Customer Reviews

Roots of Rock N Roll: 1946-1954

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Most of us cats n kitties out there know that rock n roll was created from white country music and black rhythm and blues. That may be the long and short of it, honeys, but the truth is that this great big 3-CD box set also contains numbers that might be considered jazz ("Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"), gospel ("Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air"), musical theatre ("Ol' Man River"), comedy ("Riot In Cell Block #9"), and, of course, blues ("How Many More Years", "Hootchie Cootchie Man"). As a matter of fact, both country and r and b came from the blues, but that is a story best told another day. Roots of Rock N Roll: 1946-1954 contains all the above unforgettable performances plus too many more to mention, and the hip compilers at Hip-O records did a masterful job of assembling this assortment, guaranteed to reward listeners with hours of listening pleasure. A great collection, to be sure. However, in the interest of better informing the potential buyer, I feel I must add a couple of cautions. One: Although there are relatively few country selections (maybe half a dozen or so), I realize that country music is a polarizing genre, which means that some listeners really LOVE it and some really HATE it. These particular tracks, from Hank Williams "Move It On Over" (later covered by George Thorogood), to Hank Snows "I'm Movin' On" (later recorded live by The Rolling Stones---look it up!) are pretty soulful, but if you are put off by "steel guitars and a twang" at all, then you may not like them. Two: When you come right down to it, some of these choices don't stand the test of time. Example: Johnny Ray may be seen as an influence on both The Four Seasons and Dion and the Belmonts, but I confess I'm rather bewildered why his rather ordinary pop song "Cry" spent so many weeks atop the charts. And while Faye Adams recording of "Shakes A Hand" created tremors throughout the South when whites and blacks dared to risk arrest by reaching across segregated dance floors to shake hands every time this song was played, the truth is it's not that great a number. And while we're on the subject: "Shotgun Boogie" may showcase Tennessee Ernie Ford's cornpone persona to perfection, but "Sixteen Tons" would have been a much better choice; the latter number is one of the finest fusions of country, pop, gospel, and r and b ever recorded, and it's omission from this collection is a glaring one. Finally, the collection bogs down at times with too many slow numbers. For my money, the compilers could have doubled the number of jump blues songs and made a better collection. Still, don't let these rather minor troubles worry you. Rather, get this collection and marvel at how anyone could be a "Sixty Minute Man", find out where Elvis got his "Hound Dog" from, and, most of all, delight in the unstoppable energy of trains in such unforgettable classics as "Freight Train Boogie" and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"!! OUTASITE!!! So get Roots of Rock N Roll today and party down while deciding whether or not to dye your own roots!! Crazy, Man, Crazy!!!!

Typically, we're asked to believe that rock and roll started with Elvis. Or that rock and roll was, more than anything else, an evolutionary variation on country music. Or that rock and roll represented (and continues to represent) a white-black fusion.

Certainly, this collection lays waste to the first two notions. In his informative liner notes, Pete Grendysa tells us that rock and roll existed long before the main (i.e. middle-class white) record-buying public knew about it. And the country examples are relatively few. I'd have been happy if they were none, but I can live with the well-chosen examples here.

In particular, Hank William's "Move It On Over," while not exactly rock and roll (a two-beat pulse doesn't qualify as such, to my ears), does feature a verse identical to the first four bars of "Rock Around the Clock." And, like Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" (Disc 2, track 4), it is a hillbilly boogie in standard twelve-bar blues form. It's not far from the mark.

And The Delmore Brother's "Freight Train Boogie," from 1946, turns into pure Carl Perkins near the end, easily out-rocking anything Elvis recorded at Sun. Having heard other Delmore Brothers sides that aren't anything like rock and roll, I was surprised and delighted by this number.

But the black recordings are the real, and whole, point of this collection. Such sides have far too often been disgracefully dismissed by too many rock historians as primitive, artistically-incomplete efforts by African-American musicians struggling toward something higher--"something higher" meaning, of course, Elvis. But listen for yourself. Most of these African-American numbers rock with the force of a thousand Elvises. And these are not performances striving to become whole; they are more than whole. The musicianship, for the most part, is assured and aggressive and infinitely more competent than some of what was to come after rock and roll had conquered the pop charts.

