On this daythe 1st of July

Born 1915: Willie Dixon, Vicksburg Mississippi, blues artist (Walkin' the Blues, Mellow Down Easy).

Back in 1939 Dwarf vocalist/guitarist Little Buddy Doyle recorded "Slick Capers Blues" for Columbia Records in Memphis, Tennessee. During the 1930s, the diminutive Doyle performed regularly on Beale Street in Memphis. Tips increased when he started performing on a big milk crate. He was a working associate of Big Walter Horton until he tired of getting the short end of the stick all the time. Doyle also recorded with the harmonica player, Hammie Nixon. Some of their recorded work remains unissued because of short sighted record execs. Much of Doyle’s work is in short supply.

1967: Jefferson Airplane's psychedelic masterpiece "White Rabbit" entered the Billboard chart, where it eventually reached #8. The song became one of the first records to sneak drug references past radio censors. It uses imagery found in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass, such as changing size after taking pills.

1969: Sam Phillips sells the legendary Sun Records Studio in Memphis to Shelby Singleton. Sun, more than other record company, was responsible for the emergence of White Rock 'n' Roll in the mid-1950's.

July 1 1976. Paul McCartney purchased Buddy Holly's entire publishing catalog from Norman Petty.

On this day the 1st of July 2017 hunreds queued over night to buy recreational Marijuana in Nevada when it became the 5th US state to legalise it. By the 2nd of July 2017 the queues extended into Utah, Oregon and Idaho.

Born: 1 July 1945 Miami, Florida
Deborah Ann Harry American singer, songwriter, and actress, known as the lead singer of the new wave band Blondie.

 

On this day the 2nd of July

Back in 1962 US Army Private James Marshall Hendrix, was discharged from the service. He claimed that this was because of a broken ankle, but his military records show that he told the army psychiatrist that he was a homosexual and was in love with one of his squad mates. Captain John Halbert recommended him for discharge, citing Hendrix’s 'homosexual tendencies'. Captain John Halbert later cited the said squad mate in question as the inspiration behind Hendrix’s Foxy Lady. In 1970 Mr Halbert “came out” after attending the Jimi Hendrix concert at the Berkeley Community Theatre. The squad mate has remained closeted.

Let the records show that on this day the 2nd of July Back in 1962 Jimi Hendrix was honourably discharged from the Army after breaking his ankle in a parachute jump. He was relieved at the outcome and soon discovered there were far easier ways of getting high than this parachuting caper!

1969: US consumer advocate Ralph Nader issued a warning that loud Rock music threatened to produce a nation of hearing-impaired people.

1979: Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they will sell over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, but later struggled against Apple's iPod and other new devices.

July 2 1990. Representatives of the Italian Catholic Church announced that they would attempt to halt Madonna's concerts in Rome. Not because of her dreadful singing but because of her alleged inappropiate use of crucifixes and sacred symbols.

 

On this day the 3rd of July

Born on this day in 1893 Mississippi John Hurt, Teoc Mississippi, American blues singer and guitarist.

Died on this day the 3rd of July 1972: Mississippi Fred McDowell

Back in 1980 Buster Bennett, who had been one of the most in-demand saxophonists and blues vocalists in Chicago, Illinois, during the 1940s, died aged 66 in Houston, Texas, USA. Buster really hit a high note on this track “Reefer Head Woman”.

On this daythe 3rd of July

Back in 1969 Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones was found dead in his swimming pool in England. The death was ruled accidental, although Jones had high levels of alcohol and barbiturates in his blood. He had not maintained the pool for some time and had forgotten it was empty when he somersaulted in!


Back in 1971 the plug was pulled on Jim Morrison. He was found dead in a bathtub in Paris, France, the cause of death was given as a heart attack suffered when after 12 hours the bath water went cold. On the 25th anniversary of his death an estimated 15,000 fans gathered at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France to pay their respects.

On this day the 4th of July

Back in 1908 William Thomas Dupree was born. Best known as Champion Jack Dupree, the American blues pianist. His birth date has been given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, 1908, 1909, or 1910. He died on January 21, 1992 …we think. Champion Jack Dupree was a New Orleans blues and boogie woogie pianist and barrelhouse "professor". Professorial because of his wry and clever way with words: "Mama, move your false teeth, papa wanna scratch your gums" and "come on, mama, on your hands and knees, do that shake dance as you please". Dupree once claimed "I'd rather have that piano than a wife. 'Cause that piano ain't goin' to leave me." The piano used by Dupree was re-discovered at Calderdale College in Halifax after travelling thro’ Switzerland, Denmark, England and Sweden. His wife still resides at home.

On this day the 4th of July

Back in 1990, Paul Stanley from Kiss sustained neck and back injuries when he was involved in a car crash in New Jersey. He was wearing his platform shoes at the time. When he finally managed to get his foot off the accelerator and onto the brake it was all too late!



