June 13th

Musical birthdays today include former Dr. Hook frontman Dennis Locorriere (77), ex-Heart guitarist Howard Leese (77), operatic soprano Sarah Connolly (63), Smashmouth bassist Paul De Lisle (63), singer-songwriter Michael Anthony Franano (62), Five Star lead singer Denise Pearson (58), Aqua keyboardist Søren Rastrad (57), Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo (56), Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster (54), Sisters with Voices lead singer Coko [née Cheryl Gamble] (52), Awkward Stage lead guitarist Tygh Runyan (48), and rapper Raz-B [né DeMario Thornton] (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico founder Carlos Chávez, born on this day in 1899... for trumpeter & bandleader Doc Cheatham, born in 1905... for French horn player Alan Civil [best remembered for his solo on The Beatles' 'For No One'], born today in 1930... for  soul singer Bobby Freeman, who would have been 86... for Drifters vocalist Clyde McPhatter, who died on this date in 1972... for Benny Goodman, who passed away in 1986... and for jazz flautist David Most, who left us today in 2015.  

Also on June 13: Handel finishes his oratorio Solomon which includes the sinfonia The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (1747)... Stravinsky's score for 'Petrouchka' is performed for the first time at the Ballet russe in Paris, with Nijinsky as lead dancer (1911)... The Yardbirds' US-market only album For Your Love is released (1965)... The Rolling Stones hold a photo call in London's Hyde Park to introduce new guitarist Mick Taylor. The 20-year-old former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers will make his public debut with the Stones at their free concert in the Park next month (1969)... 'The Long and Winding Road' becomes The Beatles' final US № 1 single. Let It Be takes over the top spot on the album chart today as well (1970)... John Lennon's last ever TV appearance is broadcast as part of a 'Salute To Sir Lew Grade'. His performance of 'Slippin And Slidin', and 'Imagine' was recorded at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on April 18... Peter Frampton's shows at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco are recorded, and will appear on the Frampton Comes Alive! album next year... RCA Records release Red Octopus, the biggest-selling album of any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane or Starship [in this case the latter] (1975)... Whitney Houston's second album Whitney becomes the first LP by a female solo artist to debut at № 1 on the US chart. She will also set a record when the first four singles from the album go to the top spot (1987)... Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill is released (1995)... 37-year-old Susan E. Santodonato collapses and dies of a heart attack outside NYC radio station Star 105.7. as a Britney Spears impersonator leaves the building. A crowd gathered after a DJ claimed that the star was in the studio (2000)... Arctic Monkeys make their live debut at The Grapes pub in Sheffield. The band receive £27 from ticket sales (2003)... Michael Jackson is found not guilty of all charges of child abuse by a jury of eight women and four men at the end of a 16-week trial in Santa Maria, CA. Jackson is cleared of all 10 charges including abusing a 13-year-old boy, conspiracy to kidnap, and supplying alcohol to a minor to assist with a felony (2005).

June 12th

Musical birthdays today include Roy Harper (85), blue-eyed soul singer Len Barry (84), Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos (76), Rocky Burnette (73), They Might Be Giants singer & multi-instrumentalist John Linnell (67), Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler (65), rapper Bounty Killer [né Rodney Price] (54), Dirtbombs drummer Ben Blackwell (44), and Anarbor lead guitarist Dave Melilo (38).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early New orleans jazz cornet player Emmett Hardy, born on this day in 1903... for big band & pop singer Vic Damone, born in 1928... for country songwriter & producer Chips Moman, who would have been 89... for Chick Corea, who would have been 85... for soul singer Lyn Collins, who would have been 78... for former King Crimson bassist & lead singer John Wetton, who would have been 77... for former Boston lead singer Brad Delp, who would have been 75... for original Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon, who would have been 74...  for original Blue Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan, who would have been 57... for bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, who died on this date in 1957... for Russian singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava, who passed away in 1997... and for composer Györgi Ligeti, who left us today in 2006. 

Also on June 12th: Composer Gabriel Fauré becomes director of the Paris Conservatory (1905)... The Beatles arrive in Adelaide, Australia and are met by some 250,000 fans ~ the largest single greeting the group would ever receive ~ who line the route from the airport to the city centre. The Fab Four will play their first four shows down under at Adelaide's Centennial Hall (1964)... The Beatles are included in the Queen's birthday honours list to each receive the MBE. Protests pour into Buckingham Palace, with MP Hector Dupuis saying "British Royalty has put me on the same level as a bunch of vulgar numbskulls"... The Supremes become the first American group to score five consecutive US № 1s when their latest single 'Back in My Arms again' tops the Billboard chart (1965)... Pink Floyd appear at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London. It is at this show that future co-manager Peter Jenner sees the band live for the first time. Floyd go on to sign a management contract with Jenner and Andrew King on the 31st of October (1966)... Bob Dylan’s album Greatest Hits peaks at № 10 on the US chart. The cover photograph was taken by Rowland Scherman at Dylan's November 28th, 1965, concert in Washington, D.C., and will win the 1967 Grammy award for Best Album Cover, Photography. The original album package also included Milton Glaser's now-familiar psychedelic poster depicting Bob with rainbow hair (1967)... Capitol Records releases Band of Gypsys, the last full-length Jimi Hendrix album to appear in the guitarist's lifetime (1970)... With the help of her mother, a barefoot Ronnie Spector walks out of her husband Phil's Beverly Hills mansion for the last time, leaving behind her adopted son, three year old Donté, and six year old twins, Louis and Gary. Within days she files for a divorce that will be granted in 1974 (1972)... Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Gary 'US' Bonds all appear at a rally for nuclear disarmament in NYC's Central Park before a crowd of over 450,000 (1982)... The Elvis Presley Autoland Museum opens at Graceland. The museum contains over 30 cars which were owned by the King, including his famous Pink Cadillac, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Stutz Blackhawks, a 1975 Dino Ferrari, a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, and the red MG that Elvis drove in the film Blue Hawaii (1989)... UB40 have their third UK № 1 with their version of ('I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You, also a chart-topper for Elvis in 1962 (1993)... Sinead O'Connor announces that she is a lesbian. The mother of two tells US magazine Curve that she has been in the closet for years saying, "I am a lesbian. I haven't been very open about that. I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian" (2000)... Van Morrison, Queen, Little Richard and Phil Collins are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony in NYC (2003).

June 11th

Musical birthdays today include session drummer Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie (87), former King Crimson lyricist Richard Palmer-James (79), ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard (77), Air Supply guitarist Graham Russell (76), ex-.38 Special frontman Donnie Van Zant (74), Nashville session keyboardist & harmonica player Johnny Neel (72), free jazz bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma [né Rudy McDaniel] (70), Flaming Lips multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd (57), Marianas Trench frontman Josh Ramsay (43), and Sublime with Rome lead guitarist Rome Ramirez (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Richard Strauss, born on this day in 1864... for film score composer Carmine Coppola, born in 1910... for operatic soprano Risë Stevens, born in 1913... for jazz drummer Shelly Manne, born in 1920... for jazz singer & songwriter Al Rinker, who died on this date in 1982... for trumpeter and Down Beat magazine co-founder Clyde McCoy, who passed away in 1990... for jazz guitarist Johnny Smith, who died in 2013... for Françoise Hardy and for Brian Wilson, both of whom left us one year ago today.  

