"Blueberry Hill"
Artist - Fats Domino
Fats Domino was born Antoine Dominique in New Orleans in 1928. Many members of his large, French-speaking family were musical; his brother-in-law gave him his first piano lessons when he was seven. He was greatly influenced by boogie-woogie pianists like Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, but his trademark triplets were copied from the barrelhouse pianist Little Willie Littlefield. At fourteen Domino left school and worked days in a factory so that he could perform at local nightclubs, a circuit he shared with contemporaries Amos Milburn and Professor Longhair. A few years later he was discovered by New Orleans bandleader Dave Bartholomew, who served as a mentor to nearly every major musician to come out of the city. However, he had a special place in his heart for Domino and became his long-time writing partner and producer.
Domino signed with the Imperial label in 1949, and at his first recording session he recorded the traditional New Orleans folk song "Hey La Bas." La Bas is the voodoo god of luck (associated with the Catholic saint Peter), and undoubtedly he hoped this would bring him good fortune and success. If so, it worked. His next record, "The Fat Man," reached top of the R&B chart in 1950 and may have been a million seller. The title also became Domino's nickname. He enjoyed several more R&B hits before rock and roll took off in 1955. That year the white pop singer Pat Boone did a cover version of his song "Ain't That a Shame." Boone's version went to number one on the pop charts, and Domino's own record on Imperial went to number ten, thus establishing both as stars. Domino's rotund physique and sunny disposition seem to have dispelled the racist fears associated with other black rock and rollers like Chuck Berry and Lloyd Price, and he received a great deal of exposure on television and in the movies. He was also the best-selling African American songwriter of the '50s and '60s, and has sold more records than any other 1950s rock and roller except Elvis.
Also seeCharles Brown, Albert Ammons, Nat King Cole, Little Willie Littlefield, Champion Jack Dupree
Must Haves:
- "Ain't That a Shame"
- "I'm Walkin'"
- "Blue Monday"
- "The Fat Man"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Dr. John
- Huey "Piano" Smith
- Allan Toussaint
- Chubby Checker
- Randy Newman
"Johnny B. Goode"
Artist - Chuck Berry
If Elvis Presley is the King of Rock and Roll, then Chuck Berry is its Lord High Emperor. He is responsible for the basic vocabulary of the rock and roll guitar, an instrument he made an indispensable part of the genre. He is also its first great songwriter. His enduring hit "Johnny B. Goode" represents the quintessence of rock and roll to the world at large. And many consider "Maybelline" to be the first rock and roll record, in that it cannot be classified as rhythm and blues, or country, or hillbilly, or boogie-woogie; its existence necessitates the creation of a new style of pop music.
Chuck Berry was born in St. Louis and developed a love for poetry and blues in his youth. In high school he won a talent contest with his rendition of Jay McShann's big band number, "Confessin' the Blues," and took up the guitar shortly afterward. He soon discovered that if he learned rhythm changes and blues chords, he could play most of the songs he heard on the radio, but he also took some lessons from a friend. Berry was soon working in the thriving East St. Louis R&B scene, sitting in everywhere he could. African American audiences in the early 1950s enjoyed a variety of musical styles, and Berry discovered that along with blues and smooth crooner numbers in the style of Nat King Cole, the hillbilly numbers he'd worked into his act were crowd favorites. He also noticed that whites began showing up at the clubs where he played. In 1954 he joined a trio led by pianist Johnny Johnson (who became his long-time musical partner), and soon they became a top local attraction.
Berry was in Chicago in 1955 and chanced to meet his idol, Muddy Waters. He asked Waters how one went about making a record, and was directed to Leonard Chess, the owner of Chess Records. Leonard Chess liked his demo tape and thought the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red," which Berry had retrofitted with updated lyrics comparing Ida to a car, would make a good record. However, both Roy Acuff and Bob Wills had recorded "Ida Red," so Chess requested that the song title be changed. Several theories exist about why "Maybelline" was chosen, but ultimately it has the same number of syllables as "Ida Red."
Also see: T-Bone Walker, Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, Bob Wills
Must Haves:
- "Rock and Roll Music"
- "Johnny B. Goode"
- "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man"
- "Nadine"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Everyone who has ever made a rock and roll record or sung in a rock and roll band, but specifically
- Keith Richards
- Eric Clapton
- Jeff Beck
- Bruce Springsteen
- John Lennon
- Paul McCartney
- Eddie Cochran
- Ricky Nelson
"That's All Right"
Artist - Elvis Presley with Victor Young and his Orchestra
The story of Elvis Presley is quite well known: he was born poor in Tupelo, Mississippi; his family moved to Memphis in 1948; after graduation he made a few demo recordings at Sun Records; and he finally hit upon a musical formula that combined R&B and country music into rock and roll. Less familiar is the depth of Elvis's association with African American culture. After his family's move to Memphis, Elvis spent much of his time in the city's black district, particularly on Beale Street, the entertainment district. In high school he cultivated the image of a "cat," a white teenager who transgressed the segregationist mores of the time and immersed himself in African American culture. Elvis shopped at Lansky Brothers, Memphis's center for the well-dressed R&B singer; he adopted African American slang and hairstyles; and he listened to black music. The first songs he recorded, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" (purportedly for his mother's birthday) were originally by the vocal harmony group the Ink Spots. When he returned to the studio at the behest of Sam Phillips, one of the songs he recorded was "Careless Love," an old African American folk song that had been recorded earlier by Leadbelly and bluesman Lonnie Johnson.
Presley's first major hit, "That's All Right," was written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, a Delta blues singer who moved to Chicago in 1940 and played for change on Maxwell Street before he was discovered by Lester Melrose, a producer for RCA records. He had a number of R&B hits in the '40s; ironically, "That's All Right, Mama" was not one of them! The hits tapered off, and he was dropped from his label in the early '50s. In 1961 he resurfaced, to record an LP for the independent Fire label; it has long been rumored that Elvis Presley paid the recording costs as a gesture of appreciation. The record brought Crudup to the attention of a new generation of blues fans, and he was able to enjoy some celebrity and make some money before he died in 1973.
Also see: Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rodgers, Dean Martin, Billy Eckstein, Red Foley
Must Haves:
- "Heartbreak Hotel"
- "All Shook Up"
- "Little Sister"
- "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Buddy Holly
- John Lennon
- Robert Plant
- Cliff Richard
- Gene Vincent
- Carl Perkins