This Day in Music
On this day in music, July 9, 1962, Bob Dylan recorded “Blowin’ In the Wind” at New York’s Columbia Recording Studios, during sessions for his sophomore album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. A working version of the song was performed that April at Gerde’s Folk City, while its lyrics were published a month later in the Pete Seeger-run magazine, Broadside. The song quickly became an anthem for peace and freedom, resonating amid the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and beyond. The oft-covered tune was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994 and frequently ranks among the world’s greatest songs.
In 1995, the Grateful Dead played their final concert with frontman Jerry Garcia. The show, which closed out a two-night engagement at Chicago’s Soldier Field, marked the end of a lengthy spring-summer tour. Among the songs performed were “Touch of Grey,” “So Many Roads,” “Shakedown Street,” and “Box of Rain,” which concluded the set. Garcia, who had been markedly struggling with his health and sobriety throughout the run of dates, died exactly one month later.
In 1955, Bill Haley & His Comets began an eight-week run at the top of the Billboard pop chart with “Rock Around the Clock.” The iconic rock‘n’roll song went on to become one of the biggest-selling singles of all time – and was the first record of its genre to hit No.1 in both the US and the UK.
In 1983, The Police began an eight-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Every Breath You Take.” The haunting track, which marked their only No.1 on that chart, was later named the biggest hit of 1983 in both the US and Canada. In the band’s native UK, the song topped the pop chart for four weeks and marked their fifth No.1 single.
In 1972, Paul McCartney and Wings kicked off their Wings Over Europe Tour in Ollioules – a small town in the South of France. The show was a momentous one for Beatles fans, marking McCartney’s first performance in Europe since 1966.
In 2006, Lily Allen scored her first No.1 hit on the UK pop chart with “Smile.” The song, which was Allen’s earliest composition, heavily samples the Soul Brothers’ 1960 rocksteady track, “Free Soul.”
BORN ON JULY 9
1929: Lee Hazlewood
1946: Bon Scott (AC/DC)
1947: Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
1954: Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge)
1959: Marc Almond (Soft Cell)
1959: Jim Kerr (Simple Minds)
1964: Courtney Love
1965: Frankie Bello (Anthrax)
1975: Jack White
1975: Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse)
