First rock and roll record
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are many candidates for the title of the first rock and roll record. Numerous recordings mark the development of rock and roll as a separate musical form. Some songs are cited as having important lyrical content, others are seen as offering important melodic, harmonic or rhythmic influence. These songs include not only hits from the early 1950s when the music emerged on the national and international scene, but also various other precursors to what would become known as Rock and Roll.
Contents |
[edit] Foreshadowing
Wild cards from the 1920s and 1930s that seemed then to have come from nowhere but now clearly foreshadow rock and roll:
- "My Daddy Rocks Me (with One Good Steady Roll)" by Trixie Smith (1922). Although it was played with a backbeat and was one of the first "around the clock" lyrics, this slow minor-key blues was by no means rock and roll in the modern sense. On the other hand, the title certainly underscores the original meaning attached to those two words (both of four letters), rock and roll.
- "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith (1928) was one of the first hit "boogie woogie" recordings, and the first to include classic rock and roll references to "the girl with the red dress on" being told to "not move a peg" until she could "shake that thing" and "mess around".
- "Tiger Rag" by the Washboard Rhythm Kings (1931) was a virtually out of control performance with screeching vocals, a strange tiger roar, and rocking washboard. This recording is standing in for many performances by spasm bands, jug bands, and skiffle groups that have the same wild, informal feel that early rock and roll had.
[edit] Hot swing
Tunes from the 1930s and 1940s that were early indicators of an important change in the music world:
- "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman (1937) featured repeated drum breaks by Gene Krupa, whose musical nature and high showmanship presaged rock and roll drumming.
- "Roll 'Em Pete" by Pete Johnson and Joe Turner (1938), with a hand-clapping back beat boogie woogie and a masterful collation of blues verses.
- "Flying Home" by Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra (1939), tenor sax solo by Illinois Jacquet, recreated and refined live by Arnett Cobb, a model for rock and roll solos ever since: emotional, honking, long, not just an instrumental break but the keystone of the song. (The Benny Goodman Sextet had a popular hit with a subdued "jazz chamber music" version of the same song featuring guitarist Charlie Christian.)
- "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters (1940) contains numerous proto-rock and roll elements. This is the group's best-known example; however, they also recorded other proto-rock recordings such as "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar."
- "New Early In The Morning" and "Jivin' The Blues" by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson (1940), both examples of the very influential and popular rhythmic small group Chicago blues recordings on Lester Melrose's Bluebird label, and among the first on which drums were prominently recorded.
- "Rock Me" by the Lucky Millinder Orchestra with Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1942) vocals and guitar, a gospel song performed in the style of a city blues.
- "The Joint is Really Jumpin' at Carnegie Hall" performed by Judy Garland and Jose Iturbi in the film Thousands Cheer (1943) is notable not only for its boogie-woogie arrangement (boogie-woogie being a recognized predecessor to rock and roll) but for the lyric "when they start to rock" which uses the word "rock" in a purely musical sense (as opposed to its more common use at this time as a double entendre for sex).
- "I Wonder" by Cecil Gant (1944), an early black ballad performance that became widely popular, the first of the black tenors.
- "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan (1945)
- "The Honeydripper" by Joe Liggins (1945), which synthesized boogie-woogie piano, jazz, and even the riff from the folk chestnut "Shortnin' Bread" into an exciting dance performance that topped the R&B "race" charts for 18 weeks.
- "Let the Good Times Roll" by Louis Jordan (1946)
- "Straighten Up and Fly Right" by Nat King Cole (1946), very light on the rocking, but a popular hit with lyrics from an African American folk tale, sounding similar to Bo Diddley but without the big beat.
[edit] Late 1940s: Rhythm & Blues or early Rock & Roll?
The line separating late 1940s rhythm & blues from early rock & roll is not always clear, and some music historians have suggested that the difference between the two terms had more to do with marketing than musical distinction
- "Oakie Boogie" by Jack Guthrie (1947)
- "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll" by Wild Bill Moore (1947)
- "Good Rocking Tonight" (1947) by Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris, both black artists; Brown's original version is jump blues while Harris's version is closer to rock and roll. Later spiritedly covered by Elvis Presley and less spiritedly by Pat Boone.
- "Guitar Boogie" (1948) by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith.
[edit] 1949 rockin' records
1949 produced a number of important records that various critics have labeled as early examples of full fledged rock & roll.
