1944
The Band's Robbie Robertson is born in Toronto. The group has three top 10 albums: The Band, Stage Fright. and Rock of Ages. All are certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 copies.

1950
Huey Lewis (Hugh Cregg III) is born in New York City. He forms Huey Lewis & the News in San Francisco in 1980. The group’s biggest hit is "Stuck with You," a No. 1 song for three weeks in 1986. "The Power of Love," the group’s million-selling No. 1 hit from 1985, is featured in the film Back to the Future.

1954
Elvis Presley invents rock ‘n’ roll as he, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black start messing around on a song called "That’s All Right" at Memphis’ Sun Studios. Scotty Moore remembered, "When we heard a playback, we knew we had some kind of rhythm, a little different rhythm, but none of us knew what to call it." He said at the time, "Good God! They’ll run us out of town when they hear this." Studio owner Sam Phillips remembered, "I knew we had a hit."

1958
Ray Charles' performance at the Newport Jazz Festival is recorded by Atlantic Records for a live album.

1964
David Jones (aka David Bowie) and the King Bees release the single "Liza Jane."

1964
The Irish band Them, featuring Van Morrison, record "Gloria."

1966
On TV, you can see Ray Price perform "Ahab the Arab" on Where the Action Is.

1966
Chas Chandler goes to see Jimi Hendrix play at Cafe Wha? in New York's Greenwich Village. The former Animal later tells Hendrix he should move to London in order to launch his career.

1968
John Lennon sells his psychedelic Rolls Royce.

1968
Promoter Bill Graham opens The Fillmore West in San Francisco.

1969
The Rolling Stones give a free concert for 250,000 fans in London's Hyde Park. It was to introduce new guitarist Mick Taylor, but since the death of Brian Jones, the concert became a tribute. Jagger reads Shelley’s Adonais by way of tribute and the band releases thousands of butterflies over the crowd. Sadly, most of the insects had themselves expired.

1971
A Led Zeppelin gig in Milan turns violent when police fire tear gas at the crowd. The band escapes unharmed, but numerous arrests are made and a roadie is hit in the head with a bottle.

1973
Dobie Gray, who had the 1965 hit, "The In Crowd," earns a gold record for the biggest smash of his career, "Drift Away."

1975
Pink Floyd premiere their Wish You Were Here album in a performance that takes in fireworks, Spitfire planes flying overhead, and even a model plane that crashes into the stage.

1975
Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" is released.

1975
Keith Richards and Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones and two friends. The driver is charged with reckless driving and carrying a concealed weapon. He posts bail and the foursome leave town in a chartered plane.

1978
The EMI record pressing plant in Britain stops printing The Rolling Stones album cover for Some Girls. It seems some celebrities, including Lucille Ball, depicted in the cover's mock wig advertisements, complained.

1980
Bauhaus plays its farewell concert in London.

1983
Trumpeter Harry James dies of cancer at the age of 67.

1988
A movement to ban Grateful Dead concerts in the town of Oxford, Maine, crumbles after the protestors learn that they would have to ban concerts at the county fair, too.

1989
Rod Stewart is knocked unconscious after hitting his head onstage.

1995
More than 100 Grateful Dead fans are hurt when a wooden deck collapses at a campground lodge in Wentzville, Missouri. Hundreds of people are on or under the deck sheltering from heavy rain.

1995
The U.S. Justice Department opts not to take antitrust action against Ticketmaster, ending a 13 month long fight with Pearl Jam. The band had used a rival ticket service in retaliation of Ticketmaster's tactics, and ironically, it was the use of that service that proved that Ticketmaster didn't have a monopoly.

1998
Yanni, who has been on the road virtually non-stop since the preceding November, concludes his tour with a sold-out performance at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.

2001
R&B vocalist Ernie K-Doe dies of liver failure in New Orleans. He is 65. Born Ernest Kador Jr., he scored a No. 1 pop and R&B hit in 1961 with the Allen Toussaint-penned single "Mother-In-Law."

2004
Syreeta Wright, best known for her duet with Billy Preston on "With You I'm Born Again," dies after a long struggle with cancer. She is 58.

July 5 Birthdays

• Etienne de Silhouette 1709
• Sarah Siddons 1755
• Sir Stamford Raffles (Singapore) 1781
• David G. Farragut 1801
• P.T. Barnum 1810
• Jean Cocteau 1889
• Henry Cabot Lodge 1902
• Milburn Stone 1904
• George Pompidou (France) 1911
• Janos Starker 1924
• Warren Oates 1928
• Katherine Helmond 1934
• Shirley Knight 1936
• Robbie Robertston (The Band) 1944
• Michael Monarch (Steppenwolf) 1950
• Huey Lewis 1951
• Richard "The Goose" Gossage 1951
• Charles Ventre (River Road) 1952
• James Lofton 1956
• Marc Cohn 1959
• Edie Falco 1963
• RZA 1969
• Joe (the R&B singer) 1973
• Bengt Lagerberg (The Cardigans) 1973
• Dale Godboldo 1975
• Bizarre (D12) 1978
• Amelie Mauresmo 1979
• Jason Wade (Lifehouse) 1980

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