Jedi Council Forums - The History of Rock (Now Dis. 'Seven Ages of Rock')

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Author	Topic: The History of Rock (Now Dis. 'Seven Ages of Rock')
Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 9/30/06 7:34pm Subject: The History of Rock (Now Dis. 'Seven Ages of Rock') - Date Edited: 12/17/07 3:44pm (11 edits total) Edited By: Zaz
	Welcome to the OTHER rock thread. This one will differ from Malcolm’s in that it will follow a more chronological flow, and focus more on specific artists than styles, though admittedly we’ll be covering many of the same topics in the long run. I’ll also be slowly unveiling an ordered list of rock’s greatest artists as we reach them-just as soon as I’m finished making the list! Let me start by saying that I’m not an expert on Rock’n’Roll or anything. I’ll be learning stuff as I go along, from sources available to anyone. I really enjoy looking at the history of the music in addition to listening to it, and hopefully they’ll be a lot of contribution in this thread from both historical and critical standpoints. As for the early years of rock, I may skip past parts of them, and then jump back later on, simply for my own convenience, and so the thread doesn’t get hung up with 12 artists in a row no one has heard of, but hopefully I’ll keep mostly chronological... So, might as well jump right in at the beginning, which in this case is during WWII. Wartime economics forced big black Jazz and dance bands to trim their numbers, and as a result, a new style of music emerged in the mid-late 40’s. Actually several new styles emerged, but the one we’re interested in was called Jump Blues—which was really not Blues at all. It was a new style—more linked to Jazz than Blues—which compensated for the lack of numbers in the band by driving the rhythm harder, shouting the vocals and having a tight horn section with a dominant role for the tenor sax. It was around this same time that Billboard magazine changed the name of its “Race Charts” to the more politically correct “Rhythm and Blues,” and the “rhythm” part of that I think is pretty strongly linked to the Jump Blues records which were incredibly popular. The first artist to mention is a legend of Jazz, and an artist who with 18 #1 R&B hits was as popular in black America in the 40s as Elvis or the Beatles would be with the pop audience in coming decades. The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan. Louis Jordan basically popularized the Jump Blues with extended #1 hits like “Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens”, and “Choo Choo Ch'Boogie,” in 1945/46 and "Saturday Night Fish Fry" from 1949 is sometimes cited as the first “true” Rock’n’Roll record. Others prime cuts include “Aint That Just Like a Woman” and the hard-rocking “Caldonia.” His earlier Blues and Jazz stuff is excellent too, including “Knock Me a Kiss,” “Is You Is or Is You Aint My Baby,” “Whats the Use of Getting Sober,” and “Five Guys Named Moe.” And then there’s “Run Joe,” “Beware Brother Beware,” “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” “Buzz Me,” “Beans and Cornbread,” and on and on and on... My favorite of the stuff I’ve found is maybe “Caldonia.” Very modern, very cool track, and one of his most lastingly popular. A lot of his music is very humorous and it'll just make you feel good, period. Caldonia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-7tE07qms Louis Jordan doesn't really qualify as a Rock artist in my mind, simply coming along too long before the term started to be used as a genre, but were I to include him on my list of Rock's greatest artists, he'd be no lower than 3 or 4. -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 9/30/06 8:31pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	YouTube started showing several other Jordan clips: "Buzz Me", "Fuzzy Wuzzy", "Let The Good Times Roll", and "Jack You Dead". Can't say I recognized the name, though I've heard "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" somewhere. Like "Calonia", especially the yelping chorus. But "Buzz Me" and "Jack You Dead" were even better. Granted that I have very little ear, but I didn't make a rock connection here.
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 9/30/06 10:22pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	A lot of it still swings quite a bit, so I guess I could see how it might seem distant from rock. But at the same time it has that intense rhythm to it, it has that honking sax, it has those wild vocals, which are the elements of early rock... To an extent, its a matter of degrees, as the rhythmic nature of this music doesn't stand out against today's music in the least... And its more of a shuffle or a jump then it is the pure backbeat in a lot of mid-late 50s rock... Louis Jordan is often considered the single strongest outside influence on rock, which is why I picked him as the first artist... Hopefully, the connection will be best explained by the next few artists... But you could also read up from any source you want, and you ought to see Jordan's name primary among rock's early influences... Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Ray Charles are some of the artists who paid him tribute, Berry saying "I identify myself with Louis Jordan more than any other artist." -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 9/30/06 10:32pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	Where were the clips on YouTube first shown?
