June.
The moon in June
One of ancient Rome’s leading class, the Junius family, had June named in its honor, the naming probably influenced by the fact that the festival of Juno, goddess of the moon, fell on the first of that month.

June 1907
Emboldened Buddy
The story of Charles “Buddy” Bolden is part of the earliest history of New Orleans jazz. In June 1907 Bolden was committed to the Insane Asylum of Louisiana, where he spent the last 24 years of his life. The official cause of his insanity was listed as alcoholism. The Asylum denied it had put Bubby in charge of the supplies of Rubbing Alcohol, Medical Alcohol or even the cleaning products.

June 1959
Beat it!
Sitting around trying to think up the meaning of the Lost Generation and the subsequent Existentialism ...I said, ‘You know, this is really a beat generation.’
Playboy June 1959, p. 32.

June 1964
Elderly bluesmen emerged from the woodwork!
In June 1964, Blues fan Nick Perls made an astounding discovery: Son House was alive, aged somewhere in his seventies, living alone in a housing project in Rochester, New York.
Within days, three other blues fans Bill Barth, Henry Vestine, and John Fahey located Skip James in the Tunica County Hospital, and in July he appeared at Newport, still weak from his illness but with a song he had written in the hospital called “Sickbed Blues.”

June 1954.
Snow bound for 20 weeks.
Hank Snow held down the number one position on Billboard’s country chart for twenty consecutive weeks beginning in June 1954. The song was a pure country weeper called “I Don’t Hurt Anymore.”

June 1973
Grievous Tour
In June 1973, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris reunited for a country rock tour and then recorded the Grievous Angel album. Parsons’ life was in chaos and his drug taking reckless, and he was declared dead half an hour into September 19, 1973 at the aptly name Hi-Desert Memorial Hospital in Yucca Valley, California. He was 26.
...he lasted that long?

June 1977
Voyager Rocks On!
In June 1977, a NASA explorative space vehicle named Voyager was sent into the far reaches of the universe. Included was a gold record master disc containing a 90-minute sampling of world music. One representative song for the United States was Chuck Berry’s rendition of “Johnny B. Goode.”

June 1979
What! Only one month to apreciate it!
June declared African - American Music Appreciation Month. It was initiated as Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter who, on June 7, 1979, decreed that June would be the month of black music.President Barack Obama renamed the national observance as African-American Music Appreciation Month. The idea was initially sparked following President Richard Nixon's declaration of October as Country Music Month back in 1972. In 2017 the then President Donald Trump honied in on the accomplishments and impact of artists like Chuck Berry, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.

June 1990
That ain’t gonna work with that type of people!
Junior Kimbrough and Sammy Greer teamed up to create the Chewalla Rib Shack, Kimbrough’s first actual jook joint.
The place opened in June 1990. Kimbrough advised Greer on interior design. “I had it decorated with antiques, real nice,”Greer says. “Junior, he said to clear it. ‘That ain’t gonna work with the type of people we’re going to be getting in here.’”

On this day the 1st of June

Blues harmonica player and singer Sonny Boy Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I or "the original Sonny Boy" ) died June 1, 1948, (age 34) in Chicago, Illinois. Williamson was killed in a robbery on Chicago's South Side, as he walked home from a performance at The Plantation Club at 31st St. and Giles Avenue, a tavern just a block and a half away from his home at 3226 S. Giles. Williamson's final words are reported to have been "Lord have mercy".
John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of recordings by many pre–World War II blues artists. Under his own name, he was one of the most recorded blues musicians of the 1930s and 1940 and is closely associated with Chicago producer Lester Melrose and Bluebird Records. His popular songs, original or adapted, include "Good Morning, School Girl", "Sugar Mama", "Early in the Morning", and "Stop Breaking Down".
Williamson's harmonica style was a great influence on postwar performers. Later in his career he was a mentor to many up-and-coming blues musicians who moved to Chicago, including Muddy Waters. In an attempt to capitalize on Williamson's fame, Aleck "Rice" Miller began recording and performing as Sonny Boy Williamson in the early 1940s, and later, to distinguish the two, John Lee Williamson came to be known as Sonny Boy Williamson I or "the original Sonny Boy".



1973 : Former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt breaks his spine after attempting to leave a party by climbing down a drainpipe and falling three stories. It leaves Wyatt permanently crippled and confined to a wheelchair.


On June 1st 1985, a convoy of new travellers, peace protestors, green activists and festival-goers set off from Savernake Forest in Wiltshire to establish the 12th annual free festival at Stonehenge. There were around 450 people in total, and they included a number of women and children. They never reached their destination. Eight miles from the Stones they were ambushed, assaulted and arrested with unprecedented brutality by a quasi-military police force of over 1,300 officers drawn from six counties and the MoD. That event has gone down in history as ‘The Battle of the Beanfield’.

1st June 1967 ...and the band began to play!
The Beatles', Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released June 1, 1967, in Britain, and on June 2 in the United States. Sgt. Pepper has been described as one of the first art rock LPs, aiding the development of progressive rock, and credited with marking the beginning of the Album Era. An important work of British psychedelia, the album incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music. In 2003, the Library of Congress placed Sgt. Pepper in the National Recording Registry, honouring the work as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". That same year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number one in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". (It was the first time lyrics had ever been included with an album cover). The album was heavily produced and took 129 days and about 700 hours to complete. The Beatles first album, Please Please Me, was recorded in less than 10 hours. Artist Peter Blake designed the album cover as if Sgt. Pepper's band had just performed a concert. He asked The Beatles who they wanted at the concert, and put them in the cover design.

June 1, 1972
Recording for Dark Side Of The Moon started on June 1, 1972 and continued throughout that year, the first sessions to take place on Abbey Road’s new 24-track equipment.

June 1st 1982
Madness' "House Of Fun" hits #1 on the UK singles chart.

On this daythe 2nd of June

2nd June 2008 Bo Diddley died of heart failure at age 79. Ellas McDaniel, known as Bo Diddley, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and music producer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Clash.

On this day back in 1989 Bill Wyman secretly married 19 year old Mandy Smith. Wyman's 28 year old son was best man.

On this day the 3rd of June

Memphis Minnie, blues musician, was born on June 3, 1897. One of the few female singer-guitarists in blues, and one of the very best blues guitarists of either gender, Lizzie “Memphis Minnie” Douglas was born in Algiers, Louisiana.

