1959 in music

For people who check facts

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Albums released
3 Top hits on record
4 Published popular music
5 Classical music
6 Opera
7 Musical theater
8 Musical films
9 Births
10 Deaths
11 Awards

11.1 Grammy Awards
11.2 Eurovision Song Contest

Events

January 22 - Buddy Holly records some acoustic demos in his New York City apartment. These songs would be the last songs recorded by Holly. Songs included "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," "Learning the Game," "What to Do," "That's What They Say" and "That Makes it Tough."
February 3 - News of the February 2 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper becomes widely known. This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died". Future country star Waylon Jennings was scheduled to be on the plane, but instead gave his seat up to the Big Bopper.
February 7 - New Orleans blues and R&B guitarist Eddie Guitar Slim Jones dies of pneumonia in New York City
April 3 - The BBC bans the Coasters song "Charlie Brown" because of the word "spitball."
April - The BBC reverses its earlier April 3 decision, and adds the Coasters song "Charlie Brown" to their playlist.
April 24 - The Your Hit Parade television series airs its last episode
May 12 - Eddie Fisher marries Elizabeth Taylor
October 7 - Legendary tenor Mario Lanza dies
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences sponsors the first Grammy Award ceremony for music recorded in 1958.
Berry Gordy, Jr founds Motown records.
James Brown's musical career begins
Carole King's musical career begins
Roy Orbison signs with Monument Records

Albums released

All That Jazz - The Hi-Lo's

Ballad Of The Blues - Jo Stafford
Barbershop Harmony - The Mills Brothers
Breezin' Along - The Four Lads
The Broadway Kick - Frank Sinatra
Broadway Playbill - The Hi-Lo's
Connie's Greatest Hits - Connie Francis
Cuttin' Capers - Doris Day
Day By Night - Doris Day
Dinah, Yes Indeed - Dinah Shore
from the Hungry i - The Kingston Trio
Gogi Grant - If You Want To Get To Heaven, Shout - Gogi Grant
Gogi Grant - Torch Time - Gogi Grant
Guy Mitchell's Greatest Hits - Guy Mitchell
Heavenly Lover - Teresa Brewer
I Hear The Word - Kay Starr
I'll Be Seeing You - Jo Stafford
In A Little Spanish Town - Bing Crosby
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
The Kingston Trio At Large - The Kingston Trio
Look To Your Heart - Frank Sinatra
Movin' - Kay Starr
No One Cares - Frank Sinatra
On The Trail - Johnnie Ray
Pat Boone Sings - Pat Boone
Reunion In Rhythm - Frankie Laine and Michel LeGrand
San Antonio Rose - The Mills Brothers
Sincerely Yours - Guy Mitchell
A Sinner Am I - Johnnie Ray
Swing Along - The Four Lads
Tenderly - Pat Boone
Teresa Brewer And The Dixieland Band - Teresa Brewer
The West Side - Patti Page
When Your Love Has Gone - Teresa Brewer
White Christmas - Pat Boone
Words And Music - The Ames Brothers
You Are My Love - Frankie Laine

Top hits on record

"All For The Love Of A Girl" - Johnny Horton
"Among My Souvenirs" - Connie Francis
"Apron Strings" - Cliff Richard
"The Battle Of New Orleans" - Johnny Horton
"Beyond The Sea" - Bobby Darin
"The Big Hurt" - Toni Fisher
"Crying, Waiting, Hoping" - Buddy Holly
"Dream Lover" - Bobby Darin
"El Paso" - Marty Robbins
"Forty Miles Of Bad Road" - Duane Eddy
"Heartaches By The Number" - Guy Mitchell
"High Hopes" - Frank Sinatra
"I Kissed You" - The Everly Brothers
"I'm Blue Again" - Patsy Cline
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" - Buddy Holly
"It's Just A Matter Of Time" - Brook Benton
"It's Only The Good Times" - Tommy Edwards
"Kansas City" - Wilbur Harrison
"Kissin' Time" - Bobby Rydell
"La Bamba" - Ritchie Valens
"Lipstick On Your Collar" - Connie Francis
"Lonely Boy" - Paul Anka
"Lonesome Town" - Ricky Nelson
"Love Potion Number Nine" - The Clovers
"M.T.A" - The Kingston Trio
"Mack The Knife" - Bobby Darin
"Misty" - Johnny Mathis
"Non Dimenticar" - Nat King Cole
"Peggy Sue Got Married" - Buddy Holly
"Personality" - Lloyd Price
"Pillow Talk" - Doris Day
"Poison Ivy" - The Coasters
"Poor Jenny" - The Everly Brothers
"Raining In My Heart" - Buddy Holly
"Roberta" - Frankie Ford
"Rockin' Mother" - Frankie Laine
"Rocks And Gravel" - Frankie Laine
"Running Bear" - Johnny Preston
"Sea Cruise" - Frankie Ford
"Sleepwalk" - Santo & Johnny
"Small World" - Johnny Mathis
"Stagger Lee" - Lloyd Price
"Sweet Nothin's" - Brenda Lee
"Tall Oak Tree" - Dorsey Burnette
"Teen Angel" - Mark Dinning
"A Teenager In Love" - Dion & the Belmonts
"Till There Was You" - Anita Bryant
"The Twist" - Hank Ballard
"Venus" - Frankie Avalon
"What A Difference A Day Makes" - Dinah Washington
"What'd I Say" - Ray Charles
"Where the Boys Are" - Connie Francis
"Why" - Frankie Avalon
"A Worried Man" - The Kingston Trio

