Johnny Cash's Prison Show
Jan 1 Johnny Cash plays first of many free concerts behind bars at San Quentin Prison, California; Merle Haggard among the inmate audience
Sessions' 4th Symphony
Jan 2 Roger Sessions' 4th Symphony, in honor of the Minnesota Centennial, premieres by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti
Army Promotes Elvis
Jan 14 US Army promotes Elvis Presley to Sergeant
"La fille mal gardée"
Jan 28 New version of "La fille mal gardée" (1789) choreographed by Frederick Ashton debuts with the Royal Ballet with Nadia Nerina debuts at Covent Garden, London
- Feb 4 Lionel Bart's musical comedy "Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be" opens at Garrick Theatre, London; runs for 886 pefromances
Hoagy Carmichael Hollywood Star
Feb 8 American "Stardust" composer and character actor Hoagy Carmichael receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Feb 10 "Unsinkable Molly Brown" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 532 performances
Lincoln, the Great Commoner
Feb 10 Charles Ives' composition "Lincoln, the Great Commoner" premieres
- Feb 13 "Beg, Borrow or Steal" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 5 performances
- Feb 13 "Saratoga" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 80 performances
Music Recording
Feb 13 Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label, after a failed attempt to buy the Verve label;
- Feb 25 John Cage's "Music for Amplified Toy Pianos" premieres
US History
Mar 5 Elvis Presley ends 2-year hitch in US Army
- Mar 8 "Greenwillow" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 95 performances
- Mar 18 5th Eurovision Song Contest: Jacqueline Boyer for France wins singing "Tom Pillibi" in London
- Mar 19 Albert Hague and Dorothy Fields' musical "Redhead", starring Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley, closes at the 46th Street Theatre, NYC, after 455 performances, and 6 Tony Award wins
Music Premiere
Mar 29 Darius Milhaud's 9th Symphony, premieres by the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and with conductor Mario di Bonaventura
- Apr 3 Elvis Presley records ‘It's Now Or Never’, ‘Fever’ and ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ at RCA studios in Nashville, Tennessee
Music History
Apr 14 American record company Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr, is incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit. Michigan
Bye Bye Birdie
Apr 14 Lee Adams and Charles Strouse's musical "Bye Bye Birdie", starring Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, and Dick Gautier, opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC; runs for 607 performances
- Apr 15 Guy Carawan sings "We Shall Overcome" to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh - popularising the song as a protest anthem
- Apr 20 "From A to Z" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances
- Apr 28 Webster and Fain's musical "Christine", based on Hilda Wernher's novel "My Indian Family", opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances
Music Concert
May 2 Harry Belafonte's 2nd Carnegie Hall performance (New York City)
Flower Drum Song
May 7 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song", directed by Gene Kelly, and starring Miyoshi Umeki, closes at St James Theater. NYC, after 602 performances and 1 Tony Award win
- May 7 Webster and Fain's musical "Christine", based on Hilda Wernher's novel "My Indian Family", closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 12 performances
- May 8 1st performance of Ferde Grofé's "San Francisco Suite", with Grofé conducting, in San Francisco
- May 12 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra's 1957 Cy Coleman hit "Witchcraft", and Frank performs Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender"
- May 14 Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's musical review "At the Drop of a Hat" closes at John Golden Theater, NYC, after 216 performances
- May 14 Virgil Thomson's "Missa Pro Defunctis" premieres in Potsdam, NY
Music History
May 15 Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th String quartet premieres in Leningrad
Music History
May 21 Leontyne Price becomes the first African American to sing the lead at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in "Aida"
- May 23 "Got A Girl" by The Four Preps hits #24
- May 23 Revival of Burton Lane and Yip Harburg's musical "Finian's Rainbow" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 12 performances
Greenwillow
May 28 Frank Loesser's musical "Greenwillow", starring Anthony Perkins, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 95 performances
