1950 Music History: Key Events, Band Formations & Album Releases
Acts Formed
The LeGarde Twins
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Ballads
Les Paul & Mary Ford
USA
Traditional Pop
The Three Chuckles
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Early Rock 'n' Roll
January 3rd
Sun Records is founded in Memphis, Tennessee. The label gives starts to Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash.
January 28th
Blues greats, Jaybird Coleman and Kansas Joe McCoy, die on the same day. Kansas Joe wrote and recorded the original version of 'When the Levee Breaks' with his wife Memphis Minnie. The song was later covered by Led Zeppelin.
February
The A&R man Mitch Miller moves to Columbia Records from Mercury. He makes several efforts to prevent rock and roll music from gaining traction with the wider public, believing it to be a "plague" and "musical baby food".
February
Charlie Parker releases Charlie Parker with Strings.
June 22nd
Musicians such as Pete Seeger and Leonard Bernstein are publicly listed as Communist sympathisers in the US, effectively destroying their careers.
October 16th
Frank Sinatra releases Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra.
Late
The British major label EMI ceases production of shellac records in favour of vinyl, echoing industry wide changes, as the new format is more durable.
1950
Jo Stafford releases Autumn in New York.
1950
Fender revolutionise the music industry by releasing the first mass-produced solid body electric guitar: The Broadcaster (later renamed the Telecaster)
