Editing 1961 in music (section)

==Events==
*[[January 20]] – [[Francis Poulenc]]'s ''[[Gloria (Poulenc)|Gloria]]'' receives its premiėre in Boston, USA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=Roger |title=Poulenc: A Biography |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=9780300226508 |pages=262–264, 269–271}}</ref>
*[[February 9]] – [[The Beatles at The Cavern Club]]: [[The Beatles]], at this juncture [[John Lennon]], [[Paul McCartney]], [[George Harrison]] and [[Pete Best]], perform under this name at [[The Cavern Club]] for the first time following their December return to [[Liverpool]] from [[Hamburg]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Lewisohn|title=The Complete Beatles Chronicle|publisher=Harmony Books|year=1992|isbn=9780517581001|page=39}}</ref>
*[[February 12]] – [[The Miracles]]' "Shop Around" becomes [[Motown]]'s first million-selling single.
*[[February 13]] – [[Frank Sinatra]] forms his own [[record label]], [[Reprise Records]], which will later release recordings by [[The Beach Boys]], [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[The Kinks]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]].
*[[February 14]] – [[The Platters]] file a lawsuit against [[Mercury Records]] for breach of contract after the record company refuses to accept recordings on which [[Tony Williams (drummer)|Tony Williams]] does not sing lead. The group's lawsuit contends that their contract does not require this.
*[[February 15]] – American soul singer [[Jackie Wilson]] is shot and seriously wounded at his [[Manhattan]] apartment by jealous girlfriend Juanita Jones (claimed publicly to be an obsessive fan).<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Robinson|first=Major|date=1961-03-02|title=Rock 'N' Roll Idol Jackie Wilson Felled By Fan's Gun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QrEDAAAAMBAJ&q=jackie+wilson+jet+1961&pg=PA60|magazine=Jet|pages=60–62}}</ref>
*[[February 25]] – [[Elvis Presley]] makes his first public stage appearance in four years, playing two shows in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref name=Gem>{{cite book|first=Nigel|last=Gross|display-authors=etal|title=Collins Gem 1960s|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|year=1999|isbn=0-00-472310-4}}</ref>
*[[March 18]] – The [[Eurovision Song Contest 1961|6th Eurovision Song Contest]], held at [[Palais des Festivals et des Congrès]] in [[Cannes]], is won by [[Luxembourg]] with the song "[[Nous les amoureux]]", sung by [[Jean-Claude Pascal]].
*[[March 21]] – [[The Beatles at The Cavern Club]]: [[The Beatles]] play the first of nearly 300 regular performances at [[The Cavern Club]] in [[Liverpool]].
*[[March 25]] – [[Elvis Presley]] performs a benefit show at the Block Arena in [[Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]]. The show raises $62,000 for the [[U.S.S. Arizona Memorial|USS ''Arizona'' Memorial]] fund.
*[[April 13]]
**''[[Intolleranza 1960]]'' by [[Luigi Nono]], his first opera, premières at [[La Fenice]] in Venice.
**The [[3rd Annual Grammy Awards]] are held in [[Los Angeles]], hosted by actor [[Lloyd Bridges]]. [[Ray Charles]] wins the most awards with four. [[Bob Newhart]]'s ''[[The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart]]'' wins [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Percy Faith]]'s version of the "[[theme from A Summer Place]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Record of the Year|Record of the Year]] and [[Ernest Gold (composer)|Ernest Gold]]'s "[[Theme from Exodus]]" wins [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]]. Newhart also wins [[Grammy Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist]].
*[[April 17]] – [[Dalida]] and [[Charles Aznavour]] receive Radio Monte Carlo Oscar Awards for Best Song.
*[[April 23]] – [[Judy Garland]]'s concert at [[Carnegie Hall]] in New York City.
*[[April 29]] – Italian tenor [[Luciano Pavarotti]] makes his operatic debut as Rodolfo in ''[[La Bohème]]'' at the [[Teatro Municipale (Reggio Emilia)]].
