This Day In Music - July 29

 This Day In Music – 29 July

1933 - Randy Sparks (of The New Christy Minstrels) is born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He composed "Today"; which was a hit for the New Christy Minstrels from their 1964 album of the same title. He co-composed Green, Green with Barry McGuire for the 1963 album Ramblin. Sparks also wrote "Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio", which was recorded and made famous by John Denver - https://youtu.be/r97s3KJ_kHI .

1942 - - Douglas Wesley Ashdown was born in 1942 in Adelaide, South Australia and at the age of 17 he travelled to England to play in a rock band. In 1961 he was back in Adelaide and played guitar alongside Bobby Bright as vocalist in The Bowmen. In 1970, he signed with the independent label, Sweet Peach, and issued "The Saddest Song of All" in August which peaked at number 46 on the Kent Music Report. The song was written by Ashdown and Jim Stewart, who became his long-term producer and co-writer. Ashdown and Stewart relocated to the United States, living in Nashville, where the pair co-wrote "Just Thank Me" for David Rogers. Released in 1973, it peaked at No. 17 on the US Country Music Singles Chart. They also co-wrote "Leave Love Enough Alone" which Ashdown released in 1974 upon relocation to Sydney. He had a minor hit with it when it was renamed as "Winter in America" and released in 1976. It peaked at No. 3 in Brisbane, No. 14 in Melbourne and No. 30 in Sydney - https://youtu.be/Ej6_oaETVp8 .

1946 - Neal Doughty born in Evansville, Indiana. Keyboardist from American rock band REO Speedwagon, who had the 1981 US No.1's 'Keep On Loving You' ( No.2 ) and 'Can't Fight This Feeling' ( No.1 ). They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck - https://youtu.be/z_WYwfrMFko .

1947 - Carlo Santanna born in the UK to an Italian mother and Polish father. Guitarist, from Paper Lace who scored the 1974 & UK No.1 single 'Billy Don't Be A Hero', and the 1974 & US No.1 single 'The Night Chicago Died' - https://youtu.be/sAbit3veGkk .

1953 - Rush frontman Geddy Lee is born Geddy Lee Weinrib in Willowdale, Ontario, Canada. Like Cream, Rush followed the model of a "power trio", with Lee playing bass and singing. By the 1980s, Rush had become one of the "biggest rock bands on the planet", selling out arena seats when touring, having hits with the 1980 UK No.13 single 'Spirit Of Radio' and 1982 US No. 21 single 'New World Man'. Lee was known for his dynamic stage movements. Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honoured, as a group - https://youtu.be/SEuOoMprDqg .

1953 - American singer-songwriter Patti Scialfa who has worked with The Rolling Stones and on Keith Richards' Talk Is Cheap album born in Deal, New Jersey. She toured with Bruce Springsteen Band from the 1984 Born in the USA tour and later married Springsteen on June 8th, 1991. Scialfa was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band - https://youtu.be/hSo4ZcTz_z8 .

1956 - Carl Perkins was on the UK singles chart with his debut UK hit 'Blue Suede Shoes' (No.14 in ). Johnny Cash planted the seed for the song in the fall of 1955, while Perkins, Cash, Elvis Presley toured throughout the South. Cash told Perkins of a black airman whom he had met when serving in the military in Germany. He had referred to his military regulation air shoes as "blue suede shoes." Cash suggested that Carl write a song about the shoes - https://youtu.be/mvsYRAc-BWA .

1959 - John James Sykes was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Following a stint in the heavy metal band Tygers of Pan Tang in the early 1980s, Sykes joined Irish hard rock group Thin Lizzy for their 1983 album Thunder and Lightning. He then joined Whitesnake (1987 US No.1, UK No.9 & No.25 single 'Here I Go Again' and No.10 ‘Is This Love’), with whom he recorded the multi-platinum selling 1987 album. For the remainder of the 1990s and early 2000s, Sykes split his time between his solo career and a reformed Thin Lizzy, which he fronted until 2009, when he left to focus on his solo career - https://youtu.be/WyF8RHM1OCg .

1963 - With the US charts full of Hot Rod songs, Capitol Records sent disc jockeys a list of car terms and phrases to help promote The Beach Boys latest release 'Little Deuce Coupe'. The song first appeared as the B-side to The Beach Boys' 1963 single 'Surfer Girl'. The car referred to is the 1932 Ford Model 18 (deuce being for the year) - https://youtu.be/NwgGuadsqyo .

1963 - Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with '(You're The) Devil In Disguise' ( No.7 ). His 14th UK No.1. In 1963, when the song was debuted to a British audience on the BBC television show Juke Box Jury, the celebrity guest John Lennon voted the song "a miss" stating that on the new song that Elvis Presley was "like Bing Crosby now" - https://youtu.be/i-7WKk51NCg .

1966 - Bob Dylan gets in a motorcycle accident and pretty much disappears for nine months, leaving a void filled with rumours speculating on his condition. He clears things up in his 2004 autobiography, where he writes: "I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race."

1966 - Datebook published Maureen Cleave's interview with John Lennon in which he said, 'We're bigger than Jesus now.' American Christian's reacted with outrage, organising 'Beatle bonfires' burning the group's records.

