“Ode to Joy” was written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in Thalia. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, changing two lines of the first and omitting the last stanza.
“Ode to Joy” is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final (fourth) movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. This was Beethoven’s final symphony and lasts over an hour for the whole thing.
The entire final movement:
Beethoven’s text is not based entirely on Schiller’s poem, and introduces a few new sections. His melody (but not Schiller’s words) was adopted as the Anthem of Europe by the Council of Europe in 1972 and subsequently by the European Union.
It is often called Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (You) in hymnbooks.
Find Ode to Joy in Piano Maestro, Prelude, Beethoven: Exploring His Life and Music and several hym books.
By now, you know I love flashmobs:
And Muppets (note the metronome going wild!):
And Barbershop:
An animated score:
Boomwhackers:
The Piano Guys combined Ode to Joy with Joy to the World for a new Christmas arrangement:
As the European Anthem:
And, finally Joyful, Joyful we Adore Thee by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Do a search on youtube – lots and lots of people have played this famous Beethoven melody.
• 1920 ~ Michel-Gaston Carraud, Composer, died at the age of 55
• 1936 ~ Erroll Garner (1921) ASCAP Award-winning American jazz pianist
and composer
• 1922 ~ John Veale, Composer
• 1926 ~ Jan Carlstedt, Composer
• 1929 ~ Geoffrey Penwill Parsons, Piano accompaniest
• 1929 ~ Nigel Pickering, Guitarist
• 1934 ~ Alfred Bruneau, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1936 ~ Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler starred in Burlesque on the Lux Radio Theatre.
• 1937 ~ Rolf Riehm, Composer
• 1937 ~ Waylon Jennings, American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, won the Country Music Association Award in 1974
• 1938 ~ Jean-Claude Eloy, French Composer
• 1940 ~ Willem Frederik Bon, Dutch Composer
• 1941 ~ Harry (Edward) Nilsson III, Singer
• 1944 ~ Terri Gibbs, Singer
• 1945 ~ Rod Argent, English keyboardist for the Zombies
• 1946 ~ Janet Lennon, Singer with the Lennon Sisters
. 1946 ~ Artemios “Demis” Ventouris Roussos (June 15 1946-January 25, 2015) was a Greek singer and performer who had international hit records as a solo performer in the 1970s after having been a member of Aphrodite’s Child, a progressive rock group that also included Vangelis. He has sold over 60 million albums worldwide.
• 1956 ~ Sixteen-year-old John Lennon of the music group, The Quarrymen, met 14-year-old Paul McCartney and invited him to join the group. In a few years, the group became The Beatles.
• 1957 ~ “Ziegfeld Follies of 1957″ closed at Winter Garden NYC after 123 performances
• 1962 ~ Alfred Cortot, French pianist, died at the age of 84
• 1963 ~ Kyu Sakamoto from Kawasaki, Japan, reached the number one spot on the pop music charts with Sukiyaki. The popular song captivated American music buyers and was at the top of the Billboard pop chart for three weeks. In Japan, where Sakamoto was enormously popular, Sukiyaki was known as Ue O Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk). The entertainer met an untimely fate in 1985. Kyu (cue) Sakamoto was one of 520 people who perished in the crash of a Japan Air Lines flight near Tokyo. He was 43 years old.
• 1963 ~ “Sound of Music” closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 1443 performances
• 1965 ~ Bob Dylan recorded Like a Rolling Stone
• 1968 ~ Wes Montgomery, Jazz guitarist, died of a heart attack at 48
• 1982 ~ Art (Arthur E) Pepper, American alto saxophonist, died at the age of 56
• 1594 ~ Orlandus Lassus, Composer (Prophet sybillarum), died at about 61
• 1671 ~ Thomoso Albinoni, Italian composer and violinist
More information about Albinoni
• 1691 ~ Jan Francisci, Composer
• 1709 ~ Gottfried Wegner, Composer, died at the age of 65
• 1744 ~ André Campra, Composer, died at the age of 83
• 1750 ~ Franz Anton Maichelbeck, Composer, died at the age of 47
• 1760 ~ Candido Jose Ruano, Composer
• 1763 ~ Johannes Simon Mayr, Composer
• 1769 ~ Dominique Della-Maria, Composer
• 1789 ~ Johann Wilhelm Hertel, Composer, died at the age of 61
• 1835 ~ Nikolay Rubinstein, Composer
• 1854 ~ Frederik Rung, Composer
• 1891 ~ Auguste Jean Maria Charles Serieyx (1865) Composer
• 1881 ~ The player piano was patented by John McTammany, Jr. of Cambridge, MA.
