This Date in Rock Music History: March 11

1963:  The Rolling Stones recorded five tracks at IBC Recoding Studio in London with engineer Glyn Johns, who produced the session, in the hopes of landing a recording contract.  (Note:  some websites report the date of recording as January 28, but according to 'StonesSessions.com', Rolling Stones fan sites, and our best research, the songs were recorded on March 11.)

1964:  After completing the train scenes over the last several days, the Beatles continued to work on the movie A Hard Day's Night, filming "I Should Have Known Better" at Twickenham Studios in London.
1965:  Tom Jones scored the first of 16 #1 songs in the U.K. with "It's Not Unusual".
1966:  The BBC television show Ready Steady Go was devoted entirely to James Brown.

1967:  "Yesterday" by the Beatles became the most covered version in history with 446 versions since the Fab Four released it in 1965.  As of June, 2014, that number had grown to over 4,000.

This Date in Rock Music History: March 10

1956:  The incredible Platters spent an 11th week at #1 on the R&B chart with their classic "The Great Pretender".

1958:  Most would not know this artist until a year later, but on this date, Brook Benton first appeared on the chart with his debut single "A Million Years From Nowhere".

This Date in Rock Music History: March 9

1959:   "It's Just A Matter Of Time" by Brook Benton climbed to #1 on the R&B chart.
1960:   Since Elvis Presley had returned from service in the United States Army, the movie Jailhouse Rock was re-released.  (Note:  some websites state that the film was re-released to coincide with Presley's discharge.  As explained earlier on 'Inside The Rock Era', (see March 5 on Calendar*), Presley left active service on March 5, but he was not officially discharged from the Army Reserve until 1964.) 

France and the United Kingdom pass the United States in Pageviews!

In the four years since we first began, the United States has led the way in viewership of Inside The Rock Era.

This month, however, both France and the United Kingdom have passed the U.S.  merci à tous nos amis français and thanks to our U.K. fans!

This Date in Rock Music History: March 8

1961:  That hard-working group the Beatles did three shows today, their usual lunchtime performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England and concerts at the Aintree Institute and Hambleton Hall in Liverpool.

1962:  The Beatles made their debut on the BBC in Great Britain on Teenager's Turn (recorded the night before), performing "Dream Baby", "Maybelline" and "Please Mr. Postman".

This Date in Rock Music History: March 7

1956:  Kay Starr ("Rock And Roll Waltz") suffered a serious car accident after running a stop sign in Corona, California.  She was hospitalized with neck, arm and leg injuries.

1960:  Percy Faith remained perched at the top for a third week with the great instrumental "Theme From 'A Summer Place'".  
1964:  Al Hirt had the top Easy Listening song for the third week with "Java".

This Date in Rock Music History: March 6

1951:    Ivor Novello, singer and composer from Wales, died of of coronary thrombosis in London at age 58. The annual British songwriter award is named after him.
1958:  The Everly Brothers recorded "All I Have to Do is Dream".
1961:  "Shop Around" by the Miracles was the #1 song on the R&B chart for the eighth week.
1962:  Frank Sinatra recorded his final session with Capitol Records in Hollywood, California.  He then recorded exclusively for his own Reprise label.

This Date in Rock Music History: March 5

1955:  Johnny Ace had the top R&B song for the fourth week with "Pledging My Love".

1957:  Disc jockey Alan Freed was a guest on To Tell the Truth on CBS-TV.
1959:  Bobby Darin recorded "Dream Lover".