Also on June 11th: Bedřich Smetana's opera Libuše premieres  at the National Theatre in Prague (1881)... Hank Williams makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry and receives an unprecedented six encores (1949)... Drummer Tommy Moore makes the fateful decision to quit The Beatles and return to his job of driving a forklift at the Garston Bottle Works in Liverpool. He is briefly replaced by Norman Chapman, who is called into National Service after just three gigs. After going drummerless and mostly jobless for a few weeks, the band hire Pete Best on August 12th, only one day before they are to go to Hamburg to play a string of club dates... In Cologne, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontakte suite for electronic instruments, piano and percussion is performed for the first time (1960)... The Beatles tape a BBC radio program, 'Here We Go', at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester, in front of a studio audience composed largely of loyal Cavern fans. This is the band's last known recording on which Pete Best plays drums (1962)... Decca Records release The Angry Young Them, the debut album from Them featuring lead singer Van Morrison (1965)... Radio stations throughout Europe mistakenly report that Roger Daltrey has been killed in a car crash. Pete Townshend was in fact injured in a road accident a few days ago, but both he and Daltrey very much alive (1966)... Printed in the classified ads section of this week's Melody Maker: 'Freaky lead guitarist, bass and drummer wanted for Marc Bolan's new group. Also any other astral flyers with car amplification and that which never grows in window boxes, phone Wimbledon 0697.' The band which forms as Tyrannosaurus Rex go on to release four underground folk albums before becoming known as T Rex (1967)... John works on 'Revolution 9' in Studio 3 at Abbey Road, while Paul is next door in Studio 2 adding overdubs to 'Blackbird' (1968)... AC/DC kick off their 'Lock up Your Daughters' UK tour with a show at Glasgow City Hall (1976)... Nelson Mandela' s 70th birthday tribute takes place at Wembley Stadium, London, featuring Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, George Michael, Eric Clapton, UB40, The Eurythmics and Simple Minds. The event is broadcast live on BBC 2 to 40 different countries with an estimated audience of 1 billion (1988)... Sir Paul McCartney marries Heather Mills at St Salvator Church, Ireland. Guests include Ringo Starr, David Gilmour, Jools Holland and Chrissie Hynde. Heather walks down the aisle clutching a bouquet of 11 'McCartney' roses. Mills first met McCartney at the Pride of Britain Awards event in London in April 1999, which McCartney was attending to present an award to an animal rights activist (2001)... Jimmy Page is awarded an OBE in the Queen of England's Birthday Honours list, while Queen guitarist and founding member Brian May is awarded a CBE (2005)... Dark Side of the Moon re-enters the Billboard Album chart at № 47, and reaches the milestone of 1,000 weeks on the magazine's charts (2011).

June 10th

Musical birthdays today include former Shirelles vocalist Shirley Owens (84), French pop singer Chantal Goya (84), Breeders lead guitarist Kelly deal (65), former Pixies bassist Kim Deal (65), reggae fusion singer Maxi Priest [né Max Elliot] (65), ex-Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (61), former Lush guitarist & vocalist Emma Anderson (59), rapper The D.O.C. [né Tracy Curry] (58), ex-Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty (56), rapper Flesh-n-Bone [né Stanley Howse] (53), R&B singer Faith Evans (53), and 702 vocalist LeMisha Grinstead (48).  

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Frederick Loewe, born on this day in 1901... for Howlin' Wolf [né Chester Burnett], born in 1910... for Judy Garland [née Frances Gumm], born in 1922... for bossa nova guitarist João Gilberto, born in 1931... for free jazz drummer John Stevens, who would have been 86 today... for Ray Charles, who passed away on this date in 2004... and for Sly Stone, who let us one year ago today. 

Also on June 10th: Franz Liszt's London debut is the first classical piano concert to be billed as a 'recital' (1840)... The Rolling Stones record three songs at Chess Studios in Chicago. During breaks in the session, they meet Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Chuck Berry... On their first world tour, The Beatles take a flight from Hong Kong to Australia, making an unscheduled fuel stop in Darwin, where over 400 fans greet their aircraft. The Beatles then continue on to Sydney, where they arrive in the middle of a heavy downpour. The group are required to appear in an open-top truck in the pouring rain to wave at the thousands of fans who have come out to meet them (1964)... John Coltrane and the 'Classic Quartet' record the smaller ensemble pieces that will be divided up between the albums Kulu Sé Mama and Transition, the former the final Coltrane collection to appear in his lifetime (1965)... Steve Marriott collapses during a Small Faces appearance on the TV show Ready Steady Go! The group will be forced to cancel the following week's gigs (1966)... Sammy Davis Jr. has his only US № 1 single with 'The Candy Man'. The Rolling Stones are atop the UK album chart with Exile on Main Street (1972)... The Eagles release One of These Nights, which will go on to become their first US № 1 album (1975)... Joe Strummer and Nicky Headon of The Clash are each fined £5 by a London court for spray-painting the name of the band on a wall in London's West End (1977)... John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are at № 1 on the singles charts in both the US and Britain with 'You're the One That I Want' from the Grease soundtrack (1978)... Jerry Garcia goes into a five-day diabetic coma, forcing the Grateful Dead to cancel the remainder of their current tour (1986)... Sinead O'Connor takes out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to 'stop hurting me please.' She blames her troubled behaviour on abuse she suffered as a child. O'Connor is still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October (1993)... Radiohead have the № 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic with Amnesiac (2001)... The surviving members of Led Zeppelin meet at a secret rehearsal space in England to run through songs for the forthcoming 02 Arena benefit tribute to the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. It is the first time the three musicians have been in the same room with instruments since their four-song set at Led Zeppelin's 1995 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2006)... The Rolling Stones play their first UK festival in over 30 years when they appear at 'Isle of Wight '07'. The Stones arrive on the island via privately chartered ferry for their 200-strong entourage, including five Winnebago trailers and their own security team. The band's last UK festival appearance was at Knebworth Fair in 1976 (2007).

June 9th

Musical birthdays today include Cox Family patriarch & fiddler Willard Cox (89), jazz pianist Kenny Barron (83), film score composer James Newton Howard (75), ex-UFO lead guitarist Paul Chapman (72), singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves (62), operatic soprano Erika Miklósa (55), former Yummy Fur frontman Jackie McKeown (55), Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy (48), Afrobeat singer D'banj [né Dapo Oyebanjo] (46), and Anoushka Shankar (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer John Howard Payne [best remembered for 'Home Sweet Home'], born on this day in 1791... for Cole Porter, born in 1891... for bluesman Skip James, born in 1902... for Les Paul, born in 1915... for blues bassist & Muddy Waters sideman Calvin 'Fuzz' Jones, born in 1926... for R&B singer Johnny Ace, born in 1929...  for French popular singer Barbara [née Monique Serf], born in 1930.. for pioneering soul singer Jackie Wilson, born in 1934... for Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, who would have been 85... for ex-Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder, who would have been 75... for classical pianist Claudio Arrau, who died on this date in 1991... and for funk & soul singer Darondo [né William Pulliam], who left us today in 2016. 