Blues musician Jimmy Rogers (Muddy Waters' Band) was born on this day in Ruleville, Mississippi. (d. 1997). In 1947, Rogers, Muddy Waters and Little Walter began playing together as Muddy Waters' first band in Chicago (sometimes referred to as "The Headcutters" or "The Headhunters" due to their practice of stealing jobs from other local bands).

June 3rd 2009: Blues singer Koko Taylor, known for her popular cover of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle," died of surgical complications after a procedure for gastrointestinal bleeding at age 80.

Dave Swarbrick from the English folk rock band Fairport Convention died on the 3rd of June at the age of 75. He certainly had a way with the fiddle.

3 Jun 1970
The Kinks Ray Davies was forced to make a 6,000 mile round trip from New York to London to record one word in a song. Davies had to change the word 'Coca- Cola' to 'Cherry Cola' on the bands forthcoming single 'Lola' due to an advertising ban at BBC Radio.

June 3 1998: Van Halen cancelled a show at the Docks club in Hamburg, Germany, after a piece of ceiling plaster fell and hit Alex Van Halen. Fortunately it hit him on the head and no serious injury was sustained.

On this day the 4th of June

1942, Glenn Wallichs launched Capitol Records in the US. The label became home to such artists as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Steve Miller, Dr. Hook, Bob Seger, Tina Turner, Heart and countless others. Wallichs was the man who invented the art of record promotion by sending copies of new releases to disc jockeys.



1976. Born on this day in Mount Gambier, South Australia, was country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers who has scored 4 Australian #1 hits and the 2001 US top 20 album Barricades & Brickwalls.

4 June 1969
In Glenrowan, Australia, hundreds of people signed 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, was released in October 1970.

 

June 4, 1949
“Lovesick Blues” hit the hillbilly charts in early March 1949. By June June 4 of that year, Williams’s record hit Number One on the hillbilly charts (or, as in two weeks Billboard would begin to call them, The Country and Western charts ...yes we chart both types of music here!). A few nights later, on June 11, he performed the song at his “Grand Ole Opry” debut.

4 Jun 1997
Jeff Buckley's body was discovered floating in the Mississippi River. Buckley had disappeared when swimming on May 29th in Wolf River Harbor, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin. A roadie in Buckley's band, had remained on shore. After moving a radio and guitar out of reach of the wake from a passing tugboat, he looked up to see that Buckley had vanished.

June 4 1992: The U.S. Postal Service announced that people preferred the “younger Elvis” stamp design in a nationwide vote. A fortunate outcome for the U.S. Postal Service because there is no way a 'Fat Elvis' would fit onto a postage Stamp!

4th June 1947 Laurie Anderson was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

On this day the 5th of June

Jun 5, 1899 "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin was published.
Ragtime will become a key influence on the Piedmont style of blues.

On this day back in 1977 "Sleepy" John Estes ("Drop Down Mama"), died at 78 years of age.



The year was 1961. In Brownsville Tennessee (pop. 4711), a quiet hamlet on the way through a beautiful and poor rural countryside some 60 miles east of Memphis, filmmaker David Blumenthal, who was in the area shooting a documentary on black migration to the North, stumbled upon an old man that he believed to be a forgotten legend of American folk blues.
In 1934 John Adams Estes, know as "Sleepy" for his habit on nodding off at various times throughout the day, came to Chicago where he and long time musical partner Hammie Nixon recorded sides for the Decca label. "Drop Down Mama" and "Someday Baby" now classics of pre-war blues discographies. On other trips north John would record a handful of sides for the Columbia and Bluebird labels. Leaving a scattered remnant of oral tradition etched in the shellac of prewar American "race" music.
After these initial sojourns into recorded history Sleepy John dropped from sight for the next 20 years, working at various jobs throughout his life to earn his living. Having lost sight in one eye in his childhood, by 1940 the sight in his other eye had deteriorated leaving him totally blind for the rest of his life.
After Blumethal's discovery and some initial negotiations and tentative questions, John was brought to Chicago in the spring of 1962 by Delmark Records owner Bob Koester for a series of exploratory performances and recordings. Although he had not performed professionally for over 2 decades, John quickly felt at ease in his urban surroundings.
http://delmark.com/rhythm.estes.htm

1956: Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" was released.


1974: Patti Smith recorded her first song. It was her version of "Hey Joe."


1993 Country singer Conway Twitty died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had the 1958 US & UK #1 single "It's Only Make Believe". Until 2000, he held the record for the most #1 singles of any country act, with 45 #1's. He lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City.

5 Jun 1997
Ex Small Faces, the Faces and leader of Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane died aged 51 after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Slim Chance had the 1974 UK No.5 single 'How Come'.

5 Jun 2002
Dee Dee Ramone, (Douglas Glenn Colvin), bass guitarist with the Ramones died at his Hollywood, California apartment of a heroin overdose aged 49. He was the group's primary songwriter, penning songs such as 'Rockaway Beach', '53rd & 3rd', and 'Poison Heart'.

June 5th 1979: Got my mojo workin' ...again! Muddy Waters (64 years old) married Marva Jean Brooks on her 25th birthday.

June 5, 1986
Welcome to Indianola, Home of B. B. King.
On June 5, 1986, King placed his footprints, handprints, and signature on the Church Street sidewalk where he used to sing.

July 5, 1954
Monday, July 5, 1954. Sam Phillips, Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black in Sun’s pokey, thirty-by-twenty-foot studio started messing with Bill Monroe's “Blue Moon of Kentucky”.

On this day the 6th of June

5th June 2019
Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack, pianist, singer/songwriter, studio musician and longtime New Orleans fixture died at the age of 77. Rebbennack toured with acts like The Grateful Dead and The Band and collaborated with the likes of Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones.

Jun 6th 1989 Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble released In Step
In Step is the fourth studio album by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.
The title In Step was seen as referring to Vaughan's new-found sobriety, following the years of drug and alcohol use that eventually led Vaughan into rehabilitation. It was also Vaughan's final album with Double Trouble. In 1990, he recorded a collaboration album with his brother, Jimmie Vaughan, called Family Style; later that year, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash.

On this day back in 1966 Roy Orbison's wife Claudette died when her motorcycle was hit by a truck. Roy was on his bike ahead of her at the time. She and Roy had remarried two months earlier after reconciling from a divorce.

Rory Gallagher aged 47 died on this day the 6th of June back in 1995. So tied was he to life on the road that his final years were spent living in a hotel overlooking Chelsea harbour. Rory literally played until he dropped, after collapsing onstage in Rotterdam in January 1995, he was hospitalised in London with liver failure. Following a successful transplant operation he seemed to be recovering, but he caught an infection and died in June 1995.