• 1882 ~ Michael Zadora, Composer
• 1884 ~ John McCormack, Irish/American singer of Irish folksongs
• 1891 ~ Nicolo Gabrielli, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1895 ~ Cliff Edwards “Ukulele Ike”, Singer of When You Wish Upon a Star
• 1904 ~ Benno Ammann, Composer
• 1909 ~ Burl Ives, American folk singer, banjo player, guitarist and Oscar-winning actor. His gentle voice helped popularise American folk music. He played powerful dramatic roles in movies including “The Big Country,” for which he won an Acadamy Award for best-supporting actor, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
• 1910 ~ Nappy (Hilton Napoleon) Lamare, Musician with Bob Cats
• 1911 ~ Johan Severin Svendsen, Composer, died at the age of 70
• 1916 ~ Karl-Rudi Griesbach, Composer
• 1916 ~ MIT and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company attempted the largest transcontinental telephone circuit of the time at Symphony Hall!
• 1918 ~ Carter Harman, Composer
• 1920 ~ Helmer-Rayner Sinisalo, Composer
• 1923 ~ Theodore Bloomfield, Composer
• 1923 ~ It was the beginning of the country music recording industry. Ralph Peer of Okeh Records recorded Fiddlin’ John Carson doing The Little Old Log Cabin in theLane— and the first country music recording was in the can.
• 1929 ~ Cy Coleman (Seymour Kaufman), American composer of popular music and pianist
More information about Cy Coleman
• 1932 ~ Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Composer
• 1933 ~ Albert Ross Parsons, Composer, died at the age of 85
• 1940 ~ John Mizelle, Composer
• 1943 ~ Muff (Mervyn) Winwood, Singer, songwriter, bass with The Spencer Davis Group
• 1945 ~ Rod Argent, Keyboard
• 1948 ~ Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Composer, died at the age of 79
• 1948 ~ John Blackwood McEwen, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1953 ~ Elvis Presley graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, TN. Within three years, the truck driver-turned-singer had his first number-one record with Heartbreak Hotel.
• 1960 ~ Vladimir Nikolayevich Kryukov, Composer, died at the age of 57
• 1962 ~ Boy George, Singer
• 1965 ~ Guido Guerrini, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1965 ~ The Beatles released the album “Beatles VI”
• 1965 ~ John Lennon’s second book “A Spaniard in the Works” was published
• 1968 ~ Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Swedish opera composer, died at the age of 51
• 1969 ~ John & Yoko appeared on David Frost’s British TV Show
• 1974 ~ Knud Christian Jeppesen, Composer, died at the age of 81
• 1975 ~ America reached the top spot on the Billboard pop music chart with SisterGolden Hair. The group had previously (March, 1972) taken A Horse With No Name to the number one spot. The trio of Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell had received the Best New Artist Grammy in 1972. America recorded a dozen hits that made it to the popular music charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Though number one, Sister Golden Hair did not qualify for gold record (million-seller) status.
• 1975 ~ Janis Ian released At 17
• 1976 ~ The Beatles were awarded a gold record for the compilation album of past hits titled, Rock ’n’ Roll Music.
