the "don't recommend me this channel" button is not working. If I have to see your face, at least make a video about why I keep getting your channels recommended, even though I've "blocked" your channels several times.
The Kinks also made You Really Got Me a hit after Dave Davies reamed the core out his amplifier because he couldn't get the sound he wanted. This gave the guitar a raunchy sound. A little overdubbed distortion sent the record from 39 to number one.
Hank Williams recorded 'Move it on Over' in the 1940's it fits over 'Rock Around the Clock' like a glove. You ignored the country ingredient of rock n roll almost completely. That's all right - most pundits do.
@@rogerfletcher8177 Bill Haley And The Comets started out as a country swing band and overdubbed some of Hank's records. Rock Around The Clock is similar to Move It On Over but the beginning and middle parts of the song are different so it's not a complete copy of Hank. Hank used the call and response method . Move It On Over ( Slide It On Over) is an example. Bill sang Rock Around The Clock straight through. That's the difference.
In 1971, I saw Pink Floyd at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, when their synthesizer broke down. As they worked on repairing it, the jammed the Blues until it was fixed. It took about an hour. Then they went back to the program. We got out at about 3am. It was one helluva GREAT concert!!!
Sister Rosetta Tharp is also the person actually credited with first distorting a guitar. She also had two marriages *and* had a relation with a woman, more Rock and Roll than Ike ever was. *AND* she wasn't in the habit of using her partners for punching bags >:( Ike can go take a leap.
She was the first to play rock guitar. But rock and roll was invented on the piano. Search Albert Ammons "The Boogie Woogie Stomp" from 1936 for the first rock and roll record.
I can't believe no one has mentioned: "Rock 'n' roll" was used as a euphemism for having sex for years &years in Black communities in the US 1930s-40s before it was ever used to describe a musical style. A white DJ first used the term to describe a musical style, but it's possible he didn't know what it already meant! Fats Domino definitely proved that rock 'n' roll does not need a guitar. Great story about this part of musical history. It would take an entire college semester's worth of these videos to really go into the ENTIRE history of rock 'n' roll. Long story short, it didn't take long after guitars were electrically amplified before people of various music styles from country to R&B wanted to mess with the signal chain, to create wild sounds never heard before.
The story if Marty Robbins' song "Don't Worry" and the accident that led to the creation of the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal.... the pedal used to get the guitar sound on The Stones song 'No Satisfaction'. 👍 It's another error that a producer decided to leave in (and it sounds super out of place... as it's the bass in the middle of a country song, that sounds like they player hit a Fuzz pedal for some reason) and it turned out to be the solution for other players' problems. Now, they could get the sound they wanted...and not have to poke holes in their amps!
I always say the best sounds for guitar come from things not working right. Distortion comes from amplifier literally failing, the Maestro fuzz was supposed to make a guitar sound like a trumpet but fails, spring reverb is supposed to sound like sound bouncing off walls but doesn't, the best delay is when the tape in the machine starts degrading, etc etc.
@Bob Bobson correct. I wasn't meaning to imply that Marty Robbins was the one to give the credit to. I was mentioning him because that's who was recording a song when the incident happened, as I'm sure you're aware. "Martin is credited with accidentally stumbling onto the electric guitar 'fuzz' effect during a recording session with Robbins at Nashville's Quonset Hut Studio; his guitar was run through a faulty channel in a mixing console, generating the fuzz sound on 'Don't Worry'" That 👆, to be clear, isn't me trying to teach anyone anything. I'm simply agreeing with you and putting your comment into more context for those that might not know the story. 👍 Thank you for the comment!
The fz-1 is still an absolutely amazing circuit. I'm an EE and design and make custom guitar pedals and I make a variation of that circuit Honestly, it was fairly perfect as it was... only changes I made to it were to give it a more modern sound- hotter output and more bass and mid frequencies mainly.
@Bob Bobson I'm sure you're right. Bands experiment with all sorts of things trying to achieve the ideal sound. System of a Down, for example, did a song where they singer wanted to emulate the sound you get when you play in the acoustic room at Guitar Center....so, they made their own wall of acoustic guitars. 😄 I can't say if it worked or not...and if it did, I'm not sure I would've been able to tell, honestly. I just think that's an odd and funny example of the point you made.
@@mechmat12345 It always amazes me that it was meant to sound like a trumpet. I played trumpet for a long time and was, in the past, playing at a higher musical level than I will likely ever get to with guitar. So, to me, they sound nothing alike. I get the idea but...I find it humorous the way it turned out. Still, I had no idea until a few years ago (I'm an old guy, so...shows how much I know haha) that the history of guitar pedals was so fascinating and rich with stories!
I didn't learn anything being a life-long Memphian who grew up only a few streets away from Sun Studio but it's always nice to see Memphis mentions that aren't about the violent crime! Woohoo!
There was a song from 1929 called Expressman Blues that is worth a listen. Yank Rachell sings and plays mandolin, Sleepy John Estes played rhythm guitar, and Jab Jones has a piano break that sounds like Johnny Johnson could have played
My theory is that the electric guitar (and amplifier) was invented in the 1940s, then 5 minutes after the inventor left the room, his teenage son cranked the volume to 10 and played an open E chord, thereby inventing the sound of rock and roll.
Yup, followed a few decades later with downturning all the strings from their usual E-based tuning, and the discovery of the Tritone interval and - voila! - Metal was born. 🤘🏼
Ike Turner learned piano from Pinetop Perkins as a child. He taught himself how to play guitar later on in the 1950s to accommodate his with Annie Mae Turner who also played piano in his band. Not only can Ike stake claim to recording arguably the first rock n roll song but he was also a talent scout for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and the Bihari Brothers at Modern Records. He discovered many legendary blues musicians like Howlin' Wolf, Little Milton, Little Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon. Ike also played piano on B.B. King's early records. Jackie Brenston rejoined Ike's band after he couldn't find success as a solo artist. He was with him until the early 1960s. It's also important to note that Ike Turner returned to his blues roots later in his career and he released two critically acclaimed albums. His last album won him a Grammy award the year he died in 2007.
As an amateur Rock 'n' Roll historian, while I agree that "Rocket 88" is a landmark record in the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll, I would argue that Fats Domino's 1950 release of "The Fat Man" was just as much of a landmark record - and Fats Domino went on to become a significant Rock 'n' Roll star in the 1950s and early '60s - even out selling Elvis in 1957. Furthermore, Elvis Presley, when asked by a reporter who the King of Rock 'n' Roll was, Elvis responded, "Fat Domino."
"Rock N Roll" was originally a name for the new form of piano-driven blues with a smooth groove that people like Fats Domino were playing (and claiming to be Rock N Roll). It's the *name* "Rock N Roll" that was co-opted most notable by DJ Alan Freed who applied it to a broad range of new music including the quickly evolving blues/country rockabilly style that evolved into what became known as "Rock N Roll" which was a pretty even mashup of black blues and white country. It's mostly a misapplication of a stolen name applied to a music that was very different than the likes of Fats Domino.
"The Fat Man" was a straight copy of Champion Jack Dupree's 1940 recording "Junker's Blues." Note for note same tune, different words. Was it Blues or Rock n Roll? I think just the label changed. I was lucky enough to see Champion Jack 4 or 5 times in the late 60s. He was a brilliant musician, singer and entertainer. My friend said he would have gone to the shows just for the jokes and the laughs Jack gave him.
@@hughcameron So, what if it's a copy? Lots of people before and after Fats copied older songs. Chuck Berry's first hit, "Maybellene" was a copy of the country song, "Ida Red" by Bob Wills. Fats Domino changed the words to "Junker's Blues," because it wasn't good marketing to have a song about a junkie. But none of this is relevant to the fact that "The Fat Man" is a landmark record in the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll.
That would be my choice too. Though I think it was released in 1949. It isn't just a song with characteristics later found in 1950s rock but, if told that it was released in 1955 and created in that era, there would be no reason to question that.
@@toohip Would you allow the possibility, probably real, of a comprehensive education which caters for multi disciplines. Do you know the difference between content and form?
