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Johnny Duncan And The Blue Grass Boys, Terry Lightfoot And His New Orleans Jazz Band and The Crescents play at St George's Hall, Bradford, UK. Lightfoot's band includes drummer Ginger Baker, later to find fame with 60s supergroup The Cream.
Jimmy Giuffre And His Music Men record Iowa Stubborn, Gary, Indiana and Lida Rose [Will I Ever Tell You] for Atlantic Records in New York City, USA.
Country gospel group The Blackwood Brothers Quartet play in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley becomes the first single ever to go straight to No1 in the UK pop singles chart.
Magic
Moments by Perry
Como reaches No1 in the Sheet Music Sales Chart in
the UK. The song is written by Burt
Bacharach and Hal David.
Elvis Presley plays his only concert of the year at Russwood Park, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and will not play live again for three years.
Paul Anka plays at the Victoria Hall, Hanley, UK. Also on the bill are Lorrae Desmond, The Ken-Tones, the Peter Groves Trio and Roy Stevens.
Buddy Holly and The Crickets play at The Gaumont Theatre, Hammersmith, London, UK, supported by The Montanas, The Tanner Sisters, Gary Miller and Ronnie Keene And His Orchestra. Des O'Connor is the compere.
Della Reese, Frankie Vaughan and Jane Morgan are the musical guests on CBS tv's Ed Sullivan Show, recorded in New York City, USA.
Teenage guitarist Ian Samwell goes to the 2I's coffee bar in Soho, London, where he sees aspiring rock'n'roller Harry Webb. After the gig, Samwell offers his services to Webb as lead guitarist. He will go on to write Move It for Webb, who will find fame with the song after changing his name to Cliff Richard.
Fats Domino, The Dells, The Spaniels and The Flamingos play at the Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York City, USA.
At The Embers Club in New York City, USA, jazz trumpeter Bobby Hackett continues recording sessions for his Capitol Records album At The Embers. On this day he records the tracks Cheek To Cheek, It's Been So Long, If I Had My Way and That Naughty Waltz.
At The Embers Club in New York City, USA, jazz cornettist and trumpeter Bobby Hackett has a second day of recording sessions for his Capitol Records album At The Embers. On this day he records the tracks Cheek To Cheek, It's Been So Long, If I Had My Way and That Naughty Waltz.
Saxophone star Earl Bostic records Stairway To The Stars and C Jam Blues in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The Squadronnaires Dance Orchestra play at The Festival Hall, Kirkby In Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. Playing baritone sax on this gig is Cliff Townshend, whose son Pete Townshend will go on to be the leader of The Who.Paul Andrews is born in Chingford, London, UK. He will find success as Paul Di'Anno, the first vocalist to record with Iron Maiden.
Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Heartbeats, The Cadillacs, The Cookies, Ann Cole, Tiny Topsy, Mary Ann Fisher, Solomon Burke and The 5 Crowns play the fourth night of a week of shows at The Apollo, Harlem, New York City, USA.
Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Heartbeats, The Cadillacs, The Cookies, Ann Cole, Tiny Topsy, Mary Ann Fisher, Solomon Burke and The 5 Crowns play the last night of a week of shows at The Apollo, Harlem, New York City, USA.
At Chess Studio in Chicago, Illinois, Chuck Berry records Memphis Tennessee, Sweet Little Rock And Roller, Jo Jo Gunne and Anthony Boy. On the same day, Prince Rogers Nelson, is born in Mount Sinai Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He will find fame as Prince.
While in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, during two weeks of furlough, US Army Private Elvis Presley begins a two-day recording session in RCA Studios, during which he records I Need Your Love Tonight, A Big Hunk O' Love, Ain't That Loving You Baby, A Fool Such As I and I Got Stung.
