On this day in 1969, Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance at a small festival in St. Louis, Missouri

The ever-reclusive Dylan had not been on a public outing since January of 1968 when he performed at a memorial concert held for Woody Guthrie at Carnegie Hall, though he did release an album with 1968’s  Nashville Skyline.  

The Band were booked as the headline act for the July 14th edition of the 1969 Mississippi River Festival. The festival itself was a very well organised space that was originally created as a summer residence for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. It was an artistic success from the get-go and quickly evolved, welcoming guests from other genres, such as Arlo Guthrie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. 

After a standard tight set, the familiar calls for an encore hit the stage. However, when they returned to the stage they were joined by Dylan, who performed three songs, including an old mountain tune called In the Pines and left the stage. The show was not over though, as The Band returned to the stage to perform their encore Slippin’ and Slidin’,  with Dylan joining them on the chorus, much to the delight of the approximately 3000 person crowd.

On this day in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their peace anthem, Give Peace a Chance in the US

 While at their second bed-in for peace in Montreal, Canada, the couple came up with the idea to record a peace song, with the title being taken from Lennon’s answer to a reporter who asked what the goal of the bed-in was.

So on the 1st of June, Derek Taylor organised the owner of a local recording studio, Andre Perry, to bring in a set-up of four microphones and a four-track tape recorder. The recording session was  busy, being attended by numerous journalists, including Ritchie Yorke and various celebrities like Dick Gregory and Allen Ginsberg. All of the attendees joined in the singing of Give Peace a Chance, with the exception of controversial cartoonist Al Kapp.

The song was released on the 4th of July in the UK and a few days later on the 7th in the US. It reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the States. The song quickly served as the anthem of the anti-Vietnam war and counterculture movements, being used at countless demonstrations and protests.

On this day in 1973, George Harrison knocked his former bandmate from the top spot on the charts with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”

The song was written after Harrison’s experiences with attempting to assist refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War. His frustrations during this period are evident on the the album the single is taken from Living in the Material World with a more sombre sound pervading the effort. Harrison pushed this to the side for a more hopeful quality in “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth”.

The songs lyrics detail Harrison’s vision for life, with strong themes of religion, reincarnation, a spiritual quest and of course, peace and love. In  his later autobiography, Harrison said of the song “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point. If that happens and you are lucky, it can usually be turned into a song. This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it.”

“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” was used as the lead single for Living in the Material World  and was released on the 7th May, ahead of the albums release on the 30th.  It reached number one a month later, using Paul McCartney to number 2 with his song with new band Wings’ song, “My Love”.

On this day in 1973, George Harrison’s fourth studio album hit #1 in the US

After a strong start to his solo career with his first 3 albums, especially the critically acclaimed 1970 effort, All Things Must Pass, Harrison had been a significant part of a 1971-72 humanitarian aid project for the new nation of Bangladesh which left him tired and in need of a break. After a years rest he began work on the album fully in August 1972.

Throughout this time, Harrison’s devotion to Hindu spirituality reached new levels, and its influence was evident in his work, with several of the track titles being directly inspired by his religious teachings. The Beatles legacy and Harrisons stated wish to live in the present were other present themes on the album. 

Harrison intended to co-produce the album with Phil Spector, but his erratic manner and excessive alcohol consumption left Harrison producing the album himself. The album was an immediate success, both commercially and critically, with some hailing the album as a “pop classic”  while shooting to the top of charts around the world. 

A 2011 George Harrison documentary directed by Martin Scorsese shares the title of Living in the Material World. 

On this day  in 1967, the Monterey International Pop Festival was held in California

After the success of the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Big Sur Folk Festival  was observed, spectators believed the festival to be a way to validate rock music as an art form in the same ways as jazz and folk. 

The event was planned over 7 weeks by John Philips of the Mamas & the Papas, Alan Pariser, record producer Lou Adler and publicist Derek Taylor. Adler later reflected that “Our idea for Monterey was to provide the best of everything  – sound equipment, sleeping and eating accomodations, transportations – services that had never been provided for the artist before Monterey.” 

The artists all performed for free, with the proceeds being donated to charity, though their flights and accomodation were provided. Each artist was assigned a 40 minute set, though several performers had shorter sets. The artists included giant acts like Simon and Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Ravi Shankar, Otis Redding and Eric Burdon and the Animals. Hendrix’s performance has become legend, with  it being an early example of his use of amp and guitar feedback when performing. 

The impressive line-up and legendary performances soured Monterey achieved its goal of legitimising rock music as an art form, and it is remembered as one of the pivotal moments in rock history. 

On this day in 1970, Bob Dylan received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University

Dylan and his wife Sara checked in at the Princeton Inn the night before the ceremony along with David Crosby and assistant Ben Slazman. Dylan arrived at the faculty room at 10am the next day, an hour before the graduation ceremonies were set to start. 