@toohip4you history, not music theory, seems to be the focus of that high-school level class. Musical Acoustics is a100 level college course teaching physics to musicians. Why would you have a high-school class segregate subjects, when a multidisciplinary, broad overview is recommended for lower level scholarship? Most high-school students are still learning about learning, not narrowing focus.
This is a 15 Minute Video of how that broken amp in that song changed music and you have the audacity to NOT include a sample of that part of music in that Video?^^
Because he’s wrong It was Link Wray that punched his amp. Google it. This guy keeps pulling my post because it proves he’s wrong ruclips.net/video/RLEUSn8y9TI/видео.html
Rocket 88 was ONE OF the first rock and roll records but it is highly disputed that is it THE first. There were several songs released earlier than Rocket 88 that are sited by music historians. In the Podcast "The History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs" Andrew Hickey often states that it is difficult to call anything a first and that it is more accurate to refer to these early recordings as one of the first instead.
Not very well known at all but Goree Carter's Rock Awhile beats Rocket 88 by two years being released back in 1949 and it opens with a cranked amplifier and a rock and roll guitar riff that sounds like Chuck Berry six years before Berry. Anyone interested in what might be the first rock and roll song should certainly hear this one!!! m.ruclips.net/video/xZlESMXHFfY/видео.html&pp=ygUYZ29yZWUgY2FydGVyIHJvY2sgYXdoaWxl
Just goes to show how legends are made out of different stories. I remember reading "Rocket 88" was a reference to a piano, which has 88 keys. Seeing as Ike played the piano, I believed it.
IMHO (and that of Northrup Frye and The New Critics) the lyrics speak for themselves. Once published, the lyrics are no longer the writer's voice, nor do they represent his or her intention. Nor are the lyrics locked into the details of autobiographical, historical or cultural fact. The art of lyrics or any literature is that they are the voice of our culture speaking about itself. So "88" refers to the Oldsmobile model and to 88 piano keys. Two truths. Not either-or. IMHO. -Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1946, Louis Jordan and the song “Ain’t that just like a woman”. Listen to the guitar intro and you will understand. I had never heard of him, but my Dad filled me in, he had played in a band that often shared the bill with Jordan in the 40’s.
The podcast "Our Fake History" (it's all about busting historical myths, not about spreading conspiracy theories) has a fantastic couple of episodes on the creation of Rock and Roll. Sebastian, the host is a history teacher and musician, in those episodes he dives into the many acts that others have claimed to be the first Rock and Roll record. For what it's worth I think The Fat Man by Fats Domino deserves to be labeled the first.
Piano driven and a clean sound. The question is, do you consider R&R just uptempo, simplified R&B or does it also have to have country mixed in? Because there’s not really any country in Rocket 88. In fact Ike Turner disliked Chuck Berry due to Berry’s country influences.
"Rock N Roll" was originally a name for the new form of piano-driven blues with a smooth groove that people like Fats Domino were playing (and declaring it to be Rock N Roll). It's the *name* "Rock N Roll" that was co-opted most notable by DJ Alan Freed who applied it to a broad range of new music including the quickly evolving blues/country rockabilly style that evolved into what became known as "Rock N Roll" which was a pretty even mashup of black blues and white country. It's mostly a misapplication of a stolen name applied to a music that was very different than the likes of Fats Domino.
I read the title of this video and thought it was going to be a video about The Kinks "You Really Got Me." I've always heard that they were what made distorted guitars cool. Basically, it was something similar. The cones in the speakers were damaged, and they had to be cranked. At the time, amplification was in the stone age compared to today. It's actually fascinating how the rock n roll explosion caused a direct need for us to produce bigger and better amps. At first, distortion was undesirable. But damaged speakers combined with pushing the limits of technology produced an over driven sound that was revolutionary at the time.
Link Wray deliberately poked holes in his speaker cone to get the distortion on Rumble in 1958. The only instrumental so menacing it was banned by some stations.
For those not versed in guitar/instrument amp lore, overdriven sound is not a result of damaged or modified speakers. It is a normal function of amplifier tubes being pressed past the "ideal" clean (no overdrive) sound that, as Shade Hunter mentioned, was preferred back in the day. Overdriven sound was available right from the get-go, it just was avoided.
That was my first thought too. As great as the Beatles were with their pop sound, and the early Stones bringing blues riffs and covers to the mainstream, I thought "You Really Got Me" transformed the rock genre, bringing a hard-edged urgency and laying the groundwork for Metallica and AC/DC.
With hits like "Move it on Over", "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", and "Hey Good Lookin'" an argument can be made that Hank Williams was an early pioneer of what would become Rock-n-Roll.
The birth of Rock N Roll is pretty much defined by country licks, phrasing and chord structure structure backed by a rhythm and blues back beat. Chuck Berry did exactly that, Elvis (who recorded his first tracks about a year before Chuck's first record... just for the record lol), the Johnny Burnett Trio, etc. Songs like Rocket 88, regardless of distortion, still fall under jump-blues to my ear. And really, no one record or person invented Rock-N-Roll. It was bubbling up in music culture and was pretty much an inevitable evolution. Elvis just beat other people to the punch and even that was by accident.
@@kingswing00 Rock a Billy was the original country based contribution to the evolution of rock'n'roll. Please tell me one cord progression of American County music which preceeded and had no parallel in contemporary American Blues, Rhythm and Blues or Folk traditions. Root, 3rd, 5th, is pretty ubiquitous. What specific musical exapmles were uniquely found in American Country and not shared by at least one other American folk-music genre? I honestly am asking. Because I cannot see any tradition of American music of the early 20th Century (Alan Lomax's recording era.) which is not a result of a cross pollination of styles. Rock and Roll incorporated all which came before. I view jazz as the only truly unique American genre which did not lend itself into the earliest incarnation of r'n'r.
@@One.DeSanctis. I mean, in the end you're pretty much saying the same thing I am, that rock and roll combined all those things. But one of those things was definitely the traditions of what was country at the time. The existence of notes and chord progressions doesn't define genre or tradition. It's the interpretation of those things. Jazz borrowed pieces from older European musical traditions but through interpretation they sound very different. Chuck Berry very intentionally combined what he knew to be "country" at the time and what he knew to be blues/R&B as an innovation that a lot of people were also stumbling into, independently, doing it both before and during the time he did it. It was just coming into the zeitgeist.
This is a very good summary article on both "Rocket 88" and the transition from R&B to rock & roll. He gets his facts straight, no big errors. Rather unlike so many RUclips videos.
Jerry Lee Lewis had a sound just like Rocket 88 but sped up. I think it's really hard to say where it changes from Blues to Rock, but this is definitely real close if not Rock.
Yes, great topic. Film industry used noise gates and compression/limiting for decades but the music industry used these tools in an artistic/creative way
Phil Collins was drumming for a Peter Gabriel solo album when they stumbled upon it in the studio. Def Leppard was produced by Mutt Lange, a very heavy handed producer. Also, they were using a lot of triggered samples after their drummer lost his arm between Pyromania and Hysteria.
Rocket 88 was actually recorded by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. Ike Turner and what would become his Kings of Rhythm were part of that band. Everything else about this video is pretty accurate. But the record Rocket 88 was recorded and released as being by Jackie Brenston.
Very interesting. --- The mention of “Clarksdale” got my attention, not because of all the Blues Artists that I didn’t know hailed from Clarksdale,… --- …but because Clarksdale is the famous “Crossroads” of Rt 61 and Rt 49, where Robert Johnson sold his Soul to the Devil. --- Thus, it makes sense that a “Broken Amplifier” would play a key role in “Rocket 88”. --- There was another “Car Accident” that also may have played a crucial role, in the beginnings of Rock-n-Roll. Carl Perkins’ band experienced a “Car Accident” on its way to what would have been, a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Perkins had already released the record, “Blue Suede Shoes”. --- The Car Accident sidelined Perkins’ band for months, leaving the door open for Elvis to introduce Rock-n-Roll on the “Ed Sullivan Show”, and to release a more popular version of “Blue Suede Shoes”. --- Who knows what would have happened, if Perkins had performed on nation-wide television, before Elvis???
