Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for May 25th

Blues legend gotta whacked-out story, plus a pair of genuine American musical icons make their mark...

5/25/1965 (53 years ago today) - Blues harmonica player, singer-songwriter Sonny Boy Williamson (real name Alex "Rice" Miller) passed away from a heart attack while asleep prior to a gig; he was 52 -- A very influential artist indeed: Van Morrison, Aerosmith, The Who, The Yardbirds, Ten Years After, The Animals and The Moody Blues are just some of the rockers who have covered his songs, including the classics "Dust My Broom", "Help Me", "Eyesight To The Blind" and "Don't Start Me Talkin'" -- According to the Led Zeppelin biography "Hammer Of The Gods", while on tour in Britain in the early Sixties, Sonny Boy accidentally set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator! We like to think it's too strange a tale to not be true, very rock and roll eh? 

5/25/1968 (50 years ago today) - Before "Bridge Over Troubled Water", they had already recorded a near-perfect album: Simon and Garfunkel hit No. 1 with the dazzlingly adventurous "Bookends" LP -- Featuring a simple (and now iconic) black-and-white photo on the front and all the lyrics printed on the back cover, the record really was a kind of concept album that explored life's journey from childhood to old age, and firmly established the duo as an artistic entity on the same level as The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones in the forefront of the cultural movement of the 1960's -- With tracks like "A Hazy Shade Of Winter", "America", "Fakin' It", "At The Zoo" and "Mrs. Robinson", it was hard to argue with that assessment. A remarkable set that still impresses today...

5/25/1973 (45 years ago today) - For those of you wondering what the big deal is with this artist...: At New York's Central Park, Carole King performed a concert for an estimated audience of 100,000! On the heels of the classic "Tapestry" album, too...'Nuff said.

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"There's so many dreams I've yet to find...", xoxo!