New Month, New Playlist! Listen Here.
I'm super busy this week mixing my upcoming record, which is a seemingly endless task. So, here's a playlist I put together on CD a few years ago, and am just now making available to stream. The information in the short synopsis of each of these 50 songs comes from The History of Rock and Roll Part I by Ed Ward. There are some familiar tracks on here. I would be surprised if someone has not heard Tutti Frutti or The Twist, but you are less likely to have heard Marihuana Boogie - I certainly had not. If you are interested in this period of music history I highly recommend Andrew Hickey's A History of Rock Music in 500 songs. He goes deep.
Do yourself a favor and listen to some Bo Diddley this week! I mean, this photo alone proves how important the man is.
Chapter One: The Record Industry. Race & Country
1.Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds (1920)- See my post dedicated to this song.
2.Matchbox Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson (1927) - Recorded two years before the singer’s death from mysterious circumstances. It is often rumored that he was poisoned by a lover, though it is probably more likely that he died of a heart attack while in a snowstorm. This is an example of an early recording put out on Paramount Records - one of the main companies releasing “race records.” The song was later performed in a highly modified form by both Carl Perkins and the Beatles.
3.Osage Stomp - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (1935)- The Texas Swing genre marks a distinct departure from the popular country music of the Carter family and the Hollywood-inspired Western genre that preceded it. The ‘Playboys’ refers to their corporate sponsor - Playboy Flour.
Chapter Two: Independence
4. Move on Up a Little Higher—Mahalia Jackson (1947)—This song was released on Apollo Records, which also released Dean Martin’s earliest recordings. The label was home to a wide variety of genres. This was one of the earliest hits in the gospel genre. The song sold 8 million copies and is considered a landmark song in the cause of black upward mobility.
5. Marihuana Boogie - Lalo Guerrero (1949)- This was a huge hit for Imperial Records, founded by Lew Chudd, who wanted to profit from the music of the Mexican American community in Los Angeles. Chudd later "discovered" Fats Domino while in New Orleans.
6. I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Living - Hank Williams (1950)- Hank Williams changed the lyrical projection of country music, a stylistic change that would go on to influence early rock and roll music. The Carter Family wrote about idealized pasts and loved ones who had passed on. Williams flipped the script by internalizing the Blues. He sang about things that were happening to him at that moment. Songs of frustration, pain, and anger… and usually a willingness to forget it all and party anyway.
Chapter Three: Blues, Birds & A Moondog
7. Boogie Chillin’ - John Lee Hooker (1949) - Many of Hooker’s songs had only one chord. He played a kind of primitive Blues that appealed to poor black workers who had left the South in search of a better life. The major distinction between this music and early southern blues is the addition of the electric guitar, which Hooker used so he could stand out on the streets of Detroit.
8. Tim Moore’s Farm - Lightnin’ Hopkins (1948) - This song was about a real farmer in Grimes County, Texas, who was notorious for his mistreatment of black workers. The name Lightnin’ comes from a collaboration earlier in his career with a pianist nicknamed “Thunder” Smith.
9. Moanin’ at Midnight - Howlin’ Wolf (1951) - Put out on Chess Records in Chicago, the song begins with a wordless moan and features his famous ‘Howl’, a sound intended to mimic the yodeling of Jimmie Rogers.
Chapter Four: Black Voices in The Heartland
10. My Song - Johnny Ace and The Beale Streeters (1952) - This song went to Number one and made him an early teen heartthrob. Later, he would die from a gunshot wound backstage before one of his shows when he was either playing Russian Roulette or trying to impress a woman by holding his gun to his head, not realizing that there was a bullet in the chamber.
11. Crying in the Chapel - The Orioles (1953) - Vocal groups were a tremendous hit in 1953. This was originally a country song for cowboy movie star Rex Allen and would later be covered by Elvis Presley in 1960.
12. Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton (1953) - An early song by the writing partnership of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, sons of well-educated Jewish intellectuals with a love for black music. They would go on to write many of Elvis’ hit songs. This would, of course, itself be a hit for Elvis in 1956 following his performance on the Milton Berle Show. Thornton’s version features a guitar solo by “Kansas City” Bill (Really Johnny Otis). This was the first hit on Don Robey’s Peacock label. When Lieber and Stoller went to cash their check from Robey, it bounced.
Chapter Five: The Stars Align 1953-1954
13. Work With Me Annie - Hank Ballard and The Midnighters (1954) - This song, with its suggestive lyrics, was both a hit (It went to #1) and a cause for alarm from white, conservative parents. A sequel, “Annie Had a Baby,” was later released, confirming the suggestive nature of the lyrics. Ballard would later write “The Twist.”
14. Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954)—Big Joe Turner -This Song was on the charts for thirty-two weeks. Bill Haley and the Comets, who presented a slightly cleaner version, later covered it and further popularized it.
15. I’ve Got a Woman—Ray Charles (1954)—This quick rewrite of the gospel song “I’ve Got a Savior” went to number one and was a major influence on Little Richard's music.