Also on June 9th: Accompanied by his father Leopold and his sister Nannerl, 7-year-old Wolfgang Mozart leaves Salzburg for his first European concert tour (1763)...  At a private concert in Paris, Debussy and Stravinsky perform a four-hand piano version of the latter's score for The Rite of Spring,  which will premiere with great controversy in a year's time in its full orchestrated version (1912)... Jelly Roll Morton records 'Jelly Roll Blues' in Richmond, Indiana (1924)... On the last night of their tour with Roy Orbison, The Beatles perform at King George's Hall, Blackburn, Lancashire. It is at this show that the group's fans first start throwing jelly babies at them while they are on stage, after George Harrison's off-the-cuff remark on television that the band enjoy eating them (1963)... At Columbia Studio A in NYC, Bob Dylan records 14 tracks in one night, including the first version of Mr. Tambourine Man and the entirety of the Another Side of Bob Dylan album (1964)... Bob Dylan receives an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University. Dylan will commemorate the event in the song 'Day of the Locusts (1970)... Elvis makes entertainment history by performing the first of four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. George Harrison, John Lennon, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Art Garfunkel are in the audience. The performances are also being recorded for a live album... Bruce Springsteen signs his first contract with Columbia Records (1972)... Rick Wakeman announces that he is leaving Yes (1974)... The Rolling Stones release Some Girls, their first studio album with Ron Wood as a full member. The album cover was designed by Peter Corriston and features The Rolling Stones in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. The cover immediately runs into trouble when Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli [representing her mother Judy Garland], Raquel Welch, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe threaten legal action (1978)... Cyndi Lauper is at № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with 'Time after Time' (1984)... MC Hammer's second major-label release Please Hammer Don't Hurt' 'em goes to the top of the US album chart, where it will stay for 21 weeks, a longevity record since the establishment of the rankings (1990)... Buckingham Palace announces that Mick Jagger is to be given a knighthood for services to music (2002)... The 10-day Belgian music festival 'Lokerse Feesten', which prides itself on its horse-meat sausages, announces that it will be going meat-free on the day that vegetarian singer Morrissey appears. Organisers will order stalls to sell vegetarian food only on the 4th of August, the day the former Smiths lead singer is due to perform. In 2009, Morrissey left the stage at California's Coachella festival, saying he could "smell burning flesh". The booking "means a welcomed catering challenge for one day", the spokesman adds (2011).

June 8th

Musical birthdays today include Nancy Sinatra (86), Parliament-Funkadelic founding member Fuzzy Haskins (85), former Three Dog Night vocalist Chuck Negron (84), Renaissance lead singer Annie Haslam (82), Boz Scaggs (82), Julie Driscoll (79), Bonnie Tyler (75), ex-Black Flag frontman Greg Ginn (72), ex-Simply Red lead singer Mick Hucknall (66), Greek pop singer Katy Garbi (65), Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes (64), Kanye West (49), Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks (47), ex-The Calling frontman Alex Band (45), and Nickel Creek fiddler Sara Watkins (45). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Tomaso Albinoni, born on this day in 1671... for Robert Schumann, born in 1810... for singer-songwriter Steven Fromholtz, who would have been 81 today... for former Milli Vanilli vocalist Rob Pilatus, who would have been 61... for singer-songwriter Root Boy Slim [né Foster MacKenzie III], who died on this date in 1993... and for pop singer Crispian St. Peters, who left us today in 2010. 

Also on June 8th: The Crystals' 'Da Doo Ron Ron' peaks at № 3 on the US singles chart. The song was produced by Phil Spector, and represents his first use of a multi-track recording system to build the song layer upon layer to achieve a result that has become known as a 'wall of sound'. Backing musicians included Glen Campbell on guitar, Leon Russell on piano, Hal Blaine on drums and Nino Tempo on sax (1963)... Procol Harum go to № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'a Whiter Shade of Pale', while Sgt. Pepper reaches the top of the album rankings, where it will remain for 27 weeks (1967)... Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts visit Brian Jones at his home in Cotchford Farm, E. Sussex to discuss his future in the Rolling Stones. Upon returning to London, Jagger & co. issue a statement announcing that Jones has left the band (1969)... Bob Dylan releases Self-Portrait... East German police impound Deep Purple's van and equipment after the group drive too close to the border while on a European tour (1970)... Bill Wyman becomes the first Rolling Stone to release a solo album with Monkey Grip. The record features guest appearances by, Dr John, Leon Russell and Lowell George... David Bowie starts a four-week run at the top of the UK charts with his third № 1 album, Diamond Dogs. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It is controversial as the full painting clearly shows the hybrid's genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover make their way into circulation at the time of the album's release... Elvis Presley calls Dolly Parton to tell her that he would like to cover her new single 'I Will Always Love You'. Parton is interested until Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker tells her that it is standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis records. Parton refuses. The song will become a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston almost two decades later when released as a single from the the soundtrack to the film 'The Bodyguard'... Paul McCartney and Wings go to № 1 on the US singles chart with 'Band On The Run'. McCartney later states that George Harrison unwittingly contributed the first line of one part of the song: "If we ever get out of here" was something that he said during one of the many Beatles' business meetings (1974)... Tears for Fears have the № 1 single in the US with 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'... Bob Dylan releases Empire Burlesque (1985)... At a Greenpeace press conference, vegetarian Chrissie Hynde claims that she once firebombed a McDonalds restaurant. The following day, a McDonalds in Milton Keynes, England is destroyed in this way and the Pretenders lead singer is threatened with legal action (1989)... Bruce Springsteen marries Patti Scialfa in a small private ceremony at their home in Beverly Hills, CA (1991)... Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Martin Carr of The Boo Radleys are all involved in a brawl at Dingwalls, Camden in London (1998)... Months of secrecy surrounding Sir Paul McCartney's wedding plans are blown when John Leslie, the owner of the 17th century Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan, lets slip to reporters that Sir Paul had booked the venue for the wedding (2002)... Rolling Stone magazine publishes a list of the Top 50 guitar songs of all time ~№ 5 is ‘Brown Sugar’ by The Rolling Stones; № 4, ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks; № 3, ‘Crossroads’, by Cream; № 2 ‘Purple Haze’, by Jimi Hendrix, and at № 1, Chuck Berry's ‘Johnny B Goode’ (2008).