I’d always thought Link Wray was the first-or at least one of the first-to use a messed up amp to achieve distortion-guitar, but I’m open to information that’s new to me
The Jazz guys wrote "get your kicks on route 66" in 1946. That was the first rock tune If you take the chord progression to play that song, you can also play Little Richards "Long Tall Sally" Rocket 88 sure helped Oldsmobile marketing.
Route 66 was written by Bobby troupe If you ever watched the old series emergency 51 he played the emergency room doctor and the head nurse was Julie London his real life wife and a jazz singer.
Because of the two saxes,you really do not hear the fuzz guitar that much over the years, the generally accaimed first rock n roll song was Bill Haley and the Comets ROCK AROUND THE CLOCKfrom '55. However Truner's group is pretty much the same except that it has an extra sax. The guitar-bass-drums-sax "combo" was common because all the instruemtns are portable and it is not hard to set up and take down. Bill Haley and the Comets were considered a jazz combo. I recommend giving The Dominoes' 60 MINUTE MAN a listen. THAT sounds right out of a 195i7 or 8 installment of American Bandstand, but it, too, was from '51. Another song that is recongnized as some early rock n roll is THE TERROR OF HIGHWAY 101
@@evanray8413 In 1955? a piano or organ. Besides, I've hung ourt with musicians since '65 and I've seen drumkits being set up for gigs and sessions in halls , basements and outdoors
In my view, the first rock 'n roll song was Guitar Boogie by Arthur Smith from 1945. It's the first song to have rock 'n roll labeled as its genre on Wikipedia, and you can put that guitar work in a 70's blues rock track and it wouldn't sound out of place. The evolution of rock 'n roll is fascinating regardless.
"Why Don't You Love Me" 1950, Hank Williams. Listen to the energy and guitar licks! Also first rapper, "Luke the Drifter" album. Worth your time. Marty Robbins recorded "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" in 1961. Failure of a vacuum tube in an amp accidentally produced the first distorted guitar sound recording ever kept, because he insisted it was a keeper. Reverse engineering made the affect a Rock and Roll standard.
Omission of any mention of gospel music as integral to the inception of rock and roll is regrettable. Listen to "Dig A Little Deeper" by Mahalia Jackson from 1947 for one example. The musical forms (verses, chorus, rhyme schemes, etc.) were in place through harmony groups like the Golden Gate Quartet during the 1930's and before. Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard - many early performers acknowledged influences from exposure to music in the church. Chuck Berry's guitar style resembles the picking of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who recorded decades before he did. Leaving out any reference to gospel results in a hollow description of the origins of early rock and roll.
Brenston was second saxophone. (First sax was 17-year-old, Raymond Hill). Jackie O’Neal was the ‘Kings of Rhythm’ lead singer. He quit just before “Rocket 88”. “Rocket 88” was put forth as an idea by, Brenston. Brenston, Turner, and the band all worked out, “Rocket 88”. However Phillips gave all the credit to Brenston. The band broke up, some sided with Turner, some with Brenston. Brenston went solo then, went back to Turner, yet Turner never let Brenston sing the song again.
This is full of interesting facts, but there is one error; Jingle Bells wasn't written as a Christmas song. It was written as a Thanksgiving song; the lyrics have nothing to do with Christmas.
Simon Simon Simon……I’m really torn here. As a child of the 60’s and 70’s and growing up with the music of that era, I found this very interesting…interesting enough that I’d give it a thumbs up. As a musician with guitar as primary,I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the 15 minutes I just spent listening to you talk about sounds, the title of the video is completely about the sound of 1 amp. As a guitarist and a rock n roll child (hell, I toured around locally with a band called “delta 88 revival in the 90’s for a period) I know the sound and I know ways to creat and use it. Mebbe you are today years old when you learned that you can buy amplifiers (and pedals he’ll even batteries for the pedals) that emulate power sags to cause the amps to break up earlier, or more warmly. You highlighted a very interesting topic and then failed to even provide even a sample of it. What really strikes me is I did not hear this historic sound, nor did you contrast it against the sounds that were current at the time…that is was “breaking the mold” of. You talked about contrasting styles and you talked about different versions of song, and you talked about many different records (and showed us pictures of the records..many times) but what you did not do is play the damn record, or even a sample of any of the many sounds you discussed. You talked about the birth and profound changes in rock and roll, and I never heard a note 🎼 🎶 That’s a fail, and a whole video about rock and an amp sound without a single note played almost feels like clickbait….I’m gonna go out on a limb and speculate that you are not a musician….😅 I promise dude, if you provided a few samples along the way you could cut down on a lot of adjectives trying to describe the music…
Quite right, nothing can be called the first Rock’n’Roll record as influences come from everywhere. Some would champion Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s recordings from the early 40’s as the first but then that would ignore some of Big Bill Broonzy’s efforts or the great Frank Stokes, Papa Charlie Jackson, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, gospel by the likes of The Golden Gate Quartet and the Swan Silvertones and so on. Rockabilly, another branch of Rock’n’Roll, Boogie Woogie ( as “We’re Gonna Rock” by Cecil Gant ) all part of the mix.
If you ever want a hoot, read the Time Magazine article in the issue covering the week of June 12, 1956. They talk about “newcomer“ Elvis Presley, and the birth of rock-n-roll. I think the author felt his scathing review would kill the movement before it started. In case you can’t find it, his disdain was evident when he wrote (in part): “Rock and roll does for music what a motorcycle club at full throttle does for a quiet Sunday afternoon.”
Very nice details. Please say it like "jah-law-pee", not with a long O like you did. It would have been cool if you could have included a brief snippet of the part that you alluded to throughout the video. I suppose I'll just have to go find it myself and take a listen.
While for officionados, "Rocket 88" might be the so-called first rock song, it wasn't until the 1955 movie, "Blackboard Jungle" with Bill Haley and the Comets rendition of "Rock Around the Clock" that rock music became a thing, especially for white kids.
Being in the cabinet the speaker is considered part of a guitar amplifier. Unless all you have is a head unit. I don't know if those existed that far back. Even if they did I doubt an unsigned act back then would possess such equipment.
Actually, in the song Rocket 88, you only hear the guitar humming in the background, almost like a bass. The saxophone and the piano dominate. Not exactly typical rock instruments.
Ella Mae Morse did not invent Rock'N'Roll. However, as Morse's musical style blended jazz, blues, and country, she has sometimes been called the first rock 'n' roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of the song "Get On Board, Little Chillun", which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie, and jive sounds as a genuine precursor to the later rockabilly/ rock 'n roll songs. In 1943, she hit #1 on the Rhythm And Blues chart with "Shoo-Shoo Baby". In 1946, She hit with "House Of Blue Lights", and in 1948 with "Down The Road A Piece", two songs that many rock 'n' roll groups cover to this day. She has been called "The Mother Of Rock 'N' Roll" by some historians. Ella Mae Morse: ruclips.net/video/r47ahtilJbc/видео.html Rolling Stones: ruclips.net/video/r47ahtilJbc/видео.html
It matters to what you call Rock and Roll. The first famous rock and roll beat, dance song was Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima in the mid 1930s as a pop single. More famously orchestrated by Benny Goodman a year later. Several Tex Benekie hits were also in the Rock and Roll beat with electric guitar. The style went on hiatus after WW2 in favor of the Sinatra, Crosby, Cole, Day, Clooney crooner style hit parade. Progressive jazz went in another direction after the swing years and WW2. As to the 50s. Rock Around the Clock, Tutti Fruiti and Maybelline emerged in 1955 as the typical "answer." However Country Western, Louisiana Hayride was already heading back to Rock by 1951. Elvis, later touted as The King of Rock, recorded his first record in 1953 and was on tour before 1955 with several records synthesizing R&B, Country and old Swing into the Rock and Roll beat you could dance to as they said on Dick Clark's Beachnut Music Show in Philly to later be called American Bandstand.
Is this something to do with the amp which Brian May pulled out of a skip which he plugged in to his guitar to act as a pre-amp...leading to a unique sound which could only ever be defined as the 'Quuen' sound...by any chance? Edit: Oh, not that then
I am proud that I lived during the birth of Rock 'n Roll. Before that, was the top forty Hit Parade (with stars like Pat Boone and Patti Page) In my opinion, the first rock song must have been sung by Bill Haley and the Comets. "Rock around the Clock", "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "See You Later Alligator" around 1954. All the rest came after these.
