June 24th

Musical birthdays today include Turkish rock pioneer Erkin Koray (81), Arthur Brown (80), Jeff Beck (78), original Family bassist John 'Charlie' Whitney (78), former Traffic & Blind Faith saxophonist Chris Wood (78), Zombies lead singer Colin Blunstone (77), Mick Fleetwood (75), former Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz (74), ex-Dire Straits bassist John Illsley (73), UB40 rapper Terence 'Astro' Wilson (65), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark frontman Andy McCluskey (63), session vocalist & keyboardist Siedh Garrett (62), Tears for Fears co-founder Curt Smith (61), Mazzy Star lead singer Hope Sandoval (56), Rammstein lead guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe (55), Black Crowes lead guitarist Jeff Cease (55), variety singer Sissel Kirkjebø (53), Less Than Jake drummer Vinnie Fiorello (48), and Solange Knowles (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for country & rockabilly singer Ramblin' Tommy Scott, born today in 1917... for original Social Distortion guitarist Dennis Danell, who would have been 59 today... for tango singer Carlos Gardel, who was killed in a plane crash today in 1935 at the age of 44... for gospel singer Ira Tucker, who died in 2006... and for singer-songwriter Ewanya 'Puff' Johnson and Devo drummer Alan Myers, both of whom left us today in 2013.

Also on June 24th: Belgian inventor Adolphe Sax files in Paris for a patent for his saxophone (1846)... The song that will become the Canadian national anthem O Canada! is performed publicly for the first time at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français in Montreal (1880)... John Lennon's second book of poetry and drawings, 'A Spaniard in the Works', was published. The book consists of absurdist stories and drawings similar to the style of his 1964 book 'In His Own Write'... The Hollies are at № 1 on the UK singles chart for the first time with 'I'm Alive' (1965)... Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' enters the Billboard chart, where it will peak at № 5. The song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group's organist Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Orchestral Suite in D', composed in 1739 (1967)... Led Zeppelin record 'Whole Lotta Love', 'What Is and What Should Never Be', 'Travelling Riverside Blues' and 'Communication Breakdown' for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios, London. The session will broadcast on the 29th of June (1969)... Capitol Records release The Beach Boys greatest hits retrospective Endless Summer, which will go on to spend 155 consecutive weeks on the US album chart (1974)... Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Devo, Brand X and The Atlanta Rhythm Section are all on the bill at Knebworth Park, England ~ tickets cost £6 (1978)... Paul McCartney scores his seventh UK № 1 solo album with Flowers In The Dirt, featuring the single 'My Brave Face' (1989)... Frank Zappa gives his final onstage rock performance when he takes part in the concert 'Adieu Soviet Army', organised in Prague as a farewell to the last soldiers of the Soviet Army leaving free Czechoslovakia (the Red Army had occupied the country since the Prague spring in 1968). Zappa's set is recorded and can be found on the album Adieu C. A. [Soviet Army] (1991)... Eric Clapton puts 100 of his guitars up for auction at Christie's in NYC to raise money for his drug rehab clinic, the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. His 1956 Fender Stratocaster named Brownie, which he used to record the original studio version of ‘Layla’, sells for a record $497,500. The auction helps raise nearly $5 million for the clinic (1999)... The crypt in which Elvis Presley was originally buried is withdrawn from a Los Angeles auction after protests that it should be kept as a shrine. More than 10,000 fans signed a petition against the sale of the tomb at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, TN. A spokesman for Julien's Auctions says that they will not sell the crypt until the cemetery "finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis" (2012).