• 1978 ~ Theodore Karyotakis, Composer, died at the age of 74
• 1980 ~ Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra hit #32
• 1986 ~ Alan Jay Lerner, Broadway librettist, died in NY at 67
More information about Lerner
• 1989 ~ Carole King got a star in Hollywood’s walk of fame
• 1994 ~ Henry Mancini passed away at the age of 70
More information about Mancini
• 1994 ~ Lionel Grigson, Professor of jazz, died at the age of 52
• 1994 ~ Harry “Little” Caesar, blues singer/actor (City Heat), died at the age of 66
• 1996 ~ Thomas Edward Montgomery, drummer, died at the age of 73
• 2002 ~ Marvin Paymer, Pianist, composer, musicologist and author, died of cancer. He was 81. His son, actor David Paymer, told the Los Angeles Times that Paymer died in San Diego. In 1977, he co-founded and, until his retirement in 1993, served as associate director of the Pergolesi Research Center at City University of New York Graduate Center. Pergolesi was 18th century Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Paymer authenticated 13 Pergolesi compositions among hundreds of fakes attributed to the posthumously famous composer, who died at 26.
National Flag Day is celebrated annually in the United States on June 14. This day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777.
On National Flag Day, Americans show respect for the U.S. Flag and what it represents. Our independence and unity as a nation is represented by our flag. The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism and is flown proudly.
Betsy Ross is given credit, by many, for creating the first American flag. Since 1977, the design of the flag has been officially modified 26 times. For 47 years, the 48-star flag was in effect. In 1959, the 49-star version became official on July 4. President Eisenhower ordered the 50-star flag on August 21, 1959.
Seventeen-year-old Robert G. Heft of Ohio is credited with designing the 50-star American flag. Of the more than 1,500 designs that were submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his was chosen.
• 1911 ~ “Petrushka”, one of the earliest works of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was first performed in Paris.
• 1917 ~ Sy (Simon) Zentner, Bandleader, trombonist with the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra
• 1919 ~ Leif Kayser, Composer
• 1927 ~ Knut Wiggen, Composer
• 1928 ~ Damaso Ledesma, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1929 ~ Kurt Equiluz, Austrian tenor
• 1938 ~ Gwynne Howell, British opera singer
• 1939 ~ Lionel Hampton and his band recorded Memories of You for Victor Records.
• 1940 ~ Bobby Freeman, Singer
• 1944 ~ The wire recorder was patented by Marvin Camras. Wire recorders were the precursor of much easier to use magnetic tape recorders.
• 1948 ~ Liz Phillips, Composer
• 1948 ~ Dennis Locorriere, Musician, guitarist, singer
• 1954 ~ Nikolai Obouhov, Composer, died at the age of 62
• 1954 ~ Jorge Santana, rocker
• 1958 ~ Frank Zappa graduated from Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California
• 1959 ~ “Sammy Kaye Show,” last aired on ABC-TV
• 1960 ~ Alley-Oop by Dyna-Sores peaked at #59
• 1962 ~ Eugene Goossens, British Composer (Perseus), died at the age of 69. A member of a famed musical family, he spent his later years conducting in Australia where he trained many musicians.
• 1970 ~ The Summertime by Mungo Jerry hit #1 in England
• 1970 ~ The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” album went #1 & stayed #1 for 4 weeks
• 1970 ~ The Beatles’Long & Winding Road, single went #1 & stayed #1 for 2 weeks
• 1970 ~ The song Make It with You, by David Gates and Bread, was released. It turned out to be a number-one hit on August 22, 1970. Though Bread had a dozen hits, including one other million-seller (Baby I’m-A Want You, 1971); Make It with You was the soft-pop group’s only number one tune.
• 1971 ~ Singer Francis Albert Sinatra made an attempt to retire from show business following a performance this night at the Music Center in Los Angeles, CA. ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ got a bit restless in retirement, however, and was back in Sinatra – The Main Event at Madison Square Garden in November 1973.
