This Day in Rock & Roll History for July 28

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 9:09 pm

Richard Wright, keyboardist for Pink Floyd, is born. (1945)

Simon Kirke, drummer for Bad Company and Free, is born (1949)

Jerry Lee Lewis makes his television debut on “The Steve Allen Show.” Lewis is booked for two more appearances. (1957)

Billboard reports on a claim from the Esso Research Center “…tuning in rock & roll music on a car radio can cost a motorist money,” because the rhythm can cause a driver to unconsciously jiggle the gas pedal, thus wasting fuel. (1958)

Tommy Roe’s “Sheila” enters the Hot 100 at #93. It will top the charts by September 1. (1962)

Mick Jagger makes his acting debut in the title role of “Ned Kelly.” The film opens today. (1970)

One of the largest rock festivals of all time is held at the Watkins Glen raceway. More than 600,000 show up for one day of music with the Grateful Dead, the Band and the Allman Brothers. (1973)

Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is released. (1973)

Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle” goes gold, on its way to platinum. The album features huge hits as the title track (which makes it to number two), “Rock’n Me” (goes number one later in the year), “Jet Airliner” (#8 in 1977) and “Take the Money and Run” (#11 this month). (1976)

Ted Nugent, Journey, Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy headline the World Series of Rock at Cleveland Stadium. (1979)

The Beatles sue Nike and Capitol Records over the use of “Revolution” in shoe commercials. (1987)

10,000 Maniacs play their last show with lead singer Natalie Merchant. Merchant leaves the group to pursue a solo career. (1993)

Jimi Hendrix’ father James Al Hendrix wins back the rights to his son’s name, likeness, image and music after a number of compaines had profited from them over the years. (1995)

Singer Marguerite Ganser Dorste of the Shangri-Las dies of breast cancer. She was 48. (1996)

Pete Townshend plays at the Supper Club in New York to showcase his upcoming album, Pete Townshend Live: A Benefit For Maryville Academy. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder joins Townshend on stage to perform a number of songs including “Magic Bus,” “Heart To Hang Onto” and the Pearl Jam classic, “Better Man.” (1999)