Back in 1966 The Lovin' Spoonful released "Summer In The City".

On this day the 5th of July

July 5 1954 Elvis Presley recorded Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup's "That's Alright Mama" for Sun Records in Memphis, TN. This record launched Elvis' career and a musical style called Rock and Roll.


Back in 1913 Blues singer Smiley Lewis was born in Union, Louisiana, USA. He was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues musician who hit on a formula for slow-rocking, small-band numbers like 'The Bells Are Ringing' and 'I Hear You Knocking'. He played in clubs in the French Quarter billed as Smiling Lewis, a variation of the nickname earned by his lack of front teeth. His booming voice was powerful it often didn't need to be miked, so powerful in fact that some claim that’s how he lost his front teeth. He started using a mike full time in the 50’s because he was tired of losing his dentures.

On this day in 1964 Them (with Van Morrison) released "Gloria."

On this day in 1969 The Rolling Stones gave a free concert in London's Hyde Park before an audience of 250,000, as a tribute to Brian Jones who had died two days earlier. Mick Jagger read an extract from Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Adonais' and released 3,500 butterflies; it was also guitarist's Mick Taylor's debut with the Stones, King Crimson, Family, The Third Ear Band, Screw and Alexis Korner's New Church also appeared on the day.

On this day in 1978: The EMI record pressing plant in Britain stopped printing the Rolling Stones album cover for “Some Girls” due to complaints from certain celebrities. The cover of the original album was a die cut with peep-holes so you could see the faces of members of Rolling Stones and female celebrities pictured on the innersleeve. Shortly after release the cover was withdrawn due to legal issues and a new designed innersleeve without the celebrity faces was launched. Can you pick the complaining female celebrites?

The cover was immediately withdrawn when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcet, Raquel Welch, the estate of Marilyn Monroe, and Liza Minelli (representing her mother Judy Garland) threatened legal action.

On this day the 6th of July

6 July 2020
Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose credits include the "spaghetti" Westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star, has died in Rome aged 91.

6 July 2020
Charlie Daniels died Monday morning after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 83.
Daniels, a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee and Grand Ole Opry alumnus, was born in North Carolina but quickly felt at home in Nashville. He moved there and played on records with music titans Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr.
With the eponymous Charlie Daniels Band, he and the instrument he's most closely associated with, the fiddle spearheaded a new genre of Southern rock. His best-known hit, 1979's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," is still a staple at classic rock stations.
"I came to Nashville in 1967, with the clutch out of my car and a $20 dollar bill, I didn't fit the Nashville type very well. I'd come out of 12 years of playing bang-slang, balls-to-the-wall music in clubs, and I played too loud and too bluesy."
Charlie Daniels 2014.

Died on this day July 6, 2002 Jimmie Lee Robinson also known as Lonesome Lee predominantly known for his involvement in the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the people making a major contribution to ensuring that the importance of the historical area of Maxwell Street, Chicago was not lost. He was born on Maxwell Street in 1931 and brought up in that neighbourhood, with contemporaries such as Freddy King, Jimmy Rogers and Earl Hooker. Robinson was one of the legends of the street and was a leading force in efforts to preserve the Maxwell Street neighbourhood.
Maxwell Street, one of the spiritual homes of the blues in America, and it can be said that it is a place where a unique type of blues music was born. In the 1920's many African-Americans migrated to Chicago from the southern states, particularly the Mississippi Delta, and Maxwell Street was usually where they stopped. Here these itinerant blues artists would rub shoulders with established city musicians and gradually their various musical styles mingled to produce a sound that became known as "Chicago Blues". One of the earliest Maxwell Street locals was Papa Charlie Jackson who recorded more nearly 80 songs in the late 1920's. He teamed up with Big Bill Broonzy when he came to Chicago in 1920 and they began to play on Maxwell Street.
The last blues performances on Maxwell Street occurred in 1999-2000, on a bandstand near the north-east corner of Maxwell and Halsted Streets, on land recently vacated by the demolition of former buildings. The extension cord ran from the last remaining building in use, the Maxworks Cooperative headquarters, 300 feet (91 m) east, at 716 Maxwell Street. One day a University crew arrived and erected a chain-link fence between the bandstand and the sidewalk, effectively banning the performances though they continued a few weeks longer on the too-narrow sidewalk. In the 1990s the University of Illinois at Chicago began to expand into the Maxwell Street area and demolish buildings.

Back in 1962 Little Milton released a new single, ‘I Wonder Why’, on Checker Records in the USA. His signature style combined soul, blues, and R&B, a mixture that helped make him one of the biggest-selling little bluesmen of the 60’s. As time progressed, and in response to being labelled ‘little’, Milton changed his hair style and developed a more grandiose musical style using heavy strings and big horns. He didn’t feel compelled to get a Porsche however.
In January 2012 Milton’s single sky rocketed to the top of the North Korean Hit Parade …and has remained there ever since.

