The Beatles? 'They have no future in show business'
Jan 1 Beatles' Decca Records audition is unsuccessful - they are told “guitar groups are on the way out..."
"The Twist"
Jan 13 Chubby Checker's song "The Twist", credited with starting the Twist dance craze, goes to #1 in the charts two years after first reaching number one spot
Music History
Jan 13 Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's musical "Do Re Mi" starring Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, closes at the 54th Street Theater, NYC, after 400 performances
- Jan 17 Roy Harris' 8th Symphony, premieres in San Francisco
- Jan 20 "Kean" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances
Epstein Signs with Beatles
Jan 24 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles
Catholic Bishop Bans "The Twist"
Jan 26 Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declares Chubby Checker's "The Twist" to be impure and bans it from all Catholic schools
- Jan 26 David Diamond's 7th Symphony premieres with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy
Music History
Jan 27 "Family Affair" opens at Billy Rose Theater NYC for 65 performances
Music Premiere
Feb 16 Darius Milhaud's 12th Symphony premieres
Radio Premiere
Mar 8 The Beatles (with Pete Best) BBC radio debut - a cover of Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", recorded the previous evening on stage at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester
No Strings
Mar 15 Richard Rodgers' musical drama "No Strings", starring Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley, opens at the 54th Street Theatre (later transferring to the Broadhurst), New York; runs for 580 performances and wins 3 Tony Awards
- Mar 18 7th Eurovision Song Contest: Isabelle Aubret for France wins singing "Un premier amour" in Luxembourg
Music History
Mar 18 Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of Supreme Soviet of USSR
Music Premiere
Mar 19 Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' musical "All American", starring ray Bolger, opens at the Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 80 performances
I Can Get It For You Wholesale
Mar 22 Musical "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" starring Barbra Streisand in her Broadway debut, opens at Shubert Theater, NYC; runs for 300 performances
Music History
Mar 24 Mick Jagger & Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & Blue Boys
- Mar 25 "Family Affair" closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC after 65 performances
Academy Awards
Apr 9 34th Academy Awards: "West Side Story" (Best Picture, Director, and 8 more), Sophia Loren (Two Women) & Maximilian Schell (Judgement At Nuremberg) win
#1 in the Charts
May 5 "West Side Story" soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album
A Funny Thing Happened
May 8 Stephen Sondheim's musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" starring Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford, and directed by George Abbott, opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 965 performances, and wins 6 Tony Awards
- May 9 The Beatles sign their 1st contract with EMI Parlophone
- May 13 Ossie Davis' comedic stage farce "Purlie Victorious", starring the playwright, closes the Longacre, Theatre, NYC, after 261 performances
- May 19 "Bravo, Giovanni" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 76 performances
- May 19 "John Birch Society" by Chad Mitchell Trio hits #99
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
May 19 Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to JFK before 15,000 attendees, accompanied by jazz pianist Hank Jones, at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Contract of Interest
May 24 The Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" & "Swanee" in Hamburg, Germany to close out their contract with producer Bert Kaempfert; Tony Sheridan later dubs vocal over tracks
- May 25 Wand Records releases The Isley Brothers' cover single "Twist & Shout"; it becomes their first top-20 hit, peaking at #17
- May 26 Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' musical "All American", starring ray Bolger, closes at the Winter Garden Theater, NYC after 80 performances
- May 29 4th Grammy Awards: "Moon River", Peter Nero win
- May 29 Barbra Streisand appears on "The Garry Moore Show"
War Requiem
May 30 Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" incorporating the poems of Wilfred Owen premieres, marking the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral
#1 in the Charts
Jun 2 Ray Charles' cover of Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You", from his influential crossover album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" hits #1 on Billboard
The Beatles Meet George Martin
