1967 - This was the year of the northern hemisphere so-called 'summer of love', and none was more loving than the Monterey Pop Festival, which began today at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Northern California, at the dawn of the 'summer of love'. The festival lasted three days. It featured Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Eric Burdon, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar & more, dear reader. Take a trip back to then...and then...watch the Byrds perform Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe - that's a treat in itself, no shit.
1970 - The other big 'summer of love' festival was Woodstock. Three years after the biggest summer of love festival of all time, its original promoters, Woodstock Ventures, who organised the prototype festival for today, announced that they lost more than US$1.2 million on the festival. It was financially bankrupt, but was a social gold mine. It wasn't perfect, but Woodstock set the pace for rock'n'roll festivals of the future.
1972 - This is the day jazz became in institution in New York City when the New York Jazz Museum had its official opening. The New York Jazz Museum was, for five years, one of the most important centers for the study of jazz. At its height it held 25,000 items. It was founded by Howard Fischer, among others, but closed after five years amid a power struggle between Howard and other curators. It morphed into the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. We jumpy forward to 1975 - 36 years ago, now, and John Lennon took it upon himself to sue the American government, charging that government officials tried to deny his immigration through selective prosecution. Why don't we let Lennon pick up the story in this rare audio interview - with pictures.
1976 - A year after Lennon's giant leap of faith in equality and plea for a fair go, The Jacksons aired their own self-titled TV show. It featured humour, special guests, and of course their music. Michael was a kid, the rest just very young men. And here's a taste as they pay homage to the cool dude of the day, The Fonz, from the TV show, Happy Days, in this musical comedy skit. Older readers of *MUSICBACKTRACK* will recognise some 'stars' in this vid, but don't worry if you are not old enough - instead, see if you can spot MJ in a wig.
1977 - A new play opened on Broadway, Manhattan, today, a musical revue about the life and music of the Beatles. Advertised as "Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation", it ran from 1977 to 1979 for a total of 1006 performances. Just a year after its opening, and on the the same day, the film adaptation of Grease premiered in New York City. No video of the event, but howzabout the party after the premiere in London town, dear reader? Fun footage, then an interview with the stars on the 20th anniversary.
1982 - One of rock's many tragic drug-related casualties was Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who died today in 1982, just as the band was hitting its straps. Honeyman-Scott was one of the most original and versatile guitarists of the early '80s new wave movement, making the senselessness of his 1982 death even greater. He was just 25 when he died of a heroin/cocaine cocktail overdose. Honeyman Scott's role in shaping the Pretenders' sound primarily involved adding melodic lead lines to existing songs to help tie them together. Singer and co-founder, Chrissie Hynde recalled, "As soon as I heard Jimmy Scott, I knew I was getting close. Jimmy and I turned out to have a genuine musical affinity." In a 1981 edition of a Guitar Player interview, Honeyman-Scott recalled: "We did lots of rehearsing - seven days a week, all hours of the day and night. At first a lot of the licks were very heavy - like Up the Neck started off as a reggae song. I said, 'Let's speed it up,' and put in that little guitar run. The melodic parts of the numbers really all started coming together by me putting in these little runs and licks. And then Chrissie started to like pop music, and that's why she started writing things like Kid. When I joined the Pretenders I could use a lot more melodic stuff, so my style changed quite a bit. Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe had a lot to do with it.... They always seem to have nice little guitar songs that you can sing along to, and that's what I started trying to do." Hynde later summarised his influence on her playing by saying that Jimmy Scott was her "musical right-hand" and that "He really was the Pretenders sound. I don't sound like that. When I met him, I was this not-very melodic punky angry guitar player and singer and Jimmy was the melodic one. He brought out all the melody in me," she told the magazine Uncut in 1999. After the completion of a tour in support of their debut album in June 1982, Hynde, Chambers, and Honeyman-Scott decided that Don Farndon, their bass player, should be excused from the band due to his excessive drug use. But in a cruel twist of fate, Honeyman-Scott was found dead from a cocaine/heroin overdose on June 16th, only two days after Farndon's exit from the band. Farndon would die from drug-related causes as well a year later. Devastated, Hynde penned a tribute to Honeyman-Scott, Back on the Chain Gang. So how about two of their best to remember Pretender, James Honeyman-Scott.
1982 - Same year, same day and Donny Van Zandt from .38 Special was arrested on stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for public drinking. Seven years later, and on the same day, and Smokey Robinson solidified his 'ladyman' tag by introducing a new woman's fragrance - decades before Justin Bieber. For details and videos on Smokey Robinson's career, go to the *MUSICBACKTRACK* archive search engine. In 1994, on June 16, almost 17 years ago, now, Kristen Pfaff from the rock band, Hole, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 26. Three years later to the very day, The Radiohead album, OK Computer, was released, and from that album, here is Radiohead, live and acoustic, with No Surprises.
2004 - This is the day that Scotland's University of St. Andrews announced it would make Bob Dylan an honorary doctor of music at its June 23 summer graduation ceremony. There is no living musician who has been more influential than Bob Dylan. Over a 43-year career, his distinctive twang and poetic lyrics have produced some of the most memorable songs ever written. In the '60s, his songs of protest and turmoil spoke to an entire generation, and while his life has been the subject of endless interpretation, Dylan has been largely silent. At 63, he wrote a memoir called Chronicles, Volume One. American CBS Correspondent, and 60 Minutes man, Ed Bradley got to sit down with this music legend in the same year and this is just a small extract from that interview. Cut and paste the link below and it will take you to the CBS site and DIRECTLY to the interview. Worth having a look at no matter what your musical taste.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=659177n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
1970 - The other big 'summer of love' festival was Woodstock. Three years after the biggest summer of love festival of all time, its original promoters, Woodstock Ventures, who organised the prototype festival for today, announced that they lost more than US$1.2 million on the festival. It was financially bankrupt, but was a social gold mine. It wasn't perfect, but Woodstock set the pace for rock'n'roll festivals of the future.
