#Lennon and McCartney a nation of two

[dizzzyondreams]

ringo. if you even gaf

[waveofahand]

McLennon Eye Contact

They really loved each other. 

UPDATED: I mean, you see it so clearly there. There is absolutely no denying it and yeah, I know there is no legit source for Cynthia saying "John never looked at anyone the way he looked at Paul," but even if she never said it -- we can SEE it in pic after pic. They were truly “A Nation of Two.” 

[scotianostra]

The singer Lonnie Donegan was born on April 29th 1931 in Bridgeton Glasgow.

Donegan was born Anthony James Donegan, the son of a Scottish father and Irish mother. His father was a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra.

He moved with his mother to London at an early age, after his parents divorced. Inspired by blues music and New Orleans jazz bands he heard on the radio, he resolved to learn the guitar, and bought his first at the age of fourteen. He took his first name after a New Orleans blues singer he admired called Lonnie Johnson.

The first band he ever played in was the trad jazz band led by Chris Barber, who approached him on a train asking him if he wanted to audition for his group. Barber had heard that Donegan was a good banjo player; in fact, Donegan had never played the banjo at this point, but he bought one and managed to bluff his way through the audition. His stint in this group was interrupted, however, when he was called up for National Service in 1949.

In 1952, he formed his first own group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which found some work around London. On one occasion they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall. Donegan was a big fan of Johnson, and took his first name as a tribute to him. The story goes that the host at the concert got the musicians’ names confused, calling them “Tony Johnson” and “Lonnie Donegan”, and Donegan was happy to keep the name.

Donegan recorded a reworking of an American folk tune, Rock Island Line. Decca released the song in 1956, billed by the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group. The record, with its talking sequences, homage to Americana, and fast train shuffle climax, became a major hit in Britain and America. Because he was paid a flat fee for the session, Donegan didn’t receive any royalty payments for his most popular and influential song until the label struck a new deal for him 40 years later. However, Rock Island Line made him a star in his own right and would remain his signature song throughout his career.

From 1956 through 1962, he enjoyed a string of 34 British hits including Puttin’ on the Style and Cumberland Gap, which hit number one in 1957, Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O, which reached number four in the same year, and the raucous sing-along My Old Man’s a Dustman which climbed to the top of the charts in 1960. It’s not hard to see why Lonnie is regarded as the first real pop star, his fans included the likes of Lennon and McCartney, who’s first group, The Quarrymen were a skiffle group. he Shadows, the Searchers, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & the Pacemakers, and Cliff Richard all began their musical lives doing skiffle.

As the swinging sixties rolled on Donegans hits dried up but he was always in demand for gigs at home and across the world, he also dabbled in a wee bit acting and his own song publishing business, his most popular song he bought the rights for being Nights in white Satin. In the 70’s he popped upon the occasional TV shows during breaks from touring, in 1972 Tom Jones covered one of Lonnie’s songs and it went top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. As a performer he continued to record and lease unsuccessful sides to Pye, Decca, Black Lion, and RCA.

A 1976 heart attack forced Donegan into an uneasy semi-retirement in California. Two years later, Chrysalis Records organized an all-star recreation of his early hits Puttin’ on the Style. Produced by former British teen idol Adam Faith and boasting duets with Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Rory Gallagher, it was his last major-selling album. Follow-ups with respected session ace Albert Lee and Cajun-fiddler Doug Kershaw seemed to point him towards country music, but a series of heart attacks in 1979 ended his full-time career.

In later years Donegan made a series of guest appearances with old friend Chris Barber including a featured spot on Van Morrison’s Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast 1998. Just before his death, he returned to touring full time, exhibiting much of his classic verve and humour before standing-room-only crowds. Donegan died on November 3rd, 2002, in Peterborough.

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to co-create the most notoriously successful game franchises in history—Doom and Quake—until the games they made tore them apart. Americans spend more money on video games than on movie tickets. Masters of Doom is the first book to chronicle this industry’s greatest story, written by one of the medium’s leading observers. David Kushner takes readers inside the rags-to-riches adventure of two rebellious entrepreneurs who came of age to shape a generation. The vivid portrait reveals why their games are so violent and why their immersion in their brilliantly designed fantasy worlds offered them solace. And it shows how they channeled their fury and imagination into products that are a formative influence on our culture, from MTV to the Internet to Columbine. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry—a powerful and compassionate account of what it’s like to be young, driven, and wildly creative.

