Today in Oldies Music History: July 18

Today In Oldies Music History: July 18

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Births

1909: Harriet Nelson
1910: Joe "Fingers" Carr
1929: Screamin' Jay Hawkins
1931: "Papa" Dee Allen (War)
1935: Johnny Funches (The Dells)
1938: Ian Stewart
1939: Dion DiMucci
1939: Brian Auger (Steampacket)
1941: Martha Reeves
1941: Lonnie Mack
1943: Robin McDonald (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas)
1945: Danny McCullock (The Animals)
1946: Tim Lynch (The Flamin' Groovies)
1948: Phil Harris (Ace)
1949: Wally Bryson (The Raspberries)
1950: Cesar Zuiderwyk (Golden Earring)
1950: Glenn Hughes (Village People)

Deaths

1966: Bobby Fuller
2003: Barry White

Events

1953: An eighteen-year-old truck driver from Memphis, Elvis Presley, visits the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue, later to be known as Sun Studios, in order to record a novelty 45 for his mother's birthday. The two recordings, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," were thought to be lost for decades; Elvis later admits that he made the records to see "what I sounded like," since his mother's birthday was actually in April. Presley pays $3.98 for the privilege. Marion Keisker, assistant to label head Sam Phillips, likes what she hears; she takes down Presley's information and notes that he is a "good ballad singer." As she recalled years later: "I said, 'What kind of singer are you?' He said, 'I sing all kinds.' I said, 'Who do you sound like?' He said, 'I don't sound like nobody.'"
1964: The Rolling Stones make their first hit on the American charts with their cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."
1972: Thanks to the efforts of Kevin White, then-mayor of Boston, the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are freed from their Warwick, RI jail cell in time for their Boston show. (The pair had been held for assault on a photographer from Providence.)
1972: All six members of Sly and the Family Stone are arrested in Hollywood after police search their tour bus and find two pounds of marijuana and two vials of cocaine.
1983: Still flush with the success of their free Central Park reunion concert (and hit souvenir album of the event), Simon and Garfunkel embark on a full scale, 19-city US tour, beginning in Akron, OH.
1988: Ike Turner is sentenced to one year in a Santa Monica, CA jail for six grams of crack found in his car during a traffic stop in August 1987.

Releases

1960: Elvis Presley, "It's Now Or Never"
1964: The Supremes, "Where Did Our Love Go"

Recording

1963: The Beatles: "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Money (That's What I Want)," "Devil In Her Heart," "Till There Was You"
1968: The Beatles: "Cry Baby Cry," "Helter Skelter"
1969: The Beatles: "Oh! Darling," "Octopus's Garden"

Charts

1960: Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" hits #1
1964: The Four Seasons' "Rag Doll" hits #1
1977: Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It" hits #1

Certifications

1968: Hugh Masekela's "Grazing In The Grass" is certified gold
1968: Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's "Lady Willpower" is certified gold
1978: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's "You're The One That I Want" is certified platinum