Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for May 26th

Lennon blows bubbles... -- Putting different pieces together results in a No. 1... -- Remembering a truly gifted guitarist...

5/26/1966 (51 years ago today) - We wish we coulda been there, boy, do we ever...: The Beatles started work on their next single, "Yellow Submarine", at Abbey Road in London, but they'd have to do it on this particular day without regular producer George Martin; he was out sick due to food poisoning, so engineer Geoff Emerick stepped up -- The track featured John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water, shouting "Full speed ahead, full speed ahead!" as well as an insane variety of sound effects to create a "nautical atmosphere" -- Thanks to the Abbey Road Studios kitchen cupboard, they found chains, whistles, hooters, a ship's bell and a cash register (which ended up also being used on Pink Floyd's "Money"!!!)...

5/26/1973 (44 years ago today) - It was their only No. 1: The Edgar Winter Group went to the top of the singles chart with the classic instrumental "Frankenstein" -- Just like the monster it was named after, the song was made up of many different parts, a mish-mash of riffs and quick-little-solo-bits which otherwise would have been left behind on the cutting room floor: stitch 'em all together and "Voila!", a classic for the ages! There's still nothing else that quite sounds like it...

5/26/1946 - He's always been one of our favorites...: Born on this day, guitarist-producer Mick Ronson, most famous for his work with David Bowie during the "Ziggy Stardust" era (hard to imagine the sonic thunder of "Moonage Daydream" or "The Jean Genie" without that monster guitar sound) -- Also made some excellent albums with Ian Hunter (in particular, "You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic" is a bona-fide masterpiece!), and he played the can't-get-it-out-of-your-head licks on John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane" -- Toured with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, too; he was only 46 years old when he passed away from liver cancer on April 29, 1993.

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"...and the band begins to play...", xoxo!