• 1972 ~ Clyde L Mcphatter, American singer with the Drifters, died at the age of 39
• 1973 ~ Alvin Derold Etler, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1973 ~ Frantisek Suchy, Composer, died at the age of 82
• 1976 ~ Bob Marley performed in Amsterdam
• 1980 ~ Billy Joel’sGlass Houses hit #1
More information on Joel
• 1984 ~ Marinus de Jong, Dutch Composer, died at the age of 92
• 1986 ~ Benny Goodman, American Jazz clarinetist, composer and bandleader died
More information on Goodman
• 1988 ~ George Harrison released This is Love
• 1989 ~ Jerry Lee Lewis got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 1990 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at South Alberta Jubilee Centre, Calgary
• 1993 ~ “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” closed at Booth NYC after 232 performances
• 2001 ~ Makanda McIntyre, a jazz musician and educator, died at the age of 69. McIntyre’s best-known album was “Looking Ahead” (1960). He taught music in Manhattan schools and at Wesleyan University, Smith College, Fordham University and the New School. He was the founder and chairman of the American music, dance and theater program at the State University at Old Westbury, N.Y. McIntyre was born in Boston. After serving in the Army, he studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and later earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. Formerly Ken McIntyre, he changed his name to Makanda after a stranger in Zimbabwe handed him a piece of paper on which was written, “Makanda,” a word in the Ndebele and Shona languages meaning “many skins.”
• 2012 ~ Graeme Bell, Australian pianist and composer, died at the age of 97
Today’s piece is slow and easy-going. The name “Largo” itself means slow. Antonin Dvorák wrote this as a part of his Symphony No. 9 in E minor, also known as From the New World, Op. 95, B. 178, or just the New World Symphony.
Popularly known as the New World Symphony, it was composed in 1893 while Dvořák was the director of the National Conservatory of Music. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular of all symphonies. In older literature and recordings, this symphony was often numbered as Symphony No. 5.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the New World Symphony along during the Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing, in 1969.
Find Largo in Keyboard Kickoff, Prelude (it’s called River Road), Movement 2 and Piano Maestro
For Piano
And orchestra
The theme from the Largo was adapted into the spiritual-like song “Goin’ Home”, often mistakenly considered a folk song or traditional spiritual, by Dvořák’s pupil William Arms Fisher, who wrote the lyrics in 1922.
.
Pipe Organ
Recorder
And sung
Whenever I think of slow things, I’m reminded of this clip from the old TV Show, Taxi
Note: As of March 16, 2020, All FCPS school buildings are closed until further notice.
What Will Happen If Schools Close In Fairfax County?
Piano lessons will continue because we have a plan!
Please note that I clean the piano and keyboard keys with Clorox wipes between each student.Students are expected to wash hands before lessons and after using the restroom. Hand sanitizer is available.
I am continuously monitoring press releases from public health officials both locally and nationwide and have developed a plan for continuity in piano lessons should we need to implement it.
If any of the school districts that students in our studio attend close down or the health department provides suggestions to more seriously limit interaction and engage in social distancing, piano lessons will continue for students of ALL ages.
Our contingency plan if Fairfax County Schools close is to:
Close the physical studio temporarily
Provide online lesson options completely customized towards each student using an app/website called Tonara.All students have been assigned user names and passwords already.Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.
All assignments are due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new ones along with comments about the past week will be given during the regular lesson time. Students will still be expected to continue practicing, completing all assignments and demonstrating progress.
We started using Tonara March 11, 2020 for assignments so that students will be accustomed to it is needed for real.
There will be assigned theory games using an app called SproutBeat.You can download this in the app store. All students have been assigned user names and passwords already.Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.
There may be assigned theory games using a website called SproutBeat Leap.You use it in a browser window at https://leap.sproutbeat.com/home . All students have been assigned user names and passwords already.Your log-in information is in your student’s notebook or I will send it to you.
There may be written theory work from your assigned theory bookIf so, please take a picture of it in Tonara and upload it along with other assignments.It could also be scanned and emailed to maryoconnor@gmail.com
For students with iPads, please be sure that you have downloaded PianoMaestro.There will be weekly assignments listed under “Home Challenge”.Please try to get 3 stars.It is possible to slow the pieces down but you may lose points/stars doing so.If it’s really hard, try the Learn Mode.