...interesting, as all the songs you mentioned were covers of R'n'B songs, Sonny Dae and His Knights, Joe Turner and Bobby Charles, funnily enough on Chess... all good stuff though.
About 4,000 years ago, some old ass dude ate some shrooms, drank a amphora of wine,smoked..everything..picked up a guitar and rock and roll was created…Keith richards sat in the back and nodded his grey head as willie rolled up a huge spliff
Allegedly there was fallout for Sam Phillips, who previously had leasing deals not only with Chess (Howlin' Wolf, Memphis Slim) but with the Bihari Brothers on the west coast who owned the Modern/RPM group( RPM leasing BB King). Anyway the story goes that SP was originally going to lease R88 to the Biharis, the deal was stalling and SP hurriedly sold the master to Chess, leading to a massive falling out between the Biharis and Chess and SP, thus ending their deal with Phillips.
I remember years ago hearing a rumour that some guitarists used to cut the paper speaker of AC30s and tape them up in order to be them to distort. I thought it a myth. Then some time later we happened upon the band gear of a band that shared our rehearsal venue. I was godsmacked to find an AC30 with cut and tape repaired speakers! I had to explain the modification to the rest of our band. Never heard the amp play, though, so I can't say what it sounded like.
It's a pity Ike Turner was such an awful person, he treated Tina like dirt. It's a strange world, that such a man, was someone, who was a music pioneer. There are photographs of musicians who become famous later, in Sam Phillips's Sun Records Studio, including one that features Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. Rock and roll it seems has many origins and evolved over time, but Rocket 88 is clearly very important in this evolution of a music genre. 🎶🎸🎷🎹🎤😎❤️
Hi, I might be wrong but are you maybe referring to the photo of Cash, Lewis, Presley and Carl Perkins grouped around a piano and singing? Perkins is playing an acoustic guitar while Presley sits at the piano. Orbison did record at Sun but is not in that famous photo sometimes referred to as "The million dollar quartet".
As a kid growing up in St. Louis during the late '40s and early '50s, there were "white" radio stations and "black" stations. White stations would not play black songs. If Sam Phillips was on a station that played both, especially in the south, that was quite exceptional. A white crooner named Pat Boone recorded covers of popular black songs that the white stations would play. These covers were pale imitations of the original records. (Pun intended!)
YES the first time I heard Rocket 88 I thought it was recorded in the early 60s in some garage but to my astonishment - 1950! Deffinately rock and rock.
I just played an album's worth of songs right before seeing this. Nice and appropriate Also, the Rhythm Kings being an offshoot of a big band makes perfect sense. Listen to Glen Miller, very riff based music as well
i know ike turner is credited with being the first "rock and roller" with "rocket 88" and bill haley (a country and western singer/band) is famous with the 1st number 1 rock and roll hit with "rock around the clock" .... BUT goree carter recorded "rock awhile" in 1949 (2 years before rocket 88) ... take a listen to it and you'll hear where chuck berry got his "plucks" from...
ROSETTA THORPE'S "ROCK ME" DEBUTED IN 1938 IS THE FIRST TRUE ROCK & ROLL SONG AND IS CONSIDERED THE BIRTH OF ROCK & ROLL. CHUCK BERRY IKE TURNER AND B.B KING HAD ALL ACKNOWLEDGED IT.
@@markfinlay422 SHE WAS A GOSPEL SINGER MAKING GOSPEL MUSIC. WHAT MADE HER GOSPEL DIFFERENT IS NOT ONLY THE EDGY LYRICS AT THE TIME BUT HOW SHE INCORPORATED AND REVOLUTIONIZED THE ELECTRIC GAUTIER WITHIN HER MUSIC THAT PRODUCED A NEW SOUND AT THE TIME THAT WAS DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING ELSE OR BEFORE IT.
Rock & Roll is a Black music creation - just like Jazz, Blues, R&B, and Hip Hop. The story of the producer (Sam Phillips) out in the fields and hearing the singing there as “unique” was him citing the “Call and Response” aspect of Black music that had been in development since slavery.
If you listened to the song you would have heard the pronunciation of jalopies, and maybe you would have thought about including a clip of the song so people could hear the sound the amp made.
Many youth of the 40's - my dad's generation - apparently made fun of early bands which were guitar driven rather than based on horn sections. I realized this after watching the animated short "All the Cats Join in".
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the "don't recommend me this channel" button is not working. If I have to see your face, at least make a video about why I keep getting your channels recommended, even though I've "blocked" your channels several times.
The Kinks also made You Really Got Me a hit after Dave Davies reamed the core out his amplifier because he couldn't get the sound he wanted. This gave the guitar a raunchy sound. A little overdubbed distortion sent the record from 39 to number one.
Hank Williams recorded 'Move it on Over' in the 1940's it fits over 'Rock Around the Clock' like a glove. You ignored the country ingredient of rock n roll almost completely. That's all right - most pundits do.
@@rogerfletcher8177 Bill Haley And The Comets started out as a country swing band and overdubbed some of Hank's records. Rock Around The Clock is similar to Move It On Over but the beginning and middle parts of the song are different so it's not a complete copy of Hank. Hank used the call and response method . Move It On Over ( Slide It On Over) is an example. Bill sang Rock Around The Clock straight through. That's the difference.
Everybody knows that Marty McFly created Rock and Roll at the Under the Sea Prom.
Facts👆
TRUE 👏🏻👏🏻
Where’s the lie?
And the duck walk
I quote Lorraine McFly "it was the ENCHANTMENT under the sea dance."
In 1971, I saw Pink Floyd at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, when their synthesizer broke down. As they worked on repairing it, the jammed the Blues until it was fixed. It took about an hour. Then they went back to the program. We got out at about 3am. It was one helluva GREAT concert!!!
What about Sister Rosetta Tharp? She was playing and recording rock and roll years earlier.
This.
Yep
And she had a properly raunchy guitar sound too.
Sister Rosetta Tharp is also the person actually credited with first distorting a guitar. She also had two marriages *and* had a relation with a woman, more Rock and Roll than Ike ever was. *AND* she wasn't in the habit of using her partners for punching bags >:(
Ike can go take a leap.
I agree. I was about to post those but scrolled to see if someone beat me to it
The Great Rosetta Thorp was arguably the first to rip Rock and Roll.
Great knowledge
She was the first to play rock guitar. But rock and roll was invented on the piano. Search Albert Ammons "The Boogie Woogie Stomp" from 1936 for the first rock and roll record.
Tharpe
@@hyzercreek fair enough ..
@@hyzercreek yeah don’t you just hate spellcheck ? .. I do .
I can't believe no one has mentioned: "Rock 'n' roll" was used as a euphemism for having sex for years &years in Black communities in the US 1930s-40s before it was ever used to describe a musical style. A white DJ first used the term to describe a musical style, but it's possible he didn't know what it already meant! Fats Domino definitely proved that rock 'n' roll does not need a guitar. Great story about this part of musical history. It would take an entire college semester's worth of these videos to really go into the ENTIRE history of rock 'n' roll. Long story short, it didn't take long after guitars were electrically amplified before people of various music styles from country to R&B wanted to mess with the signal chain, to create wild sounds never heard before.
The story if Marty Robbins' song "Don't Worry" and the accident that led to the creation of the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal.... the pedal used to get the guitar sound on The Stones song 'No Satisfaction'. 👍 It's another error that a producer decided to leave in (and it sounds super out of place... as it's the bass in the middle of a country song, that sounds like they player hit a Fuzz pedal for some reason) and it turned out to be the solution for other players' problems. Now, they could get the sound they wanted...and not have to poke holes in their amps!
I always say the best sounds for guitar come from things not working right. Distortion comes from amplifier literally failing, the Maestro fuzz was supposed to make a guitar sound like a trumpet but fails, spring reverb is supposed to sound like sound bouncing off walls but doesn't, the best delay is when the tape in the machine starts degrading, etc etc.
@Bob Bobson correct. I wasn't meaning to imply that Marty Robbins was the one to give the credit to. I was mentioning him because that's who was recording a song when the incident happened, as I'm sure you're aware.