[brn1029]

On this date in music history…

July 28th

2021 - Dusty Hill

American musician and bassist Dusty Hill of ZZ Top died age 72. In 1968, he and the drummer Frank Beard joined the guitarist Billy Gibbons in ZZ Top. They went on to release 15 studio albums and sold an estimated 50 million records worldwide including the bestselling Eliminator (1983), which featured two Top-40 singles 'Gimme All Your Lovin'' and 'Legs'.

2014 - Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt was honored with a National Medal of Arts at the White House in Washington, D.C. The honor was a particularly special moment for Ronstadt, who didn't make it to her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in April of this year), since Parkinson's disease limited her ability to travel. The singer was brought into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked onto the stage to receive her award.

2014 - Tom Petty

Reprise Records released Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' thirteenth studio album, Hypnotic Eye. The album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album to ever top the chart.

2011 - Meat Loaf

63-year-old singer Meat Loaf, passed out onstage at Pittsburgh's Trib Amphitheater during an apparent asthma attack. After about ten minutes he regained his composure and finished the show.

1969 - Electric Guitars

Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalised after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.

1966 - Chris Farlowe

Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song 'Out Of Time'. The song was first released on the Stones 1966 album Aftermath (UK version).

1964 - The Beatles

On their second visit to Sweden, The Beatles played two shows at an ice hockey arena, the Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm. During the first show, both Paul McCartney and John Lennon received mild electrical shocks from ungrounded microphones. Supporting acts included The Kays, The Moonlighters, and The Streaplers.

1960 - Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison entered the UK chart with 'Only The Lonely', which went on to give Roy his first of three UK chart toppers. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, and is seen as a seminal event in the evolution of Rock and Roll. Released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in May, 1960, 'Only The Lonely' went to No. 2 on the United States. The song was turned down by The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, so Orbison decided to record the song himself.

1956 - Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent made his first appearance on national TV in the US on The Perry Como Show. Vincent had released ‘Woman Love’ the previous month, but it was the B-side, ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula,’ that eventually made the top 10. The song had been purchased from a fellow hospital patient when Vincent was recovering from leg injuries. A demo of the song made its way to Capitol Records as part of an Elvis sound-alike contest and a re-recorded version gave Vincent a hit.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.6 (after 1900)

1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt. 1918 – The Left SR uprising in Russia starts with the assassination of German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach by Cheka members. 1919 – The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship. 1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2. 1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell. 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid. 1939 – Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany closes the last remaining Jewish enterprises. 1940 – Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia's longest cantilever bridge is formally opened. 1941 – World War II: The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk. 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse. 1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial. 1944 – The Hartford circus fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut. 1947 – Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India. 1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union. 1957 – Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so. 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles. 1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place. 1962 – The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time. 1964 – Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1966 – Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President. 1967 – Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war. 1975 – The Comoros declares independence from France. 1982 – While attempting to return to Sheremetyevo International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 411, an Ilyushin Il-62, crashes near Mendeleyevo, Moscow Oblast, killing all 90 people on board. 1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life. 1989 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff. 1995 – In the Bosnian War, under the command of General Ratko Mladić, Serbia begins its attack on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. 1996 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 operating as Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 experiences a turbine engine failure during takeoff from Pensacola International Airport, killing two and injuring five of the 147 people on board. 1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland. 1998 – Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city's international airport. 2006 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years. 2013 – At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria. 2022 – The Georgia Guidestones, a monument in the United States, are heavily damaged in a bombing, and are dismantled later the same day.

[lydiarivera]

A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night was made in 1964, during a time when everyone everywhere was obsessed with The Beatles and their progressive style of music and recording technology.The Beatles are a band from the sixties and beyond, that have broken many records and are well known by almost all people. The film was directed by Richard Lester, who wanted to give the world a film that made everyone more connected and to learn more about The Beatles. A Hard Day’s night follows a couple days in the lives of The Beatles; Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The film is filled with laughter and sadness, but it is very clear The Beatles are enjoying themselves and not paying too much attention to their acting success. This creates an authentic portrayal of their real lives and gives an inside to their true personalities.