Chapter Six: 1955: Rock and Roll is Born
16. Maybelline- Chuck Berry- (1955) - This song is based on the Country's traditional “Ida Red,” popularized by Bob Wills in the Western swing style in 1950. Having been trained as a cosmologist, he changed the name to ‘Maybelline’ in order to get royalties from the song. It had its debut on the Alan Freed Show. It became so popular that he played it for two hours straight at one point.
17. Tutti Frutti- Little Richard (1955) - This was originally a song that Richard would sing exclusively at gay bars. The original lyrics were “A-Wop-Bopa-Lubop-A-God- Damn- Tutti- Frutti- Good-Booty.” The song features Earl Palmer on drums. This song and his playing style are considered the foundational beat of Rock and Roll.
18. The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)—Etta James (1955)—This cleaned-up version of “Work With Me Annie” was not a major success, but when Georgia Gibbs covered it in 1955, it became a number-one pop hit.
Chapter Seven: 1956. Into The Big Time
19. Honey Don’t - Carl Perkins (1956)- This was the B-Side to Blue Suede Shoes. The ‘concept’ for Blue Suede shoes was suggested by Johnny Cash. When Perkins received his first copy of the record, he was disappointed to see a 45 RPM record, which he had never seen before and had no way of playing. He had to go out and buy a record player that would accommodate the new format, which was becoming the standard for singles as it could be placed in Jukeboxes. This is an example of the country genre evolving into its Rockabilly form.
20. Bo Diddley -Bo Diddley (1956) - Rhythmically similar to a hambone, his performance of the song on the Ed Sullivan Show predated the famous Elvis performances. The producers had picked a song by Merle Travis called “Sixteen Tons” for the artist to play. Diddley ignored the producers at showtime and played this song instead.
21. I Put A Spell on You - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (1956)- Hawkins had a difficult time recording the vocals on this track. He decided to get very drunk and interspersed the lyrics with whooping and gargling noises when he forgot the lyrics. He claimed not to remember recording the song at all.
Chapter Eight: Interlude in Another Land.
22. Ain’t You Glad—The Vipers (1956)—This was one of the earliest and most successful Skiffle groups. Skiffle is a form of folk music that mixes homemade instruments with manufactured ones. It was briefly one of the more popular genres in Britain. The Beatles began their careers as a skiffle group. This is an early track produced by George Martin, another Beatles connection.
23. Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan (1956) - Another Skiffle group. While not a successful record in Britain, it went top ten in the U.S. when Decca decided to re-release the two songs from a previous album that contained mostly jazz numbers. The band got no royalties, only a recording fee of 3 pounds, 2 Shillings each. Wanting to capitalize on the record’s popularity, Donegan went on a tour of the U.S. By the time he returned, Skiffle music was the next big thing.
24. Rock with the Cavemen- Tommy Steele. (1956) - Steele was a high school dropout who worked on trans-Atlantic ocean liners. In America, he heard Rock and Roll Music and brought it back to England.
Chapter Nine: Annus Mirabilis 1957
25. Dedicated to the One I Love - The (Five) Royales (1957)- Recorded to more success later by the Shirelles and The Mammas and the Pappas. This record never saw the charts until its re-release in 1961.
26. C C Rider - Chuck Wills (1957) - A major hit for Wills on American Bandstand where it inspired one of the program’s first dances, “The Stroll” - a kind of sedate line dance. The song itself is a traditional song, also known as See, See Rider or Easy Rider. It was popular on the Vaudeville circuit long before teenagers danced to it on Bandstand.
27. Raunchy—Bill Justis (1957)—is one of the rare instrumentals to go number one on the pop charts. It became Sun Records' biggest success since Elvis.
Chapter Ten: 1958: Hoodlum Friends Outside:
28. Shombalor- Sheriff and the Ravels (1957)- This is a Brooklyn Group on Vee-Jay records. The Rapid-fire delivery of Elmore Sherriff’s lyrics, including the words “Nazi” and “Frankenstein,” brings to mind the mumbled delivery of “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen (1963).
29. Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson (1957)- This was Wilson’s breakout hit. 1957 continued to be a successful year for Wilson with three other hits, “I’m Wonderin’,” “We Have Love,” and “To Be Loved.” Wilson was a tenor with a four-octave range.
30. I’m Coming Home - Johnny Horton (1957) - While not a pop chart hit, this song shows the blurred lines that many country artists were experimenting with - A gray area between Rock and Roll and Country. The Everly Brothers and Johnny Cash were other examples of this. Even Marty Robbins dabbled in this territory with “A White Sportcoat (and a Pink Carnation)”
Chapter Eleven: Death and Soul: 1959
31: Whisper - Marv Johnson (1959)- This was Berry Gordy’s first release on his pre-Motown label Tamla. The song took off, and he had to lease it to Universal for proper distribution. It went number five on the R&B charts. It features James Jamerson on bass, who would go on to play on innumerable Motown tracks as part of the Funk Brothers.
32: The Twist - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - (1959)- Ballard found a dance that black teens had been doing for some time and wrote a song around it. The B Side “Teardrops on Your Letter” sold better. Chubby Checker would go on to have a hit with the song the next year.