6 Jun 1965
The Rolling Stones released the single ’(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ in the US, which went on to give the band their first No.1. In the UK, (where it was released in August 1966), the song initially played only on pirate radio stations because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.

June 6th 2006: Billy Preston, a virtuoso keyboardist who worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and The Beatles, dies of kidney failure at age 59 after a long battle with kidney disease and hypertension. His funeral is held in Inglewood, California, on June 20th.

June 6, 1933
6th June 6, 1933. The first U.S. drive-in movie theartre opened in Camden, New Jersey, on June 6, 1933, admission to this 400 car site for the double feature cost $1 per car or 25c per person. Some of the cars are still parked up at the back there! The first drive-in theatre to open in Australia was the Skyline in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood on 18th February 1954. During the 1950s and ‘60s, the drive-in became the quintessential teen hangout. Into the 1970s, the success of the drive-in theatre slowly began to wane. A number of factors contributed to this: television, VCRs and a crack down on the cars at the back once the film had finished.

June 6, 1982
In the movie Risky Business, according to Newsweek (6/9/86), Tom Cruise famously “played air guitar in his underwear to ‘Old Time Rock & Roll.’ ” It was the first print use of the phrase but it is certainly older.

On this day the 7th of June

1969: Blind Faith made its British debut with a free concert at London's Hyde Park.


On this day back in 1994 Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane/Starship was sentenced to 200 hours of community service on charges of pointing a loaded gun at police who responded to reports of a disturbance at her home on March 5th.

On this day the 8th of June

On this day back in 1958 and in hope of derailing the controversy building over Jerry Lee Lewis' recent marriage to his 14-year-old second cousin Myra Gale Brown, Sun Records head Sam Phillips took out a full-page ad in Billboard so that the Killer could explain his actions. Readers were astounded that his actions could be condensed onto only one page!

8 June 1963
Melody Maker noted with disapproval in June 1963 that ‘One of the more established and more respectable R&B groups has suddenly turned up in Beatles haircuts and dark sweaters, and recorded a roll-along Chuck Berry number named “Come On”.’ The culprits were the Rolling Stones. Pop balladeer Craig Douglas pronounced their single ‘very very ordinary30. Can’t hear a word they are saying … definitely not a hit’. But at the Station Hotel in Richmond, they were attracting a crowd which ‘in its fervour was like a revivalist meeting in America’s Deep South’. They were, said the ever-watchful Melody Maker, ‘five young men who see themselves as pioneers of authentic beat music on the dangerous fringe of pop and R&B’.

On this day back in 1989, at a Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior's press conference, vegetarian Chrissie Hynde claimed that she once firebombed a McDonalds restaurant. At the time she wasn't a vegetarian and liked her hamburgers well done!

On this day the 8th of June back in 1967, Procol Harum were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale', the group's only UK No.1. In 2004 the song was named the most played record of the past 70 years. More than 900 recorded versions by other artists are known. Keith Reid, who served as the band’s chief lyricist, wrote the words that have confounded generations of fans who still have no idea what the song is all about. It can now be revealed that it is about an anemic condition you get when you skip the light fandango.

On this day back in 1963 "Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash made its debut at #28 on the singles charts. It went on to become his first #1 hit since the 1959 "Don't Take Your Guns To Town."

8 Jun 2008
Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the Top 50 guitar songs of all time. No.5 was 'Brown Sugar' by The Rolling Stones, No.4 , ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks, No.3, ‘Crossroads’, by Cream, No.2 ‘Purple Haze’, by Jimi Hendrix and No.1 ‘Johnny B Goode’, Chuck Berry.

June 8th 1968: The Rolling Stones released “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

2000 8th June: Sinead O'Connor comes out as a lesbian during an interview with Curve magazine, saying, "I would say that I'm a lesbian. Although I haven't been very open about that and throughout most of my life I've gone out with blokes because I haven't necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian. But I actually am a lesbian." She marries a man the following year and says she's "three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay."

June 8, 1970
Bob Dylan's double album Self Portrait was released June 8, 1970. With its mish-mash of folk, pop, and rock covers it was greeted with almost universal derision. It reduced Dylan’s critical stock to an all-time low.

On this day the 9th of June

9th June 1915: Les Paul was born on this day.

On this day back in 1924 "Jelly-Roll Blues" was recorded by blues great Jelly Roll Morton.



Born on this day the 9th of June back in 1929, R&B singer Johnny Ace, Billboards ‘most played artist of 1955'. He died playing Russian roulette backstage at a gig on December 25th 1954. Big Mama Thornton's bass player Curtis Tillman, however, who witnessed the event, said, "I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded …see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’ a sad, sad thing.

June 9, 1964
Bob Dylan cut the LP Another Side of Bob Dylan in one marathon session on June 9, 1964.

On this day the 10th of June

Blues artist Ray Charles died on this day the 10th June 2004, in Beverly Hills, California.

Born on this day the 10th of June back in 1910, Blues singer, guitarist, Chester Burnett, (Howlin Wolf). He died from cancer on January 10th 1976.

1971: During a performance by Jethro Tull at Red Rocks, 1,000 people without tickets broke through a police line to see the show. When police released tear gas, it unfortunately drifted over all the paying fans and the band. The only person not effected by the tear gas was Aqualung. The mishap lead to a five-year ban on rock concerts at the famous venue.
So what exactly happened that night in June 1971? From 1,000 to 2,000 fans showed up without tickets to the sold-out concert, and they were directed by Denver police to a side of the mountain where they could watch the show. Some stayed there. Others climbed a wall into the venue. Others charged the gates en masse. Back-up officers were called, and police chief George Seaton came out in the helicopter and dropped tear gas on the unruly masses himself. But the gas spread into the amphitheater, where Livingston Taylor was opening the concert, and suddenly a bad situation got worse.
Amid all of this, Tull was devising a way to enter the amphitheater, which had been blockaded by the police. Anderson remembers charging through the police barricade and knowing that he was the only person who could calm the capacity crowd — which was swimming in tear gas at the moment. Anderson soothed the crowd and told them they were going to get a full set of music. He told them to put clothing over their mouths, and he encouraged parents with babies and small children to come to the apron so they could access the makeshift hospital set up backstage.

10 Jun 1993
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to "stop hurting me please." She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O'Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.

On this day the 11th of June

Jun 11, 1964 Start of The British Invasion of USA
The first U.S. tour by the Rolling Stones marks the invasion of British blues rock bands.

