The music industry in the 1950s

Timeline created by BradFrenetteCBC in Music

Timeline Text view

Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
01/03/1950	Sam Phillips opens Memphis Recording Service	In Memphis, Tennesee, a radio engineer named Sam Phillips opened up shop at 706 Union Avenue. Two years later, Sun Records was born.
05/02/1951	Les Paul pioneers multi-track recording	Married couple Les Paul and Mary Ford release their version of "How High the Moon" in 1951. The production is something entirely new, as Paul overdubbed multiple vocal and instrumental layers in the recording proc
07/01/1951	Alan Freed invents the term "Rock 'N' Roll"	A Cleveland DJ named Alan Freed coins the term "rock 'n' roll" on air. His early adoption and support of rhythm and blues and rock earned him the title "The King of Rock N' Roll". At least until Elvis came along.
03/21/1952	The Moondog Coronation Ball	Considered the first rock and roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball took place in Cleveland, Ohio. A mixed-race revue for a mixed-race audience, the concert was put on by a local DJ, a record store owner and a concert promoter. The tickets were so hot that 20,000 people showed up to a venue which only held 10,000. The concert has become an annual event in Cleveland, bringing together 50s style acts and inviting the public to dress up in the styles of
07/08/1953	Elvis' first song hits airwaves	A Memphis DJ named Dewey Phillips plays the first song Elvis Presley recorded -- a cover of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right" -- on his radio show, Red, Hot and Blue. Three days later, due to overwhelming demand, he played the song on repeat for the whole two hours of his show.
03/01/1954	Bo Diddley's first track hits charts	Bo Diddley's self-titled track tops the R&B charts and introduces the Bo Diddley "boom-chukka" beat.
05/20/1954	Bill Haley and His Comets release "Rock Around The Clock:	VIDEO Bill Haley and His Comets recording of this Freedman/Myers song is credited with taking rock and roll into the mainstream. The single went to #1 in both the US and UK.
05/02/1955	The birth of FM radio	The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins the first FM radio service on May 2, 1955. The broadcast were initially made in mono.
06/12/1955	Pat Boone tops the charts with a tame version of Fats Domino	Pat Boone tops the charts with a tame version of Fats Domino's Ain't That a Shame. Boone was the most popular version of a common practice of having white performers cover black artists, and having those covers gain more radio play. Boone, the non-threatening all-American boy, notched 38 Top 40 hits in the process.
07/05/1955	Chuck Berry releases his first single	VideoChuck Berry recorded his first number, "Maybellene" in the summer of 1955, on Chess Records, a blues label in Chicago. The song shot up the charts, going #1 on the R&B charts, and up to #5 on pop.
09/09/1956	Elvis makes his Ed Sullivan Show debut	Although Sullivan had said Elvis' suggestive dancing was "unfit for family viewing", approximately 60 million people tuned in -- a record 82.6% of the television audience. Instantly, Elvis was a huge national celebrity and sensation.
12/04/1956	Million Dollar Quartet records at Sun Records	The legendary "Million Dollar Quartet" of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley gather for an impromptu recording session at Sun Records.
12/07/1956	"Rock, Rock, Rock" hits cinemas	This film gathered a bevy of early rock 'n' rollers including Teddy Randazzo, The Teenagers, Frankie Lymon and Chuck Berry DJ Alan Freed also makes an appearance, playing himself.
02/03/1959	The day the music died	While flying over Clear Lake, Iowa, the small airplane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" Richardson crashed. The three rock n roll pioneers died, as did the pilot, Roger Peterson.