Ever since Muddy Waters said, “The blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll,” we’ve been arguing about when that baby was born—and what was its name.
Many people say Rocket “88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were actually Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm, was the first rock and roll song. I never agreed with that “theory.” Here’s why.
That song was first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, on or about March 3 or 5, 1951. People disagree on the exact date. It was recorded at Sam Phillip’s Sun Studios by the way, and the song was released by Chess Records.
I’m really not sure why the “experts” picked that song for the first rock and roll song. In fact, who were these “experts”? Seems like songs much like that had been going around for years before that. The Jump Blues genre had many songs like that starting as early as the mid 40’s.
Jump Blues
Jump was especially popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s, through artists such as Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Charles Brown, Helen Humes, T-Bone Walker, Roy Milton, Billy Wright, Wynonie Harris, and Louis Prima, and many more.
Jump Blues really evolved from the swing music of the 30s and 40s. As “big” bands could no longer support the big payrolls, many bands broke off into smaller units. And with fewer instruments to drive the groove, it became the job of the bass, drums and piano to hold down the groove. With the added responsibility and “room” in the song due to looser arrangements, they were bound to pick up the volume and drive a bit more. Thus Jump Blues was born.
And I’m sure many would argue that Jump Blues was actually an evolution of Boogie-Woogie music which can be traced back to the 1920’s (or earlier). But that’s a whole other subject for an other time.
I guess we could argue about this all day. It has a lot to do with how you define “rock and roll” and what constitutes that sound. We might never all agree probably.
But I have my favorite choice of first rock song. And there’s a great story behind the song as well.
Now the Jump Blues scene was very “inbred” like much of the music of the day. One writer would steal lyrics and riffs from another and call the song his own. Theft was just an accepted part of the culture. Especially if a song was popular in only one part of the country. That song could take on a new life, and new songwriter, in another part.
My Pick: Good Rockin’ Tonight
This song was written by Roy Brown. He wasn’t very popular at the time so he thought he would do better if he gave the song to someone more well known. Brown was a fan of singer Wynonie Harris. When Harris appeared in town, Brown tried but failed to interest him in listening to “Good Rockin’ Tonight”. Harris turned him down and never even listened to the song. Harris made up for this mistake later.
Brown then approached another blues singer, Cecil Gant, who was performing at another club in town that night. Brown introduced his song, and Gant had him sing it over the telephone to the president of De Luxe Records, Jules Braun, reportedly at 4:00 in the morning. Brown was signed to a recording contract immediately. He recorded the song in a jump blues style with a swing beat. It was released in 1947 and reached number 13 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Ironically, Harris recorded a cover version of the song and had a bigger hit with it. Personally I like the Harris version better. I like the horn section intro. Brown’s original recording hit #13 of the Billboard R&B chart, but Harris’ record became a #1 R&B hit and remained on the chart for half a year.
Give them both a listen…
But the song’s popularity didn’t end there. Brown’s original song has been covered by not only Wynonie Harris but Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, James Brown, the Doors, and the rock group Montrose.
Here’s my rationale for why this is a better choice for first rock and roll song.
- It was recorded almost 4 years before Rocket “88”
- It was covered by more of the great rock and roll artists
- It a better song
Here’s Elvis’ Version…
And a pretty good version by Ricky Nelson…
And Jerry Lee Lewis does it a bit slower version…
The “Answer Record”
And Roy Brown came out with a follow up, “Good Rockin at Midnight” that sounds a whole lot like the original. A new song with much the same groove and lyrics was called an “answer record.” That’s just the way it worked back then. That song was a hit too—and also covered by others.
And then many years later…
The Honeydrippers
The Honeydrippers was a band led by Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant. It was his first solo project and you might remember they had a hit with a remake of “Sea of Love.” The flip side was “Good Rockin’ at Midnight.”
This all came about because Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegün wanted to record an album of his favourite songs from the 1950s. Plant was chosen because Ertegün had seen his pick-up band the Honeydrippers performing 1950s standards.
In the band were Chic front man Nile Rodgers, Late Night with David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer, and former Yardbirds guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They do a great version of “Good Rockin at Midnight.” Check it out…
To Plant’s horror, “Sea of Love” became his biggest-selling single. According to Plant, the original single was “Rockin’ at Midnight,” with “Sea of Love” as the “B” side. The single was eventually “flipped” because radio stations were playing “Sea of Love” far more than “Rockin’ at Midnight”.
And on and on…
I suppose the question of ‘what was the first rock and roll song?’ is destined to go unanswered, if not un-argued. It’s a matter of opinion when it comes down to it. But in my opinion there were lots of great rock music going on well before 1951. Period!