On this day back in 1949 a 25 year-old Hank Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores. After taking so many bows Hank later suffered with chronic back problems!
Hank Williams' performance of “Lovesick Blues” won encore after encore, establishing him as the most popular country singer in America. It also earned him a position on the Grand Ole Opry, which he joined on June 11, 1949, against the misgivings of some of the Opry’s directors, who had been warned about the young singer’s drinking problems.

June 11th 1998: Amazon.com expanded its product line from books only to compact discs as well.

On this day the 12th of June

June 12, 1928
Emmett Miller one of the most intriguing and profoundly important men in the history of country music, on June 12, 1928, cut four sides at the Okeh studio in New York: “God’s River Blues,” “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” a new version of “Lovesick Blues,” and “Lion Tamers.” These records were issued under the name of Emmett Miller and His Georgia Crackers, as were his later Okeh releases.

June 1959: Bo Diddley released "Go Go Bo Diddley."

June 12 1970
The Kinks released “Lola,” June 12 1970


June 12 1994: Cab Calloway suffered a stroke from which he never truly recovered from. He died November 18, 1994 at the age 86.

Zoot Suit Riots!
It was June 1943 when the Zoot Suit riots broke out in Los Angeles. For over a week, white U.S. soldiers and sailors traversed Los Angeles beating up allegedly “unpatriotic” Mexican-American men, identifiable by their conspicuously voluminous attire. With its super-sized shoulder pads, sprawling lapels and peg leg pants, the zoot suit grew out of the “drape” suits popular in Harlem dance halls in the mid-1930s. The Zoot Suit may have been OK on the dance floor but not in riots. Those men attempting flee the wrath of the rioting soldiers and sailors wree easily caught as they tripped over their peg leg pants.  

1964: The Beatles arrived in Adelaide, Australia and were greeted by an estimated 250,000 fans, (the biggest welcome the band would ever receive), who lined the ten mile route from the airport to the city centre. The group gave their first four shows in Australia at the Centennial Hall, Adelaide over two nights, playing: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can't Buy Me Love, This Boy, Long Tall Sally and Twist And Shout. Temporary member Jimmy Nicol was standing in for Ringo on drums who was recovering from having his tonsils removed.

On this day the 13th of June

June 13 1923
The recording of Fiddlin’ John Carson occurred on June 13 or 14 in Atlanta on Nassau Street by Okeh. Carson chose to record “The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” and “The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster’s Going to Crow”. By late July of that year the first shipment of five hundred records had been sold.

On this day in 1976 Bob Marley performed in Amsterdam.

Anita Pallenberg, model and muse, died 13 June 2017, aged 75. Pallenberg was a style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, she was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones.

13th June 2018
Dominic Joseph "D.J." Fontana, the longtime drummer for Elvis Presley who helped pioneer the backbeat swing of rock and roll, died Wednesday 13th June 2018, The Tennessean reports. He was 87.
Fontana played with Presley for 14 years, accompanying him on over 460 cuts for RCA including rock and roll standards like "Blue Suede Shoes," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock." Fontana was with Elvis during his landmark appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, as well as his legendary "'68 Comeback Special." In 2009, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

June 13th 1972 39-year-old Clyde McPhatter, who performed with The Dominoes and founded The Drifters before starting a solo career, died in his sleep after years of alcohol abuse left him with heart, liver and kidney disease.

On this day the 14th of June

June 14 1929 Mississippi Born Charlie Patton recorded 14 songs for Paramount Records at the Gennett Recording Studios in Richmond, Indiana.
Paramount Records was an American record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Gennett records was founded in Richmond, Indiana by the Starr Piano Company, and released its first records in October 1917. Gennett set up recording studios in 1921 on the grounds of the piano factory in Richmond, Indiana under the supervision of Ezra C.A. Wickemeyer.
Initially, Gennett and Paramount were competitors, but for a short time in the late 1920s, some recordings made at Gennett’s Richmond studios were issued on Paramount.
The Starr Piano factory was operated by Henry Gennett and his three sons. In a wooden building next to the factory's rail line the Gennetts recorded some of the greats of jazz, blues and old-time country music. Gennett is best remembered for the wealth of early jazz talent recorded on the label, including sessions by Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, "King" Joe Oliver's band with young Louis Armstrong, Hoagy Carmichael, The Original New Orleans Jazz Band, Thomas A. Dorsey, and many others. Gennett also recorded early blues artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton, and Big Bill Broonzy, and early "hillbilly" or country music performers such as Vernon Dalhart, Bradley Kincaid, Ernest Stoneman, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, and Gene Autry.

Charlie Patton would influence countless blues guitarists and musicians, including Son House and Robert Johnson. Patton was one of the last rural African-Americans to have a chance to preserve his broader range of material on commercial recordings. Unfortunately, his non-blues material has generally been relegated to the background of his story, as if it were far less important than his blues work--some scholars have even argued, with virtually no evidence, that his non-blues repertoire was simply learned for white audiences. Patton’s very first recording was “Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues.” It is interesting that Patton (or the recording agents) should have chosen this as his first song to record, since by 1929 such older, “folk” material was already falling out of favor on what was then called the “race” market. The accepted commercial wisdom of the time was that, while white rural Southerners were eager to buy “old fashioned songs,” their African American neighbors wanted hipper, contemporary material like the smooth blues ballads of Leroy Carr or the double-entendre hokum of Tampa Red.

Jun 14, 1923 Folk Blues Debuts!
Ralph Peer, the famous Artist & Repertory man for Okeh and Victor Records, make his first field recordings in Atlanta, Georgia, marking the recording debut of both the folk blues and what will later be called country music. In June 1923 Peer traveled to Atlanta, looking for a rival to Columbia's race-music star, Bessie Smith. (Recording in the field, a major source of hillbilly and race music records in the 1920s, was a Peer innovation.) Persuaded by associates to record Carson, whose music he considered “terrible,” Peer was quick to capitalize on Carson’s unexpected success and recorded a flood of music by the Hill Billies, the Stoneman Family, Vernon Dalhart, and other first-generation hillbilly-music stars. Peer always claimed to have supplied country music with the name it wore until after World War II, “hillbilly.” He took credit, too, for the industry’s use of the name “race music.”

On this day back in 1923 the recording of the 1st country music hit by Fiddlin' John Carson's two-sided recording "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"/"The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow" was completed.

2002: In Lubbock, TX, a power failure ended a Britney Spears concert after only two songs. I'm surprised that The Almighty waited that long!

