Follow-up: First Rock Song Ever...

We received a lot of input on the first rock and roll song with "Rock Around the Clock"( the top vote getter by far followed by "Rocket 88"), but is that the end of the story? Of course not! We tracked down some articles generated by experts, music professors and other academia to muddy the waters... (like that?)

Bill DeMain, in a post on mental_floss.com maintains that "if we define rock ‘n’ roll as the collision of blues, country and Tin Pan Alley pop, with a manic spirit and, as Chuck Berry put it, a backbeat you can’t lose, then the following are all leading contenders for the song that changed popular music forever." He makes a good case in his explanations, picking the following five songs:

1. "That's All Right, Mama" -Arthir "Big Boy" Crudup (1946)


2. "Good Rockin' Tonight"- Wynonie Harris (1948)


3. "Rock This Joint" - Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians (1949)


4. "Saturday Night Fish Fry" - Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five (1949)


5. "Rocket 88" Jackie Brentson and  His Delta Cats (1951)

Look for a great comment on this list from Nate who said: "I am 76 years old and have been listening to R&B all my life, no matter what other names people try to give it. Wyonnie Harris as well as the Ink Spots were doing R&B and no one cared. The only difference I ever noticed was if white people sang it, it was called "rock and roll".

Robert Fontentot, in an About.com article on the topic, feels differently, stating that the older songs..."don't measure up in terms of musical cross-pollination, most of these songs work in one style, boogie or jump blues, usually. The Elvis and Haley discs, for better or worse, sound like new musical forms, although there will always be those who say that this is only because both men are white. However, hot on Elvis' heels was a young man named Chuck Berry who was about to transform an old country tune called "Ida Red" into a boot-stomping bluesy workout named Maybellene. More proof that good music sees no color, and that rock and roll has always been bigger than any one person. Bigger than all of us, in fact."

But just a minute, Mark Wallace, in a post on his blog WallaceThinks Again, he maintains (as do many others) that the very term "rock and roll" was created and popularized by Alan Freed and "The term "rock and roll" was invented by black Americans as a slang word for dancing and sex. The musical style that later became known as rock and roll was invented by black musicians by mixing influences from various genres (blues, jazz, country, folk, gospel, r ‘n’ b) in a way that involved only a slight variation on a number of earlier precursor songs from those genres.

Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" was the first recorded song to feature these variations. Recorded in early 1951 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, it featured Turner’s band under a different name with Brenston singing. Brenston received the song writing credits although the tune was probably primarily Turner’s."

Southeastern Louisiana University rock historian Joseph Burns, who also hosts a weekly radio program called "Rock School", announced that Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right Mama" is the first rock song as it contains the first guitar break ever.  According to Burns : "

 “That’s All Right Mama” was the first song to contain all of the elements that he says are associated with rock and roll:

• It’s music that draws heavily from blues and country in a hit form that’s often danceable.
• There should be hints of jazz, gospel or folk influence.
• There should also be some technology influence.

“It’s a lot to ask of one song,” he said. “Few fit the bill.”

Burns is convincing in this great article by Jennifer Viegas and posted on Discovery.com.

So what does the Monahan's Song of the Week staff think? The argument will go on forever and that is in itself fun. We love "Rocket 88", but Crudup's entry sounds WAY ahead of it's time having been recorded in 1946. Anyway, all the choices would make for great party music, so let's just enjoy them all!

Here is "That's All Right, Mama" -Arthir "Big Boy" Crudup (1946), followed by "Rocket 88" Jackie Brentson and His Delta Cats (1951).