There are very few times when I watch a movie and I don’t like it after finishing it. I normally view all the films I watch as automatically incomplete right away. But, I was very disappointed with A Hard Days Night in the beginning. After about half way through the movie I began to appreciate the film in a different way instead of comparing it to what my expectations were. The film was not bad at all, but I was looking forward to learning the longer version of how The Beatles came to be. I was expecting the film to be more similar to Bohemian Rhapsody’s, where it is more of a detailed story, rather than a few days in the lives of The Beatles. One thing I really did enjoy in the film was the soundtrack. I am already a very big fan of their music, but it was very well done with all of the visuals.

The movie was in black in white, which was very different from most movies I’ve seen. Although it was an adjustment I still found elements of it being in black and white that made me more intrigued. The movie that was made in 1965, which was a very a very big turning point in the world. The Vietnam war was going on and so was the beginning of hippies. During this time there was a big change in music styles, which The Beatles played a big part in this change. The Beatles brought a progressive rock that hadn't been seen much before in the past and brought a huge change to recording technology. Another new look the Beatles took on music was their music videos, which at the time were not very common among other artists , this was shown in a new way throughout the movie. 1965 was a huge year for The Beatles, looking back George Harrison says “If you look at our itinerary some of those years where we did maybe a tour of England, a tour of Europe, a tour of America, two albums and about four EPs, and three singles, and made a movie all in the same year - you think, 'Oh Jesus, how did we do that?”

A Hard Days Night, is a direct look back at the sixties and during the release of the film and in the present, the film is praised very highly by critics. In 2014 thegardian.com made a more recent review on the film. The website says, “A Hard Day's Night captures the spirit of the times and the band themselves are so unselfconsciously awful at acting that this has documentary value: a picture of a pinched and starved nation, waking up to this new energy.” I think that this review is a great honest description of the movie. While watching the film I felt the same way about the unapologetic acting and a lot of the time it felt somewhat like a documentary. The article describes the starved nation and waking up to a new energy, which I think is a great description of the time in which The Beatles made a change. Roger Ebert made a review closer to the making of the film in 1966, he talks about the surprising success when he says, “Many critics attended the movie and prepared to condescend, but the movie could not be dismissed: It was so joyous and original that even the early reviews acknowledged it as something special.” The Beatles success from the film only helped them to continue to be so successful in all of their music and winning them seven Grammys.

[sumpix]

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes … because I live just around the corner. Lynsey Hanley

To a dour Brummie like me, living in Liverpool is an unending source of hope and delight. I took this photo to remind me

Once a place is immortalised in song it’s hard to imagine it as somewhere in which people really do walk their dogs, or go to the Londis or get a haircut. When it’s the Beatles doing the immortalising, it becomes almost impossible – unless, of course, you live there.

Penny Lane, in Mossley Hill, south Liverpool, lives on not just as a Beatles song but as a street five minutes’ walk from my house. John Lennon and George Harrison went to the primary school on the corner, and Paul McCartney was a choirboy at the church opposite the song’s “shelter in the middle of a roundabout”, where this photo was taken. (Mossley Hill was a bit too posh for Ringo, who has his own mural in Toxteth.)

I see these landmarks while going about my daily business, and in the 10 years I’ve lived in Liverpool it has never ceased to feel wonderful and strange. Sometimes, it’s like living in a theme park: the open-top Liverpool Explorer bus passes the top of my street a couple of times a day. The Magical Mystery Tour bus – you can see the sticker on the street sign – ambles round daily on a three-hour tour of historic sites that I’ll never quite be able to take for granted.

Come to my house and I could walk you to John and Paul’s childhood homes. I’d show you the fire station, the barber shop, the park they walked through to get to each other’s houses, and the bus stop where Paul caught the same number 86 that I get into town most days. It’s a daily privilege to see something like the world they wrote about – still recognisable, though inevitably altered, 60-odd years later – through my eyes.

