"THE COMMUNISTS WAS IN THE AIR & ON THE GROUND"

BOB DYLAN WALKS OUT ON ED SULLIVAN

New York City (JFK+50) On May 12, 1961, singer Bob Dylan* "walked out" on the set of the Ed Sullivan variety television show here in New York.

Mr. Dylan was informed that his song, "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," could not be performed on the show.

 The lyrics include these lines...

"I was feeling kinda a little down, blue

I didn't know what I was going to do.

The communists was-a-comin' around,

They was in the air, They was on the ground." 

When he was given the word that this song could not be performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, Bob Dylan said...

"If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show."

The song in question is a satirical comment on the John Birch Society.** 

 

*Robert (Bob) Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941 & became one of the greatest songwriters of all time.  His "Blowin In The Wind" (1963) & "The Times They Are A Changin"  (1964) were anthems of the Civil Rights & Anti-War movements.  In 2016, BD was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

**John Birch Society was founded by Robert W. Welch, Jr. in 1958.  It was named in honor of Captain John Birch, US Army Air Corps, the 1st casualty of the Cold War.  JBS is a political advocacy group opposed to communism & supportive of limited government.  It has been described as supporting extreme anti-government doctrines. 

 

 

 

Bob Dylan Performs

"Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues"

1963

You Tube Video

 

THE NEGRO'S NAME IS USED FOR THE POLITICIAN'S GAIN

BOB DYLAN & PETE SEEGER PERFORM AT SNCC MUSIC FESTIVAL

Greenwood, Mississippi  (JFK+50) On July 6, 1963, folk music artists Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger performed at a folk music festival held in a cotton field owned by Silas Magee just south of Greenwood.  They were joined by Theodore Bikel* and the Freedom Singers.

The festival-rally was sponsored by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was dedicated to registering African Americans to vote.

Mr. Dylan sang "Only a Pawn in Their Game" which he had written shortly after the death of Medgar Evers.

*Theodore Meir Bikel (1924-2015) was born in Vienna, Austria & became an actor, folk singer, composer & political activist.  TMB was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in "The Defiant Ones" (1958) & was co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival.  In 1962, he became only the second performer (1st was Bob Dylan) to perform "Blowin' in the Wind" in public.

SOURCES

"July 6, 1963-Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger (Silas Mager's Farm)", July 5, 2016, NSF Music Station, www.needsomefun.net/

"Saturday, July 6, 1963:  Greenwood, Mississippi", The '60s at 50, July 6, 2013, www.the60sat50.blogspot.com/

Joan Baez & Bob Dylan

March on Washington

August 28, 1963

Photo by Rowland Scherman

US Information Agency

NARA Photo

THE BEATLES COULDN'T STOP PLAYING IT!

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1962

BOB DYLAN RELEASES "FREE WHEELIN"

Fifty-three years ago today, May 27, 1963, Bob Dylan released his second long-play album titled Free Wheelin.  The lp was released by Columbia Records.

In the summer of 1963, the folk music trio  Peter, Paul and Mary turned the first cut from Dylan's album, Blowin in the Wind, into an international hit. From that point forward, Bob Dylan became a household name.

Dylan recorded Blowin in the Wind, a song that he had written in only ten minutes, on July 9, 1962.

John Lennon said that when the Beatles first heard Free Wheelin, they couldn't stop playing it.

Bob Dylan

Azkena Rock Festival

Photo by Alberto Cabello (2010)

DEATH OF THE TRUE VOICE OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT

WOODY GUTHRIE DIED 47 YEARS AGO TODAY

New York City (JFK+50) Forty-seven years ago today, October 3, 1967, Woody Guthrie, the godfather of the folk revival movement of the 1950s, died in the Creedmore Psychiatric Center here in New York City at the age of 55.

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan called Woody "the true voice of the American spirit."

Woody Guthrie began writing music after traveling to California with Dust Bowl refugees during the 1930s and recorded an album entitled "Dust Bowl Ballads."

His most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land," became very popular during the folk music rebirth of the early 1960s.  He wrote the song because he was tired of hearing "God Bless America."  Guthrie wrote it in 1940 and it was recorded in 1944.

Guthrie was diagnosed with the same disease that had killed his mother, Huntington's chorea, a genetic disorder and he spent 12 years in a psychiatric hospital.

