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In 1958, 7000 screaming teenagers rioted at the first rock and roll concert held in West Berlin. It featured Bill Haley & His Comets. Best known for “Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll, it was Haley’s earlier hit with the Saddlemen, “Rock the Joint,” that lit the fuse. A copy of the single on Essex Records from 1952 can now sell for $250.00. Make it $800.00 for a red vinyl copy.

Ed Sullivan had to tell the audience to be “Quiet!” during the appearance of the Rolling Stones. But the screams never ceased. The band closed out the show with “Time is On My Side.” Sullivan vowed that the Stones would never appear on his show again, but later relented. A copy of “Time is on My Side,” released on London Records, can now sell for $100.00 with its picture sleeve. 

On October 24,1962, James Brown’s appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York was recorded for an album called “Live at the Apollo.” The self-financed LP cost Brown $5,700.00, and would sell over a million copies.  “Live at the Apollo” was the first album recorded just the way it was performed. There was no separation in the tracks, making it impossible for King Records to issue singles. An original copy can get you $200.00 today.

Elvis Presley is on a Billboard chart outside of Memphis for the first time when “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” hits #6 in Nashville and #3 in New Orleans in 1954. The song, written in 1946 by Bill Monroe, was meant to be a slow waltz, but Elvis put his own style on it. Bill Monroe wasn’t happy. Released on Sun Records, the Elvis copy on a 45 or 78 can now sell for $1,200.00.

The Supremes are the first female group to have a number one album in the U.S.A when their LP, “Supremes A-Go-Go,” reaches the top in 1966. It knocked The Beatles’ “Revolver” out of first place. The Supremes album, released on Motown, is now worth up to $100.00. An original mono copy of “Revolver,” from Capitol Records, can sell for $750.00 today.

On Oct. 20, 1977, Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines from Lynyrd Skynyrd and their manager Dean Kilpatrick are killed when their plane runs out of gas in Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band’s first album, “Lynyrd Skynyrd,”released on MCA/ Sounds of the South Records, is worth up to $200.00 today.

Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess died at 95 in 2016. He and his brother Leonard were responsible for giving us Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, as well as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Etta James…all with very collectible records today such as the album, “Down and Out Blues” by Sonny Boy Williamson. An original copy can now sell for $1,200.00.

In 2009, a clump of hair snipped from Elvis Presley when he joined the US Army in March, 1958, sold for $15,000 at the Leslie Hindman auction house in Chicago.  An original copy of Elvis’ album, “G.I. Blues,” based loosely on his army days can now sell for $800.00.

When Paul McCartney makes his first appearance with the Quarry Men in Liverpool in 1957; the band’s line-up was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Eric Griffiths, Colin Hanton and Len Garry. Paul is said to be a bundle of nerves as he plays “Guitar Boogie,” first made famous by Arthur Smith in 1945. The most famous version, known as “Guitar Boogie Shuffle,” was a #5 hit for the Virtues in 1958. Release on Sure Records, the single can sell for $125.00 today.

The Four Tops were prolific hit makers in the 1960s with classics like “Reach Out I’ll Be There” and “It’s The Same Old Song.” Among the groups’ biggest hits was “Ask the Lonely.” Released on Motown in 1964, a copy of the 45 with picture sleeve can sell for $300.00 today.