Origins of rock and roll
Encyclopedia
Rock and roll
emerged as a defined musical style in the United States
in the early to mid 1950s
. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues
music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues
, boogie woogie, jazz
and swing music, and was also influenced by gospel
, country and western
, and traditional folk music
. Rock and roll in turn provided the main basis for the music that, since the mid 1960s, has been generally known as rock music
.
The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but was used by the early twentieth century, both to describe a spiritual fervor and as a sexual analogy. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became used more frequently - but still intermittently - in the late 1930s and 1940s, principally on recordings and in reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio
, disc jockey
Alan Freed
began playing this music style while popularizing the term "rock and roll" to describe it.
Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record. In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley
's "Rock Around the Clock
", recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned.
phrase "rocking and rolling" was originally used by mariners at least as early as the 17th century, to describe the combined "rocking" (fore and aft) and "rolling" (side to side) motion of a ship on the ocean. Examples include an 1821 reference, "...prevent her from rocking and rolling...", and an 1835 reference to a ship "...rocking and rolling on both beam-ends". As the term referred to movement forwards, backwards and from side to side, it acquired sexual connotations from early on; the sea shanty
"Johnny Bowker" (or "Boker"), probably from the early nineteenth century, contains the lines "Oh do, my Johnny Bowker/ Come rock and roll me over".
The hymn
"Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep", with words written in the 1830s by Emma Willard
and tune by Joseph Philip Knight, was recorded several times around the start of the twentieth century, by the Original Bison City Quartet before 1894, the Standard Quartette in 1895, John W. Myers at about the same time, and Gus Reed in 1908. By that time, the specific phrase "rocking and rolling" was also used by African Americans in spirituals with a religious connotation. The earliest known recording of the phrase in use was on a 1904 Victor
phonograph record, "The Camp Meeting
Jubilee" by the Haydn Quartet, with the words "We've been rockin' an' rolling in your arms/ Rockin' and rolling in your arms/ Rockin' and rolling in your arms/ In the arms of Moses." Another version was issued on the Little Wonder
record label in 1916. "Rocking" was also used to describe the spiritual rapture
felt by worshippers at certain religious events, and to refer to the rhythm often found in the accompanying music. At the same time, the terminology was used in secular contexts, for example to describe the motion of railroad trains. It has been suggested that it was also used by men building railroads, who would sing to keep the pace, swinging their hammers down to drill a hole into the rock, and the men who held the steel spikes would "rock" the spike back and forth to clear rock or "roll", twisting it to improve the "bite" of the drill. "Rocking" and "rolling" were also used, both separately and together, in a sexual context; writers for hundreds of years had used the phrases "They had a roll in the hay" or "I rolled her in the clover". By the early twentieth century the words were increasingly used together in secular black slang with a double meaning
, ostensibly referring to dancing and partying, but often with the subtextual meaning of sex.
In 1922, blues singer Trixie Smith
recorded "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)," first featuring the two words in a secular context. 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 later sense. However, the terms "rocking", and "rocking and rolling", were increasingly used through the 1920s and 1930s, especially but not exclusively by black secular musicians, to refer to either dancing or sex, or both. In 1927, blues singer Blind Blake
used the couplet "Now we gonna do the old country rock / First thing we do, swing your partners" in "West Coast Blues", which in turn formed the basis of "Old Country Rock" by William Moore
the following year. Also in 1927, traditional country
musician Uncle Dave Macon
, with his group the Fruit Jar Drinkers, recorded "Sail Away Ladies" with a refrain of "Don't she rock, daddy-o", and "Rock About My Saro Jane". Duke Ellington
recorded "Rockin' In Rhythm" in 1928, and Robinson's Knights Of Rest recorded "Rocking and Rolling" in 1930. In 1932, the phrase "rock and roll" was heard in the Hal Roach
film Asleep in the Feet. In 1934, The Boswell Sisters had a pop hit with "Rock and Roll" from the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, where the term was used to describe the motion of a ship at sea. In 1935, Henry "Red" Allen
recorded "Get Rhythm in Your Feet and Music in Your Soul" which included the lyric, "If Satan starts to hound you, commence to rock and roll / Get rhythm in your feet..." The lyrics were written by the prolific composer J. Russel Robinson with Bill Livingston. Allen's recording was a "race" record
on the Vocalion
label, but the tune was quickly covered by white musicians, notably Benny Goodman
with singer Helen Ward
.
Other notable recordings using the words, both released in 1938, were "Rock It For Me" by Chick Webb
, a swing number with Ella Fitzgerald
on vocals featuring the lyrics "...Won't you satisfy my soul, With the rock and roll?"; and "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
, a gospel song originally written by Thomas Dorsey
as "Hide Me In Thy Bosom". Tharpe performed the song in the style of a city blues, with secular lyrics, ecstatic vocals and electric guitar. She changed Dorsey's "singing" to "swinging," and the way she rolled the "R" in "rock me" led to the phrase being taken as a double entendre
, interpretable as religious or sexual. The following year, Western swing
musician Buddy Jones
recorded "Rockin' Rollin' Mama", which drew on the term's original meaning - "Waves on the ocean, waves in the sea/ But that gal of mine rolls just right for me/ Rockin' rollin' mama, I love the way you rock and roll". In August 1939, Irene Castle devised a new dance called "The Castle Rock and Roll", described as "an easy swing step", which she performed at the Dancing Masters of America convention at the Hotel Astor. The Marx Brothers
' 1941 film The Big Store
featured actress Virginia O'Brien
singing a song starting out as a traditional lullaby which soon changes into a rocking boogie-woogie with lines like "Rock, rock, rock it, baby...". Although the song was only a short comedy number, it contains references which, by then, would have been understood by a wide general audience.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary
, an early use of the word "rock" in describing a style of music was in a review in Metronome magazine on July 21, 1938, which stated that "Harry James
' "Lullaby in Rhythm" really rocks". In 1939, a review of "Ciribiribin" and "Yodelin' Jive" by The Andrews Sisters
with Bing Crosby
, in the journal The Musician, stated that the songs "...rock and roll with unleashed enthusiasm tempered to strict four-four time". By the early 1940s, the term "rock and roll" was also being used in record reviews by Billboard
journalist and columnist Maurie Orodenker
. In the May 30, 1942, issue, for instance, he described Sister Rosetta Tharpe's vocals, on a re-recording of "Rock Me" with Lucky Millinder
's band, as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing", and on October 3, 1942, he described Count Basie
's "It's Sand, Man!" as "an instrumental screamer.. [which].. displays its rock and roll capacities when tackling the righteous rhythms." In the April 25, 1945 edition, Orodenker described Erskine Hawkins
' version of "Caldonia
" as "right rhythmic rock and roll music", a phrase precisely repeated in his 1946 review of "Sugar Lump" by Joe Liggins
.
A double, ironic, meaning came to popular awareness in 1947 in blues artist Roy Brown
's song "Good Rocking Tonight
", covered in 1948 by Wynonie Harris
in a wilder version, in which "rocking" was ostensibly about dancing but was in fact a thinly-veiled allusion to sex. Such double-entendres were well established in blues music but were new to the radio airwaves. After the success of "Good Rocking Tonight" many other R&B artists used similar titles through the late 1940s. At least two different songs with the title "Rock and Roll" were recorded in the late 1940s: by Paul Bascomb
in 1947, and Wild Bill Moore
in 1948. In May 1948, Savoy Records
advertised "Robbie-Dobey Boogie" by Brownie McGhee
with the tagline "It jumps, it's made, it rocks, it rolls." Another record where the phrase was repeated throughout the song was "Rock and Roll Blues", recorded in 1949 by Erline "Rock and Roll" Harris
.
These songs were generally classed as "race music" or, from the late 1940s, "rhythm and blues", and were barely known by mainstream white audiences.
However, in 1951, Cleveland, Ohio
disc jockey
Alan Freed
began broadcasting rhythm, blues, and country music for a multi-racial audience. Freed, familiar with the music of earlier decades, used the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music he aired over station WJW (850 AM
); its use is also credited to Freed's sponsor, record store owner Leo Mintz, who encouraged Freed to play the music on the radio. Originally Freed used the name "Moondog" for himself and any concerts or promotions he put on, because he used as his regular theme music a piece called "Moondog Symphony" by the street musician Louis "Moondog" Hardin
. Hardin subsequently sued Freed on grounds that he was stealing his name and, since Freed was no longer allowed to use the term Moondog, he needed a new catchphrase. After a night of heavy drinking he and his friends came up with the name "The Rock and Roll Party" since he was already using the phrase "Rock and Roll Session" to describe the music he was playing. As his show became extremely popular, the term caught on and became widely used to describe the style of music.
" vocal pattern. African music was modified through the experience of slavery
, and through contact with white musical styles such as the folk ballad
, and instruments, such as the originally Spanish
guitar
. New styles of secular music emerged among black Americans in the early twentieth century, in the form of blues
, ragtime
, jazz
, and gospel music
. Music historian Robert Palmer wrote:
By the 1930s, both black and white musicians, such as Fletcher Henderson
and Bennie Goodman, were developing swing music, essentially jazz played for dancing, and in some areas such as New York City
processes of social integration were taking place. According to Palmer, by the mid 1930s, elements of rock and roll could be found in every type of American folk and blues music. Some jazz bands, such as Count Basie
's, increasingly played rhythmic music that was heavily based on blues riff
s. In Chicago
, blues performers formed into small groups, such as The Harlem Hamfats, and explored the use of amplification. In the Midwest, jump bands developed instrumental blues based on riffs, with saxophone solos and shouted vocals. In Nashville and elsewhere, country music played by white musicians such as Jimmie Rodgers
incorporated blues styles, and in some cases was recorded with (uncredited) black musicians. In Texas
and Oklahoma
, Western swing
bands, such as Bob Wills
, combined elements of big band, blues and country music into a new style of dance music. As musicians from different areas and cultures heard each others' music, so styles merged and innovations spread. Increasingly, processes of active cross-fertilisation took place between the music played and heard by white people and that predominantly played and heard by black people. These processes of exchange and mixing were fuelled by the spread of radio
, 78 rpm and later records and jukeboxes, and the expansion of the commercial popular music business. The music also benefited from the development of new amplification
and electronic recording
techniques from the 1930s onwards, including the invention of the electric guitar
, first recorded as a virtuoso instrument by Charlie Christian
.