June 7th

Musical birthdays today include Tom Jones (86), jazz guitarist Royce Campbell (74), record executive & producer Antonio 'L.A.' Reid (70), Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra (69), Prefab Sprout lead singer Paddy McAloon (69), Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Michael Cartellone (64), producer & former Theaudience guitarist Billy Reeves (61), Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz (60), original Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro (59), rapper Necro [né Ron Braunstein] (50), Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson (41), Iggy Azalea (36), and Fetty Wap (36).

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for conductor George Szell, born on this day in 1897... for Dean Martin [né Dino Crocetti], born in 1917... for jazz guitarist Tal Farlow, born in 1921... for jazzman Harold 'Tina' Brooks, born in 1932... for Savuka frontman Johnny Clegg, who would have been 73... for Prince, who would have been 68... for blues & gospel singer Carole Fredericks, who died on this date in 2002... for fusion jazzman & former Soft machine bassist Hugh Hopper, and for Kenny Rankin, both of whom who passed away today in 2010... and for former Fleetwood Mac guitarist & singer Bob Welch, who took his own life today in 2012 at the age of 66. 

Also on June 7th: John Coltrane and sidemen complete the Africa/Brass sessions, devoting most of the day to Eric Dolphy's arrangement of 'Greensleeves' (1961)... The Rolling Stones release their debut single, a cover of Chuck Berry's 'Come on' (1963)... During their first US tour, the Stones are booed off the stage in San Antonio, TX. A troupe of performing monkeys who were one of the opening acts are brought back on as security try to restore order... Heading for the far eastern leg of their world tour, The Beatles fly from Amsterdam to Hong Kong. When the plane stops to refuel in Beirut, police turn firefighting foam on hundreds of fans who have invaded the runway (1964)... British supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Grech and Steve Winwood make their live debut at a free concert in London's Hyde Park. Their only album release provokes controversy because the cover features a topless pubescent girl holding a silver space ship which many perceive as a phallic symbol. The US record company issues it with an alternative cover showing a photograph of the band on the front. The controversy is fuelled by rumours about the girl's relationship to the band, which include the story that she is a groupie being kept as a slave... Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell both appear on the premiere of ABC-TV's 'The Johnny Cash Show' from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Dylan sings 'I Threw It All Away' and 'Living the Blues', and duets with the host on 'Girl From The North Country'; Joni performs 'Both Sides Now' (1969)... Elton John's ninth studio LP Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy becomes the first record ever to debut on the Billboard album chart at № 1. John Denver is at the top of the singles listing with 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' (1975)... Led Zeppelin play the first of six sold out nights at Madison Square Garden on what will prove to be the band's final North American tour (1977)...  Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public. The bathroom in which Elvis died nearly 5 years earlier remains sealed... Stray Cats release Built for Speed, their third and biggest selling album (1982)... David Bowie plays a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with the speakers pointing towards the nearby Berlin Wall, behind which thousands of young East Berliners stand and listen (1987)... Hanson are at № 1 in both the US and the UK with 'MMMbop'. The single will go on to top the charts in 27 other countries... Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher plays a five-song set at the Tibet Freedom Concert, Downing Stadium in NYC. U2, Patti Smith and Radiohead are also on the bill (1997)... Virgin Records announce that they have dropped Victoria Beckham after her debut solo album, which cost over £3 million to make and sold only 50,000 copies (2002)... The funeral of Bo Diddley takes place in Gainesville, FL. Many in attendance chant "Hey Bo Diddley" shortly after family members passed by his coffin as a gospel band played the pioneering rocker's music. At the service, they present a floral tribute in form of his trademark square guitar (2007).

June 6th

Musical birthdays today include Gary 'U.S.' Bonds (87), jazz pianist Monty Alexander (82), King Crimson bassist Tony Levin (80), former Caravan bassist Richard Sinclair (78), Holly Near (77), Dwight Twilley (75), Yellow Magic Orchestra lead singer Yukihiro Takahashi (74), producer & former The Time keyboardist Jimmy Jam [né James Harris III] (65), Steve Vai (65), Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley (62), Korn guitarist James Shaffer (56), Uncle Kraacker [né Matthew Shafer] (52), former Libertines guitarist Carl Barât (48), ex-Yellowcard bassist Peter Mosely (46), Pussy Riot vocalist Maria Alyokhina (38), and rapper Mike G [né Michael Griffin II] (36). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for saxophonist & bandleader Jimmie Lunceford, born on this day in 1902... for composer Aram Khachaturian, born in 1903... for former Four Tops vocalist Levi Stubbs, who would have been 87 today... for Tangerine Dream keyboardist Edgar Froese, who would have been 81...  for Stan Getz, who died on this date in 1991... for Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby, who died of a drug overdose on this day in 2002 at the age of 42... for former Animals keyboardist Dave Rowberry, who died in 2003... for Billy Preston, who passed away in 2006... and for Marvin Isley, who left us in 2010. 

Also on June 6th: In NYC, Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie have their final collaborative recording session, which will yield the album Bird & Diz (1950)... Bing Crosby is presented with a platinum disc to commemorate his 200 millionth record sold (1960)... The Beatles are introduced to George Martin and have their first recording session at Abbey Road Studios (1962)... Elton John's debut album Empty Sky is released in Britain (1969)... At the Extravaganza 70 Festival at Olympia Hall in London, Syd Barrett plays his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd, backed by a band that includes his old friend Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett baffles the audience as well as his musicians when he abruptly takes off his guitar during the fourth number and walks off stage, not to return (1970)... John Lennon & Yoko Ono jam live on stage with Frank Zappa at the Fillmore East in NYC. The performance is recorded and will be partially released on John's album Some Time in New York City (1971)... David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars is released (1972)... RCA Records releases Dolly Parton's original version of 'I Will Always Love You' (1974)... Talking Heads play their first show at CBGB (1975)...  Def Leppard play at Crookes Workingman's Club in Sheffield. The gig is reviewed in the UK music paper 'Sounds' and leads to an audition and eventual contract with Phonogram Records (1979)... Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Crosby Stills & Nash, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne all appear at The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California before a crowd of 85,000 fans at the six hour 'Peace Sunday: We Have a Dream' antinuclear concert. Dylan is joined onstage with Joan Baez and duets with her on 'Blowin’ in the Wind' and 'With God on Our Side'. The show is partly broadcast on ABC TV’s 'Entertainment Tonight' program on the same day (1982)... Michael Jackson announces that he is breaking all ties with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jackson was brought up in the faith and earlier in his career would don disguises and go door to door with the Watchtower message in cities where he was performing (1987)... The 2 Live Crew album As Nasty as They Wanna Be is ruled obscene by a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, FL (1990)... B*Witched score their first UK № 1 single with 'C'est La Vie', making them the seventh act in chart history to debut at the top. On the album chart, Boyzone have their third UK № 1 with Where We Belong ~ it is also the first time in chart history that the top positions have been simultaneously occupied by Irish acts (1998)... A High Court judge in London rules that rap lyrics should be treated as a foreign language after admitting that he was baffled by the expressions 'shizzle my nizzle' and 'mish mish man.' The dispute is over a copyright issue between the Ant'ill Mob and the Heartless Crew who sampled the lyrics in a remix (2003)

June 5th

Musical birthdays today include session guitarist Steve Stevens (80), original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward (78), Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch (67), Dream Theater lead singer James LaBrie (63), Megadeath drummer Shawn Drover (60), Gallows frontman Wade MacNeil (42), and Adele (38). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for bluesman Blind Willie McTell, born on this day in 1901... for Buena Vista Social Club singer Pío Leyva, born in 1917... for early rock saxophonist John 'Ace' Cannon and for soul singer Johnnie Taylor, both born in 1934... for electronic musician & composer Delia Derbyshire, who would have been 88... for Tammy Wynette, who would have been 82... for the Reverend Gary Davis, who died on this date in 1972... for country singer Jerry Wallace, who passed away in 2008, and for singer & music journalist Greg Quill, who left us today in 2014.  

