September 1961: Stax Records

Satellite Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, changes its name to Stax Records, the word "Stax" combining the first two letters of the last names of company owners Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. The first single released on the soul label was the Mar-Keys' "The Morning After," a follow-up to their earlier Satellite hit, "Last Night."

Note: I couldn't pinpoint the exact date of the name change. The earliest mention I could find is in the September 11 issue of Billboard magazine.

* Short history (from www.bluescentric.com): @

* Timeline (from www.staxmuseum.com): @

* "Birth of Stax": (by Robert Gordon): @

* Jim Stewart biography and timeline (from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @ and @

* "Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records" (book by Rob Bowman): @

* Lesson plan for teachers (from www.pbs.org; includes links to artists' websites): @

* Listen to "Morning After": @

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Monday, July 17, 1961: Easy Listening music

Billboard magazine begins ranking "Easy Listening" songs -- essentially, songs from the magazine's Top 100 without a real rock 'n' roll sound; Billboard would later describe them as "not too far out in either direction." (Up until then, such songs had been listed in an "Easy Listening" category under "Programming Guide.") The chart would undergo several name changes -- Middle-Road Singles, Pop-Standard Singles -- before being called Adult Contemporary in 1979.

* "The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Songs Ever" (from billboard.com): @

* "The Top 50 Adult Contemporary Artists Ever" (from billboard.com): @

* Listen to "The Boll Weevil Song" (by Brook Benton; the first song to be ranked #1): @

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Saturday, June 10, 1961: Preservation Hall

Old-time jazz gets a permanent, popular home in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Preservation Hall opens to the public, in a nondescript building that dates back to the mid-1700s. There are few amenities and no admission charge; the audience is just asked to contribute.

* Founding and early history (from "New Orleans on Parade: Tourism and the Transformation of the Crescent City," book by Jonathan Mark Souther): @

* Short documentary: @

* Footage from "David Brinkley's Journal" on NBC: @

* Associated Press story (August 1961): @

* "Preservation Hall" (book by William Carter): @

* Official website: @

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Saturday, April 29, 1961: Luciano Pavarotti

The opera tenor makes his debut, portraying Rodolfo in "La Bohème" at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

* Listen to part of debut: @

* Short biography and sound clips (from historyofthetenor.com): @

* Official Pavarotti website: @

* pavarottiforever.com (Decca Records website): @

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Sunday, April 23, 1961: 'Judy at Carnegie Hall'

Singer-actress Judy Garland performs live at New York's Carnegie Hall. Her performance is recorded on a double album, which reaches No. 1 on the charts and would win five Grammy Awards. For a time, the show put to rest any concerns about her ongoing health and substance-abuse problems. The crowd was adoring; The New York Times wrote: "Indeed, what actually was to have been a concert -- and was -- also turned into something not too remote from a revival meeting."

* More information and track listings (from thejudyroom.com): @

* Listen to "Stormy Weather": @

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Wednesday, April 5, 1961: Barbra Streisand

The 18-year-old singer from Brooklyn makes her national television debut on "The Jack Paar Show" (guest-hosted that night by Orson Bean). She sings two songs: "A Sleepin' Bee" and "When the Sun Comes Out."

* More about appearance: @

* Footage from show: @

* Official Streisand website: @

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Undated: 'Ring Around The Rosie'

James Leasor's 1961 book "The Plague and the Fire" helps popularize the belief that the children's rhyme is a reference to The Great Plague of 1665-1666 that swept through England (or, by extension, The Black Death of the mid-1300s that devastated Europe). From the book:

Ring a-ring a-roses

A pocketful of poesies,

'Tishoo, 'tishoo,

We all fall down!

Few people watching a group of children dancing hand-in-hand in a circle to this well-known nursery rhyme may realize that it has origin in the plague. Roses refer to the rosy rash of plague, ringed to signify the tokens; the poesies were herbs and spices carried to sweeten the air; sneezing was a common symptom of those close to death. The words "we all fall down" certainly referred to Londoners during that stifling August.