#1 in the Charts
May 29 Everly Brothers single "Cathy's Clown" hits #1
- Jun 1 Revival of Burton Lane and Yip Harburg's musical "Finian's Rainbow" closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 12 performances
Steve Allen Show Ends
Jun 6 "Steve Allen Show" last airs on NBC-TV
Only the Lonely
Jun 9 Roy Orbison releases single "Only the Lonely"; it becomes his 1st major hit - peaking at #2 in the US and topping the UK charts
I'm a Honky Tonk Girl
Jun 19 Loretta Lynn records "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl"
Music History
Jul 1 Benjamin Britten's cantata "Carmen Baseliense" premieres in Basel, Switzerland
Once Upon A Mattress
Jul 2 Mary Rodgers & Marshall Barer's musical "Once Upon A Mattress", starring Carol Burnett and directed by George Abbott, closes at St. James Theater, NYC, after 470 performances
The Twist Dance Craze
Jul 15 Chubby Checker releases his version of "The Twist" in the US (date approximate)
Music Recording
Aug 1 Aretha Franklin's 1st recording session for Columbia Records in NYC
Music Release
Aug 6 Chubby Checker performs his version of Hank Ballard's "The Twist" on "The Dick Clark Show", starting a worldwide dance craze
- Aug 8 "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" hits #1
- Aug 18 The Beatles give their 1st public performance at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany
- Sep 2 William Walton's 2nd Symphony, premieres
- Sep 12 "Vintage '60" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theatre NYC for 8 performances
- Sep 14 Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of Communist Party of USSR
- Sep 17 Musical revue "Vintage '60" closes at Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC, after 8 performances
Music Release
Sep 19 Chubby Checker's "The Twist" hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
- Sep 28 "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" by Connie Francis hits #1
- Sep 29 "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ricky Valance peaks at #1 in UK
- Sep 29 Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort's musical "lrma La Douce" opens at Plymouth Theater, later transferring to the Alvin, NYC; runs for 527 performances
- Oct 10 "Laughs & Other Events" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 8 performances
- Oct 15 "Laughs & Other Events" closes at Barrymore Theater, NYC, after 8 performances
- Oct 17 "Tenderloin" opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 216 performances
- Oct 27 American pop and soul singer Ben E. King records "Spanish Harlem" & "Stand By Me" in NYC
- Nov 2 Dmitri Shostakovich's 8th String quartet premieres in Leningrad
- Nov 3 Meredith Willson's musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", starring Tammy Grimes, opens at Winter Garden, NYC; runs for 532 performances, and wins a Tony Award
Georgia On My Mind
Nov 14 Ray Charles' single "Georgia On My Mind" reaches #1
Beatles, Arrested and Deported
Dec 1 British rocker Paul McCartney and drummer Pete Best arrested and then deported from Hamburg, Germany accused of attempted arson
Camelot
Dec 3 Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical "Camelot", starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, and introducing Robert Goulet, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 873 performances, wins 4 Tony Awards
Peter Pan
Dec 8 Musical "Peter Pan", starring Mary Martin broadcast, for a 3rd time, on NBC as a special event, videotaped in color for future rebroadcasts
Wildcat
Dec 11 Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's musical "Wildcat" with Lucille Ball premieres in New York City
- Dec 16 "Wildcat" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 172 performances
- Dec 17 "La Plume de Ma Tante" closes at Royale Theater, NYC after 835 performances
- Dec 17 Bob Merrill's musical "Take Me Along", starring Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon, closes at Shubert Theater, NYC, after 448 performances. and a Tony Award for Gleason
- Dec 17 Pablo Casals' oratorio "El Pesebrio" premieres
- Dec 19 Frank Sinatra's 1st session with Reprise Records ("Ring-A-Ding-Ding")
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation
Dec 21 Ornette Coleman records his influential album "Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation", establishes the name for the Free Jazz sound
"Do Re Mi"
Dec 26 Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's musical "Do Re Mi" starring Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, opens at the St James Theater, later transferring to the 54th Street, NYC; runs for 400 performances
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers