This Date in Rock Music History: May 20

1954:  The landmark single "Rock Around The Clock" was released by Bill Haley & the Comets.  The song wouldn't officially begin the Rock Era until it reached #1 a year later after being featured in the movie The Blackboard Jungle and re-released.

This Date in Rock Music History: May 19

1958:  Peggy Lee recorded the great song "Fever" at the famous Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California.

This Date in Rock Music History: May 18

1959: This artist changed the name at the suggestion of Dick Clark's wife Bobbie because he resembled a teenage Fats Domino.  He scored 35 hits over three decades, but on this date, Chubby Checker debuted on the chart for the first time with "The Class", in which he did imitations of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, the Coasters, Cozy Cole and the Chipmunks.

This Date in Rock Music History: May 17

1958:  "Jerry Lee Lewis Day" was held in Lewis's hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana.
1963:  Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary and Pete Seeger performed at the first Monterey Folk Festival, held over three days in Monterey, California.
1967:  The Bob Dylan documentary Don't Look Back, reliving Dylan's 1965 British tour, premiered at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco, California.
1968:  The Monkees performed at the Lagoon Patio Gardens, a venue inside the famous amusement park, for about 5,000 fans.  (Note:  Several websites report that the Monkees appeared at Olympia Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 21, 1968.  There was not and never has been an Olympia Stadium in that city.  There was an Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and the Monkees performed there on January 14, 1968.  The group did perform in Salt Lake City in 1968, though, but the information badly damages the credibility of the websites.  According to the official website for the Monkees, they performed in Salt Lake City May 17 at the Lagoon Patio Gardens.)

This Date in Rock Music History: May 16

1960:  The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania celebrated proclaimed it "Jimmy Clanton Week".
1960:  Elvis Presley held on to #1 for a fourth week with "Stuck On You".

This Date in Rock Music History: May 15

1957: Chuck Berry recorded "Rock & Roll Music" at the Chess Studios in Chicago, Illinois. (Note: some websites report that he recorded the song on either May 6 or May 21, but according to the book 'Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings' by Steve Sullivan, Berry recorded the song on May 15.) 

This Date in Rock Music History: May 14

                                         The top group of the 50's was born...