This Date in Rock Music History: August 13

1959:  Bobby Darin signed a $1 million contract with Paramount Pictures.
1964:  The Supremes recorded "Baby Love".
1964:  Manfred Mann topped the U.K. charts with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy".
1965:  The Beatles released the album Help! in the United States.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 12

1956:  Elvis Presley received the key to the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1956:  The Platters performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 11

1957:  Jerry Lee Lewis performed on The Steve Allen Show on NBC-TV.  (Note:  some websites claim Lewis was on 'The Big Beat Show' on ABC-TV.  He performed on that show on August 2--on August 11, he was on 'The Steve Allen Show', according to 'Spin' magazine and 'TV.com'.  'The Big Beat Show" only lasted four episodes, with the last one being on August 2, the date that Lewis performed.)
1958:  "Patricia" by Perez Prado was #1 on the R&B chart.
1958:  In Billboard's second chart, Ricky Nelson remained at #1 ("Poor Little Fool") but Domenico Modugno rose from 54 to 2 with "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)".
1962:  Kid Galahad starring Elvis Presley premiered in theaters.  (Note:  there are websites which report the film's release as July 25 (one quotes a 'Variety' magazine article about the movie premiere from July 25, 1962 which we cannot find.  The official Graceland website reports that the film opened nationally in theaters on August 28 (some websites say August 29).  Unfortunately, there are no sources which definitively decide the correct date for the premiere, but our best research indicates that the film premiered on August 11.)

This Date in Rock Music History: August 10

1954:  Elvis Presley sang his new song "That's Alright Mama" at Overton Park in Memphis, Tennessee.

1959:  Brook Benton had the top R&B song with "Thank You Pretty Baby".
1959:  Elvis Presley moved to #1 with his 37th hit, "A Big Hunk O' Love".
1961:  14-year-old Helen Shapiro became the youngest person to reach #1 in the U.K. with "You Don't Know".
1963:  Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes were on the 100th edition of Thank Your Lucky Stars on BBC-TV.
1963:  The Rolling Stones, Acker Bilk and Long John Baldry were all at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Richmond, Surrey, England.  Sounds like they couldn't find enough jazz artists to perform.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 9

1957:  We were introduced to the Fat Man as Fats Domino released his debut album This Is Fats.
1960:  Ferrante & Teicher had one of the fastest-rising songs of the decade as "Theme From 'The Apartment'" moved from #85 to #36.
1960:  Chubby Checker performed his smash hit "The Twist" on American Bandstand.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 7

1954:  Elvis Presley appeared at the Eagle's Nest in Memphis, Tennessee.