These are the years where artists and bands were often required by their record companies to put out two albums a year plus be on a regular schedule to produce hit singles for the Billboard charts. In 1963, The Beatles and Beach Boys each put out two albums and a series of singles that will influence a whole new generation of kids playing musical instruments. The musical output will be astonishing, enough so that for me making 60 years of music playlists in the months and years ahead will be child's play.
So, strap on those metal roller skates and turn on the transistor radios as the boomer generation will take on the establishment and put the suits, haters, and bible thumpers on notice, let's get the counter-culture party started!
1963 in Music and World Events (from Wikipedia)
- January 2 - The 7th birthday for budding ambassador of The Wonderful World of Disney, Mary Kit Smith.
- January 3 – The Beatles begin their first tour of 1963 with a five-day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do", beginning with a performance in Elgin.
- January 7 – Gary U.S. Bonds files a $100,000 lawsuit against Chubby Checker, claiming that Checker stole "Quarter to Three" and turned it into "Dancin' Party." The lawsuit is later settled out of court.
- January 11 – "Please Please Me" is released in the United Kingdom by the Beatles, with "Ask Me Why" as the B-side.
- January 12 – Bob Dylan portrays a folk singer in The Madhouse of Castle Street, a radio play for the BBC in London.
- February 16
- The Beatles achieve their first No. 1 hit single, when "Please Please Me" tops the charts in the UK.
- February 22 – The Beatles form Northern Songs Publishing Company.
- February 24 - The 10th birthday for budding genius, Steve Jobs an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known as the co-founder of Apple. Jobs was also chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, and the founder of NeXT. He was a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with his early business partner and fellow Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In the early 2000's, Jobs sparked the digital music revolution with the iPod and iMusic online store.
- March 5 – 1963 Camden PA-24 crash: Patsy Cline is killed in small plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, while on her way to Nashville, Tennessee, from Kansas City, Missouri, at the height of her career, together with Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.
- March 10 - The 8th birthday for budding musician, Gary Louris, an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
- March 22 – The Beatles release their first album, Please Please Me, in the UK.
- April 8 – The 35th Academy Awards ceremony is held. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture.
- April 29 – 19-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham signs a contract with the Rolling Stones, becoming their manager. Oldham had seen the band in concert the previous day at the Crawdaddy Club in London.
- May 1 – The Coca-Cola Company introduces its first diet drink, Tab cola.
- May 2 – The Beatles reach number one in the UK singles chart for the second time with "From Me To You".
- May 6 - The 9th birthday for budding musician, Mark Hunter.
- May 11 – The Beatles album Please Please Me goes to the top of the UK Albums Chart.
- May 15
- The 5th Annual Grammy Awards are held in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, hosted by Frank Sinatra. Tony Bennett and Igor Stravinsky each win the most awards with three, with the former winning Record of the Year for his song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". Vaughn Meader's The First Family wins Album of the Year and Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "What Kind of Fool Am I?" wins Song of the Year. Robert Goulet wins Best New Artist.
- May 27 – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's second and most influential studio album, is released by Columbia Records. The lead song, "Blowin' in the Wind", is released as a single by Peter, Paul and Mary in June and by Dylan himself in August.
- May 29 – On the 50th anniversary of its stormy première,[3] 88-year-old Pierre Monteux conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in The Rite of Spring at the Royal Albert Hall, with the composer Stravinsky (81) in the audience.
- June 7 – The Rolling Stones' first single, a cover version of the Chuck Berry song "Come On", is released in the UK and reaches No. 21.
- June 12 - Medgar Wiley Evers, July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served in World War II, was engaged in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities, and expand opportunities for African Americans including the enforcement of voting rights.
- June 20 - Establishment of the Moscow–Washington hotline (officially, the Direct Communications Link or DCL; unofficially, the "red telephone"; and in fact a teleprinter link) is authorized by signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva by representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States.
- June 27 - The 8th birthday for a budding ambassador of peace, Bill DeVoe.
- July 1 – ZIP codes are introduced by the United States Postal Service.
- July 15 - The 17th birthday for a budding singer who would take many of the hits from 1963 and make them even bigger hits in the 1970's, Linda Ronstadt.
- July 20 - The 12th birthday for the simply amazing Gary "Crazy Legs" Hill. Rest in Peace brother.
- August 3 – The Beatles perform at The Cavern Club in Liverpool for the final time.
- August 5 – The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
- August 14 - The 9th birthday for budding musician, Paul Hobbs
- August 21 - The 10th birthday for budding builder, Ken Forman.
- August 28 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Musical performers include Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary and Marian Anderson.
- August 30 – Philips introduces the Musicassette at the Berlin Funkaustellung.
- September 6 – Nippon Crown record label is established as Crown Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Music Entertainment.
- September 12 – The Beatles reach the UK number one for the third time with the single "She Loves You" (released on 23 August).
- September 15 – American civil rights movement: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, Alabama, kills 4 and injures 22.
- October 13 – Lesley Gore performs on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. She performs a medley of her smash hits "It's My Party" and "She's a Fool," which charted at #1 and #5, respectively.
- October 15
- British newspaper The Daily Mirror uses the term "Beatlemania" in a news story about the group's concert the previous day in Cheltenham; a Scottish music promoter later claims to have originated the term a week earlier.[4]
- Berliner Philharmonie concert hall opens.
- October 16 - The 9th birthday for budding actor, Jeff McCarthy.
- October 20 - Tom Petty's 13th birthday
- November 2 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese President.
- November 6 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Coup leader General Dương Văn Minh takes over as leader of South Vietnam.
- November 22
- Assassination of John F. Kennedy: In a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, U.S. President John F. Kennedy is fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, and Governor of Texas John Connally is seriously wounded at 12:30 CST. Upon Kennedy's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the 36th President of the United States. A few hours later, President Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One, as Kennedy's body is flown back to Washington, D.C. Stores and businesses shut down for the next four days, in tribute. The beginning of the end of the innocence.
- November 24
- Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy, is shot dead by Jack Ruby in Dallas, an event seen on live national television.
- Vietnam War: New U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically.
- November 25 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy: President Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Schools around the nation cancel classes that day; millions watch the funeral on live international television. Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral takes place on the same day.[20]
- November 29
- U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
- November 30 – After an unbroken 30-week spell at the top of the UK Albums Chart, The Beatles album Please Please Me is knocked off the top of the charts by the group's latest album With the Beatles (released on 22 November).
- December 7 – The first instant replay system to use videotape instead of film is used by Tony Verna, a CBS-TV director, during a live televised sporting event, the Army–Navy Game of college football played in Philadelphia, United States.
- December 12 – The Beatles reach number one in the UK for the fourth time with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (released on 29 November).
- December 24 - The 10th birthday for budding bohemian and leader of the pack, Ron Zieman.
- Harvey Ball invents the ubiquitous smiley face symbol.
Notable Bands Formed in 1963
- The Kinks
- Manfred Mann
- Bob Marley and the Wailers
- The Spencer Davis Group
- Neil Young & The Squires
- The Yardbirds
Enjoy the 1963 Playlist my friends!