The rhyme, in various versions, dates back to at least the 1700s; it appears in the 1881 book "Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes" (pictured above).

* "The Plague and the Fire": @

* Article debunking the connection (from snopes.com): @

* "Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes" (from Project Gutenberg): @

* Summary of The Great Plague (from Harvard University Library): @

* Summary of The Black Death (from Dr. E.L. Skip Knox, Boise State University): @

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March 1961: 'My Favorite Things'

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane takes "The Sound of Music" show tune in a different and memorable direction. The song appeared on the album also called "My Favorite Things," recorded in just 3 days in October 1960 and released in March 1961. The original piece came in at nearly 14 minutes; a shorter version was released as both sides of a 45 record. Billboard magazine described it this way: "Strong wax for modern jazz cats."

* Listen to song: @

* Summary of the making of the album: @

* Listen to "My Favorite Things at 50" (radio documentary): @

* Thesis and musical analysis: @

* "John Coltrane: His Life and Music" (book): @

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Thursday, February 9, 1961: The Beatles at The Cavern Club

The band plays a lunchtime gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club, the first of nearly 300 appearances there through August 1963.

* Summary (from thebeatlesbible.com): @

* Summary (from the book "Beatles-Discography.com"): @

* Account from a club regular: @

* About the club (from cavernclub.org): @

* 1961 appearances and photos (from beatlesource.com): @

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Saturday, January 28, 1961: Louis Armstrong in Egypt

With his wife, Lucille, listening, jazz great Louis Armstrong plays the trumpet near the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. (Click on photo for a closer look.) Armstrong was on a tour of the Middle East and Africa, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, which sent a series of "jazz ambassadors" abroad to showcase America's image and to forge better relations with Eastern European and developing countries.

* "Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World" (traveling exhibit): @

* "Jam Session" story and photos (from NPR): @

* Story and photos (from New York Times): @

* Story and video (from Voice of America): @

* "Satchmo Blows Up the World" (book by Penny M. Von Eschen): @

* "Jazz Diplomacy" (book by Lisa E. Davenport): @

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Friday, January 27, 1961: 'Sing Along With Mitch'

Hosted by longtime music producer and executive Mitch Miller, "Sing Along With Mitch" premieres on NBC. Viewers are invited to join in on the songs, as lyrics appear on the bottom of the TV screen. (As for the fabled "bouncing ball" that appeared above the lyrics, Miller says in the interview linked below that his show never used one, and I can't find any footage that has it.)

* Watch an episode (in four parts): @ and @ and @ and @

* Show summary: @

* Miller biography: @

* New York Times obituary (Miller died on July 31, 2010): @

* 2004 interview with Miller: @

* "Television: Mail-Order Melody" (Time magazine, March 3, 1961): @

* Miller and his No. 1 hit, "The Yellow Rose of Texas": @

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Tuesday, January 24, 1961: Bob Dylan

According to most accounts, a folk singer from Minnesota named Robert Allen Zimmerman, performing under the name Bob Dylan, arrives in New York on this date and within hours takes the stage on hootenanny night at Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. The photo shows Dylan, Karen Dalton and Fred Neil at Cafe Wha? in February 1961. A few days later, Dylan visits Woody Guthrie, his musical idol.

* Account from Rolling Stone magazine: @

* Account from "Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited" (book by Clinton Heylin): @

* "The Other Side of Greenwich Village '60s Folk Scene" (from fredneil.com): @

* Dylan meets Guthrie, from "Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan" (book by Howard Sounes): @

* Words to "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie," a Dylan poem: @

* Listen to "Last Thoughts": @

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Sunday, January 15, 1961: The Supremes

The newly formed Motown Records (see entry of April 14, 1960) signs the female singing group The Primettes to a recording contract. But it comes with a condition: the singers have to change their name, which they do, to The Supremes. The group consisted of, clockwise from left, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, Diane Ross (as she was called then) and Barbara Martin (who would leave the group in 1962). Their first single, "I Want A Guy" / "Never Again," would be released on March 9.

