McCartney Plays Bass
Jan 5 The Beatles perform with Paul McCartney on bass guitar for the 1st time, at Litherland Town Hall, in Lancashire, England
- Jan 12 "Show Girl" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 100 performances
Gordy Signs Supremes
Jan 15 Berry Gordy signs The Supremes to Motown Records
- Jan 16 "Conquering Hero" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 8 performances
- Jan 21 "Conquering Hero" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 8 performances
- Jan 21 Francis Poulenc's "Gloria" premieres in Boston< Massachusetts by Boston Symphony and Chorus Pro Musica under conductor Charles Münch
Are You Lonesome Tonight
Jan 26 "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley hits #1
"Il trovatore"
Jan 27 Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli make debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in "Il trovatore"; final curtain call lasts 35 minutes
"I Fall to Pieces"
Jan 30 "I Fall to Pieces" single released by Patsy Cline (Billboard Song of the Year 1961)
- Feb 9 The Beatles first gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club; they would play there nearly 300 times over the next two years
Piston's 7th Symphony
Feb 10 Walter Piston's 7th Symphony, commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra premieres under direction of Eugene Ormandy; wins 1961 Pulitzer Prize
I Want a Guy
Mar 9 The Supremes release singles "I Want a Guy" and "Never Again"
- Mar 18 6th Eurovision Song Contest: Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg wins "Nous les amoureux" in Cannes
- Mar 21 The Beatles' first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
- Mar 25 "13 Daughters" closes at 54th St Theater, NYC, after 28 performances
- Mar 25 Elvis Presley performs live at Pearl Harbor’s Bloch Arena in a benefit for the USS Arizona Memorial; his return to the concert stage after a stint in the US Army raises $60K and worldwide awareness of the project [1]
Music History
Mar 25 Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim's musical "Gypsy", starring Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman, closes at the Imperial Theatre, NYC, after 702 performances
- Apr 3 Jacques Offenbach and Yip Harburg's musical "The Happiest Girl in the World", starring Cyril Ritchard and Justine Rule, opens at Martin Beck Theatre, NYC; runs for 97 performances
TV Show Appearance
Apr 5 Barbra Streisand appears on "Jack Paar Show"
- Apr 8 "Show Girl" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 100 performances
Grammy Awards
Apr 12 3rd Grammy Awards: Theme From a Summer Place, Ray Charles wins 4
- Apr 13 "Carnival!" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 719 performances
- Apr 15 Meredith Willson's musical "The Music Man", starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC. after 1375 performances, 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy
- Apr 23 Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical comedy "Tenderloin" closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 216 performances
Music History
Apr 23 Singer Judy Garland appears in concert at Carnegie Hall, NYC; event is recorded for a double live album, wins Grammy Award for Album of the Year (the first such win by a female artist)
Music History
May 10 Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller comedy revue "Beyond the Fringe" opens at the Fortune Theatre in London's West End
- May 15 "Bonanza" by Al Caiola Orchestra hits #19
- May 18 "Donnybrook!" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 68 performances
- May 20 Henzes opera "Elegy for Young Lovers," premieres in Schwetzingen
- May 22 "Mother-In-Law" by Ernie K-Doe hits #1
- May 22 Novelty single "Touchables In Brooklyn" by Dickie Goodman hits #42
Berryland Opens
May 31 Chuck Berry's amusement park, Berryland in St Louis, Missouri opens
- Jun 3 "Wildcat" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 172 performances
- Jun 13 Billy Barnes' musical revue "Billy Barnes People", starting Ken Berry, Dave Ketchum, and Jo Anne Worley, opens at Royale Theater, NYC; runs for 7 performances
- Jun 16 Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to West at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France
- Jun 17 Billy Barnes' musical revue "Billy Barnes People", starting Ken Berry, Dave Ketchum, and Jo Anne Worley, closes at Royale Theater, NYC, after 7 performances
- Jun 19 "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" by The Coasters peaks at #23
- Jun 22 Beatles record "Ain't She Sweet", "Cry for a Shadow", "When the Saints Go Marching In", "Why", "Nobody's Child" & "My Bonnie", in Hamburg, Germany
My Bonnie
Jun 22 Tony Sheridan & the Beatles record "My Bonnie" & "The Saints", produced by Bert Kaempfert, in Hamburg, Germany
- Jun 24 Jacques Offenbach and Yip Harburg's musical "The Happiest Girl in the World", starring Cyril Ritchard and Justine Rule, closes at Martin Beck NYC after 97 performances
