July 1954 in Music History

Events in Music

Jul 3 Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's musical "Wonderful Town", starring Rosalind Russell, closes at Winter Garden Theater, NYC, after 559 performances, and 5 Tony Award wins

Music Recording

Jul 5 Singer Elvis Presley's 1st professional recording session (with guitarist Scotty Moore & bass player Bill Black) takes place at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service in Memphis, Tennessee. The trio record four songs including their historic cover of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's song "That's All Right". [1]

Jul 19 Elvis Presley's debut single, a cover of Arthur Cruddup's "That's All Right" is released
Jul 28 Ernest Bloch's 4th string quartet premieres
Jul 30 Elvis Presley joins the Memphis Federation of Musicians, Local 71

Birthdays in Music

Jul 1 Randall Hall, American rock guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1987-94), born in Jacksonville, Florida
Jul 5 Jimmy Crespo, American guitarist (Aerosmith), born in Brooklyn, New York
Jul 9 Debbie Sledge, American vocalist (Sister Sledge - "We Are Family"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 10 Gene Holder, American musician (the dBs)
Jul 10 Neil Tennant, English singer and songwriter (Pet Shop Boy - "West End Girl"), born in North Shields, Northumberland, England
Jul 13 Louise Mandrell, country singer (Mandrell Sisters), born in Corpus Christi, Texas
Jul 13 Sezen Aksu, Turkish singer
Jul 14 Jos Zoomer, Dutch rock drummer (Vandenberg), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jul 18 Ricky Skaggs, American country singer ("Heartbroke"; "Toy Hearts"), born in Cordell, Kentucky
Jul 18 Tobias Picker, American composer (Emmeline), born in New York City
Jul 20 Jay Jay French [Segall], American rock guitarist (Twisted Sister), born in NYC, New York
Jul 22 Al Di Meola, American jazz guitarist (Return To Forever; Elegant Gypsy), born in Jersey City, New Jersey
Jul 23 Marisa DeFranco, Canadian musician (The DeFranco Family), born in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada
Jul 25 Ken Greer, Canadian rock guitarist (Red Rider - "Lunatic Fringe"; "Big League"), born in Toronto, Ontario
Jul 28 Steve Morse, American rock guitarist (Dixie Dregs; Deep Purple, 1994-present), born in Hamilton, Ohio