July 6 1971. Louis Armstrong dies of a heart attack in his sleep in Corona, Queens, New York, a month shy of his 70th birthday.

On this day the 7th of July

Back in 1913 Joseph William Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi, USA. He would find fame as blues pianist Pinetop Perkins. Many have wondered about the origin of the nickname Pinetop. Was it in reference to the “pine top” of an upright piano? Was it because of his lankiness? Was it given to him by his mother because he and a friend used to climb trees all the time? No. It had to do with why Perkins took to wearing hats all the time!

1968: The Yardbirds wrapped up their final US tour before splitting up. Guitarist Jimmy Page was determined to keep the act going, renaming a new line-up The New Yardbirds. Keith Moon of The Who is rumored to have said "...it'll probably go over like a led zeppelin", thus inspiring the final name change.

1989: CDs started outselling vinyl records for the first time. The dominance of CDs virtually wiped out the 45 RPM single format, as nothing ended up replacing them. The 3 1/2 inch CD single would die out after record companies refused to offer them at a reasonable price.

2006: Syd Barrett, a founding member and driving force behind Pink Floyd, died from complications arising from diabetes at the age of 60. He had dropped out of the group in April of 1968 and by 1974 had turned his back on the music industry completely, choosing to retreat to the cellar of his childhood home in Cambridge where he shunned all contact with the outside world.

On this day the 8th of July

July 8, 1908 Louis Jordan was born in Brinkley, Arkansas. He wasa pioneering American musician, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", he was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the later years of the swing era.

Back in 1946 The Ink Spots recorded “I Get The Blues When It Rains” for Decca Records.

On this day in 1958 the first gold record album was presented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The award went to the soundtrack "Oklahoma!" ("Gold" albums at that time represented one million dollars in sales.)

1969: In what is ruled an attempted suicide, singer Marianne Faithful takes an overdose of barbiturates on the set of the Australian movie, Ned Kelly. Who can blame her? The Movie was that bad! She was dropped from the cast and entered hospital for treatment of heroin addiction.

July 8 1988 : Nico, The Velvet Underground vocalis died suddenly in the summer of 1988 from a heart attack in Ibiza while riding her bike.

On this day the 9th of July

Back in 1936 Blues vocalist and guitarist Kokomo Arnold recorded ‘Shake That Thing’ for Decca Records in Chicago, Illinois. During prohibition, he worked primarily as a bootlegger and performed music only as a sideline. Utilising bottle necks from broken bottles of Canadian whisky thanks to Eliot Ness’ Untouchables he developed a style of playing the slide guitar. Aware of how women's suffrage and temperance groups were impacting his bootlegging business he retaliated by saying “…well they can f*#@ing well dust my broom”. That terminology "dust my broom" also found its way into his song "Sagefield Woman Blues".

1955: A landmark in music history was established on July 9th, when Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" reached number one on the Billboard chart. Many music historians have acknowledged the song as a dividing line, separating Rock and Roll from everything that preceded it.

On this day the 10th of July

July 10 1941: Jelly Roll Morton American ragtime and early jazz pianist died aged 50 after an eleven-day stay in Los Angeles County General Hospital.
Jelly Roll said "If I have to spend another day in this place then I'm outta here!".
Back in 1907 Fulton Allen is born in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He found fame as acoustic blues guitarist and vocalist Blind Boy Fuller. He was one of the most recorded artists of his time and by far the most popular and influential Piedmont blues player of all time. Fuller could play in multiple styles: slide, ragtime, pop, and blues were all enhanced by his National steel guitar. He began to lose his eyesight in his mid-teens. His mama did warn him ‘Fulton! F*#@ing stop it or you’ll go blind’. He lived fast and died young in 1942 only 33 years old and is best remembered for his song "Step It Up and Go."

1954: Producer Sam Phillips took an acetate of Elvis Presley singing "That's All Right" to DJ Dewey Phillips at Memphis radio station WHBQ. After Dewey played the song on the air around 9:30 that evening, listeners flooded the phone lines requesting to hear the song again.

July 10 1900 ‘His Master’s Voice’, was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.


Memphis Radio
WHBQ was a legendary music station in the 1950s and 1960s. The station was the first to broadcast an Elvis Presley record when nighttime DJ Dewey Phillips played “That’s Alright Mama” in 1954. On the 10th of July 1954 Producer Sam Phillips took an acetate of Elvis Presley singing "That's All Right" to the DJ. After Dewey played the song on the air around 9:30 that evening, listeners flooded the phone lines requesting to hear the song again and again. Elvis Presley was greatly influenced by the music he heard on another station in Memphis, WDIA.
WDIA became the first radio station in the United States that was programmed entirely for African Americans. The station had a strong influence on music, hiring musicians early in their careers, and playing their music to an audience that reached through the Mississippi Delta to the Gulf Coast. Many music legends got their start by working at WDIA, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas.