For someone who grew up in a pop-worshipping household, far away in Birmingham, a household that regarded the Beatles essentially as family members, it can resemble a living dream, a bit like the song itself. It was partly because of them that I knew growing up to have something like the life you dreamed of was attainable. Although moving to Liverpool wasn’t part of that early dream – I’m here because I married a Merseysider, falling in love with the place as well as the person – it’s in so doing that I’ve found the community and life I always hoped for.

Macca’s mental map of these streets remains intact to this day, as it was when he wrote Penny Lane from his Regency mansion in St John’s Wood, around the corner from Abbey Road in London. In McCartney’s telling, the “pretty nurse” selling poppies by the tram shelter “feels as if she’s in a play/ she is anyway”. When I’m going off to the doctor’s, or dropping bags at the charity shop, within sight of that same tram shelter, I catch myself thinking, how lucky am I?

Part of this comes from Liverpool’s own irrepressible, elaborately gregarious character, which to a dour Brummie like me is an unending source of hope and delight. Among the sights I’ve seen within yards of my front door are Ken Dodd’s extensive funeral cortege (with Dicky Mint, his puppet Diddyman, guarding his coffin), two Liverpool FC cup-winners’ processions – the main road a cheering sea of red and white, and a thumbs up from Mo Salah – and Stephen Graham wearing plus-fours and a tweed waistcoat outside the local wine bar.

Liverpool is exactly this, all the time: the dreamlike and the everyday overlapping at every opportunity. That’s not all it is. It’s also about dockers striking and winning, as they’ve done this year; chasing fascist sympathisers out of town to the sound of the Benny Hill theme tune, as Liverpudlians did in 2017; about LFC and Everton fans going from collecting tins to building a national campaign for the right to food. Its socialism is practical and dreamful at the same time. The sticker commemorating the life of the late Guardian columnist and campaigning writer Dawn Foster is there for a reason: Liverpool was her kind of town.

Ask a scouser what Britain’s second city is and of course they’ll reply, “London.” But I love that in a place. Maybe it takes moving here from somewhere else to recognise how special that is. I never wanted to live in a fantasy world, but I always hoped to find a place that was real and fantastic at the same time. Penny Lane is it.

Lynsey Hanley is the author of Estates: an Intimate History and Respectable: Crossing the Class Divide

[mainshell]

Carter triplety

#CARTER TRIPLETY DRIVER#

She was born November 23, 1943, in Forsyth County to the late Lewis and Hester Lancaster. Carolyn Louise Lancaster Triplett, 77, passed away Friday September 17, 2021. Online condolences may be made at Advance, North Carolina Reynolds Hospice Home), 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. Lexington Road, Mocksville, NC 27028 or Trellis Supportive Care (Kate B. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Store House for Jesus, 675 E. The family would also like to extend a special heart-felt thank you to Carolyn’s three caregivers: Ruth Morelock, Linda Ferguson, and Lori Carter Gunter for their steadfast and loving care. The family will receive friends from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM prior to the service at the church. A private family burial will follow at Forsyth Memorial Park. A memorial service will be conducted 2:00 PM Tuesday, September 21st at Clemmons First Baptist Church with Rev. Stephen Triplett daughter, Stephanie Triplett Wilson (Billy) son, Stephen Barton Triplett three grandchildren: Laura JoAnna Triplett Groce (Blake), Alyson Paige Triplett, and Stephen Travis Stike two great-grandsons, Harrison James McIlwain and Graham Wesson Groce. Carolyn is survived by her loving husband of 59 years, B. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her son, James Derek Triplett and sister, Shirley Baldwin of Warner Robbins, GA. There Carolyn sang in the choir and was also a Sunday School Teacher. She was a long-time member of Clemmons First Baptist Church. Carolyn was a self-proclaimed comedian and loved to make people laugh. Carolyn Louise Lancaster Triplett, 77, passed away Friday September 17, 2021. The company no longer exists and the domain name was sold 25 years later.Carolyn Louise Triplett Mrs. Symbolics, Inc., a spinoff of the MIT AI Lab, was a computer manufacturer headquartered in Massachusetts. In 1985, on March 15th, the first internet domain name was registered. (John Lennon had previously told the band that he was leaving but hadn't publicly announced it.) By the end of the year, each Beatle had his own album. In 1970, on April 10th, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. The National Guard was called in to help the LA police quell rioting. 34 people died in the rioting and over $40 million in property damage occurred.