1972 - This is the day jazz became in institution in New York City when the New York Jazz Museum had its official opening. The New York Jazz Museum was, for five years, one of the most important centers for the study of jazz. At its height it held 25,000 items. It was founded by Howard Fischer, among others, but closed after five years amid a power struggle between Howard and other curators. It morphed into the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. We jumpy forward to 1975 - 36 years ago, now, and John Lennon took it upon himself to sue the American government, charging that government officials tried to deny his immigration through selective prosecution. Why don't we let Lennon pick up the story in this rare audio interview - with pictures.
1976 - A year after Lennon's giant leap of faith in equality and plea for a fair go, The Jacksons aired their own self-titled TV show. It featured humour, special guests, and of course their music. Michael was a kid, the rest just very young men. And here's a taste as they pay homage to the cool dude of the day, The Fonz, from the TV show, Happy Days, in this musical comedy skit. Older readers of *MUSICBACKTRACK* will recognise some 'stars' in this vid, but don't worry if you are not old enough - instead, see if you can spot MJ in a wig.
1977 - A new play opened on Broadway, Manhattan, today, a musical revue about the life and music of the Beatles. Advertised as "Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation", it ran from 1977 to 1979 for a total of 1006 performances. Just a year after its opening, and on the the same day, the film adaptation of Grease premiered in New York City. No video of the event, but howzabout the party after the premiere in London town, dear reader? Fun footage, then an interview with the stars on the 20th anniversary.
1982 - One of rock's many tragic drug-related casualties was Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who died today in 1982, just as the band was hitting its straps. Honeyman-Scott was one of the most original and versatile guitarists of the early '80s new wave movement, making the senselessness of his 1982 death even greater. He was just 25 when he died of a heroin/cocaine cocktail overdose. Honeyman Scott's role in shaping the Pretenders' sound primarily involved adding melodic lead lines to existing songs to help tie them together. Singer and co-founder, Chrissie Hynde recalled, "As soon as I heard Jimmy Scott, I knew I was getting close. Jimmy and I turned out to have a genuine musical affinity." In a 1981 edition of a Guitar Player interview, Honeyman-Scott recalled: "We did lots of rehearsing - seven days a week, all hours of the day and night. At first a lot of the licks were very heavy - like Up the Neck started off as a reggae song. I said, 'Let's speed it up,' and put in that little guitar run. The melodic parts of the numbers really all started coming together by me putting in these little runs and licks. And then Chrissie started to like pop music, and that's why she started writing things like Kid. When I joined the Pretenders I could use a lot more melodic stuff, so my style changed quite a bit. Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe had a lot to do with it.... They always seem to have nice little guitar songs that you can sing along to, and that's what I started trying to do." Hynde later summarised his influence on her playing by saying that Jimmy Scott was her "musical right-hand" and that "He really was the Pretenders sound. I don't sound like that. When I met him, I was this not-very melodic punky angry guitar player and singer and Jimmy was the melodic one. He brought out all the melody in me," she told the magazine Uncut in 1999. After the completion of a tour in support of their debut album in June 1982, Hynde, Chambers, and Honeyman-Scott decided that Don Farndon, their bass player, should be excused from the band due to his excessive drug use. But in a cruel twist of fate, Honeyman-Scott was found dead from a cocaine/heroin overdose on June 16th, only two days after Farndon's exit from the band. Farndon would die from drug-related causes as well a year later. Devastated, Hynde penned a tribute to Honeyman-Scott, Back on the Chain Gang. So how about two of their best to remember Pretender, James Honeyman-Scott.
1982 - Same year, same day and Donny Van Zandt from .38 Special was arrested on stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for public drinking. Seven years later, and on the same day, and Smokey Robinson solidified his 'ladyman' tag by introducing a new woman's fragrance - decades before Justin Bieber. For details and videos on Smokey Robinson's career, go to the *MUSICBACKTRACK* archive search engine. In 1994, on June 16, almost 17 years ago, now, Kristen Pfaff from the rock band, Hole, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 26. Three years later to the very day, The Radiohead album, OK Computer, was released, and from that album, here is Radiohead, live and acoustic, with No Surprises.
2004 - This is the day that Scotland's University of St. Andrews announced it would make Bob Dylan an honorary doctor of music at its June 23 summer graduation ceremony. There is no living musician who has been more influential than Bob Dylan. Over a 43-year career, his distinctive twang and poetic lyrics have produced some of the most memorable songs ever written. In the '60s, his songs of protest and turmoil spoke to an entire generation, and while his life has been the subject of endless interpretation, Dylan has been largely silent. At 63, he wrote a memoir called Chronicles, Volume One. American CBS Correspondent, and 60 Minutes man, Ed Bradley got to sit down with this music legend in the same year and this is just a small extract from that interview. Cut and paste the link below and it will take you to the CBS site and DIRECTLY to the interview. Worth having a look at no matter what your musical taste.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=659177n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