Published popular music

" 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty" w.m. Fredda Gold & Aaron Schroeder

"77 Sunset Strip" w.m. Mack David & Jerry Livingston
"All I Need Is The Girl" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne from the musical Gypsy
"Along Came Jones" w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"All My Tomorrows" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jimmy Van Heusen, from the film A Hole in the Head
"Alvin's Harmonica" w.m. Ross Bagdasarian
"Angela Jones" w.m. John D. Loudermilk
"Anyone Would Love You" w.m. Harold Rome
"The Battle Of New Orleans" trad arr. Jimmy Driftwood
"The Best Is Yet to Come" w. Carolyn Leigh m. Cy Coleman
"Best Of Everything" w. Sammy Cahn m. Lionel Newman
"A Big Hunk o' Love" w. m. Aaron Schroeder & Sid Wyche
"The Big Hurt" w.m. Wayne Shanklin
"Big Iron" w.m. Marty Robbins
"Bobby Socks To Stockings" w.m. Richard di Cicco, Russell Faith & Clarence Kehner
"Boom, Boom Baby" Burgess
"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" w.m. Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield
"The Children's Marching Song" trad arr. Malcolm Arnold
"China Doll" w.m. Cindy Walker
"Ciao, Ciao, Bambina" w.(Eng) Mitchell Parish (Ital) Eduardo Verde & Domenico Modugno m. Domenico Modugno
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Come Softly To Me" w.m. Gary Troxel, Barbara Ellis & Gretchen Christopher
"Delaware" w.m. Irving Gordon
"Desafinado" w. Newton MendonÃÂ§a w. (Eng) Jon Hendricks & Jessie Cavanaugh m. Antonio Carlos Jobin
"Don't You Know" w.m. adapt. Bobby Worth
"Do-Re-Mi" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Dream Lover" w.m. Bobby Darin
"Early In The Morning" adapt Bruce Belland & Glen Larson
"Edelweiss" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"El Paso" w.m. Marty Robbins
"Endlessly" w.m. Clyde Otis & Brook Benton
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Frankie" w. Howard Greenfield m. Neil Sedaka
"Game Of Poker" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harold Arlen
"Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye" w.m. Jack Vaughn
"Greenfields" w.m. Terry Gilkyson, Rich Dehr & Frank Miller
"Greenwillow Christmas" w.m. Frank Loesser
"Handy Man" w.m. Otis Blackwell & Jimmy Jones
"The Hanging Tree" w. Mack David m. Jerry Livinston
"Happy Anniversary" w. Al Stillman m. Robert Allen
"The Happy Organ" w.m. Ken Wood, David Clowney & James Kreigsmann
"Heartaches By The Number" w.m. Harland Howard
"He'll Have To Go" w.m. Joe Allison & Audrey Allison
"High Hopes" w. Sammy Cahn m. James Van Heusen
"I Ain't Never" w.m. Mel Tillis
"I Feel Sorry For The Girl" w.m. Glenn Paxton, Robert Goldman & George Weiss
"I Know" w.m. Carl Stutz & Edith Lindeman
"I Need Your Love Tonight" w.m. Sid Wayne & Bix Reichner
"I Wanna Be Around" w.m. Johnny Mercer & Sadie Vimmerstedt
"If I Ever Fall In Love Again" w. Peter Wildeblood m. Peter Greenwell
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" Johnnie Ray
"I'm Gonna Get Married" w.m. Lloyd Price & Harold Logan
"I'm Looking Out The Window" John Jacob Niles, Don Raye
"I'm Never Gonna Tell" Hoffman, Manning, Markwell
"In A Little While" w. Marshall Barer m. Mary Rodgers
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" w.m. Paul Anka
"Kansas City" w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"Kookie, Kookie" w.m. Irving Taylor
"Let Me Entertain You" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Like Young" m. Andre Previn
"Lipstick On Your Collar" w. Eddie Lewis m. George Goehring
"Little Donkey" w.m. Eve Boswell
"The Little Drummer Boy" w.m. adapt. Henry Onorati, Katherine Davis & Harry Simeone
"Little Tin Box" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
"The Little White Bull" Lionel Bart, Michael Pratt, Jimmy Bennett
"Living Doll" w.m. Lionel Bart
"Lock Up Your Daughters" w. Lionel Bart m. Laurie Johnson
"Lonely Blue Boy" F & B Wiseman
"Lonely Boy" w.m. Paul Anka
"Lonely Goatherd" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Lonely Street" w.m. Carl Belew, Kenny Sowder & W. S. Stevenson
"Love Potion Number Nine" w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"Love Will Find Out The Way" w.m. Glenn Paxton, Robert Goldman & George Weiss
"Lullaby In Ragtime" w.m. Sylvia Fine
