1954 in music (original) (raw)

Events

July 5 - Elvis Presley has his first commercial recording session. He sang That's All Right (Mama) and Blue Moon of Kentucky.
Record companies deliver 7 inch 45 rpm record singles to radio stations instead of 78s
Les Paul commissions Ampex to build the first eight track tape recorder, at his own expense.
The Drifters form
The Everly Brothers form
The Isley Brothers form
Carl Perkins' musical career begins
Pat Boone's musical careers begin
May 10 - Bill Haley and his Comets' Rock Around the Clock released

Albums released

Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy - Louis Armstrong
Songs For Young Lovers - Frank Sinatra
Swing Easy - Frank Sinatra

Top hits on record

"Sh-Boom" - Crew-Cuts
"Mr. Sandman" - Chordettes
"Three Coins In The Fountain" - Four Aces
"That's All Right" - Elvis Presley
"Work With Me Annie" - Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
"Shake Rattle And Roll" - Joe Turner
"Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight" - Spaniels
"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" - Muddy Waters
"Sincerely" - McGuire Sisters
"The Things That I Used To Do" - Guitar Slim
"Hearts Of Stone" - Fontane Sisters, Jewels
"Oh! My Pa-Pa" - Eddie Fisher
"Secret Love" - Doris Day
"Make Love to Me" - Jo Stafford

Published popular music

"All Of You" w.m. Cole Porter
"Annie Had A Baby" w.m. Henry Glover & Lois Mann
"Bless Your Beautiful Hide" w. Johnny Mercer m. Gene De Paul
"A Blossom Fell" w.m. Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius & Dominic John
"Cara Mia" w.m. Tulio Trapani & Lee Lange
"Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" w. (Eng) Mack David (Fr) Jacques Larue m. Louiguy
"Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep)" w.m. Irving Berlin
"Cross Over The Bridge" w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
"Dim, Dim The Lights" w.m. Beverly Ross & Julius Dixon
"Earth Angel" w.m. Jesse Belvin, Curtis Williams & Gaynel Hodge
"The Finger Of Suspicion Points At You" w.m. Paul Mann & Al Lewis
"Friends And Neighbours" Marvin Scott & Malcom Lockyear
"From The Vine Came The Grape" w.m. Leonard Whitcup & Paul Cunningham
"Gilly, Gilly, Ossenfeffer, Katzenellen Bogen By The Sea" w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
"Goin' Co'tin' " w. Johnny Mercer m. Gene De Paul
"Hearts Of Stone" w. Eddy Ray m. Rudy Jackson
"Hernando's Hideaway" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
"He's A Tramp" Sonny Burke, Peggy Lee
"Hey There" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
"The High And The Mighty" w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
"Honeycomb" w.m. Bob Merrill
"I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango" Al Hoffman, Dick Manning
"I Could Be Happy With You" w.m. Sandy Wilson
"I Don't Hurt Anymore" w. Jack Rollins m. Don Robertson
"I Got A Woman" w.m. Ray Charles & Renald Richard
"I Left My Heart In San Francisco" w. Douglas Cross m. George Cory
"If I Give My Heart To You" w.m. Jimmy Brewster, Jimmie Crane & Al Jacobs
"I'll Walk With God" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Nicholas Brodszky
"I'm Gonna File My Claim" Ken Darby, Lionel Newman
"I'm Not At All In Love" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
"In Other Words" (aka "Fly Me To The Moon") w.m. Bart Howard
"It's A Woman's World" w. Sammy Cahn m. Sammy Cahn & Cyril Mockridge
"It's Never Too Late To Fall In Love" w.m. Sandy Wilson
"I've Got A Woman" w.m. Ray Charles & Renald Richard
"Let Me Go, Lover!" w.m. Jenny Lou Carson & Al Hill
"The Little Shoemaker" w.(Eng) John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons (Fr) Avril Lamarque m. Rudi Revil
"Lost In Loveliness" w. Leo Robin m. Sigmund Romberg
"Make Yourself Comfortable" w.m. Bob Merrill
"Mambo Italiano" w.m. Bob Merrill
"Marilyn Monroe Mambo" Perez Prado
"Mister Sandman" w.m. Pat Ballard
"Misty" w. Johnny Burke m. Erroll Garner
"My Own True Love" w. Mack David m. Max Steiner Music is "Tara's Theme" 1939.
"My Son, My Son" w. Bob Howard m. Melville Farley & Eddie Calvert
"The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane" w.m. Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
"Oh, Look At Me, I'm Dancing" w. Dorothy Reynolds m. Julian Slade
"Only You" w.m. Buck Ram & Ande Rand
"Open Up Your Heart (And Let The Sunshine In)" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
"Papa Loves Mambo" w.m. Al Hoffman, Dick Manning & Bix Reichner
"Pledging My Love" w.m. Ferdinand Washington & Don Robey
"The Poor People Of Paris" w.(Eng) Jack Lawrence (Fr) Rene Rouzaud m. Marguerite Monnot "La Goulante du Pauvre Jean"
"Release Me" w.m. Eddie Miller & W. S. Stevenson
"River Of No Return" Lionel Newman, Ken Darby
"Shake, Rattle And Roll" w.m. Charles Calhoun
"Sh-Boom" w.m. James Keyes, Claude & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae & James Edwards
"Sincerely" w.m. Harvey Fuqua & Alan Freed
"Sisters" w.m. Irving Berlin
"Skokiaan" w. Tom Glazer m. August Msarurgwa
"Smile" w. John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons m. Charles Chaplin
"Sobbin' Women" w. Johnny Mercer m. Gene De Paul
"Steam Heat" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
"There Once Was A Man" w. m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
"This Ole House" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
"Three Coins In The Fountain" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne
"Tweedle Dee" w.m. Winfield Scott
"We Said We Wouldn't Look Back" w. Dorothy Reynolds m. Julian Slade
"Wonderful, Wonderful Day" w. Johnny Mercer m. Gene De Paul
"Work With Me, Annie" w.m. Hank Ballard
"Young And Foolish" w. Arnold B. Horwitt m. Albert Hague