For students without iPads, I will assign at least one or two pieces to be videoed in the Tonara app/website and submitted to me for feedback.These will be due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new (or review) ones will be given during the regular lesson time. Feedback will also be provided during the scheduled lesson time.
Depending on how long school is canceled, we may have online lessons using StreamYard as a virtual piano studio during the regularly scheduled lesson time.I will create a ‘broadcast’ for the day and send the same link to all my students.When a student clicks in I see them “backstage” and add them to the lesson, so we can both see/hear each other.Then when the lesson is over the next one has already arrived.I click that one through and the 3 of us are there for a minute. they say hello/goodbye just like in a live lesson.
Other Apps you might want to try at home:
Theory: Music Theory Pro – a great tool for preparing for auditions: scales, chords, intervals and more
Theory: Jungle Journey
Rhythm: Rhythm Swing – a fun, interactive game that covers basic note values
Rhythm: Rhythm Lab – assign rhythms for students to practice and tap- hands alone or together
Rhythm: Rhythm Cat
Note-Reading: Flashnote Derby – a customizable game where students ‘race’ to select the correct note
Note-Reading: Note Squish: think whac-a-mole with notes. Also customizable by clef (includes alto clef!)
Note-Reading: Noteworks
Note-Reading: Staff Wars
Note-Reading: Note Rush:great for keyboard geography. Students have to play the note that pops up
Note-Reading: Treble Cat
Note-Reading: Bass Cat
Ear Training: Beat Melody – great intro to ear training
Ear Training: Ear Cat
Your payment will still be due at the same time. All assignments are due by the beginning of the student’s regularly scheduled lesson time and new ones along with comments about the past week will be given during the regular lesson time. Students will still be expected to continue practicing, completing all assignments and demonstrating progress.
If you have an underlying health concern or family member who has one that you believe puts you in a high-risk group and you would like to take steps ahead of time to mitigate your exposure, please let me know and I will set up online lessons for you (see #10 above).
• 1928 ~ Vic Damone (Vito Farinola), American singer of popular music
• 1930 ~ Jim Nabors, Singer
• 1935 ~ Ella Fitzgerald recorded her first sides for Brunswick Records. The tunes were Love and Kisses and I’ll Chase the Blues Away. She was featured with Chick Webb and his band. Ella was 17 at the time and conducted the Webb band for three years following his death in 1939.
• 1938 ~ Ian Partridge, British tenor
• 1941 ~ “Chick” Corea, American Grammy Award-winning (4) Jazz musician and composer
• 1942 ~ Walter Leigh, Composer, died at the age of 36
• 1942 ~ Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded Travelin’ Light on Capitol Records of Hollywood, California. On the track with Whiteman’s orchestra was the vocal talent of ‘Lady Day’, Billie Holiday.
• 1944 ~ Reg Presley, Singer with Troggs
• 1947 ~ Jazeps Medins, Composer, died at the age of 70
• 1948 ~ William Tell Overture by Spike Jones (originally an opera by Rossini) peaked at #6. See the Daily Listening Assignment for more videos.
Original:
• 1951 ~ Bun Carlos (Brad Carlson), Musician, drummer with Cheap Trick
• 1951 ~ Brad Delp, Musician, guitarist, singer with Boston
• 1957 ~ James F “Jimmy” Dorsey, American orchestra leader, died at the age of 53
• 1962 ~ John N Ireland, English Composer/pianist, died at the age of 82
• 1965 ~ The Queen of England announced that The Beatles would receive the coveted MBE Award. The Order of the British Empire recognition had previously been bestowed only upon British military heroes, many of whom were so infuriated by the news, they returned their medals to the Queen. In fact, John Lennon wasn’t terribly impressed with receiving the honor. He returned it (for other reasons) four years later.
