the grounds, vehicles would not be allowed back outside until the festival was over; many left a vehicle outside the fence for beer runs. The bands that performed included: Bachman–Turner Overdrive Aerosmith Premiata Forneria Marconi Peter Sinfield Blue Öyster Cult Eagles America Marshall Tucker Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Boz Scaggs Ted Nugent David Bromberg Leo Kottke Cactus Lynyrd Skynyrd The Electric Flag Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band The Earl Scruggs Revue Charlie Daniels Band Joe Walsh and Barnstorm The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band The Ozark Mountain Daredevils Jimmie Spheeris Triphammer Bill Quateman Jefferson Starship Fresh Start Babe Ruth Locomotiv GT The Sweet Shawn Phillips REO Speedwagon Spirit Banco Elvin Bishop The temps during the festival approached 100º which led to many of the attendees to remove their clothes and wander the grounds naked. By Monday, July 22, the festival crowd had left, leaving a field of garbage behind. Damage estimates of $100,000 were reported, and with the Missouri State Fair only a few weeks away the fairgrounds had to be cleaned up quickly. Damage and garbage remained, along with a lingering few waiting around for their friends who had been sent to medical facilities for treatment for dehydration. After the festival the city of Sedalia only had a few weeks to clean up for the Missouri State fair, so helicopters were used for spraying lime over the fairgrounds as a precaution against the possible outbreak of disease. On the ground, bulldozers scraped up the topsoil, which was (reportedly) littered with discarded drug paraphernalia and gnawed cobs of corn from a neighboring field along with mountains of contaminated dirt and garbage which were hauled to the county landfills. Meanwhile, festival-goers crowded the Interstate 70 rest stops to catch up on sleep lost during the weekend. Tents, cots and sleeping bags were spread throughout rest stops all along the highway. The Missouri Senate met in October 1974 and discussed the events of the music festival in the committee report. The report states that, "The Ozark Music Festival can only be described as a disaster. It became a haven for drug pushers who were attracted from throughout the United States. The scene made the degradation of Sodom and Gomorrah appear mild. Natural and unnatural sex acts became a spectator sport. Frequently, nude women promoted drugs with advertisements on their bodies." Sounds like it was one hell of a party. Any of you there for this 'bluegrass' festival 47 years ago?
Great Album Released Today
When AC/DC lost Bon Scott, they weren't sure if they would continue. They decided to carry on. On July 25, 1980, they released their LP "Back in Black". It was their first effort without Bon. It turned out to be not only the biggest album ever released by an Australian band, but it is one of the biggest selling albums ever, right up there with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". To date the LP has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Happy 41st Birthday to "Back in Black". It was a wise choice to continue and your fans thank you! Is this one of your favorite AC/DC albums?
The Byrds released their third LP "Fifth Dimension" on July 18, 1966. Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark so the majority of the songwriting went to guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby. Even with the two writing, they recorded four cover versions and an instrumental. It was however the first by The Byrds not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire. Fifth Dimension was widely regarded as the band's most experimental album to date and is today considered influential in originating the musical genre of psychedelic rock. It was also the first time the bands logo appeared with the psychedelic artwork. Can you remember the first time you heard this album? Was it 55 years ago today when it was released? Happy 55th Birthday to The Byrds LP "Fifth Dimension"!!
One of the most under appreciated people in the history of Roc and Roll, Dion DiMucci is celebrating his 82nd birthday today. Dion started with Dion & The Belmonts in the 50's and later became a solo star. He sang songs like "Runaround Sue", "Ruby Baby", "Donna the Prima Donna", "The Wanderer" and "Abraham, Martin and John". Dion was on the Winter Dance Party tour "The Night The Music Died". He was first offered a seat on the ill-fated plane but he has said he just couldn't justify the cost as it was the same as a months rent. The Beatles loved his work to the point that they put him on the cover of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He's been there, done that, and is an incredible singer / performer. Happy Birthday Dion!!! You got it right!
The Doors released their fourth LP "The Soft Parade" on July 18, 1969. This album changing their music somewhat from what they had done in the past. They used brass and string arrangements in their songs here. This was being done by them as they had wanted to feature more jazz and blues influences in their work. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart. They did release the single "Touch Me" in December 1968, which awarded the Doors an unexpected top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and several other accolades, including a number-one listing in the Cashbox charts. Remember the first time you heard this album? And do you remember how you felt about the brass and strings? Happy 52nd Birthday to The Doors' LP "The Soft Parade"!!
It wasn't the start of Rock and Roll by any means, but it was the start of "Big Time" Rock and Roll… On July 18, 1953, an eighteen-year-old truck driver went to the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue to record a novelty 45 for his mother's birthday. The young truck driver was Elvis Presley. He made two recordings, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," saying they were a birthday present for his Mother. Elvis later admitted that he made the records to see "what I sounded like," as his mother's birthday was actually in April. It cost Elvis $3.98 to do the recordings. Marion Keisker, the studio owner Sam Phillips assistant, liked what she heard and took down Presley's information and notes that he is a "good ballad singer." As she recalled years later: "I said, 'What kind of singer are you?' He said, 'I sing all kinds.' I said, 'Who do you sound like?' He said, 'I don't sound like nobody.'" And so it began, 68 years ago today. This really is an important date in the overall scheme of this stuff.
