Pre-history of rock and roll
- Tom Monto
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Came across the book
Before Elvis The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll
by Larry Birnbaum
(Scarecrow, 2013)
thought I would look up the sources of Rock and Roll to hear them online.
Here's some:
1954 Your cash ain't nothing but cash Clovers 1954 p. 311
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1939 Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam) Glen Miller p.166
perhaps influenced Little Richard's "Tutti-frutti" (1955), which was based on Slim and Slam's "Tutti-frutti" (1938) p.165
Little Richard had added the immortal "awop-bop-aloo-mop alop-bam-boom" (a cleaned-up version of the musical gibberish he had been doing)
Thus gibberish came into rock and roll.
(visions of Whoopi trying to decipher the lyrics of a Rolling Stones song!)
in the film "Mr Holland's Opus", the titular character (played by Richard Dreyfuss) shared early rock and roll with his music students
computer might tell you the teacher Mr. Holland played the Toys’ Lovers Concerto, but the real truth is he played "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen (1957ish), with its unintelligible lyrics, and thus showed them that music was about feeling and connection rather than just "notes on a page". (p. 374)
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Love Love Love
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Canadian bands
1957 - The Diamonds doo-wop band who did cover of Gladiola's Little Darlin' (p. 311)
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Obscure Canadian music
Check out:
Patty Surbey and the Canadian V.I.P.s
"I want a Beatle for Christmas"
The Pursuit of Happiness (Edmonton's own Moe Berg, now of Toronto)
"I am an Adult Now"
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for some early rock, check out:
Fats Domino "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Some Day"
for fun see
"Rock and Roll" by Gary Glitter - "great entertainer, bad babysitter"
anything by Stiff Little Fingers and the Clash,
any by Billy Bragg,
(his "Waiting for a Great Leap Forward" covered by the Go Set https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyvWkwU4cSo&list=RDZyvWkwU4cSo&start_radio=1
many by Phil Ochs
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