14 Jun 1987
30 hired hands moved 800 rented NHS beds onto Saunton Sands in North Devon for Storm Thorgerson to shoot what would be the cover of the forthcoming Pink Floyd album 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason'. Rain interrupted the shoot and the team were forced to repeat the exercise two weeks later. The 30 hired hands were once again called into action in April 2020 when Covid 19 struck.

14 Jun 1995
Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher died after a chest infection set in following a liver transplant. Had been a member of Taste before going solo, sold over 30m albums worldwide. Voted Melody Maker's Top Musician of the Year in 1972, auditioned for The Rolling Stones following the departure of Mick Taylor. Gallagher made his final performance on 10 January 1995 in the Netherlands.

On this day the 15th of June

June 15, 1924
On June 15, 1924, a year after Fiddlin’ John Carson's initial Atlanta recordings, Okeh declared the national popularity of the records by Carson and fellow old-time singer Henry Whitter. ‘‘The craze for this ‘Hill Country Music,’’ their ad insisted, ‘‘has spread to thousands of communities north, east and west as well as in the south and the fame of these artists is ever increasing.’’

June 15, 1996
The last Kinks show anywhere in the world would be at the Norwegian Wood festival in Oslo on June 15, 1996.

1967: Peter Green left John Mayall's Blues Breakers to form Fleetwood Mac.

15 June 1969
Hee Haw was first broadcast on 15 June 1969 on CBS. The Nashville-based hillbilly variety show ultimately became one of the most popular syndicated television programs of all time. Appropriately named for the braying of a donkey, the show is best recognized for down-home, cornball humor set in fictitious Cornfield County.

On this day back in 1965, Bob Dylan recorded 'Like A Rolling Stone' at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, in the sessions for the forthcoming 'Highway 61 Revisited' album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on 'Like A Rolling Stone' became one of rock's most recognizable sounds.

On this day the 16th of June

On this day back in 1965 Bob Dylan continued recording "Like a Rolling Stone".

June 16, 1970
Lonnie Johnson one of the most important of all blues guitarists who had a formidable technique and influenced many, died from his injuries on June 16, 1970, after being hit by a car in Toronto. He was 81 years old. He made his last recordings, singing and playing guitar alone, for Folkways in New York City in 1967 and yielded two albums: Tears Don’t Fall No More and Mr. Trouble.

1967: Rock’s first major festival, The Monterey International Pop Festival, took place, with Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and The Papas, The Who, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Otis Redding, Buffalo Springfield and many more. Booker T and the MGs in June 1967 backed Otis Redding for his triumphant, gloriously unhippie performance at that year’s Monterey International Pop Festival. Three years later
they quit as Stax house band, and disbanded in 1972.

1970: Woodstock Ventures, the sponsors of the original Woodstock, announced that they lost more than $1.2 million on the festival

June 16th 1993: The U.S. Postal Service released a set of seven stamps that featured Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Clyde McPhatter, Otis Redding, Ritchie Valens, Dinah Washington and Elvis Presley.

Roxy Music released its eponymous debut album, June 16 1972.

VALE Tim Sale, legendary DC Comics and Batman artist, dead at 66
The artist, whose career began in the 1980s, worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Harris Comics, and Oni Press.
"Tim Sale was an incredible artist, whose take on iconic characters had real human depth, and his groundbreaking page designs changed the way an entire generation thinks about comic book storytelling".
DC (@DCComics) June 16, 2022.

On this day the 17th of June

On this day in back in 1965 Bob Dylan was still recording "Like a Rolling Stone"!

June 17, 1949
"Rhythm and Blues" was Born! Jerry Wexler, an editor at Billboard magazine, substitutes the term "rhythm and blues" for the older "race" records. Wexler in 1947, when he was editing the charts at the trade journal Billboard and found that the record companies issuing black popular music considered the chart names then in use (Harlem Hit Parade, Sepia, Race) to be demeaning. The magazine changed the chart’s name in its June 17, 1949, issue, having used the term rhythm and blues in news articles for the previous two years. Although the records that appeared on Billboard’s rhythm-and-blues chart thereafter were in a variety of different styles, the term was used to encompass a number of contemporary forms that emerged at that time.

On this day back in 1954, Guitarist Danny Cedrone died following a freak accident; 10 days after he had recorded the lead guitar break on ‘Rock Around The Clock’ with Bill Haley and His Comets. Session player Cedrone was paid $21 for his work on the session, as at that time Haley chose not to hire a full-time guitarist for his group ( A rock n roll group without a full time lead guitarist!?!) Danny died of a broken neck after falling down a staircase. Danny was great with 'rock' but obviously not with 'roll'.

1957: "At the Hop" was released by Danny & the Juniors.

On this day the 18th June

1948: Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3, in New York City. Columbia Records put the needle down on history’s first successful microgroove plastic, 12-inch, 33-1/3 LPs in New York, sparking a music-industry standard so strong that the digital age has yet to kill it. The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be a competing vinyl format, the 7" (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm Extended Play (EP). For a two-year period from 1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the "War of the Speeds".
Eventually, the 12" (30 cm) / 33⅓ rpm LP prevailed as the predominant format for musical albums, and the 7" (17.5 cm) / 45 rpm EP or "single" established a significant niche for shorter duration discs typically containing one song on each side. The EP discs typically emulated the playing time of the former 78 rpm discs, while the LP discs provided up to one-half hour of time per side.

On this day in 1967 The Monterey International Pop Festival rocked Southern California. The Jimi Hendrix Experience made its debut performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

18th June 2011 Amy Winehouse, fresh out of rehab, shows up an hour late for a concert in Belgrade, Serbia, stumbles around on stage and can barely sing. The rest of the tour is cancelled.

18th June 1978 Grace Slick takes the stage with Jefferson Starship at the Lorelei Festival in Hamburg, Germany, in a state of drunkenness. After she taunts the crowd with comments about Nazis and World War II, the crowd riots, destroying much of their equipment.

On this day the 19th of June

Saturday June 19th Robert Johnson records in Dallas, Texas.
These recording sessions took place in the hot Texas summer. It was so hot that some of the musicians and technicians recorded in their underwear. The sessions took place on the third floor of the 508 Park Avenue building which was leased by Warner Bros. to BRC/ARC when they obtained the rights to the Brunswick Radio record labels (Brunswick, Vocalion and Melotone).

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1937
songs recorded:
STONES IN MY PASSWAY
I'M A STEADY ROLLIN' MAN
FROM FOUR UNTIL LATE

One of two buildings that has a connection with and is part of the story of two of the most important recording sessions in American history. Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson recorded at 508 Park Avenue on June 19 and June 20 in 1937, with producer Don Law for Brunswick Records.