33. Lavender Blue - Sammy Turner (1959)- An odd interpretation of the English Folk song, it wound up on the charts. It was produced by an uncredited Phil Spector while he was working for songwriters Lieber and Stoller and studying to be an interpreter for the United Nations.
Chapter 12: 1960: Oldies, Newsies, and Payola.
34. Mule Skinner Blues- The Fendermen (1960). A success for Soma records. The band played electric solid-body guitars, a trait they shared with The Ventures. The hollow body of other semi-electric guitars of the time could cause feedback and other distortion. Without the resonant body, the band could play louder. Solid-body guitars, up to this point, were almost never used outside of West Coast Country Music, which was still a local phenomenon.
35. Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That? -Mable John (1960) - John was the first act to go through Berry Gordy’s “Training Program” while she was still Berry’s Chauffeur. Berry never learned to drive. The album was not a success.
36. He Will Break Your Heart - Jerry Butler (1960) - Butler was one of the two songwriters in The Impressions (the other being Curtis Mayfield). This was Butler’s first solo album on Vee-Jay Records (Motown’s main competitor)
Chapter Thirteen: Let’s Twist Again
37. Hideaway -Freddie King (1961) - King was a Texan who moved to the West Side of Chicago. This is an instrumental staple of current Blues and Rock Musicians. The song was derived from the Hound Dog Taylor song “Taylor’s Boogie.
38. Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms) - Solomon Burke (1961) - This was Burke’s debut on Atlantic Records. A Philadelphia native, he was leading a congregation and running a mortuary at the time of this recording.
39. (I’m Afraid) The Masquerade is Over—Marvin Gaye (1961)—This was Gaye’s first release after doing some session work at Chess Records, including singing backup vocals with Etta James on Chuck Berry’s “Back in the USA.”
Chapter Fourteen: Teen Pan Alley
40. Every Breath I Take - Gene Pitney (1961) - This was another early Phil Spector-produced song written by the team of Gerry Goffin and Carol King. This was not a huge hit, but it got Spector a position as Head of East Coast A&R for Liberty Records.
41. Green Onions - Booker T. and the M.G.’s (1962). Released on Stax Records, it became one of the most popular instrumentals of all time. It made the U.K. charts in 1979 after being used in the Who film Quadrophenia.
42. Sherry—Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons (1962)—The Varietones formed when Bob Crews, a failed teen idol, "discovered" the group in New Jersey. Crews co-wrote the songs with Bob Gaudio, the group’s main songwriter.
Chapter Fifteen: 2nd Interlude into Another Land
43. In Spite of All the Danger - The Quarrymen (1958)- By 1959, Skiffle would dissolve with the breakup of the Vipers. The Quarrymen, soon to be the Beatles, had already started to lean into the new rock and roll sound by 1958. This was the band’s first acetate demo that they produced themselves. The Paul McCartney-penned song featured a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day” on its B-side.
44. Move It- Cliff Richard and the Drifters (1958)- Richard’s band (not to be confused with the American Doo-Wop group) is considered by many to be Britain’s first serious Rock and Roll band. Released the same year as ‘In Spite of All the Danger’, the Drifters prove themselves to be a much more mature and practiced group.
Chapter Sixteen: 3rd Interlude: England & Germany
45. Till There Was You - The Beatles (1963)- This recording comes from a test demo for Decca in London. They recorded fifteen songs that day, including a Lennon-McCartney tune, “Love of the Love.” The song, written in 1950 by Meredith Wilson, comes from the Musical ‘The Music Man.’
46. How Do You Do It (1963) - Gerry and the Pacemakers- EMI wanted the Beatles to record this song as their first single. They decided they would rather not record an album than play this song. The Beatles would record Love Me Do as their first single instead.
47. Love Me Do—The Beatles (1962)—Despite having no airplay, The Beatles' first single crept into the NME charts (then a sophisticated Jazz magazine) at number twenty-seven. George Martin, following the recording of this song, invited the group back for a second session, having decided that they had a special quality.
Chapter Seventeen: 1963: The End of The World
48. Mixed Up Confusion - Bob Dylan (1963)- This was Dylan’s first foray into Rock and Roll, occurring between his folkie debut and his FreeWheelin’ LP. The single was withheld and not heard for many years.
49. You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me- The Miracles (1963)- This was the year that Motown Records established itself as a commercially successful entity. The Motortown Revue was selling out throughout the US. At the Regal Theater in Chicago, they put on a show four times a day to meet the demand.
50. Come On - The Rolling Stones (1963)- This was the band’s debut record. The cover of the Chuck Berry song went to number twenty on the NME charts before quickly disappearing. The band was promoted by Andrew Loog Oldham. Prior to its release, he demoted band member Ian Stuart for being too ordinary-looking. He took it in stride and continued to tour with the group until his death in 1985.
Painting with John (Music from the Original TV Series) - John Lurie
One for the Lounge Lizards out there. This is a double album of songs that sound like the man's paintings. Perfect background music. A little flavor for our boring lives. The legendary Marvin Pontiac returns as well (the singing version of Lurie).
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