In 1938, promoter and record producer John H. Hammond
staged the first "From Spirituals to Swing
" concert in New York City
, to highlight black musical styles. It featured pianist Pete Johnson
and singer Big Joe Turner
, whose recording of "Roll 'Em Pete
" helped spark a craze across American society for "boogie woogie" music, mostly played by black musicians. In both musical and social terms, this helped pave the way for rock and roll music. Economic changes also made the earlier big bands unwieldy; Louis Jordan
left Chick Webb
's orchestra the same year to form his own small group, The Tympany Five. Mixing of genres continued through the shared experiences of the Second World War, and afterwards a new style of music emerged, featuring "honking" saxophone solos, increasing use of the electric guitar, and strongly accented boogie rhythms. This "jump blues
" encompassed both novelty records, such as those by Jordan, and more heavily rhythmic recordings such as those by Lionel Hampton
. Increasingly, the term "rocking" was used in the records themselves, and by the late 1940s was frequently used to describe the music of performers such as Wynonie Harris
whose records reached the top of the newly-christened "rhythm and blues" charts.
In 1947, blues singer Roy Brown
recorded "Good Rocking Tonight
", a song that parodied church music by appropriating its references, including the word "rocking" and the gospel call "Have you heard the news?", relating them to very worldly lyrics about dancing, drinking and sex. The song became much more successful the following year when recorded by Wynonie Harris, whose version changed the steady blues rhythm to an uptempo gospel beat, and it was re-recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954 as his second single. A craze began in the rhythm and blues market for songs about "rocking", including "We're Gonna Rock" by Wild Bill Moore
, the first commercially successful "honking" sax record, with the words "We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll" as a background chant. One of the most popular was "Rock the Joint
", first recorded by Jimmy Preston
in May 1949, and a R&B top 10 hit that year. Preston's version is often considered a prototype rock and roll song, and it was covered in 1952 by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen
. Marshall Lytle
, Haley's bass player, claimed that this was one of the songs that inspired Alan Freed
to coin the phrase "rock and roll" to refer to the music he played.
Freed first started playing the music in 1951, and by 1953 the phrase "rock and roll" was becoming used much more widely to market the music beyond its initial black audience. The practitioners of the music were young black artists, appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms, but the music also became very attractive to white teenagers. As well as "rocking" rhythm and blues songs, such as the massively successful and influential "Rocket 88
" recorded by Ike Turner
and his band but credited to singer Jackie Brenston
, the term was used to encompass other forms of black music. In particular, vocal harmony group recordings in the style that later became known as "doo-wop", such as "Gee" by the Crows
, and "Earth Angel
" by the Penguins
, became huge commercial successes, often for the new small independent record companies becoming established. These included Modern
, Imperial
, Specialty
, Atlantic
, King
and Chess
.
Although some of the rhythm and blues musicians who had been successful in earlier years - such as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown
, and Fats Domino
who had his first R&B hit in 1950 - were able to make the transition into new markets, much of the initial breakthrough into the wider pop music market came from white musicians, such as Haley, Presley, Carl Perkins
and Jerry Lee Lewis
re-recording earlier rhythm and blues hits, often making use of technological improvements in recording and innovations such as double tracking, developed by the large mainstream record companies, as well as the invention of the 45 rpm
record and the rapid growth of its use in jukeboxes. At the same time, younger black musicians such as Little Richard
, Chuck Berry
and Bo Diddley
took advantage of the gradual breakdown of ethnic barriers in America to become equally popular and help launch the rock and roll era. By the time of Haley's first hits in 1954, and those of Berry, Little Richard and then Presley the next year, rock and roll was firmly established.
:
But that has not stopped many people from asserting one song or another as the first. These include:
The 1992 book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record by Jim Dawson
and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders, from Illinois Jacquet
's "Blues, Part 2" (1944) to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel
" (1956), without reaching a definitive conclusion. In their introduction, the authors claim that since the modern definition of rock 'n' roll was set by disc jockey
Alan Freed
's use of the term in his groundbreaking The Rock and Roll Show on New York's WINS
in late 1954, as well as at his Rock and Roll Jubilee Balls at St. Nicholas Arena in January 1955, they chose to judge their candidates according to the music Freed spotlighted: R&B combos, black vocal groups, honking saxophonists, blues belters, and several white artists playing in the authentic R&B style (Bill Haley
, Elvis Presley
). The artists who appeared at Freed's earliest shows included orchestra leader Buddy Johnson
, the Clovers, Fats Domino
, Big Joe Turner
, the Moonglows, Clyde McPhatter
and the Drifters
, and the Harptones
. That, say Dawson and Propes, was the first music being called rock 'n' roll during that short time when the term caught on all over America. Because the honking tenor saxophone was the driving force at those shows and on many of the records Freed was playing, the authors began their list with a 1944 squealing and squawking live performance by Illinois Jacquet
with Jazz at the Philharmonic
in Los Angeles in mid-1944.
In 2004, Elvis Presley's "That's All Right Mama" and Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock
" both celebrated their 50th anniversaries. Rolling Stone Magazine felt that Presley's song was the first rock and roll recording. At the time Presley recorded the song, Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll", later covered by Haley, was already at the top of the Billboard R&B charts
. The Guardian
felt that while there were rock'n'roll records before Presley's, his recording was the moment when all the strands came together in "perfect embodiment". Presley himself is quoted as saying: "A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along."
A leading contender as the first fully formed rock and roll recording is "Rocket 88
" by Jackie Brenston
and his Delta Cats (which was, in fact, Ike Turner
and his band The Kings of Rhythm recording under a different name), recorded by Sam Phillips
for his Memphis Recording Service in 1951 (the master tape being sold to and later released by Chess Records
). Also formative in the sound of rock and roll were Little Richard
and Chuck Berry
. From the early 1950s, Little Richard combined gospel with New Orleans R&B, heavy backbeat, pounding piano and wailing vocals. Ray Charles
referred to Little Richard as being the artist that started a new kind of music, which was a funky style of rock n roll that he was performing onstage for a few years before appearing on record in 1955 as "Tutti Frutti
." Chuck Berry, with "Maybellene
" (recorded on May 21, 1955, and which reached # 1 on the R&B chart and # 5 on the US pop chart), "Roll over Beethoven
" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music
" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode
" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar intros and lead breaks that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Early rock and roll used the twelve-bar blues chord progression and shared with boogie woogie the four beats (usually broken down into eight eighth-notes/quavers) to a bar. Rock and roll however has a greater emphasis on the backbeat
than boogie woogie. Bo Diddley
's 1955 hit "Bo Diddley
", with its b-side "I'm A Man
", introduced a new beat and unique guitar style that inspired many artists without either side using the 12 bar pattern - they instead played variations on a single chord each.
Others point out that performers like Arthur Crudup
and Fats Domino
were recording blues songs as early as 1946 that are indistinguishable from later rock and roll, and that these blues songs were based on themes, chord changes, and rhythms dating back decades before that. Wynonie Harris
' 1947 cover of Roy Brown
's "Good Rocking Tonight
" is also a claimant for the title of first rock and roll record, as the popularity of this record led to many answer songs, mostly by black artists, with the same rocking beat, during the late 40s and early 50s. Big Joe Turner
's 1939 recording, "Roll 'Em Pete
", is close to '50s rock and roll. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
was also recording shouting, stomping music in the 1930s and 1940s, such as "Strange Things Happening Every Day
" (1944), that in some ways contained major elements of mid-1950s rock and roll. Pushing the date back even earlier, blues researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow
has stated that "Crazy About My Baby" by Blind Roosevelt Graves and his brother, recorded in 1929, "could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording".
Writer Nick Tosches
stated:
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
emerged as a defined musical style in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early to mid 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, boogie woogie, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and swing music, and was also influenced by gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and traditional folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Rock and roll in turn provided the main basis for the music that, since the mid 1960s, has been generally known as rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
.
The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but was used by the early twentieth century, both to describe a spiritual fervor and as a sexual analogy. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became used more frequently - but still intermittently - in the late 1930s and 1940s, principally on recordings and in reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
began playing this music style while popularizing the term "rock and roll" to describe it.
Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record. In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley
Bill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
's "Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
", recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned.
The term "rock and roll"
The alliterativeAlliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
phrase "rocking and rolling" was originally used by mariners at least as early as the 17th century, to describe the combined "rocking" (fore and aft) and "rolling" (side to side) motion of a ship on the ocean. Examples include an 1821 reference, "...prevent her from rocking and rolling...", and an 1835 reference to a ship "...rocking and rolling on both beam-ends". As the term referred to movement forwards, backwards and from side to side, it acquired sexual connotations from early on; the sea shanty
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
"Johnny Bowker" (or "Boker"), probably from the early nineteenth century, contains the lines "Oh do, my Johnny Bowker/ Come rock and roll me over".
The hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
"Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep", with words written in the 1830s by Emma Willard
Emma Willard
Emma Hart Willard was an American women’s rights activist who dedicated her life to education. She worked in several schools and founded the first school for women’s higher education, the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York...
and tune by Joseph Philip Knight, was recorded several times around the start of the twentieth century, by the Original Bison City Quartet before 1894, the Standard Quartette in 1895, John W. Myers at about the same time, and Gus Reed in 1908. By that time, the specific phrase "rocking and rolling" was also used by African Americans in spirituals with a religious connotation. The earliest known recording of the phrase in use was on a 1904 Victor
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
phonograph record, "The Camp Meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
Jubilee" by the Haydn Quartet, with the words "We've been rockin' an' rolling in your arms/ Rockin' and rolling in your arms/ Rockin' and rolling in your arms/ In the arms of Moses." Another version was issued on the Little Wonder
Little Wonder
"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in The United Kingdom and topping the charts in Japan.-Background:...
record label in 1916. "Rocking" was also used to describe the spiritual rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
felt by worshippers at certain religious events, and to refer to the rhythm often found in the accompanying music. At the same time, the terminology was used in secular contexts, for example to describe the motion of railroad trains. It has been suggested that it was also used by men building railroads, who would sing to keep the pace, swinging their hammers down to drill a hole into the rock, and the men who held the steel spikes would "rock" the spike back and forth to clear rock or "roll", twisting it to improve the "bite" of the drill. "Rocking" and "rolling" were also used, both separately and together, in a sexual context; writers for hundreds of years had used the phrases "They had a roll in the hay" or "I rolled her in the clover". By the early twentieth century the words were increasingly used together in secular black slang with a double meaning
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
, ostensibly referring to dancing and partying, but often with the subtextual meaning of sex.