"Martin is credited with accidentally stumbling onto the electric guitar 'fuzz' effect during a recording session with Robbins at Nashville's Quonset Hut Studio; his guitar was run through a faulty channel in a mixing console, generating the fuzz sound on 'Don't Worry'"
That 👆, to be clear, isn't me trying to teach anyone anything. I'm simply agreeing with you and putting your comment into more context for those that might not know the story. 👍
Thank you for the comment!
The fz-1 is still an absolutely amazing circuit. I'm an EE and design and make custom guitar pedals and I make a variation of that circuit
Honestly, it was fairly perfect as it was... only changes I made to it were to give it a more modern sound- hotter output and more bass and mid frequencies mainly.
@Bob Bobson I'm sure you're right. Bands experiment with all sorts of things trying to achieve the ideal sound. System of a Down, for example, did a song where they singer wanted to emulate the sound you get when you play in the acoustic room at Guitar Center....so, they made their own wall of acoustic guitars. 😄 I can't say if it worked or not...and if it did, I'm not sure I would've been able to tell, honestly. I just think that's an odd and funny example of the point you made.
@@mechmat12345 It always amazes me that it was meant to sound like a trumpet. I played trumpet for a long time and was, in the past, playing at a higher musical level than I will likely ever get to with guitar. So, to me, they sound nothing alike. I get the idea but...I find it humorous the way it turned out. Still, I had no idea until a few years ago (I'm an old guy, so...shows how much I know haha) that the history of guitar pedals was so fascinating and rich with stories!
I didn't learn anything being a life-long Memphian who grew up only a few streets away from Sun Studio but it's always nice to see Memphis mentions that aren't about the violent crime! Woohoo!
All I had to see was the title of this video and I knew that it was about rocket 88.
I started looking thru the comments first to see a mention of Rocket 88. I thought broken amp? It has to be Rocket 88.
Yes.
I was thinking The Kinks…
There was a song from 1929 called Expressman Blues that is worth a listen. Yank Rachell sings and plays mandolin, Sleepy John Estes played rhythm guitar, and Jab Jones has a piano break that sounds like Johnny Johnson could have played
My theory is that the electric guitar (and amplifier) was invented in the 1940s, then 5 minutes after the inventor left the room, his teenage son cranked the volume to 10 and played an open E chord, thereby inventing the sound of rock and roll.
You’re off by a decade. Electric guitars were inventing the 1930s. I think you’re probably right on your second point though.
Eleven.
ruclips.net/video/4xgx4k83zzc/видео.html
Yup, followed a few decades later with downturning all the strings from their usual E-based tuning, and the discovery of the Tritone interval and - voila! - Metal was born. 🤘🏼
Ike Turner learned piano from Pinetop Perkins as a child. He taught himself how to play guitar later on in the 1950s to accommodate his with Annie Mae Turner who also played piano in his band. Not only can Ike stake claim to recording arguably the first rock n roll song but he was also a talent scout for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and the Bihari Brothers at Modern Records. He discovered many legendary blues musicians like Howlin' Wolf, Little Milton, Little Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon. Ike also played piano on B.B. King's early records. Jackie Brenston rejoined Ike's band after he couldn't find success as a solo artist. He was with him until the early 1960s. It's also important to note that Ike Turner returned to his blues roots later in his career and he released two critically acclaimed albums. His last album won him a Grammy award the year he died in 2007.
As an amateur Rock 'n' Roll historian, while I agree that "Rocket 88" is a landmark record in the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll, I would argue that Fats Domino's 1950 release of "The Fat Man" was just as much of a landmark record - and Fats Domino went on to become a significant Rock 'n' Roll star in the 1950s and early '60s - even out selling Elvis in 1957. Furthermore, Elvis Presley, when asked by a reporter who the King of Rock 'n' Roll was, Elvis responded, "Fat Domino."
"Rock N Roll" was originally a name for the new form of piano-driven blues with a smooth groove that people like Fats Domino were playing (and claiming to be Rock N Roll). It's the *name* "Rock N Roll" that was co-opted most notable by DJ Alan Freed who applied it to a broad range of new music including the quickly evolving blues/country rockabilly style that evolved into what became known as "Rock N Roll" which was a pretty even mashup of black blues and white country. It's mostly a misapplication of a stolen name applied to a music that was very different than the likes of Fats Domino.
"The Fat Man" was a straight copy of Champion Jack Dupree's 1940 recording "Junker's Blues." Note for note same tune, different words. Was it Blues or Rock n Roll? I think just the label changed.
I was lucky enough to see Champion Jack 4 or 5 times in the late 60s. He was a brilliant musician, singer and entertainer. My friend said he would have gone to the shows just for the jokes and the laughs Jack gave him.
@@hughcameron So, what if it's a copy? Lots of people before and after Fats copied older songs. Chuck Berry's first hit, "Maybellene" was a copy of the country song, "Ida Red" by Bob Wills. Fats Domino changed the words to "Junker's Blues," because it wasn't good marketing to have a song about a junkie. But none of this is relevant to the fact that "The Fat Man" is a landmark record in the evolution of Rock 'n' Roll.
@@jflaugher Yeah. So what?
That would be my choice too. Though I think it was released in 1949. It isn't just a song with characteristics later found in 1950s rock but, if told that it was released in 1955 and created in that era, there would be no reason to question that.
Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old time rock and roll.
Pop music hasn't been rock n roll for at least 10 years, probably longer.
@@michaelb1761 pop hasnt been rock and roll since disco took over in the 70s you got new wave,r&b and hip hop
A video about music, yet not a single note played. Very strange.
Indeed.
In highschool I took a class that explored the history of Rock And Roll. The genre goes back many years and has many musical roots.
Sounds like your high school cared more about social BS than real learning.
It also sounds like they were trying to say it didn’t originate from African American music, which again, is BS
@@toohip Would you allow the possibility, probably real, of a comprehensive education which caters for multi disciplines. Do you know the difference between content and form?
@@holboroman I'm a musician and do understand. This shit should be held for college. But, go ahead and make your assumptions.
@toohip4you history, not music theory, seems to be the focus of that high-school level class.
Musical Acoustics is a100 level college course teaching physics to musicians.
Why would you have a high-school class segregate subjects, when a multidisciplinary, broad overview is recommended for lower level scholarship? Most high-school students are still learning about learning, not narrowing focus.
Of the songs you mentioned, I hear rock and roll the most in Jimmy Preston's "Rock the Joint" (1949).
This is a 15 Minute Video of how that broken amp in that song changed music and you have the audacity to NOT include a sample of that part of music in that Video?^^
Because he’s wrong
It was Link Wray that punched his amp. Google it.
This guy keeps pulling my post because it proves he’s wrong
ruclips.net/video/RLEUSn8y9TI/видео.html
nah the voice on this dude rocks his world.
@@jordymaas565 yea, he’s his biggest fan.
ruclips.net/video/kiVBPs-O8DA/видео.html
Everybody knows Chuck Berry got Rock in Roll when his cousin Marvin Berry had him listen to the music of Calvin Kline.
😁
Rocket 88 was ONE OF the first rock and roll records but it is highly disputed that is it THE first. There were several songs released earlier than Rocket 88 that are sited by music historians. In the Podcast "The History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs" Andrew Hickey often states that it is difficult to call anything a first and that it is more accurate to refer to these early recordings as one of the first instead.
Rocket 88 wasn't anywhere near the first. It was just Sam Phillipse running his braggart mouth off
Not very well known at all but Goree Carter's Rock Awhile beats Rocket 88 by two years being released back in 1949 and it opens with a cranked amplifier and a rock and roll guitar riff that sounds like Chuck Berry six years before Berry. Anyone interested in what might be the first rock and roll song should certainly hear this one!!!
m.ruclips.net/video/xZlESMXHFfY/видео.html&pp=ygUYZ29yZWUgY2FydGVyIHJvY2sgYXdoaWxl
It's curious to hear you mention this song over and over, and never play any of it.
Just goes to show how legends are made out of different stories. I remember reading "Rocket 88" was a reference to a piano, which has 88 keys. Seeing as Ike played the piano, I believed it.
