Category: On This Day…

March 20, 1960 – Elvis has his first post-Army recording session. Some of the recording work is for the album “Elvis is Back!,” which will hit #2 on the Billboard pop chart. The album includes the single “Stuck On You,” which is rushed to the pressing plant and packaged in a generic sleeve without waiting for orders. Debuting at #84, it took only three weeks to hit #1. Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who had quit Presley’s touring band in 1957, were in the studio with him for the last time. Sessions will continue in early April. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #ElvisIsBack
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March 19, 1960 – Bobby Darin appears on “The Dick Clark Show” singing “Beyond The Sea” and dances with a couple of young ladies from the audience. Freddy Cannon, Dorsey Burnette, and The Contours also appear on this day. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop @dickclarkprod #DickClarkShow @bobby_darin2 #BobbyDarin #BeyondTheSea
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March 18, 1959 – The movie “Rio Bravo” with Ricky Nelson, John Wayne, and Dean Martin opens nationally. Nelson plays a young gunslinger who teams up with a drunken former deputy, played by Dean Martin, and the Sheriff, played by John Wayne, to bring law and order to a frontier town. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #RioBravo #RickyNelson #JohnWayne#DeanMartin
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March 18, 1958 – Jerry Lee Lewis becomes the first artist to sing three songs on an episode of American Bandstand. He sings, not lip-synchs, “You Win Again” “Whole Lotta Shakin Goin’ On” and “Breathless.” @JerryLeeLewis #JerryLeeLewis “YouWinAgain #WholeLottaShakinGoinOn #Breathless #ROCkabillyHop
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March 18, 2017 – Chuck Berry died aged 90 at his home in suburban St. Louis. The American guitarist, singer, and songwriter was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957), and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. @ChuckBerry #ROCkabillyHop #ChuckBerry #Maybellene #RollOverBeethoven #RockandRollMusic #JohnnyBGoode #RocHop
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March 17, 1978 – The Alan Freed biopic “American Hot Wax,” widely considered one of the best Rock and Roll movies of all time, premiered in New York City, featuring appearances and performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. #ROCkabillyHop #AlanFreed #JerryLeeLewis #ChuckBerry #ScreaminJayHawkins #AmericanHotWax #RocHop
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March 17, 1957 – Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion from Mrs. Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. The 23 room, 10,000 square foot home, on 13.8 acres of land, would be expanded to 17,552 square feet of living space before the king moved in a few weeks later. The original building had at one time been a place of worship, used by the Graceland Christian Church, and was named after the builder’s daughter, Grace Toof. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #Graceland #RocHop
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March 17, 1956 – Henny Youngman is the guest host as Elvis Presley makes the fifth of his six appearances on Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey’s Stage Show on CBS. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #HennyYoungman #TommyDorsey #JimmyDorsey #StageShow #RocHop
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March 17, 1956 – Carl Perkins makes his first national TV appearance and it is on Red Foley’s “Ozark Jubilee,” singing “Blue Suede Shoes.” #ROCkabillyHop #CarlPerkins #OzarkJubilee #BlueSuedeShoes #RocHop
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March 16, 1964 – DJ Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion, the latest plague on the payola-plagued pioneer’s career. #ROCkabillyHop #AlanFreed #RocHop
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