In 1922, blues singer Trixie Smith
Trixie Smith
Trixie Smith was an African American blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. She made four dozen recordings.-Biography:...
recorded "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)," first featuring the two words in a secular context. Although it was played with a backbeat and was one of the first "around the clock" lyrics, this slow minor-key blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
was by no means "rock and roll" in the later sense. However, the terms "rocking", and "rocking and rolling", were increasingly used through the 1920s and 1930s, especially but not exclusively by black secular musicians, to refer to either dancing or sex, or both. In 1927, blues singer Blind Blake
Blind Blake
"Blind" Blake was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
used the couplet "Now we gonna do the old country rock / First thing we do, swing your partners" in "West Coast Blues", which in turn formed the basis of "Old Country Rock" by William Moore
William Moore (musician)
William "Bill" Moore was an African American blues singer and guitarist.Born in Dover, Georgia, United States, he was the only Virginian country bluesman to record for the Paramount label . His four 78 rpm records are highly sought by collectors and have been numerously re-released on LP and CD...
the following year. Also in 1927, traditional country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
musician Uncle Dave Macon
Uncle Dave Macon
Uncle Dave Macon , born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian...
, with his group the Fruit Jar Drinkers, recorded "Sail Away Ladies" with a refrain of "Don't she rock, daddy-o", and "Rock About My Saro Jane". Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
recorded "Rockin' In Rhythm" in 1928, and Robinson's Knights Of Rest recorded "Rocking and Rolling" in 1930. In 1932, the phrase "rock and roll" was heard in the Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
film Asleep in the Feet. In 1934, The Boswell Sisters had a pop hit with "Rock and Roll" from the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, where the term was used to describe the motion of a ship at sea. In 1935, Henry "Red" Allen
Red Allen
Henry James "Red" Allen was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.-Life and career:...
recorded "Get Rhythm in Your Feet and Music in Your Soul" which included the lyric, "If Satan starts to hound you, commence to rock and roll / Get rhythm in your feet..." The lyrics were written by the prolific composer J. Russel Robinson with Bill Livingston. Allen's recording was a "race" record
Race record
Race records were 78 rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans during the early 20th century, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. They primarily contained race music, comprising a variety of African American musical genres including blues, jazz, and gospel music, though comedy...
on the Vocalion
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
label, but the tune was quickly covered by white musicians, notably Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
with singer Helen Ward
Helen Ward (jazz singer)
Helen Ward was an American singer. Her father had taught her piano, and she appeared on radio broadcasts with WOR and WNYC...
.
Other notable recordings using the words, both released in 1938, were "Rock It For Me" by Chick Webb
Chick Webb
William Henry Webb, usually known as Chick Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.-Biography:...
, a swing number with Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
on vocals featuring the lyrics "...Won't you satisfy my soul, With the rock and roll?"; and "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, a gospel song originally written by Thomas Dorsey
Thomas A. Dorsey
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.As formulated by Dorsey,...
as "Hide Me In Thy Bosom". Tharpe performed the song in the style of a city blues, with secular lyrics, ecstatic vocals and electric guitar. She changed Dorsey's "singing" to "swinging," and the way she rolled the "R" in "rock me" led to the phrase being taken as a double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
, interpretable as religious or sexual. The following year, Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
musician Buddy Jones
Buddy Jones
Buddy Jones was an American Western swing musician who recorded in the 1930s and 1940s.-Life:He was born in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1935 he made his first recordings for Decca Records...
recorded "Rockin' Rollin' Mama", which drew on the term's original meaning - "Waves on the ocean, waves in the sea/ But that gal of mine rolls just right for me/ Rockin' rollin' mama, I love the way you rock and roll". In August 1939, Irene Castle devised a new dance called "The Castle Rock and Roll", described as "an easy swing step", which she performed at the Dancing Masters of America convention at the Hotel Astor. The Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
' 1941 film The Big Store
The Big Store
The Big Store is a Marx Brothers comedy film in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo work to save the Phelps Department Store, owned by Martha Phelps . Groucho plays her detective and bodyguard Wolf J...
featured actress Virginia O'Brien
Virginia O'Brien
Virginia Lee O'Brien was a popular American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic roles in MGM musicals of the 1940s.-Life and career:...
singing a song starting out as a traditional lullaby which soon changes into a rocking boogie-woogie with lines like "Rock, rock, rock it, baby...". Although the song was only a short comedy number, it contains references which, by then, would have been understood by a wide general audience.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
, an early use of the word "rock" in describing a style of music was in a review in Metronome magazine on July 21, 1938, which stated that "Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
' "Lullaby in Rhythm" really rocks". In 1939, a review of "Ciribiribin" and "Yodelin' Jive" by The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, in the journal The Musician, stated that the songs "...rock and roll with unleashed enthusiasm tempered to strict four-four time". By the early 1940s, the term "rock and roll" was also being used in record reviews by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
journalist and columnist Maurie Orodenker
Maurie Orodenker
Maurie H. Orodenker was an American journalist, music critic and advertising agency executive. In the 1940s, when working as a record reviewer on Billboard magazine, he was one of the first to use the term "rock and roll" to describe upbeat blues and swing music of the type which soon afterwards...
. In the May 30, 1942, issue, for instance, he described Sister Rosetta Tharpe's vocals, on a re-recording of "Rock Me" with Lucky Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
's band, as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing", and on October 3, 1942, he described Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
's "It's Sand, Man!" as "an instrumental screamer.. [which].. displays its rock and roll capacities when tackling the righteous rhythms." In the April 25, 1945 edition, Orodenker described Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
' version of "Caldonia
Caldonia
"Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. A version by Erskine Hawkins, also in 1945, was described by Billboard magazine as "rock and roll", the first time that phrase was used in print to describe any style of music.-Louis Jordan recording:In...
" as "right rhythmic rock and roll music", a phrase precisely repeated in his 1946 review of "Sugar Lump" by Joe Liggins
Joe Liggins
Joe Liggins was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist, who was the frontman in the 1940s and 1950s with the band, Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers....
.
A double, ironic, meaning came to popular awareness in 1947 in blues artist Roy Brown
Roy Brown (blues musician)
Roy James Brown was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had an influence on the early development of rock and roll music. His "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition,...
's song "Good Rocking Tonight
Good Rocking Tonight
"Good Rocking Tonight" was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!"...
", covered in 1948 by Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
in a wilder version, in which "rocking" was ostensibly about dancing but was in fact a thinly-veiled allusion to sex. Such double-entendres were well established in blues music but were new to the radio airwaves. After the success of "Good Rocking Tonight" many other R&B artists used similar titles through the late 1940s. At least two different songs with the title "Rock and Roll" were recorded in the late 1940s: by Paul Bascomb
Paul Bascomb
Paul Bascomb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, noted for his extended tenure with Erskine Hawkins. He is a 1979 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame....
in 1947, and Wild Bill Moore
Wild Bill Moore
William M. Moore , known as Wild Bill Moore, was an American jazz and R&B tenor saxophone player....
in 1948. In May 1948, Savoy Records
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
advertised "Robbie-Dobey Boogie" by Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
with the tagline "It jumps, it's made, it rocks, it rolls." Another record where the phrase was repeated throughout the song was "Rock and Roll Blues", recorded in 1949 by Erline "Rock and Roll" Harris
Erline Harris
Erline Harris , born Erlyn Eloise Johnson, was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1940s and early 1950s...
.
These songs were generally classed as "race music" or, from the late 1940s, "rhythm and blues", and were barely known by mainstream white audiences.
However, in 1951, Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
began broadcasting rhythm, blues, and country music for a multi-racial audience. Freed, familiar with the music of earlier decades, used the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music he aired over station WJW (850 AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
); its use is also credited to Freed's sponsor, record store owner Leo Mintz, who encouraged Freed to play the music on the radio. Originally Freed used the name "Moondog" for himself and any concerts or promotions he put on, because he used as his regular theme music a piece called "Moondog Symphony" by the street musician Louis "Moondog" Hardin
Moondog
Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin , was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he...
. Hardin subsequently sued Freed on grounds that he was stealing his name and, since Freed was no longer allowed to use the term Moondog, he needed a new catchphrase. After a night of heavy drinking he and his friends came up with the name "The Rock and Roll Party" since he was already using the phrase "Rock and Roll Session" to describe the music he was playing. As his show became extremely popular, the term caught on and became widely used to describe the style of music.
Development of the musical style
Rock and roll music emerged from the wide variety of musical genres that existed in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, among different ethnic and social groups. Each genre developed over time through changing fashion and innovation, and each one exchanged ideas and stylistic elements with all the others. The greatest contribution came from the musical traditions of America's black population, with an ancient heritage of oral storytelling through music of African origin, usually with strong rhythmic elements, with frequent use of "blue notes" and often using a "call and responseCall and response
Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener."...
" vocal pattern. African music was modified through the experience of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, and through contact with white musical styles such as the folk ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
, and instruments, such as the originally Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. New styles of secular music emerged among black Americans in the early twentieth century, in the form of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. Music historian Robert Palmer wrote:
"Rock 'n' roll was an inevitable outgrowth of the social and musical interactions between blacks and whites in the South and Southwest. Its roots are a complex tangle. Bedrock black church music influenced blues, rural blues influenced white folk song and the black popular music of the Northern ghettos, blues and black pop influenced jazz, and so on. But the single most important process was the influence of black music on white."
By the 1930s, both black and white musicians, such as Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
and Bennie Goodman, were developing swing music, essentially jazz played for dancing, and in some areas such as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
processes of social integration were taking place. According to Palmer, by the mid 1930s, elements of rock and roll could be found in every type of American folk and blues music. Some jazz bands, such as Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
's, increasingly played rhythmic music that was heavily based on blues riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s. In Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, blues performers formed into small groups, such as The Harlem Hamfats, and explored the use of amplification. In the Midwest, jump bands developed instrumental blues based on riffs, with saxophone solos and shouted vocals. In Nashville and elsewhere, country music played by white musicians such as Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
incorporated blues styles, and in some cases was recorded with (uncredited) black musicians. In Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
bands, such as Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
, combined elements of big band, blues and country music into a new style of dance music. As musicians from different areas and cultures heard each others' music, so styles merged and innovations spread. Increasingly, processes of active cross-fertilisation took place between the music played and heard by white people and that predominantly played and heard by black people. These processes of exchange and mixing were fuelled by the spread of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, 78 rpm and later records and jukeboxes, and the expansion of the commercial popular music business. The music also benefited from the development of new amplification
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
and electronic recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
techniques from the 1930s onwards, including the invention of the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, first recorded as a virtuoso instrument by Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
.