The song is obviously about cars, the first line compares his Rocket 88 to other guys jalopies.
Rocket 88 was an Oldsmobile. Has nothing to do with 88 keys
IMHO (and that of Northrup Frye and The New Critics) the lyrics speak for themselves. Once published, the lyrics are no longer the writer's voice, nor do they represent his or her intention. Nor are the lyrics locked into the details of autobiographical, historical or cultural fact. The art of lyrics or any literature is that they are the voice of our culture speaking about itself. So "88" refers to the Oldsmobile model and to 88 piano keys. Two truths. Not either-or. IMHO. -Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1946, Louis Jordan and the song “Ain’t that just like a woman”. Listen to the guitar intro and you will understand. I had never heard of him, but my Dad filled me in, he had played in a band that often shared the bill with Jordan in the 40’s.
The term "rock and roll " was a slang term describing what two people did behind closed doors.
So glad we don’t call it pump and dump
The podcast "Our Fake History" (it's all about busting historical myths, not about spreading conspiracy theories) has a fantastic couple of episodes on the creation of Rock and Roll. Sebastian, the host is a history teacher and musician, in those episodes he dives into the many acts that others have claimed to be the first Rock and Roll record. For what it's worth I think The Fat Man by Fats Domino deserves to be labeled the first.
Was just going to mention the fat man
Piano driven and a clean sound.
The question is, do you consider R&R just uptempo, simplified R&B or does it also have to have country mixed in? Because there’s not really any country in Rocket 88. In fact Ike Turner disliked Chuck Berry due to Berry’s country influences.
Sebastian’s podcast “Our Fake History” is great.
Maybe ROCKET 88 by ike turner
"Rock N Roll" was originally a name for the new form of piano-driven blues with a smooth groove that people like Fats Domino were playing (and declaring it to be Rock N Roll). It's the *name* "Rock N Roll" that was co-opted most notable by DJ Alan Freed who applied it to a broad range of new music including the quickly evolving blues/country rockabilly style that evolved into what became known as "Rock N Roll" which was a pretty even mashup of black blues and white country. It's mostly a misapplication of a stolen name applied to a music that was very different than the likes of Fats Domino.
You should do an episode on how Willis Jackson's "Later for the Gator" became "Coxonne's Hop" which spawned Ska and Reggae.
I read the title of this video and thought it was going to be a video about The Kinks "You Really Got Me." I've always heard that they were what made distorted guitars cool. Basically, it was something similar. The cones in the speakers were damaged, and they had to be cranked. At the time, amplification was in the stone age compared to today. It's actually fascinating how the rock n roll explosion caused a direct need for us to produce bigger and better amps. At first, distortion was undesirable. But damaged speakers combined with pushing the limits of technology produced an over driven sound that was revolutionary at the time.
Link Wray deliberately poked holes in his speaker cone to get the distortion on Rumble in 1958. The only instrumental so menacing it was banned by some stations.
For those not versed in guitar/instrument amp lore, overdriven sound is not a result of damaged or modified speakers. It is a normal function of amplifier tubes being pressed past the "ideal" clean (no overdrive) sound that, as Shade Hunter mentioned, was preferred back in the day. Overdriven sound was available right from the get-go, it just was avoided.
@@bunnylovenuts8680 Not a player here, but these are examples of buzzing distortion not just an overdriven amp like some of the blues guys used.
That was my first thought too. As great as the Beatles were with their pop sound, and the early Stones bringing blues riffs and covers to the mainstream, I thought "You Really Got Me" transformed the rock genre, bringing a hard-edged urgency and laying the groundwork for Metallica and AC/DC.
With hits like "Move it on Over", "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", and "Hey Good Lookin'" an argument can be made that Hank Williams was an early pioneer of what would become Rock-n-Roll.
The birth of Rock N Roll is pretty much defined by country licks, phrasing and chord structure structure backed by a rhythm and blues back beat. Chuck Berry did exactly that, Elvis (who recorded his first tracks about a year before Chuck's first record... just for the record lol), the Johnny Burnett Trio, etc. Songs like Rocket 88, regardless of distortion, still fall under jump-blues to my ear. And really, no one record or person invented Rock-N-Roll. It was bubbling up in music culture and was pretty much an inevitable evolution. Elvis just beat other people to the punch and even that was by accident.
@@kingswing00 Rock a Billy was the original country based contribution to the evolution of rock'n'roll.
Please tell me one cord progression of American County music which preceeded and had no parallel in contemporary American Blues, Rhythm and Blues or Folk traditions.
Root, 3rd, 5th, is pretty ubiquitous.
What specific musical exapmles were uniquely found in American Country and not shared by at least one other American folk-music genre?
I honestly am asking. Because I cannot see any tradition of American music of the early 20th Century (Alan Lomax's recording era.) which is not a result of a cross pollination of styles. Rock and Roll incorporated all which came before.
I view jazz as the only truly unique American genre which did not lend itself into the earliest incarnation of r'n'r.
Don’t forget Rootie Tootie also by Hank Williams. That song is the closest Hank Williams ever got to singing Rockabilly
@@One.DeSanctis. I mean, in the end you're pretty much saying the same thing I am, that rock and roll combined all those things. But one of those things was definitely the traditions of what was country at the time. The existence of notes and chord progressions doesn't define genre or tradition. It's the interpretation of those things. Jazz borrowed pieces from older European musical traditions but through interpretation they sound very different. Chuck Berry very intentionally combined what he knew to be "country" at the time and what he knew to be blues/R&B as an innovation that a lot of people were also stumbling into, independently, doing it both before and during the time he did it. It was just coming into the zeitgeist.
Dan .. .of course Hank is an originator of what was to become rock and roll
I agree 100%
This is a very good summary article on both "Rocket 88" and the transition from R&B to rock & roll. He gets his facts straight, no big errors. Rather unlike so many RUclips videos.
Jerry Lee Lewis had a sound just like Rocket 88 but sped up. I think it's really hard to say where it changes from Blues to Rock, but this is definitely real close if not Rock.
With no country influence this just sounds like standard jump-blues to me, distortion or otherwise. Love the song though
Another happy accident in music was the iconic 80s drum sound known as the gated reverb. Might also make for a good video.
Yes, great topic. Film industry used noise gates and compression/limiting for decades but the music industry used these tools in an artistic/creative way
**Obligatory In The Air Tonight epic-toms**
And Def Leppard. I associate them with that, too.
I don't know how happy that one was.
Phil Collins was drumming for a Peter Gabriel solo album when they stumbled upon it in the studio.
Def Leppard was produced by Mutt Lange, a very heavy handed producer. Also, they were using a lot of triggered samples after their drummer lost his arm between Pyromania and Hysteria.
also the "acid house" sound of the Roland TB 303 was discovered by some kids fiddling and noodling around with the knobs
Rocket 88 was actually recorded by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. Ike Turner and what would become his Kings of Rhythm were part of that band. Everything else about this video is pretty accurate. But the record Rocket 88 was recorded and released as being by Jackie Brenston.
The most interesting thing I learned from this is how Simon pronounces "jalopies"...
lop not lope...lol
@@dougwalker4944 Agree! 😎 Also for some reason many Brits like him pronounce boogie as boo-gie, not boog-ie, the oo pronounced like the oo in book...
Very interesting.
--- The mention of “Clarksdale” got my attention, not because of all the Blues Artists that I didn’t know hailed from Clarksdale,…
--- …but because Clarksdale is the famous “Crossroads” of Rt 61 and Rt 49, where Robert Johnson sold his Soul to the Devil.
--- Thus, it makes sense that a “Broken Amplifier” would play a key role in “Rocket 88”.
--- There was another “Car Accident” that also may have played a crucial role, in the beginnings of Rock-n-Roll. Carl Perkins’ band experienced a “Car Accident” on its way to what would have been, a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Perkins had already released the record, “Blue Suede Shoes”.
--- The Car Accident sidelined Perkins’ band for months, leaving the door open for Elvis to introduce Rock-n-Roll on the “Ed Sullivan Show”, and to release a more popular version of “Blue Suede Shoes”.
--- Who knows what would have happened, if Perkins had performed on nation-wide television, before Elvis???
