This Date in Rock Music History: September 3

1955:  Bill Haley & the Comets refused an offer to tour Australia because of a fear of flying.

1955:  Chuck Berry logged a third week at #1 on the R& B chart with "Maybellene".
1962:  The Beatles, Billy J. Kramer, the Coasters, and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes played the first of three Monday night gigs at the Queen's Hall in Widnes, Cheshire, England.  The Hurricanes by this time had gotten over the defection of drummer Ringo Starr to the Beatles.
1963:  Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records was absorbed by Warner Brothers Records.
1966:  The Supremes stood on top of the R&B chart with "You Can't Hurry Love".
1966:  What Now My Love gave Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass their third #1 album out of six released.  
1966:  The great song "Born Free" was #1 on the Easy Listening chart for Roger Williams.
1966:  The Association were making their move as "Cherish" jumped from #66 to #27.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 2

1957:  Elvis Presley had the #1 R&B song with "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear".

This Date in Rock Music History: September 1

1953:  Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery auditioned for KDAV's Sunday Party in Lubbock, Texas.  The duo began a Sunday afternoon slot that became The Bob and Buddy Show.

1956:  Jerry Lee Lewis (19 years old at the time) pulled up to Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee hoping for an audition with owner Sam Phillips.  Phillips was on vacation so Lewis recorded some demos to pass on to Phillips when he got back.
1957:  Buddy Holly & the Crickets, the Everly Brothers, the Drifters and Frankie Lymon performed as The Biggest Show of Stars tour began at the Paramount in Brooklyn, New York.  
1958:  "Little Star" from the Elegants was #1 on the R&B chart.  
1965:  Glen Campbell, the Kinks, James Brown and Booker T. & the M.G.'s appeared on Shindig!.
1966:  The Byrds began an 11-day run at the famous Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 31

1957: Elvis Presley performed at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

1959: Bobby Vee appeared on the music charts for the first time as "Suzie Baby" debuted.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 30

1959:  Carole King married songwriting partner Gerry Goffin.

1961:  The Paris Sisters released the single "I Love How You Love Me".
1962:  The Beatles played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England in the afternoon and then joined Gerry and the Pacemakers at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 29

1958:  Alan Freed's  Big Beat Show 4th anniversary concert premiered at the Fox Theater in Brooklyn, New York after being turned down by the Paramount.  Frankie Avalon, Bill Haley & the Comets and Jimmy Clanton performed.

1959:  The Quarrymen got a break when the Les Stewart Quartet got into a clash amongst themselves and refused to play at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool.  George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney played in their place and after the show, the group was hired by owner Mona Best to play regular Saturday night gigs.
1960:  "Kiddio" by Brook Benton, which would go on to become one of the biggest R&B hits of the 60's, took over at #1.

This Date in Rock Music History: August 28

1961:  Elvis Presley moved from 61 to 26 on this date with "Little Sister".
1962:  Elvis Presley reported for pre-production work on the movie It Happened at the World's Fair in Culver City, California to record songs for the soundtrack album.  Presley would then travel to Seattle, Washington, site of the World's Fair, to film the movie on location.  (Note:  some websites report Elvis began filming the movie on August  27 or 28.  According to the book 'The Elvis Movies' by James L. Neibaur, filming began August 27.  But according to the official website for Graceland, Presley began work on the movie August 28.  Filming of the movie in Seattle did not begin until September 5 )
1963:  Peter, Paul & Mary performed "Blowin' In The Wind" and "If I Had A Hammer" for Civil Rights marchers gathered at the Washington Mall in Washington, D.C. to hear the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. speak.  Bob Dylan and Joan Baez also performed.