In 1938, promoter and record producer John H. Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
staged the first "From Spirituals to Swing
From Spirituals to Swing
From Spirituals to Swing was the title of two concerts presented by John Hammond in Carnegie Hall on 23 December 1938 and 24 December 1939. The concerts included performances by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson, Helen Humes, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Mitchell's...
" concert in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to highlight black musical styles. It featured pianist Pete Johnson
Pete Johnson
Pete Johnson was an American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist.Journalist Tony Russell stated in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most...
and singer Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, whose recording of "Roll 'Em Pete
Roll 'Em Pete
"Roll 'Em Pete" is a rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 1938 by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. The recording is regarded as one of the most important precursors of what later became known as "rock and roll".-Original recording:...
" helped spark a craze across American society for "boogie woogie" music, mostly played by black musicians. In both musical and social terms, this helped pave the way for rock and roll music. Economic changes also made the earlier big bands unwieldy; Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
left Chick Webb
Chick Webb
William Henry Webb, usually known as Chick Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.-Biography:...
's orchestra the same year to form his own small group, The Tympany Five. Mixing of genres continued through the shared experiences of the Second World War, and afterwards a new style of music emerged, featuring "honking" saxophone solos, increasing use of the electric guitar, and strongly accented boogie rhythms. This "jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
" encompassed both novelty records, such as those by Jordan, and more heavily rhythmic recordings such as those by Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
. Increasingly, the term "rocking" was used in the records themselves, and by the late 1940s was frequently used to describe the music of performers such as Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
whose records reached the top of the newly-christened "rhythm and blues" charts.
In 1947, blues singer Roy Brown
Roy Brown (blues musician)
Roy James Brown was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had an influence on the early development of rock and roll music. His "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition,...
recorded "Good Rocking Tonight
Good Rocking Tonight
"Good Rocking Tonight" was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!"...
", a song that parodied church music by appropriating its references, including the word "rocking" and the gospel call "Have you heard the news?", relating them to very worldly lyrics about dancing, drinking and sex. The song became much more successful the following year when recorded by Wynonie Harris, whose version changed the steady blues rhythm to an uptempo gospel beat, and it was re-recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954 as his second single. A craze began in the rhythm and blues market for songs about "rocking", including "We're Gonna Rock" by Wild Bill Moore
Wild Bill Moore
William M. Moore , known as Wild Bill Moore, was an American jazz and R&B tenor saxophone player....
, the first commercially successful "honking" sax record, with the words "We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll" as a background chant. One of the most popular was "Rock the Joint
Rock the Joint
"Rock the Joint", also known as "We're Gonna Rock This Joint Tonight", is a boogie song recorded by various proto-rock and roll singers, notably Jimmy Preston and early rock and roll singers, most notably Bill Haley...
", first recorded by Jimmy Preston
Jimmy Preston
Jimmy Preston was an R&B bandleader, alto saxophonist and singer who made an important contribution to early rock and roll....
in May 1949, and a R&B top 10 hit that year. Preston's version is often considered a prototype rock and roll song, and it was covered in 1952 by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
. Marshall Lytle
Marshall Lytle
Marshall Lytle , who also goes by the name Tommy Page, is an American rock and roll musician, best known for his work with the groups Bill Haley & His Comets and The Jodimars in the 1950s.-Career:...
, Haley's bass player, claimed that this was one of the songs that inspired Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
to coin the phrase "rock and roll" to refer to the music he played.
Freed first started playing the music in 1951, and by 1953 the phrase "rock and roll" was becoming used much more widely to market the music beyond its initial black audience. The practitioners of the music were young black artists, appealing to the post-war community's need for excitement, dancing and increasing social freedoms, but the music also became very attractive to white teenagers. As well as "rocking" rhythm and blues songs, such as the massively successful and influential "Rocket 88
Rocket 88
"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
" recorded by Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and his band but credited to singer Jackie Brenston
Jackie Brenston
Jackie Brenston was an African American R&B singer and saxophonist, who recorded, with Ike Turner's band, the first version of the proto-rock and roll song "Rocket 88".-Biography:...
, the term was used to encompass other forms of black music. In particular, vocal harmony group recordings in the style that later became known as "doo-wop", such as "Gee" by the Crows
The Crows
The Crows were an American R & B singing group who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only major hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group...
, and "Earth Angel
Earth Angel
"Earth Angel " is an American doo-wop song, originally released by The Penguins in 1954 on the Dootone label , as the B-side to "Hey Señorita." The song became a major hit for The Crew-Cuts in 1955, reaching the Billboard charts on January 29, 1955. It peaked at #3 on the Disk Jockey chart, #8 on...
" by the Penguins
The Penguins
The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, "Earth Angel ", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts...
, became huge commercial successes, often for the new small independent record companies becoming established. These included Modern
Modern Records
Modern Records was an American record label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. In the 1960s, Modern Records went bankrupt and ceased operations, but the catalogue went with the management into what became Kent Records. This back catalogue was eventually licensed to the UK label...
, Imperial
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
, Specialty
Specialty Records
Specialty Records was an American record label based in Los Angeles. It was originally launched as Juke Box Records in 1946, but later renamed by its owner Art Rupe when he parted company with a couple of his original partners...
, Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, King
King Records (USA)
King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...
and Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
.
Although some of the rhythm and blues musicians who had been successful in earlier years - such as Joe Turner, Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, and Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
who had his first R&B hit in 1950 - were able to make the transition into new markets, much of the initial breakthrough into the wider pop music market came from white musicians, such as Haley, Presley, Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
re-recording earlier rhythm and blues hits, often making use of technological improvements in recording and innovations such as double tracking, developed by the large mainstream record companies, as well as the invention of the 45 rpm
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
record and the rapid growth of its use in jukeboxes. At the same time, younger black musicians such as Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
and Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
took advantage of the gradual breakdown of ethnic barriers in America to become equally popular and help launch the rock and roll era. By the time of Haley's first hits in 1954, and those of Berry, Little Richard and then Presley the next year, rock and roll was firmly established.
Key recordings
1920s
- "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)" by Trixie SmithTrixie SmithTrixie Smith was an African American blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. She made four dozen recordings.-Biography:...
was issued in 1922, the first record to refer to "rocking" and "rolling" in a secular context.
- "That Black Snake Moan", a country bluesCountry bluesCountry blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
first recorded in 1926 by Blind Lemon JeffersonBlind Lemon Jefferson"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
, contains the lines "That's all right mama / That's all right for you / Mama, that's all right / Most any old way you do", later famously used by Arthur CrudupArthur CrudupArthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" , "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists.-Career:Arthur Crudup...
and then Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
- "Sail Away Ladies" and "Rock About My Saro Jane" were recorded by Uncle Dave MaconUncle Dave MaconUncle Dave Macon , born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian...
and his Fruit Jar Drinkers on May 7, 1927. "Sail Away Ladies" is a traditional square danceSquare danceSquare dance is a folk dance with four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4. Couples 1 and 3 are known as the head couples, while Couples 2 and 4 are the side couples...
tune, with, in Macon's version, a vocal refrain of "Don't she rock, daddy-o", which in other versions became "Don't you rock me, daddy-o". "Don't You Rock Me, Daddy-o" later became a hit in the UK in 1957 for both the Vipers Skiffle Group and Lonnie DoneganLonnie DoneganAnthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
. Macon is thought to have learned the song "Rock About My Saro Jane" from black stevedoreStevedoreStevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s at Nashville in the 1880s, although Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
believed that the song dated from the mid-nineteenth century.
- "Kansas City BluesJim Jackson's Kansas City Blues-Recordings and later influence:Jackson's first record, "Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues, Part 1 & 2" was one of the first, and biggest race hits...
" by Jim JacksonJim Jackson (musician)Jim Jackson was an African American blues and hokum singer, songster and guitarist, whose recordings in the late 1920s were popular and influential on later artists.-Career:...
. recorded on October 10, 1927, was a best selling blues, suggested as one of the first million-seller records. Its melody line was later re-used and developed by Charlie PattonCharlie PattonCharlie Patton , better known as Charley Patton, was an American Delta blues musician. He is considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", and is credited with creating an enduring body of American music and personally inspiring just about every Delta blues man...
in "Going To Move To Alabama" (1929) and Hank Williams ("Move It On Over") (1947) before emerging in "Rock Around The ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
", (1954) and its lyrical content presaged Leiber and Stoller's "Kansas CityKansas City (R&B song)"Kansas City" is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. First recorded by Little Willie Littlefield the same year, the song later became a #1 hit when it was recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1959...
". It contains the line "It takes a rocking chair to rock, a rubber ball to roll," which had previously been used in 1924 by Ma RaineyMa RaineyMa Rainey was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues....
in "Jealous Hearted Blues", and which Bill Haley would later incorporate into his 1952 recording, "Sundown Boogie."
- "It's Tight Like That" by Tampa RedTampa RedTampa Red , born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an American Chicago blues musician....
with pianist Georgia Tom (Thomas A. DorseyThomas A. DorseyThomas Andrew Dorsey was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.As formulated by Dorsey,...
), recorded on October 24, 1928, was a highly successful early hokumHokumHokum is a particular song type of American blues music - a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos...
record, which combined bawdy rural humour with sophisticated musical technique. With his Chicago Five, Tampa Red later went on to pioneer the Chicago small group "BluebirdBluebird RecordsBluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
" sound, while Dorsey became "the father of gospelGospelA gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
music".
- "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" by Clarence "Pinetop" SmithPinetop SmithClarence Smith, better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist...
, recorded on December 29, 1928, was one of the first hit "boogie woogieBoogie-woogie (music)Boogie-woogie is a style of piano-based blues that became popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, and country and western music, and even gospel. Whilst the blues traditionally depicts a variety...
" 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". Smith's tune itself derives from Jimmy BlytheJimmy BlytheJimmy Blythe was an influential American jazz and boogie-woogie pianist.-Life:He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, and moved to Chicago, Illinois around 1916, studying with pianist Clarence Jones...
's 1925 recording, "Jimmy's Blues", and earlier records had been made in a similar style by Meade "Lux" Lewis and others. A hit "popPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
" version of Smith's record was released by Tommy DorseyTommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
in 1938, as "Boogie Woogie".
