This Date in Rock Music History: September 24

1955:  Elvis Presley performed on The Louisiana Hayride at the Shreveport Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, broadcast on KWKH-TV.  

1955:  Chuck Berry was on top of the R&B chart for the eighth straight week with "Maybellene".

This Date in Rock Music History: September 23

1956:  Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees first appeared on television on Circus Boy on NBC-TV.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 22

1956:  We were first introduced to a great new act as the first single by the Coasters--"One Kiss Led To Another" debuted on this date.
1957:  Bobby Helms made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing "My Special Angel".

1958:  With permission from the United States Army, Elvis Presley gave one last press conference at the Military Ocean Terminal in Brooklyn, New York before joining his 3rd Armored Division on the USS General Randall on the way to Bremerhaven, Germany.  (Note:  some websites report Elvis left Brooklyn on September 19.  He left his base at Fort Hood, Texas on September 19, but departed for Germany from Brooklyn on September 22, according to the official Graceland website.)

1958:  Connie Francis had the top U.K. song with "Carolina Moon, Stupid Cupid".

1958:  Tommy Edwards had one of the great early songs of the Rock Era with "It's All In The Game", which on this date reached #1 on the R&B chart.
1960:  The Beatles performed for the 37th consecutive night of a 48-night stay at the Indra Club, on Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg, West Germany.
1962:  Bob Dylan first appeared at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 21

1957:  Elite guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black quit as backup musicians for Elvis Presley after a salary dispute with Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker.

1959:  "Shout" by the Isley Brothers was their first single release and it debuted on this date in history.
1959:  "I Want To Walk You Home" from Fats Domino topped the R&B chart.
1959:  The instrumental "Sleep Walk" from Santo & Johnny moved to #1.  The Browns slipped after four weeks at the top with "The Three Bells".  Lloyd Price remained at 3 with "I'm Gonna' Get Married" while the Everly Brothers scored their 14th hit and sixth Top 10 with "('Til) I Kissed You".  The rest of the Top 10:  Phil Phillips and "Sea Of Love", another instrumental--"Red River Rock" from Johnny & the Hurricanes, the classic "Mack The Knife" moved up to 7 for Bobby Darin, Sarah Vaughan had song #8--"Broken-Hearted Melody", Fats Domino said "I Want To Walk You Home" and Paul Anka shot up from 29 to 10 with "Put Your Head On My Shoulder".
1961:  The busy Beatles played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England by day and appeared with Gerry & the Pacemakers and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool by night.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 20

1957:  Buddy Holly released the single "Peggy Sue".  (Note:  one website reports the song was released in July.  According to the Buddy Holly Center in his birthplace--Lubbock, Texas, the song was released September 20.)

This Date in Rock Music History: September 19

1955:  Frank Sinatra sang "Love And Marriage" on the "Producer's Showcase" production of the play Our Town on NBC-TV.

1957:  Cliff Richard, 16 years old and known by his real name (Harry Webb), joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.
1960:  "Kiddio" by Brook Benton was #1 on the R&B chart for the fourth week. 
1960:  Hank Ballard and the Midnighters became the first group to own three songs in the Top 100 simultaneously--"Finger Poppin' Time", "Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go" and "The Twist".  After the group refused to perform "The Twist" on television, Dick Clark suggested Chubby Checker do the song.  He did, and... 

1960:  "The Twist" worked its way to #1 for Chubby Checker.
1963:  Jimmy Dean premiered his prime time television show on ABC.  It lasted three seasons.
1964:  Dean Martin notched week #8 on top of the Easy Listening chart with "Everybody Loves Somebody".

This Date in Rock Music History: September 18

1954:  Elvis Presley was at Bellevue Park in Memphis, Tennessee.  (Note:  some websites claim the show was at the Eagle's Nest in Memphis.  According to the official website for guitarist Scotty Moore, Elvis played at Bellevue Park on this date.)

