CHAPTER THREE – SETTING THE STAGE

Who invented Rock n Roll?

We know who coined the phrase to describe this music.  Allan Freed.  And we're pretty sure we know who recorded its first rumblings.  Sam Phillips.  But, just who invented this music that shook the world?  Clearly, no one person or group invented Rock and Roll Music.  It evolved over time.  Here are some historically significant events that led to the emergence of Rock and Roll..  These are the artists and personalities who lived in the culture and created the atmosphere surrounding the birth of a distinctly American artform.  This is the stage onto which Rock and Roll burst. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

First Hit

Nominees for the first Rock and Roll recording ever:

In 1947 Roy Brown recorded his song "Good Rockin' Tonight".  Probably the first recorded "Rockin'" reference, but let's be honest, he was swinging not rocking.

Wynonie Harris recorded an easy boogie version of "Good Rockin' Tonight" that same year.

"Rocket 88" is credited to lots of folks.  Ike Turner had a major hand in this song, which he arranged for Jackie Brenston.  It was a take off on a song called "Cadillac Boogie" 1947.  There was also a similar sounding "Rocket 88 Boogie" from the same year.  But, the 1951 Bill Haley recording probably was the most memorable.

Bill Haley and the Comets "Rock Around the Clock" is the first widely acclaimed Rock and Roll record.  His cover of the Sonny Dae and the Knights song benefited from its inclusion in the film "Blackboard Jungle".  From this point on Rock and Roll was here to stay.

Elvis Pressley listened to these early recordings and added his own intensity to Arthur Crudup's song "That's Alright Mama".  It was the B side of his first single.  At first, his cover of a Bill Monroe's Bluegrass song got the airplay.  Elvis never considered himself the first Rock and Roller.  He admitted to listening to and trying to copy the black singers he'd heard as he was growing up.

"Rock and Roll" as a term can be traced back to Gospel music.  As early as 1916 "Rocking and Rolling in the Arms of Moses" appeared in song. Over the years Rocking and Rolling crossed over into Dancing, loving, and eventually hot and sweaty human behavior.  It eventually became slang (code words) for making passionate love.  Check out the Wiki reference to the right for a list of songs and lyrics that trace the phrase.

Sam Phillips opens his Memphis Recording Service.   Sam would record anything, anytime, anyplace.  He was a DJ and an entrepreneur.  He listened to and recorded all kinds of music around Memphis (even some weddings), and he had an eye for anything that would make him a buck.

Fats Domino hits the R&B chart for the first time.  Miles Davis completes some session work at Capitol Records recording his Birth of the Cool album.  Nat King Cole records Mona Lisa.  Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller begin writing as a team. 

LEIBER AND STOLLER

Jerry Leiber born Aprl 25, 1933 Mike Stoller born March 13, are two of the most influential American songwriters of the 1950’s and beyond.  Lieber, a Polish immigrant was raised near Baltimore, Maryland and was classically trained in music but had a love for Jazz and R&B. Stoller being raised in Queens New York was influenced highly by the music coming from the black neighborhoods near by.  After first meeting in Los Angeles in 1950 they immediately began writing songs together. Their roots in jazz and R&B influenced them in their writing and through this came such hits as “Hound Dog” made famous by Elvis Presley, “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King, “Yakety Yak” by the Coasters and “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis. These two men helped successfully make R&B or otherwise Black music crossover into main stream music accepted by white America.    . 

            This dynamic song writing team, no doubt had a substantial impact on Rock-n-Roll history especially during its first decade.  Lieber and Stoller brought a sense of style to their music that was unmatched by any other songwriters of the time.  They understood the meaning of the “crossover” and how important it was to make good music that is interesting to the masses.  They wrote everything from pop songs and love ballads to folk and country songs all in the name of making quality music.   Never the performers, only the writers, Lieber and Stoller enjoyed much success during the fifties, and in the sixties they started their own record label, Red Bird Records.  They continue to be active in the Rock-n-Roll community and have no doubt had a substantial impact on its founding.

For more on Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller check out:

http://www.geocities.com/spectropop/hleiberstoller.html

 http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/260:0/1/Leiber_and_Stoller.html

Article by Andrew Brazill

In April, Mitch Miller, Columbia's music director signs Tony Bennett. 

