June 26th

Musical birthdays today include jazz pianist & film score composer Dave Grusin (88), former 5th Dimension vocalist Billy Davis, Jr. (84), Gilberto Gil (80), singer & keyboardist Georgie Fame [né Clive Powell] (79), Mick Jones (67), Chris Isaak (66), ex-Scandal lead singer Patty Smyth (65/span>), former Sundays lead singer Harriet Wheeler (59), Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood (53), country singer Gretchen Wilson (49), and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder (43). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, born on this day in 1893... for Colonel Tom Parker, born in 1909... for saxophonist Arthur Doyle, who would have been 78 today... for jazz guitarist Zachary Breaux, who would have been 62... for Sonny Rollins sidemen Clifford Brown and Richie Powell, both killed in a road accident today in 1956... for producer & record company executive Lou Reizner, who died in 1977... and for Mexican banda singer Sergio 'El Shaka' Vega, murdered today in 2010 at the age of 40. 

Also on June 26th: Bruno Walter conducts the posthumous premiere of Mahler's 9th Symphony in Vienna (1912)... Elvis, backed by Scotty Moore and Bill Black, plays the first of three nights at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. The local paper runs a preview which reads: ‘A good looking youngster who has become a juke-box favorite with his 'That's Alright, Mama' and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' Presley is expected to repeat some of his hit tunes at the Airmen's Club show in addition to mixing up a few country tunes with some "bop" and novelty numbers' (1955)... On sabbatical from the Miles Davis Quintet, John Coltrane sits in on the Thelonious Monk septet session that will become the album Monk's Music. Coltrane's name will appear only as a footnote on the back cover of the LP (1957)... Gary 'U.S.' Bonds starts a two-week run at № 1 on the US chart with 'Quarter To Three'. Before Bonds recorded this version, it was an instrumental by The Church Street Five called 'A Night With Daddy G.' Bond's manager added lyrics to it and had him record it (1961)... As their tour down under continues, The Beatles play two shows at the Town Hall, Dunedin, South Island, NZ. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin was tense due the receipt of an anonymous threat that a 'germ bomb' had been placed on board the aircraft. Meanwhile, the Hard Day's Night soundtrack album, numerous illicit copies of which have been leaked to radio stations in the US, is released in America some ten days ahead of what was to have been the simultaneous stateside and British release (1964)... The Byrds have the № 1 song in America with their debut single 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (1965)... Joni Mitchell appears live on ABC TV's 'The Mama Cass Show' (1969)... Cher and Sonny Bono are divorced after 10 years of marriage (1974)... Columbia Records release Bob Dylan & the Band's Basement Tapes, a 2 LP selection of tracks that the musicians recorded during Dylan's recovery from his 1966 motorcycle accident (1975)... Elvis makes his last ever live stage appearance when he appears at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. The last two songs he performs are ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show, the King was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant (1977)... One hit wonder Charlene is at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic with 'I've Never Been To Me'. The song was originally recorded in 1976 and was reissued by Motown records in 1982, by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in a bakery in Ilford, east London (1982)...  Elton John is reported to be in talks with a City finance house to secure a £25 million loan, using his back catalogue of hits as security.  The star is reputed to have been putting up to £250,000 a week on credit cards (1999)... Britney Spears' hometown of Kentwood, LA announces that a new museum, due to open early next year, will include a section displaying fan mail, platinum records and genuine items of the singer's clothing (2000)... The readers of Total Guitar Magazine vote Celine Dion’s rendition AC/DC's ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ as the world's worst cover version ever. The publication's editor Stephen Lawson pronounces Dion's cover a "sacrilege". On the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix comes in first with his version of the Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower'; The Beatles' rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’, (first recorded by The Top Notes), is in second place, followed by the Guns N' Roses version of the Paul McCartney & Wings song ‘Live and Let Die' (2008).