It seems I’m up and running again, and it is the month of June, so it’s about time I pick up my “Songs with the name of the month”-project again. So here goes, my first for June…
The Decemberists - June Hymn (live, 2010)
Here’s a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer’s early sway
Some of us have made posts here with what I call a “song run-down”, that is posts with several versions of one song, recorded by different artists/bands through the years. I’ve gotten the idea to try to do something similiar with artists who’s had a long career in music, like an “artist run-down”.
So let’s get started then, shall we. The first musician I’ll look into is the English singer, guitarist and bassist Ian Fraser Kilmister (1945-2015). He is of course much better known to the world as Lemmy.
Lemmy first got a little attention when he played rhythm guitar in The Rocking Vickers from 1965 to 1967. The band released four singles, and although known as an awsome live band, there was little or no commercial success. The main reason for that is probably that the band did not write their own songs.
The Rocking Vickers toured mostly in England, but the band also did some touring in Europe. They were among the first British bands to play a concert in a communist country, when they played in Yugoslavia in the summer of 1965. Some even argue they were the very first.
The Rocking Vickers - It’s Alright (1966)
After quitting the Vickers, Lemmy moved to London. His next band was Sam Gopal, were he sang and played rhythm guitar under the name Ian Willis. He joined this band in 1968, right after finishing work as a roadie on a tour with Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.
Sam Gopal’s only album Escalotor was released in early 1969, and it did not get much attention. Lemmy wrote five of the album’s eleven songs, among them this one.
Sam Gopal - The Sky Is Burning (1969)
Lemmy quit Sam Gopal later that year, and apart from a brief stint in a band called Opal Butterfly (four singles, but none of them with Lemmy), nothing major happened before August 1971. It was then Lemmy joined Hawkwind, where he had to switch from guitar to bass.
Lemmy has later said this switch was a stroke of luck, as his fingers were much more suited for a bass guitar than a guitar. Of course his background as a guitarist was also important for his distinctive bass style.
The first Hawkwind album with Lemmy is Doremi Fasol Latido (1972), where he is credited as Lemmy the Lurcher. Thus Lemmy was born! He stayed with Hawkwind until 1975, and as Hawkwind was pretty big on the English rock scene back then, it was during those years Lemmy was beginning to really become a household name in rock.
In Hawkwind guitarist Dave Brock did most of the singing. Still Lemmy got to sing a few songs, among them Hawkwind’s biggest hit Silver Machine. This song has been posted a couple of times before in this topic, so I’ve found another song by Hawkwind with Lemmy on vocals.
Hawkwind - Lost Johnny (1974)
After Lemmy was “dismissed” from Hawkwind, it wasn’t long before he formed a little band called Motörhead. And as they say, the rest is history, a history I’ll not delve further into. I’ll just end this post with a live version of the title track from Motörhead’s self titled debut album (1978). If Ace of Spades is Motörhead’s signature song, this is Motörhead’s title track!
Motörhead - Motörhead (live, 1981)
The Kinks - A Rainy Day In June (1966)
June is supposed to mean summer, but unfortunately today is just like this song title 
Cole Porter (1891-1964) is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of modern music. He was born 135 years ago today. He is known for his sophistacated lyrics, with clever and cunning rhymes, and enjoyed great success with film scores and Broadway musicals during the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s.
Many of Cole Porter’s songs have become standards in the canon of popular music, among others I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Night and Day, Begin the Beguine and Well, Did You Evah. Let us celebreate his memory with two more of his standards, performed by two of the greatest singers there’s ever been. Here’s to Cole Porter 
Ella Fitzgerald - My Heart Belongs To Daddy (1939)
Frank Sinatra - I Get A Kick Out of You (1962)
some good old memories. 
It’s time for a little more music history, because I feel inspired and because the blues singer and guitarist Nehemiah Curtis James, best known as Skip James (1902-1969), was born 124 years ago today.
Skip James did odd jobs during most of the 1920’s, mostly outside of what was legal, like bootlegging, gambling and pimping. Still, there was some music beside all this, and in 1931 he got to make a few records. However, as this was during The Great Depression, the records didn’t sell, and Skip James faded into obsurity for over 30 years.
When The Blues Boom was in full bloom, both in the US and the UK, Skip James was rediscoverd in 1964. So he got to enjoy some success, recording and palying live again. Other artists covered his songs, the best known cover is when Cream had a big hit with I’m So Glad in 1966. This made Skip James USD 10,000 in royalties, by far the most money he ever made from his music.
