The Myth….
Rock’n’Roll as a form of music did not begin in 1956, the myth that this glorious music was born in 1956 is out of date and shockingly wrong! All too often history may mention Hank Williams, sometimes Louis Jordan and always the sudden birth of Rock’n’Roll in 1956, as if by magic. There is no mention of Country-Boogie which began after the second-world war and is roots of Rockabilly which is a form of Rock’n’Roll. There is never any mention of the long progression in Rhythm’n’Blues music which again is Rock’n’Roll. Just the ridiculous appearance of Rock’n’Roll in 1956!
There is no explanation of the progression in music which lead up to mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll, even a tiny bit of investigation shows you recordings by white Country-Boogie family ‘The Maddox Bros’ in the late 1940s and recordings by Roy Brown in 1947 which are R&B but also Rock’n’Roll.
Hearsay is unreliable and can be outrageously wrong, people have bad memories and romanticise the past. The folks who write history books should know better and investigate everything they write.
Rocket 88...
The year that Rock’n’Roll was born cannot be said, for it happened too slowly and no first actual Rock’n’Roll recording exists. One recording by Jackie Brenston called ‘Rocket 88’ may be the first actual 1950s Rock’n’Roll recording. ‘Rocket 88’ contains guitar distortion, earthy slurred and mumbled vocals and all the things that suddenly appeared in the mid-fifties but it’s R&B based music which is Rock’n’Roll.
The ‘Country-Boogie’ recorded by Skeets McDonald in the early 50’s does not sound like mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll, cos it ain’t. But its Rock’n’Roll! The R&B recordings of Wynonie Harris in the late 40s do not sound like mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll because that ain’t. But they are Rock’n’Roll!
1956 was not the birth of this holy music because it was a slow progression. For instance, the 1947 recordings of Wynonie Harris sound different to the 1952 recordings of The Treniers which sound different to the 1952 recordings of Bill Haley which sound different to the 1953 recordings of Skeets McDonalds which sound different to the 1956 recordings of Gene Vincent which sound different to the 1958 recordings of Gene Vincent which sound different to the 1960 recordings of Gene Vincent! But these are all still Rock’n’Roll recordings, dig? Or that dumb 1956 myth again?
Rock’n’Roll as a form of music did not begin in 1956, the myth that this glorious music was born in 1956 is out of date and shockingly wrong! All too often history may mention Hank Williams, sometimes Louis Jordan and always the sudden birth of Rock’n’Roll in 1956, as if by magic. There is no mention of Country-Boogie which began after the second-world war and is roots of Rockabilly which is a form of Rock’n’Roll. There is never any mention of the long progression in Rhythm’n’Blues music which again is Rock’n’Roll. Just the ridiculous appearance of Rock’n’Roll in 1956!
There is no explanation of the progression in music which lead up to mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll, even a tiny bit of investigation shows you recordings by white Country-Boogie family ‘The Maddox Bros’ in the late 1940s and recordings by Roy Brown in 1947 which are R&B but also Rock’n’Roll.
Hearsay is unreliable and can be outrageously wrong, people have bad memories and romanticise the past. The folks who write history books should know better and investigate everything they write.
Rocket 88...
The year that Rock’n’Roll was born cannot be said, for it happened too slowly and no first actual Rock’n’Roll recording exists. One recording by Jackie Brenston called ‘Rocket 88’ may be the first actual 1950s Rock’n’Roll recording. ‘Rocket 88’ contains guitar distortion, earthy slurred and mumbled vocals and all the things that suddenly appeared in the mid-fifties but it’s R&B based music which is Rock’n’Roll.
The ‘Country-Boogie’ recorded by Skeets McDonald in the early 50’s does not sound like mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll, cos it ain’t. But its Rock’n’Roll! The R&B recordings of Wynonie Harris in the late 40s do not sound like mid-fifties Rock’n’Roll because that ain’t. But they are Rock’n’Roll!
1956 was not the birth of this holy music because it was a slow progression. For instance, the 1947 recordings of Wynonie Harris sound different to the 1952 recordings of The Treniers which sound different to the 1952 recordings of Bill Haley which sound different to the 1953 recordings of Skeets McDonalds which sound different to the 1956 recordings of Gene Vincent which sound different to the 1958 recordings of Gene Vincent which sound different to the 1960 recordings of Gene Vincent! But these are all still Rock’n’Roll recordings, dig? Or that dumb 1956 myth again?
Names need saying; Roy Hall, Skeets McDonald, Merrill E Moore, The Domnios, Johnny Ace, Stick McGhee, Wynnonie Harris, Roy Brown, Ella Mae Morse, Jackie Brenston, Amos Milburn and Antoine Fats Domino.
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