1951
B.B. King, who was a DJ for WDIA in Memphis from 1949 to 1950, recorded “B.B. Blues” under the watchful eye of Sam Phillips. Born Riley B. King he used the nicknames “The Beale Street Blues Boy”, “Blues Boy” and “Bee Bee” before settling on B.B. King was the master of “string-bending” and had a profound influence on rock ‘n’ roll. Interestingly, B.B. did not fare well on the Billboard Hot 100. He charted 35 times between July, 1957 and April, 1989. Six times he cracked the top 40 with his biggest hit being The Thrill is Gone (#15) in early 1970. He was much more popular on the R & B charts where he charted 75 times.
1955
Elvis Presley celebrated his 20th birthday by performing on the “Louisiana Hayride” radio broadcast. KWKH DJ Frank Page told the audience that Elvis was wearing crocodile-skin shoes with pink socks. Elvis sang That’s Alright Mama and three other tunes.
Alan Freed is at it again, staging his Rock ‘n’ Roll Ball in Harlem. The headliners were Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner and the Drifters.
1956
Buddy Holly began a 14-date tour with Hank Thompson, George Jones and Wanda Jackson. Columbia Records had just turned down a chance to sign Buddy but Decca Records stepped in and gave Buddy a contract. Buddy had been recording pop demos with Bob Montgomery since 1954 but Bob insisted Buddy sign the Decca deal. Needing a new backing band, Buddy recruited Sonny Curtis, Don Guess and Jerry Allison and they used the name Buddy Holly & the Three-Tunes. In July of 1956 this group would record “That’ll Be The Day” but it was not released. It was not until August of ’57 that the song, as recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, would be released on Brunswick records. The Three-Tunes version was released on Decca in September of ’57 but did not chart. The Crickets version would go on to #1. Here is that original Decca version. This is the first time I ever heard it or even knew it existed. Learn something new on Rock ‘n’ Roll Tidbits every week.
Just to refresh your memory, here is the version that was the #1 hit.
Elvis Presley recorded his first RCA records on January 10th. The recordings were done at the Methodist Television, Radio & Film Commission Studios in Nashville. His first cut was a cover of Ray Charles’ recent R&B smash, “I Got A Woman”. He followed that with “Heartbreak Hotel”. Among the musicians who would play with Elvis at that first session with RCA were Bill Black, Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. Each would later have success on their own.
The Coasters changed their name from the Robbins and recorded their first songs for Atlantic Records. One of the songs, “One Kiss Led To Another”, would chart for one week at #73 but not until September of ’56. It was released on Atco Records, a division of Atlantic Records.
1957
Bill Haley and His Comets began a world tour in Sydney. LaVern Baker and the Platters were the opening group for Haley.
1958
Columbia Records, who passed on Buddy Holly in 1956, signed their first rockabilly artist. It was Carl Perkins, who had recorded for Sun Records prior to now. Carl had reached #2 with Blue Suede Shoes with Sun Records in early ’56. His first recording on Columbia was Pink Pedal Pushers. It charted for one week at #91. Carl would only chart one more time with Columbia. “Pointed Toe Shoes” lasted two weeks at #93.
The British release of Jailhouse Rock was delayed for a week because the pressing plant was unable to meet advance orders of 250,000 copies. It would enter the UK charts at #1, the first time that had ever happened. It would sell 750,000 in the first 3 weeks.
KWK radio in St. Louis decided that rock ‘n’ roll has had its day and began to break every record in its library after playing them one last time. Hard to believe this was true but it was. The president of the station said the genre had dominated the music field long enough and was alienating many adult listeners. The majority of feedback is good and listeners talk about how pleasant radio listening can be without rock ‘n’ roll.
KWK eventually returned Rock ‘n’ Roll to its playlist as it competed with KXOK in the 1960s. The station spent a good part of that decade more focused on its legal troubles. The FCC received complaints that a couple of Treasure Hunt contests were rigged. This resulted in a weaker signal and then a license loss in 1966. Sounds like poetic justice to me.
1959
Dion and the Belmonts performed “A Teenager In Love” on American Bandstand. It would go on to be their first top 10 hit, peaking at #5. They also had a top 10 with “Where or When”, which peaked at #3 later in the year.
Berry Gordy Jr., using $800 from his family’s loan fund, formed his own record label, Tamla Records. Gordy had already written some hits, including Lonely Teardrops for Jackie Wilson. The first release on his new label was Come to Me by Marv Johnson. The song was licensed to United Artist and reached #30.