Also on June 5th: Carnegie Hall opens its doors for the first time, with Tchaikovsky leading the NY Philharmonic in a rendition of his own Marche solenelle. Also on the program is Beethoven's Leonore overture, under the baton of Walter Damrosch, the regular conductor of the Philharmonic (1891)... In Paris, composer Claude Debussy performs in public for the last time, playing the piano for the premiere of his own 1st Violin Sonata (1918)... Elvis scores his first US № 1 single with 'Heartbreak Hotel' (1956)... John Coltrane and bandmates finish recording the Giant Steps album, including 'Naima' (1959)... On a recommendation by George Harrison, Dick Rowe, head of A&R at Decca records (and the man who turned down The Beatles), goes to see The Rolling Stones play at the Crawdaddy Club in London. The band will be signed to the label within a week (1963)... Manfred Mann are at № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Pretty Flamingo'. The recording features future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965. On their Top Of The Pops appearance, singer Paul Jones performs whilst standing on one leg (1966)... Buffalo Springfield announce that they have disbanded (1968)... The Beatles' single 'Get Back' is released in the US. John will claim in 1980 that "there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there", adding that Paul looked at Yoko in the studio every time he sang the line 'Get back to where you once belonged' (1969)... Columbia records release Paul Simon's second solo album There Goes Rhymin' Simon... David Bowie has first UK № 1 album with Aladdin Sane. Across the Atlantic, Elvis' Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite is the top-selling LP (1973)... Television appear at CBGB with The Stilettoes ~ soon to change their name to Blondie ~ as their opening act (1974)... Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr marries Chrissie Hynde in a horse-drawn carriage in NYC's Central Park... Duran Duran have the № 1 single in the US and the UK with 'The Reflex' (1984)... 
Radiohead release 'The Drill EP', their first record in the UK. The band are still called 'On a Friday', the day when the songs on this EP were recorded; they will change their name to Radiohead the following month (1992)... Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan receives both a public apology and a donation of £7,500 to the Warchild charity from the German tabloid 'Sport' after they ran a story claiming she had performed a gig in Hamburg whilst wearing no underwear... 
Rage against the Machine have the № 1 album in the US with Evil Empire (1996)... Two disc jockeys from Denver's KRFX-FM, Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax, stop a live interview with Ted Nugent after the Detroit rocker uses racial slurs against Asians and Blacks. The station receives scores of complaints from listeners (2002)... Justin Timberlake undergoes an operation at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Hospital to remove nodules from his vocal chords (2005).

June 4th

Musical birthdays today include former Average White Band saxophonist Roger Ball (82), Michelle Phillips (82), saxophonist Anthony Braxton (81), ex-Winger guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor (75), Eldra 'El' DeBarge (72), R&B singer & producer Al. B Sure! [né Albert Brown III] (57), ex-Cradle of Filth bassist Dave Pybus (55), Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard (50), ex-Visions of Atlantis lead singer Maxi Nil (44), Saturdays vocalist Mollie King (38), and Half Noise drummer Zac Farro (35). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for early Québecoise recording star La Bolduc [née Mary Travers], born on this day in 1894... for jazzman & film score composer Oliver Nelson, born in 1932... for Freddy Fender, who would have been 88... for Peter and Gordon singer Gordon Waller, who would have been 81... for Paul McCartney & Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who would have been 73.. for Lords of the New Church frontman Steven 'Stiv' Bators, who died on this date in 1990... for ex-Herman's Hermits guitarist Derek Leckenby, who died in 1994... for Small Faces co-founder & bassist Ronnie Lane, who passed away in 1997... for bluegrass fiddler & banjo player John Hartford, who died in 2001... and for Jefferson Airplane drummer Joey Covington, who left us today in 2017. 

Also on June 4th: Georg Philipp Telemann takes up the position of cantor at the Gymnasium Johanneum in Hamburg (1721)... In Los Angeles, Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs found Capitol Records. The label will become home to such artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Glen Campbell, Steve Miller, Dr. Hook, Bob Seger, Tina Turner and Heart, among many others. Wallichs is also credited with pioneering the technique of promoting records by sending copies of new releases to disc jockeys (1942)... The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Procol Harum, Denny Laine and The Chiffons all appear at The Saville Theatre, London. Both Paul McCartney and George Harrison are in the audience to see Hendrix perform the title track from Sgt Pepper, which was released 3 days previously (1967)... In Glenrowan, Australia, hundreds of people sign a petition protesting against the casting of Mick Jagger in the role of the Australian folk hero Ned Kelly in the film of the same name. The film, directed by Tony Richardson, will be released in October 1970... Columbia releases Johnny Cash's album Live at San Quentin (1969)... Elvis begins a  five day stint of recording at RCA's studio B in Nashville, starting each day at 6pm and working until dawn (1970)... The Rolling Stones become the first western group to receive royalties for sales of their records in the USSR (1975)... The Sex Pistols appear at The Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. The show is now often regarded as the birth of the punk rock movement, and the catalyst for the 'Summer of Punk'. In the audience are Morrissey, future Joy Division members Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, and Mark E Smith who will found The Fall. Tickets cost £1 (1976)... The Jam's debut single 'In the City' enters the UK Top 40, the first of 18 consecutive singles of theirs to do so (1977)... The Police are at № 1 on both sides of the Atlantic and in 14 other countries with 'Every Breath You Take' (1983)... Columbia releases Bruce Springsteen's album Born in the USA (1984)...  The opening show of the first Conspiracy of Hope tour takes place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA. The benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International are being held to increase awareness of the organization on the 25th anniversary of its foundation. The six shows are headlined by U2 and Sting, and also feature Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers (1986)... The US Postal Service announce the results of a poll conducted to see which picture of Elvis Presley should be used on a commemorative stamp. The young Elvis won out over the older and larger 'Vegas Elvis' (1992)... Wet Wet Wet start a 4-month run at  № 1 on the UK singles chart with 'Love Is All Around', from the film 'Four Weddings & A Funeral'. The song was written by Reg Presley of The Troggs and was a Top 10 for his band in 1967... Philip Glass' opera 'Beauty and the Beast' has its world premiere at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain (1994)... Crowded House announce that they have disbanded (1996)... Wyclef Jean is one of ten people arrested for disorderly conduct in a New York rally protesting cuts in education. Jean is subdued and led away in handcuffs following an attempt to perform, which is forbidden by the event’s permit. P. Diddy, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Erykah Badu, Foxy Brown and the Wu-Tang Clan are also at the rally to show their support and to protest a proposed $1.2 billion cut in the budget for New York’s public education system (2002). 

