1951 in music

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Records released 3 Published popular music 4 Musical theater 5 Musical films 6 Opera 7 Births 8 Deaths

Events

• July 11 - Disc jockey and music promoter Alan Freed broadcasts his first Rhythm and blues radio programme from station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio
• September 11 - The Rake's Progress, an opera by Igor Stravinsky with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, premieres in Venice, conducted by the composer
• Disc jockey Alan Freed uses the term rock and roll to describe R&B, in an effort to introduce the music to a broader white audience.
• The release of Rocket 88, a song by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. Some music historians consider this record to be the first rock and roll recording.
• Ray Charles' musical career begins
• Charlie Rich's musical career begins
• Big Mama Thornton's musical career begins
• Bobby Blue Bland's musical career begins

• "Rocket 88" - Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
• "Sixty-Minute Man" - Dominoes
• "Cry" - Johnnie Ray
• "It's All In the Game" - Tommy Edwards
• "The Glory Of Love" - Five Keys

• "Alice In Wonderland"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "All In The Golden Afternoon"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "Allentown Jail"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "Anywhere I Wander"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "A-Round The Corner"     trad arr. Josef Marais
• "Asia Minor"     w.m. Roger King Mozian
• "A-Sleepin' At The Foot Of The Bed"     Happy Wilson, Luther Patrick
• "Be My Life's Companion"     w.m. Bob Hilliard & Milton De Lugg
• "Beautiful Brown Eyes"     trad arr. Arthur Smith & Alton Delmore
• "Because of You"     w.m. Arthur Hammerstein & Dudley Wilkinson
• "Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Bermuda"     w.m. Cynthia Strother & Eugene R. Strother
• "The Blacksmith Blues"     w.m. Jack Holmes
• "Blue Velvet"     w.m. Bernie Wayne & Lee Morris
• "Christopher Columbus"     w.m. Terry Gilkyson
• "Come On-A My House"     w.m. Ross Bagdasarian & William Saroyan
• "Cry"     w.m. Churchill Kohlman
• "Dance Me Loose"     w. Mel Howard m. Lee Erwin
• "Domino"     w. (Eng) Don Raye (Fr) Jacques Plante m. Louis Ferrari
• "Getting To Know You"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Good Morning Mister Echo"     B. Putman, B. Putman
• "Half As Much"     w.m. Curly Williams
• "He Had Refinement"     w. Dorothy Fields m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Hello, Young Lovers"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Hey, Good Lookin"'     w.m. Hank Williams
• "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Burton Lane
• "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)"     w.m. Hank Williams
• "I Get Ideas"     w. Dorcas Cochran m. Lenny Sanders
• "I Have Dreamed"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Love The Sunshine Of Your Smile"     w. Jack Hoffman m. Jimmy MacDonald
• "I Still See Elisa"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe
• "I Talk To The Trees"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe
• "I Whistle A Happy Tune"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Wish I Wuz"     w.m. Sid Kuller & Lyn Murray
• "I Won't Cry Anymore"     w. Fred Wise m. Al Frisch
• "I'm A Fool To Want You"     w.m. Jack Wolf, Joel Herron & Frank Sinatra
• "I'm Late"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening"     w. Johnny Mercer m. Hoagy Carmichael
• "It's All In The Game"     w. Carl Sigman m. Charles Gates Dawes Based on "Melody" by Dawes 1912.
• "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Jezebel"     w.m. Wayne Shanklin
• "A Kiss To Build A Dream On"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Harry Ruby
• "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine"     w. Paul Campbell m. Joel Newman
• "The Little White Cloud That Cried"     w.m. Johnnie Ray
• "The March Of The Siamese Children"     m. Richard Rodgers
• "Mister And Mississippi"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "Misto Cristofo Columbo"     w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
• "Mockin' Bird Hill"     w.m. Vaughn Horton
• "The Morningside Of The Mountain"     w.m. Dick Manning & Larry Stock
• "My Truly, Truly Fair"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "No Two People"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Sail Away"     w.m. Noël Coward
• "Shall We Dance?"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Shanghai"     w.m. Bob Hilliard & Milton De Lugg
• "Shrimp Boats"     w.m. Paul Mason Howard & Paul Weston
• "(It’s No) Sin"     w. Chester R. Shull m. George Hoven
• "Slow Poke"     w.m. Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart & Chilton Price
• "So Far, So Good"      w. Betty Comden & Adolph Green m. Jule Styne from the revue Two On The Aisle
• "Something Wonderful"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Sound Off"     w.m. Willie Lee Duckworth, B. Lentz
• "Sparrow In The Tree Top"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Suzy Snowflake"     w.m. Sid Tepper & Roy Brodsky
• "Sweet Violets"     arr. Cy Coben & Charles Grean
• "Tell Me Why"     w. Al Alberts m. Marty Gold
• "They Call The Wind Maria"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe
• "Thumbelina"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Too Young"     w. Sylvia Dee m. Sidney Lippman
• "Top Banana"      w.m. Johnny Mercer from the musical Top Banana
• "The Typewriter"     m. Leroy Anderson
• "Unforgettable"     w.m. Irving Gordon
• "Very Good Advice"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Sammy Fain
• "A Very Merry Un-Birthday To You"     w.m. Mack David, Al Hoffman & Jerry Livingston
• "Wand'rin' Star"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe
• "We Kiss In A Shadow"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "When The World Was Young"     w. (Eng) Johnny Mercer (Fr) Angela Vannier m. M. Philippe-Gerard
• "Wonderful Copenhagen"     w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)"     w. Bob Russell m. Harold Spina