According to the Class Day Chairman, Meir Ribilow, Dylan “came romping in in his shades and he was very nervous”. Many around Dylan said that he was indeed apprehensive about the honour and felt out of place. Ribilow went on to say that he found Dylan “uncommunicative”, tending to mumble or speak through Crosby or his aide. 

Dylan’s discomfort grew throughout the morning as reporters arrived, and friends say he considered an escape but decided to stay. He refused to wear the black robes alongside many of the other students, who had instead decided to donate the fees to antiwar organisations. Instead, many of the students, and Dylan wore a white armband with the peace symbol emblazoned on it. Ribilow noted that Dylan listened carefully and respectfully and was gracious when given his honorary Doctorate of Music, though many said he should’ve received a literary award based on the strength of his writing.

Dylan went on to write a song about his experience at the graduation, titled Day of the Locusts.

On this day in 1967, The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the US

The band had enjoyed a quiet couple of years after growing tired of touring, with each member taking some time to focus on themselves. During this period, Paul McCartney branched his interests into the London art culture, as well as avant garde and electronic music producers.

McCartney’s experiences inspired him to create a song that inspired the Sgt. Pepper concept. His idea was to create an Edwardian-era military band with a name reminiscent of contemporary San Francisco based groups like Big Brother and the Holding Company. By utilising a different name and theme, the group would be granted the freedom to experiment musically and differentiate from their previous releases.

The band took inspiration from a number of ideas for the creation of the Sgt. Peppers album, including the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album, sitar music and Hindu philosophy, electronic and avant garde music, psychedelia and art culture. 

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is widely regarded as one of the best albums produced by The Beatles, and was immediately popular upon its release selling 2.5million copies within 3 months. Critics and the public alike were stunned by the ambitious effort and its unique sounds, themes and concepts. 

On this day in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their second bed-in for peace in Montreal

After their first bed-in, held in Amsterdam, successfully drew mass media attention allowing the couples message of peace to be widespread, the decision was made to hold another. New York was decided for the location, before lawyers informed. Lennon he would not be able to gain entry due to a cannabis conviction several years earlier. The Bahamas were looked at next, but the heat led the couple to search for a more moderate climate.  

Lennon and Ono received advice that Canada may be a suitable location to set up in and were allowed entry without issue. Their next decision was to decide between Toronto and Montreal, and Montreal was chosen for its close proximity to New York, allowing the mainstream media to easily attend the event.

Setting up at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel was simple, as the room was decorated with flowers and simple posters sharing the couples messages of peace. Throughout their seven day stay, a number of visitors joined the pair, mainly comprised of media people such as writers Ritchie Yorke, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg. Controversial cartoonist Al Capp also attended, though with the intention of provoking and arguing with the the couple. 

These media members, aside from Capp, joined Lennon and Ono’s singing as they recorded their peace anthem Give Peace a Chance. The second bed-in at Montreal is considered even more successful than the first, drawing much media attention to their cause and allowing the couple to create a powerful anthem to support their cause. 

On this day in 1979, three of The Beatles played on stage together for the first time in 10 years at Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd’s wedding reception

Clapton had actually married Boyd several months prior, but his tour schedule was too busy to fully celebrate, with the ceremony being held at Temple Bethel in Tucson, Arizona in front of only 40 guests.

When the tour concluded, the couple decided to hold a larger reception where they could be joined by more of their friends. Along the invited guests were George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, who had not performed onstage together since their famous Apple rooftop show in 1969. Lennon had moved to the U.S. and so wasn’t present when the rest of his former bandmates took the stage for an impromptu jam alongside musicians like Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Elton John, David Bowie, a reformed Cream and more. 

Despite being such a star-studded performance, no footage or photos were published. Ringo Starr’s son later shared a photo of him at 14 years old playing with drummer Jim Capaldi and Paul McCartney on Instagram.

On this day in 1960, The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis was broadcast in the US

Sinatra had been sponsored by Timex to make a series of four shows, and after the first three achieved only mediocre ratings, it was decided that something different was needed for the fourth. The decision was made for the final program to be dedicated to Elvis Presley, freshly returned from service in the US Army.

A special budget was allocated to pay Elvis’ then unheard of fee of $125,000 for what would be his first TV appearance since his return, with an agreed performance of two songs. Sinatra was reportedly unhappy with this fee as it eclipsed his own earnings, but accepted anyway as he knew the appearance would bring in viewers and ratings.

Despite rumours of a feud between the pair, they had nothing but good things to say about each other on the day, and even joined each others performances, with Elvis helping out on Sinatra’s Witchcraft and Sinatra joining Love Me Tender. The show improved upon its low ratings with the special and reviews were largely positive. Despite this, the covered songs would not be released on record until the 1980s