Today in Music History: Happy 35th birthday, Seth Avett
July 30, 2015
Birthday Highlight:
Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers is 35 today. Born Timothy Seth Avett in Charlotte, N.C., Seth grew up in nearby Concord, N.C., and together with his brother Scott, co-founded the folk-rock band that bears the family name. With a sound the San Francisco Chronicle described as having the "heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, the raw energy of the Ramones," the Avett Brothers have released eight full-length albums, and are expected to release their next album in late 2015 or early 2016. On Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, the Avett Brothers, along with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, will be playing The Current's Music On-a-Stick at the Minnesota State Fair.
Also, Today In:
1966 - The Troggs started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with 'Wild Thing." Because of a distribution dispute, The Troggs' single was available on two competing labels: Atco and Fontana. Because both pressings were taken from an identical master recording, Billboard combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single to simultaneously reach No. 1 for two companies.
1968 - The Beatles closed their Apple Boutique in London after seven months of business, giving away all their stock to passing strangers and to Apple staff.
1974 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played The Troubadour in Los Angeles on a double bill with Roger McGuinn from The Byrds.
1977 - The Bee Gees' younger brother Andy Gibb started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "I Just Wanna Be Your Everything," his first of three U.S. No. 1's.
1986 - Variety magazine reported that RCA had dropped John Denver from its roster after the release of his single, "What Are We Making Weapons For." Variety said the song upset the record company's new owner, General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S.
1986 - Boy George was fined £250 (about $350) by a London court for possession of heroin.
1988 - Steve Winwood started a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Roll With It."
2003 - When the SARS disease spread to Toronto, the city hosted an open-air benefit concert featuring The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who, Justin Timberlake, The Flaming Lips, Sass Jordan, and The Isley Brothers. There were approximately 450,000 people in attendance.
2003 - Sun Records founder Sam Phillips died of respiratory failure in Memphis, Tenn., at age 80. Phillips discovered Elvis Presley and had worked with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.
2014 - A ban on steel-string guitars in prison cells in England and Wales was reversed after a campaign led by Billy Bragg, David Gilmour, Elbow's Guy Garvey and Johnny Marr. Billy Bragg founded Jail Guitar Doors, a charity that has sent more than 350 guitars to prisons since 2007; the program is designed to help prisoners rehabilitate and pursue a creative outlet. Each donated guitar is inscribed with a variation on Woody Guthrie's guitar inscription: "This machine kills time."
More Birthdays:
Buddy Guy is 79.
Paul Anka is 74.
Kate Bush is 57.