May 4
America's innocence shattered today in 1970 when National Guard troops killed four students at Kent State during a Vietnam War demonstration, the massacre inspiring Neil Young's "Ohio" and proving that protest could turn deadly while galvanizing the anti-war movement's most violent confrontations… Chicago blues lost its greatest white interpreter today in 1987 when Paul Butterfield died at 44 from drug-related heart failure, ending the career of the harmonica player whose multiracial band proved that authenticity mattered more than skin color while addiction destroyed his talent… We remember psychedelic rock's oldest hippie Ed Cassidy on his birthday today in 1923, the Spirit drummer whose bald head and jazz background made him the most unlikely member of the 1960s counterculture before his death in 2012 ended a career bridging generations… We honor It's a Beautiful Day's violin virtuoso David LaFlamme on his birthday today in 1941, t...