* Listen to "I Want A Guy": @

* Listen to "Never Again": @

* Short biography (from allmusic.com): @

* "The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal" (book by Mark Ribowsky): @

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Tuesday, December 27, 1960: The Beatles in Litherland

In what is now considered a milestone moment for the band, the Beatles play at Litherland Town Hall in north Liverpool, England. The group (except for Stuart Sutcliffe) had recently returned from Hamburg, Germany. Chas Newby played bass on this night. Why a milestone moment? They were a much better band after their Hamburg stint, and accounts from that night indicate a rapidly growing excitement about their sound and performances.

* Summary from www.beatlesbible.com: @

* From "The Beatles" (book by Hunter Davies): @

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Saturday, December 3, 1960: 'Camelot'

The musical opens on Broadway, with Richard Burton as King Arthur, Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere and Robert Goulet as Sir Lancelot. This telling of the Arthurian legend was adapted from T.H. White's book "The Once and Future King." The original cast album was a huge success as well; its most memorable song was "If Ever I Would Leave You," sung by Goulet.

* Show summary: @

* Lyrics: @

* Entry from "The Oxford Companion to the American Musical": @

* Listen to "If Ever I Would Leave You": @

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Saturday, December 3, 1960: 'Goodness Gracious Me!'

The comedy duet by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren peaks at No. 4 on the British popular music charts. It was recorded for the movie "The Millionairess," but was not used. The song was produced by George Martin, who in two years' time would begin producing The Beatles' records.

* Listen to the song: @

* Singles chart for December 3: @

* Summary of "The Millionairess: @

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Monday, November 7, 1960*: 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow'

Released on the Scepter label, the song would enter the Billboard music charts on November 21 at No. 87. Originally titled simply "Tomorrow," it would be the first number one hit for songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King (in January 1961) and the first number one hit by a "girl group" (the Shirelles).

* I can't quite pin down whether the song was released November 7 or November 14.

* 1964 performance: @

* More about the song: @ and @

* More about Goffin-King: @ and @

* More about the Shirelles: @

* More about girl groups: @

* More about Scepter Records: @

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Undated: 'We Insist! Freedom Now Suite'

The powerful song cycle by jazz drummer and composer Max Roach centers on racial injustices throughout black history. The songs -- with Abbey Lincoln singing lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr. -- were recorded in August and September. The cover photo echoes the ongoing sit-ins of the civil rights movement (See posts of February 1, July 25 and August 27); its staged image of a white man serving three blacks was meant to be as provocative as the music within.

* The album and its political impact: @ and @ and @ and @ and @

* Performances from the album: @

* More about Max Roach: @ and @

* Roach discography: @

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Undated: Surf rock

With its catchy, signature sound of jangling, reverb-heavy electric guitars, surf rock starts to take its place on radio stations and singles charts. Early surf rock songs were usually instrumentals.

There's no consensus on the very first surf rock song, but typically on the short list are Duane Eddy's "Movin' 'N' Groovin' " (1958), The Ventures' "Walk, Don't Run" (1960), Dick Dale's "Let's Go Trippin' " (1961) and The Belairs' "Mr. Moto" (1961).

The genre's first big hit was "Walk, Don't Run," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts for the week ending August 29, 1960 (sandwiched between Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" and Chubby Checker's "The Twist").

* Surf rock primer: @ and @

* Top 100 surf rock songs: @

* www.surfmusic.com: @

* surfguitar101.com: @

* Listen to "Walk, Don't Run": @

* More about "Walk, Don't Run": @ and @

* Listen to "Movin' 'N' Groovin' ": @

* Listen to "Let's Go Trippin' ": @

* Listen to "Mr. Moto": @

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Undated: Herman Leonard

Photos taken in 1960 by the renowned photographer of jazz greats. Click on them for a larger view. (From left: Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.)

* Herman Leonard website: @

* Selections of photos: @ and @

* Articles: @ and @

* Obituaries (Leonard died in August 2010): @ and @

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