Many thanks to the genius who thought to include Lionel Hampton's 1946 if-it-ain't-rock-and-roll-what-the-heck-is-it masterpiece "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" (with its wonderful, be-boppy jazz piano chords in eight-note triplets at the start). Many more thanks for Jimmy Preston's 1949 recorded-in-an-insane-asylum "Rock the Joint" (however did Bill Haley manage to tame this tune down so drastically?). More thanks, even, for Hal Singer's proto-surf "Cornbread" (1948), Percy Mayfield's masterful "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (1950), and Ruth Brown's superbly soulful "Teardrops from My Eyes" (1950, again--a great year for Soul).

The best compilation of its kind. If you want to know the real Story of Rock and Roll, you've got to hear the records. And they're here.

This rare glimpse into the early beginnings and became today's music, could be called "The Roots of Rock 'N' Roll 1946-1954", just when we thought we knew everything about this genre ~ nothing can be any further from the truth ~ what you will hear in the next sixty tracks is the very heart and soul of the early days ~ music that changed America and the rest of the world followed suit.

Featuring an astounding group of musicians ~ Johnny Ace, Faye Adams, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Tiny Bradshaw, Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, Roy Brown, Ruth Brown, Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers, The Chords, The Clovers, Pee Wee Crayton & His Guitar, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Five Keys, Delmore Brothers, Fats Domino, The Drifters, Five Royales, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Forrest, Rosco Gordon, Guitar Slim, Bill Haley & His Comets, Lionel Hampton, Peppermint Harris, Wynonie Harris, Ivory Joe Hunter, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, B.B. King, The Larks, Joe Liggins, Little Junior's Blue Flames, Little Richard (w/Johnny Otis Orch), Little Willie Littlefield, Willie Mabon, Percy Mayfield, Steve McGhee & His Buddies, Amos Milburn, Wild Bill Moore, The Orioles, Johnny Otis Orchestra (w/Mel Walker & Little Esther), Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians, Lloyd Price, The Ravens, Johnnie Ray (w/Four Lads), The Robins, Hal Singer, Hank Snow, Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Marie Knight, Big Mama Thornton, Merle Travis, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Paul Williams, Chuck Willies, Howlin' Wolf ~ each track strongly rooted into the classic genre that will last forever ~ showcasing various sub-genres like country, blues, soul and even big band, yes this new music from the undercurrent of what was going to be bigger than anyone had expected ~ the youth loved and craved every tune that came out during the mid '40s and '50s ~ it came out of nowhere and was gaining steam and coming up fast!

Each selection has been re-mastered with that original sound, works so well with todays collectors of lost music ~ entire 3-CD set is uniquely, so personal and chuck full of wonderful memories ~ regardless of the time or place, this compilation is the ultimate of talent weaving a timeless tapestry that we've come to love and appreciate ~ and you know we gotta love it!

Total Time: 3-CD-Set ~ Hip-O Records 62006 ~ (4/13/2004)

For those of you who are interested in the roots of much of the music that's everywhere, this is a perfect starting place. Here are three discs to show you where almost all great pop music, Post World War II, came from. It couldn't have been picked much better. There are vocal groups, jump blues bands, and thank God, some country songs. They seem to have done a great job with licensing and all that too. I had quite a few of these records and got this as a recent birthday gift, but there was still plenty to thrill me.

One warning: You'll want to follow up by buying almost everything you can by these great artists. It's a happy disease.

A real history lesson in the roots of Rock-A-Billy and Rock n Roll. If you enjoy music you'll enjoy this cd...Some great songs, by great artisit. It rocks, it rolls and it will have all the cats jumpin'

A welcome addition to anyones music collection. Very well done, with great song selection.

The Mean Eyed Cat

KNON 89.3

Dallas, Texas

I've been collecting rock and roll for a long time, and there are some gems on this cd that I've never heard. This is a very concise,thoughtout, and meaningful collection. Oh to have been "back in the day" when these were filling the air-waves. This is a great cd. You will not go wrong.!