From the MCRFB music calender:
Events on this date: JUNE 26
1954: Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records, calls a young singer named Elvis Presley, who had recorded a few songs earlier in the year, to ask him to record two songs, “Without You” and “Rag Mop.” He sings the first, attempting to match the demo made by an unknown artist hanging around the studio, but it proves too much for him, and, according to Dave marsh’s book Elvis, beats the walls of the studio shouting, “I Hate Him! I Hate Him!” The singer, whom Elvis could not match is lost to history. Phillips mollifies the young Elvis by asking him to sing something else, and Presley impresses him anyway, to the point he makes plans to set the singer up to record with musicians for a future date.
1955: Decca Records, home to Bill Haley & The Comets, announces that the group has hold three million records in the past year, due mostly to “Rock Around The Clock” and “Shake, Rattle And Roll.”
1961: The Marcels make their U.S. television debut, performing “Blue Moon” on ABC-TV’s American Bandstand.
1963: After a Beatles performance at the Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, John Lennon and Paul McCartney writes “She Loves You” in their hotel room, originally an answer song of sorts to the 1963 Bobby Rydell hit, “Forget Him.”
1971: WNEW-FM in New York becomes the first radio station in the nation to play Don McLean’s new single, “American Pie,” which it features in it’s 8:36 entirety.
1973: Model and singer Marsha Hunt, inspiration for the song, “Brown Sugar,” names Mick Jagger in a paternity suit, claiming the band’s lead fathered her two-year old daughter, Karis. That same day, Stone guitarist Keith Richard is busted, along with girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, in his home in his Chelsea home for possession of heroin, pharmaceutical drugs, guns, and ammo.
1975: Cher’s divorce from Sonny Bono is final, leaving her free to marry Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers just four days later.
1977: Elvis Presley performs what would be his last concert, performing at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, before a crowd of 18,000 fans. Although by this time Elvis appears weak, pale, and overweight (as he had with increasing regularity), there is nothing to suggest his impending death — indeed, there is nothing unusual about this show on the tour, except that Elvis for some reason introduces practically everyone who had been connected with his life while on stage. Some take this as “proof” that Elvis knew he was in his final days; others maintain that The King was worried about the imminent-publication of Elvis: What Happened?, a tell-all biography by former bodyguards Sonny and Red West that publicly broke the story of his drug abuse, and what those revelations might do to his image. The last song he performs onstage is “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” Footage from the final concert is taken but has not been widely seen since; the audio portion can be heard on the LP The Last Farewell (released on CD as Adios: The Final Performance, A.J. Records CD 92-2002). Elvis Presley’s father, Vernon, will pass away two years later to the day of his son’s last concert date.
1982: Roxy Music leader Bryan Ferry marries his first wife, model Lucy Helmore. The same day, Marie Osmond marries her first husband, Brigham Young University basketball player Steve Craig.
1993: Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers marries his first wife, R&B singer Angela Winbush of Angele and Renee 1980s R&B hits fame.
Releases: 1964: “It’s All Over Now,” The Rolling Stones. 1965: “I Want Candy,” The Strangeloves; enters the charts. 1965: “Mr. Tambourine Man,” The Byrds; hits No. 1 on the charts.
Certifications: 1975: “The Hustle,” Van McCoy; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day…. JUNE 26.