• And So To Bed London production
• Borscht Capades
• Flahooley Broadway production
• Gay's The Word London production
• It's About Time Broadway production
• The King And I Broadway production
• Kiss Me, Kate     London production
• The Lyric Revue     London production
• Make A Wish Broadway production
• A Month Of Sundays Broadway production
• Paint Your Wagon Broadway production
• Penny Plain     London production
• See You Later
• Seventeen
• South Pacific     London production
• Top Banana Broadway production
• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Broadway production
• Two On The Aisle     Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on July 19 and ran for 279 performances
• Zip Goes A Million     London production

• Alice In Wonderland
• The Belle Of New York
• Call Me Mister
• The Great Caruso
• Lullaby Of Broadway
• On Moonlight Bay
• Royal Wedding
• Show Boat
• Two Weeks With Love

• Billy Budd - Music by Benjamin Britten and libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier
• The Rake's Progress - Music by Igor Stravinsky and libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman

• January 6 - Kim Wilson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds
• January 9 - Crystal Gayle
• January 15 - Martha Davis, The Motels
• January 19 - Dewey Bunnell, America
• January 27 - Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy
• January 27 - Seth Justman, J. Geils Band
• January 30 - Phil Collins
• January 31 - Phil Manzanera, Roxy Music
• January 31 - K.C. (Harry Wayne Casey), K.C. and the Sunshine Band
• February 9 - Dennis Thomas, Kool and the Gang
• February 12 - Gil Moore, Triumph
• February 15 - Melissa Manchester
• March 4 - Chris Rea
• March 17 - Scott Gorham, Thin Lizzy
• March 20 - Jimmy Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds
• March 21 - Russell Thompkins Jr, The Stylistics
• March 21 - Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos
• March 23 - Phil Keaggy, guitarist, singer
• April 3 - Mel Schacher, ? and the Mysterians, Grand Funk Railroad
• April 7 - Janis Ian
• April 12 - Alex Briley, The Village People
• April 13 - Peabo Bryson
• April 13 - Max Weinberg, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, E Street Band
• April 20 - Luther Vandross
• April 22 - Paul Carrack, Ace, Squeeze, Mike & the Mechanics
• April 27 - Ace Frehley, Kiss
• May 3 - Christopher Cross
• May 4 - Jackie Jackson, The Jackson Five
• May 8 - Philip Bailey, Earth Wind and Fire
• May 10 - Ronald Banks, The Dramatics
• May 16 - Jonathan Richman
• June 3 - Deniece Williams
• June 10 - Ed McTaggart, Daniel Amos, The Road Home
• June 12 - Brad Delp, Boston
• June 12 - Bun E. Carlos, Cheap Trick
• June 15 - Steve Walsh, Kansas
• July 1 - Fred Schneider, The B52's
• July 5 - Huey Lewis
• July 11 - Bonnie Pointer, The Pointer Sisters
• August 2 - Andrew Gold
• August 3 - John Graham, Earth, Wind and Fire
• August 13 - Dan Fogelberg
• August 19 - John Deacon, Queen
• August 20 - Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy
• August 23 - Mark Hudson, The Hudson Brothers
• August 25 - Rob Halford, Judas Priest
• August 28 - Wayne Osmond, The Osmonds
• September 2 - Mik Kaminski, Electric Light Orchestra
• September 7 - Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders
• September 19 - Daneil Lanois
• September 22 - David Coverdale, Deep Purple, Whitesnake
• October 2 - Sting
• October 6 - Kevin Cronin, REO Speedwagon
• October 7 - John Cougar Mellencamp
• October 8 - Johnny Ramone, The Ramones
• October 13 - John Ford Coley, England Dan & John Ford Coley
• October 20 - Alan Greenwood, Foreigner
• October 26 - Maggie Roche, The Roches
• October 27 - K.K. Downing, Judas Priest
• November 1 - Ronald Bell, Kool and the Gang
• November 13 - Bill Gibson, Huey Lewis & The News
• November 27 - Kevin Kavanaugh, Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes
• November 29 - Barry Goudreau, Boston
• December 4 - Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington-Collins Band
• December 10 - Johnny Rodriguez
• December 16 - Robben Ford
• December 21 - Nick Gilder
• December 23 - Johnny Contardo, Sha Na Na
• December 26 - Paul Anthony Quinn, Saxon
• December 26 - John Scofield
• December 29 - Yvonne Elliman
• December 31 - Tom Hamilton, Aerosmith
• December 31 - George Thorogood
• Mark Heard, American singer, songwriter

• July 13 - Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer
• August 15 - Artur Schnabel, pianist
• November 9 - Sigmund Romberg, composer