#CARTER TRIPLETY DRIVER#

An allegedly drunk African-American driver was stopped by LA police and, after a fight, police brutality was alleged - and the riots began. In 1965, from August 11 to 16, riots broke out in Watts, a Black section of Los Angeles. Previously, hydrogen bombs had only been tested on the ground. tested the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane over Bikini Atoll. He was buried at his home in Hyde Park, New York. while thousands of mourners lined the tracks. A slow moving train took him back to Washington D.C. It didn't help and he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. A doctor was summoned and the doctor gave him a shot of adrenaline into his heart. At 1p, he was sitting for a portrait when he complained that he had a "terrific pain" in the back of his head and collapsed. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. (Carter) Triplett was born, on April 12th, President Franklin D. Add Madge's birthday or the date she died to see a list of historic events

[waveofahand]

McLennon: A Nation of Two

I love this picture. There’s chaos and motion all around, but it’s quiet and intimate in this little space occupied by Paul McCartney and John Lennon as they share a hand mirror and once again demonstrate that they have absolutely no concept of “personal space”. Of course, when you’re a nation of two, there is no personal space, it’s all one space. But really… look at how quiet and peaceful they are next to each other. It’s beautiful. Sad too. Almost makes me want to weep. There’s just something very soft and sweet – I’d even say “dear” – in this photo. It speaks softly but also very loudly as to how comfortable they were with each other, and how close. Brothers? Definitely. Lovers? Who knows? Soulmates? Absolutely and for sure!   

[sohardlovingyou]

You're waiting for someone to perform with

Paul McCartney and John Lennon exchanging glances during the broadcast of Hey Jude (1968)

[reflectismo]

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, John and Yoko were both interviewed during John’s 31st birthday celebration by reporter Takahiro Imura (in what would be known as the Argument Interview due to several moments caught on tape of the couple clashing verbally). Also captured on the tape was John discussing the early years of the Beatles and making a statement that he “made them and killed them.” As you can hear from the tape excerpts, John was not mincing words when describing his view of Paul and Brian’s involvement and dominance in shaping the Beatle’s image and by extension his own during those years. As he puts it in the interview: 

“But all the time Paul, and Brian Epstein we’re always trying to kill me from saying anything. But because I was in so much pain, I’d always get drunk or drugged, and I’d always say something that didn’t suit them. And so always, I would leave a piece of shit amongst the Beatles image. But all the time they tried to kill me and kill me and bring me down to be a Beatle, to be a nice boy, be a Beatle.

But if you look from the career of the Beatles, the first national news the Beatles ever got in the English newspapers was when I nearly killed somebody at Paul’s party. So all the famous news the Beatles ever got besides being Go–angels, was when I did something terrible through being in so much pain. So they could never keep me down.”

What I find interesting is the overall timeline of events. Just a day before, John acknowledged that Paul was “still the closest friend he’s ever had except for Yoko” and that all was good between the two, whatever goes on. Yet it cannot be overlooked that the next day, there seems to be extreme tension and unresolved feelings, regardless of him admitting his feelings have changed (from what was said last year during the Lennon Remembers interview) just the day before. 

John’s statements throughout the 70s have always interested me, mostly because they seem to move from one end of the spectrum to the other. It’s fascinating albeit confusing and a bit hard to comprehend re: what his exact feelings are, and, I would suspect that to be the case with those closest to him as well. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we may completely discount what he is feeling at one moment with what he says in another (and I’m completely guilty of this myself) but I think it’s good to also take into consideration the more negative feelings because at one point, he did feel this way and perhaps if we peel the layers it may just provide insight. Now, I’m not here to determine in point blank whether what he’s saying is right or wrong (Re: Paul or Brian truly trying to kill his creativity and spirit) because I absolutely have no way of getting into John’s head to see how his brain drew this conclusion (earlier experiences that have not been mentioned, influence from others, drugs, a bad day, Paul not communicating with him as much during this time, Brian’s death and absence, business affairs, combo of all these things), but I think that at the very least it showcases the many layers and complexities of the Lennon/McCartney and Brian/John dynamic. And really, isn’t it fascinating?