- Jun 24 Tony Sheridan, backed by the Beatles, records "If You Love Me Baby" (aka "Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby") in Hamburg, Germany
- Jul 15 "Donnybrook!" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 68 performances
- Jul 20 Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley's musical "Stop The World - I Want To Get Off" premieres at Queen's Theater in London's West End
Music Concert
Jul 23 American opera singer Grace Bumbry becomes the first black singer to perform at the Bayreuth Festival, Germany, she earns 42 curtain calls
- Jul 29 Bob Dylan is not seriously injured in car accident in New York City
- Aug 2 The Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club
- Aug 21 American country singer Patsy Cline records then-struggling songwriter Willie Neslon's song "Crazy", in Nashville, Tennessee
- Sep 8 Nashville-based guitar wizard Hank Garland sustains career-ending injuries in a single vehicle accident near Springfield, Tennessee
Music History
Sep 22 Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" premieres at Warsaw Autumn Festival,Andrzej Markowski conducting Kraków Philharmonic
- Sep 26 "From the Second City" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 87 performances
- Sep 28 Ossie Davis' comedic stage farce "Purlie Victorious", starring the playwright, opens at the Cort Theatre, later transferring to the Longacre, NYC; runs for 261 performances
- Sep 29 Bob Dylan's 1st recording session, playing harmonica for Caroline Hester
Music Premiere
Oct 1 Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's 12nd Symphony
- Oct 1 The Beach Boys record their debut single "Surfin", introducing a new musical style
Sail Away
Oct 3 Noël Coward's musical "Sail Away", starring Elaine Stritch, opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 167 performances
Bye Bye Birdie
Oct 7 Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' musical "Bye Bye Birdie", starring Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, and Dick Gautier, closes at Martin Beck Theater, NYC, after 607 performances and 4 Tony Awards
Music History
Oct 14 Frank Loesser's musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", starring Robert Morse and Rudy Vallée, opens at 46th Street Theatre, NYC; runs for 1415 performances, winning 7 Tony Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize
West Side Story
Oct 18 Film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical "West Side Story", directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and starring Natalie Wood, premieres (Academy Award - Best Picture, 1962)
- Oct 21 Barbra Streisand opens in "Another Evening with Harry Stones"
- Oct 23 "Kwamina" opens at 54th St Theater NYC for 32 performances
- Oct 24 "Evening with Yves Montand" opens at John Golden Theatre, NYC for 55 performances
Music Premiere
Oct 27 David Diamond's 8th Symphony premieres with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein
- Oct 28 "Fiorello!" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC starring Tom Bosley after 796 performances and a Pulitzer Prize
- Nov 2 Robert Wright and George Forrest's musical "Kean" opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 92 performances
- Nov 4 American folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan makes his Carnegie Hall (NYC) debut; tickets priced at $2.00 [1]
The Beatles Meet Epstein
Nov 9 The Beatles meet future manager Brian Epstein after a lunch time performance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England
- Nov 18 "Gay Life" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 113 performances
- Nov 18 "Kwamina" closes at 54th St Theater NYC after 32 performances
- Dec 9 "From the Second City" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 87 performances
- Dec 9 "Let It Ride" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 68 performances
- Dec 11 Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 20 wks
- Dec 11 Motown Records releases "Please, Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes; it is the group and the label's 1st #1 pop song, topping the charts for 13 weeks
The Young Ones
Dec 13 "The Young Ones" directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Cliff Richard, Robert Morley and Carole Gray premieres in London
- Dec 13 The Beatles sign a formal agreement to be managed by Brian Epstein
- Dec 16 "Evening with Yves Montand" closes at John Golden Theatre, NYC after 55 performances
"Subways Are For Sleeping"
Dec 27 Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green's musical "Subways Are For Sleeping" premieres at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 205 performances
- Dec 30 Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's 4th Symphony in Moscow (completed 1936)
- Dec 31 Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort's musical "lrma La Douce" closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 527 performances
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