• 1965 ~ Rolling Stones released Satisfaction
• 1965 ~ Sonny and Cher made their first TV appearance, “American Bandstand”
• 1966 ~ Hermann Scherchen, German conductor and music publisher, died at the age of 74
• 1966 ~ The Dave Clark Five set record as they appear for twelfth time on Ed Sullivan
• 1968 ~ Fidelio Friedrich Finke, Composer, died at the age of 76
• 1968 ~ “What Makes Sammy Run?” closed at 84th St Theater NYC after 540 performances
• 1977 ~ “Pippin” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1944 performances
• 1982 ~ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed in Rotterdam
• 1989 ~ Peter Conrad Baden, Composer, died at the age of 80
• 1992 ~ “Batman Returns”, music by Danny Elfman, was released in America
• 1993 ~ Three Little Pigs by Green Jelly hit #17
• 1994 ~ Cab Calloway suffered a massive stroke at his home White Plaines NY
• 1995 ~ Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian Pianist, died at the age of 75. He was hailed as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
• 1996 ~ MacKenzie John, Pipe major, died at the age of 83
• 2000 ~ Robert J. Lurtsema, a classical music show host with a sonorous voice and unique delivery who became a fixture of the Boston radio scene over nearly three decades, died of lung disease. He was 68. Lurtsema, who worked at WGBH-FM for more than 28 years, is well-known to classical music buffs as the host of “Morning pro musica”, which could be heard throughout the Northeast.
• 2006 ~ György Ligeti, Hungarian classical composer (Le Grand Macabre), died at the age of 83
Since we had the Bridal Chorus a couple days ago, it’s time to march the bride and groom back up the aisle with the Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn.
This Wedding March comes from Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It became customary to play this at marriage ceremonies from about the mid 19th Century, and particularly after the daughter (also called Victoria) of Queen Victoria chose the piece for her own wedding in 1858.
Notice all the triplets (3)! If you don’t know what they are, be sure to ask at your next lesson.
Find this in Movement 2 and Piano Maestro.
Franz Liszt and Vladimir Horowitz added some variations
• 1864 ~ Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor. Strauss wrote in nearly every genre but is best known for his tone poems and operas.
Read quotes by and about Strauss
More information about Richard Strauss
• 1874 ~ Richard Stohr, Composer
• 1896 ~ Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1899 ~ George Frederick McKay, Composer
• 1900 ~ Charles Swinnerton Heap, Composer, died at the age of 53
• 1904 ~ Emil Frantisek Burian, Composer
• 1904 ~ Clarence “Pinetop” Smith, Jazz pianist and singer of Boogie Woogie Piano
• 1910 ~ Carmine Coppola, Composer and conductor
• 1912 ~ Mukhtar Ashrafi, Composer
• 1913 ~ Risë Stevens (Steenberg), American mezzo-soprano at the New York Metropolitan Opera
• 1924 ~ Théodore Dubois, French organist and composer, died at the age of 86
• 1926 ~ Carlisle Floyd, American opera composer
• 1927 ~ Josef Anton Reidl, Composer
• 1928 ~ King Oliver and his band recorded Tin Roof Blues for Vocalion Records.
• 1939 ~ Wilma Burgess, Country singer
• 1940 ~ Joey Dee (Joseph DiNicola), Singer with Joey Dee and The Starliters
• 1940 ~ The Ink Spots recorded Maybe on Decca Records. By September 1940, the song had climbed to the number two position on the nation’s pop music charts.
• 1946 ~ John Lawton, Singer
• 1949 ~ Hank Williams sang a show-stopper on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He sang the classic Lovesick Blues, one of his most beloved songs.