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June 3rd

Musical birthdays today include Ian Hunter (87), Suzi Quatro (76), Deniece Williams (76), Dan Hill (72), Rembrandts frontman Danny Wilde (70), Ozric Tentacles lead guitarist Ed Wynne (65), Slayer guitarist Kerry King (62), Phish bassist Mike Gordon (61), Republica lead singer Saffron [née Samantha Sprackling] (58), High on Fire frontman Mike Pike (53), Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones (51), and Hi-5 guitarist Dihan Slabbert (44). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for blueswoman Memphis Minnie (née Lizzie Douglas), born on this day in 1897... for Josephine Baker, born in 1906... for Curtis Mayfield, who would have been 83 today... for original Byrds drummer Michael Clarke, who would have been 79... for T Rex drummer Mickey Finn, who would have been 79... for Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell, who would have been 72... for composer Georges Bizet, who died on this date in 1875... for Bill Haley & His Comets pianist Johnny Grande, who passed away in 2006... and for saxophonist & Louis Prima sideman Sam Butera and 'Queen of the Chicago blues' Koko Taylor, both of whom left us in 2009. 

Also on June 3rd: Elvis graduates from J.C. Hulmes High School in Memphis; his graduation photo shows him to have a split curl in the middle of his forehead, later to become his trademark. The first member of his family to graduate high school, his final report card shows that he received an A in English but only a C in music (1953)... Ringo Starr is taken ill with tonsillitis and pharyngitis, days before a world tour is about to start. After a last-minute phone call from George Martin, session drummer Jimmy Nichol rushes over to EMI Studios, where he and The Beatles run through six songs from their tour repertoire in a quick rehearsal. Nichol replaces Ringo and becomes a Beatle for eleven days (1964)... Aretha Franklin goes to № 1 on the Billboard singles chart with her version of 'Respect', a top ten hit for Otis Redding the previous year (1967)... The Kinks' Ray Davies has to make a 6,000 mile round trip from New York to London to record one word in a song. Davies was forced to change 'Coca-Cola' to 'cherry cola' in the lyrics of the band's forthcoming single 'Lola' due to an advertising ban on BBC Radio (1970)... The Rolling Stones kick off their biggest North American tour to date with a show at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC... Jethro Tull have the № 1 album in the US with Thick as a Brick... Pink Floyd release the album Obscured by Clouds (1972)... Session drummer Jim Gordon murders his mother by pounding her head with a hammer at the prompting of voices. A schizophrenic, it will not be until his trial in 1984 that Gordon is properly diagnosed. Since his attorney is unable to use the insanity defense, the drummer is sentenced to sixteen years-to-life in prison. A Grammy Award winner for co-writing 'Layla' with Eric Clapton, Gordon also worked with The Beach Boys, John Lennon, George Harrison, Frank Zappa and Jackson Browne, among others (1983)... Fine Young Cannibals top the US album chart with The Raw & The Cooked (1989)... The Carter Family and Johnny Cash are inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Asbury Park, NJ (1990)... Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard, Ozzy Osbourne, The Corrs, Will Young, Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 all appear at The Queen's Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace (2002)... Red Hot Chili Peppers go to № 1 on both the US and UK album charts with Stadium Arcadium, the band's ninth studio release (2009).

June 2nd

Musical birthdays include Gladys Knight & the Pips vocalist William Guest (85), Bangles bassist Michael Steele (71), Lydia Lunch (67), former Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley (66), Misfits guitarist Bez Cadena (65), Raconteurs multi-instrumentalist Jason Falkner (58), Cypress Hill rapper Louis 'B-Real' Freese (56) Keane keyboardist Time Rice-Oxley (50), and Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti (46). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Edward Elgar, born on this day in 1857... for pop & Motown artist Sammy Turner, born in 1932... for doo-wop & R&B singer Johnny Carter, born in 1934... for soul singer Jimmy Jones, who would have been 89... for Charlie Watts, who would have been 85... for songwriter & arranger Marvin Hamlisch, who would have been 82... for Dorsey Brothers trumpeter Robert 'Bunny' Berigan, who died from the effects of alcoholism on this day in 1942 at the age of 33... for classical guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia, who died in 1987... for former Bob Marley & the Wailers vocalist Junior Braithwaite, who was murdered on this day in 1999 at the age of 50... for Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick, who took his own life in 2006 at the age of 55... and for Bo Diddley, who left us today in 2009. 

Also on June 2nd: At the Stadtstheater in Zürich, the first two acts of Alban Berg's opera Lulu are performed for the first time; the complete 3-act version of the work will not have its premiere until 1979 (1935)... Ray Charles is at № 1 in both in the US and the UK with his version of country artist Don Gibson's 'I Can't Stop Loving You' (1962)... In Hilversum, Holland, Eric Dolphy plays his final concert. The show is recorded and will be released as the album Last Date following Dolphy's death from a diabetic coma later this year... The Rolling Stones make their debut on US TV with an appearance on The Les Crane Show (1964)...  Paul McCartney & Wings top both the US singles and album charts with 'My Love' and Red Rose Speedway, respectively (1973)... Columbia releases Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)... Prince plays his first UK show at the Lyceum Ballroom in London. It will be five years before he gives another concert in Britain (1981)... Wham! have their first UK № 1 with 'Wake Me up before You Go Go' (1984)... Bill Wyman marries 19-year-old Mandy Smith in an unannounced private ceremony in London, with the other four Rolling Stones present, and the bassist's 28-year-old son as best man (1988)... UK tabloids report that Paul McCartney threw his fiancée Heather Mills' engagement ring out of a hotel window during a recent row. Guards at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Miami, FL combed the grounds using metal detectors and later found the £15,000 bauble (2002)... A painting of Kylie Minogue wearing gold hot pants causes tempers to fray among drivers in Brighton. Artist Simon Etheridge put up the almost life-size picture in his own Art Asylum gallery as part of a Festival and since then motorists have been causing regular traffic hold-ups as they stop to take a second look (2003)... Franz Ferdinand frontman, Alex Kapranos is detained by Russian police after being suspected of being a spy. Kapranos was attempting to board a plane in Moscow when the altercation took place. Travelling under his actual surname of Huntley, Alex is accused of being an MI6 agent who was previously suspected of stealing information on Russian weaponry. Unluckily for Alex, the surname Huntley was in fact used by former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson when stealing secrets in the early 90s. The singer was freed after he pointed out that the Huntley they were so concerned about was 42, 13 years older than himself (2005).