[brn1029]

On this date, the good stuff, in music history….

April 17th

1998 - Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney died after a long battle against cancer. Married Paul McCartney in 1969 when she was working as a photographer. As well as a being a member of Wings, she became an animal rights campaigner and launched her own brand of vegetarian food.

1994 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth No.1 album.

1993 - David Bowie

David Bowie went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his eighteenth studio album Black Tie White Noise. It was his first solo release in the 1990s after spending time with his hard rock band Tin Machine.

1983 - Felix Pappalardi

Felix Pappalardi, producer and bass player with American rock band Mountain was shot dead by his wife Gail Collins during a jealous rage. Collins was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years in prison. Pappalardi who was 43 had produced the Cream albums 'Disraeli Gears' and 'Wheels of Fire.'

1982 - Vangelis

Vangelis was at No.1 on the US album chart with Chariots Of Fire, he later also won an Oscar for the album for best original score.

1975 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley bought a Convair 880 Jet formally owned by Delta Airlines for $250,000, which he re-christened Lisa Marie. Presley spent a further $600,000 refurbishing the Jet to include personal quarters, a meeting area and a dance floor.

1974 - Vinnie Taylor

Vinnie Taylor guitarist with US rock 'n roll revival band Sha Na Na was found dead in a Holiday Inn hotel room in Charlottesville, Virginia from a drug overdose. Sha Na Na played at the Woodstock Festival, their 90-second appearance in the Woodstock film brought the group national attention. The group appeared in the movie Grease as Johnny Casino & The Gamblers.

1973 - The Eagles

The Eagles released their second studio album Desperado. Recorded at Island Studios in London, UK, two singles were released from the album 'Tequila Sunrise' and 'Outlaw Man'.

1973 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side Of The Moon went gold in the US. The LP went on to stay in the US chart for more than ten years and became the longest charting rock record of all time.

1971 - George Harrison

All four Beatles had solo singles in the UK charts, Paul McCartney with 'Another Day', John Lennon 'Power To The People', George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord' and Ringo Starr 'It Don't Come Easy.'

1965 - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's second studio album 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the UK chart. The album opens with 'Blowin' in the Wind', which became an anthem of the 1960s, and an international hit for folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary.

1960 - Eddie Cochran

Touring in the UK, 21-year-old US singer Eddie Cochran was killed when the taxi he was travelling in crashed into a lamppost on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, (where a plaque now commemorates the event). Songwriter Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Cochran's current hit at the time was 'Three Steps to Heaven'. The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sent to prison for six months.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events after 1900 7.6

1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt. 1919 – The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship. 1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2. 1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet (61 m) into the River Irwell. 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Battle of Brunete: The battle begins with Spanish Republican troops going on the offensive against the Nationalists to relieve pressure on Madrid. 1940 – Story Bridge, a major landmark in Brisbane, as well as Australia's longest cantilever bridge is formally opened. 1941 – World War II: The German army launches its offensive to encircle several Soviet armies near Smolensk. 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse. 1944 – Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial. 1944 – The Hartford circus fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut. 1947 – Referendum held in Sylhet to decide its fate in the Partition of India. 1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union. 1957 – Althea Gibson wins the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so. 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles. 1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place. 1962 – The Late Late Show, the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time. 1964 – Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1966 – Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President. 1975 – The Comoros declares independence from France. 1982 – While attempting to return to Sheremetyevo International Airport, an Ilyushin Il-62 operating as Aeroflot Flight 411 crashes near Mendeleyevo, Moscow Oblast, killing all 90 people on board. 1988 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life. 1989 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff. 1996 – A McDonnell Douglas MD-88 operating as Delta Air Lines Flight 1288 experiences a turbine engine failure during takeoff from Pensacola International Airport, killing two and injuring five of the 147 people on board. 1997 – The Troubles: In response to the Drumcree dispute, five days of mass protests, riots and gun battles begin in Irish nationalist districts of Northern Ireland. 1998 – Hong Kong International Airport opens in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, replacing Kai Tak Airport as the city's international airport. 2003 – The 70-metre Yevpatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message (Cosmic Call 2) to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri (HD 75732), HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris (HD 95128). The messages will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, and 2049, respectively. 2006 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years. 2013 – At least 42 people are killed in a shooting at a school in Yobe State, Nigeria. 2013 – A Boeing 777 operating as Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashes at San Francisco International Airport, killing three and injuring 181 of the 307 people on board. 2022 – The Georgia Guidestones, a monument in the United States, are heavily damaged in a bombing, and are dismantled later the same day.