In Nashville, The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle Carter join the Grand Ole Opry.  Chet Atkins is their back up guitarist.

One of the biggest hits of the year was "Goodnight Irene" by The Weavers, which was founded by Pete Seeger.

Muddy Waters records "Rollin' Stone". (This video is from the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival)

MUDDY WATERS

McKinley Morgan Field was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. McKinley was better known by the name Muddy Waters and was considered the “Father of Chicago Blues.” Being considered one of the greatest blues players of all time, he had a major impact on various artists that helped to kick start their careers and also various genres of music: blues, rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, jazz, and country.

Muddy Waters was born in the town of Rolling Fork Mississippi on April 5^th, 1914. At the age of three, Waters moved to Clarksdale. His grandmother raised him after his mother died and gave him the nickname of Muddy because he would always be playing the mud when he was a little kid. He changed his name twice during his life, the first change was to Muddy Water and finally to Muddy Waters.  He was influenced during his childhood with the style of the local Delta blues.  He started out playing the harmonica but by seventeen he was playing the guitar at parties with two other famous blues artists at the time, Son House and Robert Johnson. Peter Guralnick, a music critic, was quoted talking about Waters: “His thick heavy voice, the dark coloration of his tone and his firm almost solid personality were all clearly derived from House but the embellishments which he added, the imaginative slide technique and more agile rhythms, were closer to Johnson.”

In 1943, Waters moved to Chicago to begin spreading what he had learned in the Delta. After an unsuccessful attempt to get recorded with several companies he was recorded by the smaller company Chess Records. Muddy Waters’ first big single was "I Can't Be Satisfied/I Feel Like Going Home." After this he began to expand his music base from just Mississippi blues and incorporated instruments like the harmonica into his songs and his popularity continued to grow (One example of this incorporation can be found at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91Qj870HHk, which is featured James Cotton on the harmonica.)

By the 1950s, Waters and his band were becoming Chicago’s best blues in the city. At the peak of the band’s popularity in the mid 1950s the band members broke off to tackle their own solo careers. When the band members show the success Muddy was achieving they wanted a taste of it for themselves.  Waters described the blues he played to have a different sound than ordinary blue. He was quoted in Rolling Stones describing his style of blues:  "When I plays onstage with my band, I have to get in there with my guitar and try to bring the sound down to me, but no sooner than I quit playing, it goes back to another, different sound. My blues look so simple, so easy to do, but it's not. They say my blues is the hardest blues in the world to play." Many would not disagree with that argument. That’s why he has been so influential to so many artists that came after Muddy entered the limelight.

As the 1950s turned into the 1960s, Muddy and his band continued to perform, but his heyday began to decline as many people began to listen more and more to artists like B.B. King. Muddy Waters continued to play and tour whenever possible until his death on April 30^th, 1983. However, his influence still continues on today with artists like Eric Clapton and others who have grown up listening to and appreciating the music of Muddy Waters.

http://www.muddywaters.com/bio.html

 http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/muddy-waters

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91Qj870HHk

For a concise look, and further good links to Muddy Waters, check out PBS.org:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/waters_m.html

Article by Tom Babcock, Tom Driscoll and Steve Mullane

Muddy sings "Mannish Boy"

B.B. KING

In the 1950s, popular music took began to evolve. Taking its queue from the “black” music of the time, pop began to develop the rhythm and style that would eventually be known as rock and roll. But while the radio played the hits from rock artists like Elvis, the Everley Brothers and Buddy Holly, many other musicians just kept playing the same music they had been hearing their whole lives. The Blues would always have a place in America’s musical landscape, perpetuated by a new wave of blues artists to emerge in the 50s. Foremost among these now legendary blues musicians was none other than B.B. King.

B.B. first emerged on the scene in Memphis in 1946, at the age of 20. He was, for lack of a better word, a failure and he soon retreated back to his home town of Itta Bena, Mississippi, where he became a disk jockey. It was at this job where he earned the moniker B.B., short for his on air name, the “Beale Street Blues Boy.”

