Originally posted on 07-25-18: On July 25th, in 1925, “The Funk Brothers” drummer Bennie Benjamin was born in Mobile, Alabama. He was the infamous session drummer behind the Motown hits from 1958 up to 1969. He passed away in ’69 from a stroke. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio for the ‘Sidemen’ category in 2003. He’s laid plenty of bass kicks and rim shots for Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes and many others.
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On July 25th, in 1951, the man that laid the bottom with the double bass & much energy for the legendary group Earth Wind & Fire-Verdine White was born in Chicago, Illinois. The band had top 5 singles in the ‘70’s and 80’s (US & UK), 20 Grammy nominations and were the first Black band to sell out Madison Square Garden. Some people say that they were more polished and had more crossover appeal than other grittier Funk bands of the time. Regardless of which side you stand on, they made some great music. Verdine is the only founding member that’s still alive. He played with Level 42, Ramsey Lewis, The Emotions and Denice Williams. His brother, Maurice, was the Leader of the Earth Wind & Fire.
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On July 25th, in 1980, AC/DC released Back in Black. It was their 6th LP, and the first without Bon Scott on lead vocals because he’d passed away earlier that same year on the 19th of February. He was 33 years old. The LP currently is pushing sales in the 50 million range worldwide. Making it the best-selling hard rock or heavy metal album, and the second highest-selling album of all time. L4TPB sidebar Vol 3.a.: B.D.P. (Dee Jay Scott La Rock & Emcee KRS-1) used the title cut Back in Black for their song Dope Beat.
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On July 25th, in 1984, Ms. Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton, the ‘New Bessie Smith’, the Blues Hall of Famer, the writer and singer of classics like Hound Dog (Elvis Presley covered this song-she was his mentor) and Ball ‘n’ Chain (Janis Joplin covered this song), died at the age of 58 died in a Los Angeles, California boarding house. She lost 255 pounds in a short span of time right before her death due to heart and liver complications. She went from 350 to 95 pounds. Both of her previously mentioned songs were chart toppers and earned her 2 slots in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 songs that helped shape Rock ‘n’ Roll” category. She worked with: Jimmy Reed, Esther Phillips, Johnny Ace, Junior Parker, Johnny Otis, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy & Mahalia Jackson to name a few. S.O. to Big Mama Thornton.
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