On This Day in Guitar History: July 3

1930 · Born

Session guitarist Tommy Tedesco is born in Niagara Falls, New York

Thomas Joseph Tedesco was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and became one of the most recorded guitarists in history as a member of the Wrecking Crew, the loose collective of Los Angeles session players who backed hundreds of Top 40 hits through the 1960s and 70s. His guitar work appears on television themes including Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Batman, M*A*S*H, and Green Acres, alongside session dates for acts across pop, rock, and film scoring. Most guitarists have heard Tedesco play without ever learning his name.

Source: Tommy Tedesco

1969 · Passed

Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones drowns at 27

Brian Jones, who founded the Rolling Stones in 1962 and gave the band its name, was found dead in the swimming pool at his home in East Sussex, England. He had been dismissed from the band less than a month earlier, replaced by Mick Taylor, after his drug-related legal troubles made touring impossible. Jones started as the Stones' slide guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, adding sitar, marimba, and other instruments to the band's mid-1960s recordings before Keith Richards and Mick Jagger took over the group's musical direction.

Source: Brian Jones

1971 · Passed

The Doors' Jim Morrison dies in Paris at 27

Jim Morrison, lead singer and lyricist of the Doors, was found dead in a bathtub in his Paris apartment at age 27. No autopsy was performed, and the official cause of death was listed as heart failure, though the circumstances have been debated for decades since. Morrison had moved to Paris earlier that year to focus on writing after the Doors' final studio album, L.A. Woman, was released just months before his death.

Source: Jim Morrison