July 10 1900 ‘His Master’s Voice’, was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. The logo of the Victor Recording Company, and later, RCA Victor, shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone machine.

On this day the 11th of July

July 11 2002 : American blues singer and songwriter Rosco Gordon died. He is best known for his 1952 No. 1 R&B hit single, "Booted". Gordon died of a heart attack at his apartment in Rego Park, Queens. He was a pioneer of the Memphis blues style. He made a number of his early recordings for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Gordon played piano in a style known as "the Rosco rhythm", with the emphasis on the off-beat.

Back in 1956 Chuck Berry played at a private function in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Can’t give you more details ‘cause it was a private do wasn’t it! We do know that one hell of a lot of alcohol was consumed! Still reeling from that show, Berry was arrested in St Louis County, Missouri, on a charge of reckless driving after his vehicle was seen weaving through traffic on Natural Bridge Road. When asked by the arresting officer to get out of the car and walk in a straight line Berry staggered around and waddled like a duck. He would later adopt that gait in his stage act.

On this day in 1964: After being recorded on May 18th in just one take, The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" topped the UK chart. "The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by British rock group the Animals, was a number one hit not only on the UK Singles Chart and also in the United States, Australia and France.

On this day the 12th of July

Back in 1935 John Patton was born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He found success as r'n'b organist Big John Patton and was one of Blue Note's busiest soul-jazz organists during the golden age of the Hammond B-3s. On March 19, 2002, 66-year-old John Patton succumbed to diabetes and renal failure. Prior to the doctor’s diagnosis, Big John had attributed his loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, headaches and lack of concentration down to messin’ with his organ too much.

July 12 1983 : Chris Wood (Traffic) died. He was a founder member of the English rock band Traffic, along with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Dave Mason. The death of two close friends, Free’s Paul Kossoff and former band-mate Rebop Kwaku Baah followed by that of his (by now, estranged) wife laid very heavy on Wood. In 1983, while working on a solo album that was to be titled Vulcan, Wood died of pneumonia at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England.

The Rolling Stone debut gig was on July 12, 1962, at London’s Marquee Theater as a temporary replacement
for Blues Incorporated.

Honourable Day In Music History!
On this day back in 1979 Chicago disc jockey Steve Dahl held the infamous Disco Demolition between games of a baseball doubleheader at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Dahl burned Disco records brought by fans who received discount admission. Some of those fans decided to start their own fires and a mini-riot ensued, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the second game.

On this day the 13th of July

Back in 1937 blues singer and guitarist Willie Trice recorded ‘Come On In Here Mama’, ‘Let Her Go God Bless Her’, ‘Tennessee Town’ and ‘Carolina Blues’ for Decca Records in New York City, USA. Willie's singing voice was a light baritone with a bright sort of overtone to it, and his delivery was very country. In the early 70’s he lost both of his legs from the knee down due to diabetic complications. Trice later changed his name to Willie Tripod.

On this day the 14th of July

Back in 1960 the Ku Klux Klan attempted to intimidate black deejay Shelley 'The Playboy' Stewart during his weekly R'n'B record-hop in Bessemer, Alabama, USA. The clan were flummoxed when Steward told them that all deejays from coast to coast played black records. In 1955 Bo Diddley recorded ‘Bring It To Jerome’ for Chess Records, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. That very same year on the 26th of July Mrs Douvendahns named her only begotten son Jerome Diddley Bo Douvendahns.

July 14 1956: Fats Domino hit #1 on the R&B chart and #3 on the pop chart with his song “I’m In Love Again”.

On this day the 15th of July

Back in 1958 during a Senate hearing on the music industry, American Guild of Authors and Composers counsel John Schulman played ‘Yakety Yak’ by The Coasters, citing it as an offender in the alleged 'cheapening of American music' by rock'n'roll, against which Schulman sought legislation. Good thing Schulman didn’t know about Hokum. He was advised to play Champion Jack Dupree’s "Mama, move your false teeth, papa wanna scratch your gums" but he thought the Senators would perceive it as a further in-denture.

On this day the 15th of July back in 1989 more than 200,000 people crammed into Venice, a city of 83,000, for a free concert by Pink Floyd. The band performed on a floating stage in the Venice lagoon.

On this day the 16th of July

2014 Johnny Winter, American Hall of Fame blues musician, died at 70

Back in 1927 Daddy Stovepipe, accompanied by Whistlin' Pete, recorded Black Snake Blues for Gennett Records in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The same track was also released on Champion records with Whistlin' Pete's name changed to Whistlin' Joe. Daddy Stovepipe, hot headed at the name change, refused to change his name or his hat!