• 1951 ~ Bonnie Pointer, Grammy Award-winning singer (with sister Anita) in the Pointer Sisters
• 1955 ~ Marcel Louis Auguste Samuel-Rousseau, Composer, died at the age of 72
• 1961 ~ Roy Orbison was wrapping up a week at number one on the Billboard record chart with Running Scared, his first number one hit. Orbison recorded 23 hits for the pop charts, but only one other song made it to number one: Oh Pretty Woman in 1964. He came close with a number two effort, Crying, number four with Dream Baby and number five with Mean Woman Blues. Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 but suffered a fatal heart attack just one year later.
• 1964 ~ The group, Manfred Mann, recorded Do Wah Diddy Diddy
• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin made her first onstage appearance — at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. She began her professional career at the age of 23 with Big Brother and The Holding Company. The group was a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Piece of My Heart was the only hit to chart for the group in 1968. Big Brother and The Holding Company disbanded in 1972, though Joplin continued in a solo career with hits such as Down on Me and Me and Bobby McGee. Janis ‘Pearl’ Joplin died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood in October 1970. The movie The Rose, starring Bette Midler, was inspired by the life of the rock star.
• 1966 ~ (I’m A) Road Runner by Jr Walker & The All-Stars peaked at #20
• 1966 ~ I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel peaked at #3
• 1966 ~ “On A Clear Day You…” closed at Mark Hellinger NYC after 280 performances
• 1966 ~ Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones peaked at #1
• 1966 ~ “Skyscraper” closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 248 performances
• 1966 ~ Sloop John B by The Beach Boys hit #1 in the United Kingdom
• 1969 ~ “The Ballad Of John & Yoko” by The Beatles hit #1 in the United Kingdom
• 1969 ~ David Bowie released Space Oddity
• 1975 ~ Floro Manuel Ugarte, Composer, died at the age of 90
• 1976 ~ Australian band AC/DC began their first headline tour of Britain
• 1976 ~ The Beatles “Rock & Roll Music” LP was released in America
• 1977 ~ Dance & Shake Your Tambourine by Universal Robot Band peaked at #93
• 1977 ~ I Need A Man by Grace Jones peaked at #83
• 1977 ~ I’m Your Boogie Man by KC & Sunshine Band peaked at #1
• 1977 ~ Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold peaked at #7
• 1977 ~ The Pretender by Jackson Browne peaked at #58
• 1990 ~ Clyde McCoy, Jazz trumpeter, died at the age of 86
• 1995 ~ Lovelace Watkins, Singer, died at the age of 58
• 2001 ~ Amalia Mendoza, one of Mexico’s most famous singers of mariachi and ranchera music, died at the age of 78. She was famous for songs such as Echame a mi la Culpa (Put the Blame on Me) and Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas). Born in the Michoacan town of San Juan Huetamo in 1923, she was part of a family of noted musicians. Ranchera music is a kind of Mexican country music that overlaps with Mariachi music.
• 2001 ~ Ponn Yinn, a flutist of traditional Cambodian music and dance who survived the Khmer Rouge purge and helped preserve his country’s culture, died of a stroke at the age of 82. Yinn was working under Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then Gen. Lon Nol, for the Classical Symphony of the Army for the Royal Ballet, when the Khmer Rouge overthrew Cambodia’s government in 1975. Khmer Rouge forces found Yinn during their campaign to uncover and eliminate Cambodia’s intellectuals and artists. He begged for his life and claimed to be a steelworker who enjoyed playing the flute. He was allowed to live but was forced to play a makeshift flute nightly into loudspeakers to drown out the screams of people being slaughtered in fields nearby. In 1979, Yinn crossed through minefields and escaped to Thailand. In a border refugee camp, Yinn headed the Khmer Classical Dance Troupe. At a time when Cambodian culture was believed to have been almost eradicated – a result of the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of 1 million to 2 million people, the troupe was discovered by Western visitors. Yinn settled in Long Beach in 1984, where he taught music for more than 20 years and continued to perform.
• 2015 ~ Ornette Coleman died at the age of 85. He was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s.
• 2015 Ron Moody [Ronald Moodnick], British composer, singer and actor (12 Chairs, Oliver!), died at the age of 91
Flag Day 
MaryO'Studio 