"The M.T.A." w.m. adapt. Jacqueline Steiner & Bess Hawes
"Maria" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Marina" w.(Eng) Ray Maxwell m. Rocco Granata
"The Mating Game" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse. Theme song from the film The Mating Game
"May You Always" w.m. Larry Markes & Dick Charles
"Memphis" w.m. Chuck Berry
"Merely Marvellous" w. Dorothy Fields m. Arthur Hague
"Milord" w. (Eng) B. G. Lewis (Fr) Joseph Mustacchi m. Marguerite Monnot
"Morgen" w. (Eng) Noel Sherman (Ger) Peter Mosser m. Peter Mosser
"Mr Blue" w.m. Dewayne Blackwell
"The Music Of Home" w.m. Frank Loesser
"My Favourite Things" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"My Heart Is An Open Book" w. Hal David m. Lee Pockriss
"My Wish Came True" w.m. Ivory Joe Hunter
"Never Will I Marry" w.m. Frank Loesser
"Oh! Carol" w. Howard Greenfield m. Neil Sedaka
"Only Love Me" w. (Eng) Mann Curtis (Ital) Pinchi m. V. Panzuti
"Only Sixteen" w.m. Barbara Campbell
"Personality" w.m. Lloyd Price & Harold Logan
"Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" w.m. Harlan Howard
"Pillow Talk" w.m. Buddy Pepper & Inez James
"La Plume De Ma Tante" w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
"Poison Ivy" w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"Politics And Poker" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
"Promise Me A Rose" w.m. Bob Merrill
"Put Your Head On My Shoulder" w.m. Paul Anka
"Quiet Village" m. Les Baxter
"Rawhide" w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
"Red River Rock" trad arr. Tom King, Ira Mack & Fred Mendelsohn
"Ring-A-Ling-A-Lario" w.m. Gerry Grant, Arthur Kent & Joe Reisman
"Rose's Turn" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Roulette" m. Trevor H. Stanford
"Running Bear" w.m. J. P. Richardson
"The Same Old Me" F. Owen
"Sea Of Love" w.m. George Khoury & Phil Baptiste
"See You In September" w. Sid Wayne m. Sherman Edwards
"Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat" w. Bob Hilliard m. Lee Pockriss
"Shout" O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley
"Shy" w. Marshall Barer m. Mary Rodgers
"Side Saddle" m. Trevor H. Stanford
"Sixteen Going On Seventeen" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Sleep Walk" m. Ann Farina, Johnny Farina & Santo Farina
"Small World" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Some People" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Sorry, I Ran All The Way Home" w.m. Harry Giosasi & Artie Zwirn
"The Sound Of Music" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
"Strange Are The Ways Of Love" w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
"Summertime Love" w.m. Frank Loesser
"Sweet Nothin's" Ronnie Self
"Take Me Along" w.m. Bob Merrill
"Tall Paul" w.m. Bob Roberts, Robert Sherman & Richard Sherman
"Tallahassee Lassie" w.m. Frank C. Slay Jr, Bob Crewe & Frederick A. Picariello
"Teen Angel" w.m. Jean Surrey & Red Surrey
"A Teenager In Love" w.m. Jerome "Doc" Pomus & Mort Shuman
"There Goes My Baby" w.m. Benjamin Nelson, Lover Patterson, George Treadwell, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
"This Magic Moment" w.m. Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman
"Three Steps To Heaven" Cochran
"The Tijuana Jail" w.m. Denny Thompson
" 'Til I Kissed You" w.m. Don Everly
"Till Tomorrow" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
"Time And The River" w.m. Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold
"Together Wherever We Go" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"Tomboy" w.m. Joe Farrell & Jim Conway
"Too Long At The Fair" w.m. Billy Barnes
"Tucumcari" Olofson, McIntyre
"The Untouchables" m. Nelson Riddle
"Venus" w.m. Ed Marshall
"Waterloo" w.m. John D. Loudermilk & Marijohn Wilkin
"We Got Love" w. Kal Mann m. Bernie Lowe
"What Do You Want?" Les Vandyke
"What'd I Say" w.m. Ray Charles
"When Did I Fall In Love?" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock
"Why" w. Bob Marcucci m. Peter De Angelis
"The Wonder Of You" w.m. Baker Knight
"Wonderful You" Stallman, Jacobson
"A Worried Man" w.m. Dave Guard & Tom Glazer
"You'll Never Get Away From Me" w. Stephen Sondheim m. Jule Styne
"You're Starting To Get To Me" Sammy Cahn, James Van Heusen

