ON JULY 29^TH…

In 1961…Bob Dylan performed at New York’s Riverside Church as part of a 12-hour radio broadcast.

In 1963…The Newport Folk Festival was held after a four-year layoff. Headliners included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary. With a good sense of timing, Peter, Paul & Mary also released their interpretation of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which later went to number two.

In 1965…The Beatles second film Help! debuted at The Pavilion Theatre in London. Halliwell’s Film Guide said, “It looks good but becomes too tiresome to entertain.”

In 1966…Bob Dylan crashed his motorcycle in Woodstock, New York. The incident immediately passed into myth, with many wondering if Dylan was hurt at all or simply used the accident to disappear from public life. Middletown Hospital admitted him with a concussion and broken neck vertebrae. Dylan continued to suffer from paralysis and mild amnesia for the next month.

In 1970…The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca ended. The band informed manager Allen Klein that “neither he nor ABKCO Industries have any authority to negotiate recording contracts on their behalf” and began to consider starting their own label.

In 1973…The takings from two Led Zeppelin concerts were stolen from their New York hotel. The thieves were said to have gotten away with over 180-thousand dollars in cash.

In 1974…“Mama” Cass Elliot died of a heart attack in London at age 32.  A coroner mistakenly said she died of choking on a ham sandwich.

In 1976…Eric Clapton began his first English tour in five years at Hempstead’s Pavilion Theatre.

In 1980…David Bowie opened on stage in Denver in the title role of Elephant Man to critical acclaim.

In 1998… matchbox 20 kicked off their first headlining tour at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

In 1998…Miramax Films bought the rights to The Beatles’ landmark movie Hard Day’s Night. The DVD was released later that year, complete with new footage and digitally re-mastered stereo sound.

In 2002…Ozzy Osbourne started a three-week break from Ozzfest as his wife, Sharon, began chemotherapy treatments.  System of a Down took over as headliners. To compensate for any disappointment, Sharon arranged for the fans to receive a free treat from the food concession stands.

In 2003…Bobby Thompson, Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime tour manager, died in his hotel room in Birmingham, Michigan after a long battle with throat cancer.

In 2004…Juvenile topped the U-S singles chart with “Slow Motion,” featuring Soulja Slim, knocking Usher’s “Confessions Part II” out of the number one spot.

In 2004…Bobby Gillespie, singer with British rock band Primal Scream, was awarded undisclosed damagers in a libel suit against a tabloid that alleged he was having an affair with Kate Moss. The supermodel sang with the band on a version of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood’s “Some Velvet Morning.”

In 2006…Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson were married on a luxury yacht in San Tropez. Among the guests: Elton John’s partner David Furnish and photographer Dave LaChappelle.

ON JULY 30^TH…

In 1966…The Beatles topped the American charts with Yesterday… and Today. The cover of the album had to be quickly changed when people objected to the band dressing up as butchers surrounded by dismembered dolls.

In 1970…Although Connecticut authorities had cancelled the Power Ridge Rock Festival, over 30-thousand people turned up anyway. Medics later said they treated eight-hundred fans for bad reactions to drugs.

In 1970…The Rolling Stones officially fired their manager Allen Klein.

In 1973…Mamas and The Papas leader John Phillips called a press conference and accused his old label ABC-Dunhill of “the systematic, cold-blooded theft of perhaps up to 60-million dollars, stolen from each and every artist who ever recorded for the company during a seven-year period.”

In 1991…Debbie Gibson performed at WHTZ’s eighth birthday party in New York along with Jon Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey and the Black Crowes.

In 1997…‘80s group Boys Don’t Cry sued Paula Cole for seven-million dollars and claimed her single “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone” sounded too much like their 1986 hit “I Wanna Be A Cowboy.”

In 2003…The Rolling Stones headlined a one-day festival in Toronto aimed at reviving the city’s tourism industry following an outbreak of the SARS virus. Other performers included AC/DC, Rush and Justin Timberlake. An estimated 450-thousand people attended the concert, which was dubbed by some “SARS-Stock.”

In 2003…Police issued a warrant for Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s arrest after he allegedly attacked a prostitute at Nevada’s Moonlite Bunny Ranch.

In 2004…Isley Brothers singer Ronald Isley, who also performed as “Mr. Biggs,” suffered a minor stroke while in London.

In 2006…Axl Rose was forced to abandon a Guns N’ Roses show at London’s Wembley Arena due to “low blood pressure.” Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach took his place for the encore.

ON JULY 31^ST…

In 1964…When a riot broke out at a Rolling Stones concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the show was stopped just 12 minutes into the set.

In 1964…Country singer Jim Reeves died when his private plane crashed in Tennessee.

In 1966…A Beatles record-burning session was held in Birmingham, Alabama, in protest of John Lennon’s “bigger than Jesus” remark.

In 1967…Country singer Jim Reeves was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 1967…Describing the evidence as flimsy, a London Appeals Court threw out an earlier drug conviction for Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.  Meanwhile, the court reduced Mick Jagger’s sentence on a related conviction to probation.  Jagger was reminded by the judge to remember his responsibilities as a pop idol.

In 1970…The Rolling Stones handed over an LP titled C***sucker Blues to Decca Records.  It fulfilled the Stones’ contractual obligation to Decca and they were free to form Rolling Stones Records.  The record was never officially released, but it became available several years later as a bootleg.

In 1971…A 22-year-old security guard was stabbed at a Who show at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium.

In 1971…Pink Floyd left England and began their first tour of the Far East.

In 1979…James Taylor played a free concert in New York’s Central Park as a part of a campaign to restore the park’s Sheep Meadow area.

In 1980…John Philips (formerly of the Mamas & Papas) was arrested for allegedly dealing drugs out of his New York summer home.

In 1984…Eric Clapton left Roger Waters’ Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking Tour in Canada after two weeks.

In 1995…Aerosmith fired Tim Collins, their manager of 12 years.

In 2003…The Dixie Chicks’ tour bus was accidentally rear-ended by a pick-up truck near Babcock, Texas. Emily Robinson, the only Chick on board, was uninjured.

In 2003…Death Row Records founder Suge Knight was sentenced to ten months in prison after being found guilty by his parole board of punching a parking valet.

In 2004…Simon & Garfunkel wrapped up the European leg of their reunion tour with a free concert that brought 600-thousand fans to the Roman Coliseum.