1900 July 16: His Master's Voice, the logo of the Victor Recording Company and later RCA Victor, was registered with the US Patent Office. The logo shows the dog, Nipper, looking into the horn of a gramophone.

July 16 1966: In London, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker formed the band Cream.

 

On this day the 17th of July

July 17 1959 : Billie Holiday died. On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of liver and heart disease. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, under the order of Harry J. Anslinger, had been targeting Holiday since at least 1939. She was arrested and handcuffed for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided and she was placed under police guard. On July 15, she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church, and died two days later on July 17, 1959 at 3:10 a.m. from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver.

Back in 1925 Harrison D. Nelson was born in Texarkana, Texas, USA. He achieved success as blues singer guitarist Peppermint Harris. In November 1951 Peppermint Harris went on No. 1 with "I Got Loaded" on US R&B chart for two weeks. Perpermint 2 weeks at number 1! Amazing. One prominent deejay when quizzed as to how Peppermint lasted for 2 weeks he replied “because I suck em”!

July 17 1967: The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for The Monkees at The Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York. Jimi won six love.

On this day the 18th July

Back in 1964 The Yardbirds, with Eric Clapton on lead guitar, played at The Second Scottish Jazz And Blues Festival in Ayr, Scotland. Resplendent in tradition Scottish garb, the crowd went wild when the band played their hit “Shapes of Things before my eyes” and ecstatic when a strong gust of wind hit the stage.

July 18 1995: The oldest known musical instrument in the world was found in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia. In July 1995, Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Turk discovered a bone carving in the northwest region of Slovenia. The carving, named the Divje Babe flute, features four holes that Canadian musicologist Bob Fink determined could have been used to play four notes of a diatonic scale. Researchers estimate the flute’s age to be 67,000 years old, making it the oldest known musical instrument and the only musical instrument associated with the Neanderthal culture. I reckon the four holes were for the 4 different “blues scales” and that Neanderthals invented the blues 67,000 years ago.

On this day the 19th of July

Back in 1933 Lucille Bogan recorded several versions of the blues “Shave 'Em Dry”, for OKeh Records in New York City, USA. Lyrics included these delightful lines;

“I got somethin' between my legs'll make a dead man come,
Oh daddy, baby won't you shave 'em dry?
Want you to grind me baby, grind me until I cry.”

This version was rejected because it also included the words 'f#ck', 't*tties', "ass-*ole" and much more. An alternative version was released that used language that was considerably more acceptable to the public. If anyone can find the lyrics for the clean version let me know …I think they go something like this:

“I got shavin’ cream all on my legs to make ‘em smooth for some,
Oh daddy, daddy won't you shave today too?
‘Cause those whiskers scratch me, scratch me thro’ and thro’."

An important event in AUSTRALIAN ROCK HISTORY occurred on this day the 19th July 1873.


Today some tourists risk the arduous climb to the top.

19 July 2019
Best-known to international audiences for his engrossing performance as Blade Runner antagonist Roy Batty, Rutger Hauer passed away in July 2019 after a short illness.Profoundly moved by his monologue and imminent mortality is near the conclusion of Blade Runner:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
...Time to die".

On this day the 20th of July

Back in 1928 blues vocalist and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded Trouble Blues and Mr. Scrapper's Blues, for Vocalion Records in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Blackwell was born in Syracuse, South Carolina, as one of sixteen children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell. Papa Payton Blackwell played the fiddle …when he had the time. Scrapper Blackwell was one of the most important guitar players of the '20s and early '30s, with a clean, dazzlingly articulate style that anticipated the kind of prominent solo work that would emerge in Chicago as electric blues in the '40s and '50s. He wasn’t called SCRAPPER for nothin’ so I ain’t gonna mess with his story!

On this day in 2017 Salvidore Dali's moustache is discovered to still be intact after his body was exhumed in a legal dispute over a paternity claim.

On this day the 21st of July

Back in 1950 Fats Domino played at Lincoln Beach, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Fats later went for a swim. All performances were abandoned because the levees broke.
"When the Levee Breaks" was a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie Back in 1929. Kansas Joe McCoy was inspired to write the song after his wife went for a swim at the very same beach.



July 21 1990: BBC’s Radio One apologized to listeners after Madonna repeatedly cursed during a live concert broadcast. The BBC later clarified that apology wasn't for Madonna's swearing but for her "singing".

On this day the 22nd of July

Jessie Mae Hemphill American electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the North Mississippi hill country blues traditions died July 22, 2006 (aged 82) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Back in 1947 Big Joe Williams recorded a version of “Baby Please Don't Go” for Columbia Records in Chicago, Illinois. She did go however and as you can see in the picture, he was forced to fend for himself. What really pissed him off was that she took all the gin and Big Joe was forced to drink 7Up straight! He did discover the art of good cooking …lots of salt! The lemon-lime soda drink 7Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg using lithium, a drug used to even out mood swings. Joe discovered that coupled with lots of gin and nicotine, man you could really swing!

