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Gene Vincent begins the year in hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA, undergoing treatment for a shin-bone injury sustained when he was hit by a motor-cyclist in a hit-and-run incident a year earlier in Norfolk, Virginia. Vincent recently had to drop out of an engagement at The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, because of the pain he was suffering. He is expected to remain in hospital for three months.
Bobby Breen's Rockers and Rory Blackwell And His Rock'n'Rollars play at The Club Haley in The Mapleton Restaurant, Coventry Street, London, UK.
Vincent Calloway of the r'n'b band Calloway, best-remembered for their 1990 hit single, I Wanna Be Rich, is born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
The first UK press review of Little Richard says "His dynamic personality should make him a big favourite."
Noah Kaminsky of Brooklyn, New York City, gets a brand new guitar for his sixteenth birthday. It will help him along the road to becoming Neil Diamond.
Lita Roza appears on the BBC tv show Show Band Parade, with Cyril Stapleton, in the UK.
Fats Domino appears singing Blueberry Hill and Blue Monday on the Perry Como Show in the USA.
Fifty-six year old John Axon is driving a train from Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK, to his home depot at Edgeley, when the automatic steam brake pipe fractures. The cab fills with scalding steam, but after telling his fireman to jump clear, Axon remains aboard to warn signal boxes along the route. Axon is killed when his engine crashes into another freight train, but his courage saves the lives of a train full of children. Folk singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl will immortalise Axon's heroism in his 1958 song The Ballad Of John Axon.
The Biggest Show Of Stars, featuring Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, LaVern Baker, The Moonglows, Bill Doggett and Clyde McPhatter, plays at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York State, USA.
The album This Is Fats Domino! by Fats Domino enters the Billboard US Albums Chart, where it will peak at No19 during a run of two weeks.
The Crickets [including Buddy Holly], record That'll Be The Day in Clovis, New Mexico, USA, with producer Norman Petty. The title of the song is derived from John Wayne's catchphrase in the movie The Searchers [which will later also inspire the name of a popular Liverpool band of the 1960s]. Although recorded as a demo, at a cost of $60, this version will in due course be released by Brunswick Records as a single.
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Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers play the sixth night of two-weeks at the Palladium, London, UK.
Buddy Holly and The Crickets record Words Of Love at producer Norman Petty's recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, USA.
Sam Cooke has his seventh recording session with the Soul Stirrers at Universal Recording Studios, Hollywood, California, USA. They record That's Heaven To Me and three other tracks.
Heart by Max Bygraves peaks at No14 in the Popular Singles Chart in the UK, during a run of eight weeks on the chart.
Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers play the last night of two-weeks at the Palladium, London, UK.
Buddy Knox, fresh from a No1 US hit with Party Doll, is called up to the US Army.
The Prisonaires, a group of convicts with a hit single, Just Walkin' In The Rain, are given an award while still serving time in the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
The Platters and Lonnie Donegan play the sixth night in a two-week season at The Palladium, London, UK.
The album Rock'n'Roll (No2) by Elvis Presley enters the UK Pop Albums Chart where it will peak at No3 during a three-week stay.
When UK pop star Tommy Steele starts a tour at The Empire, Liverpool, he is horrified to discover that unknown US support act, Freddie Bell And The Bell Boys, are being paid more than he is.
Not long after midnight, The Crickets, an upcoming young group featuring vocalist/guitarist Buddy Holly, perform at the Village Theatre, Lubbock, Texas, USA. Later the same day, the group auditions for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts CBS-TV program at KFDA TV studios, Amarillo, Texas, USA, but they are turned down. [The same show had previously turned down Elvis Presley].Jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller and pianist Red Garland record the album Curtis Fuller with Red Garland at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA.
Having inhaled a cap from one of his teeth during rehearsals for the film Jailhouse Rock, Elvis Presley is in Cedars Of Lebanon hospital in Los Angeles, California, USA, having the cap removed from his lung.
The Coasters, The Cleftones, Shirley
And Lee, Bobby
Marchan and Huey 'Piano' Smith play the fourth night of a week at the Howard Theater, Washington, DC, USA.
Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers record Begin The Beguine and Goody Goody with producer Norrie Paramor, at Abbey Road studios, London, England, UK, Europe. It will prove to be Lymon's last session with the group.
Ray Charles, B.B.King, The Drifters, Ruth Brown, Jimmy Reed and others play at Harndon Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Around The World by Gracie Fields peaks at No8 in the Popular Singles Chart in the UK, during a nine-week stay on the chart.
B.B. King plays the second night of a week at the Flame Show Bar, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
The Pla-Mor Ballroom, a much-loved Kansas City, Missouri, USA, music venue since 1927, closes down. The venue had hosted performances by everyone from Django Rheinhardt to Count Basie. Legend has it that Hoagy Carmichael first performed his evergreen song Stardust while a member of The Pla-Mor's house band.
Puttin' On The Style / Gamblin' Man by Lonnie Donegan spends the last day of two weeks at No1 in the UK pop music singles chart.
Package tour The Fantabulous Rock'n'Roll Show For '57, featuring Bo Diddley, The Coasters, The Drifters, Ruth Brown, The Five Satins, Robert Parker and others, comes to an end with a show in St Louis, Missouri, USA.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet plays the first of two nights at The Lagoon, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Buddy Holly and The Crickets appear on popular tv show Dick Clark's American Bandstand, performing That'll Be The Day, at W-Fil Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
In Derry, Northern Ireland, UK, Europe, John O'Neill of Irish punk innovators The Undertones is born.
Chuck Berry is the headline act when the Biggest Show Of Stars For 57 package tour plays in the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA. Other acts on the bill include Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter, LaVern Baker, Frankie Lymon and Buddy Knox.
Chuck Berry is the headline act when the Biggest Show Of Stars For 57 package tour plays in the Auditorium, Oakland, California, USA. Other acts on the bill include Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Paul Anka, The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter, LaVern Baker, Frankie Lymon and Buddy Knox.
The Platters are the musical guests on CBS tv's Ed Sullivan Show, recorded in New York City, USA.
The Shepherd
Sisters, best-remembered for their 1957 US Top 20 hit Alone
[Why Must I Be Alone], play the second night of a week at The
Copa Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
The Modern Jazz Quartet plays at The Odeon, Nottingham, England, UK, Europe, supported by The Don Rendell Sextet.
Hey School Girl, by little known New York City duo Tom And Jerry is released. The song is a flop, but when the pair change their name to Simon And Garfunkel in the mid-sixties, they will become one of the world's top acts.
Charles Path?, a major pioneer of the film and recording industries, dies of natural cuases in Monaco.
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