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 9/30/06 10:47pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	Couldn't tell you. Possibly movie clips... -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 9/30/06 10:52pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	They were quite elaborate...dancers, etc.
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TheBoogieMan Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Nov '01	Date Posted: 10/1/06 8:31pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	This is a great thread already. Well done, Bremerton. I love Louis Jordan. Caledonia in particular is great. The lyrics are hilarious; sort of a more brash "Funny Valentine". I also really like "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie". Lots of fun. Hopefully as this thread moves on, the links to modern rock will become more obvious. But for the time being, Zaz, try and pick out the rhythm section, as Bremerton said. The loping drums and the bassline in particular are stylistically very close to what I imagine we'll be hearing next up, with Chuck Berry et al. Perhaps if you took out the horns and added guitar it would sound a lot more like rock than it currently does. Nevertheless, the blueprint is definitely there.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 10/1/06 8:48pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	Well, guess what, my musical sibling has agreed to lend me a guitar. I'll to try to acquire more of an ear, which I suspect I am going to need to follow this thread properly.
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 10/1/06 10:36pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan) - Date Edited: 10/1/06 10:40pm (3 edits total) Edited By: Bremerton
	Zaz, Jordan actually remade a lot of his classics in harder-rocking versions in the mid-50s, complete with some crazy guitar from Mickey Baker: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token= ADFEAEE57C1EDA4EAF7F20CB812B41DBA772E70ADB63F2810A2D4B5C D0FB324780117FE051E59199E5B674B466ADE02CA45A099FCBE455FC D6643A2DFC93&sql=11:5hpsa9tgb23k (couldn't get the link to work, so added some returns to stop stretching the page...) I have the remake of Caldonia, and if you want me to... tell you... where to find it... Send me a PM. Maybe that will reveal the connection. -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 10/2/06 11:58am Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	I'll try that link again tonight.
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 10/3/06 12:28pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	Yeah... Link doesn't work... Just look up Mickey Baker on Allmusic, and check out the 56-57 Louis Jordan rock sessions. Tonight I'll try to get up Wynonie Harris. Hopefully... -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 10/3/06 12:31pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	I'm learning a lot from this thread already...
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 10/3/06 8:17pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues: Louis Jordan)
	The next artist up is a forgotten legend. Indeed, one of the MOST forgotten pioneers: he’s even been overlooked by the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame for induction as either a Performer or an Early Influence. With 15 R&B chart hits between 1946 and 1952 (an impressive total; the R&B charts only had 10 positions at the time), including the definitive version of “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and “All She Wants to do is Rock” (both #1 hits), and with music that sounds 10 years ahead of its time, its too bad history hasn’t praised him more. The Jump Blues: Wynonie Harris. Wynonie Harris’ music is so raunchy it’s hard to believe it has collected so much dust. The songs “I Like My Baby’s Pudding,” “Keep on Churnin’ (Til the Butter Comes)” and “Lovin’ Machine” are about exactly what you think they are, and they’re pretty blunt about it. Some other great songs include “Good Morning Judge,” “Quiet Whiskey,” “Rock Mr. Blues,” and “Bloodshot Eyes.” Some of the later stuff is essentially full-fledged Rock’n’Roll, and its ALL a ton of fun. I have the Charly compilation “Good Rocking Tonight,” which is simply awesome, and I’ll bet given their track record that the Rhino set “Bloodshot Eyes” is just as good. If you like Jordan’s rockier stuff, this guy will knock your socks off. -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 10/4/06 12:29pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues:Wynonie Harris)
	No, I haven't heard of him. Yes, I will go in search of his music. Forthwith.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 10/4/06 10:17pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues:Wynonie Harris)
	Youtube is down for maintenance...
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Bremerton Registered: May '03	Date Posted: 10/6/06 4:35pm Subject: RE: Rock’n’Roll Music! (The Jump Blues:Wynonie Harris)
	B-bump? I haven't seen any Wynonie on YouTube, sadly... Bah... -----signature----- This one time, I used the greatest hyperbole EVER.
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