- "Crazy About My Baby" by Blind Roosevelt Graves and brother Uaroy, recorded in 1929, was a rhythmic country blues with small group accompaniment. Researcher Gayle Dean WardlowGayle Dean WardlowGayle Dean Wardlow is an American historian of the blues. He is particularly associated with research into the lives of musicians Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson and the historical development of the Delta blues, on which he is a leading world authority.He was born in Freer, Texas, but was...
has stated that this "could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording". The brothers also recorded rhythmic gospel music. The Graves brothers, with an additional piano player, were later recorded as the Mississippi Jook Band, whose 1936 recordings including "Skippy Whippy", "Barbecue Bust" and "Hittin' The Bottle Stomp" were highly rhythmic instrumental recordings which, according to writer Robert Palmer, "..featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat".
1930s
- "Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)"Blue Yodel #9" is a blues/country song by Jimmie Rodgers which included an unbilled Louis Armstrong on trumpet. The song is set in Memphis at the corner of Beale Street and Main Street, a block from the current location of B.B. King's Blues Club.First recorded on July 16, 1930, it was the ninth...
" by Jimmie RodgersJimmie Rodgers (country singer)James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
, recorded on July 16, 1930, was one of a series of recordings made by the biggest early star of country music in the late 1920s and early 1930s, based on blues songs he had heard on his travels. "Blue Yodel No. 9" was recorded with an uncredited Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(cornet) and Lil Armstrong (piano), foreshadowing later collaborations between black and white musicians but which at the time were almost unprecedented.
- "Tiger RagTiger Rag"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.-Origins:...
" by The Washboard Rhythm KingsThe Washboard Rhythm KingsThe Washboard Rhythm Kings 1931 to 1933 were a loose aggregation of jazz performers, many of high calibre, who recorded as a group for various labels between about 1930 and 1935.The band played goodtime swinging music, featuring spirited vocals, horns, a washboard player...
(later known as the Georgia Washboard Stompers), recorded in 1932, was a virtually out of control performance, with a rocking washboardWashboardA washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
and unusually high energy. It opens with a repeated one-note guitar lick that would transform into a chord in the hands of Robert Johnson, T-Bone WalkerT-Bone WalkerAaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
and others. This is just one of many recordings by spasm bands, jug bandJug bandA Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
s, and skiffle groupSkiffleSkiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
s that have the same wild, informal feel that early rock and roll had. After the original recording by the Original Dixieland Jass BandOriginal Dixieland Jass BandThe Original Dixieland Jass Band were a New Orleans, Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standards, the most famous being Tiger Rag...
in 1917, "Tiger Rag" had become not only a jazz standardJazz standardJazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
, but was also widely covered in dance band and march orchestrations.
- "Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah)" by Austin Coleman with Joe Washington Brown, from 1934, was a frenzied and raucous ring shoutRing shoutA shout or ring shout is an ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, first practiced by African slaves in the West Indies and the United States, in which worshipers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands...
recorded by JohnJohn LomaxJohn Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...
and Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
in a church in Jennings, LouisianaJennings, LouisianaJennings is a small city in and the parish seat of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Lake Charles. The population was 10,986 at the 2000 census....
, with the singer declaiming "I'm going to rock, you gonna rock...I sit there and rock, I sit there and rock, yeah yeah yeah." Music historian Robert Palmer wrote that "the rhythmic singing, the hard-driving beat, the bluesy melody, and the improvised, stream-of-consciousness words... all anticipate key aspects of rock 'n roll as it would emerge some 20 years later."
- "Oh! Red" by The Harlem Hamfats, recorded on April 18, 1936, was a hit record made by a small group of jazz and blues musicians assembled by J. Mayo WilliamsJ. Mayo WilliamsJay Mayo "Ink" Williams was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of talented African-American musicians on recording contracts...
for the specific purpose of making commercially successful dance records. Viewed at the time (and subsequently by jazz fans) as a novelty group, the format became very influential, and the group's recordings included many with sex and drugs references.
- "I Believe I'll Dust My BroomDust My Broom"Dust My Broom" is a blues standard originally recorded as "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom"by Robert Johnson, the Mississippi Delta blues singer and guitarist, on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03475, ARC 7-04-81 and Conqueror 8871...
" (recorded on November 23, 1936), "Crossroad Blues" (recorded on November 27, 1936), and other recordings by Robert Johnson, while not particularly successful at the time, directly influenced the development of Chicago bluesChicago bluesThe Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
and, when reissued in the 1960s, also strongly influenced later rock musicians.
- "One O'Clock JumpOne O'Clock Jump"One O'Clock Jump" is a jazz standard, a 12-bar blues instrumental, written in 1937 by Count Basie, with arrangement from Eddie Durham and Buster Smith. The original recording of the tune by Basie and his band is noted for the saxophone work of Herschel Evans and Lester Young; trumpeting by Buck...
" by Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, arranged by Eddie DurhamEddie DurhamEddie Durham was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer and musical arranger of the swing music medium born in San Marcos, Texas, probably best known for his work with musicians like Cab Calloway, Willie Bryant, Andy Kirk, Glenn Miller, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, among others...
and recorded on July 7, 1937, was based on a 12-bar blues that builds in rhythmic intensity and features, like many of Basie's other records, the rhythm section of Jo JonesJo JonesJo Jones was an American jazz drummer.Known as Papa Jo Jones in his later years, he was sometimes confused with another influential jazz drummer, Philly Joe Jones...
(drums), Walter PageWalter PageWalter Sylvester Page , nicknamed "Hoss," was an African American jazz bassist and leader of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils jazz orchestra from 1925–1931...
(bass), and Freddie GreenFreddie GreenFrederick William "Freddie" Green was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and...
(rhythm guitar) that "all but invented the notion of swing through their innovations". "Sing, Sing, SingSing, Sing, Sing"Sing, Sing, Sing " is a 1936 song, written by Louis Prima and first recorded by him with the New Orleans Gang and released in March 1936 as a 78 as Brunswick 7628 . It is strongly identified with the big band and swing eras. It was covered by Fletcher Henderson and most famously Benny Goodman...
" by Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, also from 1937, written by Louis PrimaLouis PrimaLouis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
, featured repeated drum breaks by Gene KrupaGene KrupaGene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, whose musical nature and high showmanship presaged rock and roll drumming.
- "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, recorded on October 31, 1938, was important not only for its lyrical content, but for its style. Many later rock and roll stars, including Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Jerry Lee LewisJerry Lee LewisJerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, and Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, cited Tharpe's singing, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
playing, and energetic performance style as an influence. Tharpe performed the song with pianist Albert AmmonsAlbert AmmonsAlbert Ammons was an American pianist. Ammons was a player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s into the mid 1940s.-Life and career:...
at the From Spirituals to SwingFrom Spirituals to SwingFrom Spirituals to Swing was the title of two concerts presented by John Hammond in Carnegie Hall on 23 December 1938 and 24 December 1939. The concerts included performances by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson, Helen Humes, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Mitchell's...
concert presented by John HammondJohn H. HammondJohn Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
in Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on December 23, 1938. She also re-recorded the song with Lucky MillinderLucky MillinderLucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
's band in 1942, when columnist Maurie OrodenkerMaurie OrodenkerMaurie H. Orodenker was an American journalist, music critic and advertising agency executive. In the 1940s, when working as a record reviewer on Billboard magazine, he was one of the first to use the term "rock and roll" to describe upbeat blues and swing music of the type which soon afterwards...
described her vocals as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing". In 1944, Tharpe's "Strange Things Happening Every DayStrange Things Happening Every Day"Strange Things Happening Every Day" is a traditional African American spiritual.It was most famously, and influentially, recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe in late 1944, becoming a hit record in 1945. Released as a single by Decca Records, Tharpe's version featured her vocals and electric guitar,...
", recorded with pianist Sammy PriceSammy PriceSammy Price was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader. He was born Samuel Blythe Price, in Honey Grove, Texas, United States. Price was most noteworthy for his work on Decca Records with his own band, known as the Texas Bluesicians, that included fellow musicians...
, was a boogie-woogie flavored gospel song that "crossed over" to become a hit on the "race records" chart, the first gospel recording to do so.
- "Ida RedIda Red"Ida Red" is an American traditional song of unknown origins. It is chiefly identified by variations of the chorus:Verses are unrelated, rather humorous, and free form, changing from performance to performance. Ida Red's identity is unknown, but is feminine in most uses.The earliest recording is a...
" by Bob WillsBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and the Texas Playboys, recorded in 1938 by a Western swingWestern swingWestern swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
band, featuring electric guitar by Eldon ShamblinEldon ShamblinEldon Shamblin was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band....
. The tune was recycled again some years later by Chuck BerryChuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
in "MaybelleneMaybellene"Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...
".
- "Roll 'Em PeteRoll 'Em Pete"Roll 'Em Pete" is a rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 1938 by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. The recording is regarded as one of the most important precursors of what later became known as "rock and roll".-Original recording:...
" by Pete JohnsonPete JohnsonPete Johnson was an American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist.Journalist Tony Russell stated in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most...
and Joe TurnerBig Joe TurnerBig Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, recorded on December 30, 1938, was an up-tempo, non-swung boogie woogie with a hand-clapping backbeat and a collation of bluesBluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
verses
- "Rocking The Blues" by the Port of Harlem Jazz Men, a group comprising Frank NewtonWilliam Frank NewtonWilliam Frank Newton was a trumpeter from Emory, Virginia. He played in several New York bands in the 1920s and 1930s, including bands led by Sam Wooding, Chick Webb, Charlie Barnet, Andy Kirk and Charlie "Fess" Johnson. In the 1940s he played with bands led by Lucky Millinder and Pete Brown...
, J. C. HigginbothamJ. C. HigginbothamJ. C. Higginbotham was an American jazz trombonist. His playing was robust and swinging.In the 1930s and 1940s he played with some of the premier swing bands, including Luis Russell's, Benny Carter's, Red Allen's, and Fletcher Henderson's. He also played with Louis Armstrong, who had taken over...
, Albert AmmonsAlbert AmmonsAlbert Ammons was an American pianist. Ammons was a player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s into the mid 1940s.-Life and career:...
, Teddy BunnTeddy BunnTeddy Bunn was a top-rated American blues and jazz guitarist in the 1930s.Theodore Bunn was born in Freeport, New York in 1909. Twenty years later in 1929 he began recording with Duke Ellington as a guest performer. From 1929 to 1931, he played with The Washboard Serenaders...
, John Williams and Sidney Catlett, was an upbeat instrumental issued in 1939 as Blue NoteBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
no. 3.
