May 26th

Musical birthdays today include former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit (80), Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson (71), Stevie Nicks (70), Hank Williams, Jr. (70), Alphaville lead singer (64), singer-songwriter Kristina Olsen (61), Lenny Kravitz (54), Chroma Key singer & keyboardist Kevin Moore (51), former Oasis drummer Alan White (46), Lauryn Hill (43), Chimaira lead singer Mark Hunter (41), Microphones frontman Phil Elvrum (40), and The Fray lead singer Isaac Slade (37).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for pioneering blues recording artist Mamie Smith, born on this day in 1883... for Al Jolson, born in 1886... for English popular singer George Formby, born in 1904... for composer and instrument inventor Louis 'Moondog' Hardin, born in 1916... for Buena Vista Social Club pianist Rubén González, born in 1919... for Peggy Lee, born in 1920... for Miles Davis, born in 1926... for Levon Helm, who would have been 78... for guitarist & longtime David Bowie sideman Mick Ronson, who would have been 72... for composer Victor Herbert, who died on this date in 1924... for early country star Jimmie Rogers, who died in 1933... for R&B singer Little Willie John, who died in 1968... for original O'Jays vocalist William Powell, who passed away in 1977... and for classical pianist Ruth Laredo, who left us today in 2005. 

Also on May 26th: The first Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival is held on the 20th anniversary of the singer's death. The gathering in Meridian, MS continues to be an annual event (1953)... Marianne Faithful records the Jagger/Richards song 'As Tears Go By', accompanied by future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass (1964)... The Rolling Stones are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Paint It, Black'. It was originally titled 'Paint It Black' without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca. It is the first № 1 single to feature a sitar... The Beatles record 'Yellow Submarine' at Abbey Road Studios. George Martin, who is recovering from a case of food poisoning, misses the session, which is produced by EMI engineer Geoff Emerick instead. The track features John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water and shouting "Full speed ahead Mister Captain!" (1966)... The Mothers of Invention release Absolutely Free, their second studio album (1967)... Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things are all on the bill at the OZ magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London. OZ was a satirical humour magazine, founded by Richard Neville in 1963 and based in Sydney, Australia. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973 (1968)... John and Yoko begin an eight-day 'bed in' in room 1742 of the hotel La Reine Elizabeth in Montreal to promote world peace. They record 'Give Peace a Chance' in the room (Petula Clark can be heard on the chorus). The song is credited to Lennon & McCartney, even though Paul had nothing to do with the record (1969)... With Mott the Hoople on the point of splitting up, David Bowie offers the band two of his new songs, 'Suffragette City', which they turn down, and 'All The Young Dudes', which they record. The song will give the group a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic (1972)... The Edgar Winter Group top the US singles chart with 'Frankenstein', the band's only US № 1. The group features ex-McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument around his neck (1973)... On Irish television today: at 4.00, 'Top Cat', 4.30 'Skippy' and at 5.30 a program called 'Youngline', a series for young people highlighting their interests. Today's show includes a feature on a new pop group now calling themselves U2 (1978)... 'Sunday Girl' gives Blondie their second UK № 1 hit single. The track was taken from the group's 'Parallel Lines', which goes on to become the biggest selling album of the year in Britain (1979)... For the first time ever, the top five positions on the US singles chart are held by female artists : Madonna is at № 1 with 'Vogue', while Heart are at № 2, Sinead O'Connor at № 3, Wilson Phillips at № 4 and Janet Jackson at № 5 (1990)... Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic (1994)... The Rolling Stones play two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso Amsterdam over two days. Keith Richards will later say that the Paradiso gigs were the best live shows the Stones ever did. The venue is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century, subsequently squatted in 1967 by hippies who wanted to convert the church into an entertainment club. Artists who have recorded concerts at the Paradiso include Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Phish, Nirvana, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and Amy Winehouse (1995)... A fire at the home of Eric Clapton causes over £1.5 million worth of damage. Firemen arrived on the scene to find Clapton braving the blaze to save his collection of guitars (1996)... A US judge ends a bitter two-year court battle over James Brown's estate. Judge Jack Early rules that half of the late singer's assets will go to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to his six adult children in equal shares. Brown's family and widow Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, had been squabbling over his fortune since the Godfather of Soul died of heart failure in 2006 (2009)... Willie Nelson appears in public for the first time since cutting his trademark waist-length braids. A spokesman for the legendary entertainer [who refuses to comment] says that he decided to lose his signature hairstyle earlier in the month, but made no announcement of the change (2010).