Woody Guthre NYWTS

Photo by Al Aumuller

New York World Telegram and the Sun

Library of Congress Image

*Woodrow Wilson "Woodie" Guthrie (1912-1967) was born in Okemah, Oklahoma and was named after the Governor of NJ and soon to be United States president Woodrow Wilson.

Living and working in New York City, he became known as "the Oklahoma cowboy."  He wrote thousands of pages of poems and prose.  During WWII, he served in the Merchant Marine.

He once said, "I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride  in yourself and in your work."

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

GOLDEN GATE OPENED 77 YEARS AGO TODAY

San Francisco (JFK+50) The Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic 77 years ago today, May 27, 1937, here in San Francisco, California.

200,000 people came out to take a stroll across the beautiful orange colored suspension bridge.

The Golden Gate's elegant design was the result of collaboration between engineers Joseph Strauss, Leon Moisseiff and architect Irving Morrow.

Construction began on January 5, 1933.

The bridge is 4280 feet in length.  At its opening, the Golden Gate was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

It was replaced, however, as the longest suspension bridge in the United States by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge completed in 1964 in New York City.

In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Kobe, Japan became and remains today the longest suspension bridge in the world.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge has a span of 1298 feet, and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge spans 1991 feet.

On May 28, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button at the White House which signaled the start of vehicular traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge.

             The Golden Gate Bridge
           San Francisco, California
Photo by Rich Niewiroski, Jr. (2007)

DYLAN RELEASED "FREE WHEELIN" 51 YEARS AGO 

Fifty one years ago today, May 27, 1963, Bob Dylan released his second album, "Free Wheelin" on Columbia records.

In the summer of 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary turned the 1st cut from the album, "Blowin in the Wind", into an international hit. 

From that point forward, Bob Dylan became a household name.

John Lennon said that when the Beatles first heard "Free Wheelin" in Paris, they couldn't stop playing it.

                       Bob Dylan
            Azkena Rock Festival
Photo by Alberto Cabello (2010)

GERMAN BATTLESHIP BISMARCK SUNK 73 YEARS AGO TODAY

London (JFK+50) The German battleship Bismarck was sunk 73 years ago today, May 27, 1941, by the British Navy in the North Atlantic.

After having sunk the British cruiser Hood, the Bismarck, leaking fuel, fled for Nazi occupied France.

The German ship was sighted and crippled by the Royal Air Force and then sent to the bottom of the ocean by three British warships.

"The fog was gone the seventh day 
and they saw the morning sun
Ten hours away from homeland
the Bismarck made its run

The Admiral of the British fleet 
said turn those bows around
We found that German battleship
 and we're gonna cut her down."

"Sink the Bismarck"
 by Johnny Horton

THE BISMARCK IS SUNK

May 27, 1941


THE BISMARCK IS SUNK


The German battleship Bismarck was sunk today by the British Navy in the North Atlantic.


After having sunk the British cruiser Hood, the Bismarck, leaking fuel, fled for Nazi occupied France.


The German ship was sighted & crippled by the RAF & then sent to the bottom of the ocean by 3 British warships.


"The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the morning sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The Admiral of the British fleet said turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down."


"Sink the Bismarck" by Johnny Horton

         The Bismarck Goes Down


May 27, 1937


GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE OPENS


The Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic today in San Francisco, California.


200,000 people came out to take a stroll across the beautiful orange colored suspension bridge.


The Golden Gate's elegant design is the result of collaboration between engineers Joseph Strauss & Leon Moisseiff as well as architect Irving Morrow.


Construction began on January 5, 1933.


It is 4200 feet in length making it the longest bridge in the world.*


*On the following day, FDR pushed a button at the White House which signaled the start of vehicular traffic on the bridge.

             The Golden Gate Bridge
           San Francisco, California
Photo by Rich Niewiroski, Jr. (2007)


May 27, 1963


BOB DYLAN RELEASES "FREE WHEELIN"


Singer/musician/song writer Bob Dylan released his 2nd album today.


Released on Columbia Records, Dylan's new album is titled: "Free Wheelin".*


*In the summer of 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary will turn the 1st cut from Dylan's 2nd album, "Blowin in the Wind", into an international hit.  From that point forward, Bob Dylan became a household name.


