Politics

Georgia Brown, the daughter of Georgia State House of Representatives member Dr George Thaddeus Brown, is born in Georgia, USA. Some time later, Dr. Brown will meet bandleader Ben Bernie and will tell him that subsequent to the baby girl's birth, the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state. Bennie then had the idea for the song Sweet Georgia Brown which includes the lyric - "Georgia claimed her - Georgia named her." The song is usually listed as having been written in 1925 by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard (music) and Kenneth Casey (lyrics).

After a life of crime including numerous murders, Public Enemy No1 Pretty Boy Floyd is shot dead, aged 30, by police officers in East Liverpool, Ohio, USA. Floyd's life is romanicised in the 1939 Woody Guthrie song Pretty Boy Floyd, which has since been recorded in numerous versions by artists including Bob Dylan and The Byrds.

Benny Goodman And His Orchestra play during the sixth month of a seven-month long residency in The Joseph Urban Room of the The Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, USA. In the course of the residency, Goodman will establish a popular new style of big-band music - swing.

In response to popular demand, Paul Robeson gives a repeat performance of Ballad For Americans on CBS Radio and shortly afterwards records the cantata with The American People's Chorus for Victor Records.

Noel Coward records his ironic song Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans for HMV Records in London, England, UK, Europe. The song will become a personal favourit of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who, according to Coward, asked him to play it seven times in one evening. Nevertheless, after listeners who didn't perceive the irony wrote to the BBC complaining that the song was pro-German, it was banned from airplay. (The Germans, however, got the point, and placed Coward on a list of Britons to be assassinated in the event of an invasion). After the War, Coward will explain that he had written the song "as a satire directed against a small minority of excessive humanitarians who, in my opinion, were taking a rather too tolerant view of our enemies".

The Irving Berlin socio-political musical comedy Call Me Madam is presented on Broadway at The Imperial Theatre, New York City, USA, during a run of 644 performances.

A tv special, Tonight With Belafonte, starring Harry Belafonte, is broadcast by BBC-tv in the UK.

Mark Dinning records the novelty pop song Top Forty, News, Weather And Sports in New York City, USA, for MGM Records. The song will become controversial because it mentions Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, who will be assassinated soon after release of the record. As a result, records are withdrawn from shops and replaced with a new version with a more acceptable lyric.

US President Lyndon Johnson writes to Elvis Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, thanking both for the recent charity concert which raised funds for amemorial to the USS Arizona, which had been sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbour.

Pierre Salinger, the US Presidential Press Secretary, officially denies that anyone danced The Twist in The White House, Washington DC, USA, during a party there on the previous Saturday night.

Marvin Gaye releases a new single, Soldier

Odetta, Josh White, The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem, Will Holt and Judy Collins appear in the CBS-tv broadcast Dinner With The President, which also includes a talk by President John F. Kennedy.

Mississippi John Hurt records 39 songs including new versions of Trouble I've Had It All My Days, Talking Casey Jones and Pera-Lee in The Coolidge Auditorium at The Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA.

An article in today's edition of music trade publication Billboard in the USA quotes several radio station managers in New York and Chicago saying they would not play the song In The Summer Of His Years - a tribute to the recently assassinated US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy - because they felt it would be "in poor taste to capitalize on a such a tragic situation".

A proposed concert by The Beatles at Ramat-Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel, Asia, does not take place because it has been turned down by The Committee of Education and Culture of the Knesset (Parliament). The Committe has stated that The Beatles "have no artistic level sufficient enough and that they cannot add to the spiritual and cultural life of the youth in Israel". One Jerusalem newspaper reports that "Some of the committee members have said during the debate that The Beatles shows cause sexual arousal and that is why it should be better not to bring th em over."

Grant Rogers, Jackie Washington, Judy Collins, Obray Ramsey, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Skip James, The Chad Mitchell Trio and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band play on the second day of the Philadelphia Folk Festival in Wilson Farm, Paoli, Pennsylvania, USA.

The Monkees are working on the song War Games, at RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

A newly-recorded live version of Fulsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash enters the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, but sales will fall away sharply two weeks later, after the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy causes radio stations to drop the single from playlists because of the line, "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die."

