Zimmy plugs in -- Neil joins in -- Burt cashes in...

Carpenters Backstage
Karen and Richard Carpenter, c 1974. (Keystone/Getty Images)
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7/25/1965 (51 years ago today) - Was the crowd hostile because he abandoned his folk roots or was it due to really poor sound quality...well, history says, it was probably a little of both: Tonight's the night that Bob Dylan went electric for his headlining set at The Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Backed by The Butterfield Blues Band (featuring Mike Bloomfield on guitar), Bob was booed by the folk music purists who felt betrayed, while some in the audience gave him an enthusiastic response. Where's the "Time Tunnel" when you need it...

7/25/1969 (47 years ago today) - Y'know, he was originally asked just to help out with the live material...: Neil Young appears on stage for the very first time to perform with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash -- the gig's at the Fillmore East in New York City, and not one of the artists involved ever formally looked at it as the beginning of a 30-year on-again-off-again artistic relationship. So, where's that "Time Tunnel" when you need it...Oh, never mind, here it is:

7/25/1970 (46 years ago today) - Say what you will, the girl could sing: "Close To You" by The Carpenters starts a four week run at the top of the singles chart, the first of three No. 1's for the saccharine brother-and-sister MOR legends -- They were [beyond] wildly successful despite going against the artistic grains of the times, and would score another 17 Top Ten hits, all of 'em selling in the million-millions!!! Originally written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1963, the track was first offered to Herb Alpert who turned it down (he hated the line "so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair...") -- Fact: Burt actually wrote no less than 28 Top Ten hits between 1958 and 1986!

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"Why do birds suddenly appear/Everytime you are near...", xoxo!

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