JULY
July 1 1979: Filming wraps on "Carny". The film was conceived by and stars The Band's Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm, along with Jodie Foster and Elisha Cooke Jr. 1980: "Oh Canada" is proclaimed our National Anthem, officially. 1981: Steppenwolf bassist Rushton Moreve dies in a car crash in Los Angeles at the age of 32. 1991: Bootsauce releases THE BROWN ALBUM in the US. 1993: Kim Michell is among the performers at the Canada Day celebrations at Gimli, Man. 1992: In a ceremony in Paris,Roch Voisine is decorated as a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France's ambassador to Canada. Later that night he premieres a new song co-written with David Foster, who joins him for the first live performance of "I'll Always Be There." 1992: Kim Mitchell, The Tragically Hip, The Jeff Healey Band, Crash Test Dummies, Colin James, 54-40, Lee Aaron, Sass Jordan and Chrissy Steele all play St. John's, Ottaw and Vancouver in the same day, part of Molson's and MCA Concerts' Great Canadian Party. 2001: The Stampeders are among the performers at an all Canadian show in Dartmouth, NS. On their playlist is "Gator Road," the B-side to "Sweet City Woman" - a song they hadn't performed live in 30 years. 2008: Blue Rodeo plays on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as part of the Canada Day celebrations.
July 2 1999: Barenaked Ladies, along with R.E.M. Skunk Anansie, Blur, Blondie, Built To Spill, The Chemical Brothers, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Placebo, Suede and Wilco all appear at this years Oskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark. 2002: Rik Emmett appears in New York at the prestigious Bottom Line Nightclub for a sold-out solo acoustic show. 2005: Neil Young and Bryan Adams are among the Canadians performing during "Live 8," a festival designed to bring awareness to African poverty. That portion of the festival is seen in an Ontario corn field. 2007: A lawsuit is filed by The Rubinoos, claiming Avril Lavigne ripped off their 1979 song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" when she wrote her hit "Girlfriend."
July 3 1969: Kevin Hearn, keyboardist and percussinist for Barenaked Ladies is born. 1984: Kick Axe opens for Judas Priest for the first show of a seven week tour, starting in Harrisburg, PA. 2008: Prism releases BIG BLACK SKY on cd.
July 4 1971: Andy Creeggan, former member of Barenaked Ladies is born Andrew Burnett Creeggan in Scarborough, ON. 1977: April Wine backs up The Rolling Stones for a show in Buffalo, NY. 2006: Jane Siberry, now going by the name of Issa, gives a lecture on philosophy at the University of British Columbia.
July 5 1946: Michael Monarch, guitarist for Steppenwolf is born. 1992: Helix axeman Paul Hackman dies on the road in a tour bus accident.
July 6
July 7 1982: Jane Vasey, pianist for Downchild Blues Band dies of leukemia at age 33.
July 8 2007: Gordon Lightfoot headlines the venerable Mariposa Folk Festival, in his hometown of Orillia, ON.
July 9 1974: Neil Young reunites with Crosby Stills & Nash at a show in Seattle, WA. 1996: Rush's Alex Lifeson is in the studios with I Mother Earth. He cameos on "Like A Girl" off the SCENEREY AND FISH lp.
July 10 1953: Rik Emmett is born in Toronto, as Rick Emmett. He would shorten the spelling of his first name after it was misspelled on Triumph's debut album anyway. 1968: 'MUSIC FROM THE BIG PINK, The Band's evocative debut album recorded in a farm house near Woodstock, NY is released. It charts no higher than #30 but sells steadily and becomes an acknowledged classic. 1971: "Signs" is released by Five Man Electrical Band. It goes on to top the Canadian charts and becomes the band's biggest single. 2001: Jann Arden releases BLOOD RED CHERRY. July 11 1949: Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd is born in London, England. 1979: Los Angeles' Bruin Theatre hosts the premiere of "Rust Never Sleeps", a concert film directed by Neil Young and featuring Crazy Horse. 2004: Three Canadian rocker chicks played the Prince's Trust Concert in London's Hyde Park, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morisette and Nelly Furtado. 2008: Steven Page, singer for Barenaked Ladies, is arrested for cocaine possession in Syracuse, NY. He's held until a $10,000 bond is posted.