June 1st

Musical birthdays today include Pat Boone (92), Ron Wood (79), Little River Band bassist Wayne Nelson (76), singer-songwriter & DJ Tom Robinson (76), country singer Ronnie Dunn (72), producer & former Depeche Mode multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder (67), The Cure bassist Simon Gallup (65), ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce (63), Mindy Smith (54), Alanis Morrissette (52), Brandi Carlile (45), and multi-instrumentalist & film score composer Ari Herstand (41). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for composer Mikhail Glinka, born on this day in 1804... for bandleader & arranger Nelson Riddle, born in 1921... for bluegrass singer Hazel Dickens, born in 1935... for blues singer & harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson I [né John Lee Curtis], who died on this date in 1948... for ex-Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, who died in 1991... for former Hi-Five lead singer Tony Thompson, who passed away in 2007... and for jazz saxophonist Faruq Z. Bey [né Jesse Davis], who left us today in 2012. 

Also on June 1st: Lesley Gore hits № 1 in America with 'It's My Party' (1963)... The Rolling Stones are met by some 500 fans as they disembark from British Airways flight BA 505 at JFK to begin their first American tour. They will make promotional appearances between now and the first scheduled date on the 5th in San Bernardino, CA (1964)... The John Coltrane quartet finish recording the album Crescent at the Van Gelder Studio (1964)... Luciano Pavarotti makes his Covent Garden debut, as Tonio in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment... The Beatles continue to add overdubs to 'Yellow Submarine'. Roadie Mal Evans plays on a bass drum strapped to his chest, marching around the studio with The Beatles following behind in a conga line of sorts, singing the refrain (1966)... Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band has its worldwide release... David Bowie's eponymous debut is released on Deram Records (1967)... Simon & Garfunkel top the Billboard singles chart with 'Mrs. Robinson' (1968)... The two-room shack in Tupelo, MS where Elvis was born on January 8, 1935 is opened to the public as a museum (1971)... Miles Davis goes into Columbia Studio E in NYC to begin recording On the Corner (1972)... Soft Machine founder & former drummer Robert Wyatt fractures his spine after attempting to leave a party by climbing out of a window and down a drainpipe. He falls three stories, sustaining injuries that leave him permanently confined to a wheelchair (1973)... On his 28th birthday, Ron Wood officially replaces Mick Taylor as the Stones' second guitarist, as the band launch their biggest tour of the US to date with a concert at LSU in Baton Rouge, LA (1975)... U2 are the band for the end of the year dance at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin (1978)... Prince & the Revolution have a US № 1 with the album Around the World in a Day... Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band kick off the European leg of the Born in the USA world tour with a show at Slane Castle in Dublin (1985)... Spice Girl Emma Bunton AKA Baby Spice arrives back in the UK after breaking her ankle making a leap from a stage during an appearance on Turkish TV (1997)... Jack White marries girlfriend Karen Elson in a ceremony in a canoe on the Amazon (2005)... Contemporary musicians record their own versions of songs from the Sgt Pepper album to mark the 40th anniversary of its release. Acts including Oasis, Travis, The Fray, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers all worked with Geoff Emerick, the engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions, using the original analogue 4-track equipment to demonstrate the techniques employed for the recording at Abbey Road studios (2007).

May 31st

Musical birthdays today include former Marmalade lead guitarist Junior Campbell (78), Kraftwerk drummer Fritz Hilpert (69), session keyboardist & Bonnie Tyler sideman John Young (69), Corey Hart (62), Run-D.M.C. rapper Darryl McDaniels (61), operatic soprano Diana Damrau (53), jazz bassist Christian McBride (53), former Reel Big Fish multi-instrumentalist Scott Klopfenstein (45), Fall Out Boy drummer Andy Hurley (45), and ex-Animals as Leaders drummer Navene Koperweis (39). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for English music hall pianist songwriter Billy Mayerl, born on this day in 1902... for Peter Yarrow, who would have been 88 today... for country singer Johnny Paycheck [né Donald Lytle], who would have been 86... for pianist, songwriter and Duke Ellington collaborator Billy Strayhorn, who died in 1967... for soul singer Johnnie Taylor, who passed away in 2000... and for Argentine singer-songwriter and bandoneón player Rubén Juárez, who left us in 2010. 

Also on May 31st: Violin prodigy Nicolò Paganini makes his concert debut in Genoa at the age of 11 (1794)... Columbia releases what is often considered the first true jazz record, 'Darktown Strutters' Ball' by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, as a 78 RPM, catalog № A-2297 (1917)... In Nashville, Johnny Cash makes his Grand Ole Opry debut (1958)... Dick Dale and the Del-Tones record 'Let's Go Trippin'', often regarded as the first surf rock instrumental (1961)... Filming begins for the first season of The Monkees' TV series (1966)... With Yoko sitting in at Studio 1, Abbey Road for the first time, The Beatles continue to work on 'Revolution', adding the vocal tracks. After numerous overdubs, the final six minutes of the song evolve into chaotic jamming, with Lennon repeatedly shouting "alright" and Yoko speaking random phrases. The jam becomes the basis for ‘Revolution 9’ (1968)... The Who give themselves a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the loudest performance of a rock band, as they reach 120 decibels during a gig at the Charlton Athletic football grounds in Greenwich, London (1973)... The BBC announce a formal ban on the new Sex Pistols single 'God Save The Queen', declaring it 'in gross bad taste'. The IBA [Independent Broadcasting Authority] simultaneously issues a warning to all radio stations saying that playing the single will constitute a breach of Section 4:1:A of the Broadcasting act (1977)... Lipps, Inc. have the № 1 single in the US and seven European countries with 'Funky Town' (1980)... R.E.M. sign their first recording contract,  a 5-album deal with IRS Records (1982)... Sire Records release Talking Heads' album Speaking in Tongues (1983)... David Bowie's Tin Machine make their live debut at the International Music Awards in NYC (1989)... Geri Halliwell announces that she has quit The Spice Girls, saying "This is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best" (1998)... UK police announce that thousands of people at this year's rock festivals will be subjected to a computerised drug test. Fans will be asked to provide swab samples from their hands, which would be inserted into a machine for analysis. It is to be a voluntary test, but Anti-drug officers can search anyone refusing (2003)... Death Cab for Cutie go to № 1 on the US album chart with Narrow Stairs (2008).

May 30th

Musical birthdays today include Dave Clark Five guitarist Lenny Davidson (82), Dead Kennedys bassist Geoffrey 'Klaus Flouride' Lyall (76), classical pianist Zoltan Kocsis (74), The Clash drummer Topper Headon (71), Wynona Judd (62), former Rage against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello (62), ex-Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus (60), Charlatans lead singer Tim Burgess (59), stage musical singer Idina Menzel (55), rapper & producer Thomas 'CeeLo Green' Calloway (51), Shadows Fall lead singer Brian Fair (51), and Devendra Banhart (45).  