So here is the original version of I’m So Glad, and here’s to the memory of Skip James
Skip James - I’m So Glad (1931)
Bob Forrest is/was the singer of Thelonious Monster who presented the worst ever gig at Pinkpop 1993.
in 1992 Eddie Vedder was on that stage and he climbed into a lighting mast next to the stage.
Bob used everything he could drink, smoke and inject before he went on stage and misbehaved like a fool.. he tried to copy Eddie Vedder and wanted to jump out of the lighting mast, and he tried to wrap up the guitarplayer of the band with ductape, you can see it in the video , after that you can see that he collapses and is put off the stage
anyway, his career did not last long and nowadays he tries to help people with additions!
They had one really nice song:
The American guitarist and inventor Les Paul (1915-2009) was born 111 years ago today. Besides being a very skilled guitar player, playing jazz, country and blues, he was also building guitars. The prototype of one of the guitars he came up with around 1940 was called the Log.
In the early 1950’s the guitar company Gibson Guitar Corporation made a deal with Les Paul, and started producing what was the Log, and the result was the iconic Gibson Les Paul. This guitar has since been used by numerous guitar players, in numerous of big and well known bands, including some the greatest bands of all time.
Just to show that Les Paul could play the Gibson Les Paul just as well as any of the countless guitarist who picked up this guitar, here he is with his then wife Mary Ford. He was in his own way a pioneer in rock ‘n’ roll, so here’s to the memory of Les Paul
Les Paul & Mary Ford - How High the Moon (1951)
Wow, I like this song, good one. Still, it immediately reminded me of another song. After some consideration, I think I got it…
Cream - White Room (1968)
strange how different minds work..
I had this one in my mind after Body and Soul, and it is not even in our topic yet
Thank you to both GladNGrumpy and Lukas for the trips down memory lane featuring some legandry musicians of different genres.
Been a while since I’ve listened to Killing Joke. They were a pretty good band. Still I think I’m closer with Cream. The chord progression in White Room, albeit a little faster, is more or less identical to the chord progression in the verse of Body and Soul.
Well anyway, let’s not pursue this any further…
It just goes to show that great minds don’t always think alike 
And @iain, I may have a few more in me, and I suspect Lukas has too 
Since I got on a roll her today, allow me one more just to celebrate the memory of the American singer Jackie Wilson (1934-1984), who was born 92 years ago today. He had some considerable succes from the last part of the 1950’s into the 1970’s. He was known as a great stage performer, and his stage act is said to have inspired none others than Elvis Presly, James Brown and Michael Jackson.
To the memory of Jackie Wilson, here is his debut single
Jacie Wilson - Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet) (1957)
Van Morrison wrote a great tribute to Jackie Wilson. It was later covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
Van Morrison - Jacie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile) (1972)
Since that awfull sportevent (football/soccer) in the USA,Canada and Mexico is starting tomorrow as fas as i know..
My post with a run-down of Lemmy’s career a copuple of days ago, made me revisit some old stuff by Hawkwind. Damn, what a good band this was. Or rather is, because Hawkwind is still going, with several concerts scheduled this summer. The only remaining member from the band’s heydays is singer and guitarist Dave Brock, who’ll turn 85 in August!
Hawkwind - Kings of Speed (1975)
Hawkwind - Assault And Battery (1975)
Does anyone remember Stacia, Hawkwind’s dancer back in the day? She was famous (or infamous, depending on…) because she sometimes got her tits out during concerts. Which wasn’t really a big deal back then (depending on…), as there could be plenty of nudity in the audience too, both female and male 
Lemmy was in Hawkwind from 1971 until 1975, and he is quoted (off the top of my head) saying about this time: “It was a wild time. I don’t remember any of it, and I’ll never forget it”
Once I saw an interview with Lemmy, and he recommeded a band called Never the Bride. Of course I had to check them out, and they are pretty good, to say the least. The singer Nikki Lamborn have a stunning voice. Give it a chance. It’s a band recommended by none other than Lemmy.
Never the Bride - The Living Tree (live ca. 2002)
Let me dance, let me choose my life
Let me climb the living tree
In 1995 Never the Bride had one track on the Led Zeppelin tribute album Encomium. They did an awsome version of one of the more relaxed of Zeppelin’s classic songs.
Never the Bride - Going To California
I got on a roll once again, so whatever… 
Willow Avalon, with Kaitlin Butts - Hypothetically Speaking (2026)
Wow GladNGrumpy what an amazing trio of biographies of the bands. 