July 12 2007: Blue Rodeo headlines the Ottawa Blues Fest. 2008: Hedley makes their first appearance in Bonnyville, Alberta and play the Centennial Centre to the delight of thousands of screaming kids.
July 13 1959: Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" reaches number on the Billboard charts, where it remains for four weeks. 1993: At the All-Star baseball game in Baltimore, Rush's Geddy Lee, a big Jays fan, sings "Oh Canada."
1999: Rush's Geddy Lee cameos on "The Road" on Euphoria's debut album. 2004: Goddo's self titled debut, AN ACT OF GODDO and WHO CARES? are all re-released on CD on Bullseye Canada, same time as the new album, KINGS OF THE STONED AGE.
July 14 1969: At the Mississippi River Rock Festival, The Band is joined onstage when their former boss, Bob Dylan, ruins three songs. He's jokingly introduced as "Elmer Johnson." 1975: Trooper releases their eponymous debut lp. 1979: Joni Mitchell's collaboration with jazz bass player and bandleader Charles Mingus, simply titled Mingus, is released a half-year after his death. 1998: The Tragically Hip release PHANTOM POWER.
July 15 1993: Neil Young's UNPLUGGED CD and video are released. Recorded on February 7th in Los Angeles and first aired on MTV in March, it's an all-acoustic 14-song set. 1997: Blue Rodeo releases TREMOLO. 2004: The Frank open for Default on the opening night of the 3-day BIG A$$ Border Bash in Cold Lake, AB. 2006: Local sensations Jawanamon play in Cold Lake, AB in front of hundreds of screaming fans, where they back up Tupelo Honey and Default.
July 16 1975: Neil Young's TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT lp is released. It's inspired by and dedicated to a pair of musical acquaintances who died of drug overdoses. One look at the album cover tells anyone he might have been doing something those days himself. 2004: Loverboy headlines the second night of the Big A$$ Border Bash in Cold Lake, AB. The all-Canadian festival is generally regarded as one of the best in the country for years, and is highlighted when The Stampeders's encore is interrupted by a mistimed Air Force skydiver demo.
July 17 2007: Kim Mitchell releases AIN'T LIFE AMAZING.
2008: Steven Page, singer for Barenaked Ladies appears in a Syracuse, NY court, where he fends a cocaine possession hearing.
July 18 1995: Neil Young forms Vapor Records with his manager, Elliot Roberts.
July 18 2007: Kim Mitchell holds a CD release party at Toronto's Hard Rock Cafe for AIN'T LIFE AMAZING, his first new studio release since '99's KIMOSABE. 2009: The JFR Project releases their debut, NO SECOND CHANCE.
July 19 1937: Canadian country singer George Hamilton IV is born. 1993: Loverboy began a two-week reunion tour in western Canada in Penticton, BC. 2008: Headpins put on another killer show in a dimly lit bar in Calgary. 2009: While playing a show in Brampton, Ont, Lighthouse drummer Skip Prokop develops chest pains and is taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. Thankfully, it turns out to be nothing more than a serious case of indigestion.
July 20 1974: Andy Kim releases "Rock Me Gently," his biggest single success. 2008: Despite criticism that he'd be boo'd off the stage, Paul McCartney sang in front of the masses at Plains of Abraham during Quebec's 400th anniversary. He wasn't booed, and he even attempted a few French phrases.
July 21 1972: Country singer Paul Brandt is born in Calgary as Paul Rennee Belobersycky. 1979: Triumph releases JUST A GAME. 1986: Country legend Hank Snow made a triumphant return to his home province of Nova Scotia. More than 500 people attended a luncheon in Halifax in honour of the 72-year-old singer. Premier John Buchanan proclaimed it ``Hank Snow Week'' in Nova Scotia. 1988: The Parachute Club plays its final concert on July 21 at Toronto's Ontario Place. 1990: Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell and The Band are among those performing in Roger Waters' performance of The Wall, at the site of the Berlin Wall. 1999: MP3.com goes public with an IPO. The stock price soars, making spokesperson Alanis Morissette worth nearly $42 million. She later sells off a portion of her holding in the company after the stock's value dips. 2002: Avril Lavigne's "So Complicated" reaches number one on Billboard.
