Week in Music History

Composer Pietro-Antonio Locatelli was born.

American blues singer, pianist and songwriter John Len Chatman, known as Memphis Slim, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

Country singer and songwriter Hank Thompson was born in Waco, Texas. His work inspired Thomas Cobb’s novel Crazy Heart and the 2009 film of the same name starring Jeff Bridges.

American jazz singer Irene Reid was born.

Gramophone inventor Emile Berliner died in Washington, D.C. of a heart attack at the age of 78. His hand-operated machine from 1895 helped establish the use of flat seven-inch gramophone records.

American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Freddie King was born in Gilmer, Texas. He became known as one of the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar” alongside Albert King and B. B. King.

Artie Shaw and the Gramercy Five recorded the song “Summit Ridge Drive”.

Al Jardine, singer, multi-instrumentalist and co-founding member of The Beach Boys, was born in Lima, Ohio.

Frank Sinatra began his solo singing career.

English singer Mike Harrison was born in Carlisle. He became known as the lead singer of the rock band Spooky Tooth.

French music producer, songwriter and singer Mark Wirtz was born. He became best known for the unfinished concept album A Teenage Opera; the project’s first single, “Excerpt from A Teenage Opera” by Keith West, reached No. 2 on the UK chart in 1967.

American musician, drummer and singer Gary Leeds, known from The Standells and The Walker Brothers, was born.

American musician and Steppenwolf bassist George Biondo was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a member of Steppenwolf from 1970 to 1976.

Eric Bell, founding member and original guitarist of Thin Lizzy, was born in East Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Leroy Smith, keyboard player and member of the British soul group Sweet Sensation, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

Bill Haley filed a lawsuit against Dave Miller of Essex Records, seeking to block the release of recordings he had made during his contract with Essex. The lawsuit described the recordings as inferior to his newer recordings at the time.

Bill Haley & His Comets turned down a $2,000 offer for a fifteen-concert tour of Australia because of concerns about flying.

Billboard reported that independent record companies continued their unprecedented growth, earning approximately $20 million combined in the previous year and beginning to challenge the dominance of the major corporations known as the “Big Seven”.

Elvis Presley performed three shows in Dallas at two venues: first two performances as part of the Big “D” Jamboree at the Sportatorium, followed later that night by a performance at the Round Up Club.

Chuck Berry spent his third week at No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Maybellene”.

Mitch Miller reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 with “The Yellow Rose of Texas”. The song originated in 1853; Miller was also an influential A&R executive and producer who openly opposed rock ’n’ roll.

Rob Hirst, drummer of Midnight Oil, was born.

English guitarist, singer and co-founder of the punk rock band Sex Pistols Steve Jones was born in Hammersmith, London.

Canadian vocal group The Four Lads made their Billboard Top 100 debut with “Moments to Remember”. The song became their biggest hit, reaching No. 2 during a 25-week chart run and launching a series of twelve Top 40 hits.

On the third day of recording sessions at Radio Recorders Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, Elvis Presley worked on songs connected with the Love Me Tender project. He worked from 2:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and the session included recordings of “Ready Teddy”, “First In Line” and “Rip It Up”.

After traveling by train from Portland to Los Angeles, Elvis Presley checked into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. On the same day, The Oregonian published a review of his concert, while the Vancouver Sun published articles about his performance and hairstyle.

Suzanne Freytag of the group Propaganda was born.

“A Big Hunk O’ Love” became Elvis Presley’s fourteenth consecutive gold record. The recording was made in Nashville during his military service and was Presley’s first hit without guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black.

The Browns entered the Billboard Top 40 with their country version of “The Three Bells”. The recording later reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, the country chart and, surprisingly, the Billboard R&B chart.

Elvis Presley bought a black Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.

English musician Perry Bamonte, known as a guitarist and keyboard player with The Cure, was born in London.

Lester Noel, a member of Beats International, was born.

After a lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, The Beatles played the first of three Monday evening concerts at Queen’s Hall in Widnes, Cheshire. The bill also included Billy Kramer and the Coasters, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and Sonny Kaye and the Reds; admission was 3 shillings and 6 pence.

Hip-hop DJ and pioneer of the New York hip-hop scene DJ Red Alert was born.

Elvis Presley released the single “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise”, which around this date reached the top positions of the charts.

Frank Sinatra sold two-thirds of his record company Reprise to Warner Brothers, which subsequently took over its operation.

American multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jonathan Segel was born in Marseille, France. He became known for his work with Camper Van Beethoven and Sparklehorse.

The record company Reprise Records, owned by Frank Sinatra, became part of Warner Brothers Records.

The Beach Boys released the single “Surfer Girl”, which later reached No. 7 in the US. It was the first song written by Brian Wilson and the first recording he produced himself. The B-side, “Little Deuce Coupe”, reached No. 15 in the US.

The Beatles gave their final performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Since their debut at the club about two and a half years earlier, they had played 274 concerts there; their first appearance earned them £5 and their final one £300.

Lou Christie recorded the song “Lightnin’ Strikes” at Olmstead Studios in New York with backing vocals from Bernadette Carroll, Peggy Santiglia and Denise Ferri of The Delicates. Studio guitarist Ralph Casale improvised a distinctive guitar solo resembling thunder during the recording. The following February, the song reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox chart.

The Rolling Stones’ concert in Dublin ended in unrest after approximately 30 fans invaded the stage. Mick Jagger was knocked to the ground and the rest of the band fled the stage.

Donovan reached No. 1 on the US singles chart with “Sunshine Superman”, his only US single to top the Billboard Hot 100. John Paul Jones played bass and Jimmy Page played lead guitar on the recording; in the United Kingdom, the song later reached No. 3.

Elvis Presley’s album Paradise Hawaiian Style reached No. 7 in the United Kingdom.

The album What Now My Love became the third album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass to reach No. 1, out of a total of six albums released by the group.

Michigan garage-rock group Question Mark And The Mysterians made their national chart debut when “96 Tears” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 75. The song’s raw Vox organ sound helped it climb to No. 1 on October 29.

ABC broadcast the final episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in prime time, ending its historic fourteen-year run. The series helped make teenage Rick Nelson famous and became the first live-action series on American network prime-time television to run for more than ten years.

New Jersey vocal group The Happenings first reached the Billboard chart with “See You in September”, which peaked at No. 3. The group later had four more Top 40 hits, including “I Got Rhythm”, which also reached No. 3 in 1967.