In 1949, King began recording tracks with Los Angeles based label RPM Records, and by the 1950s, King had become a hit within the blues world with hits like "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "Woke Up This Morning," "Please Love Me," and "Whole Lotta Love." In 1962, B.B. signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed first by MCA Records, followed by his current label, Geffen Records. It was with ABC-Paramount that B.B. recorded and released his first cross over hit, “The Thrill is Gone.” The tune charted on the R&B charts as well as the pop charts. The song has since been named the 183 greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Since the 70s, King’s recording career has received a back seat to his live performances, with a few notable exceptions, including a collaboration with U2 (When Love Comes to Town) and an album with Eric Clapton (Ridin’ With the King).

Now 80, King still tours regularly, despite developing type II diabetes in the late 80s. He is currently on tour. Dates and tickets can be found here.

 Lucile

When talking about B.B. King it is important to note Lucile. No, not a beloved friend or family member, but a guitar. Or, rather, a number of guitars. The original Lucile was a 30 dollar acoustic guitar that King toured with in the 50s. At a show in Twist, Arkansas, a kerosene stove was knocked over by two revelers, setting fire to the building. B.B. risked his life to enter the building and save his treasured guitar. When he later found out that the men who had caused the fire had been fighting over a woman named Lucile, King decided that that should be the name of his guitar, as a reminder that he should never do something as crazy as fight over a woman. The original Lucile was stolen from the trunk of B.B.’s car in Brooklyn, NY, and despite an at the time $20,000 reward (it has since been increased to $100,000), it was never recovered. Since then each of King’s trademark Gibson guitars have been named Lucile.

Article by Chris Coderre

In March, Ike Turner brings his Kings of Rhythm to Memphis Recording to record "Rocket 88" with Jackie Brenston. Sam also records Howlin' Wolf.  And in May of this year the great R&B artist Louis Jordan is on the charts for the last time, with his last hit "Weak Minded Blues." He is one of the first R&B artists to cross over into White radio with hits like "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Five Guys Named Moe."

LOUIS JORDAN (1908-1975 

            Louis Jordan’s career in music began in 1929 and ended in 1951 with his departure from Decca Records, which he had been signed to for 15 years.  Many refer to him as the father of Rhythm and Blues and he was widely known as “King of the Jukebox.”  His album “Saturday Night Fish Fry” is considered by some to be the very first rock and roll album due to certain aspects of the music including a distorted electric guitar.  This same record is also considered by some to be the very first rap record due to much of his spoken lyrics.

            Louis Jordan began playing the saxophone at the age of seven.  He grew up in Arkansas with a musical family.  His father was a bandleader in a band called the Rabbit Foot Minstrels.  He moved to New York and played with Jazz bands for a while before breaking off in 1938 to form a jump blues band.  The prime of his music career was in the 1940’s.  He influenced many of rock and roll’s important artists such as Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and Little Richard who said “I identify myself with Louis Jordan more than any other artist.” James Brown was also quoted as saying “He could sing. He could dance.  He could play.  He could act.  He could do it all.”

            Louis Jordan produced 54 singles that appeared on R&B chats in the 1940’s with his band Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five.  Eighteen of these songs made it to #1, including “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” and “Saturday Night Fish Fry.”  During the forties he worked with several artists including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby.

He starred in a series of short films dealing with racial issues.  “Weak Minded Blues” was Jordan’s last hit to reach the top five in 1951.  He worked with Quincy Jones after this and produced “Somebody Up There Digs Me!” in 1956 but would never again reach the popularity he had in the forties. 

            Louis Jordan died of a heart attack on February 4, 1975.  In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In 1992 a musical Five Guys Named Moe, was produced which was based on his songs and life.  Most recently, on June 23, 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring the centenary of his birth.  The House of Reps put him on a stamp as part of the 2008 commemorative stamp program.  Links to the resolution and a picture of the stamp itself are found below.

Stamp

Resolution

Link to website

And visit the official Louis Jordan site:

http://www.louisjordan.com/

Article by Steven Jacob

Alan Freed introduces Cleveland to his "Moondog Rock 'n' Roll Party."  His nightly radio broadcast is heard all over the Midwest by blacks and whites alike.  And Little Richard at the tender age of 18 makes his first recording.