I’d always thought Link Wray was the first-or at least one of the first-to use a messed up amp to achieve distortion-guitar, but I’m open to information that’s new to me
The Jazz guys wrote "get your kicks on route 66" in 1946. That was the first rock tune If you take the chord progression to play that song, you can also play Little Richards "Long Tall Sally" Rocket 88 sure helped Oldsmobile marketing.
Route 66 was written by Bobby troupe
If you ever watched the old series emergency 51 he played the emergency room doctor and the head nurse was Julie London his real life wife and a jazz singer.
R and R history is one of the most important and interesting parts of American History
Never heard or even heard of "Rocket 88" until now.. Just listened to it on utube. Sweeeet
you can tell they made the song with love
Because of the two saxes,you really do not hear the fuzz guitar that much
over the years, the generally accaimed first rock n roll song was Bill Haley and the Comets ROCK AROUND THE CLOCKfrom '55. However Truner's group is pretty much the same except that it has an extra sax. The guitar-bass-drums-sax "combo" was common because all the instruemtns are portable and it is not hard to set up and take down. Bill Haley and the Comets were considered a jazz combo. I recommend giving The Dominoes' 60 MINUTE MAN a listen. THAT sounds right out of a 195i7 or 8 installment of American Bandstand, but it, too, was from '51. Another song that is recongnized as some early rock n roll is THE TERROR OF HIGHWAY 101
If you think a drumkit is portable then what isn't?😅
@@evanray8413 In 1955? a piano or organ. Besides, I've hung ourt with musicians since '65 and I've seen drumkits being set up for gigs and sessions in halls , basements and outdoors
Jalopies with an "ah" sound, Simon, not "o".
6:40 Apparently Simon hasn’t heard of jalopies!
In my view, the first rock 'n roll song was Guitar Boogie by Arthur Smith from 1945. It's the first song to have rock 'n roll labeled as its genre on Wikipedia, and you can put that guitar work in a 70's blues rock track and it wouldn't sound out of place. The evolution of rock 'n roll is fascinating regardless.
"Why Don't You Love Me" 1950, Hank Williams. Listen to the energy and guitar licks! Also first rapper, "Luke the Drifter" album. Worth your time.
Marty Robbins recorded "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" in 1961. Failure of a vacuum tube in an amp accidentally produced the first distorted guitar sound recording ever kept, because he insisted it was a keeper. Reverse engineering made the affect a Rock and Roll standard.
Very informative! I love Rock n Roll trivia... and I can't believe I've lived 60 years and never knew this. LOL!
Omission of any mention of gospel music as integral to the inception of rock and roll is regrettable. Listen to "Dig A Little Deeper" by Mahalia Jackson from 1947 for one example. The musical forms (verses, chorus, rhyme schemes, etc.) were in place through harmony groups like the Golden Gate Quartet during the 1930's and before. Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard - many early performers acknowledged influences from exposure to music in the church. Chuck Berry's guitar style resembles the picking of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who recorded decades before he did. Leaving out any reference to gospel results in a hollow description of the origins of early rock and roll.
Brenston was second saxophone. (First sax was 17-year-old, Raymond Hill).
Jackie O’Neal was the ‘Kings of Rhythm’ lead singer. He quit just before “Rocket 88”.
“Rocket 88” was put forth as an idea by, Brenston. Brenston, Turner, and the band all worked out, “Rocket 88”. However Phillips gave all the credit to Brenston.
The band broke up, some sided with Turner, some with Brenston.
Brenston went solo then, went back to Turner, yet Turner never let Brenston sing the song again.
This is full of interesting facts, but there is one error; Jingle Bells wasn't written as a Christmas song. It was written as a Thanksgiving song; the lyrics have nothing to do with Christmas.
Simon Simon Simon……I’m really torn here. As a child of the 60’s and 70’s and growing up with the music of that era, I found this very interesting…interesting enough that I’d give it a thumbs up.
As a musician with guitar as primary,I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the 15 minutes I just spent listening to you talk about sounds, the title of the video is completely about the sound of 1 amp. As a guitarist and a rock n roll child (hell, I toured around locally with a band called “delta 88 revival in the 90’s for a period) I know the sound and I know ways to creat and use it. Mebbe you are today years old when you learned that you can buy amplifiers (and pedals he’ll even batteries for the pedals) that emulate power sags to cause the amps to break up earlier, or more warmly. You highlighted a very interesting topic and then failed to even provide even a sample of it.
What really strikes me is I did not hear this historic sound, nor did you contrast it against the sounds that were current at the time…that is was “breaking the mold” of. You talked about contrasting styles and you talked about different versions of song, and you talked about many different records (and showed us pictures of the records..many times) but what you did not do is play the damn record, or even a sample of any of the many sounds you discussed.
You talked about the birth and profound changes in rock and roll, and I never heard a note 🎼 🎶
That’s a fail, and a whole video about rock and an amp sound without a single note played almost feels like clickbait….I’m gonna go out on a limb and speculate that you are not a musician….😅
I promise dude, if you provided a few samples along the way you could cut down on a lot of adjectives trying to describe the music…
Quite right, nothing can be called the first Rock’n’Roll record as influences come from everywhere. Some would champion Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s recordings from the early 40’s as the first but then that would ignore some of Big Bill Broonzy’s efforts or the great Frank Stokes, Papa Charlie Jackson, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, gospel by the likes of The Golden Gate Quartet and the Swan Silvertones and so on. Rockabilly, another branch of Rock’n’Roll, Boogie Woogie ( as “We’re Gonna Rock” by Cecil Gant ) all part of the mix.
If you ever want a hoot, read the Time Magazine article in the issue covering the week of June 12, 1956. They talk about “newcomer“ Elvis Presley, and the birth of rock-n-roll. I think the author felt his scathing review would kill the movement before it started.
In case you can’t find it, his disdain was evident when he wrote (in part): “Rock and roll does for music what a motorcycle club at full throttle does for a quiet Sunday afternoon.”
Wakes it up and grabs your attention?
old people said the same thing about hip hop
Very nice details.
Please say it like "jah-law-pee", not with a long O like you did.
It would have been cool if you could have included a brief snippet of the part that you alluded to throughout the video. I suppose I'll just have to go find it myself and take a listen.
While for officionados, "Rocket 88" might be the so-called first rock song, it wasn't until the 1955 movie, "Blackboard Jungle" with Bill Haley and the Comets rendition of "Rock Around the Clock" that rock music became a thing, especially for white kids.
Great video, Simon!
Rocket 99 gets my vote - Fenders and DIY fuzz? The very fundaments of rock.
you can attain perfection with imperfect things though not always
The speaker was damaged, not the amplifier.
Being in the cabinet the speaker is considered part of a guitar amplifier. Unless all you have is a head unit. I don't know if those existed that far back. Even if they did I doubt an unsigned act back then would possess such equipment.
I’m glad there was text on screen because I was confused with the pronunciation of jalopies.
Audio sounds quite odd, "s" 's sound lispy, and way to much treble.
Yes, very thematic given the topic of the video including broken audio equipment.
Very cool! I had heard that fuzz was started when a tube shorted in an amp. But I don’t doubt this at all.
Link Wray in 57
Google him
ruclips.net/video/kiVBPs-O8DA/видео.html
Actually, in the song Rocket 88, you only hear the guitar humming in the background, almost like a bass. The saxophone and the piano dominate. Not exactly typical rock instruments.
Never listened to Little Richard?
The Blues had a baby, and they called it Rock and Roll
Ella Mae Morse did not invent Rock'N'Roll. However, as Morse's musical style blended jazz, blues, and country, she has sometimes been called the first rock 'n' roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of the song "Get On Board, Little Chillun", which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie, and jive sounds as a genuine precursor to the later rockabilly/ rock 'n roll songs. In 1943, she hit #1 on the Rhythm And Blues chart with "Shoo-Shoo Baby". In 1946, She hit with "House Of Blue Lights", and in 1948 with "Down The Road A Piece", two songs that many rock 'n' roll groups cover to this day. She has been called "The Mother Of Rock 'N' Roll" by some historians.
