The pop music lineage of Robinson Center is long, varied and, sometimes, even startling. Here are some -- but definitely not all -- of the musical highlights of the 76-year-old building:
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April 24, 1949
Country music legend Hank Williams was part of a Radio Stars Jamboree show that played at Robinson Auditorium that afternoon and night. Also on the bill, which featured "some of the Most Famous Radio and Recording Stars in America," were Johnnie and Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys with Miss Kitty Wells. A record crowd was expected to attend.
Williams returned to Robinson at least three more times for some Grand Ole Opry shows that featured stars such as Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Jimmy Dickens and Lefty Frizzell.
May 16, 1956
Elvis Presley first appeared at Robinson Auditorium -- as it was known then -- on Feb. 20, 1955, where he was called the "20-year-old star from the Louisiana Hayride Show," in the Arkansas Gazette.
When he returned in May 1956, Elvis mania was running wild. Elvis, with his "atomic-powered rock-and-roll versions of country music," as the Arkansas Democrat described him, had just scored his first Billboard No. 1, "Heartbreak Hotel."
Arkansas Gazette writers Jack Blalock and Ray Moseley called Elvis' show at Robinson the "biggest mob scene the auditorium has ever witnessed."
Teenage rock 'n' roll fans -- the girls in "smart spring frocks," but the boys wearing "dungarees" -- were lined up five and a half hours before Elvis' scheduled 8 p.m. appearance. Because of a missed plane connection, Elvis didn't arrive onstage until 8:30 p.m.
"Then it happened," Black and Moseley wrote.
"Out of the curtains on the right emerged a broadly smiling Presley, garbed in a violent purple coat and black silk slacks. A guitar was draped over his shoulders as he slinked toward the microphone.
"Instantly, the crowd was on its feet, screaming and waving," as Elvis -- backed by Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass and D.J. Fontana on drums -- started with "Heartbreak Hotel." The left side of the auditorium stormed the aisle and stood screaming on the brink of the stage until police returned teenagers to their seats.
"Presley gyrated wildly on stage, drawing louder screams each time he flicked a leg in a hula-dancer fashion."
The screaming never stopped. "The notes came through only now and then, but it didn't matter.
"Elvis was on stage."
Waves of hysteria arrived with each new song during the show (Elvis also played "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Hound Dog").
A second show was added at 9:30 p.m.
Before the shows, 10 off-duty Little Rock police officers and two firemen watched the crowd. Said one unidentified officer: "They might tear the place down before he gets here. They go nuts you know."
Sept. 5, 1961
Duke Ellington canceled a Robinson Auditorium gig for this night after receiving a critical telegram from L.C. Bates, NAACP field secretary in Little Rock, where Bates said he was "disappointed over your proposed appearance ... at Robinson Memorial Auditorium before a segregated audience."
Sept. 11, 1965
The Yard Birds -- as the Arkansas Democrat referred to the "futuristic rock" band The Yardbirds, led by guitar whiz Jeff Beck -- appeared at the auditorium.
In the Sept. 15, 1965, Arkansas Gazette, Lee Justice of North Little Rock wrote a letter to the editor deriding the small audience for sitting and staring during the show. The band "did everything in their power to get some applause from the audience, but failed every time."
Sept. 22, 1966
The great Louis Armstrong played a Robinson Auditorium show where tickets were $2, $3, $4 and $5. Gazette writer Bill Lewis described Armstrong as possessing a "foghorn of a voice [that] growls out music's most gravelly glissando."
April 16, 1968
A scheduled concert at Robinson Auditorium on this date by The Beach Boys, Strawberry Alarm Clock and Buffalo Springfield was believed to have been canceled because of the mourning period following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4.
July 6, 1974
An item in the Arkansas Democrat noted that there was a "rock concert" at Robinson Center Music Hall (the name changed with a 1973 renovation) that night featuring Frank Zappa and "a new group from Holland, Golden Earring." The notice also stated the show "should be enjoyable for rock enthusiasts."
May 3, 1976
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band stormed into Robinson Center Music Hall on their Chicken Scratch Tour. Only 600 people showed up to hear the Boss and band play "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Thunder Road," "Born to Run," "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" and more.
According to American music critic and author Dave Marsh in his 2006 book Bruce Springsteen on Tour: 1968-2005, Springsteen vowed never to return because of the small audience.
A review by Democrat writer Dorothy Palmer said that neither Springsteen nor the crowd were dismayed by the small turnout, though. At one point Springsteen jumped off the stage and into the front row, where he "mingled awhile with the crowd -- mostly with the women."
Palmer reported that Springsteen arrived in Little Rock two days before the Monday night show to "get the feel of the town and get in a little softball."
(Springsteen did return to central Arkansas with a 2000 show at then-Alltel Arena. It, too, sold poorly.)
Sept. 15, 1986
R.E.M. brought their Lifes Rich Pageant Tour to Robinson Center Music Hall for a show where Kelley Bass, writing in the Arkansas Gazette, said the band "really shined" while "confidently cruising through songs both old and new, giving each one a special skin-tight treatment and staying aware of pacing to create a show of memorable musical moments rather than one giant, rushing wall of sound."
The encore included Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic."
Sept. 8, 1992
Bob Dylan made his first Little Rock appearance at Robinson Center Music Hall, and was "seemingly at peace with himself," Democrat-Gazette writer Jack W. Hill wrote. Dylan returned Oct. 30, 1995, and Hill wrote that "Arkansas must have inspired Dylan, for he seemed to pour it on, apparently intent on rewarding the fans."
Sept. 18, 2007
Wilco played Robinson Center Music Hall, and brought the 1,700 fans in the hall to their feet for the entire show. Hill said that "the flashiest of the [band] was guitarist Nels Cline, who dazzled the crowd with his lightning-fast moves and affinity for his instruments and the effects he wrings out of them."
Aug. 28, 2010
A Voices for Justice concert at Robinson Center Music Hall put on by Arkansas Take Action, a group advocating for the overturning of the convictions of the West Memphis Three, included Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Johnny Depp, Patti Smith and Ben Harper.
Style on 11/06/2016