1940s
- "New Early in the MorningEarly in the Morning (Sonny Boy Williamson I song)"Early in the Morning" is a blues song that was recorded by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson in 1937. Identified as a blues standard, it was inspired by earlier blues songs...
" and "Jivin' The Blues", both recorded on May 17, 1940 by "Sonny Boy" WilliamsonSonny Boy Williamson ISonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
, the first of the two musicians who used that name, are examples of the very influential and popular rhythmic small group Chicago blues recordings on Lester MelroseLester MelroseLester Melrose was one of the first American producers of blues records.-Career:He was born Lester Franklin Melrose in Sumner, Illinois, United States, the second of six children of Frank and Mollie Melrose who owned a small farm...
's Bluebird label, and among the first on which drums (by Fred Williams) were prominently recorded.
- "Down the Road a PieceDown the Road a Piece"Down the Road a Piece" is a boogie-woogie song written by Don Raye. In 1940, it was recorded by the Will Bradley Trio and became a top 10 hit in the closing months of the year...
" by the Will BradleyWill BradleyWilbur Schwictenberg was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley...
Orchestra, a smooth rocking boogie number, was recorded in August 1940 with drummer "Eight Beat Mack" Ray McKinleyRay McKinleyRay McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....
sharing the vocals with the song's writer, Don RayeDon RayeDon Raye , born Donald MacRae Wilhoite, Jr., in Washington, D.C., was an American vaudevillian and songwriter, best known for his songs for the Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", "The House of Blue Lights", "Just For A Thrill" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."While known for...
. The song would later become a rock and roll standard. The "eight beats" in McKinley's nickname and the popular phrase "eight to the bar" in many songs indicate the newness of the shift from the four beats per bar of jazz to boogie woogie's eight beats per bar, which became characteristic of rock and roll. Bradley also recorded the first version of Raye's "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the BarBeat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye, with credit given to Ray McKinley. It follows the American boogie-woogie tradition of syncopated piano music. The song was first recorded in 1940 by the Will Bradley orchestra, with Freddie Slack on piano...
", later recorded with greater commercial success by The Andrews SistersThe Andrews SistersThe Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
, whose biggest hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle BoyBoogie Woogie Bugle Boy"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...
" also contains numerous proto-rock and roll elements.
- "Flying HomeFlying Home"Flying Home" is a 32-bar AABA jazz composition most often associated with Lionel Hampton, written by Benny Goodman, Eddie DeLange, and Hampton....
" was most famously recorded in 1942 by Lionel HamptonLionel HamptonLionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
and his Orchestra, with tenor saxSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solo by Illinois JacquetIllinois JacquetJean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
, recreated and refined live by Arnett CobbArnett CobbArnett Cobb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Cobb was born Arnette Cleophus Cobbs in Houston, Texas. His musical career began with the local bands of Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942...
. This became 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 GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
Sextet had a popular hit in 1939 with a more subdued version of the song, featuring electric guitarist Charlie ChristianCharlie ChristianCharles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
. The book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record by Jim DawsonJim DawsonJim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based author and self-proclaimed "fartologist" who has written three books about farting, including the best-selling 'Who Cut the Cheese?'-Biography:...
and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders as the "first rock and roll record", the earliest being "Blues, Part 2" from the 1944 Jazz at the PhilharmonicJazz at the PhilharmonicJazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....
live album, also featuring Jacquet's saxophone but with an even more "honking" solo.
- "Mean Old WorldMean Old World"Mean Old World" is a blues song recorded by T-Bone Walker in 1942. It has been described as "the first important blues recordings on the electric guitar"...
" by T-Bone WalkerT-Bone WalkerAaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, recorded in 1943, is an early classic by this hugely influential guitarist, often cited as the first song in which he fully found his sound. B. B. KingB. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
credits Walker as inspiring him to take up the electric guitar, but his influence extended far beyond the blues to jazz and rock and roll. "Mean Old World" has a one-chord guitar lick in it which would be further developed by fellow Texas bluesman Goree CarterGoree CarterGoree Carter was an American R&B singer and guitarist, best known for his 1949 single, "Rock Awhile".-Life:Goree Carter was born in Houston, Texas...
, Elmore JamesElmore JamesElmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
and most famously, Chuck Berry.
- "CaldoniaCaldonia"Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. A version by Erskine Hawkins, also in 1945, was described by Billboard magazine as "rock and roll", the first time that phrase was used in print to describe any style of music.-Louis Jordan recording:In...
", first recorded by Louis JordanLouis JordanLouis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
and then by Erskine HawkinsErskine HawkinsErskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
and others, seems to have been the first song to which the phrase "right rhythmic rock and roll music" was applied, by BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine in 1945. Jordan, by the time of his recording of the song, was an established star, whose novelty performances had been influenced in particular by Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
. Jordan's 1944 disc, "G.I. JiveG.I. Jive"G.I. Jive" is a 1944 song written and originally performed by Johnny Mercer. The single was a hit twice in 1944 by two different performers: Johnny Mercer hit number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for one week and peaked at number thirteen on the pop charts . Three months later, Louis Jordan,...
", had been the first record by a black performer to top both the pop and R&B charts. Big bands became increasingly less economically viable, and smaller groups such as Jordan's Tympany Five became more popular. Many of his recordings, including "Choo Choo Ch'BoogieChoo Choo Ch'Boogie"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song first recorded in January 1946 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five. It topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks from August 1946, a record only equalled by one other hit, "The Honeydripper"...
" (recorded in January 1946) and "Let the Good Times RollLet the Good Times Roll (Louis Jordan song)"Let the Good Times Roll" is a song was recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, and became a # 2 hit on the R&B chart in the United States....
", were hugely influential in style and content, and popular across both black and white audiences. Their producer Milt GablerMilt GablerMilton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...
went on to produce Bill HaleyBill HaleyBill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
's hits, and Jordan's guitarist Carl Hogan, on such songs as "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" (also 1946), was also a direct influence on Chuck Berry's guitar style.
- "Rock Me Mamma" by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, recorded on 15 December 1944, was the blues singer's first and biggest R&B chart hit, but in later decades became overshadowed by his - at the time, much less successful - 1946 recording of "That's All Right", later to be covered by Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in 1954 as his first single.
- "The HoneydripperThe Honeydripper"The Honeydripper " is an R&B song by Joe Liggins which topped the US Billboard R&B chart for 18 weeks, from September 1945 to January 1946....
" by Joe LigginsJoe LigginsJoe Liggins was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist, who was the frontman in the 1940s and 1950s with the band, Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers....
, recorded on April 20, 1945, synthesized boogie-woogie piano, jazz, and the riff from the folk chestnut "Shortnin' BreadShortnin' Bread"Shortnin' Bread" is a song by James Whitcomb Riley.-History:...
", into an exciting dance performance that topped the R&B "race" charts for 18 weeks (a record later shared with Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie") and also made the pop charts. The lyrics proclaimed urban arrogance and were sexually suggestive - "He's a solid gold cat, the honeydripper.... he's a killer, a Harlem diller....".
- "Guitar BoogieGuitar Boogie (song)"Guitar Boogie" is a guitar instrumental recorded by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. In 1948, the song became a hit, eventually selling nearly three million copies...
" by Arthur Smith, originally recorded in 1945 but not a hit until reissued in 1948, was the first boogie woogie played on the electric guitar, and was much imitated by later rock and roll guitarists. The tune was based on "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" from 1929.
- "The House of Blue LightsThe House of Blue Lights (song)"The House of Blue Lights" is a popular song published in 1946, written by Don Raye and Freddie Slack. It was first recorded by Freddie Slack with singer Ella Mae Morse, and was covered the same year by The Andrews Sisters....
" by Freddie SlackFreddie SlackFrederick Charles Slack was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader.He played with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1930s and was a charter member of the Will Bradley Orchestra when it formed in 1939...
and Ella Mae MorseElla Mae MorseElla Mae Morse , was an American popular singer. Morse blended jazz, country, pop, and R&B.-Career:Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas, United States. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when she was 14 years old. Dorsey believed she was 19, and when he was informed by the school board that he was now...
, was recorded on February 12, 1946. The song was co-written by Slack with Don Raye, and, like Raye's "Down the Road a Piece", was later recorded by many rock and roll singers. Morse was one of the first white singers to perform what would now be regarded as rhythm and blues music.
- "Route 66Route 66 (song)" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling...
", was recorded by the Nat Cole Trio on March 15, 1946. Written by Bobby TroupBobby TroupRobert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. was an American actor, jazz pianist and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard " Route 66", and for his role as Dr...
, the song was a big hit for Cole - who by that time had already had 11 top ten hits on the R&B chart, starting with "That Ain't Right" in 1942 - and was later widely covered by rock and roll performers including Chuck Berry.
- "Boogie Woogie Baby," "Freight Train Boogie" and "Hillbilly Boogie" by The Delmore BrothersThe Delmore BrothersAlton Delmore and Rabon Delmore , billed as The Delmore Brothers, were country music pioneers and stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s...
, featuring harmonica player Wayne RaneyWayne RaneyWayne Raney was an American country singer and harmonica player.-Biography:Raney was born on a farm with a foot deformity and could not do heavy labor. After learning to play harmonica at an early age, he moved to Piedras Negras, Mexico at age 13, where he played on radio station XEPN...
, were typically up-tempo recordings, heavily influenced by the blues, by this highly influential country music duo, who had first recorded in 1931.
- "Open The Door, RichardOpen the Door, Richard"Open the Door, Richard" is a song first recorded on the Black & White Records label by saxophonistist Jack McVea at the suggestion of A&R man Ralph Bass. In 1947, it was the number-one song on Billboards "Honor Roll of Hits" and became a runaway pop sensation.-Origin:"Open the Door, Richard"...
", was a novelty R&B record based on a comedy routine performed by Dusty FletcherDusty FletcherClinton "Dusty" Fletcher was an African-American vaudeville performer who was best known for the comedy routine which became a hit record in 1947, "Open the Door, Richard".-Life:...
, Pigmeat MarkhamPigmeat MarkhamDewey "Pigmeat" Markham was an African-American entertainer. Though best known as a comedian, Markham was also a singer, dancer, and actor...
and others. It was first recorded in September 1946 by Jack McVeaJack McVeaJack McVea was an American swing, blues, and rhythm and blues woodwind player; he played clarinet and tenor and baritone saxophone...