1957:  The Big Record debuted on CBS-TV, with Patti Page hosting.
1959:  The first Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour began with Paul Anka, the Coasters, Lloyd Price, Duane Eddy, the Coasters and Bobby Rydell at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
1960:  The Tab Hunter Show premiered on NBC-TV.
1960:  Frankie Avalon was given $600,000 on his 20th birthday as earnings accumulated when he was a minor.
1963:  The Patty Duke Show premiered on ABC-TV.  It would last three seasons.
1964:  The Beatles performed at Dallas Memorial Auditorium in Texas.
1965:  A new group was introduced to us as the Vogues first charted on this date with their first single "You're the One".
1965:  James Brown reigned on the R&B chart for the sixth week with "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag Part 1".
1965:  We Five were on top of the Adult chart for a third week with the great song "You Were On My Mind".

This Date in Rock Music History: September 17

1931:  RCA Records demonstrated the first players to play 33 1/3 records at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in New York City.

1955:  Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded "Sixteen Tons" at the Capitol Records Melrose Avenue Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.
1955:  "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry logged week #7 at the top of the R&B chart.
1962:  The Beatles, Billy Kramer, and the Coasters played the last of three Monday night gigs at the Queen's Hall in Widnes, Lancashire, England.  (Note:  Some sources claim that Rory Storm and the Hurricanes also played this night, when they only played the first two Beatles shows (September 3 and September 10, according to the websites 'Beatles Bible' and 'Liverpool Beat'.  Some sources also say the Beatles played in Widnes, Cheshire, England.  Widnes did not become part of the county of Cheshire until 1974, 12 years after the concert, so it is physically impossible for the Beatles to have played in Widnes, Cheshire.)  

This Date in Rock Music History: September 16

1960:  Johnny Burnette recorded "You're Sixteen".

1963:  "She Loves You" by the Beatles was released by Swan Records in the United States and, despite being #1 in the U.K., was ignored until 1964 when the Beatles' invasion was well underway.
1964:  The Everly Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, Sam Cooke, Bobby Sherman, the Wellingtons and comedian Alan Sues helped premiere the series Shindig! on ABC-TV.
1965:  The Dean Martin Show premiered on ABC-TV.  It would last 10 years.
1965:  The Rolling Stones, the Everly Brothers, the Byrds and the McCoys opened the second season of Shindig!
1966:  Bassist Pete Quaife left the Kinks temporarily after suffering severe injuries in a car crash.  Quaife left the group for good in 1969.
1967:  The Beatles recorded "Your Mother Should Know" at EMI Studios, the third of four recordings of the song.  The version was not used at the time on the Magical Mystery Tour album, but was later included on the compilation Anthology 2.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 15

1956:  Elvis Presley's monumental double-sided hit "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was the #1 song on the R&B chart.

1961:  The Pendletones of Hawthorne, California recorded the song "Surfin'" at Hite and Dorinda Morgan's recording studio in Los Angeles.  The song would have a big influence on their career as the Beach Boys, as they were later known.

This Date in Rock Music History: September 14

1955:  Little Richard recorded "Tutti Frutti" at J&M Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1959:  Sandy Nelson made a huge leap, jumping from 84 to 28, with "Teen Beat".
1959:  "The Three Bells" from the Browns was #1 for the fourth week in a row.  The instrumental "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny came in #2 followed by Lloyd Price and "I'm Gonna' Get Married".  Phil Phillips had the original "Sea Of Love" (he also co-wrote the song) and the Everly Brothers were fifth with "('Til) I Kissed You".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Red River Rock", another instrumental, was #6 from Johnny & the Hurricanes, "Broken-Hearted Melody" from Sarah Vaughan, Fats Domino with "I Want To Walk You Home", Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife" moved from 24-9 while Jan & Dean entered the list with "Baby Talk".
1963:  Although most of us wouldn't know them until their hit "Back Stabbers" nine years later, the O'Jays first charted on this date with the single "Lonely Drifter".