On this day the 23rd of July

Back in 1923 James P. Johnson, known as the father of stride piano, recorded “Bleeding Hearted Blues”, for Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey, USA. Stride piano is where the left hand differentiates bass and mid-range lines while the right supplies melodic issues. Quite a contrast to blues piano where the left hand has no idea what the right is doing. Johnson suffered a stroke in August 1940 and found out what the blues piano was all about.

Amy Winehouse known for "Rehab" diied on this day the 23rd of July in 2011. Age at Death: 27. Another Forever 27.

1966 July 23: The Troggs led the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with their version of "Wild Thing". Lead singer Reg Presley would later say that after hearing the song for the first time, he was hesitant to record it because the words were "so corny."

1979 July 23: The Ayatollah Khomenini banned all forms of Rock 'n' Roll in Iran, claiming it had a corrupting influence.

In response to this 1979 edict The Clash responded in 1982 with “Rock the Casbah …The Shareef don't like it!” It was to be The Clash’s biggest hit!

July 23 2003
The Sun Records studio in Memphis was designated a national historic landmark.

July 23 2010
Surgical instruments allegedly used to conduct Elvis Presley's autopsy were removed from an upcoming auction amid doubts about their authenticity. Forceps, needle injectors, rubber gloves and a toe tag were among the items that were expected to fetch about $14,000 at Chicago, Illinois' Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. The so-called "memorabilia" was supposedly kept by a senior embalmer at the Memphis Funeral Home where the singer's body was stored prior to his funeral, but the claims were questioned after another employee revealed that the equipment was sterilized and used again in other autopsies.

On this day the 24th of July

1941 July 24 and August 24-31 1941.
Alan Lomax recorded McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, for the Library of Congress at Stovall's Farm in Mississippi. In the summer of 1941 Alan Lomax came to Stovall, Mississippi, on behalf of the Library of Congress to record various country blues musicians. “He brought his stuff down and recorded me right in my house,” Waters recalled in Rolling Stone, “and when he played back the first song I sounded just like anybody’s records. Man, you don’t know how I felt that Saturday afternoon when I heard that voice and it was my own voice. Later on he sent me two copies of the pressing and a check for twenty bucks, and I carried that record up to the corner and put it on the jukebox. Just played it and played it and said, ’I can do it, I can do it.’” Lomax came back again in July of 1942 to record Waters again. Both sessions were eventually released as Down On Stovall’s Plantation on the Testament label.

Back in 1937 Blind Jesse Harris recorded Stagolee in Livingston, Alabama, USA. The recording was archived by the Library Of Congress. When asked by John Lomax if it was "Stack-erlee", "Stack- O'Lee", "Stack-olee", "Stack-alee", "Stagerlee", or "Stagalee", she replied “Don’t matter none. It’s his stack that I’m into!”

July 24 1967
Jefferson Airplane's second album "Surrealistic Pillow" is certified Gold on the strength of the Top Ten hits, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit".

July 24 1972
23-year-old Bobby Ramirez, drummer with Edger Winter's White Trash, was killed in a bar fight in Chicago after some redneck made a comment about the length of his hair. He died of head injuries after being kicked with steel-tipped shoes.

July 24 1987
The movie biography of Richie Valens called La Bamba opens in US theatres. The film starred Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens and Esai Morales as Ritchie's older brother Bob. The production had the full support of the Valenzuela family and Bob and Connie Valenzuela even came to the set to help the actors portray their characters correctly. The music was performed by Los Lobos.

On this day the 25th of July

VALE Peter Green.
25 July 2020. Fleetwood Mac co-founder and influential blues rock guitarist Peter Green has died aged 73. Green, from Bethnal Green in east London, formed Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood in 1967. They came together after Green's stint filling in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Green and Fleetwood then convinced John McVie to join the band as bass guitarist, in part by naming the band Fleetwood Mac. He wrote the instantly recognisable instrumental track Albatross, which remains the band's only number one hit, plus two other early hits, Black Magic Woman and Oh Well. And it was under Green's direction that they produced their first three albums.

July 25 1984: Original "Hound Dog" singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton dies at age 57 in Los Angeles, California after a long-time struggle with alcohol abuse. Thornton was found dead at age 57 by medical personnel in a Los Angeles boarding house on July 25, 1984 of heart and liver complications due to her long-standing alcohol abuse. Her weight dropped from 350 to 95 pounds within a short period of time; that is a total of 255 pounds that she lost because of her critical condition

Back in 1897 pioneering country-blues guitarist Sylvester Weaver was born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Weaver often used the bottleneck-style method, playing his guitar with a knife. For Okeh he recorded under the name of "No Strings Weaver" because for each recording, his vigorous knife-neck playing left him with none at the end. Sylvester Weaver's work lies stylistically between blues and country music.

