July 25 in Music History: Bob Dylan plugs in, Metallica releases Kill ‘Em All

1960 – Roy Orbison reaches #2 on the US singles chart with “Only the Lonely,” his first hit. The song was turned down by The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, so Orbison decided to record the song himself.

1963 – Singer Cilla Black, discovered by Beatles manager Brian Epstein at a Gerry and the Pacemakers concert, makes her first recording test for EMI.

1965 – Bob Dylan plugs in for the first time as he performs his headlining set backed by the Butterfield Blues Band at The Newport Folk Festival, garnering boos from the audience. Conflicting opinions say the reason for the crowd’s hostile reception was Dylan’s abandoning of the folk orthodoxy, poor sound quality on the night, or a combination of the two.

1966 – The Monkees record their debut single, “Last Train To Clarksville.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcXpKiY2MXE

1968 – The Beatles record take 1 of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for The White Album. Exactly a year later in 1969, they record several songs for Abbey Road: “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Come Together,” “Polythene Pam” and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.”

1969 – At the end of their gig at the Fillmore in San Francisco; Crosby, Stills & Nash invite Neil Young on stage to back them on a couple of songs, and they like the result so much he almost immediately becomes part of the band.

1980 – AC/DC releases Back In Black, their first album with Brian Johnson (he replaced former lead singer Bon Scott, who died earlier in the year on February 19 at the age of 33). The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time.

1983 – Metallica release their debut album, Kill ‘Em All.

1989 – Beastie Boys release their sophomore album, Paul’s Boutique.

1999 – The 30th Anniversary of Woodstock ends – unlike the 25th Anniversary – with riots, fires, looting, and violence, including three accidental deaths. In addition, several fans are hospitalized from drinking polluted water.

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.