Anti-war feelings were high across the nation on May 4, 1970 and many students and young people were protesting the recent news that President Nixon would be mobilizing troops in Cambodia without the consent of congress. One particular protest took place on the campus of Kent State, in Ohio. The protest went on for three days and finally culminated when the national guard shot and killed four students, two of them female.
Outrage at this most recent violence swept the nation, rock stars included, and Neil Young wrote a song, Ohio, about it just a day after seeing this event on the news.
Ohio soon began climbing the charts, ironically at the same time as another song by Young, and his group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Teach Your Children.
Today Ohio still stands as one of the most powerful protest songs to come out of the Vietnam era.
Other notable events for May 4:
-Lonnie Donegan left Chris Barber's Jazz Band on May 4, 1956 notinng he was considering forming his own skiffle group in the wake of his success with Rock Island Line
-New Musical Express reported on May 4, 1956 that 'Elvin' Presley would be coming to the UK for a session of shows at the London Palladium, proving that it can be misleading to believe everything in the press
-Gene Vincent recorded Be Bop A Lula on May 4, 1957 in Nashville
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