Today in rock history 28th July

1944 – Blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield is born in Chicago. 1945 – Rick Wright of Pink Floyd is born in London. 1949 – Steve Took, who played with Marc Bolan in T. Rex, is born. He was asked to leave the band in 1969 after several bizarre incidents that included giving himself a vicious beating onstage. 1949 - Simon Kirke-drummer for Free & Bad Company is born 1954 - Steve Morse-guitarist for Deep Purple is born 1965 – Rolling Stone Charlie Watts is moving up in the world. He buys a 16th century wooden mansion in Sussex, England. 1965 – The Who make their first appearance on British TV’s Ready Steady Go! Their managers pack the audience with mods, ensuring a rapturous reception as the band rips through “I Can’t Explain.” 1970 – Ned Kelly, starring Mick Jagger as the behelmeted highwayman, opens in Australia. Reception is unkind. 1973 – A crowd of 600,000 gathers for a rock festival at Watkins Glen Raceway, N.Y., to hear the Grateful Dead, the Band and the Allman Brothers Band. 1973 – Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is released. It will top the Billboard chart near the end of September. 1975 – Bob Dylan plays his first session for the Desire album. 1978 – In response to a fan’s request, Ted Nugent autographs his arm. With a Bowie knife. 1979 – The World Series of Rock is held at Cleveland Stadium, with Journey, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy. 1982 – To Jackson Browne, a son. Browne and second wife Lynne Sweeney become the proud parents of Ryan Daniel Browne today. 1993 – Roger Waters marries Priscilla Phillips at the Romsey Registry Office 1995 – Control of Jimi Hendrix’s estate is passed on to his father, James Al Hendrix, who fought a long legal battle for the rights to his son’s likeness and music. 1999 – Eddie Vedder joins Pete Townshend onstage at New York’s Supper Club to rip through “Magic Bus” and “Better Man.” 1999 – Steve Tyler of Aerosmith tells the New York Daily News he’s trying to prevent his ex-wife from printing naked photos of him in a new book. 2001 – Presley Scott Harwell, son of Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell and Michelle Laroque, dies from complications due to acute lymphatic leukemia. 2004 – The second highest new entry in U.S. album charts is Van Halen’s new hits collection The Best of Both Worlds, which lands at No. 3.