LITTLE RICHARD

Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia on December 5^th 1932. He grew up in a poor black family, who despite all troubles felt close to god, especially while singing. He joined his family’s singing group, The Penniman Singers, and performed in church and local contests. While he was in this group he was referred to as the “War Hawk” because he had a strong loud screaming voice. Penniman has cited artists such as Marion Williams, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Mahalia Jackson as musical influences. However, he has also said that he developed his trademark style from facets of Billy Wright, including his hair, clothing, shoes, and make-up. 

It was in 1951 that Penniman got his big break and started recording for RCA Victor records. However, during the next few years he jumped labels frequently, finally landing in the hands of Robert Blackwell, who worked for A&R. It was under Blackwell, in 1955, that Penniman released his first hit “Tutti Frutti”, in what would become his signature raspy and shouted vocal style, while accompanying himself on the piano. Over the next few years, many artists began to cover his songs, and people such as Bill Haley and Pat Boone started to give him competition on the charts while performing his own songs. 

Suddenly, in 1957 Penniman retreated from Rock and Roll converting into a Born Again Christian and recording only gospel music. He claimed that rock music was the work of the devil, and that he feared for his own damnation. In 1963 he resurfaced again and went on a European tour with the Rolling Stones, and eventually discovered Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was once quoted saying that “I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice.”  Little Richard began recording again and stayed on that path until 1977 when he returned to his evangelical ways and recorded only gospel music.  

Finally, in the mid 1980’s a book was released about Little Richard describing his struggles with substance abuse and homosexuality. Around the same time the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame choose Little Richard as one of their first inductees, and he came to discover that you could indeed be a spiritual rock and roll artist. While he has ceased recording Little Richard still travels the world and does performances inspiring young musicians everywhere.

Photograph: A poster advertising a performance done by Richard in late 2007 in Florida. http://somepinkflowers.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/little-richard-.html

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard

http://www.kolumbus.fi/timrei/lre.htm

Article by Kate Barilla

ROBERT JOHNSON

Born on May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Robert Johnson went on to become one of the most influential Delta Blues artists in the history of rock and roll.  He grew up in Robinsonville, Mississippi on the Northern Delta where he played harmonica with a local blues musician named Willie Brown.  In 1930, guitarist Son House moved to Robinsonville and joined Brown.  Johnson was so taken by House’s guitar playing that he decided to start playing the guitar himself.  He went back to Hazlehurst to study guitarists Tommy Johnson and Ike Zimmerman who were living there.  Legend has it that while Johnson lived on a plantation in Mississippi, he took his guitar to a large African American man, referred to as “the devil” that lived on a nearby plantation. The devil tuned Johnson’s guitar and showed him how to play in exchange for his soul. He soon reemerged in Robinsonville as a master guitarist displaying a virtuosity that had never been seen before.  In many of Johnson’s songs, he refers to “the devil,” which has been thought to be symbolized as the “African trickster God.” 

He then began traveling the country, playing the blues in every saloon and speakeasy he could.  Johnson only recorded twice: once in San Antonio, Texas in November 1936 and once in Dallas, Texas in June 1937.  At the time, his records only yielded some regional success with the song "Terraplane Blues" being perhaps his greatest hit.  He died a little more than a year after his second recording session, in Quito, Mississippi on August 16, 1938 after being poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman Johnson had been flirting with.  However, since accounts of Johnson’s life are so slim, there is no definitive answer as to how he died but this is the most common theory.  He was twenty seven years old. There have been a few biographies attempting to reconstruct his life. A couple examples are Searching for Robert Johnson, as well as Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson. Only two photographs of Johnson are known to be in existence.

Of the few people that knew Robert Johnson on a personal level after he passed described him as extraordinarily shy. However, he became very sociable through his talent and songs. Johnson had a son, Claud Johnson and wife Virginia Travis who died shortly after their son’s birth. Johnson liked to travel from city to city and it was often said that he would play outdoors for the public to walk by and hear him play. 

Robert Johnson’s influence on rock and roll can be thraced though the major rock artists of every decade.  He was a primary source of influence and inspiration for Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and many others.  Clapton cites Robert Johnson as “the most important blues singer that ever lived.”  And with his twenty nine recorded songs, Robert Johnson will live on as one of rock and roll’s most influential forefathers creating a sound that was cherished and enhanced by the generations of rock artists that followed him.

