classicrock

Elvis Presley gives his first ‘promoted’ concert in Memphis. He opens two shows for Slim Whitman. The afternoon appearance goes okay but for the evening set Presley is advised to perform his more upbeat material - which he does, complete with the leg-hip gyrations. The crowd goes wild!...

New World Man. Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib in Toronto, Ontario) has a birthday. He’s the vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for Rush.

The Doors earn their first #1 on the Billboard pop chart when the original seven-minute album version of “Light My Fire” gets edited to a more AM radio-friendly three-minutes.

“Hey, Dudes, where are ya?!”...

“Ride The Lightning,” Metallica’s second studio album, released. It takes three years for the effort go gold (500,000 units) but it eventually sells over six-million copies.

Rolling Stones’ Michael Phillip Jagger, otherwise known as “Mick,” is born in Dartford, Kent.

“Back In Black” is released. AC/DC’s seventh studio album is their first with singer Brian Johnson who replaced the deceased Bon Scott. It was recorded in the Bahamas and mixed in New York City with producer Robert “Mutt” Lange, who had worked on the group’s breakthrough album “Highway To Hell.”

The Beatles meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose lecture on Transcendental Meditation ™ they had gone to hear at the Hilton Hotel in London. TM involved the silent repetition of a word or sound to produce a state of mind that reduces stress, calms the mind, and energizes both mind and body. The Maharishi invited The Beatles to...

English singer, songwriter, and actor David Essex (David Albert Cook) is born in Plaistow, Essex, to do one thing…

“My Aim Is True,” Elvis Costello’s debut album is issued in the U.K. The set is released the following November in the U.S.

Guns N’ Roses release Appetite For Destruction, which would go on to sell over 28-million copies worldwide.

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/1886829...

Sid and Nancy, the biopic about The Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, premieres. (One of my favorite actors) Gary Oldman stars as Vicious.

Forty-two years ago today, on July 19, 1981, ‘Roy Orbison Day’ was celebrated in Odessa, Texas. Orbison was given the keys to the city and he performed for the crowd gathered at the event....

The last concert at Shea Stadium is held. The Billy Joel show features an appearance by Paul McCartney. The two perform renditions of The Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Let It Be.” The Beatles played Shea Stadium in the '60s.

Bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler is born in Birmingham, England. He’s a founding member of Black Sabbath (with guitarist Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne).

Harry Chapin was killed in an accident on the Long Island Expressway. Chapin’s blue 1975 VW Rabbit burst into flames when it was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer truck. The 38 year old Chapin is best remembered for his top 20 hit “Taxi” in 1972 and “Cat’s in the Cradle”, a number-one in 1974