Shoutout to the Great Beyond for Benny Goodman, born on this day in 1909... for Latin jazz percussionist Armondo Peraza, born in 1924...for accordionist & electronic music pioneer Pauline Oliveros, born in 1932... for rapper Lamont 'Big L' Coleman, who would have been 52... for song & dance man Dooley Wilson, who died on this date in 1953... for Derek & the Dominoes bassist Carl Radle, who died in 1980... for Sun Ra, who passed away in 1993... for big band singer & saxophonist Tex Beneke, who died in 2000... and for guitarist & Miles Davis sideman Pete Cosey, who left us today in 2012.

Also on May 30th: J.S. Bach makes his debut as cantor at Leipzig's Thomasschule with his first cantata performance in the city. He presents cantata № 75, Die Elenden soll essen, at the St. Nicolai Church, and will be formally inducted into his post tomorrow (1723)... London Records release The Rolling Stones' self-titled debut album in America, subtitled England's Newest Hitmakers (1964)... Dolly Parton marries Carl Thomas Dean, a road-paving contractor, in Ringgold, GA. (1966)... At Abbey Road, The Beatles record 'Revolution', the first of the tracks that will make up the collection that will come to be known as The White Album (1968)... George Harrison's album Living in the Material World is released in the US (1973)...  A 14-year-old Australian David Cassidy fan named Bernadette Whelan dies of heart failure four days after attending her idol's concert in White City Park, Perth. Over 1,000 other fans had to be given medical attention during the show (1974)... David Bowie kicks off his 87-date Glass Spider world tour at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam (1987)... The Black Crowes go to № 1 on the US album chart with The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992)... Alan Whitaker of Penzance appears on the UK TV quiz show Mastermind with The Sex Pistols as his specialist subject. He wins a place in the semi-final of the show, answering all but one of the 18 questions correctly (1996)... Scottish pop singer Finley Quaye is threatened with jail after his mobile phone rang when he is in the dock waiting to be sentenced on charges of assaulting his former girlfriend. After being found guilty, he is ordered to attend a six-month domestic violence programme (2003)... A leaked copy of the new White Stripes album Icky Thump is played entirely on the Chicago radio station Q101 [WKQX FM]. Jack White personally calls the US radio station from Spain, where he is on tour, to voice his displeasure (2007)..

May 29th

Musical birthdays today include former Can keyboardist Irmin Schmidt (89), French chanteuse Catherine Lara (81), ex-Ohio Express lead singer Joey Levine (79), Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi (77), ex-Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman (74), La Toya Jackson (), Melissa Ethridge (65), Wolfsbane lead singer Blaze Bayley (63), Noel Gallagher (59), Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla (57), ex-Verve  bassist Simon Jones (54), Melanie Brown AKA Spice Girl Mel B (51), and Hives lead singer Pelle Almqvist (48). 

Shoutout to the Great Beyond for film score composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, born on this day in 1897... for Mexican singer & actress Armida Vendrell, born in 1911... for Procol Harum frontman Gary Brooker, who would have been 80 today... for Poco bassist Mike Porcaro, who qould have been 69... for Gilbert & Sullivan librettist W.S. Gilbert, who died on this date in 1911... for former Quicksilver Messenger Service lead guitarist John Cipollina, who passed away in 1989... for Jeff Buckley, drowned in an accident on this day in 1997 at the age of 30... for Doc Watson, who died in 2013... and for pop singer B.J. 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My head' Thomas, who left us four years ago today.   

Also on May 29th: Beethoven attends a performance of Haydn's oratorio The Seasons in Vienna (1801)... 'The Swedish Nightingale' Jenny Lind sails from NYC after a triumphant 2-year US tour (1852)... The premiere of Stravinsky's score for Diaghilev's ballet The Rite of Spring causes a riot at the Ballet russe in Paris (1913)... Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas' in 3 takes and 18 minutes with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers (1942)... Chubby Checker wins a grammy for Best Rock & Roll Recording with 'Let's Twist Again', while Ray Charles' 'Hit the Road Jack' takes the trophy for best R&B Recording (1962)... Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home goes to № 1 on the UK album chart... The Beach Boys have the top US single with 'Help Me Rhonda' [The recording session for the song was interrupted by the Wilson brothers' father Murry, who arrived at the studio drunk and criticized the band's enthusiasm, lifestyle and hair length. The tape reel continued to record the confrontation, which still circulates among fans] (1965)... The Move, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Zoot Money, Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band all appeare at the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall in Spalding, Lincolnshire. The Floyd are only a support band and play in a corner of the hall [basically a large shed] with a white sheet behind them and lights projected through coloured oils onto it. Tickets cost £1, and the poster advertising the show promises a 'Knockout Atmosphere' (1967)... Crosby, Stills & Nash release their self-titled debut album on Atlantic Records (1969)... The Rolling Stones hit № 1 in the US with 'Brown Sugar'... Several dozen Grateful Dead fans are treated for hallucinations caused by LSD after they unwittingly drink spiked apple juice served at a gig at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom (1971)... The Buzzcocks play a gig at the Electric Circus in Manchester. Their opening act, a local band called Warsaw, are making their live debut and will soon change their name to Joy Division (1977)... Tina Turner releases her comeback album Private Dancer (1984)... Michael Jackson makes an offer of $1 million to the London Hospital Museum, where the skeleton of 'Elephant Man' John Merrick is preserved, to buy the remains. The proposition is turned down (1987)... Fresh from the final studio sessions for the Nevermind album, Nirvana play an announced show at the Jabberjaw in Los Angeles. In the audience are Iggy Pop and Dave Grohl's girlfriend and L7 bassist Jennifer Finch, who has also brought along Courtney Love (1991)... The FBI recover 44 nude pictures of Madonna that had been stolen from the studio of NYC photographer Steven Meisel (1992)... Skeletal remains are found by scuba-diving photographers looking for old car wrecks to shoot at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, CA. Based on forensic analysis, the remains are those of Philip Kramer, former bassist with rock group Iron Butterfly, who disappeared on his way home from work on February 12, 1995. His death is ruled a probable suicide (1999)... In Moscow, The Eagles play their first concert in Russia as part of a 6-date tour of the country (2001)... A 16ft by 6ft mosaic designed by John Lennon goes on display at The Beatles Story museum on the Albert Docks in Liverpool. The mosaic had been built into Lennon's swimming pool at his Kenwood home in Surrey where he lived between 1964 and 1968 (2002)... A piano played by John Lennon on the night he died is put up for sale for $375,000 online at the Moments in Time memorabilia website. The upright grand piano is the property of the Record Plant Recording Studios in New York where the former Beatle recorded his 1971 album Imagine. Lennon was said to be so fond of the instrument that he had it moved to whichever studio he was working in and had used the piano hours before being shot in December 1980 (2007)... After being found guilty last month of the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003, Phil Spector is sentenced to a minimum of 19 years by a Los Angeles judge (2009)... A park in Sabrosa, Portugal [some 50 miles north of Lisbon] is renamed BB King Park in honour of a live show for 20,000 spectators that the blues legend played there in 1975 (2010).