Musical theater

The Pajama Game Broadway production

Musical films

There's No Business Like Show Business

Musical television

Lady In The Dark

Births

January 25 - Richard Finch, K.C. and the Sunshine Band
February 1 - Mike Campbell, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
February 18 - John Travolta, Saturday Night Feaver
February 20 - Jon Brant, Cheap Trick
March 27 - Wally Stocker, The Babys
March 28 - Reba McEntire
March 31 - Tony Brock, The Babys
April 5 - Peter Case
April 13 - Jimmy Destri, Blondie
April 17 - Michael Sembello
May 1 - Ray Parker, Jr
May 20 - Jimmie Henderson, Black Oak Arkansas
June 3 - Dan Hill
June 5 - Nicko McBrain, Iron Maiden
June 8 - Greg Ginn, punk guitarist and member of Black Flag
June 13 - Robert Donaldson, Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
June 15 - Terri Gibbs
August 11 - Joe Jackson, British singer
August 17 - Eric Johnson
August 25 - Elvis Costello
September 14 - Barry Cowsill
October 3 - Stevie Ray Vaughan
October 9 - James Fearnley, The Pogues
October 12 - Michael Roe, guitarist, lead singer of The 77s
October 21 - Eric Faulkner, Bay City Rollers
November 4 - Chris Difford, Squeeze
November 9 - Dennis Stratton, Iron Maiden
November 10 - Mario Cipollina, Huey Lewis & The News
November 23 - Bruce Hornsby
December 11 - Jermaine Jackson, The Jackson 5
December 25 - Annie Lennox
December 25 - Robin Campbell, UB40
Marty Dieckmeyer, Daniel Amos
Marc Ribot, guitarist, Sam Phillips, Elvis Costello, others

Deaths

May 19 - Charles Ives, American composer
November 11 - J. Rosamond Johnson, US composer and singer
November 30 - Wilhelm Furtw�ngler, conductor