-
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
-
Thomas Edison invents the light bulb
-
Stars and Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa
-
The NYC subway trains first run.
-
WWI begins
-
1918-19 Flu Pandemic
-
Jazz music first becomes popular - first invented by African-American musicians
-
Summertime - George Gershwin (Ella Fitzgerald)
As performed in the movie version of Porgy and Bess
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7_DHyjv3Ts Song Info - https://eno.org/discover-opera/the-history-of-george-gershwins-summertime/ -
Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
This Jazz tune is still the official song of the NYC transit system.
Video - https://youtu.be/D6mFGy4g_n8 Song Info - https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-of-take-the-a-train/13781/ -
WWII (Bombing of Pearl Harbor/U.S. enters WWII)
-
Black and White TV becomes common in people's homes
-
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
This song was ahead of it's time in the way Elvis speaks the lyrics in a rap style instead of singing.
Video - https://youtu.be/G6w6sv2qnFw
Song Info - https://elvisthemusic.com/music/jailhouse-rock-2/ -
That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly
This song was very influential in establishing Rock as a popular style of music.
Buddy Holly performance on live TV 1957 - https://youtu.be/9mDGcxbAusg Song Info - https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/ThatllBeTheDay.pdf -
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Another song that inspired musicians to play Rock music. This song is considered so important to American Pop/Rock music that it is playing over and over forever in outer space!
Live performance of Chuck Berry in the 1990s - https://youtu.be/6swgiM9vSEE Song Info -https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.137.3 -
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
This old Mexican folk song became the first song with non-English lyrics to become a big hit in the U.S. - it is sung entirely in Spanish.
Video - https://youtu.be/jSKJQ18ZoIA Song Info - https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/LaBamba.pdf -
The Day The Music Died
-
Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
This is a protest song in the style of an old American folk song.
Video - https://youtu.be/vWwgrjjIMXA Song Info - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bob-dylan-records-blowin-in-the-wind -
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX
-
The Beatles first hit the U.S.
-
The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
This is a song that describes an uneasy feeling that a lot of people feel a connection with for some reason.
Live 1960s performance - https://youtu.be/qn0QBXMYXsM Song Info - https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SoundsOfSilence.pdf -
Color TV becomes common in people's homes
-
Mr. Rhone, music teacher, is born!
-
Vietnam War escalates - anti-war protests become common.
-
American Pie - Don McLean
This song has a lot of symbolic lyrics - the people and images described represent big ideas and emotions that are important to the singer. It is strongly connected with the songs, "That'll Be The Day" and "La Bamba".
From the original album - https://youtu.be/iX_TFkut1PM Song Info - https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/AmericanPie.pdf -
First cell phones are made available.
-
Cell phones become common.
-
Coronavirus Pandemic - ongoing