[scotianostra]

The singer Lonnie Donegan was born on April 29th 1931 in Bridgeton Glasgow.

Donegan was born Anthony James Donegan, the son of a Scottish father and Irish mother. His father was a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra.

He moved with his mother to London at an early age, after his parents divorced. Inspired by blues music and New Orleans jazz bands he heard on the radio, he resolved to learn the guitar, and bought his first at the age of fourteen. He took his first name after a New Orleans blues singer he admired called Lonnie Johnson.

The first band he ever played in was the trad jazz band led by Chris Barber, who approached him on a train asking him if he wanted to audition for his group. Barber had heard that Donegan was a good banjo player; in fact, Donegan had never played the banjo at this point, but he bought one and managed to bluff his way through the audition. His stint in this group was interrupted, however, when he was called up for National Service in 1949.

In 1952, he formed his first own group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which found some work around London. On one occasion they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall. Donegan was a big fan of Johnson, and took his first name as a tribute to him. The story goes that the host at the concert got the musicians’ names confused, calling them “Tony Johnson” and “Lonnie Donegan”, and Donegan was happy to keep the name.

Donegan recorded a reworking of an American folk tune, Rock Island Line. Decca released the song in 1956, billed by the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group. The record, with its talking sequences, homage to Americana, and fast train shuffle climax, became a major hit in Britain and America. Because he was paid a flat fee for the session, Donegan didn’t receive any royalty payments for his most popular and influential song until the label struck a new deal for him 40 years later. However, Rock Island Line made him a star in his own right and would remain his signature song throughout his career.

From 1956 through 1962, he enjoyed a string of 34 British hits including Puttin’ on the Style and Cumberland Gap, which hit number one in 1957, Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O, which reached number four in the same year, and the raucous sing-along My Old Man’s a Dustman  which climbed to the top of the charts in 1960. It’s not hard to see why Lonnie is regarded as the first real pop star, his fans included the likes of Lennon and McCartney, who’s first group, The Quarrymen were a skiffle group. he Shadows, the Searchers, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & the Pacemakers, and Cliff Richard all began their musical lives doing skiffle.

As the swinging sixties rolled on Donegans hits dried up but he was always in demand for gigs at home and across the world, he also dabbled in a wee bit acting and his own song publishing business, his most popular song he bought the rights for being Nights in white Satin. In the 70’s he popped upon the occasional TV shows during breaks from touring, in 1972 Tom Jones covered one of Lonnie’s songs and it went top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. As a performer he continued to record and lease unsuccessful sides to Pye, Decca, Black Lion, and RCA.

A 1976 heart attack forced Donegan into an uneasy semi-retirement in California. Two years later, Chrysalis Records organized an all-star recreation of his early hits Puttin’ on the Style. Produced by former British teen idol Adam Faith and boasting duets with Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Rory Gallagher, it was his last major-selling album. Follow-ups with respected session ace Albert Lee and Cajun-fiddler Doug Kershaw seemed to point him towards country music, but a series of heart attacks in 1979 ended his full-time career.

In later years Donegan made a series of guest appearances with old friend Chris Barber including a featured spot on Van Morrison’s Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast 1998. Just before his death, he returned to touring full time, exhibiting much of his classic verve and humour before standing-room-only crowds. Donegan died on November 3rd, 2002, in Peterborough.