- "Rock Awhile" by Goree Carter recorded in 1949 on the Freedom label in Houston, Texas. Goree had Chuck Berry licks in this song before Berry even appeared on the scene. Some historians believe this to be the first true Rock n Roll song ever recorded.
source: Texas Musicians Museum www.TexasMusiciansMuseum.com
- "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" by Stick McGhee and his Buddies (1949)
- "Rag Mop" by Johnnie Lee Wills and Deacon Anderson (1949) is a novelty tune; the lyrics are simply the title spelled out. The song is best known from its 1950 hit recording by the Ames Brothers.
- "We're Gonna Rock this Joint Tonight" (also known as "Rock the Joint") (1949), first recorded by Jimmy Preston, is often considered a prototype rock and roll song. It was covered in 1951 by Jimmy Cavallo and in 1952 by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen; Marshall Lytle, bass player for the Comets, claims this was one of the songs that inspired Alan Freed to coin the phrase "rock and roll" (although Freed's claim of "originating" the phrase has been called into question, as it is well documented as existing decades earlier).
- "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five was a large and influential hit. The song tells of a New Orleans fish fry that ends with a police raid and has the repeated refrain "It was rocking".
- "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino (1949), featuring Fats on wah-wah mouth trumpet, the first of his 35 Top 40 hits. The insistent back beat of the rhythm section dominates. The song is based on "Junker's Blues", by Drive'em Down.
[edit] 1950s
The hits from the 1950s typically are seen with an early performance much in the rhythm and blues style and a later cover performance more in the rock and roll vein. Often, the first performance was by a black artist and the second by a white artist. These white covers, while at the time sometimes disdained as exploitive and derivative, were a necessary part of the transition of the music. Nor were they all pale imitations, but sometimes earnest remakes by sympathetic performers, and more than a few were recognized as superior recordings to the originals.
- "Rock Me to Sleep," written by Benny Carter and Paul Vandervoort II (1950) and recorded by Helen Humes backed by the Marshall Royal Orchestra.
- "Birmingham Bounce" (1950) by Hardrock Gunter.
- "Hot Rod Race" (1950) performed by Arkie Shibley and His Mountain Dew Boys.
- "Sixty Minute Man" (1950) by the Dominoes. This was the first (and most explicit) big R&B hit to cross over to the pop charts, and the group itself (featuring Clyde McPhatter) appeared at many of Alan Freed's early shows.
- "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (actually Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm) (1951), and Bill Haley and the Saddlemen (1951). Both versions of this song have been declared the definitive first rock and roll record by differing authorities.
- "Crazy Man, Crazy" (1953) by Bill Haley and his Comets was the first rock and roll record on the Billboard Magazine chart. Not a cover, but an original. Haley said he heard the phrase at high-school dances his band was playing.
- "Rock Around the Clock" (1954) by Bill Haley and his Comets (recorded April 1954) was the first number one rock and roll record. This song is often credited with propelling rock into the mainstream, at least the teen mainstream. At first it had lack-luster sales but was later included in a movie about a raucous high-school, Blackboard Jungle, which exposed it to a wider audience.
- "That's All Right (Mama)" (1954) by Elvis Presley (recorded July 1954); this cover of Arthur Crudup's tune was Elvis' first single.
- "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (1954) by Big Joe Turner, Bill Haley and his Comets. Haley's version was the first international hit rock and roll record, actually predating the success of "Rock Around the Clock" by several months, though it was recorded later. Although technically a cover, Haley's version was substantially different in lyric and arrangement to Turner's version (which was also a major hit). Elvis Presley's later 1956 version combined Haley's arrangement with Turner's lyrics, but was not as substantial hit.
- "Sh-Boom" (1954) by the Chords and the Crewcuts, in this case, the latter was a pale imitation. The song is considered a pioneer of the doo-wop variant.
- "Maybellene" (1955) by Chuck Berry.
- "Blue Suede Shoes" (1955) by Carl Perkins, including elements of rockabilly and country music. Later made more famous by Elvis Presley, Perkins' original version was an early rock 'n' roll standard.
[edit] Rolling Stone's Decree versus The King
In 2004 and 2005, debate was sparked between fans of Elvis as well as many in the music business who claimed "That's All Right Mama" was the first rock and roll song, and those who feel the proper claimant should be Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" — both songs celebrating their 50th anniversaries in those two years. Rolling Stone Magazine took the controversial step of unilaterally declaring Elvis' song the first rock and roll recording.
Elvis himself would not have agreed. In his book Race, Rock and Elvis, Michael T. Bertrand quotes him on the subject:
| “ | A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let's face it, I can't sing like Fats Domino can. I know that. | ” |
[edit] Further reading
Dawson, Jim; & Propes, Steve (1992). What was the first rock ’n’ roll record?. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-12939-0.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Article by The Guardian newspaper on the topic
- http://www.history-of-rock.com/numberonerecord.htm
