The Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students during an anti-
Vietnam war protest at Kent State University. Four students were killed
and nine others were wounded.

Gene Vincent (center) and the Blue Caps in the recording studio

Gene Vincent first performed “Be-Bop-A-Lula” on a radio show in Norfolk, Virginia
during which time a demo was recorded and passed on to Capitol Records, who
were looking for a singer to rival Elvis Presley. Vincent and the Blue Caps recorded
the song for Capitol in Nashville. It was released in June 1956 and peaked at #7 on
the Billboard pop music chart, #8 on the R&B chart, and also made the top ten on
the C&W Best Seller chart reaching the #5 spot. By the following year “Be-Bop-A-
Lula” had sold over two million copies.

The inaugural Grammy Awards were held on May 4, 1959 at the Beverly
Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. They recognized musical accomplishments
by performers for the year 1958. Domenico Modugno, Henry Mancini,
Ella Fitzgerald and Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.(David Seville) each won 2
awards. Ella Fitzgerald and bandleader Count Basie become the first
African Americans to win Grammy Awards. Comedian Mort Sahl hosted
the event.

Mort Sahl