2005: Long John Baldry, the British blues legend who helped launch the careers of rock greats like Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, and later moved to Canada, died in a Vancouver hospital after a four-month battle with a chest infection. He was admitted several months earlier with respiratory problems.
July 22
July 23 1950: Ian Thomas is born in Hamilton, Ont. 1954: The Crew Cuts reached the top spot of the Billboard pop singles chart with "Sh-Boom", a song that many consider to be the premier forerunner of 1950s Rock and Roll. The tune stayed at the top for seven weeks. 1963: Neil Young's first band The Esquires cut their first recording session in Winnipeg.
July 24 2009: Jeff Healey's first album after his death earlier that year is released - the live SONGS FROM THE ROAD.
July 25 1969: New York's Fillmore East is the scene as Neil Young appears with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the first time. 1987: Dan Hill releases "Can't We Try" 1994: Neil Young releases SLEEPS WITH ANGELS. The record's harder-edged sound nods to Seattle grunge-rockers and pays tribute to the late Kurt Cobain. 2008: 125 groups and artists take the stage at Pemberton, BC, just north of Whistler for the first ever three-day Pemberton Music Festival.
July 26 2008: The Trews and Tupelo Honey play the Bonnyville Centennial Centre. Tupelo Honey at this point are almost regulars in Alberta's Lakeland. This is the first time The Trews have been there. 2008: Jann Arden headlines the tribute to Leonard Cohen concert, the lamely titled "The 2008 International Leonard Cohen Event" at Edmonton's Winspear Centre.
July 27 1974: Paul Anka releases "You're Having My Baby," a duet with Odia Coates. 1987: Triumph releases SURVEILLANCE. 1991: Bryan Adams tops Billboard's charts with "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" from the Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves soundtrack. It also becomes the first British chart topper by a Canadian. 2001: Bill Wade, drummer for Moxy dies of cancer. 2003: Shania Twain performs at Hutchinson Field in Chicago, her first concert in the United States since releasing her album UP. Amazingly, she still has a hot bod after having the kid, and the show becomes a live DVD.
July 28 1973: Watkins Glen Raceway in upstate New York hosts the world's biggest rock festival, known as Woodstock. Around 60,000 people watch The Band, as well as the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and over a couple dozen other acts. Reportedly, there's lots of drugs. 1975: Bachman Turner Overdrive kick off their first Canadian tour, playing their first show ever in Regina, SK. 1980: Rush and Max Webster are in Phase One Studios in Toronto to record "Battle Scar." 1983: Triumph releases NEVER SURRENDER. 1989: The Anne Murray Centre opens in her hometown of Springhill, NS. 2000: Chilliwack plays at Skyreach Centre in Edmonton during Klondike Days. The show is recorded and becomes part of the THERE AND BACK LIVE album.
July 29 2005: Lee Aaron releases her BEAUTIFUL THING disc.
July 30 1944: Joe Mendelson, solo artist and co-founder of McKenna Mendelson Mainline is born Birrell Josef Mendelson in Toronto. 2003: Toronto hosts a one-day festival to revive the city's tourism industry following an outbreak of the SARS virus. Featured performers include Rush, along with Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, Guess Who, Sass Jordan and close to a dozen others. An estimated 450,000 people attend. 2009: Greg Ladanyi, president of Maple Jam Music Group and award winning producer of such artists as Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac, Toto, Jackson Browne, and Jeff Healey, died in a Cyprus hospital after an on-stage accident caused severe head trauma.
July 31 1968: The Newport Pop Festival begins in Costa Mesa, California. 100,000 fans come out to hear Steppenwolf, along with Sonny & Cher, Tiny Tim, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Iron Butterfly and The Animals. |
