1957 in music

See also: 1956 in music, other events of 1957, 1958 in music, 1950s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Events

• Pat Boone stars in his first two Hollywood motion pictures: Bernadine and April Love
• Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera), from 1956's Alfred Hitchcock suspense film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, wins the Academy Award for Best Song. Sung by Doris Day in the film, it proved to be one of her biggest hit records as well.
• When Nat King Cole's television show was unable to get a sponsor, Frankie Laine became the first artist to cross tv's color line. Becoming the first white artist to appear as a guest, foregoing his usual salary of $10,000.00 as Coles sustainer show only paid scale. Other top performers followed suit, including Mel Torme and Tony Bennett, but despite an increase in ratings, the show still failed to pick up a national sponsor.
• January 6 - Elvis Presley makes final appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
• January 8 - Elvis Presley takes the army pre-induction exam in Memphis, Tennessee and passes
• January 16 - The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool, England
• Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel name themselves Tom and Jerry and begin their recording career, signing with Sid Prosen of Big Records. Their first single, "Hey, Schoolgirl," backed with "Dancin' Wild," hit #49 on the Billboard pop charts. Garfunkel was Tom Graph (so called because he like to write the pop charts out on graph paper) and Simon was Jerry Landis, a pseudonym he used during his early 1960s solo recordings. They toured for eighteen months before retiring to become college students and then reforming in 1963 as Simon and Garfunkel.
• March 19 - Elvis Presley purchases a mansion in Memphis, Tennessee and calls it Graceland
• July 6 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles) first meet at St. Peter's Church garden fete in Liverpool, England.
• August 5 - American Bandstand begins it's 30 year syndicated run on US network television
• Leonard Bernstein completes work on West Side Story.
• American Bandstand premieres on television.
• Jerry Lee Lewis' musical career begins
• Jerry Butler's musical career begins

Albums released

• The Big Beat - Johnnie Ray
• Bing With A Beat - Bing Crosby
• Blue Starr - Kay Starr
• Blue Train - John Coltrane
• THE CHRISTMAS STORY - Bing Crosby
• Close To You - Frank Sinatra
• A Closer Walk With Thee - Pat Boone
• Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra
• Day By Day - Doris Day
• Gogi Grant – THE HELEN MORGAN STORY - Gogi Grant
• Gogi Grant - Suddenly There's Gogi Grant - Gogi Grant
• Her Nibs - Georgia Gibbs
• Hymns We Love - Pat Boone
• In Las Vegas - Johnnie Ray
• A Jolly Christmas - Frank Sinatra
• Losers, Weepers - Kay Starr
• Love Serenade - The Ames Brothers
• New Tricks - Bing Crosby
• Now Hear This - The Four Lads
• Once Over Lightly - Jo Stafford
• One Dozen Roses - The Mills Brothers
• Pal Joey - Frank Sinatra
• Pat - Pat Boone
• Pat Boone Sings Irving Berlin - Pat Boone
• Ring Around Rosie - The Hi-Lo’s
• Rockin' - Frankie Laine
• Songs For Inspiration & Meditation - Jo Stafford
• Songs Of Scotland - Jo Stafford
• The Sounds Of Christmas Harmony - The Ames Brothers
• Suddenly It's The Hi-Lo's - The Hi-Lo’s
• Sweet Seventeen - The Ames Brothers
• A Swingin' Affair - Frank Sinatra
• There'll Always Be A Christmas - The Ames Brothers
• Where Are You? - Frank Sinatra