, and immediately covered by many other artists including Fletcher himself, Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, The Three Flames, and Louis Jordan, all of whom had hits with it. It was the precursor of many similar novelty R&B-based records, which became a mainstay of early rock and roll in recordings by groups such as The CoastersThe CoastersThe Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
.
- "Move It On Over" by Hank Williams was recorded on April 21, 1947. It was Williams' first hit on the country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
charts, reaching # 4. It used a similar melody to Jim Jackson's 1927 "Kansas City Blues" and was itself adapted several years later for "Rock Around The ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
".
- "Good Rocking TonightGood Rocking Tonight"Good Rocking Tonight" was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!"...
", in separate versions by Roy BrownRoy Brown (blues musician)Roy James Brown was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had an influence on the early development of rock and roll music. His "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition,...
(1947) and Wynonie HarrisWynonie HarrisWynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
(1948) led to a craze for blues with "rocking" in the title. "Rock and Roll" by Wild Bill MooreWild Bill MooreWilliam M. Moore , known as Wild Bill Moore, was an American jazz and R&B tenor saxophone player....
was recorded in 1948 and released in 1949. This was a rocking boogie where Moore repeats throughout the song "We're going to rock and roll, we're going to roll and rock" and ends the song with the line, "Look out mamma, going to do the rock and roll." Another version of this song (with songwriting credit to Moore) was recorded in 1949 by Doles Dickens. Also related was "Rock and Roll Blues" by Erline 'Rock and Roll' HarrisErline HarrisErline Harris , born Erlyn Eloise Johnson, was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1940s and early 1950s...
, a female singer, with the lyrics "I'll turn out the lights, we'll rock and roll all night"
- "Rock The JointRock the Joint"Rock the Joint", also known as "We're Gonna Rock This Joint Tonight", is a boogie song recorded by various proto-rock and roll singers, notably Jimmy Preston and early rock and roll singers, most notably Bill Haley...
", recorded by Jimmy PrestonJimmy PrestonJimmy Preston was an R&B bandleader, alto saxophonist and singer who made an important contribution to early rock and roll....
in May 1949, was a prototype rock and roll song which was successful in its own right, and was highly influential in that it was recorded three years later in 1952, by Bill HaleyBill HaleyBill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
, in the same hard rocking style. Although Haley first recorded in 1946, his early recordings, including "Rovin' Eyes", were essentially in the Western swing style of country music, as was his 1951 cover of "Rocket 88" (see below). "Rock The Joint" became the first of his records in the style that became known as "rockabillyRockabillyRockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
".
- "The Fat ManThe Fat Man (song)"The Fat Man" is a rhythm and blues song co-written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and recorded by Fats Domino. It is considered to be one of the first rock and roll records.-History:...
" by Fats DominoFats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, recorded in New Orleans on December 10, 1949, featured Domino on wah-wah mouth trumpet as well as piano and vocals. The insistent backbeat of the rhythm section dominates. The song is based on "Junker's Blues", by pianist Willie Hall. It was the first of Domino's 35 US Top 40 hits and helped establish his career; he also played piano on Lloyd PriceLloyd PriceLloyd Price is an American R&B vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits...
's big 1952 hit, "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy".
Early 1950s
- "Hot Rod RaceHot Rod Race"Hot Rod Race" is a Western swing song about an automobile race out of San Pedro, California, between a Ford and a Mercury. Released in November 1950, it broke the ground for a series of hot rod songs recorded for the car culture of the 1950s and 60s...
" recorded by Arkie ShibleyArkie ShibleyJesse Lee "Arkie" Shibley was a country singer who recorded the original version of "Hot Rod Race" in 1950...
and His Mountain Dew Boys in late 1950, another early example of "rockabilly", highlighted the role of fast cars in teen culture.
- "Sixty Minute ManSixty Minute Man"Sixty Minute Man" is a rhythm and blues record released in 1951 by The Dominoes. It was written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks and was one of the first R&B hit records to cross over to become a pop hit on the pop charts...
" by the DominoesBilly Ward and the DominoesBilly Ward and His Dominoes were an African-American vocal group, one of the best-selling American R&B groups of the 1950s. The team began the careers of both Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.-Career:Billy Ward Billy Ward and His Dominoes were an African-American vocal group, one of the...
, recorded on December 30, 1950, was the first (and most sexually explicit) big R&B hit to cross over to the pop charts. The group featured the gospel-style lead vocals of Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
, and appeared at many of Alan FreedAlan FreedAlbert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
's early shows. McPhatter later became lead singer of The DriftersThe DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, and then a solo star.
- "Rocket 88Rocket 88"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
" was recorded on March 5, 1951 by Jackie BrenstonJackie BrenstonJackie Brenston was an African American R&B singer and saxophonist, who recorded, with Ike Turner's band, the first version of the proto-rock and roll song "Rocket 88".-Biography:...
and his Delta Cats - actually Ike TurnerIke TurnerIsaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and the Kings of Rhythm - and covered later in the year by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen. Brenston's version - produced in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
by Sam PhillipsSam PhillipsSamuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
and leased to Chess RecordsChess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
- was highly influential for its sound and lyrical content, and was a big hit. It reached #1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chartHot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
on 9 June 1951, and set Phillips on the road to success by helping to finance his company, Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
. Haley's version was one of the first white covers of an R&B hit.
- "CryCryCry usually refers to crying, the act of shedding tears.Cry may also refer to:* Cry, Yonne, a commune in France* CRY , worldwide non-profit organization-Songs:* "Cry" , 1951...
" by Johnnie RayJohnnie RayJohnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
was recorded on October 16, 1951. Ray's emotional delivery - he was mistaken for a woman, as well as for a black man - set a template for later vocal styles and, more importantly, showed that music could cross racial barriers both ways, by topping the R&B chart as well as the pop chart.
- "Hound DogHound Dog (song)"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
", by Willie Mae "Big Mama" ThorntonBig Mama ThorntonWillie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
, was recorded on August 13, 1952. A raucous R&B song recorded with Johnny OtisJohnny OtisJohnny Otis is an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, and impresario.He is commonly referred to as The Godfather Of Rhythm And Blues.-Personal life:Otis, the son of Alexander...
' band (uncredited for contractual reasons), it was written by white teenagers Jerry Leiber and Mike StollerJerry Leiber and Mike StollerJerome "Jerry" Leiber and Mike Stoller were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City", "Stand By Me" Jerome "Jerry" Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)...
, covered four years later by Freddie Bell and the BellboysFreddie Bell and the BellboysFreddie Bell and the Bellboys were an American vocal group, influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s.-Career:Ferdinando Dominick Bello was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Italian American parents. He became a trombonist, bassist, drummer, and singer, playing in various...
, and then in turn, more famously, by Elvis Presley.
- "Gee" by The CrowsThe CrowsThe Crows were an American R & B singing group who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only major hit, "Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first Rock n’ Roll hit by a rock and roll group...
was recorded on February 10, 1953. This was a big hit in 1954, and is credited by rock n’ roll authority, Jay Warner, as being "the first rock n' roll hit by a rock and roll group".
- "Crazy Man, CrazyCrazy Man, Crazy"Crazy Man, Crazy" was the title of an early rock and roll song first recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in April 1953. It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for the week...
" by Bill Haley and his Comets, recorded in April 1953, was the first of his recordings to make the Billboard pop chart. This was not a cover, but an original composition, and has been described as "the first white rock hit".
- "Mess AroundMess Around"Mess Around", written by Atlantic Records president and founder Ahmet Ertegün using the pseudonym of "A. Nugetre", or "Nuggy" on record labels, was one of Ray Charles’ first hits...
" by Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
was recorded in May 1953, one of his earliest hits. The writing credit was claimed by Ahmet ErtegünAhmet ErtegunAhmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
, with some lyrics riffing off of the 1929 classic, "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie". "I've Got a Woman", recorded in November 1954 and first performed when Charles was on tour with T-Bone WalkerT-Bone WalkerAaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, was a bigger hit, and is also widely considered to be the first soulSoul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
song, combining gospel with R&B; its tune was derived from the gospel song "My Jesus Is All The World To Me" by Alex BradfordAlex BradfordProfessor Alex Bradford was a multi-talented gospel composer, singer, arranger and choir director who was a great influence on artists such as Little Richard, Bob Marley and Ray Charles and who helped bring about the modern mass choir movement in gospel.Born in Bessemer, Alabama, he first appeared...
.
- "Work With Me, AnnieWork with Me, Annie"Work With Me, Annie" is a 12-bar blues with words and music by Hank Ballard. It was recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters in Cincinnati on the Federal Records label on January 14, 1954, and released the following month...
" by Hank BallardHank BallardHank Ballard , born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s...
and the Midnighters, was recorded on January 14, 1954. Despite, or because of, its salacious lyrics, it was immediately successful in the R&B market, topping the R&B chart for seven weeks, and led to several sequels, including Ballard's "Annie Had A Baby" and Etta JamesEtta JamesEtta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
' first hit "The WallflowerThe Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)"The Wallflower" is a popular song. It was one of several answer songs to "Work With Me Annie" and has the same 12-bar blues melody....
", also known as "Roll With Me, Henry". Although the records were banned from radio play and led to calls for rock and roll itself to be banned, the lyrics were soon rewritten for a more conservative white audience, and Georgia GibbsGeorgia GibbsGeorgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
topped the pop charts in 1955 with her version, "Dance With Me, Henry".
- "Shake, Rattle and RollShake, Rattle and Roll"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a prototypical twelve bar blues-form rock and roll song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and most successfully by Bill Haley & His Comets...
" by Big Joe TurnerBig Joe TurnerBig Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
was recorded on February 15, 1954, and was covered later that year by Bill Haley and his Comets. Turner's version topped the Billboard R&B chart in June 1954. Haley's version, which was substantially different in lyric and arrangement, predated his success with "Rock Around the Clock" by several months even though it was recorded later. Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's later 1956 version combined Haley's arrangement with Turner's lyrics, but was not a substantial hit.
- "Rock Around the ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" by Bill Haley and his Comets (recorded on April 12, 1954) was the first number one rock and roll record on the US pop charts. It stayed in the Top 100 for a then-record 38 weeks. The record is often credited with propelling rock into the mainstream, at least the teen mainstream. At first it had lack-luster sales but, following the success of two other Haley recordings, "Shake Rattle and Roll" and "Dim, Dim The Lights", was later included in the movie Blackboard JungleBlackboard JungleBlackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
about a raucous high-school, which exposed it to a wider audience and took it to worldwide success in 1955. The song itself had first been recorded in late 1953 by Sonny Dae & His Knights, a novelty group whose recording had become a modest local hit at the time Haley recorded his version.
