Musician’s Notebook

Okay … before the break, we were talking about how Thaddeus “T-Bone” Walker actually juiced up the new “rock” sound with guitar rather than brass (the flavor of the day).
Then we introed a segment about the instruments themselves, including the eclectic electric guitars created by Adolph Rickenbacker.
Well, in 1945, another great guitarist named Les Paul created the echo delay and multi-tracking and other studio techniques. Shortly after that, singers like Little Walter, Joe Turner and even pop singers like Sinatra were using them! This was a big boost to the new guitar-based sound.

Four years later, the 45 RPM record was introduced by RCA and the first Top 40 radio show was played by KPWH. In 1951 — having caught on to the popularity of the new, bouncy music with its shouters (Joe Turner and Howlin’ Wolf made the gutteral sounds popular) and movers (like Walker) — Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed started the Moondog Rock’n Roll Party, broadcasting black music to a predominantly white teen audience.

That same year, the record that most critics consider the first actual rock-and-roll record — Ike Turner’s Rocket 88 — was released. Originally credited to Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats, Brenston was actually the sax-player for Turner (the ‘Cats weren’t a real group) and did the singing.
The song, which was an ode of praise to the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 that debuted two years earlier, actually belonged to Ike.

Now, though Gunter Lee Carr cut a novelty-dance record in 1951 called We’re Gonna Rock, the sound didn’t hit the Billboard charts until two years later, when a former country singer named Bill Haley hit with Crazy, Man, Crazy. The year also saw the beginnings of the Doo-Wop groups … and a firm bridge between African-American streetside harmonies and a largely white fan base.

Okay, Rockaholics … that’s it for this class. Now, since ya don’t have any homework assignments, just be back here next go’round for a new chapter!

Until then, Keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music … and I’ll see ya on the flip side …