Jun 6 The Beatles meet their producer George Martin for the first time, and record "Besame Mucho" with Pete Best on drums
Music Concert
Jun 9 American pop and jazz singer Tony Bennett makes his Carnegie Hall concert debut, NYC
Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall
Jun 11 "Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall", musical comedy/variety television special with Julie Andrews & Carol Burnett premieres on CBS
Music History
Jun 23 Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's musical "Subways Are For Sleeping" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 205 performances
- Jul 12 Rolling Stones 1st performance (Marquee Club, London)
- Jul 20 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 13th Symphony
Music History
Aug 16 Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as Beatles' drummer, first official concert two days later
- Aug 28 Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers (The Beatles) record "Ya Ya (Parts 1 + 2)" in Hamburg, Germany
- Sep 4 Beatles record "How Do You Do It" at EMI Studios in London
- Sep 11 Beatles record "Love Me Do", "PS I Love You", and a slow version of "Please, Please Me" ,with session player Andy White on drums; Ringo relegated to tambourine
- Sep 15 "Bravo, Giovanni" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 76 performances
Music History
Sep 22 Pete Seeger headlines 'Hootenanny, at Carnegie Hall' in NYC; Bob Dylan shares the bill
- Sep 29 "Alley Cat" by Bent Fabric & His Piano peaks at #7
- Sep 29 "Green Onions" by Booker T & MG's peaks at #3
Music History
Sep 29 Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical "My Fair Lady", adapted from George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion", starring Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, and Stanley Holloway, closes at the Broadway Theater, NYC, after 2,715 performances and 6 Tony Award wins
You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover
Sep 29 Music single "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" by Bo Diddley peaks at #48
- Oct 1 American singer Barbra Streisand signs her 1st recording contract (with Columbia)
- Oct 1 Brian Epstein signs a contract to manage The Beatles through 1977
The Tonight Show
Oct 1 Johnny Carson hosts his 1st "The Tonight Show" on NBC; guests include Rudy Vallée, Tony Bennett, Mel Brooks and Joan Crawford
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Oct 13 Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens on Broadway featuring actress Uta Hagen
- Oct 17 The Beatles make their live television debut, appearing on Manchester's local "People And Places" program, performing ‘Some Other Guy’ and their new single ‘Love Me Do’
- Oct 18 Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers (later known as The Beatles) record "Let's Dance" in Hamburg, Germany
Mr. President
Oct 20 Irving Berlin's final musical "Mr. President" opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 265 performances
#1 in the Charts
Oct 20 Peter, Paul and Mary's debut folk album "Peter, Paul and Mary" reaches No. 1 on US album charts
The Manchurian Candidate
Oct 24 "The Manchurian Candidate", directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey, is released
- Oct 26 The Beatles record "Ask Me Why"
Music History
Oct 27 Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller comedy revue "Beyond the Fringe" opens at John Golden Theater, NYC; runs for 667 performances
- Nov 7 Columbia Records completes a three-night live recording of Barbra Steisand at the Bon Soir nightclub in Greenwich Village, NYC for her debut album; technical issues force them to shelf the release and bring her to a studio to record
- Nov 10 "Nowhere to Go, But Up" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 9 performances
- Nov 17 "Nowhere to Go, But Up" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 9 performances
Little Me
Nov 17 Neil Simon, Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's musical "Little Me" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 257 performances
- Nov 26 The Beatles re-record "Please Please Me" at a faster tempo, based on producer George Martin's suggestion
- Dec 8 "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" closes at Shubert NYC after 300 performances
1st Family
Dec 15 Comedian-impressionist Vaughn Meader's "1st Family" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 12 weeks
- Dec 17 Beatles 1st British TV appearance on "People & Places"
- Dec 18 Dmitri Shostakovich's 13th Symphony premieres in Moscow
Osmond Brothers Debut
Dec 20 Pop singing group the Osmond Brothers debut on "The Andy Williams Show"
- Dec 26 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Katerina Ismailova" premieres at the Stanislavski-Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre, in Moscow, USSR
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