Classical music

Giacinto Scelsi - Quattro Pezzi Su Una Nota Sola ["Four pieces each on a single note"]
Pierre Schaeffer - Etudes aux Objets
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gruppen

Opera

Francis Poulenc - La voix humaine

Musical theater

Destry Rides Again Broadway production
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be Stratford production
Fiorello Broadway production
Broadway production
Lend An Ear Broadway revival
Little Mary Sunshine Broadway production
Lock Up Your Daughters London production
On The Town Broadway revival
The Sound Of Music Broadway production

Musical films

Expresso Bongo

The Five Pennies

Li'l Abner
Porgy And Bess

Births

January 6 - Kathy Sledge, Sister Sledge
January 7 - Kathy Valentine, The Go Go's
January 8 - Paul Hester, Crowded House
January 10 - Curt Kirkwood, Meat Puppets
January 12 - Per Gessle, Roxette
January 14 - Cas Smith, Madness
January 14 - Geoff Tate, QueensrÃÂ¿che
January 28 - Dave Sharp, The Alarm
January 29 - Johnny Spampinato, NRBQ
January 30 - Jody Watley
February 3 - Lol Tolhurst, The Cure
February 7 - Brian Travers, UB40
February 14 - Ice-T
February 15 - Ali Campbell, UB40
February 25 - Mike Peters, The Alarm
March 16 - Flavor Flav, Public Enemy
March 27 - Andrew Farriss, INXS
March 29 - Perry Farrell, Jane's Addiction
March 31 - Angus Young, AC/DC
April 10 - Brian Setzer, The Stray Cats
April 10 - Babyface
April 21 - Michael Timmins, Cowboy Junkies
April 21 - Robert Smith, The Cure
April 27 - Sheena Easton
May 3 - David Ball, Soft Cell
May 4 - Randy Travis, country singer
May 5 - Ian McCulloch Echo & The Bunnymen
June 1 - Alan Wilder, Depeche Mode
June 12 - John Linnell, They Might Be Giants
June 19 - Mark DeBarge, DeBarge
June 22 - Alan Anton, Cowboy Junkies
June 24 - Andy McCluskey, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark
July 3 - Stephen Pearcy, Ratt
July 5 - Marc Cohn
July 9 - Marc Almond, Soft Cell
July 11 - Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi
July 11 - Suzanne Vega, American singer
August 1 - Joe Elliott, Def Leppard
August 9 - Kurtis Blow
September 14 - Morten Harket, a-ha
September 23 - Lita Ford
October 4 - Chris Lowe, Pet Shop Boys
October 13 - Marie Osmond
October 16 - Gary Kemp, Spandau Ballet
October 23 - Weird Al Yankovic
November 1 - Eddie MacDonald, The Alarm
November 5 - Bryan Adams
November 27 - Charlie Burchill, Simple Minds
November 29 - Steve Hindalong, The Choir, record producer
December 4 - Bob Griffin, The BoDeans

Deaths

February 2 - rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, in a plane crash outside Mason City, Iowa. The news isn't widely known until the next day - The Day The Music Died.
February 7 - Eddie Guitar Slim Jones, blues guitarist
February 14 - Baby Dodds, jazz musician
May 14 - Sidney Bechet, jazz musician
June 9 - Sonnie Hale, English actor and singer
July 15 - Billie Holiday, jazz and blues singer.
August 15 - Blind Willie McTell, blues singer.
August 16 - Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
August 28 - Bohuslav Martinu, composer
September 17 - Omer Simeon, jazz musician
November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, composer.