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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON JUNE 6


The American drive-in movie.1933--America’s first drive-in movie theater opens in Camden, New Jersey, with nine rows of parking on 10 acres.

The Dalai Lama1935--The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet's Lamaistic Buddhists, is born.

1944--D-Day. The 400,000 allied land forces under General Dwight Eisenhower make successful landings on the coast in Normandy, France, and within 11 months the Third Reich would fall.

1954--Eurovision, a network created by linking television stations across Europe, makes its first broadcast from the "Festival of Flowers" in Switzerland.

1960--The Silver Beetles perform at the Grosvenor Ballroom, Liscard, Wallasey. This is the first time they ever appear on the same bill with Gerry and the Pacemakers, the two groups destined to become Liverpool's most successful beat groups.

1960--Roy Orbison's Only The Lonely is released.

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

The Beatles during their first recording session with George Martin at EMI Abbey Road Studios, London. Left to right: Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.1962--The Beatles' first recording session at Abbey Road Studios, London, their EMI / Parlophone audition. After playing a large number of songs and getting the "thumbs-up" for actual recording, The Beatles record four songs: Besame Mucho and three Lennon-McCartney songs, Love Me Do, P.S. I Love You, and Ask Me Why. Although sample lacquer discs are cut, none of these takes will be released on record. Ron Richards, George Martin's assistant, is in charge of the session initially, but balance engineer, Norman Smith, calls Martin in when his interest is aroused by Love Me Do. Martin comes in and stays "for the remainder of The Beatles' career." George Martin gets along well with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, but not so with the silent Pete Best. Worse, he considers Pete's drumming ability to be not up to professional standards, as he points out to Brian Epstein. There is some question as to whether Martin made finalizing The Beatles' recording contract conditional upon Pete Best being replaced as drummer, but it was clear that Martin had no intention of using Best in the studio. Since John, Paul, and George had been increasingly unhappy with Pete (he wasn't a great drummer, he wouldn't restyle his hair like theirs, and he was enormously popular with the girls), it was just a matter of time (August 16) until Pete Best was out as drummer and Ringo Starr was in. Brian Epstein was handed the unenviable task of breaking the news to Pete; John called Ringo and asked him to join The Beatles, telling him that his long sideburns would have to be sacrificed to fit in with the image Brian was creating for the group. Pete Best, who had stuck with The Beatles through demanding Hamburg engagements, who had handled the group's bookings before Brian Epstein's arrival, and who had played a multitude of club performances with The Beatles, lived the nightmare of being booted out of the group on the eve of their spectacular success. Neil Aspinall, Pete's close friend (he lived with the Bests), had to make a tough choice: he stayed on as The Beatles' road manager, but only at Pete Best's insistence.

The Beatles with drummer, Jimmy Nicol, during their 1964 European tour.1964--The Beatles, on a world tour, perform two shows at an auction hall (Veilinghal Op Hoop Van Zegen) in Blokker, The Netherlands. Drummer Jimmy Nicol fills in for the hospitalized Ringo Starr. Television news and newsreel cameras film The Beatles' second performance.

1966--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). A session devoted primarily to tape copying and mixing, but Paul McCartney does add the final vocal overdub to Eleanor Rigby.
Claudette Orbison
1966--Brian Epstein forms Nemperor Artists Inc. in New York, with Nat Weiss.

1966--Claudette Orbison, wife of singer Roy Orbison, dies in a motorcycle accident.

The John Lennon Play: In His Own Write (based on the book of the same name).1968--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr work on Don't Pass Me By. John Lennon films an interview with Victor Spinetti, discussing the upcoming National Theatre production, "In His Own Write," based on John's book and directed by Spinetti. Later, John works on recording 12 additional sound effects tapes for "In His Own Write" (he had previously recorded effects tapes for the play on November 28, 1967). The Beatles Anthology 3 features Don’t Pass Me By as it sounded at the end of this session, before the violin part is overdubbed (Disc one, Track 10).

1968--John Lennon appears on BBC2’s art program “Release,” to talk about his songwriting and the staging of the Old Vic play based on his writings. The show is aired on June 22.

1969--The Lennons return from Canada to London: via bus to Ottawa, train to Toronto, a flight to Frankfurt (with more immigration hassles with the German authorities), and finally a plane across the Channel.

1970--The Beatles album, Let It Be, reaches #1 in the UK.

1970--Fluxfest comes to an end in New York, with “Exam by John and Yoko”: a chance for the public to prove how well they have understood the conceptual art lessons of the past nine weeks.

1971--In the afternoon, the Lennons give an interview to freelance journalist, Alex Bennett, then they appear on Howard Smith’s talk show on WPLJ radio.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono on stage at the Fillmore East with Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention.1971--John Lennon and Yoko Ono make a surprise stage appearance with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, at New York's Fillmore East. This was an impromtu turn of events, and it just happened that the Mothers’ concert was to be recorded (and Yoko arranged to have the unique performance captured on 16mm film). Prior to the concert, the Lennons keep security tight by clearng the backstage area completely. Kip Cohen, the manager of the Fillmore remarked, “It was like the Jews being driven from Amsterdam.” Within minutes, the wings were cleared and the place was like a tomb, except for the second-floor dressing room where John and Yoko briefly rehearsed with Zappa and his band. The following songs from the performance were released on John and Yoko's Some Time in New York City LP: Well (Baby Please Don't Go), Au, Scumbag, and Jamrag. An audience member was heard saying after the concert: “When The Mothers were on, it was just another stage. With Lennon on it...the stage became something else; it became like a visitation!” John and Yoko claimed composing credit on some of the songs that were performed, and Zappa didn’t hesitate to expose their ruse. In the mixing of the material for Some Time In New York City, Klaus Vormann was required to overdub the bass parts, and John and Yoko added their vocals and took out others, making it look more like a pure John and Yoko performance that it actually was. It’s hard to understand why this was done. It sounds like it could have been Yoko’s idea. On October 27, 1992, Frank Zappa released additional material from the performance; re-mixed versions of the Lennons’ tracks on Some Time in New York City, plus unreleased recordings such as Say Please and Aaawk, on his CD Playground Psychotics.

1977--The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is planning a neutron bomb that would kill people without damaging property.

1981--John Lennon’s new single, (Just Like) Starting Over / Woman, is released in America.

The Beatles during their press conference in Munich, Germany in 1966.1986--Dick Rowe, the former head of A&R at Decca Records and the man forever tagged “the man who turned down The Beatles,” dies in London at age 64.

1996--Among the items at a Christie’s auction are some 1966 Ringo Starr reel-to-reel audio tapes, featuring recordings made during The Beatles visits to Munich, Germany and Tokyo, Japan. These include unreleased Ringo compositions Looking For The Lightening, Sitting In The Back Of My Car, and a track that is possibly called Hang On To The Roll She Gave You. The tapes sell for £2,875 ($4,025).

1999--The Sunday Mirror reports that George Harrison has turned down a request by Henley officials to tour the grounds of his Friar Park mansion. George had requested permission to build a sub-tropical rainforest and swimming pool on the grounds and the district officials wrote back giving their blessing and asking for a private tour. George’s architects replied denying their request.

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

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