 All of his songs can be heard on his CD, “The Complete Recordings” besides “Traveling Riverside Blues.” Johnson has received many awards since his death and is now a part of the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame.

Links

 Youtube- Robert Johnson- Crossroads

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Robert+Johnson&rls=com.microsoft:*&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=L9eaSfjJNcH7tge8zOy-Cw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

Youtube- Robert Johnson- Me and the Devil Blues

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Robert+Johnson&rls=com.microsoft:*&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=L9eaSfjJNcH7tge8zOy-Cw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

 Robert Johnson Blues Foundation

http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org/

http://www.bakedziti.net/images/robertjohnson_large.jpg


Music
Sweet Home Chicago
Hellhound On My Trail
Love In Vain
Im A Stteady Rollin Man
Terraplane Blues
If I Had Possesion Over Judgement Day
Stones in My Passway

All from youtube.com

Article by Jordan Judd, Kyle O'Neal & Corey Bulken

Dust My Broom by Robert Johnson

1953

Jerry Wexler joins Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records in May.  That same month Ray Charles records six more songs for Atlantic Records in NYC.  Bill Haley & His Comets score a hit with "Crazy Man Crazy", and on July 18th Elvis Presley pays $3.98 to record two songs at the Memphis Recording Service.  Sam Phillips may or may not have been there at the time..

In February Big Joe Turner records Shake, Rattle and Roll for Atlantic Records.  It's a smash R&B chart topper, which in June, Bill Haley & His Comets record for Decca Records.  His white version of the song does include the original line "I'm like a one-eyed cat peeping in a se-food store."  They also record See You Later, Alligator.

By October, Sam Phillips already teamed Elvis Presley up with Scotty Moore, which starts the Rockabilly style in motion.  But Elvis is still considered a Country singer.  He is scheduled to play on the Grand Ole Opry radio show and other country station radio shows around the South.

By December, Bill Haley & His Comets are touring the UK on the strength of Shake Rattle & Roll.

RAY CHARLES

                Ray Charles is known as one of the greatest artists of all time, with his fingerprints in styles such as gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues and even country music. Where did Ray Charles get these influences and where did he come from? Ray Charles was born as Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia on September 23^rd, 1930 (sharing a birthday with another music legend, John Coltrane). He lived with his mother Aretha Williams, and his father had three other families so he was never really part of Ray’s life. Ray started to lose his vision around the age of five and went totally blind by the time he was seven years old, possibly due to undiagnosed glaucoma. He also had a younger brother, George, who died of drowning before Ray lost his sight. He enrolled in the St. Augustine School for the deaf and blind in Florida, where he developed his enormous musical gift and learned to play several instruments. He then went to Seattle, Washington, where he met a young Quincy Jones, and established a name for himself in clubs in the area. He also started recording, first for the label Swing Time Records, achieving his first hit with "Confession Blues", recorded in 1949. The song hit #2 on the R&B charts. He followed his first recording with his only other hit with Swingtime, "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951. It hit #5 on the R&B charts. He then signed with Ahmet Ertegün at Atlantic Records a year later. When he entered show business, his name was shortened to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

With Atlantic, Ray recorded hits like "It Should Have Been Me" and the Ertegün-composed "Mess Around", both making the charts in 1953. However, the song "I Got a Woman" in 1955 sent him to the top. Charles reworded the gospel tune "Jesus is all the World to Me" adding deep church inflections to the secular rhythms of the nightclubs, and the world was never the same. That song is widely credited as being the first true "soul" record. From that point until 1959, Charles would have a series of R&B chart-toppers including "This Little Girl of Mine", "Lonely Avenue", "Mary Ann", "Drown in My Own Tears" and "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)", which were compiled on his Atlantic releases Hallelujah, I Love Her So, Yes Indeed!, and The Genius Sings the Blues. During this time of transition, he recruited a young girl group from Philadelphia named the Cookies as his background singing group, recording with them in New York and changing their name to the Raelettes in the process. He then, in 1959, crossed over to top 40 radio with the release of his impromptu blues number, "What'd I Say", which was initially conceived while Charles was in concert. The song would reach number 1 on the R&B list and would become Charles' first top ten single on the pop charts, peaking at number 6. Charles would also record The Genius of Ray Charles, before leaving Atlantic for a more lucrative deal with ABC Records in 1959.