Top hits on record

• "All shook Up" - Elvis Presley
• "An Affair To Remember" - Nat King Cole
• "Almost In Your Arms (Love Theme From Houseboat) - Sophia Loren
• "April Love" - Pat Boone
• "Around The World" - Nat King Cole
• "Bernadine" - Pat Boone
• "Black Slacks" - Joe Bennett
• "Blue Starr" - Kay Starr
• "Blueberry Hill" - Fats Domino
• "Butterfly" - Andy Williams
• "Bye Bye Love" - Everly Brothers
• "Chances Are" - Johnny Mathis
• "Come Go With Me" - Dell-Vikings, one of the first integrated groups
• "Dark Moon" - Gale Storm
• "Deep Purple" - Billy Ward & The Dominoes
• "Diana" - Paul Anka
• "Everyday" - Buddy Holly
• "Fascination" - Nat King Cole
• "Fascination" - Jane Morgan & The Troubadors
• "Forbidden Fruit" - Anita Ellis
• "Four Walls" - Jim Reeves
• "Great Balls Of Fire" - Jerry Lee Lewis
• "The Greater Sin" - Frankie Laine
• "Gunfight At the OK Corral" - Frankie Laine
• "Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby" - The Tune Weavers
• "Hey, Schoolgirl" - Tom and Jerry
• "Honeycomb" - Jimmie Rodgers
• "Hoot Owl" - Guy Mitchell
• "How High The Moon" - Pat Suzuki
• "I'm Sorry" - The Platters
• "I'm Walking The Floor Over You" - Georgia Gibbs
• "It's Not For Me To Say" - Johnny Mathis
• "Jailhouse Rock" - Elvis Presley
• "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" - Jimmy Rodgers
• "Last Train to San Fernando" - Johnny Duncan (huge hit in the UK) *"Little Darlin' " - Diamonds, a parody cover of a rhythm and blues hit
• "The Lonesome Road" - Frankie Laine
• "Look Homeward, Angel" - Johnnie Ray
• "Love Letters In The Sand" - Pat Boone
• "Loving You" - Elvis Presley
• "Lucille" - Little Richard
• "My Special Angel" - Bobby Helms
• "Not Fade Away" - Buddy Holly
• "Oh Boy" - Buddy Holly
• "Old Cape Cod" - Patti Page
• "Party Doll" - Buddy Knox
• "Peggy Sue" - Buddy Holly
• "Queen Of The Senior Prom" - The Mills Brothers
• "Remember You're Mine" - Pat Boone
• "Rock-A-Bye Baby Blues" - Brenda Lee
• "Rock And Roll Music" - Chuck Berry
• "Round and Round" - Perry Como
• "Rumble" -- Link Wray, early feedback, only instrumental ever banned
• "Searchin' " - The Coasters
• "Shangri-La" - The Four Coins
• "Silent Lips" - Georgia Gibbs
• "So Rare" - Jimmy Dorsey
• "Stardust" - Nat King Cole
• "Sugar Moon" - Pat Boone
• "Sugartime" - McGuire Sisters
• "Tammy" - The Ames Brothers
• "Tammy" - Debbie Reynolds
• "Teddy Bear" - Elvis Presley
• "That'll Be The Day" - The Crickets, Buddy Holly's group
• "That'll Be The Day" - Buddy Holly
• "3:10 To Yuma" - Frankie Laine
• "Too Young To Have A Broken Heart" - Gayla Peevey
• "Treat Me Nice" - Elvis Presley
• "The Twelfth Of Never" - Johnny Mathis
• "Up Above My Head" - Johnnie Ray and Frankie Laine
• "Wake Up Little Susie" - The Everly Brothers
• "Walkin' After Midnight" - Patsy Cline
• "When I Fall In Love" - Nat King Cole
• "Who Needs You" - The Four Lads
• "Why Baby, Why" - Pat Boone
• "Witchcraft" - Frank Sinatra
• "Wonderful! Wonderful!" - Johnny Mathis
• "You Know How It Is" - Frankie Laine
• "You Send Me" - Sam Cooke
• "Young Blood" - The Coasters, a two-sided hit with "Searchin"'
• "Young Love" - Tab Hunter

