Nice short read about "Rocket 88". Great tune. Is it r&b or r&r? I hear the origins of Chuck Berry's word play in it, part of his beat, Sun era Elvis. To think that, perhaps without this song, there'd be no Rolling Stones. Would there be, anyway?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-02-21 18:26 by bv.

Generally recognized to be the 1st Rock and Roll song.

Is Ike Turner on guitar?

Believe Ike is on Piano----- one of the best 50's tracks

…. bolt loosening stuff for sure …..
slung on the chassis of Jimmy Liggins - Cadillac Boogie from 1947….



ROCKMAN

...then in the late 50's Lil Richard
took Ike's 88 intro and pumped it back
at us as Good Golly Miss Molly ……………



ROCKMAN

For the story Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats( with guitarist Willie Kizart)on their way driving to record at sun record with Sam Philips that is in the early 50's, were stopped by the cops. After inspecting the car the guitar amp was damaged; the speaker got scratched and cracked as a result. When Willie finally plugged it at Sun, the sound that his guitar made was weird and @#$%& up. But Sam loved it and decided that it was different therefore to his tastes. That distorted electric guitar sound was rock and roll first stammering; Thank you Sam!
Rockandroll,
Mops

What about Hank Williams "Move It On Over" from '47

You are right Spud...and what about Hank Williams "Rockin'chair Money" ? 1948-1949.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-02-22 19:11 by RiffKichards.

Quote
dmay
Nice short read about "Rocket 88". Great tune. Is it r&b or r&r? I hear the origins of Chuck Berry's word play in it, part of his beat, Sun era Elvis. To think that, perhaps without this song, there'd be no Rolling Stones. Would there be, anyway?

[faroutmagazine.co.uk]

Thanks for that post - nice surprise-

I believe that the distorted sound of the guitar in "Rocket 88" makes it rock and roll. The 3 chord-structure with the melody following it comes from the blues.
In the Sam Philips's biography written by Guralnick, Sam Philips' decision to go on with that weird distortion sound is identify as a building block of rock and roll music. I don't think that a country producer in the early 50's would have used a broken speaker. Crazy Sam did and in his mind it made a difference.
Rockandroll,
Mops

Thanks RiffKichards for the Hank link. Never heard this one before. Out of curiosity searched Rockin' Chair Money on Youtube. Found the original which has a nice blues shuffle/country groove to it.

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