1966 - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England. The group's third album, Wheels of Fire, was the world's first platinum-selling double album - https://youtu.be/kAqCvgiSdYk .

1966 - Miles Hunt born. Singer from British alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff who had the 1991 UK No.1 & No.2 single with their version of the Tommy Roe hit 'Dizzy' (with Vic Reeves) - https://youtu.be/2AYWdgXYKbE .

1967 - The Doors started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with an edited version of 'Light My Fire' (It peaks at No.25 in ). Eventually, many radio stations would start playing the full six minute and fifty second album cut, which features a longer instrumental break - https://youtu.be/tEXlWgMOtqc .

1968 - Refusing to play in front of the country's segregated audiences, Gram Parsons leaves The Byrds on the eve of a South African tour.

1970 - The Rolling Stones' contract with Decca expires, and the group takes the opportunity to split with notorious manager Allen Klein. Delivering one more song to fulfill its obligation, the famously unreleasable "C--ksucer Blues" (aka Schoolboy Blues), they also begin the process of forming their own label, Rolling Stones Records (which features their new "tongue and lips" logo).

1972 - Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" hits No.1 for the first of six non-consecutive weeks in the US (it peaks at No.2 in ) - https://youtu.be/lfllklhd9ng .

1972 - Simon Jones born in Liverpool, England. Bassist from English rock band The Verve, who had the 1997 album Urban Hymns, one of the best-selling albums in UK Chart history. The album features the hit singles 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'Lucky Man' - https://youtu.be/1lyu1KKwC74 .

1973 - Led Zeppelin played the last of three nights of a 33-date North American tour at Madison Square Garden, New York. It was on this day that Led Zeppelin lost around $203,000 in cash after a thief made off with the receipts from the two Madison Square Garden concerts. The theft took place from the safe at The Drake Hotel in New York where the group were staying. Tour manager Richard Cole, who discovered the theft, was arrested as a suspect and questioned by police but was later released.

1973 - Wanya Morris born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From American R&B vocal group Boyz II Men, who had the 1992 , US & UK No.1 single 'End Of The Road' which set a new record for longevity, staying at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley - https://youtu.be/zDKO6XYXioc .

1974 - Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack, aged 32, after playing a sold-out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilsson's London flat when she died. Her solo hits included 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' ( No.2 ), which also featured the rest of The Mamas & the Papas and 'It's Getting Better' - https://youtu.be/ZZ0PZRYin2s .

1977 - American musician, songwriter and producer Danger Mouse, (Brian Joseph Burton) born. He formed Gnarls Barkley with CeeLo Green and has worked with Adele, Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many other artists. Best known in AU for the 2006 No.1 'Crazy' - https://youtu.be/-N4jf6rtyuw .

1978 - The Grease soundtrack hits #1 in the US, thanks to the hits "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights". The public falls in love with the soundtrack months before the movie is released. Tracks like "You're The One That I Want," by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John and "Grease", performed by Frankie Valli peak at #1 & #2 on the chart and boost anticipation for the film's release. Soon after, the singles "Summer Nights" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" land in the Top 10 and, two months after Grease hits theatres, the soundtrack shoots to #1 on the albums chart. "You're the One That I Want" dominated the #1 spot for seven weeks in & nine weeks in the UK. The soundtrack is the second best-selling album of the year, rivalled only by the soundtrack from another Travolta film, Saturday Night Fever. Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted To You" earns an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song - https://youtu.be/A_J2bcNx3Gw .

1978 - Publicist Peter Meaden (former manager of The Who) dies from a barbiturate overdose at age 36 in Edmonton, London, England.

1988 - American record producer and pedal steel guitar player Pete Drake died of lung disease. Worked with Elvis Presley, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Played on such hits as Lynn Anderson's 'Rose Garden', Charlie Rich's 'Behind Closed Doors', Bob Dylan's 'Lay Lady Lay' and Tammy Wynette's 'Stand by Your Man' - https://youtu.be/O3iEFfA4TmI .

1993 - Eddie Guzman (drummer for Rare Earth) dies from complications of diabetes at age 49 - https://youtu.be/FICgPxCrO5k .

2004 - Keyboard player Huby Heard died from heart problems. Member of Billy Preston's, The God Squad, and worked with Teddy Pendergrass, Ray Charles, Little Bootsy Collins, The Brothers Johnson, The Rolling Stones and Bill Wyman.

2007 - Heart problems forced Kiss singer and guitarist Paul Stanley to abandon a show in California. Paramedics stopped and restarted his heart to give it a regular rhythm after his heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute.

2011 - Gene McDaniels, who scored the 1961 US No.3 hit 'A Hundred Pounds Of Clay' died at the age of 76 after a short illness. Gene also wrote Roberta Flack's 1974 No.1 hit 'Feel Like Makin' Love' which won a Grammy Award - https://youtu.be/084t6gdlgyk .

2015 - The Eagles play their last concert with Glenn Frey. The show takes place in Bossier City, Louisiana, the final date of their History of the Eagles tour. The set features 27 songs and two encores, closing with "Desperado." Founding member Frey dies six months later. The band continue with his son, Deacon, in his stead - https://youtu.be/mzLLSXBnQhU .