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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON JUNE 26


Big Bill Broonzy1893--Blues singer-guitarist, Big Bill Broonzy, is born.

1909--Showman Colonel Tom Parker is born. He swore he was born in West Virginia, although many reference books have listed his birthplace as Breda, Netherlands. These types of discrepancies were common for Parker, who preferred to stay away from the public eye and allow his clients to be in the spotlight. He got the honorary title “colonel” in 1948, from Govenor Jimmie Davis of Louisiana. He started in show business as the leader of the Great Parker Pony Circus before becoming manager for Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow in the 1940s and early 1950s. He became manager of then truck driver, Elvis Presley, from Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1955. They were a team until Elvis died in 1977.

Georgie Fame (aka Clive Powell)1919--The New York Daily News begins publication.

1943--Georgie Fame is born Clive Powell in Lancashire, England. He began as a pianist with The Blue Flames, Billy Fury’s backup band. The Blue Flames later became his band, and they had the hits Yeh, Yeh (1965) and The Ballad Of Bonnie and Clyde (1968). Georgie Fame went on to have an impressive solo career as a jazz musician, still working regularly into the new millennium.

1955--Decca Records announces Bill Haley and the Comets have sold more than three million records in 13 months. Both Rock Around The Clock and Shake Rattle & Roll have sold a million copies, while Dim, Dim the Lights and Mambo Rock have sold about 500,000.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962--Brian Epstein and his brother, Clive, form NEMS Enterprises Limited, in which they are directors and shareholders.

1963--The Beatles perform at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. John Lennon and Paul McCartney compose She Loves You while in their hotel room. The song will be chosen for the A-side of the next Beatles single.

The familiar film-frames headshots from The Beatles' film, A Hard Day's Night.1964--US release of The Beatles’ soundtrack LP, A Hard Day's Night (United Artists). Songs: A Hard Day's Night, Tell Me Why, I'll Cry Instead, I'm Happy Just to Dance With You, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, And I Love Her, and Can't Buy Me Love. Also includes instrumental music from the movie (directed by George Martin). Although the album is released in both stereo and mono, The Beatles tracks are in mono on both versions; only the instrumental tracks are issued in stereo / mono versions. On the album cover the title to I'll Cry Instead is incorrectly printed as "I Cry Instead," but the song title is correct on the record label. 51 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #1.

1964--The Beatles, continuing on their world tour, perform two shows at Town Hall, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin had been rather tense due to the receipt of an anonymous threat that a "germ bomb" had been placed on board the aircraft.

The Reeperbahn district in Hamburg, Germany, circa 1960s.1966--The Beatles' train travels to Hamburg, Germany, from where the group had last departed on January 1, 1963. This time they come back in an eight-car motorcade and play to 7,000 people. Their train is met by a lot of faces from the past, with Astrid Kirchherr and Bert Kaempfert two of the most memorable. Later, The Beatles play two shows at Ernst Merck Hall, Hamburg, West Germany. On stage, John Lennon quips: “Don’t listen to our music. We’re terrible these days.” John visits Astrid, who gives him some letters written by Stuart Sutcliffe shortly before he died. Then around midnight, for old times’ sake, John and Paul take a walk through the red-light district of the Reeperbahn.

1967--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Ringo Starr records a drum roll that is added to the start of All You Need Is Love, then the song is mixed for immediate release as a single (the flip side to be Baby You're a Rich Man). The single will be issued in the UK eleven days later, on July 7.

1968--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Rehearsal and recording of Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey. This night's tapes will all be wiped and the recording begun again the next night.

Elvis Presley during is last concert on June 26, 1977.1977--Elvis Presley performs his final concert at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis. The last song in his set is Can't Help Falling in Love.

1979--Vernon Presley, Elvis' father, dies of a heart attack at age 63.

1996--The VH1 Archives series of classic “Dick Cavett Shows” from the 1960s and 1970s has its first broadcast. This show features the first part of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1971 appearance with Cavett (part two is broadcast on July 3). This is the first time the footage has been seen in almost 25 years.

The movie Wonderwall. George Harrison wrote the music for the 1968 film.1999--US premiere of the restored 1968 British film, "Wonderwall," at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, as part of a ten-day film festival dedicated to movies of the sixties. The film's soundtrack was written and produced by George Harrison; it was Harrison's first solo project. A portion of the soundtrack was released as Harrison's first solo album and the first album to appear on the Apple label, Wonderwall, released in late 1968. The motion picture, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 1968, was released in the UK on January 20, 1969. It was not a financial success and was not distributed in the US. The film's director, Joe Massot, re-edited the film nearly 30 years later, and he re-created the soundtrack from the original master tapes. He obtained the tapes from EMI's London and Bombay studios and from George Harrison's personal archives. While going through Harrison's tapes, Massot discovered an unreleased song titled, In the First Place. The 1967 song, which features a George Harrison vocal, had never been submitted to Massot for inclusion in the film, because Harrison's commission had been for an instrumental soundtrack. Massot requested the inclusion of this song in the new "director's cut" that he was preparing and Harrison agreed, on the condition that he be given credit only as the song's producer, that the performance be credited to The Remo Four (the backing group accompanying Harrison's vocal), and that writing credit be given to Colin Manley and Tony Ashton. The song was released in the UK as a CD-single on January 20, 1999, on Massot's “Pilar” label.

For more day-by-day history go to HistoryUnlimited.net

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