Rock 'n' Roll History for
July 14


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Pat Boone's version of Ivory Joe Hunter's 1950 hit, "I Almost Lost My Mind", topped the Cashbox Best Sellers list. Over the years, nearly 50 other artists have recorded the song.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
The Quarrymen, featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John "Duff" Lowe on piano and Colin Hanton on drums, record a vanity disc at a small studio in an electronics shop owned by a man named Percy Phillips. The band recorded "That'll Be The Day" and "In Spite Of Danger" in one take each. With the names of the tunes and the song's writers hand written on the label, each band member was to keep the 10-inch 78 rpm disc for a week before passing it on. Both recordings eventually ended up on "Anthology 1".

1961 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Billboard magazine reports that the teenage dance craze, The Twist, is being picked up by the adult crowd in Philadelphia.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Bobby Vinton's "Roses Are Red" sat on top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cashbox Best Sellers list. It was a song that Bobby found in a pile of demo discs that were marked "reject" at Epic Records. The label was about to drop Vinton's band, but he talked them into recording him as a solo artist. The single became a million seller and was both Bobby's and Epic's first Gold record. It made #15 in the UK.


1967 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
The Who begin their first full-scale US tour as the opening act for Herman's Hermits. So far, The Who's only single to crack the Billboard Top 40 was "Happy Jack", while The Hermits had placed sixteen songs on the chart.

July 14
Only four days after its release, the single "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees was certified Gold for sales of 500,000 units. The song was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and was performed by Micky Dolenz on lead vocals, Michael Nesmith, harmony vocals and electric guitar, Peter Tork, piano and harmony vocals, Davy Jones, harmony vocals, Bill Chadwick, acoustic guitar, Chip Douglas, bass guitar, and "Fast" Eddie Hoh on drums. Although some critiques doubted it at the time, Michael Nesmith played the flashy guitar instrumental at the beginning of the song.

July 14
"Windy" by The Association was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 units. The single had hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 1st, where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. It was the Association's second U.S. #1 hit, following "Cherish" in 1966. The lead vocals were sung primarily by guitarist Larry Ramos along with percussionist Russ Giguere. Among the instrumental personnel who played on the track were members of The Wrecking Crew: Hal Blaine - drums, Joe Osborn - bass, Larry Knechtel - keyboards, Dennis Budimir - guitar, and Mike Deasy Sr. - guitar. The recorder solo was played by the band's multi-instrumentalist Terry Kirkman.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Bob Dylan makes a surprise appearance with The Band at the Mississippi River Rock Festival, where he performs three numbers.

July 14
The film Easy Rider, starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, premiers in New York City. The soundtrack to the movie, which features performances by The Band, The Byrds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Steppenwolf, peaked at #6 on the Billboard album chart the following September and was certified Gold in January 1970.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
An Everly Brothers' concert at Knott's Berry Farm is the last that the duo will perform for nearly ten years. The show is stopped by entertainment director Bill Hollingshead because he felt Don was giving a poor performance. Phil smashed his guitar and walked off the stage, leaving Don to perform the third set by himself. The pair announced their break-up on the spot and they would not get together again until September of 1983.

July 14
Clarence White, a former guitarist with The Byrds, was killed by a drunk driver while loading his car after a gig in Lancaster, California. He was 29. White joined The Byrds in 1968, after the group had recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Eight Miles High".

1977 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
The BBC lifts their ban on The Sex Pistols when they show a clip of the band performing "Pretty Vacant" on TV's Top Of The Pops. The song rose to #6 in the UK, but did not chart in America.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Donna Summer had two songs in Billboard's Top Ten, as "Hot Stuff" sat at number 3 and "Bad Girls" was number 1.


1980 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Allen Klein, the man who had managed both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, began a two month jail sentence for falsifying income tax documents. For years Klein had control over ABKCO (Allen and Betty Klein Company) Music and Records and was responsible for the lack of CD releases by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, The Rays, The Dovells and many others from the 1960s.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Former Spinners vocalist Philippe Wynne suffered a heart attack while performing at a nightclub in Oakland, California. He died the next day, at the age of 43. Wynne had led the group to #11 on the Hot 100 in 1973 with "One of a Kind (Love Affair)".

1987 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Steve Miller receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. He led his band to nine Billboard Top 40 hits between 1973 and 1982, including the chart toppers "The Joker" and "Abracadabra".

1988 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Michael Jackson launched his first British tour with a two hour concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Among entertainers in the audience were Diana Ross, Boy George and Terence Trent D'Arby.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Tom Jones lost a paternity suit and was ordered to pay $200 a week in child support to 27 year old Katherine Berkery of New York. The judge in the case was Judge Judy Sheindlin, who was still serving in her 15 year tenure as a New York Family Court judge before appearing in her court TV show, Judge Judy.


1992 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Olivia Newton-John discloses that she has breast cancer. Although she would beat it this time around, she would die of the disease on August 8th, 2022 at age 73.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Michael Jackson fans congregated in London at the O2 arena where the King Of Pop had been slated to begin his run of 50 concerts. Fans left messages on a wall of tributes, conducted Jackson sing-a-longs and held a minute's silence to mark the time when the doors to the concert would have opened.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Members of a Michael Jackson fan club reached out to officials at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California, offering to clean up the King of Pop's vandalized tomb which had been defaced with permanent ink tributes.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Speaking to fans at a show in Quebec City, Canada, Stevie Wonder vowed that he would never again perform in Florida or any of the other 22 states that carry the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law following the acquittal of Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman, the man who gunned down teenager Trayvon Martin.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Johnny Winter plays the Cahors Blues Festival in France. It proves to be his last performance, as he dies two days later at the age of 70.


2015 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
Dave Somerville, lead singer for The Diamonds, died of cancer at the age of 81. The Canadian quartet charted sixteen times on Billboard's various charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the Top 10 hits "Little Darlin'", "Silhouettes" and "The Stroll".

2021 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
A rare Beatles demo recorded at Abbey Road studios was put up for auction by Sworders Auctioneers. The cassette, which contains early versions of "I am the Walrus", "Fool on the Hill" and "I Me Mine", was left behind by the Fab Four after a session in the mid-1960s. The tape was expected to fetch as much as 700 Pounds.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

July 14
William Hart, the lead singer and songwriter for the celebrated Philadelphia Soul group The Delfonics, passed away at the age of 77. The band reached the Billboard Top 40 on six occasions with songs that included "La-La Means I Love You" (#4 in 1968) and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time" (#10 in 1970).



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