60 YEARS AGO TODAY: July 25th, 1965 / And, A VERY Important Announcement

A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

We've been telling you about the Chubby Checker Show this Sunday at The Des Plaines Theatre ...

Well, things just got a WHOLE lot cooler!!!

Before Chubby takes the stage for his part of the concert, he is going to be presented live, on The Des Plaines Theatre Stage, with his Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Trophy!!!

That clip will then be edited into the final broadcast when the official awards ceremony takes place in November!!!  And YOU can be there to see it all happen.   

Get your tickets now before they’re gone …

https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/96854604/chubby-checker-with-brian-hyland-des-plaines-des-plaines-theatre?_gl=1*1hiogxz*_gcl_au*NzUxNjM1NDY4LjE3NTMyMDcyOTQ.*_ga*Mjc4NzUwOTI4LjE3NTMyMDcyOTQ.*_ga_DRT2S2GQYP*czE3NTM0MTI5NTIkbzYkZzEkdDE3NTM0MTMwNjIkajM3JGwwJGgw

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

7/25/65 – To the dismay of most of his fans, Bob Dylan “plugs in” and plays an electric guitar at The Newport Folk Festival.  It greatly upset the folk music purists in the audience, who attempt to boo him off the stage.  (The rest of the crowd seemed to be just fine with it!)

If you saw last year's award-winning film "A Complete Unknown," you'll see this as the climax of the film.  

It's really odd how betrayed some of these fans felt ... 

By this point, Dylan's music was being covered by all kinds of rock bands ... 

And to great success.

Certainly for shock value (it is safe to say that both anticipation ... and trepidation ... were at an all-time high), Dylan started his set by playing his feared electric guitar for three songs:  "Maggie's Farm," "Like A Rolling Stone" and "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" ... which was supposed to be his complete, prepared set ... but to appease the promoters of the festival ... and his long-standing fans ... Dylan was persuaded to come back out and finish up his show with two acoustic numbers:  "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."

If nothing else, it proved that this music (folk AND rock) could co-exist within the same individual  ... and that NO artist should ever be pigeon-holed to the point that they can not explore and expand their own career.  The Folk / Rock Movement of the mid-'60's provided a whole new genre of music.

While for years this event was considered one of rock's greatest shock moments, in hindsight it can be viewed as a total victory, as Dylan paved the way for other artists to present their work without restraints at the Newport Folk Festival in the years to come.

July 24th, 1965

60  YEARS AGO TODAY:

7/24/65 - A riot broke out during a Rolling Stones concert at The Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, after Keith Richards kicked a spectator, who was spitting at the group, in the mouth.  Two policemen and thirty fans were injured and the damage was estimated at over £4,000. Incredibly, The Rolling Stones were then banned from playing in Blackpool for forty-four years!  (Betcha they couldn’t wait to go back!!!)

Also on 7/24, Casey Stengel resigns as manager of The New York Mets

Stengel was in his 4th year of managing The Mets.  When he resigned, their record was 31-64.  I guess he just figured it was easier to step down with dignity than wait for the inevitable axe to fall.

Under his tenure as their captain, Stengel amassed a record of 175 - 404, for an overall win percentage of .302.  In his first year helming the team (1962), they set a major league record that stood until The Chicago White Sox bested it (or actually, worsted it!) last season.  The Mets lost 120 games in a 162-game season.

In 25 years of managing (three with the Brooklyn Dodgers, six with the Boston Braves, twelve with the New York Yankees, with whom he won ten pennants and seven World Series titles, and four with the New York Mets), Casey established a career record of 1905 - 1842, for a win percentage of .508.  (The Yankees won 90 or more games in eleven of the twelve seasons Stengel managed them.  With the Yanks, Casey amassed a record of 1149 - 696 for a .623 win percentage.  It had to be INCREDIBLY hard on him to manage losing teams after an experience like this)  kk