Released 60 years ago today "Rocket 88" sung by Jackie Brenston is credited as the first Rock N' Roll record ever, and of course it's about a car. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it. " The original version of the 12-bar blues song was credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who took the song to number one on the R&B charts<sup id="cite_ref-1" cl***="reference">[2]</sup>. The band did not actually exist and the song was put together by Ike Turner and his band in rehearsals at the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and recorded by Turner's Kings of Rhythm. "
Hey cool, some other guys who dig the same scene as me! real 50's rock n roll and hotrods. Got the record, I've always wanted to get the car - but it hasn't happened yet! There's heaps of rnr songs on cd if you're interested i can send you a list! Rockin' RodL
You said it yourself....Brenston's version was R&B while Bill Haleys was ROCK & ROLL...recorded in Sept of 1951...thank you, Ike Turner
A link to the song: <iframe ***le="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gbfnh1oVTk0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> What made this the first rock and roll song was the fuzzy, distorted electric guitar. The story goes that the guitar amp's speaker cone was damaged on the way to the recording session at Sun Records and with no time or money to get it fixed right they stuffed it with newspaper and recorded the song. Robert Palmer said that it fell off the roof of the car but Ike Turner said it might have been damaged by rain and it certainly didn't fall off the car. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_88 I grew up listening to '50s rock and roll. Pittsburgh had a radio station that played oldies in the evening and my parents played it all the time. I pretended to not like it!
Whats kool for me is to drive a rockett 88 and be playing the cd when i pull into a show. Best of both worlds
One of the 10 best songs ever written...and the sound was perfect...had that real strong "juke joint" sound...a little rural but a little smoothed out with an urban vibe too...the best of both worlds, and a stunning band! www.highspeedmotorsports.com
Rock n roll was not invented by anyone, it was the evolution and convergence of several genres. Rocket 88 was the first record to come to national prominence, hence the oft misguided belief that it was the creation of rock n roll. Fats Domino had a record in 1948, I forget the ***le, that was pure rock n roll, but as rock n roll hadn't been ïnvented yet it did not achieve any recognition. It can be argued that Louis Prima was rock n roll, again long before rock n roll came to be. Wikipedia is a great source of peoples opinions and misinformation.
All true. These opinions are from critics, mostly from Rolling Stone. If you think about it, calling this or any son the "first rock and roll song" sounds as ridiculous as that **** and bull story about the amp falling off the car and damaging the speaker cone, not the case or vacuum tubes. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story?
that song made me buy my 50 olds coupe back in high school and back in the early 80,s i went to look at a 50 olds and it turn out to be the 50 chevy coupe i have now