I was really really digging into this song on the way to work tonight, which I have on the 50 song anthology of Buddy Holly's best stuff:
And while I'm not going to be one of those a*****es who says "they don't write them like they used to," I do feel that there is an element of innovation that had to exist for artists like Holly that doesn't necessarily carry over to later rock musicians. It's obvious the reason it had to be there to begin with...the 50s was the seminal decade for rock n roll music obviously, but I think the sort of "tame by today's standards" simplistic style of it often makes people overlook that very important ingredient of innovation that was a necessary part of the movement.
Anyway..these are some of my other early favorites that I feel have made staggering contributions to the genre and its development...and I'm making this thread because I'm interested in other people's takes on who was really important back then.
A lot of music historians actually agree that rock and roll finds its inception in the 1940s and some argue that the first music that can be appropriately called rock and roll came as early as 1944 (Jazz at the Philharmonic: Blues Part 2) and into the mid forties with gems like Helen Humes "Be Baba Leba" (1945).
I have always considered the 1949 "Fat Man" by Fats Domino to be one of the first discernible songs that can be called rock and Fats Domino himself has always been one of my musical heroes, even through the punk rock years of my late teens and early twenties.
Nobody remembers Wanda Jackson that much anymore, and it's a f***ing crime. She exemplifies to me the rock and roll woman and the raw power in her voice in 1958 when this was recorded still chills me. She's considered one of the first female pioneers of rockabilly music, beginning with country and moving into faster rock based songs after dating a young Elvis Presley in the early part of the 1950s.
While early country music is one of the main ingredients of rock, and jazz takes up a significant role in its sound as well, blues music was an equally important building block, and Howlin' Wolf was a master. Amazing songs like "Smokestack Lighting" that he gave to the world were instrumental in crafting the less formal sound of rock music, and while "300 Pounds of Joy" was one of his later pieces (first released in 1962) it's probably my favorite Howlin' Wolf song.
I was really really digging into this song on the way to work tonight, which I have on the 50 song anthology of Buddy Holly's best stuff:
And while I'm not going to be one of those a*****es who says "they don't write them like they used to," I do feel that there is an element of innovation that had to exist for artists like Holly that doesn't necessarily carry over to later rock musicians. It's obvious the reason it had to be there to begin with...the 50s was the seminal decade for rock n roll music obviously, but I think the sort of "tame by today's standards" simplistic style of it often makes people overlook that very important ingredient of innovation that was a necessary part of the movement.
Anyway..these are some of my other early favorites that I feel have made staggering contributions to the genre and its development...and I'm making this thread because I'm interested in other people's takes on who was really important back then.
A lot of music historians actually agree that rock and roll finds its inception in the 1940s and some argue that the first music that can be appropriately called rock and roll came as early as 1944 (Jazz at the Philharmonic: Blues Part 2) and into the mid forties with gems like Helen Humes "Be Baba Leba" (1945).
I have always considered the 1949 "Fat Man" by Fats Domino to be one of the first discernible songs that can be called rock and Fats Domino himself has always been one of my musical heroes, even through the punk rock years of my late teens and early twenties.
Nobody remembers Wanda Jackson that much anymore, and it's a f***ing crime. She exemplifies to me the rock and roll woman and the raw power in her voice in 1958 when this was recorded still chills me. She's considered one of the first female pioneers of rockabilly music, beginning with country and moving into faster rock based songs after dating a young Elvis Presley in the early part of the 1950s.
While early country music is one of the main ingredients of rock, and jazz takes up a significant role in its sound as well, blues music was an equally important building block, and Howlin' Wolf was a master. Amazing songs like "Smokestack Lighting" that he gave to the world were instrumental in crafting the less formal sound of rock music, and while "300 Pounds of Joy" was one of his later pieces (first released in 1962) but it's probably my favorite Howlin' Wolf song.
To me, rock has it's origins from folk and blues music. The story telling music that would be dramatic, funny, poised, cute, tender, sad, hurt, all to tell a story.
Johnny Lee Hooker.
I don't know, I attribute a lot of the "rock" music I like to have blues, folk, and jazz influences so I look towards the early blue setters as the inspiration of the best rock that I like.