Wendell Holmes, vocalist, guitarist, pianist and songwriter of the critically acclaimed soul/blues band The Holmes Brothers, died on Friday, June 19th 2015 at his home in Rosedale, Maryland of complications due to pulmonary hypertension.

On this day the 20th of June

Sunday June 20th 1937 Robert Johnson recorded in Dallas, Texas.
These recording sessions took place in the hot Texas summer. It was so hot that some of the musicians and technicians recorded in their underwear (raw blues at its best!). The sessions took place on the third floor of the 508 Park Avenue building which was leased by Warner Bros. to BRC/ARC when they obtained the rights to the Brunswick Radio record labels (Brunswick, Vocalion and Melotone).

SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 1937
songs recorded:
HELL HOUND ON MY TRAIL
LITTLE QUEEN OF SPADES
MALTED MILK
DRUNKEN HEARTED MAN
ME & THE DEVIL BLUES
STOP BREAKIN' DOWN BLUES
TRAVELING RIVERSIDE BLUES
HONEYMOON BLUES
LOVE IN VAIN BLUES
MILKCOW'S CALF BLUES

On this day back in 1969 150,000 attended Newport '69, Jimi Hendrix got $120,000 to appear.

 

June 20th 1973 Pink Floyd began recording "The Great Gig In The Sky"
By Richard Wright with vocal composition by Clare Torry / 4:44
Musicians
David Gilmour: pedal steel guitar
Rick Wright: piano, Hammond organ
Roger Waters: bass
Nick Mason: drums
Clare Torry: vocals
Gerry O’Driscoll, Patricia Watts: voices
Recorded Abbey Road Studios, London: June 20–22, October 25–26, 1972; January 21, 25–26, February 9, 1973 (Studios Two and Three, Room Four)

Aftermath hit the charts 20th June 1966
It is considered an artistic breakthrough for The Rolling Stones. It is the first album to consist entirely of original Mick Jagger - Keith Richards compositions.

20 Jun 2000
The Ronettes were awarded $2.6 million (£1.5 million) in back earnings from Phil Spector. New York judge Paula Omansky ruled that the legendary producer had cheated them out of royalties.

Dylan and the Band release Before the Flood, June 20 1974.

June 20 2005
At a The Magnolia Electric Co. show in Serbia on June 20, a fan gifted the band a bottle of traditional slivovitz, a kind of plum brandy. Two days later at their show in Vienna, Jason Molina downed the entire bottle before they took the stage, rendering him incapable of remembering any of the songs. The only thing more mortifying than Molina’s demeanor was hearing their tour manager maniacally laughing at the display as they eked out a shaky rendition of “Bowery.”

On this day the 21st of June

On this day back in 2001 John Lee Hooker, American musician passed on (b. 1916).

Known to music fans around the world as the “King of the Boogie,” John Lee Hooker endures as one of the true superstars of the blues genre: the ultimate beholder of cool. His work is widely recognized for its impact on modern music – his simple, yet deeply effective songs transcend borders and languages around the globe. Each decade of Hooker’s long career brought a new generation of fans and fresh opportunities for the ever-evolving artist. He never slowed down either: As John Lee Hooker entered his 70s, he suddenly found himself in the most successful era of his career – reinvented yet again, and energized as ever, touring and recording up until his passing in 2001.

Born near Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 22, 1917 to a sharecropping family, John Lee Hooker‘s earliest musical influence came from his stepfather, William Moore ̶— a blues musician who taught his young stepson to play the guitar, and whom John Lee later credited for his unique style on the instrument.

1972: The first Stonehenge Free Festival was held at Stonehenge, England culminating on the summer solstice. Staged between 1972 and 1984, acts who have appeared include Hawkwind, Gong, Doctor and the Medics, Flux of Pink Indians, Buster Blood Vessel, Crass, Selector, Dexys Midnight Runners, Thompson Twins, The Raincoats, Amazulu, Wishbone Ash, Man, Benjamin Zephaniah, The Enid, Roy Harper, Jimmy Page, Ted Chippington, Zorch and Ozric Tentacles. In 1985, authorities stopped a convoy of about 100 vehicles from setting up Stonehenge Free Festival, an encounter that ended with the notorious Battle of the Beanfield in which police in riot gear clashed with travellers.

1952: Fats Domino's "Goin' Home" became his first #1 hit.

June 21st 1981: Donald Fagan and Walter Becker announced the break-up of Steely Dan.

The Byrds released Mr. Tambourine Man, June 21 1965.

On this day the 22nd of June

Released June 22, 1988 (UK) "Simply Irresistible" by Robert Palmer
"Simply Irresistible" was the first single released by English rock singer Robert Palmer from the 1988 studio album Heavy Nova. It is one of the most distinctive and memorable music videos of the 1980s. "Simply Irresistible" is among Palmer's most recognized songs, in part because of the iconic music video which shows Palmer surrounded by enigmatic women, styled in the manner of the artist Patrick Nagel.
The tall, heavily made-up, look-alike, slightly robotic models in the background listlessly shuffled in place. “The models were told to look bored,” said Marie Newberry one of those models (second row, far right). "They were trying to get us models to dance, but it wasn’t working out so great. So they brought in dancers.”

On this day back in 1979 Little Richard quit rock & roll for religious pursuits.

22 Jun 1971
Joni Mitchell released her fourth studio album Blue. The album is now generally regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In July 2017, Blue was chosen by NPR as the greatest album of all time made by a woman.

On this day the 23rd of June

June 23, 1964, Dick Waterman, Phil Spiro, and Nick Perls found Son House in Rochester, New York. The story made Newsweek magazine. Son House had moved there in 1943, and in the intervening years worked as a railroad porter and short-order cook. He had played occasionally, until on learning in 1953 of Willie Brown’s death he quit music entirely.
Waterman convinced House to relaunch his career. Waterman became his manager, and the guitarist Al Wilson (later of Canned Heat) helped House relearn his old repertoire.
In 1965 Son House recorded Father of the Delta Blues, produced by John Hammond for Columbia Records and featuring Wilson on second guitar and harp. Incorporating new material with reshapings of older songs, it was one of the most successful recordings of the Delta blues made during the 1960s.

