Category: On This Day…

November 12, 1944 – Booker T. Jones (frontman for Booker T. & the MG’s) is born in Memphis, Tennessee. (The “T” stands for Taliaferro.) #ROCkabillyHop #BookerT #HappyBirthday
https://youtu.be/ZgGH6xTaSJg

November 12, 1934 – Clyde Allen “Al” Hendrix was born. Hendrix an American rockabilly singer and songwriter. He began performing in clubs around Bakersfield, California, and met Buck Owens at the legendary Blackboard Cafe. Hendrix and Owens played music together, often with Bill Woods and The Orange Blossom Playboys. #ROCkabillyHop #AlHendrix #HappyBirthday
https://youtu.be/awM495NPLVM

November 11, 1958 – Hank Ballard and the Midnighters record “The Twist,” which later becomes a huge hit for Chubby Checker. #ROCkabillyHop @chubby_checker #twist #HankBallard https://youtu.be/z3t4KPL6XJQ

November 11, 1957 – Buddy Holly releases “Peggy Sue” backed with “Everyday.” It becomes his second hit single, peaking at No. 3. Co-authored by Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, for his girlfriend (and future wife) after the couple had temporarily broken up. #ROCkabillyHop @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #BuddyHolly #PeggySue
https://amzn.to/3EqPVnq

November 11, 1954 – Bill Haley scored his first US Top ten single with ‘Shake Rattle And Roll’. He had dropped his cowboy image about a year and a half earlier, while renaming The Saddlemen to Bill Haley and His Comets. The song became the theme song for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ was originally made popular by Big Joe Turner. #ROCkabillyHop @billhaleymusic #BillHaley #ShakeRattleAndRoll
https://amzn.to/3nEc5fi

November 10, 1958 – Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe” hits #1 in the US for the first of 2 weeks. Before this song hit, Twitty was recording rockabilly and rock and roll songs under his real name Harold Jenkins. #ROCkabillyHop @ConwayTwitty #ConwayTwitty #OnlyMakeBelieve
https://amzn.to/3GCWq8o

November 10, 1961 – Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘His Latest Flame/Little Sister.’ The singers ninth UK No.1. ‘His Latest Flame’ peaked at 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ‘Little Sister’ peaked at 5. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #HisLatestFlame #LittleSister
https://amzn.to/3EtOxjX

November 10, 1955 – Elvis Presley attended the fourth Country Music Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville Tennessee. Back at his hotel Mae Boren Axton (Hoyt Axton’s mother) played him a demo of a new song she had written with Tommy Durden called ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. Presley released the track as a single on January 27, 1956, his first on his new record label RCA Victor. The song gave him his his first No.1 one pop record. #ROCkabillyHop #HeartbreakHotel @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing
https://amzn.to/3BqGIK0

November 9, 1958 – Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’, exceeded three million copies sold in the USA, becoming only the third single to do so. Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ & ‘Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer’ by Gene Autry being the other two. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #HoundDog
https://amzn.to/3BqGIK0

November 9, 1955 – The Everly Brothers made their first studio recordings cutting four tracks in 22 minutes, at Nashville’s Old Tulane Hotel studios. Family friend Chet Atkins engineered a chance for The Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. However, their first and only single for the label, ‘Keep A’ Lovin’ Me’, was a flop, and they were quickly dropped from Columbia. #ROCkabillyHop #EverlyBrothers
https://amzn.to/3pPVHLp