24 APRIL
In Music History
1954 Keeping an eye on the new trends, Billboard publishes an article titled, "Teenagers Demand Music With A Beat - Spur Rhythm And Blues."
1948 Bass player Steve York, who plays in Manfred Mann and Graham Bond Organization, is born in London.
1947 Hubert Ann Kelly (of the pop-soul trio Hues Corporation) is born in Fairchild, Alabama.
1945 Doug Clifford (drummer for Creedence Clearwater Revival) is born in Palo Alto, California.
1945 Robert Knight ("Everlasting Love") is born in Franklin, Tennessee.
1944 Welsh composer Ivor Novello is convicted at Bow Street, London, of conspiracy to misuse petrol coupons; he is given an eight week jail sentence.
1943 Vocalist Glen Dale (of The Fortunes) is born Richard Garforth in Deal, Kent, England.
1943 Country singer Richard Sterban (of The Oak Ridge Boys) is born in Camden, New Jersey.
1934 Country singer Red Foley and his second wife, Eva Alaine Overstake, welcome baby daughter Shirley Lee Foley. Shirley will marry pop singer Pat Boone in 1953.
1933 '60s soul singer-songwriter Freddie Scott is born in Providence, Rhode Island.
1928 Jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin is born in Chicago, Illinois.
24 APRIL
Featured Events
2007 US President George W. Bush is denied a luxury suite at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna when Mick Jagger, in town with The Rolling Stones on a tour, books it first.
1982 Kelly Clarkson is born in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2002 she becomes the first winner of American Idol, and she lives up to the hype, becoming one of the top pop stars of the next two decades.
1979 Ray Charles sings "Georgia On My Mind" at a ceremony where it is named the official state song of Georgia.
1976 With rumors of a Beatles reunion swirling, Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels goes on camera to offer the guys $3,000 (union scale) to reunite on the show. Paul McCartney and John Lennon are watching at Lennon's New York City apartment and consider showing up on a lark, but pass up the opportunity.
1975 Pete Ham of Badfinger hangs himself in his London home. 27-year-old Ham, who was the group's lead singer and primary songwriter, was despondent over the business dealings that saw the band's album Wish You Were Here pulled from stores and his income cut off. He leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend who gives birth to a daughter the following month.
1961 Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.
©2024 Songfacts®, LLC