Day Tripping: May 12

Unwitting, Unwilling, and Unbelievably Incredible

Reluctant Ruler

The unlikeliest of scenarios regarding the British Royal ascension culminated in the coronation of King George VI and his wife Elizabeth in 1937. Following the abdication of his older brother Edward VIII, King George was thrust into the role of Sovereign with a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Though downplayed in grandeur after the events that led to this coronation, it was also the first to be filmed inside the Abbey and the first to be broadcast on radio. It was also a first for British television in covering the procession but TV was not allowed inside the Abbey.

In the photograph above, mannequins of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were display window ornaments at the Toronto flagship store of Eaton’s department store.

Principled Exit

Bob Dylan was scheduled to debut on television on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1963, but there was some pushback over his song choices. When told he would not be allowed to perform Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues Dylan walked off and never appeared on the show.

The John Birch Society was an ultra-conservative organization that Bob poked fun at in his lyrics. Ed Sullivan was not an objector to the song. Instead, it was the network executives that wanted no part of it. Bob Dylan’s popularity didn’t seem to suffer from the incident.

Inspiring Rendition

A legal deal is struck for the distribution of David Bowie’s Space Oddity with altered lyrics and video constructed by a former member of his band in 2013. Emm Grynner posts on YouTube, a montage of space footage, synced instrumentation, and Commander Chris Hadfield singing and playing acoustic guitar…from space.

The Canadian astronaut altered the lyrics to better suit his experiences on the International Space Station and when David Bowie watched the video of Hadfield playing his song, he said on Facebook, “It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”

Chris Hadfield has my vote for ‘finest example of humanity’ on or off the Earth. I still get chills up my spine watching this.

Musical Milestones

In 1967, the Beatles weren’t the only ones to release influential albums. On this day, JimimHendrix released Are You Experienced, a record that changed guitar rock forever.

Narratives

The Cannes Film Festival premieres and awards the Palme d’Or to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in 1994.

Remembrance

Crooner Perry Como has three stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for music, radio, and television. The most popular sing star of the mid-twentieth century died in 2001.

Notable Births

1907 — A major Hoolywood star who worked with Bogart, Tracy , and Grant, Katharine Hepburn.

1925 — Yogi Berra is famous for quotes like “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” He was also a Hall of Fame baseball catcher.

1937 — Pioneer of comedy, the class clown, George Carlin

1948 — Founding member of the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith, Steve Winwood

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Noah Levy

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