Category: On This Day…

October 2, 1954 – Elvis Presley’s one appearance on the “Grand Ole Opry” doesn’t go over particularly well. The Opry’s talent director, Jim Denny, famously tells Presley he should go back to driving a truck. The Opry is very important at this time. This is a painful disappointment in Elvis’ early career. Elvis swears never to return. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #RocHop #GrandeOleOpry #OTD
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October 1, 1971 – “American Pie” by singer-songwriter Don McLean was released. Recorded and released on the “American Pie” album in 1971, the single was a #1 U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. A re-release in 1991 did not chart in the U.S. but reached #12 in the UK. The song is an oblique recounting of “The Day the Music Died” — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.), and the pilot, Roger Peterson. The importance of “American Pie” to America’s musical and cultural heritage was recognized by the Songs of the Century education project which listed the song as the #5 song of the twentieth century. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #DonMcLean #AmericanPie #RocHop #OTD
https://amzn.to/3a45wQo

October 1, 1956 – After test audiences gave a negative reaction to Elvis Presley dying at the end of the film “Love Me Tender,” The King was called back to re-shoot the scene. In the new ending, the hero lived. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #LoveMeTender #RocHop #OTD
https://amzn.to/3buRQhz

September 30, 1959 – The Everly Brothers are special guests on the season premiere of NBC-TV’s “The Perry Como Show” as it moves from Saturday to Wednesday nights. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #EverlyBrothers @EverlyBrosInt #PerryComoShow #OTD
https://amzn.to/3OLnCoV

September 30, 1942 – R&B singer Frankie Lymon was born “Franklin Joseph Lymon” in Harlem, New York. Lymon is best known for the 1955 hit “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” with The Teenagers. #ROCkabillyHop #WhyDoFoolsFallInLove #HappyBirthday #FrankieLymon #Teenagers #OTD #RocHop
https://amzn.to/3xKPPqf

September 29, 1960 – Chubby Checker sings “The Twist” on “American Bandstand.” #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop @DickClarkProd #DickClark #AmericanBandstand @chubby_checker #ChubbyChecker #twist #OTD
https://amzn.to/3Oqprrr

September 29, 1959 – Little Anthony & The Imperials record “Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop.” Anthony is quoted as saying the song is “stupid”. #ROCkabillyHop #LittleAnthony #ShimmyShimmyKoKoBop #OTD #RocHop
https://amzn.to/3n3Mnkx

September 29, 1956 – Bill Haley had five songs in the UK Top 30; “Rockin Through The Rye,” “Saints Rock n’ Roll,” “Rock Around the Clock,” “Razzle Dazzle,” and “See You Later Alligator.” #ROCkabillyHop @billhaleymusic #BillHaley #RockinThroughTheRye #SaintsRockNRoll #RockAroundTheClock #RazzleDazzle #SeeYouLaterAlligator #OTD #RocHop
https://amzn.to/39nXC3Y

September 29, 1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis was born in 1935 to the poor farming family of Elmo and Mamie Lewis in Ferriday, Concordia Parish, in Eastern Louisiana. #ROCkabillyHop #HappyBirthday @jerryleelewis #JerryLeeLewis #TheKiller #OTD #RocHop
https://amzn.to/3Hpxlim

September 29, 1921 – Franny Beecher, the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, was born “Francis Eugene Beecher” in Norristown, Pennsylvania. #ROCkabillyHop @billhaleymusic #BillHaley #HappyBirthday #FrannyBeecher #OTD #RocHop
https://amzn.to/3y0zbSd