The Bristol Sessions 25 July and 5 August 1927
Through 1926, two of the major recording companies of that era, Columbia and OKeh, had successfully promoted commercial records of “hillbilly music”; the next year, another major label, Victor Records (operated by the Victor Talking Machine Company), sought to enter into the “hillbilly music” market. Leading that effort was A&R producer
Ralph Peer, who while working for OKeh, from 1920-1926, had been responsible for many early “hillbilly” records (including the first such commercially released recording, made in Atlanta during June 1923, by Fiddlin’ John Carson). Now working for Victor, Peer identified an ideal place for securing new recordings of “hillbilly music”: Bristol, a small city straddling the Tennessee-Virginia state line. Many musicians who had previously appeared on “hillbilly” records were from this region, including Ernest V. Stoneman, who had recorded for Peer when the latter was with OKeh. On July 22, 1927, Peer and his two engineers set up a temporary studio on the Tennessee side of State Street in downtown Bristol (Virginia was on the other side of the street); and on Monday, July 25, the Bristol sessions began. The first musician to record was Stoneman, who performed for Peer alongside various family members and friends. Other acts who
recorded in Bristol over the next two weeks included now-famous acts “discovered” during the sessions: the Carter Family, from nearby Maces Springs, Virginia; and Jimmie Rodgers, of Meridian, Mississippi. Several lesser-known acts who recorded for Peer in Bristol in 1927 especially Blind Alfred Reed, Ernest Phipps, Alfred Karnes, B.
F. Shelton, and the Tenneva Ramblers generated for Peer what are considered classic recordings from the early years of country music. When Peer concluded the brief trip to Bristol on Friday, August 5th, those sessions had yielded 76 recorded performances by 19 music acts.

25th July 1965: Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival.
Dylan and a full band plugged in for three songs. Dylan was said to have "electrified one half of his audience, and electrocuted the other". It has been argued by Murray Lerner and others present at Newport, that the boos were from outraged folk fans, who disliked Dylan playing an electric guitar. Al Kooper, and others present at Newport, have disagreed with this interpretation, and argued that the audience were upset by poor sound quality, and the short duration of the set. Poor sound quality was the reason Pete Seeger (backstage) gave for disliking the performance: he says he told the audio technicians, "Get that distortion out of his voice ... It's terrible. If I had an axe, I'd chop the microphone cable right now." Seeger has also said, however, that he only wanted to cut the cables because he wanted the audience to hear Dylan's lyrics properly because he thought they were important.

July 25 1969
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 30 years.

July 25 1995
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" and "The Most Beautiful Girl" crossed over from the Country charts into the Hot 100.

On this day the 26th of July

Sunday, July 26, 1964
Delta Bluesmen Perform at the Newport Folk Festival
The recently "rediscovered" Delta bluesmen Son House and Skip James perform at the Newport Folk Festival. John Hurt was tracked down in Avalon, Mississippi-.-Bukka White in Aberdeen, Mississippi-.-Skip James was found in Mississippi's Tunica Hospital while Son House was residing in Rochester, New York. Dick Waterman recalled the scene when Skip James took to the stage in his book "Baby Let Me Follow You Down": "Skip sat down, and put his guitar on his leg. He set himself down, doing a little finger manipulation with his left hand, then he set his fingers by the sound hole. Sighed and hit the first note of I'd Rather Be the Devil Than Be That Woman's Man. He took that first note up in falsetto all the way, and the hairs on the neck went up, and all up and down my arms, the hairs just went right up. It's such an eerie note. It's almost a wail. It's a cry. There was an audible gasp from the audience."

JJ Cale died at the age of 74 in La Jolla, California, on July 26, 2013, after suffering a heart attack.
Cale often acted as his own producer, engineer and session player. His vocals, sometimes whispery, would be buried in the mix. He attributed his unique sound to being a recording mixer and engineer, saying, "Because of all the technology now you can make music yourself and a lot of people are doing that now. I started out doing that a long time ago and I found when I did that I came up with a unique sound."

Back in 1935 Blind Boy Fuller recorded "Log Cabin Blues" for Columbia Records in New York City, USA. Fuller could play in a multiple styles: slide, ragtime, pop, and blues all on his National steel guitar. For "Log Cabin Blues" instead of a bottle-neck style of playing he used a red-neck style on his guitar.

On this day the 26th of July back in 1968 The Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet" had its release delayed because of their record label's objection to the album's cover design, which featured a graffiti-covered bathroom wall. Mick Jagger was furious.

