bluesinthenorthwest.com

On July 25, 1956, the Italian liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm off the New England coast, claiming the lives of 51 people.
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Songwriter Mike Stoller and his wife were on the Andrea Doria when it sank.
He lost all of his belongings and spent time in a lifeboat before he was rescued.

As his ship was coming into the dock in New York, he sees his writing partner, Jerry Leiber, jumping up and down and waving frantically.

Ahhh, that’s sweet, figures Stoller. He’s so happy to see that I’m OK.

As the gangplank goes down, Jerry comes running up onto the ship. He is yelling, “Mikey! Mikey! We’re number one! We’re number one!”

Mike is confused and doesn’t know what Jerry is saying.

“Some kid named Elvis has covered ‘Hound Dog’ and we’re number one!”

Not a Blues story but certainly a key moment in Rock and Roll history.