Nick Perls, Dick Waterman, Son House, Phil Spiro

June 23, 2017
Guitarist Jimmy Nalls, who rose to prominence as a co-founding member of the Allman Brothers Band splinter group Sea Level, died at the age of 66.
“Jimmy has fought a valiant battle since 1995 with Parkinson’s Disease causing him to have poor balance, tremors and muscle related difficulties,” continues the post. “In spite of this he continued to make amazing music. He died today in his home in Nashville as the result of one final fall. The Allman Brothers Band will miss our old pal Jimmy Nalls.”
Allman Brothers Band Facebook page

Ralph Stanley the man who came down from the mountain died on June 23rd 2016 at the age of 89 from skin cancer.

 

Bobby Bland, American blues and soul singer, died on this day back in 2013 aged 83.

Sam Chatmon on this day back in 1960 recorded 'I Have To Paint My Face' for Arhoolie Records and it features on the album of the same name. It is a poignant and bitter song that is worth a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXrowol2VPg#t=11
Sam Chatmon discusses the legacy of Jim Crow (1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRG2Swap5eo

June 23, 1976
The Kinks met with Clive Davis to sign with Arista Records at the Dorchester Hotel, London, June 23, 1976.

On this day the 24th of June

On this day way back in 1374 a sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance caused people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jumping and twitching uncontrollably until they collapsed from exhaustion. St. John's Dance was the medieval name for a phenomenon which emerged during the time of the Black Death. It is considered a form of nervous system disorder (apraxia) expressing itself as "dancing rage," as uncontrolled ecstatic body movements. In the eyes of the church, those suffering from St. John's Dance were possessed by the devil.


Blues artist Jeff Beck was born June 24, 1944, in Surrey, England.

Here is a bit of useless trivia ( you know that sort of info you remember instead of the really important stuff ):
BBC's Top of The Pops ( made infamous by the cigar chopping, track suit clad, bad hair day every day and meddling James Savile) on this day back in 1964 featured a live performance by John Lee Hooker, playing Dimples. Note that LIVE! BBC went into shock after John Lee's performance and had all acts after that mime their songs. BBC finally recovered but lapsed into a comatose state when they discovered the sort of meddling that Savile was really getting up to!

24 Jun 1999
Eric Clapton put 100 of his guitars up for auction at Christie's in New York City to raise money for his drug rehab clinic, the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. His 1956 Fender Stratocaster named Brownie, which was used to record the electric version of ‘Layla’, sold for a record $497,500. The auction helped raise nearly $5 million for the clinic. A Fender Stratocaster that Eric Clapton nicknamed 'Blackie' sold at a Christie's auction for $959,500 (£564,412) in New York, making it the most expensive guitar in the world. The proceeds of the sale went towards Clapton's Crossroads addiction clinic, which he founded in 1998.

24 Jun 2012
The crypt in which Elvis Presley was first buried was withdrawn from a Los Angeles auction after protests 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, Tennessee. Julien's Auctions said it would 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".

On this day the 25th of June

1966: Jackie Wilson was arrested for inciting a riot and refusing to obey a police order at a nightclub in Port Arthur, Texas. Wilson had a crowd of 400 whipped into a frenzy and refused to stop singing when requested to do so by police. He was later convicted of drunkenness and fined $30. Known as “Mr. Excitement“, Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Wilson’s powerful, electrifying live performances rarely failed to bring audiences to a state of frenzy. His live performances consisted of knee-drops, splits, spins, one-footed across-the-floor slides, removing his tie and jacket on-stage and throwing it off-stage, a lot of basic boxing steps (advance and retreat shuffling) and one of his favorite routines, getting some of the less attractive girls in the audience to come up and kiss him. “If I kiss the ugliest girl in the audience, they’ll all think they can have me and keep coming back and buying my records.” Having women come up to kiss is one reason Wilson kept bottles of mouthwash in his dressing room. Another reason was probably his attempt to hide the alcohol on his breath. During a 1975 benefit concert, he collapsed on stage from a heart attack and subsequently fell into a coma that persisted for nearly nine years until his death in 1984, at the age of 49.



Billboard magazine's number-one rhythm and blues hit of June 25 1955 : "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley (2 weeks)

On June 25, 1967
The Beatles commandeered the whole world, creating the first-ever global television broadcast via satellite out of the Abbey Road studio in London. This was the worldwide web before the World Wide Web, and an estimated four hundred million people watched. Other celebrity rockers, from Eric Clapton to the Rolling Stones, were invited to the happening. The occasion was a message in the form of a song: “All You Need Is Love.”

June 25, 1949
By the late 1940s the word “race” began to have a negative connotation and was replaced with “rhythm & blues,” a term first used by Billboard magazine in its June 25, 1949, issue when the company switched the name of the black record sales chart from “Best Selling Race Records” to “Best Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues Records.”

On this day the 26th of June

June 26, 1876
Custer’s Last Stand. The battle of Little Bighorn in Montana on June 26, 1876 when a large force of Sioux wiped out U.S. forces serving under General George Armstrong Custer (1839–76).

June 26, 1975
The Basement Tapes was released June 26, 1975. Recorded in 1967 in “The Red Room” in Bob Dylan’s home in Woodstock, New York, and The Band’s home, “Big Pink,” in West Saugerties, New York the songs were new Dylan compositions; some were written by him with members of the Hawks; and some were covers of vintage folk, rock, and country tunes. Fascination with the recordings was so fervent that in 1975, a double album of highlights from the sessions was issued as The Basement Tapes, though there were overdubs on some songs, and a third of the tracks featured The Band without Dylan.

On this day the 26th of June back in 1893 Big Bill Broonzy (William Lee Conley Broonzy) was born in Lake Dick, Arkansas. Born in a lake! 26th June 1893 was the date of birth Big Bill often gave but according to Bill's twin sister Laney, it may have been in 1898. Laney like many women wanted to be 5 years younger! They both learnt to swim at an early age. Bill was one of seventeen children. Bill's father Frank Broonzy (Bradley) and his mother, Mittie Belcher were hard working folk.

June 26, 1933
On Big Bill Broonzy's fortieth birthday marked the day that he and Memphis Minnie, who’d moved to Chicago in 1930, engaged in what he described as “the first contest between blues singers that was ever given in the U.S.A.” In that Chicago club, when a cutting contest was proposed, Big Bill got a little worried about squaring off against Memphis Minnie. The prize: a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of gin. The judges were picked: Sleepy John Estes, Tampa Red, and Richard Jones. At 1:30 a.m. the cutting contest was set to start. Memphis Minnie won the contest, just as Big Bill had feared and kind of expected from the start. She was a bard of the people, and the people responded. Two of the judges, Estes and Jones, went over to Minnie, picked her up and carried her around on their shoulders. But Big Bill ended up with at least some of the winnings. As the crowd celebrated, Big Bill grabbed the whiskey and drank it. It was his birthday, after all.