Phil Ochs plays in a political benefit show for Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy in Eugene's, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Sam And Dave, Joe Tex, Sonny And Cher and The Rascals play in the NATRA (National Association Of Television And Radio Announcers) Benefit Show for the Martin Luther King Foundation at Randall's Island, New York State, USA.

Harry Belafonte plays at the Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, New Jersey, USA.

Tony Christie takes part in the annual Golden Orpheus Song Festival in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, Europe. Unknown to Christie and the other performers, their appearances are recorded and will be bootlegged illegally as an LP - with Bulgarian government approval - throughout Russia and the Eastern Bloc.

Lauryn Hill, Fugees singer and solo performer, is born in South Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Ghost Town by The Specials reaches No1 in the UK singles chart. The song's inspiration had come some months earlier, when The Specials played at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland. When Jerry Dammers of The Specials saw elderly women selling their possessions on the Glasgow streets, he was inspired to write the song. "It was unbelievable," he said later. "It was clear that something was very, very wrong."

Conflict play a benefit for the Animal Liberation Front at The Fulham Greyhound, London, England, UK, Europe, with Toxic Shock and Stigma.

Billy Bragg begins his twelve-date Jobs For Youth tour at The Powerhouse, Birmingham, England, UK, Europe, supported by The Sid Presley Experience.

Politically-oriented Australian folk band Redgum play the first of two nights at Porchester Hall, Bayswater, London, England, UK, Europe.

Politically-oriented Australian folk band Redgum play at Trowbridge Festival, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, UK, Europe.

Johnny Cash is honoured with the Shalom Peace Award from the Jewish National Fund at a testimonial dinner held in The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger play at Waterloo Village, Stanhope, New Jersey, USA.

Fear Of A Black Planet by Public Enemy is awarded a gold disc in Canada.

The South African Directorate of Publications states that the lyrics of fifteen songs on the double-album set Use Your Illusion by Guns N' Roses are considered "undesirable."

Irish folk group The Chieftains play for US President Bill Clinton on The White House lawn in Washington, DC, USA, to celebrate Independence Day.

On a charity fundraising edition of UK tv quiz show The Weakest Link, Billy Bragg wins over £11,000 for his chosen charity which provides support for victims of torture. Other music biz contestants on the show include Suzi Quatro, Lesley Garrett, Carol Decker of T'Pau, Shola Ama, DJ Spoony and Dave Lee Travis.

Country singer Emmylou Harris takes some time out to build dog kennels for the animal rights group, PETA, at their HQ in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic play at The Forum, Kentish Town, London, England, UK.

Carlos Santana makes a public plea to US President Barack Obama to legalise marijuana and use the revenues raised to fund education.

A benefit concert is held for Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York City, USA, featuring Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Peter Stampfel [of the Holy Modal Rounders and an original member of The Fugs], Philip Glass, Sonic Youth, John Zorn, Lenny Kaye, Jolie Holland, Gary Lucas, Elliott Sharp, Shilpa Ray, John Kruth and an All-Star Band, and, of course, Ed Sanders and Ken Weaver of The Fugs. The reason for the concert is that, following a couple of strokes, Kupferberg requires medical attention that is not fully covered by Medicare.

The Dixie Chicks play at The Shoreline Amphitheater, San Francisco, California, USA.

Cher Tweets her reaction to Donald Trump's presidential election win in the USA. "world will never be the same. I feel Sad for the young.🚽will never be more than the toilet I've used as a symbol 4 Him. U Can't Polish a turd."

Rapper and actor Tip Harris, better known as T.I., publishes an open letter to outgoing US President Barack Obama, thanking and commending him because, "Not only did you impact a nation, but you defined a culture and you shook up and woke up a generation."

A full-page advertisement in The Washington Post describes the singer Lorde as a bigot, following her decision to cancel a live show in Israel. The advert was placed by outspoken rabbi Shmuley Boteach's This World: The Values Network.

Grime rapper Wiley posts a series of Tweets widely considered to be antisemitic, including comments to the effect that Israel belongs to the black community. He also draws parallels between the Jewish people and the Ku Klux Klan.