[78-L] pop-rock 1950-1952

[Joe Scott]

Listening to them again, "Oh Babe," "Rock City Boogie," and "Blacksmith Blues," all three have "rock" in the lyrics, and all three have backbeat by the drummer through most of the tune -- a combination that _no_ known black or white secular music had in 1945. Since Billboard had been regularly calling music similar to Chris Powell's "Rock The Joint" (arguably the first rock-pop recording imo, in 1949) "rockers" since 1949, all three of those represent an apparent awareness of music similar to "Rock The Joint." Can anyone think of other examples in pop during 1950-1952? Oh, even Ames Brothers' "Rag Mop,"* that backbeat isn't coming from 1943 white or black secular music, it's coming from 1947-1950 R&B.
Joseph Scott
*Go, accordionist, go.
----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Scott
Sent: 04/28/14 12:31 PM
To: 78-L Mail List
Subject: Re: [78-L] name that era

Most people are comfortable with the idea that their tastes are better than their big sisters'. Elvis was influenced by Johnnie Ray and Frankie Laine, among many other people. That's why some of his '50s ballads sound like Johnnie Ray and Frankie Laine. "Hound Dog" of course sounded like Little Richard and the like on the other hand (a sound that was already around in 1950-1952 before Richard or Elvis was popular with records like "Rock H-Bomb Rock" by H-Bomb Ferguson and "I'm The Fat Man" by Big John Greer And His Rhythm Rockers). Kay Starr's "Oh Babe" peaked at #7 pop in 1950 and rocks more than Elvis's "Too Much" imo. "The Blacksmith Blues" by Ella Mae Morse is mid-tempo, rock-influenced, and hip and peaked at #3 pop in 1952. Ernie Ford had drummers playing backbeats about the time of "Rock City Boogie" in 1951. Joseph Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: rjh334578gmail Sent: 04/28/14 11:33 AM To: 78-L Mail List Subject: Re: [78-L] name that era I mentioned all this on my big band radio show a long time ago by saying Elvis saved us from Johnny Ray and got several calls affirming my position. That was 1989 or so when many of the fans of the day were still with us. I got one call asking who Johnny Ray was. Sent from my iPod - which explainz any bad typjng On Apr 28, 2014, at 12:27 PM, "Joe Scott" <joenscott at mail.com> wrote: > Elvis singing "Love Me Tender" off-pitch saved the world from Eddy > Howard singing on-pitch. > Joseph Scott > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Thomas Brown > Sent: 04/28/14 11:20 AM > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com > Subject: Re: [78-L] name that era > > I received another "bouncing" email. I thought perhaps I had been > dropped because my tastes are too bland ;-) -----Original > Message----- From: Joe Scott <joenscott at mail.com> To: 78-L Mail List > <78-l at klickitat.78online.com> Sent: Mon, Apr 28, 2014 1:15 pm > Subject: Re: [78-L] name that era Most popular tunes of the year per > Billboard : 1955 Perez Prado "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" > 1957 Elvis Presley "All Shook Up" (numbers two through four by Pat > Boone, Diamonds, Tab Hunter) 1959 Johnny Horton "The Battle Of New > Orleans" 1961 Bobby Lewis "Tossin' And Turnin'" 1963 Jimmy Gilmer > and the Fireballs "Sugar Shack" 1965 Sam The Sham And The Pharoahs > "Wooly Bully" 1967 Lulu "To Sir With Love" (numbers two through four > by Box Tops, Bobby Gentry, Association; Beatles "Penny Lane" was > number fifty-five) 1969 Archies "Sugar Sugar" 1971 Three Dog Night > "Joy To The World" 1973 Tony Orlando and Dawn "Tie A Yellow > Ribbon..." 1975 Captain and Tenille "Love Will Keep Us Together" > 1977 Ro > d Stewart "Tonight's The Night" (numbers two through four by Andy > Gibb, Emotions, Streisand) We can listen to Jerry Lee Lewis and Led > Zeppelin now as much as we want if we want, but... In Billboard's > four top 100 listings of 1956 through 1959, Elvis Presley had a > total of 19 tunes (some of them slow ballads -- btw the formula > going on with "Love Me Tender," "I Want You I Need You I Love You" > and "Loving You" was no more interesting than Pat Boone, was it?), > Chuck Berry had 4, Little Richard had 3, Carl Perkins had 1, Eddie > Cochran had 1. They were popular, but not representative of how most > music of the era sounded. Joseph Scott > _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 78-L at klickitat.78online.com > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l > _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 78-L at klickitat.78online.com > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l > _______________________________________________ > 78-L mailing list > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 78-L at klickitat.78online.com http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 78-L at klickitat.78online.com http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l