July 26 2011 Ford became the first major auto manufacturer to announce plans to ditch the CD player in favor of a USB port. A company spokesperson said "The in-car CD player, much like pay telephones, is destined to fade away in the face of exciting new technology." GM and Chrysler would follow in 2015, although the devices were still available on some models. CD players have been estimated to cost auto makers about $30 to install.

Jerome Douvendahns, pioneering podcaster for www.sablues.org was born on this day the 26th of July
... way ...way back in 1950!

On this daythe 27th of July

1974: Lightning Slim, blues singer (Nothing But the Devil), died at age 61

Back in 1956 Blues harmonica player Little Walter Jacobs recorded ‘’Take Me Back” for Chess Records. Later that very same day Willie Dixon wrote and recorded “29 Ways” and then said to Little Walter “there Wal, take your pick”. Always one to take the hard way, Little Walter said "thanks Willie" and chose number 30.

1955 July 27 Chuck Berry's first hit record, "Maybellene" entered the Billboard R&B chart where it eventually reached #1 during an 11 week run. The song, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red", tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It also climbed to #5 on the Pop chart.

 

   

Apple's Shuffle shuffles off! iTunes should do the same!
On this day the 27th of July 2017 Apple discontinued the iPod Nano and Shuffle. It should do the same with iTunes.
I have been an avid PC and 'windows' user since '93. When given an iPod Classic a few years back I was forced to grapple with the vagaries of Apple's iTunes! What an atrocious bit of software! Its default settings wreaked all sorts of havoc! I have slowly come to terms with its odd interface design and have now employed numerous work arounds, especially to iTunes bizarre managing of a music library! After deselecting every option I am nolonger ushered into the iTunes Store and have now wrestled back control on my music library. But wait for it! Along comes another iTunes update and POW! I'm into the iTunes Store yet again and those interface settings? Now that's not how I had them.

July 27 1974
Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is released in America, where it would become their highest charting single, reaching #8. If you listen carefully, you can hear Ronnie Van Zant shout "Turn it up", asking producer Al Kooper and engineer Rodney Mills to turn up the volume in his headphones so that he could hear the track better.

On this day the 28th of July

July 28 2021. Joseph “Dusty” Hill, ZZ Top’s bearded bassist for more than 50 years, died. He was 72. No cause of death was revealed.

 

Born on this day back in 1930: Junior Kimbrough, American bluesman (d. 1998)


Back in 1956 Big Walter Horton released a new single, “Pack Fair And Square”, on Peacock Records in the USA. He was also known as "Mumbles" and "Shakey" because of his head motion while playing which often resulted in him swallowing his harmonica.

July 28 1958
Billboard magazine reports on a claim from the Esso Research Center "...tuning in Rock 'n' Roll music on a car radio can cost a motorist money, because the rhythm can cause a driver to unconsciously jiggle the gas pedal, thus wasting fuel."

1973 July 28
One of the largest Rock festivals of all time is held at the Watkins Glen raceway in New York. More than 600,000 attended a one day show featuring The Grateful Dead, The Band and The Allman Brothers.

July 28 2018
76-year-old Paul McCartney returned to the Cavern Club in Liverpool for a two hour performance in front of 270 fans. Macca thrilled the crowd by playing Beatles classics including "Love Me Do", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Get Back", as well as songs from his new album "Egypt Station". During the show he remarked, "All those years ago we came here and played, and we didn't know if we had any future. We did okay," he said. "Coming back here with all my guys and all my crew and stuff, it's pretty amazing."

On this day the 29th of July

Back in 1961 Chuck Berry recorded “Come On” at the Chess Studio in Chicago, Illinois. "Come On" was later covered by The Rolling Stones, giving them their first hit single in the UK. Berry’s lyric “Come on, I wanna see you, baby” was changed by The Stones to “Come on, Come on, my baby”.

July 29 1966
Bob Dylan received serious neck injuries when he crashed his Triumph 55 motorcycle while riding near Woodstock, New York. He had just come off a British tour using The Band as his backup group. During his nine month recovery, "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits" was released and The Band began work on their first album, "Music From Big Pink", that would be issued in the summer of 1968.

On this day the 30th of July

Back in 1968 The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Santana, Canned Heat, , Initial Shock, The Hello People and Iron Butterfly played at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, USA. The show finally finished over a year later on December the 12th 1969 at the completion of the Iron Butterfly drum solo.

On this day the 31th of July

Back in 1907 Jump blues singer Roy Milton was born on a Chickasaw Indian reservation in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, USA. He and his band the Solid Senders introduced 2 new ingredients to jump blues evident in their 1950’s r&b hit "Hop, Skip and Jump".

July 31 1969: A Moscow police chief reported that thousands of Moscow telephone booths had been made inoperable by thieves who had stolen phone parts in order to convert their acoustic guitars to electric.