Bobbie Gentry is 70 Happy Birthday (read more)

Roberta Lee Streeter (born July 27, 1944), professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is an American former singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material. Her songs typically drew on her Mississippi roots to compose vignettes of the Southern United States.

July 27: Bob Dylan: North Country Blues, Newport, Rhode Island 1963 (read more)

On July 26, 1965, Johnny Cash performed at Newport with this great band:

• Johnny Cash (v, acg)
• Luther Perkins (eg)
• Marshall Grant (b)
• WS Holland (d)

Leon Russell Wilkeson (2 April 1952 – 27 July 2001)

Bassist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2001

With its outlaw/party-hearty image, tough southern rock, and solid touring, Skynyrd quickly became one of the top bands of the 1970s, scoring such hit albums as 1974’s Second Helping, 1975’s Nuthin’ Fancy, 1976’s Gimme Back My Bullets and One More from the Road, plus 1977’s Street Survivors—and such hit singles as “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” It was also during this classic era that Wilkeson picked up the gimmick of wearing colorful hats onstage, garnering the nickname “Mad Hatter.”