One of our all time favorite singers, Martha Reeves is celebrating her birthday today. Martha was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha Reeves & The Vandellas or just "Martha & The Vandellas". They scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Nowhere to Run", "Jimmy Mack", and their all time classic "Dancing In The Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected council woman for the city of Detroit, Michigan. "It doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there…." Happy Birthday Martha!!!!! You gave us a reason to dance! And let's be honest, her music turned on a whole bunch of white kids to the Motown Sound. Isn't there a peace prize for that?
So when he's not playing with one of the biggest bands in the history of Rock and Roll, he's working with NASA on one of their projects.. We are talking about Queen's Brian Harold May, CBE who has 74 candles on his birthday cake today. Besides being a guitarists / singer / songwriter, he is also an astrophysicist. He uses a home-built electric guitar, called the Red Special. His compositions for the band include "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Prophet's Song", "Flash", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On". Brian May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, became regarded as a virtuoso musician and he was identified with a distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work. Following the death of Mercury in 1991, Queen were put on hiatus for several years but were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other vocalists. In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at No. 26 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In 2012, May was ranked the 2nd greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar World magazine readers poll. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for "services to the music industry and for charity work". Brian attained a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007 and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008 to 2013. He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. He is also a co-founder of the awareness campaign, Asteroid Day. Yeah, he's stayed busy. Happy Birthday Brian!!! Do you have a favorite Queen song? And…. how many times did you see Queen live?
For those that hasn't listened to his solo work here you go. Great stuff!
It started out being called the 'Sedilia Bluegrass Festival"… The Ozark Music Festival was held July 19–21, 1974 on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. While the Woodstock Festival from 1969 is the most well-known rock festival, the Ozark Music Festival was one of the largest music festivals ever held. "No Hassles Guaranteed " was the motto of the festival. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people. A company called Musical Productions Inc. (MPI) from Kansas City promoted the festival, and assured officials from the Missouri Department of Agriculture (the state agency which oversaw the State Fair) and the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce that the three-day weekend event would be a blue-grass and “pop rock” festival with no more than 50,000 tickets sold. Even though the festival was not scheduled to start until Friday, July 19, thousands had arrived by Thursday night and there was a steady line of cars, trucks, vans, hitchhikers and even an occasional hippie camper slowly winding towards Sedalia and the fairgrounds. While in line, festival-goers were advised that once inside the grounds, vehicles would not be allowed back outside until the festival was over; many left a vehicle outside the fence for beer runs. The bands that performed included: Bachman–Turner Overdrive Aerosmith Premiata Forneria Marconi Peter Sinfield Blue Öyster Cult Eagles America Marshall Tucker Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Boz Scaggs Ted Nugent David Bromberg Leo Kottke Cactus Lynyrd Skynyrd The Electric Flag Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band The Earl Scruggs Revue Charlie Daniels Band Joe Walsh and Barnstorm The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band The Ozark Mountain Daredevils Jimmie Spheeris Triphammer Bill Quateman Jefferson Starship Fresh Start Babe Ruth Locomotiv GT The Sweet Shawn Phillips REO Speedwagon Spirit Banco Elvin Bishop The temps during the festival approached 100º which led to many of the attendees to remove their clothes and wander the grounds naked. By Monday, July 22, the festival crowd had left, leaving a field of garbage behind. Damage estimates of $100,000 were reported, and with the Missouri State Fair only a few weeks away the fairgrounds had to be cleaned up quickly. Damage and garbage remained, along with a lingering few waiting around for their friends who had been sent to medical facilities for treatment for dehydration. After the festival the city of Sedalia only had a few weeks to clean up for the Missouri State fair, so helicopters were used for spraying lime over the fairgrounds as a precaution against the possible outbreak of disease. On the ground, bulldozers scraped up the topsoil, which was (reportedly) littered with discarded drug paraphernalia and gnawed cobs of corn from a neighboring field along with mountains of contaminated dirt and garbage which were hauled to the county landfills. Meanwhile, festival-goers crowded the Interstate 70 rest stops to catch up on sleep lost during the weekend. Tents, cots and sleeping bags were spread throughout rest stops all along the highway. The Missouri Senate met in October 1974 and discussed the events of the music festival in the committee report. The report states that, "The Ozark Music Festival can only be described as a disaster. It became a haven for drug pushers who were attracted from throughout the United States. The scene made the degradation of Sodom and Gomorrah appear mild. Natural and unnatural sex acts became a spectator sport. Frequently, nude women promoted drugs with advertisements on their bodies." Sounds like it was one hell of a party. Any of you there for this 'bluegrass' festival 47 years ago?
Last edited:
