This Date in Rock Music History: October 30

1961:  Glen Campbell's first single of his career debuted on this date as his version of "Turn Around, Look At Me" entered the chart.

1961:  Ray Charles owned the top R&B song for the fifth week with "Hit The Road, Jack".
1963:  Producer George Martin of the Beatles completed work on "Money" by adding piano chords to the song for the album With the Beatles.
1963:  The Beatles performed "She Loves You", "Twist And Shout", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Long Tall Sally" in front of a studio audience at the Arenateatern (arena theatre) in the Gröna Lund amusement park for the television show Drop In in Stockholm, Sweden.
1965:  The Who were in concert at Manchester University in Manchester, England.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 29

1957:  Bobby Helms recorded "Jingle Bell Rock" at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

1958:  The Platters released their incredible single "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".

1961:  Bob Dylan performed on the television show Folksong Festival.
1962:  The Beatles performed "Love Me Do" and "A Taste Of Honey" for the television program People and Places on Grenada TV.
1963:  The Hollies went into the recording studio for the first time to begin recording their debut album.
1963:  The Rolling Stones, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Bo Diddley were in concert with two shows at the Gaumont Theatre in Southampton, England.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 28

1955:  Buddy Holly opened for Marty Robbins in Lubbock, Texas.

1956:  Elvis Presley returned to The Ed Sullivan Show for a second time and was presented with a Gold record for "Love Me Tender" by Sullivan.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 27

1957:  The Crickets had the #1 song in the U.K. with "That'll Be The Day".

     
  One of the brightest stars of the time.  Or any time...

1957 - "Oh Boy!" by Buddy Holly & the Crickets was released with another killer song--"Not Fade Away" on the flip.  (Note:  numerous websites show the release as October 29, but according to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the correct date of release was October 27.)

1958:  Ricky Nelson's new hit "Lonesome Town" moved from #86 to #18.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 26

1959:  Marty Robbins released the single "El Paso".
1959:  B.B. King and wife celebrated the birth of their daughter Shirley in Memphis, Tennessee.

This Date in Rock Music History: October 25

1958:  Cliff Richard made his radio debut on Saturday Night on the BBC.

1962:  Paul Petersen performed "My Dad" on The Donna Reed Show in ABC-TV.
1962:  Ronnie Smith, who replaced Buddy Holly as lead singer of the Crickets for the remainder of the Winter Dance Party after Holly died in a plane crash, hung himself in a Texas state hospital after he had been committed for drug abuse.  The Day the Music Died indeed.

Featured Unknown/Underrated Song*: "Bookends" by Simon & Garfunkel

One of the best albums early in the Rock Era is Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel, showing the tremendous lyrics of Paul Simon.  The "Bookends" theme opens the album, but the single is placed on the album after "Old Friends", and now is often played together with that song:

"Bookends" (featured together with "Old Friends") 

Simon & Garfunkel

Lyrics and Music by Paul Simon





Time it was
And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences.

Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you.

Bobby Vee Has Died

ROGERS, MN--Bobby Vee, one of the great performers early in the Rock Era, died this morning of complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 73.

Vee was diagnosed with the disease in 2011 and performed for the last time July 3, 2011 at Joetown Rocks in St. Joseph, Minnesota.  Vee lost the ability to speak shortly after that.

When Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a 1959 plane crash en route to another performance of their Winter Dance Party tour in Moorhead, Minnesota, Bobby Vee stepped in and launched his career.

Vee went on to post 38 hits from 1959 to 1970.  His first big hit, "Rubber Ball", reached #6 in 1960.

Bobby scored the biggest hit of his career the next year.  "Take Good Care Of My Baby" zoomed to #1 for three weeks and sold over one million copies.

The flip side to that smash was the #2 song "Run To Him".

In 1963, Vee achieved the #3 song "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes".

Vee posted one last Top 10 song in 1967 and another million-seller--"Come Back When You Grow Up".

This Date in Rock Music History: October 24

1960:  Neil Sedaka recorded eight takes of "Calendar Girl".

1960:  For the ninth week, "Kiddio" by Brook Benton held off challengers for the #1 spot on the R&B chart.
1962:  James Brown recorded the album Live at the Apollo, Volume I at the Apollo Theatre in New York City.
1963:  The Beatles recorded "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me to You", "Money", "She Loves You", "You Really Got A Hold On Me", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Twist and Shout" for a radio program in Stockholm, Sweden as they got ready for a five-night tour of Sweden, their first tour outside the U.K. 
1964:  The Rolling Stones played two shows at the Academy of Music in New York City.
1964:  "We'll Sing In The Sunshine" by Gale Garnett once again topped the Easy Listening chart for the fifth week.