August 2

Births

1935: Hank Cochran (Country Singer / Songwriter)

1937: Garth Hudson (Keyboards & Sax for The Band)

1951: Andrew Gold (Singer / Songwriter)

1951: Joe Lynn Turner (Singer for Rainbow & Deep Purple)

1957: Mojo Nixon (Singer & Guitarist)

1957: Butch Vig (Record Producer & Drummer for Garbage)

1961: Pete De Freitas (Drums for Echo And The Bunnymen)

1962: Lee Mavers (Guitar & Vocals for The La's)

Events

1953: Skeeter Davis, still a member of the Davis Sisters, breaks both her arms and legs in a car crash near Cincinnati, OH, a crash in which also kills fellow Davis "sister" Betty Jack Davis.

1956: This month's issue of Look magazine reports that Elvis Presley is now receiving 3,000 fan letters a week.

1961: The Beatles begin what would be a two-year stint as headliners at Liverpool's Cavern Club.

1962: Aretha Franklin makes her television debut, singing "Don't Cry Baby" and "Try a Little Tenderness" on ABC's American Bandstand.

1963: Still rebuilding his career after the scandal of his marriage to 13-year-old second cousin Myra Gale Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis accepts $9,500 to open Las Vegas' new Thunderbird Hotel.

1962: Folk singer Robert Zimmerman has his name legally changed to Bob Dylan.

1969: Bob Dylan leaves his 10-year reunion at Hibbing High School in Hibbing, MN when a drunken former classmate picks a fight with him.

1969: Badfinger record the single "Come And Get It".

1971: Now down to a trio, Creedence Clearwater Revival embark on their last US tour with a gig at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Assembly Center.

1972: Brian Cole (Bass player for The Association) died in Los Angeles, California of a heroin overdose at the age of 29.

1973: "Papa" John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas files suit against his former label, Dunhill, alleging $60 million in unpaid royalties.

1976: Peter "Puddy" Watts, road manager with Pink Floyd died of a heroin overdose. Watts supplied the crazed laughter on the groups ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ album.

1977: Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious was fined $250 by a London court after he had been found carrying a knife at the 100 Club Punk Festival last September.

1982: Jose Feliciano marries Susan Omillian, in California.

1983: James Jamerson died of complications stemming from cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure and pneumonia in Los Angeles, he was 47 years old. As one of The Funk Brothers he was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s including songs by Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops and The Supremes. He eventually performed on nearly 30 No.1 pop hits.

1987: David Martin, bass player with Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs died of a heart attack aged 50. Martin co-wrote the group’s 1965 US No.2 & UK No.11 single 'Wooly Bully'.

1991: Rick James and his girlfriend Tanya Hijazi were arrested in Hollywood charged with assault with a deadly weapon aggravated mayhem torture, false imprisonment and forcible oral copulation. James was released on $1 million bail.

1997: Sarah McLachlan entered the US album chart at No.2 with ‘Surfacing’, the singer songwriter also won two Grammys for the album.

1998: The Beatles win UK music magazine Mojo's "Favorite Recording Artist Of All Time," beating out Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Queen, and Elton John in that order.

1999: After a concert in San Diego, CA, Barry White is hospitalized for exhaustion.

2000: Jerome Smith from KC and the Sunshine Band died after being crushed by a bulldozer he was operating. Had the 1975 US No.1 single 'Get Down Tonight' and the 1983 UK No.1 single 'Give It Up.'

2004: Eric Clapton bails out Cordings clothing store in London, a favorite of his since the age of sixteen, by purchasing a fifty percent share in the retailer.

2005: Singer Brandon Flowers from The Killers married Tana Munblowsky in a private ceremony held in Hawaii.

2007: Elvis Presley Enterprises announces plans to revamp Graceland, the singer's home, with a visitor's center, convention hotel, and high-tech multimedia displays.

2007: Keith Richards signs a seven-million-dollar deal for the rights to his upcoming autobiography, scheduled for release in late 2010.

2011: Kings of Leon announced the cancellation of their U.S. tour following an onstage meltdown at a performance in Dallas on July 29th. Frontman Caleb Followill walked offstage after claiming he was too hot to perform, and the band subsequently postponed its show in Houston scheduled for the following night.