This Date In Music History- July 14

Birthdays:

Born on this day in 1912, Woody Guthrie, US folk singer. Major influence on Bob Dylan and American folk music. 70's film 'Bound For Glory' based on his life. Guthrie died on 3rd October 1967.

Born on this day in 1978, Ruben Studdard, singer, winner of the second series of American Idol.

History:

'Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits' entered the album charts in 1973. It peaked at #22 and sell more than 2 million copies.

Today in 1979, the song "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

The "Is Elvis Alive?" frenzy reaches a high point in 1988, as Nashville radio station WYHY offers $1 million to anyone who can produce the King alive. Despite our best efforts, Elvis still refuses to emerge from his quarters at the 23rd Street YMCA in New York. So the reward is unclaimed.

In 1993, the U.S. Postal Service released 29-cent stamps that honored four Broadway musicals. The featured scenes were from "My Fair Lady," "Porgy and Bess," "Show Boat" and "Oklahoma!"

During a concert at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA in 1973, Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed off stage, Don finished the set by himself and announced that The Everly Brothers had split.

Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance with The Band at the Mississippi River Rock Festival in 1969. He performed three songs and was introduced as "Elmer Johnson."

The Who began their first full North American tour in 1967 appearing as support band to Herman's Hermits on 55 dates.

In 1961, Billboard Magazine reported that the teenage dance craze, "The Twist", was being picked up by the adult crowd in Philadelphia.

Bobby Vinton started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart in 1962 with 'Roses Are Red, My Love', a No.15 hit in the UK. 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 record became a million seller and was both Bobby's and Epic's first gold record.

In 1962, the Beatles played their first ever gig in Wales when they appeared at The Regent Dansette in Rhyl. Tickets cost five shillings, ($0.70).

In 1973, a drunk driver killed former Byrds guitarist Clarence White. The 29 year-old was loading equipment following a show in Palmdale, CA when he was killed.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions, who have already recorded “My Aim Is True,” played their first gig in 1977.

Planet Waves wine was introduced in 2004. The name comes from the 1974 Bob Dylan album. An Italian winery, Fattoria La Terrazze, produces 415 cases with only 125 of them available in the US. The wine sells for $65 a bottle.

Philippe Wynne, lead singer of the Spinners from 1972 to '77, died of a heart attack he suffered while on stage in Oakland on July 14, 1984.