- "That's All Right" by Elvis Presley, was recorded on July 5, 1954. This cover of Arthur CrudupArthur CrudupArthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" , "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists.-Career:Arthur Crudup...
's tune was Elvis' first single. Its b-side was a rocking version of Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
's bluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
song "Blue Moon Of Kentucky", itself recognized by various rock singers as an influence on the music.
"The first rock and roll record"
Even more than most other musical genres, rock and roll emerged gradually from many artists' work over a number of years, so any attempt to label a record as the first rock and roll song is an exercise in narrowing things down farther than they can reasonably be narrowed. According to musician and writer Billy VeraBilly Vera
Billy Vera is an American singer, actor, writer and music historian.-Life and career:Vera was born in Riverside, California. He began his singing career in 1962 as a member of the Resolutions. He went on to write several songs throughout the early 1960s, writing for the likes of Barbara Lewis,...
:
"Rock 'n' roll was an evolutionary process – we just looked around and it was here.... To name any one record as the first would make any of us look a fool."
But that has not stopped many people from asserting one song or another as the first. These include:
- Sister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
's "Strange Things Happening Every DayStrange Things Happening Every Day"Strange Things Happening Every Day" is a traditional African American spiritual.It was most famously, and influentially, recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe in late 1944, becoming a hit record in 1945. Released as a single by Decca Records, Tharpe's version featured her vocals and electric guitar,...
" (1944) - "Good Rockin' Tonight" by Roy BrownRoy Brown (blues musician)Roy James Brown was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had an influence on the early development of rock and roll music. His "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition,...
(1947), as covered by Wynonie HarrisWynonie HarrisWynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley... - "The Fat ManThe Fat Man (song)"The Fat Man" is a rhythm and blues song co-written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and recorded by Fats Domino. It is considered to be one of the first rock and roll records.-History:...
" by Fats DominoFats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
(1949) - "Rock the JointRock the Joint"Rock the Joint", also known as "We're Gonna Rock This Joint Tonight", is a boogie song recorded by various proto-rock and roll singers, notably Jimmy Preston and early rock and roll singers, most notably Bill Haley...
" – either the original 1949 version by Jimmy PrestonJimmy PrestonJimmy Preston was an R&B bandleader, alto saxophonist and singer who made an important contribution to early rock and roll....
or the 1952 version by Bill HaleyBill HaleyBill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:... - "Rocket 88Rocket 88"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
" – either Jackie BrenstonJackie BrenstonJackie Brenston was an African American R&B singer and saxophonist, who recorded, with Ike Turner's band, the first version of the proto-rock and roll song "Rocket 88".-Biography:...
's original, recorded on March 5, 1951 with Ike TurnerIke TurnerIsaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and the Kings of Rhythm, or Bill Haley's cover, later in 1951 - Bill Haley's "Rock Around the ClockRock Around the Clock"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" (recorded on April 12, 1954) - Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "That's All Right" (recorded in July 1954), a cover of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's 1946 song - which itself has been cited as "the first song to contain all of the elements... associated with rock and roll." Some of the lyrics are traditional blues versesTraditional blues versesIn the folk tradition, there are many traditional blues verses that have been sung over and over by many artists. Blues singers, which includes many country and folk artists as well as those commonly identified with blues singers, use these traditional lyrics to fill out their blues performances...
first recorded by Blind Lemon JeffersonBlind Lemon Jefferson"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
in 1926.
The 1992 book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record by Jim Dawson
Jim Dawson
Jim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based author and self-proclaimed "fartologist" who has written three books about farting, including the best-selling 'Who Cut the Cheese?'-Biography:...
and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders, from Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
's "Blues, Part 2" (1944) to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreak Hotel
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak Hotel" topped Billboards Top 100 chart, became his first...
" (1956), without reaching a definitive conclusion. In their introduction, the authors claim that since the modern definition of rock 'n' roll was set by disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
's use of the term in his groundbreaking The Rock and Roll Show on New York's WINS
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
in late 1954, as well as at his Rock and Roll Jubilee Balls at St. Nicholas Arena in January 1955, they chose to judge their candidates according to the music Freed spotlighted: R&B combos, black vocal groups, honking saxophonists, blues belters, and several white artists playing in the authentic R&B style (Bill Haley
Bill Haley
Bill Haley was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit song "Rock Around the Clock".-Early life and career:...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
). The artists who appeared at Freed's earliest shows included orchestra leader Buddy Johnson
Buddy Johnson
Not to be confused with Budd Johnson.Buddy Johnson was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s...
, the Clovers, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, the Moonglows, Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, and the Harptones
The Harptones
The Harptones are an American doo-wop group, which formed in Manhattan in 1953.The group never had a top forty pop hit, or even a record on the national R&B charts, yet they are still considered one of the most influential doo-wop groups, both for their lead singer, Willie Winfield and their...
. That, say Dawson and Propes, was the first music being called rock 'n' roll during that short time when the term caught on all over America. Because the honking tenor saxophone was the driving force at those shows and on many of the records Freed was playing, the authors began their list with a 1944 squealing and squawking live performance by Illinois Jacquet
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
with Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....
in Los Angeles in mid-1944.
In 2004, Elvis Presley's "That's All Right Mama" and Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
" both celebrated their 50th anniversaries. Rolling Stone Magazine felt that Presley's song was the first rock and roll recording. At the time Presley recorded the song, Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll", later covered by Haley, was already at the top of the Billboard R&B charts
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
felt that while there were rock'n'roll records before Presley's, his recording was the moment when all the strands came together in "perfect embodiment". Presley himself is quoted as saying: "A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along."
A leading contender as the first fully formed rock and roll recording is "Rocket 88
Rocket 88
"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
" by Jackie Brenston
Jackie Brenston
Jackie Brenston was an African American R&B singer and saxophonist, who recorded, with Ike Turner's band, the first version of the proto-rock and roll song "Rocket 88".-Biography:...
and his Delta Cats (which was, in fact, Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and his band The Kings of Rhythm recording under a different name), recorded by Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
for his Memphis Recording Service in 1951 (the master tape being sold to and later released by Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
). Also formative in the sound of rock and roll were Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
. From the early 1950s, Little Richard combined gospel with New Orleans R&B, heavy backbeat, pounding piano and wailing vocals. Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
referred to Little Richard as being the artist that started a new kind of music, which was a funky style of rock n roll that he was performing onstage for a few years before appearing on record in 1955 as "Tutti Frutti
Tutti Frutti (song)
"Tutti Frutti" is a 1955 song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bop-bop!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the...
." Chuck Berry, with "Maybellene
Maybellene
"Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...
" (recorded on May 21, 1955, and which reached # 1 on the R&B chart and # 5 on the US pop chart), "Roll over Beethoven
Roll Over Beethoven
"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit single by Chuck Berry originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classical music...
" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music
Rock and Roll Music
"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists....
" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode
Johnny B. Goode
"Johnny B. Goode" is a 1958 rock and roll song written and originally performed by American musician Chuck Berry. The song was a major hit among both black and white audiences peaking at #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song is one of Chuck Berry's...
" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar intros and lead breaks that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Early rock and roll used the twelve-bar blues chord progression and shared with boogie woogie the four beats (usually broken down into eight eighth-notes/quavers) to a bar. Rock and roll however has a greater emphasis on the backbeat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
than boogie woogie. Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
's 1955 hit "Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley (song)
"Bo Diddley" is a rhythm and blues song first recorded and sung by Bo Diddley at the Universal Recording Studio in Chicago and released on the Chess Records subsidiary, Checker Records in 1955. It became an immediate hit single that stayed on the R&B charts for a total of 18 weeks, 2 of those weeks...
", with its b-side "I'm A Man
I'm A Man (Bo Diddley song)
"I'm a Man" is a song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. A moderately slow blues with a stop-time figure, it was inspired by an earlier blues song and became a #1 R&B chart hit. "I'm a Man" has been acknowledged by Rolling Stone magazine and has been recorded by a variety of artists,...
", introduced a new beat and unique guitar style that inspired many artists without either side using the 12 bar pattern - they instead played variations on a single chord each.
Others point out that performers like Arthur Crudup
Arthur Crudup
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" , "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists.-Career:Arthur Crudup...
and Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
were recording blues songs as early as 1946 that are indistinguishable from later rock and roll, and that these blues songs were based on themes, chord changes, and rhythms dating back decades before that. Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
' 1947 cover of Roy Brown
Roy Brown (blues musician)
Roy James Brown was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician, who had an influence on the early development of rock and roll music. His "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, and the rock group Montrose. In addition,...
's "Good Rocking Tonight
Good Rocking Tonight
"Good Rocking Tonight" was originally a jump blues song released in 1947 by its writer, Roy Brown and was covered by many other recording artists. The song includes the memorable refrain, "Well I heard the news, there's good rocking tonight!"...
" is also a claimant for the title of first rock and roll record, as the popularity of this record led to many answer songs, mostly by black artists, with the same rocking beat, during the late 40s and early 50s. Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
's 1939 recording, "Roll 'Em Pete
Roll 'Em Pete
"Roll 'Em Pete" is a rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 1938 by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. The recording is regarded as one of the most important precursors of what later became known as "rock and roll".-Original recording:...
", is close to '50s rock and roll. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
was also recording shouting, stomping music in the 1930s and 1940s, such as "Strange Things Happening Every Day
Strange Things Happening Every Day
"Strange Things Happening Every Day" is a traditional African American spiritual.It was most famously, and influentially, recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe in late 1944, becoming a hit record in 1945. Released as a single by Decca Records, Tharpe's version featured her vocals and electric guitar,...
" (1944), that in some ways contained major elements of mid-1950s rock and roll. Pushing the date back even earlier, blues researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow
Gayle Dean Wardlow
Gayle Dean Wardlow is an American historian of the blues. He is particularly associated with research into the lives of musicians Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson and the historical development of the Delta blues, on which he is a leading world authority.He was born in Freer, Texas, but was...
has stated that "Crazy About My Baby" by Blind Roosevelt Graves and his brother, recorded in 1929, "could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording".
Writer Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches is an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet of Albanian and Italian descent.- Life :After different odd-jobs, Tosches started writing with poetry and rock-'n'-roll magazines, including Creem, Fusion, and Rolling Stone.Tosches' second book, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis...
stated:
"It is impossible to discern the first modern rock record, just as it is impossible to discern where blue becomes indigo in the spectrum."