This Day in Music
On this day in music, July 31, 1964, 40-year-old singer-songwriter Jim Reeves perished in a plane that crashed in thick fog while traveling from Arkansas to Nashville. Nicknamed “Gentleman Jim,” the Texas-born artist topped the Billboard country charts for the first time in 1953. By the end of the decade, he had changed his style, preferring softly-sung easy listening ballads, a transformation which helped him to conquer the pop charts and achieve mainstream success. His 1960 single, “He’ll Have To Go,” which hit No. 2 on the US pop chart, helped make him a household name. He scored a posthumous UK No.1 with “Distant Drums” in 1966.
In 1999, Christina Aguilera topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with “Genie In A Bottle,” a track off her self-titled debut. It spent five weeks at No.1 and also reached the top position in the UK.
In 2012, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played their longest-ever set, staying on stage for an epic four hours and six minutes at Finland’s Helsinki Olympiastadion. Four years later, The Boss nearly repeated that same feat at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. The concert, however, fell two minutes short of his Finland record.
In 1971, James Taylor scored his sole No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “You’ve Got A Friend.” The aptly-titled song, which was plucked from the troubadour’s third album, Mud Slide Slim & The Blue Horizon, was written by Taylor’s good friend and fellow singer-songwriter, Carole King, who premiered it on her 1971 album, Tapestry. The recording earned Grammys for both artists, giving Taylor a win in the Best Pop Vocal Male Performance category and King an award for Song of the Year.
In 1969, Elvis Presley played his first live show since 1961 when he appeared on stage before 2000 people in the showroom of the newly built Las Vegas International Hotel. His month-long stint in Sin City reportedly earned him $1.5m and played a crucial role in reviving his career.
In 1959, British pop icon Cliff Richard scored the first of 14 UK No.1s with the Lionel Bart-written “Living Doll,” taken from the soundtrack to the blackmail movie, Serious Charge. Richard appeared in the film, playing a teen pop idol called Curley Thompson.
BORN ON JULY 31
1946: Gary Lewis (Gary Lewis & The Playboys)
1957: Daniel Ash (Bauhaus)
1958: Bill Berry (R.E.M.)
1963: Norman Cook/Fatboy Slim
1964: Fuzz Townsend (Pop Will Eat Itself)
1978: Zac Brown (Zac Brown Band)
1978: Will Champion (Coldplay)
1981: M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)
1994: Lil Uzi Vert
