This Date In Music History- July 4

"Saturday in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July", says the song by Chicago

Happy July 4th To All! Be Safe!

Birthdays:

Born on this day in 1911, Mitch Miller, conductor & arranger.

Bill Withers ("Lean On Me") is 70.

Electric Flag bassist Harvey Brooks was born in New York in 1944.

Jeremy Spencer, guitar, Fleetwood Mac was born in 1948. He left the band during a 1971 US tour saying he was going out to buy a newspaper. He was found two days later in LA at the Children of God headquarters with his hair shaved off.

John Waite, singer with The Babys was born in 1954.

Born on this day in 1958, Kirk Pengilly, guitar, vocals, INXS.

Andy Creeggan, piano, Barenaked Ladies was born in 1971.

Born on this day in 1972, drummer William Goldsmith of the Foo Fighters.

History:

The song "America" was sung in public for the first time at the Park Street Church in Boston, MA in 1832.

The song "America the Beautiful" was first published in 1985.

Chris Blackwell started up Island Records in 1962, which would become the home of Bob Marley and U2, among others.

In 2000, a man fell 80 feet to his death during a Metallica concert at Raven Stadium, Baltimore.

Sultry soul singer and producer Barry White died from Kidney failure aged 58 in 2003.

Bill Pinkney of the original Drifters ("Money Honey") died of a heart attack in 2007.

The late John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas received a liver transplant in Los Angeles in 1992.

In the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos pulls the Beatles' police protection in 1966 after his wife claims the band snubbed her by not attending one of her parties. Later, an angry mob attacks the Fab Four, they vow never to return.

Grand Funk Railroad played the Atlanta Pop Festival, which was held in Hampton, Ga in 1969. A&R reps from Capitol Records like what they see and sign the band.

Elton John and Kiki Dee released their No. 1 duet, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in 1976.

In 1964, "I Get Around" became the first US number one single for The Beach Boys. In the UK, it would be the band's first Top Ten hit.

In 1980, the Beach Boys gave a free concert in Miami to celebrate Independence Day, which attracted a 500,000-strong audience.

Interior Secretary James Watt bans the Beach Boys from playing on Washington, D.C.'s Mall in 1983 because, he says, the music attracts a "bad element."

The Beach Boys finally hold their July 4 bash in Washington, D.C. in 1985, where they're joined by Jimmy Page on "Lucille."

In a year (1982) that had seen him bite the head off a bat and watch his guitarist Randy Rhoads die in a plane crash, metal madman Ozzy Osbourne married his manager, Sharon Arden.

1986- More than 40,000 people flocked to a race track in Manor, Texas where Willie Nelson presided over an 18-hour Farm Aid Two concert aimed at helping save US farmers from financial disaster. Among the performers were the Beach Boys, Waylon Jennings and Judy Collins.