*[[May 1]] – The [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] is awarded to [[Walter Piston]] for his [[Symphony No. 7 (Piston)|Symphony No. 7]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Philip|last=Benjamin|title='All Way Home' Pulitzer Play; Novel Is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 2, 1961|pages=1, 40}}</ref>
*[[June 14]] – [[Patsy Cline]] is hospitalized as a result of a head-on car collision. While she is in hospital, the song "[[I Fall to Pieces]]" becomes a big Country/Pop crossover hit for her.
*[[June 25]] – The [[Bill Evans]] Trio completes a two-week stay at [[The Village Vanguard]] in New York. It is the last time this trio will play before virtuoso bassist [[Scott LaFaro]]'s death 10 days later. The five sets they play on the 25th are recorded, resulting in two albums, ''[[Sunday at the Village Vanguard]]'' and ''[[Waltz for Debby (1961 album)|Waltz for Debby]]''.
*June–July – [[Stu Sutcliffe]] leaves [[The Beatles]] to resume his art studies in [[Hamburg]].
*[[July 1]] – French composer [[Olivier Messiaen]] marries pianist [[Yvonne Loriod]] privately in Paris.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide |author=Benitez, Vincent P. |publisher=Routledge |place=New York and London |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-97372-4|page=4}}</ref>
*[[July 17]] – ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine first publishes an "Easy Listening" chart, listing songs that the magazine determines are not rock & roll records. The first #1 song on this chart is "[[Boll Weevil (song)|The Boll Weevil Song]]" by [[Brook Benton]]. This chart will be renamed a number of times, becoming the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks]] chart.
*October – [[John Cage]]'s book ''[[Silence: Lectures and Writings]]'' is published in the United States.
*[[October 17]] – Former schoolfriends [[Mick Jagger]] and [[Keith Richards]], later of [[The Rolling Stones]], meet each other again by chance on [[Dartford railway station]] in [[Kent]], England, on the way to their respective colleges and discover their mutual taste for rock and roll.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=David Kynaston|first=David|last=Kynaston|title=Modernity Britain: A Shake of the Dice, 1959–62|year=2014|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1-4088-4439-7|page=345}}</ref>
*[[November 9]] – [[The Beatles at The Cavern Club]]: Future manager [[Brian Epstein]] first sees [[The Beatles]].
*[[November 25]] – [[The Everly Brothers]] enlist in the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve]].<ref name=Gem/>
*[[December 8]] – [[The Beach Boys]] release their debut 45rpm single "[[Surfin' (song)|Surfin']]"/"Luau" on the small California label [[Candix Records]]. They have previously been known as The Pendletones.
*[[December 9]] – [[The Beatles]] play their first gig in the south of England, at [[Aldershot]]. Inadequate advertising results in only 18 people turning up. In the early hours of the following morning they play an impromptu set at a London club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/1961/12/09/live-palais-ballroom-aldershot/|title=Live: Palais Ballroom, Aldershot|work=The Beatles Bible|date=December 9, 1961 |access-date=April 2, 2017}}</ref>
*[[William Alwyn]] sets up home with fellow-composer [[Doreen Carwithen]], his former pupil, at [[Blythburgh]] in England.
*The [[Leeds International Pianoforte Competition]] is founded in the north of England by [[Marion, Countess of Harewood]], and [[Fanny Waterman]].
*Indian tabla player [[Keshav Sathe]] and sitar player [[Bhaskar Chandavarkar]] perform with [[Larry Adler]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}
*The [[Country Music Association]] (CMA) creates the [[Country Music Hall of Fame]] and inducts, [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]], [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]] and [[Hank Williams]] as the first three members.
*The score of [[Cello Concerto No. 1 (Haydn)|Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1]] is discovered by musicologist Oldřich Pulkert in the [[Prague National Museum]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Konzert in C für Violoncello und Orchester|last=Haydn|first=Joseph|others=Clément, Roger (trans.)|year=2007|publisher=Bärenreiter-Verlag|location=Kassel|pages=V–VI}} ISMN M-006-20254-6.</ref>