Published popular music

• "According To My Heart"     w.m. Gary Walker
• "An Affair To Remember"     w. Harold Adamson & Leo McCarey m. Harry Warren
• "After School"     w.m. Dick Wolf & Warren Nadel
• "All Shook Up"     w.m. Otis Blackwell & Elvis Presley
• "All The Way"     w. Sammy Cahn m. James Van Heusen
• "Almost Paradise"     m. Norman Petty
• "Alone (Why Must I Be Alone)"     w. Selma Craft m. Morton Craft
• "America"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "April Love"     w. Paul Francis Webster m. Sammy Fain
• "Are You Sincere?"     w.m. Wayne Walker
• "At The Hop"     w.m. Artie Singer, Johnny Medora & Dave White
• "Be-Bop Baby"     w.m. Pearl Lenghurst
• "Bernadine"     w.m. Johnny Mercer
• "Black Slacks"     w.m. Joe Bennett & Jimmy Denton
• "Bony Moronie"     w.m. Larry Williams
• "The Book Of Love"     w.m. Warren Davies, George Malone & Charles Patrick
• "Boy On A Dolphin"     w.(Eng) Paul Francis Webster (Greek) Jean Fermanoglou m. Takis Morakis
• "Build Your Love (On A Strong Foundation)"     O. Jones
• "Butterfly"     w.m. Anthony September
• "Bye Bye Love"     w.m. Felice Bryant & Boudleaux Bryant
• "Ca C'est L'Amour"     w.m. Cole Porter
• "Catch A Falling Star"     w.m. Lee Pockriss & Paul Vance
• "Chances Are"     w. Al Stillman m. Robert Allen
• "Chantez Chantez"     w. Albert Gamse m. Irving Fields
• "Cocoanut Sweet"     w. E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
• "Come Fly With Me"     Sammy Cahn, James Van Heusen
• "Come Go With Me"     w.m. Clarence E. Quick
• "Cool"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Could This Be Magic"     w.m. Hiram Johnson & Richard Blandon
• "Dark Moon"     w.m. Ned Miller
• "The Day The Rains Came"     w.(Eng) Carl Sigman (Fr) Pierre Delanoe m. Gilbert Bécaud
• "Diana"     w.m. Paul Anka
• "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Everyday"     Glen Hardin, Norman Petty
• "Four Walls"     w.m. George Campbell & Marvin Moore
• "Gee, Officer Krupke"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Gigi"     w. Alan Jay Lerner m. Frederick Loewe
• "Goodnight My Someone"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Got-Ta Have Something In The Bank, Frank"     Bob Hilliard, Mort Garson
• "Great Balls Of Fire"     w.m. Jack Hammer & Otis Blackwell
• "A Handful Of Songs"     Tommy Steele, Lionel Bart & Michael Pratt
• "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby"     w.m. Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez
• "Hey Schoolgirl"     w. Art Garfunkel m. Paul Simon
• "Hula Love"     adapt. Buddy Knox
• "I Can't Stop Loving You"     w.m. Don Gibson
• "I Feel Pretty"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "I Just Don't Know"     w. Joe Stone m. Robert Allen
• "I Like Your Kind Of Love"     Melvin Endsley
• "I'm Sorry"     w.m. Buck Ram
• "In My Own Little Corner"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "In The Middle Of An Island"     w.m. Ted Varnick & Nick Aquaviva
• "Island In The Sun"     w.m. Harry Belafonte & Irving L. Burgie
• "It's Good To Be Alive"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Ivy Rose"     w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
• "Jailhouse Rock"     w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
• "Jingle Bell Rock"     w.m. Joseph Beal & James Boothe
• "Joey's Song"     m. Joe Reisman
• "Just Between You And Me"     w.m. Lee Cathy & Jack Keller
• "Just Born"     w.m. Luther Dixon & Billy Dawn Smith
• "Let It Be Me"     w.(Eng) Mann Curtis (Fr) Pierre Delanoe m. Gilbert Bécaud
• "Lida Rose"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Liechtensteiner Polka"     w.(Eng) Joseph Seener w.m. Edmund Koetscher & Rudi Lindt
• "Lips Of Wine"     w. Shirley Wolfe m. Sy Soloway
• "Little Biscuit"     w. E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
• "The Little Blue Man"     w.m. Fred Ebb & Paul Klein
• "Little Darlin' "     w.m. Maurice Williams
• "Loving You"     w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
• "Lucille"     w.m. Richard Penniman & Albert Collins
• "Magic Moments"     w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach
• "Mama Look A Booboo"     w.m. Lord Melody
• "Marching Along To The Blues"     w.m. Mel Green
