First Rock Roll Record

[fiction-factory]

When I first became really interested in music in the early 70s I loved TRex etc but was also attracted to early rock'n'roll. The established view was that this started with Bill Haley in or around1 954. But over the years I've heard more and more records from before Bill Haley and Ii've come to the conclusion that rock and roll wa already around several years earlier.
I remember John Peel saying this was the first - in 1951. Great song- but there are eaelier ones surely

[fiction-factory]

I think Ike Turner was the 1951 version John peel played

[fiction-factory]

This was 1948/49.

[Prudie]

My husband is a 'rockabilly' and without telling him what you posted I asked him what he considered the first rock n roll record was and he said....
Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston and his delta cats. He has a lot of weirdo (to me) rockabilly friends and he's just messaged one to see what he thinks :-)

[fiction-factory]

This was 1946. Give it 30 seconds and it turns into a standard rocknroll song

[237SJ]

Bill Haley was way after rock and roll started. Rock and roll was black music and Haley and the likes of Elvis brought it into the mainstream.

[fiction-factory]

What prompted this thread was hearing a late 1940s song Chuck it in the Bucket, parts of which sounded just like Blue Suede Shoes

[Togo]

1926.

[Togo]

Worth a read through f f.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/so-just-what-was-the-first-rock-n-roll-record/

[Togo]

The first that I really remember is this. Been covered soo many toimes of course.

[fiction-factory]

Thanks Togo. I will read and listen to some later. Not sure about teh 1926 one but I think the elements of rocknrll were there in the 20s.

It's a bit like rap- there was stuff in the late 70s of course (Rappers Delight and something about MalcolmX no sell out, that John Peel played ) and something in the late 60s i recall ( Television- Gill Scott Heron) but I've heard things on youtube from much earlier.

Wonder when the first grime record was....

[Buenchico]

Some suggestions:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/30288/5-candidates-first-rock-n-roll-song

[Togo]

If you go through the link from 19.45 f f, there is a list of songs at the end that are all gems.

[andy-hughes]

As with all aspects of music, things are occurring simultaneously all over the place, so pinning down the 'first' of anything is a notoriously difficult task.

I have always believed the argument that Rocket 88 is probably one of the first specifically rock and roll songs, as opposed to songs that fit the term, but received it retrospectively when the trend gained traction.

[fiction-factory]

Thanks, Togo. I'm slowly working my way through. Clearly the 1949 Rock the Joint is just as rock'n'roll as Bill Haley's stuff from several years later.
(Any thoughts on the first punk record? Is it really The Damned? I'm sure there were others before it)

[andy-hughes]

fiction-factory - // (Any thoughts on the first punk record? Is it really The Damned? I'm sure there were others before it) //

Were The Damned the first punk band to have a single release? Yes they were?

Was it the original punk song - who can say.

[Togo]

Hmm Punk. We can't talk punk without talking The Ramones, who were playing punk before actually making a record. Which they did in April 1976, the album " The Ramones" some five months before The Damned released New Rose. The Ramones album is still something I listen to now. There were of course many influences that evolved into what became punk, and the British bands that came to define it were all influenced by what was going on in the States. Velvet Underground belong in that list. I have put up a pretty good link that is worth a scan through and another link that features Larry Collins(aged 13) with a ditty called "Whistle Bait" from 1958, which is defined as the beginning of punk. At the time the grown ups and established musicians certainly did a What The Funicular.

https://observer.com/2016/05/for-your-reconsideration-what-was-the-first-punk-rock-record/

[andy-hughes]

Togo - // We can't talk punk without talking The Ramones, who were playing punk before actually making a record. //

Absolutely - their first album opened the eyes and ears of John Peel to the magic of punk, and he followed is remit which sustained him throughout his entire career - playing records to that ought to be heard, to people to ought to hear them.

It caused a seismic shift in his listening dynamic, and his approach continued to his untimely death.

[fiction-factory]

Thanks for that gem, Togo. Never heard that before. I bit more rocknroll than punk but I can see elements of The Damned and others in there.
I am not sure the Damned's New Rose was- I recall going out to buy this from The Ramones earlier in 1976

I'll look through Togo's list later and have a listen.

I agree with andy-hughes about John peel- I didn't like everything he played but he introduced me to lots of things I wouldn't have heard before- and in between punk stuff he'd play Ivor Cutler or Poco.
Maybe my memory is playing tricks but I recall hearing Wham for some reason for the first time on his show.

[Khandro]

Please define exactly what you mean by "Rock & Roll" and then I'll tell ya' - I don't think you can though, and neither can I.
But one thing is for sure, B.H's 'Rock Around the Clock' was an original sound recording at that time. The sound may have existed, but if so, it wasn't recorded.

[Togo]

Good thread ff. If I look back there is one disc that although not considered to be a "punk" record, certainly contained most of the riffs and tempo that were adopted by the genre/movement that became known broadly as punk rock. Back in the 60s a British band released this. It was a type of pop/rock that we had never heard the like of before. My dear old dad even loved it. Much to the chagrin of my mother. 1964.