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Noteworthy Then

5/4/1970 Four Dead in Ohio

An event widely considered to be a turning point in the nation's willingness to continue to support US military action in Southeast Asia took place on this day in 1970 when National Guard troops opened fire on Kent State University students in Ohio protesting the war in Vietnam. In less than 20 seconds, four were killed and close to another dozen wounded. Neil Young wrote Ohio in the immediate aftermath of the incident and he and his band mates, David Crosby,Stephen Stills and Graham Nash recorded it the same day he'd written it.  The song was released as a single with the Stills song Find the Cost of Freedom on the flip side.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on May 4 include...

1923 Spirit’s Ed Cassidy born.   

1951 Mick Mars (Bob Deal) of Motley Crue born1959 First Grammy awards given out. 

1964 Moody Blues form. 

1967 Mick Jagger drops in to watch the Jimi Hendrix Experience rehearse for the Top Of The Pops TV show in the UK.   

1973 Led Zeppelin opens a US tour in Atlanta.

1987 Paul Butterfield dies of heart failure linked to a drug overdose in his Hollywood home at 44.

1989 Stevie Ray Vaughan opens his last tour in Vancouver. He would lose his life in a helicopter crash after a concert in Wisconsin on August 27, 1990,  just a few dates before the tour was scheduled to end.

1991 Berklee College of Music in Boston awards Phil Collins an honorary degree.

1997 Crosby Stills & Nash play Kent State University in Ohio on anniversary of 1970 shootings of war protesters on campus.

2000 Metallica demands Napster suspend the accounts of 335,000 people transferring the group's songs on the service.  

2006 Pearl Jam plays David Letterman Show.

2021 Steve Miller Band releases Breaking Ground August 3, 1977.

2022 The Black Crowes release 1972.