• "Maria"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Marian The Librarian"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Mi Casa, Su Casa"     w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
• "Moonlight Swim"     w. Sylvia Dee m. Ben Weisman
• "Mr Lee"     w.m. Heather Dixon, Helen Gathers, Emma Ruth Pought, Laura Webb & Jannie Pought
• "My Heart Reminds Me" (aka "And That Reminds Me")     w. (Eng) Al Stillman m. Camillo Bargoni
• "My Little Baby"     w.m. Joe Shapiro and Lou Stallman
• "My Special Angel"     w.m. Jimmy Duncan
• "My White Knight"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Napoleon"     w. E. Y. Harburg m. Harold Arlen
• "A New-Fangled Tango"     w. Matt Dubey m. Harold Carr
• "Ninety-Nine Ways"     w.m. Anthony September
• "Oh Boy!"     w.m. Sunny West, Norman Petty & Bill Tilghman
• "Oh, Lonesome Me"     w.m. Don Gibson
• "Old Cape Cod"     w.m. Claire Rothrock, Milt Yakus & Allan Jeffrey
• "One Hand, One Heart"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Party Doll"     w.m. Jimmy Bowen & Buddy Knox
• "Passing Strangers"     Mel Mitchell, Stanley Applebaum
• "Peggy Sue"     w.m. Jerry Allison, Norman Petty & Buddy Holly
• "Pretend You Don't See Her"     w.m. Steve Allen
• "Proceed With Caution"     Wilson Stone
• "Promise Her Anything"     w.m. Roy Alfred
• "A Pub With No Beer"     w.m. Gordon Parsons
• "Put A Light In The Window"     w. Rhoda Roberts m. Kenny Jacobson
• "Rainbow"     w.m. Russ Hamilton
• "Raunchy"     m. William E. Justis Jr & Sidney Manker
• "Reet Petite"     T. Carlo, B. Gordy
• "Remember You're Mine"     Bernie Lowe, Kal Mann
• "Rock And Roll Music"      w.m. Chuck Berry
• "Rock-A-Billy"     w.m. Woody Harris & Eddie V. Deane
• "Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Sayonara"     w.m. Irving Berlin
• "School Day"     w.m. Chuck Berry
• "Searchin' "     w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
• "Send For Me"     w.m. Ollie Jones
• "Seventy-Six Trombones"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "She Was Only Seventeen"     w.m. Marty Robbins
• "Shiralee"     w.m. Tommy Steele
• "Short Fat Fanny"     Larry Williams
• "Silhouettes"     w.m. Frank Slay & Bob Crewe
• "Something's Coming"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Somewhere"     w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein
• "The Song Of Raintree County"     w. Paul Francis Webster & Raymond Egan m. Richard Whiting
• "The Story Of My Life"     w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach
• "The Stroll"     w.m. Nancy Lee & Clyde Otis
• "Tammy"     w.m. Jerry Livingston & Ray Evans
• "Teddy Bear"     w.m. Kal Mann & Bernie Lowe
• "Tele Vee Shun"     Stan Freberg
• "Ten Minutes Ago"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "That'll Be The Day"     w.m. Buddy Holly, Norman Petty & Jerry Allison
• "Till"     w.m. Carl Sigman, Charles Sananes & Pierre Buisson
• "Till There Was You"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "Tonight"     w. Stephen Sondheim & Leonard Bernstein m. Leonard Bernstein
• "Tonite, Tonite"     W. Nobles
• "Treat Me Nice"     w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
• "Trouble (In River City)"     w.m. Meredith Willson
• "The Twelfth Of Never"     adapt. (folk song) w. Paul Francis Webster m. Jerry Livingston
• "Twenty-Six Miles"     w.m. Bruce Bell & Glen Larson
• "A Very Special Love"     w.m. Robert Allen
• "Wake Up Little Susie"     w.m. Boudleaux Bryant & Felice Bryant
• "Walking Along"     Sam Weiss, Winston Willis
• "White Silver Sands"     w.m. Charles G. Matthews & Gladys Reinhardt
• "A White Sports Coat"     w.m. Marty Robbins
• "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"     w.m. Dave Williams & Sunny David
• "Whole Lotta Woman"     w.m. Marvin Rainwater
• "Why Baby Why"     w.m. Luther Dixon & Larry Harrison
• "Why Don't They Understand?"     Jack Fishman, Joe Henderson
• "Wild Is The Wind"     w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
• "Wind In The Willows"     Wecht, Singer, Singer
• "Witchcraft"     w. Carolyn Leigh m. Cy Coleman
• "Wonderful! Wonderful!"     w. Ben Raleigh m. Sherman Edwards
• "Yellow Bird"     w.m. Alan Bergman, Marilyn Keith & Norman Luboff
• "Yes Tonight, Josephine"     w.m. Winfield Scott & Dorothy Goodman
• "You Need Hands"     w.m. Roy Irwin
• "You Send Me"     w.m. L. C. Cooke