*John Lennon said that when the Beatles 1st heard "Free Wheelin" in Paris, they couldn't stop playing it.

                       Bob Dylan
            Azkena Rock Festival
Photo by Alberto Cabello (2010)


May 27, 1972


SALT AGREEMENT SIGNED IN MOSCOW


Soviet President Leonoid Brezhnev & US President Richard Nixon signed the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks Treaty today in Moscow.

Brezhnev & Nixon Toast (1972)
Photo from www.mbc.edu


The SALT Treaty limits the number of anti-ballistic missile sites each country may have to 2.  It also freezes the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles each country may have.


May 27, 1831


MOUNTAINMAN JEDEDIAH SMITH KILLED


Trapper/explorer/mountainman Jedediah Smith was killed today while riding alone on the Santa Fe Trail  by a party of Commanches.


It is reported Smith was weakened by shortage of water but still managed to kill one of the Commanches.

     From www.sandiegohistory.org

BOB DYLAN PERFORMS AT FOLK CITY

April 11, 1961


BOB DYLAN PERFORMS AT FOLK CITY


Folk singer & instrumentalist Bob Dylan gave his 1st major performance today at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village, New York City.


Dylan, who sings & plays keyboards & harmonica, opened for the blues artist John Lee Hooker.


Gerde's is the most sought after venue for aspiring folk artists in the city.*


*My favorite Bob Dylan songs became associated with both the civil rights movement & the Vietnam War protest:  Blowin' in the Wind (1963) & The Times They Are A-Changin (1964).


"Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'"


From The Times They Are A-Changin
by Bob Dylan (1964)

         Joan Baez & Bob Dylan, 1963


April 11, 1962


JFK CALLS STEEL HIKE "IRRESPONSIBLE"


In an opening address at his afternoon news conference today, President Kennedy lambasted steel executives on their recent price hike.  JFK called it a "wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest."


JFK went on to tell reporters that the "inflationary" price rise by steel companies will result in higher costs on many consumer products & will make it more difficult to sell American products overseas.


The President concluded his statement with these words:


"The American people will find it hard, as I do, to accept a situation in which a tiny handful of steel executives...can show such utter contempt for the interests of 185 million Americans."*

*Pressure from JFK finally forced US Steel & other major American steel companies to rescind their price hike.


April 11, 1970


APOLLO 13 LIFTS OFF FOR THE MOON


The 3rd lunar landing mission began today with the successful lift off of Apollo 13 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.


Apollo 13 astronauts are Jim Lovell, John Swigert & Fred Haise.


Apollo's 13 lunar lander will put down in the Fra Mauro highlands on the moon where two of the astronauts will explore the Imbrium Basin & conduct geological experiments.*


*Unfortunately the Apollo 13 mission will have to be aborted after the rupture of the service module's oxygen tank 200,000 miles out.  The crew will transfer to the lunar lander, make a pass around the moon, & limp back to earth with a shortage of food & water & to make matters even worse, no heat.

Last words from Houston before the oxygen tank ruptured


April 11, 1951


TRUMAN FIRES MACARTHUR


President Harry S Truman has fired General Douglas MacArthur from his command of UN forces in Korea.


Truman's decision comes after a long dispute between the Commander-in-Chief & his top general in the Korean conflict.


The dispute reportedly began when MacArthur personally told Truman in a meeting in October 1950 that the probability of the Communist Chinese entering the war was "slim".  Then, later in the year, after Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into Korea, MacArthur asked Truman for permission to bomb China.


General Omar Bradley disagreed with MacArthur's advice by saying:


"This is the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, & with the wrong enemy".


President Truman said:


"I believe we must try to limit the war in Korea....so there will be no doubt or confusion as to the real purpose & aim of our policy."

                 MacArthur & Truman


April 11, 1814


NAPOLEON IS SENT INTO EXILE


Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, has abdicated the throne today.


By the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon is to go into exile on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.


In 1812, Napoleon had launched an invasion of Russia which ended with his retreat from Moscow & most of Europe uniting against him.*


*In 1815, Napoleon escaped Elba, returned to Paris & reclaimed his throne.  Shortly thereafter he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, forced to abdicate once again, & again was sent into exile.

        Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow