59 Fun Facts About 50s, 60s and 70s Music

'Rock Around the Clock' took off in 1955 after it played over the opening credits of which film?

Blackboard Jungle: by the account of star Glenn Ford's son Peter, director Richard Brooks borrowed the record from his collection, and teens danced in the aisles.

Who founded Sun Records in Memphis in 1952?

Sam Phillips discovered Elvis, then sold his recording contract to RCA Victor in November 1955 for $35,000.

Elvis Presley's first RCA Victor single, released in January 1956, was which song?

Some RCA executives thought Heartbreak Hotel a bad choice, yet it went to number one.

Which rock and roll pioneer turned Bob Wills's fiddle tune 'Ida Red' into his 1955 hit 'Maybellene'?

Chuck Berry pitched it to his label as an 'Ida' song, but the label had him retitle it before release.

Which 'safer' white singer's cover of Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti' charted higher than the original?

Pat Boone's outselling cover led producer Bumps Blackwell to have Little Richard sing 'Long Tall Sally' very fast to thwart him; Boone covered it regardless.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a February 1959 plane crash near which Iowa town?

Clear Lake was where they had just played a concert; Holly chartered the plane because the tour buses kept breaking down.

Which future country star gave up his seat on Buddy Holly's fatal flight to the flu-stricken Big Bopper?

Waylon Jennings was so traumatized by the crash that he quit the music business for a time.

Ritchie Valens's hit 'La Bamba' was adapted from what?

A Mexican folk song: Valens, loyal to his Mexican heritage, was reluctant to rock it up until his producer persuaded him.

Jerry Lee Lewis's career collapsed in 1958 when a British reporter discovered he had married whom?

His 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, was traveling with him, and the outcry cut his British tour short.

Which Fats Domino hit revived a 1940 Glenn Miller number two?

Blueberry Hill: Domino knew the song from Louis Armstrong's 1949 recording, which inspired his cover.

Which record topped Billboard's first Hot 100 in August 1958?

Poor Little Fool by Ricky Nelson: he opposed releasing it as a single, then refused to approve a photo for its sleeve.

Sam Cooke's 1957 chart-topper 'You Send Me' had which George Gershwin standard as its B-side?

Cooke had come from gospel as lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, and the pop crossover made him a star.

Johnny Cash revived his career in 1968 with a live album recorded at which California prison?

Folsom had inspired his song 'Folsom Prison Blues', which he wrote after watching a film about the prison while in the Air Force.

Elvis Presley spent most of his 1958–60 Army service stationed in which country?

West Germany was his post, yet his records kept selling while he served, because RCA had stockpiled unreleased songs before he left.

Some Boston radio stations banned which 1957 Everly Brothers hit over supposedly suggestive lyrics?

Wake Up Little Susie tells of a couple who doze off at the movies and miss her curfew, and despite the ban it went to number one.

Elvis's first Sun single paired 'That's All Right' with which bluegrass tune on the B-side?

Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips played 'That's All Right' on air three days after it was cut, and the phones lit up.

About how many Americans watched the Beatles' first live US TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964?

73 million viewers tuned in, and the broadcast amplified the media frenzy already building around the band.

Motown's founder borrowed how much from a family savings fund to launch his first label?

$800 borrowed from the family got Gordy started, and that year he turned a Detroit photography studio into his recording studio, with his family living upstairs.

Which Motown group had the most 1960s US number ones of any American vocal group?

The Supremes scored twelve number ones, and in 1967 Motown renamed them Diana Ross & the Supremes, putting its lead singer's name first.

Where did Bob Dylan famously go electric in July 1965?

At the Newport Folk Festival, members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band backed him, and some in the crowd booed.

Woodstock in August 1969 was held on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in which New York town?

Bethel got the festival just a month before it began, after the town of Wallkill passed a law that blocked it.

Who closed Woodstock, taking the stage early on Monday morning after rain delays?

Jimi Hendrix went on so late that most of the crowd had already left, leaving only a small fraction of the festival's peak audience.

Brian Wilson made which 1966 Beach Boys album with session musicians while the rest of the band was on tour?

Pet Sounds sold disappointingly at first compared with earlier Beach Boys albums, though critics came to hail it as a masterpiece.

Brian Jones named the Rolling Stones on the spot after spotting an LP by which bluesman?

Muddy Waters' LP was lying on the floor when the band needed a name fast, and Brian Jones picked its track 'Rollin' Stone'.

Aretha Franklin's 1967 signature hit 'Respect' was first released in 1965 by which singer?

Otis Redding released it first, but Franklin flipped its lyrics to a woman's point of view.

The BBC banned which Sgt Pepper track from broadcast over a supposed drug reference?

A Day in the Life drew on newspaper stories, including, by its lead writer's account, the death of Guinness heir Tara Browne.

Which band took a jangly electric cover of Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' to number one in 1965?

The Byrds' Roger McGuinn was the only member to play an instrument on it, as session musicians stood in for a band not yet trusted in the studio.

Under what name did teenagers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel first record in the late 1950s?

Tom & Jerry's single 'Hey Schoolgirl' landed the teenagers a spot on American Bandstand.

The Doors took their name from a book by which writer?

Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, his account of taking mescaline, had itself borrowed its name from a William Blake line.

The Ed Sullivan Show never invited the Doors back after Jim Morrison did what on air in 1967?

Sang 'higher' anyway: the show saw a possible drug reference, and after the band agreed to change the line, Morrison sang it as written.

Which 1967 California festival featured sets by the Who and Ravi Shankar?

Monterey Pop was co-organized by a member of the Mamas & the Papas, who wrote 'San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)' to promote it.

The Beatles' final live performance, on 30 January 1969, took place where?

The Apple Corps rooftop set ended after police arrived over the noise, and the group signed off hoping they'd 'passed the audition'.

Which Beach Boys single did Brian Wilson assemble from separately recorded sections?

Good Vibrations grew from his mother's talk of dogs sensing 'vibrations' from people.

Robert Stigwood reportedly had the Bee Gees keep which Saturday Night Fever ballad instead of giving it to Yvonne Elliman?

How Deep Is Your Love stayed with the Bee Gees, so Elliman sang 'If I Can't Have You' on the soundtrack instead.

ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with which song?

Waterloo gave ABBA a huge career boost, starting the group's path to worldwide fame after the contest.

Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' video spared them miming on which BBC show?

Top of the Pops kept airing the promo while the band toured, and the clip is credited with pushing music videos forward as a marketing tool.

Which 1973 Pink Floyd album has spent more than 900 weeks on the Billboard 200?

The Dark Side of the Moon features session singer Clare Torry, who improvised her wordless vocal on 'The Great Gig in the Sky' and later sued for royalties.

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977) won which Grammy at the 1978 ceremony?

Album of the Year went to a record made while band members were breaking up with one another, turmoil that shaped its lyrics.

Which TV host's live December 1976 interview with the Sex Pistols ended in a stream of swearing?

Bill Grundy's interview made national headlines, and EMI dropped the band about a month later.

The Ramones all took the surname Ramone in tribute to a stage name once used by which musician?

McCartney had called himself Paul Ramon in the Silver Beetles days; the four Ramones, formed in Forest Hills in 1974, were not related.

At which London venue did David Bowie retire his Ziggy Stardust persona on stage in July 1973?

Hammersmith Odeon's crowd heard Bowie call it the last show, a surprise even to most of his own band.

Which real LA landmark did Don Henley call the Eagles' focal point when he wrote 'Hotel California'?

The Beverly Hills Hotel shaped the song, and Henley insisted on releasing it as a single though it ran far longer than radio hits.

Disco Demolition Night in July 1979 forced which baseball team to forfeit a game?

The Chicago White Sox had to forfeit after DJ Steve Dahl blew up a crate of disco records between games and fans left the field unplayable.

Village People were assembled by Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, producers from which country?

The group was originally aimed at disco's large gay audience before 'Y.M.C.A.' and 'In the Navy' took it mainstream.

In October 1975, Bruce Springsteen appeared simultaneously on the covers of which two magazines?

Time and Newsweek covers in the same week built so much hype that it drew skepticism and a media backlash.

Don McLean says he learned of Buddy Holly's death while doing what, as 'American Pie' recalls?

Delivering newspapers at 13, McLean saw the crash story in his bundle, and the song later ran so long its single was split across two sides.

Which 1971 Carole King album stayed on the Billboard album chart for about six years?

Tapestry: James Taylor had encouraged King, who had been reluctant to perform live, to sing her own songs.

In which city did Donna Summer meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte as a backing singer?

Munich: she had first moved to Europe to perform in a production of the musical Hair.

Stevie Wonder wrote 'Superstition' for which guitarist, but released his own hit version first?

Jeff Beck had joined the Talking Book sessions in exchange for a song, but Wonder's version came out first and reached number one.

What did Led Zeppelin officially call their fourth album, released in November 1971?

No title: the band left even their name off the sleeve and used four symbols instead.

Elton John met lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967 after both answered an advert placed by which record label?

Liberty Records rejected their early demo, but Dick James signed the pair as staff songwriters for his DJM label.

Where was Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees born?

The Isle of Man was his birthplace, but the brothers first found fame after the family emigrated to Australia.

Which 1973 Elvis Presley concert special was broadcast live by satellite?

Aloha from Hawaii was staged as a benefit, with the money going to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

Who first recorded 'The Twist' before Chubby Checker's cover made it a craze?

Hank Ballard thought 'The Twist' was the hit side, but King Records preferred 'Teardrops on Your Letter' and made his song the B-side.

Which 1968 single became the first posthumous number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

The Dock of the Bay topped the chart even though Stax chief Jim Stewart had doubts about the song.

Which country singer, an early crossover star, was killed in the March 1963 Camden plane crash?

Patsy Cline had recorded 'Crazy' after surviving a 1961 car crash, and it became one of her biggest hits.

Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' was co-written by Obie Benson, a member of which Motown group?

The Four Tops' Obie Benson co-wrote it, but Motown's founder opposed Gaye's protest-minded record before it became a hit.

Which Simon & Garfunkel hit has Art Garfunkel singing lead alone?

Bridge over Troubled Water got its extra final verse after Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee urged Simon to make it bigger.

The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' was written in 1968 to comfort which child?

Julian Lennon was the child: the song began as 'Hey Jules', written to comfort him as his parents separated.