Elvis Joins the US Army
Elvis Aron Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee in March 1958. During his active military career Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. At the 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor in Fort Hood, Texas he completed basic...
Van Cliburn wins Moscow Competition
In April 1958, at the height of the Cold War, the Texan pianist, Van Cliburn won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Because the contest was intended to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority, the judges asked permission of Soviet leader Nikita...
The Stroll
https://youtu.be/UrGLNtZ0rEg The Stroll was a slow rock 'n' roll dance and a song popular in the late 1950s. Performed by The Diamonds, the Stroll reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart, #4 on the U.S. pop chart, and #5 on the U.S. R&B...
American Bandstand
American Bandstand premiered locally in late March 1952 as Bandstand on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV as a television adjunct to a radio show of the same name on WFIL radio,. In August 1957, the show was picked up...
Elvis Presley—Screaming Jay Hawkins—Carl Perkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4euyTDhFnk https://youtu.be/82cdnAUvsw8 https://youtu.be/DRNyvO4QouY
Nat King Cole Attacked on Birmingham Alabama Stage
https://youtu.be/3PHQQRB5_w8 In April 1956, African American singer and pianist Nat King Cole was knocked down by a group of white men while he was performing before an all-white audience in Birmingham, Alabama. Before the attack, a drunk man near the front row...
Rock and Roll Classics
There were some great rock and roll classics in 1955 https://youtu.be/OKlAiuaYdoI https://youtu.be/fELjKo0R3iA https://youtu.be/VJcGi4-n_Yw
Marian Anderson Sings at the Met
https://youtu.be/J-Q8MbUsWac In 1955, at the age of 58, Marian Anderson became the first African-American soloist to sing at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Singing the role of the sorceress Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo en maschera, Anderson later said: "I was...
Elvis Presley on the Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride was a country music show (first in radio, then TV) that from 1948 to 1960 helped launch careers of some country and western music performers (including Hank Williams). Elvis Presley performed on the radio...
Rock and Roll Music
Rock and roll music evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from gospel, blues, jazz, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues and country music. Many maintain that the first rock and roll single was Rocket 88, written by Ike Turner, sung...
How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
How Much is that Doggie in the Window, written by the novelty tune specialist Bob Merrill and sung by Patti Paige, reached No. 1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts in 1953, and sold over two million copies.
Vaya con Dios
Vaya con Dios (Go with God) was written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper, and first recorded by Anita O'Day in December 1952. The most-popular version of the song was recorded by the popular husband-and-wife musical duo Les Paul and Mary Ford and...
The Weavers Wimoweh
https://youtu.be/77VUYPVMtWY Wimoweh - 1952 The Weavers were an American folk quartet from Greenwich Village in New York City who sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs,...
Roy Rogers Show
The Roy Rogers Show was broadcast on NBC from December 1951 to June 1957. Before changing his name, Rogers used his given name Leonard Franklin Slye to co-found the Sons of the Pioneers. https://youtu.be/s3FclAQDCxU IMDb Set in the fictional town...
Amahl and the Night Visitors
https://youtu.be/VUKvrNeNgk8 Amahl and the Night Visitors was a one-act production by Gian Carlo Menotti that was the first opera specifically composed for television in America. The story: One night in Judea, a disabled shepherd...
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade's first radio broadcast was in 1935. It continued on TV from 1950 to 1959. The show's sponsor was the American Tobacco Company Lucky Strike Cigarette. Wikimedia Commons https://youtu.be/-2lhHs3UtnA https://youtu.be/6QZ-c6Lxfiw...
Aaron Copland Clarinet Concerto
Commissioned by jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, Aaron Copland composed his Symphony No. 3 - Concerto for clarinet, strings and harp. It was first performed by Benny Goodman on a radio broadcast with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in November 1950. Copland wrote: "The...
Al Jolson
https://youtu.be/KD_YRnuuKyY Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson, was an American singer, comedian, and actor who lived from 1886-1950. In the 1920s, Jolson was immensely popular as America's highest-paid entertainer. In 1927 Jolson starred in The Jazz Singer, the...
Aegukka ~ Korean Anthem
https://youtu.be/DvRe2g-_n_A Aegukka (lit. "Patriotism Song") is the national anthem of Korea. Originally adopted by the Korean exile government (1919–1945) in Shanghai, China as their national anthem Aegukkga was sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. The...
Miles Davis
Miles Davis explored the trumpet’s middle register, experimenting with harmonies and rhythms and varying the phrasing of his improvisations.
Arirang
This lovely, traditional Korean song is >600 years old. The refrain Ariyang... is apparently nonsensical. There are many versions of the lyrics reflecting love, loss, resistance and patriotism. Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo...Crossing over Arirang Pass.The one who...
Fats Domino
https://youtu.be/7eU90nf7xJg Antoine "Fats" Domino's 1950 song "The Fat Man" is widely regarded as the first million-selling Rock 'n Roll record. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. LISTEN Fats Domino: 12 Essential...
God Bless America
Kate Smith' s version of Irving Berlin's song God Bless America has been part of American sports tradition for decades. https://youtu.be/-BIoN9bWTMo However, a recent revelation that she also recorded two songs with racist content in the 1930s (That's Why Darkies Were...
R.I.P. Doris Day
https://youtu.be/D0MtzQDltr0 Doris Day, the freckle-faced movie actress whose irrepressible personality and golden voice made her America’s top box-office star in the early 1960s, died on Monday at her home in Carmel Valley, Calif. She was 97. ~ NY Times May 13, 2019...
Popular Music
https://youtu.be/Oi6oSjmDV4U https://youtu.be/j11rwc6Sf4o