On 23 December, 1938, Big Bill was a stand-in for Robert Johnson (who had been murdered in Mississippi in August that year) for the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert held at the Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Big Bill performed "It Was Just a Dream" which had the audience rocking with laughter at the lines,
"Dreamed I was in the White House, sittin' in the president's chair.
I dreamed he's shaking my hand, said "Bill, I'm glad you're here".
But that was just a dream. What a dream I had on my mind.
And when I woke up, not a chair could I find"

26 Jun 1977
Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were ‘Hurt’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA’s pressing plant.

Born on this day 26 Jun 1955
Mick Jones, guitarist, singer with The Clash, who had the 1979 UK No. 11 single London Calling and the 1982 US No. 8 single 'Rock The Casbah. Their 1991 UK No.1 single 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go', was first released 1982. And with Big Audio Dynamite had the 1986 UK No.11 single 'e=mc2'. Jones plays with Carbon/Silicon and also toured the world as part of the Gorillaz live band.

On this daythe 27th of June

On the 27th June back in 1970 was the first day of the The Bath Festival Of Blues and Progressive Music held at Bath in the UK. 150,000 fans watched Canned Heat, John Mayall, Steppenwolf, Pink Floyd, Johnny Winter, It's A Beautiful Day, Fairport Convention, Colosseum, Keef Hartley Band and the Maynard Ferguson Big Band. Tickets cost £2.10s and included a free shower but no Bath.

 

On this day Tuesday 27th June 2017 Google fined 2.4 billion Euros by The European Union for manipulating search results to favour its own business. Type in sablues.org and see what happens!

There it is www.sablues.org listed at the top. It's not what you know it's who you know ...at Google!

27 Jun 2002
One day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour, bass player John Entwistle, died aged 57 in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Entwistle had gone to bed that night with a stripper, who woke at 10am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine and rooting.

On this day the 28th of June

2016 R.I.P. Scotty Moore, guitarist for Elvis Presley, died at 84
Scotty Moore, the pioneering rock guitarist whose sharp, graceful style helped Elvis Presley shape his revolutionary sound and inspired a generation of musicians that included Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Bruce Springsteen, died Tuesday. He was 84. Moore died in his home in Nashville, biographer and friend James L. Dickerson said. Dickerson said a family member of Moore's longtime companion, Gail Pollock, who had been staying in the house with Moore confirmed the death. Pollock died in November 2015. Moore, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was the last survivor of a combo that included Presley, bassist Bill Black and producer Sam Phillips.

On the 28th of June back in 1915 Bluesman David Honey Boy Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi, USA. He performed with famed blues musician Robert Johnson with whom he developed a close friendship. Honeyboy was present on the night Johnson drank poisoned whiskey which killed him and his story has become the definitive version of Johnson's demise. Edwards, a non whiskey drinker earned his nickname "Honey Boy" from his sister, who told his mother to "look at honey boy" when Edwards stumbled and fell as he learned to walk as a toddler. Mum chose that name instead of "look at Davey boy! He's fallen in the shit again!"

1969, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, The Nice, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Ten Years After, Taste, The Liverpool Scene and Chicken Shack all appeared at The Bath Festival of Blues in England, with DJ John Peel. Tickets cost 18/6. The festival proved very popular, selling out all 30,000 tickets in the first week, surprising both the townsfolk and the promoters. The only major problem occurred when the Nice's use of bagpipers caused the stage to collapse. They had four brawny bagpipers, just for the Bath show, and when they came on and started marching around, the stage started collapsing! Stewards lay under the stage holding it up while The Nice did their thing. When Nice had finished, the second stage opened up and Zeppelin came on, and while that was happening carpenters repaired the stage ready for Ten Years After, who were next.

28 Jun 1968
Pink Floyd released their second album A Saucerful Of Secrets in the UK. It is both the last Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett would appear and the only studio album to which all five band members contributed. The album sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis, a new company formed by the band's friends Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey 'Po' Powell, who were paid £110 for their efforts.

28 Jun 1975
American singer songwriter Tim Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people. This was Buckley's last ever show, he died the following day of a heroin and morphine overdose aged 28.

28 June 1968
Aretha Franklin became the first black woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

On this day the 29th of June

Back in 1957 the government of Iran officially banned rock and roll after declaring rock dancing "as harmful to health." The ban would stay in place until the 1990s. It was rescinded when the clerics realised that it was harmful to women only!


On the 29th of June back in 1900 Elizabeth, the wife of blues singer and songwriter W.C. Handy, gave birth to Lucille, the first of their six children. In the winter of 1949 BB King named his beloved $30 Gibson "Lucille". The names of Lizzie's other children were also adopted by musicians as names for their beloved guitars.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny”, Billy Gibbon’s “Muddywood”, George Harrison’s “Lucy”, Keith Richard’s “Micawber” and Eric Clapton’s “Blackie”.

Pink Floyd revealed a "Saucer Full Of Secrets" on this day the 29th June 1968.

29 Jun 1968
A free concert was held in London's Hyde Park with Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Roy Harper. This afternoon concert was the first free festival to be held in Hyde Park. The concert was held to coincide with the release of Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets.

29 Jun 1979
American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Lowell George died of a heart attack. The Little Feat front man was found dead at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. George joined Zappa's Mothers of Invention as rhythm guitarist in 1968, played guitar on John Cale's 1973 album Paris 1919, Harry Nilsson's Son of Schmilsson album and Jackson Browne's The Pretender.

On this day the 30th of June

June 30, 1859
Blondin was the first man to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope, on June 30, 1859, he later made the crossing while pushing a wheelbarrow, twirling an umbrella, and with another man on his back. The rope was 1,100 feet long, only three inches thick, and was suspended 160 feet above the falls. Blondin is still used occasionally to describe an accomplished acrobat or nimble person.

On the 30th of June back in 1961 Ray Charles releases a new single “Am I Blue” on Atlantic Records in the USA. The song was inspired by Charles mistaking his wife's blues rinse for the shower gel.

30 Jun 1976
Police raided the home of Neil Diamond searching for drugs, they found less than one ounce of marijuana and some Cracklin' Rosie.

30 Jun 2004
Kinks founder member Dave Davies was left paralysed on the right-hand side of his body after suffering a stroke. The 57-year-old guitarist and brother of fellow Kinks star Ray Davies had been promoting his solo material when he collapsed.