Ella Mae Morse: ruclips.net/video/r47ahtilJbc/видео.html
Rolling Stones: ruclips.net/video/r47ahtilJbc/видео.html
Beethoven. The father of Metal must by inference be the father of Rock and Roll.
It has always amazed me that most of the very best things have come from accidents.
Except, I don't like the song. I just looked it up. Nope.
@@CrotalusHH Oh wow, I've never seen anyone so totally oblivious to the point. Even Joe Biden could understand it.
Including any children😂
It matters to what you call Rock and Roll.
The first famous rock and roll beat, dance song was Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima in the mid 1930s as a pop single. More famously orchestrated by Benny Goodman a year later. Several Tex Benekie hits were also in the Rock and Roll beat with electric guitar.
The style went on hiatus after WW2 in favor of the Sinatra, Crosby, Cole, Day, Clooney crooner style hit parade. Progressive jazz went in another direction after the swing years and WW2.
As to the 50s. Rock Around the Clock, Tutti Fruiti and Maybelline emerged in 1955 as the typical "answer." However Country Western, Louisiana Hayride was already heading back to Rock by 1951. Elvis, later touted as The King of Rock, recorded his first record in 1953 and was on tour before 1955 with several records synthesizing R&B, Country and old Swing into the Rock and Roll beat you could dance to as they said on Dick Clark's Beachnut Music Show in Philly to later be called American Bandstand.
Is this something to do with the amp which Brian May pulled out of a skip which he plugged in to his guitar to act as a pre-amp...leading to a unique sound which could only ever be defined as the 'Quuen' sound...by any chance?
Edit: Oh, not that then
First I heard of Rock n Roll was Bill Haley "Rock Around The Clock" back in The Fifties. Film Blackboard Jungle was what put it on the map.
A lot of good comes out of bad things. Especially, when people forge on and make the best of it.
I am proud that I lived during the birth of Rock 'n Roll. Before that, was the top forty Hit Parade (with stars like Pat Boone and Patti Page) In my opinion, the first rock song must have been sung by Bill Haley and the Comets. "Rock around the Clock", "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "See You Later Alligator" around 1954. All the rest came after these.
...interesting, as all the songs you mentioned were covers of R'n'B songs, Sonny Dae and His Knights, Joe Turner and Bobby Charles, funnily enough on Chess... all good stuff though.
About 4,000 years ago, some old ass dude ate some shrooms, drank a amphora of wine,smoked..everything..picked up a guitar and rock and roll was created…Keith richards sat in the back and nodded his grey head as willie rolled up a huge spliff
Allegedly there was fallout for Sam Phillips, who previously had leasing deals not only with Chess (Howlin' Wolf, Memphis Slim) but with the Bihari Brothers on the west coast who owned the Modern/RPM group( RPM leasing BB King).
Anyway the story goes that SP was originally going to lease R88 to the Biharis, the deal was stalling and SP hurriedly sold the master to Chess, leading to a massive falling out between the Biharis and Chess and SP, thus ending their deal with Phillips.
I always thought "Rock A While" by Goree Carter, 1949 sounds like it could be the first Rock 'n Roll song.
Excellent viewing, really enjoyed your summary of such an iconic track and Sam Phillips place in history 👏👏👏👏👏
It's really good to see how fast this channel is growing!
First fuzz bass was featured on Marty Robbins tune in the 1960’s. Accidents will happen as Elvis Costello wrote and sang!
Many say Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley was the first R&R record.
My introduction to rock & roll was the release of Bill Halley’s Rock Around the Clock. 78rpm wind up gramophone.
I remember years ago hearing a rumour that some guitarists used to cut the paper speaker of AC30s and tape them up in order to be them to distort. I thought it a myth.
Then some time later we happened upon the band gear of a band that shared our rehearsal venue. I was godsmacked to find an AC30 with cut and tape repaired speakers! I had to explain the modification to the rest of our band. Never heard the amp play, though, so I can't say what it sounded like.
Tricky but I like early R&B Blues and Rock & Roll so I don't worry about it.
The latter part of jalopies rhymes with poppies.
It's a pity Ike Turner was such an awful person, he treated Tina like dirt. It's a strange world, that such a man, was someone, who was a music pioneer.
There are photographs of musicians who become famous later, in Sam Phillips's Sun Records Studio, including one that features Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison.
Rock and roll it seems has many origins and evolved over time, but Rocket 88 is clearly very important in this evolution of a music genre. 🎶🎸🎷🎹🎤😎❤️
Hi, I might be wrong but are you maybe referring to the photo of Cash, Lewis, Presley and Carl Perkins grouped around a piano and singing? Perkins is playing an acoustic guitar while Presley sits at the piano. Orbison did record at Sun but is not in that famous photo sometimes referred to as "The million dollar quartet".
@@bunnylovenuts8680 Wasn't that sure....could be wrong.
Great little history lesson here. thanks!
As a kid growing up in St. Louis during the late '40s and early '50s, there were "white" radio stations and "black" stations. White stations would not play black songs. If Sam Phillips was on a station that played both, especially in the south, that was quite exceptional. A white crooner named Pat Boone recorded covers of popular black songs that the white stations would play. These covers were pale imitations of the original records. (Pun intended!)
Looking forward to a video on Link Wray.
YES the first time I heard Rocket 88 I thought it was recorded in the early 60s in some garage but to my astonishment - 1950! Deffinately rock and rock.
Dave Davies played great guitar solo on You Really Got Me thru a cracked speaker
I just played an album's worth of songs right before seeing this. Nice and appropriate
Also, the Rhythm Kings being an offshoot of a big band makes perfect sense. Listen to Glen Miller, very riff based music as well
i know ike turner is credited with being the first "rock and roller" with "rocket 88" and bill haley (a country and western singer/band) is famous with the 1st number 1 rock and roll hit with "rock around the clock" .... BUT goree carter recorded "rock awhile" in 1949 (2 years before rocket 88) ... take a listen to it and you'll hear where chuck berry got his "plucks" from...
ROSETTA THORPE'S "ROCK ME" DEBUTED IN 1938 IS THE FIRST TRUE ROCK & ROLL SONG AND IS CONSIDERED THE BIRTH OF ROCK & ROLL. CHUCK BERRY IKE TURNER AND B.B KING HAD ALL ACKNOWLEDGED IT.
I've just listened to both. If Rock Me is the first rock and roll song then things had advanced a lot in 13 years.
@@markfinlay422 SHE WAS A GOSPEL SINGER MAKING GOSPEL MUSIC. WHAT MADE HER GOSPEL DIFFERENT IS NOT ONLY THE EDGY LYRICS AT THE TIME BUT HOW SHE INCORPORATED AND REVOLUTIONIZED THE ELECTRIC GAUTIER WITHIN HER MUSIC THAT PRODUCED A NEW SOUND AT THE TIME THAT WAS DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING ELSE OR BEFORE IT.
Little Richard was recording blues for RCA five years before Tootie Fruity
I gave it a listen, yeah that guitar distortion sure stands out
Yeah
But he’s wrong and keeps pulling my post
ruclips.net/video/RLEUSn8y9TI/видео.html
Rock & Roll is a Black music creation - just like Jazz, Blues, R&B, and Hip Hop. The story of the producer (Sam Phillips) out in the fields and hearing the singing there as “unique” was him citing the “Call and Response” aspect of Black music that had been in development since slavery.
Chicagp Blues Harmonica King James Cotton had an album called Rocket 88 in the late 70s. His version cooked!
no,it was Sam Phillips that "invented" r.r. ! he was the architect
If you listened to the song you would have heard the pronunciation of jalopies, and maybe you would have thought about including a clip of the song so people could hear the sound the amp made.
Many youth of the 40's - my dad's generation - apparently made fun of early bands which were guitar driven rather than based on horn sections. I realized this after watching the animated short "All the Cats Join in".
laughed when you called the car a ja-loap-y :)
My opinion - First R&R recording was 'That’s All Right' by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup 1946.
A clip of the recording would really benefit this video.
WLAY is still on the air in Florence on the FM frequency 102.1
Thank you for this video. Excellent work!
But he’s wrong
Google Link Wray
This guy keeps pulling my post because I prove it
ruclips.net/video/RLEUSn8y9TI/видео.html
Goree Carter, Rock a While.