Under ABC Records, hit songs such as "Georgia On My Mind" (US #1), "Hit the Road Jack" (US #1) and "Unchain My Heart" (US #9) helped him transition to pop success and his landmark 1962 album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country into the mainstream of music. He also had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US #4) and "Take These Chains From My Heart" (US #8). He had several other hits too numerous to mention and his discography can be viewed here (http://www.raycharles.com/the_music_discography.html). For the purposes of this class, I found a really interesting discussion in which Ray Charles reflects on Rock n’ Roll and its history; this can be found here (http://www.raycharles.com/the_man_ray_reflects_rock.html). There is so much to write about this crossover artist whose influence and styles have encompassed several different styles of music. The best way to understand him is to listen to his music and feel the emotions that he puts into his work.

 Links and Bibliography:

 http://www.raycharles.com/the_man_pictures.html Lots of great pictures of Ray

 http://www.raycharles.com/the_man.html Anything you need to know

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles Another good source

 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=Ray+Charles Many videos of Ray live.

Fats Domino- singer/songwriter/pianist

Antoine (who would be later known as Fats) Domino was born in 1928 in New Orleans.  His brother-in-law taught him to play piano at a very young age, and by ten, he was already giving performances.  When he was fourteen, Antoine decided to quit school and work at a factory during the day so he would be able to perform in nightclubs at night.  In the mid-1940s, he was discovered by Dave Bartholomew, who eventually helped him write many of his hit songs, and joined his band.

In 1949, Antoine was signed with Imperial Records where he released his first hit, “The Fat Man”.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICq9lEqj4cI)  This song is also the reason for his nickname, Fats.  His song “Every Night About This Time” used a piano triplet (a rhythmic hook that used 6/8 time) which he became famous for. 

In 1955, Fats came out with the song “Ain’t That A Shame”, which went to number 10 on the rock n’ roll charts.  Pat Boone (a white artist) covered the song and it went to number one on the charts.  His song “Blueberry Hill” reached number two, and became his highest rating ever.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mix3gmzPa0&NR=1) 

Fats appeared in the movie “The Girl Can’t Help It” in 1957, which many considered to be the greatest rock n’ roll film of all time.  He sang his hit “Blue Monday”.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3041kBbxGM).  Although he had many other hits, his final top ten song was released in 1960, “Walking to New Orleans”.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjX1vFk384s).  Fats still lives in New Orleans with his wife and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.  He has received many awards, including Grammy's Lifetime Achievement and Hall Of Fame Awards. 

Biography:

 http://www.history-of-rock.com/domino.htm

 http://www.nndb.com/people/258/000023189/

 Article by Anne Kolberg

Billie Holiday- “Lady Day”

 Eleanora Fegan Gough was born April 7, 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. She took on the pseudonym name “Lady Day” after the actress Billie Dove and her father Clarence Holiday. She endured a dramatic childhood as she was raped more than once, only thirteen at the first time. Ultimately, her influence on music greatly impacted the genres of American Jazz music and the pop culture.

While living in New York City with her mother, she began singing at nightclubs in Harlem under her alias. At the age of 18, she recorded her first record with Benny Goodman under John Hammond. Major hits with Goodman and Teddy Wilson titled “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You” launched her career as an individual. She became one of the first African American women to work with a white orchestra.

While creating her own works, Lady Day was heavily influenced on a poem “Strange Fruit” which regarded an African American man being lynched. Unpermitted to record songs about such matter under her record label, she signed with another to sing of what really influenced her. She recorded many more songs over the years as she toured Europe. Holiday stopped recording in 1959 and died in the same year at the age of 44.

Hit Songs

“What Is This Thing Called Love”                      “Don’t Explain”

“God Bless the Child”                                             “Lover Man”

 Links

Official site of Billie Holiday:  http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/

 More Information on Holiday:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday

 Hear Music by Holiday at Youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs  “Strange Fruit”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWtUzdI5hlE   “The Blues Are Brewin’”

Article by Kyle O'Neal

NEXT PAGE - CHAPTER FOUR - THE PIONEERS