Paul Robeson, whose passport had been taken from him by the government of the USA, is vindicated when the Supreme Court rules that, "The State Department was not authorized by Congress to withhold people's passports because of alleged beliefs or associations." Robeson's passport is returned to him the following day.Australian hit-maker Johnny O'Keefe marries Marianne Renate Willinzik a 23-year-old hairdresser at St Therese's Catholic Church, Dover Heights, New South Wales, Australia.
Peggy Lee's classic Fever enters the UK singles chart. The track is a cover of an r'n'b hit originally recorded by Little Willie John.
Volare reaches No1 in the Cash Box Top 100 Singles Chart in the USA, and will stay on top for six weeks. The position is shared by two versions of the song, one by Domenico Modugno and another by Dean Martin.
Ray Charles plays at the Baseball Stadium, Ponchartrain Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Lloyd Price, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Five Satins and The Olympics play the fourth night of a week-long engagement at The Howard Theater, Washington, DC, USA.
R'n'b pianist Bill Doggett records Rainbow Riot for King Records in New York City, USA.
The Coasters play the sixth night of a week at the Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York City, USA, with The Spaniels, The Danleers, The Olympics, Bobby Hendricks, The Quintones, and Sil Austin's Combo.
The instrumental Topsy
Pt2, by jazz drummer Cozy
Cole, enters the Billboard US Top 40 Singles Chart where it will peak at No3
during a 14-week run. The track is a new version of a former hit
for Benny Goodman.
The Kalin Twins play at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK, supported by Eddie Calvert, Cliff Richard and others.
The Isley Brothers, The Chantels, The Upsetters, Dee Clark, Little Willie John and Little Anthony and the Imperials play at The Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York City, USA.
The Timex All-Star Jazz Show, hosted by Hoagy Carmichael, and featuring Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Anita O'Day, Louis Armstrong, Les Brown, Chico Hamilton, Bob Crosby's Bobcats, and Jane Morgan, is broadcast by CBS-tv in the USA.
Dakota Staton records Idaho and No Moon At All in New York City, USA, for Capitol Records.
UK weekly pop paper the New Musical Express (NME) reports that popular Liverpool-born vocalist Frankie Vaughan is shortly to perform in the Danish Royal Variety Performance
Norrie Paramor And The Big Ben Banjo Band, The Vic Ash Sextet, Chris Barber's Jazz Band, The John Dankworth Orchestra, The Ray Ellington Quartet, The Denny Boyce Orchestra, Ted Heath And His Music, The Jazz Couriers featuring Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, The Jazzmakers, The Tony Kinsey Quintet, Humphrey Lyttelton And His Band, The Oscar Rabin Orchestra and Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra, play in The Jazz Jamboree at The Gaumont State Theatre, Kilburn, London, UK.
Ted Steele's Bandstand plays the fourth of five days at The Brooklyn Paramount Theater, New York City, USA, featuring Connie Francis, The Big Bopper, Jimmy Clanton, Clyde McPhatter, Dickey Doo and the Don'ts, The Royaltones, Cozy Cole, Donnie Owens, The Shields, The Solitaires, The Kalin Twins, Frankie Avalon, Thurston Harris, Lloyd Price and Jerry Butler And The Impressions.
The Rodgers And Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song opens at the St James Theatre in New York City, USA, where it will run for 600 performances.
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by The Platters enters the Billboard Top 40 Singles Chart in the USA, where it will peak at No1.
Julia Lee, the vocalist and pianist who led her group Julia
Lee And Her Boyfriends through several major Billboard r'n'b chart hits in the 40s, dies of a heart attack
in San Diego, California, USA.
The John Birch Society, a radical right-wing organisation devoted to fighting the influence of communism, is established in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Alarmed by its activities, Bob Dylan will write his song Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues in 1962, and will be prevented from singing it on television.
James Brown records I Want You So Bad and There Must Be A Reason at Master Recorders, Los Angeles, California, USA, for Federal Records. The two tracks will become the two sides of Brown's next single.
Frank Sinatra records Dancing In the Dark, Cheek To Cheek and other songs in Capitol Records Studio A, Los Angeles, California, USA.
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