Music Almanac: July 17

Birthdays

• 1918 - Red Sovine (d. 1980)
• 1928 - Vince Guaraldi (d. 1976)
• 1935 - Diahann Carroll (77)
• 1938 - Stan Bronstein (Elephant's Memory) (74)
• 1939 - Spencer Davis (73)
• 1942 - Gale Garnett (70)
• 1947 - Wolfgang Flür (Kraftwerk) (65)
• 1947 - Mick Tucker (Sweet) (d. 2002)
• 1948 - Brian Glascock (Motels) (64)
• 1948 - Ron Asheton (Stooges) (d. 2009)
• 1949 - Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell) (63)
• 1949 - Mike Vale (Tommy James & the Shondells) (63)
• 1950 - Damon Harris (Temptations) (62)
• 1950 - Phoebe Snow (d. 2011)
• 1952 - Chet McCraken (Doobie Brothers) (30)
• 1952 - Nicolette Larson (d. 1997)
• 1957 - Bruce Crump (Molly Hatchett) (55)
• 1958 - Belinda Carlisle (Go-Go's) (54)
• 1961 - Guru (born Keith Elam) (d. 2010)
• 1963 - Regina Belle (49)
• 1965 - Craig Morgan (47)
• 1966 - Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr) (46)
• 1971 - Jarrett Cordes (P.M. Dawn) (41)
• 1975 - Paul Hinojos (Mars Volta) (37)
• 1982 - Natasha Hamilton (Atomic Kitten) (30)
• 1985 - Tom Fletcher (McFly) (27)

Deaths

• 1959 - Billie Holiday - Cirrhosis of the liver (44)
• 1967 - John Coltrane - Liver cancer (40)
• 1971 - Cliff Edwards (76)
• 1974 - Don Rich (Buck Owens' Buckaroos) - Motorcycle accident (32)
• 1985 - Wynn Stewart - Heart attack (51)
• 1996 - Chas Chandler (Animals) - Heart condition (57)
• 1998 - Kevin Wilkinson (Squeeze) - Suicide (41)
• 1998 - Marc Hunter (Dragon) - Throat cancer (44)
• 2005 - Laurel Aitken (Godfather of Ska) - Heart attack (78)
• 2006 - Sam Myers - Throat cancer (70)
• 2010 - Fred Carter, Jr. - Stroke (76)

On This Day

• 1946 - Petula Clark made her U.K. television debut.
• 1954 - The first Newport Jazz Festival was held.
• 1954 - The Ozark Jubilee radio program debuts on KWTO. On April 7, 25 minutes of the program was picked up by the ABC radio network.
• 1958 - Johnny Cash had his last recording session for Sun Records.
• 1961 - Billboard publishes its first Adult Contemporary chart.
• 1968 - The film Yellow Submarine premiered in London.
• 1970 - The Guess Who played at the White House for President Nixon and Prince Charles but Pat Nixon requested that they did not play American Woman.
• 1972 - A bomb exploded under the equipment van for the Rolling Stones while they were in Montreal. French separatists were blamed. In addition, fans rioted when 3,000 tickets for the show turned out to be fake.
• 1974 - John Lennon was ordered to leave the U.S. within sixty days by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
• 1974 - The Moody Blues opened what they claimed to be the first Quadraphonic studio in the world.
• 1975 - A version of the song Hello Darlin', recorded phonetically by Conway Twitty in Russian, is broadcast world wide as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
• 1978 - Simple Minds played live for the first time in Glasgow, Scotland.
• 1979 - Gary Moore left Thin Lizzy in the middle of a tour and was replaced by Midge Ure.
• 1987 - Keith Richards signed with Virgin Records.
• 1991 - James Brown was released from jail after a two-year sentence. 
• 1993 - Guns N' Roses played the last date on their Use Your Illusion tour and the final show with the original members.
• 1995 - Robbie Williams left Take That.
• 1996 - Jimmy Chamberlin is fired from Smashing Pumpkins.
• 2003 - Mark Wilson of Jet is attacked by a group of men in Sydney.
• 2004 - Linda Ronstadt became the latest artist to feel the wrath of the right in the U.S. after she dedicated the encore of her concert to filmmaker Michael Moore and recommended people see Fahrenheit 911. Half of the audience of 4,500 walked out.
• 2009 - Paul McCartney performed the first of three sold-out concerts as the first music performer at the new Citi Park in New York.

Divorces

• 1975 - Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox
• 2006 - Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra (announced split)

Released

• 1961 - Buttered Popcorn - Supremes (debut single)
• 1965 - Tracks of My Tears - Miracles (single)
• 1976 - Magic Man - Heart (single)
• 1997 - Dude Ranch - Blink-182
• 2006 - Alright, Still - Lily Allen (U.K. debut)

Broadcasts

• 1961 - American Bandstand - Jack Scott, Miriam Johnson
• 1962 - American Bandstand - Brian Hyland (guest host)
• 1963 - American Bandstand - Freddy Cannon
• 1965 - American Bandstand - Duane Eddy, Nino Tempo & April Stevens
• 1971 - American Bandstand - Chee Chee & Peppy, Rose Colored Glasses
• 1976 - American Bandstand - Maxine Nightengale

Number Ones – U.S. Singles

• 1999 - Bills, Bills, Bills - Destiny's Child (1 week)
• 2004 - Burn - Usher (1 week (7 previous weeks at number 1))

Number Ones – U.S. Albums

• 1993 - Back to Broadway - Barbra Streisand (1 week)
• 2004 - The Hunger For More - Lloyd Banks (2 weeks)

Number Ones – U.S. R&B Singles

• 1943 - You'll Never Know - Dick Haymes (4 weeks)
• 1993 - Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team (1 week)

Number Ones – U.S. Country Singles

• 1976 - Teddy Bear - Red Sovine (3 weeks)
• 1982 - 'Till Your Gone - Barbara Mandrell (1 week)
• 1993 - Chattahoochee - Alan Jackson (4 weeks)
• 1999 - Amazed - Lonestar (8 weeks)
• 2004 - Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw (3 weeks)

Number Ones – U.K. Singles

• 1976 - The Roussos Phenomenon EP - Demis Roussos (1 week)
• 1982 - Fame - Irene Cara (3 weeks)
• 2005 - You're Beautiful - James Blunt (5 weeks)

Number Ones – U.K. Albums

• 1993 - Zooropa - U2 (1 week)