This Day In Rock History: July 13th
1969, New York’s Flushing Meadows Singer Bowl plays host to a festival including sets from the Jeff Beck Group, Vanilla Fudge, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, and Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin literally play a set that no one can follow, and Vanilla Fudge pull out of the lineup rather than try to top the heavy metal quartet. During the Jeff Beck Group’s set, John Bonham strips off his clothes and has to be bundled off stage. The evening ends with various musicians performing “Jailhouse Rock.”
1969, Iron Butterfly played at Musicarnival in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Musicarnival was a music “tent” theater, among the first of its kind. The theater was used for performances of musicals, operettas and operas, but also hosted a number of famous musicians and rock bands, and had a capacity of 2,563.
1985 At 12.01 Status Quo started the Live Aid extravaganza, held between Wembley Stadium, London and The JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. The cream of the world’s biggest rock stars took part in the worldwide event, raising over $60 million (£40million.) TV pictures beamed to over 1.5 billion people in 160 countries made it the biggest live broadcast ever known. Artists who appeared included Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, The Who, U2, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Queen, Tina Turner, The Cars, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Hall and Oates, Lionel Richie and Led Zeppelin.
2004, Arthur “Killer” Kane, bass player with The New York Dolls, died aged 55 after checking himself in to a Los Angeles emergency room, complaining of fatigue. He was quickly diagnosed with leukemia, and died within two hours. The influential American band formed in 1972 and made just two albums, the 1973’s New York Dolls and 1974’s Too Much Too Soon.
source: internetfm