Classical music

• Aaron Copland - Orchestral Variations
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 11 G minor, Op. 103 "The Year 1905"
• Toru Takemitsu - Requiem
• Edmund Rubbra - Seventh Symphony

Opera

• Samuel Barber - Vanessa
• Bohuslav Martinu - The Greek Passion
• Francis Poulenc - Dialogues of the Carmelites (Dialogues des Carmelites)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos - Daughter of the Clouds

Musical theater

• Bells Are Ringing     London production
• Brigadoon (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe) - Broadway revival
• Damn Yankees (Richard Adler and Jerry Ross) - London production
• The Music Man (Meredith Wilson) opened at the Majestic Theater on Broadway on December 19, 1957 and ran for 1375 performances.
• New Girl In Town     Broadway production
• West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein) - Broadway production

Musical films

• Funny Face
• The Pajama Game
• Pal Joey
• Silk Stockings

Births

• January - Grandmaster Flash
• January 4 - Patty Loveless
• January 17 - Susanna Hoffs, The Bangles
• January 18 - Tom Bailey, Thompson Twins
• January 19 - Mickey Virtue, UB40
• January 23 - Earl Falconer, bassist
• January 26 - Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen
• January 26 - Norman Hassan, UB40
• January 27 - Janick Gers, musician, Iron Maiden
• February 2 - Tony Butler, Big Country
• February 27 - Adrian Smith, musician, Iron Maiden
• February 28 - Cindy Wilson, The B-52's
• March 12 - Steve Harris, musician, Iron Maiden
• March 12 - Marlon Jackson, The Jackson 5
• March 26 - Paul Morley, music journalist
• May 10 - Sid Vicious
• May 27 - Siouxsie Sioux, Siouxsie & the Banshees
• April 12 - Vince Gill
• June 11 - Jamaaladeen Tacuma
• June 18 - Tom Bailey, Thompson Twins
• June 22 - Gary Beers, INXS
• June 26 - Patty Smyth
• July 3 - Laura Branigan
• July 30 - Christopher Miller, known as Rat Scabies
• August 18 - Ron Strykert, Men at Work
• August 31 - Glenn Tilbrook, Squeeze
• August 31 - Gina Schock, The Go Go's
• September 1 - Gloria Estefan, singer
• September 10 - Siobhan Fahey, Bananarama
• September 22 - Johnette Napolitano , Concrete Blond
• September 22 - Nick Cave
• October 7 - Michael W. Smith
• October 19 - Karl Wallinger, World Party
• October 21 - Steve Lukather, Toto
• October 21 - Julian Cope
• October 28 - Stephen Morris, New Order
• November 1 - Lyle Lovett
• November 8 - Porl Thompson, The Cure
• November 24 - Chris Hayes, Huey Lewis & The News
• December 9 - Donny Osmond, singer
• December 9 - Steve Taylor, singer, record producer
• December 12 - Sheila E.
• December 20 - Billy Bragg, singer, song-writer
• December 20 - Anita Baker
• December 23 - Victoria Williams, singer
• December 25 - Shane MacGowan, The Pogues

Deaths

• January 15 - Arturo Toscanini, conductor
• May 9 - Ezio Pinza, Italian singer and actor
• June 12 - Jimmy Dorsey, big band leader
• September 1 - Dennis Brain, horn virtuoso (in unexplained car accident)
• September 20 - Jean Sibelius, composer
• October 20 - Jack Buchanan, Scottish singer, dancer, actor and director
• October 23 - Abe Lyman, US bandleader, composer and drummer
• November 20 - Beniamino Gigli, operatic tenor

Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

• Eurovision Song Contest 1957