3. Roy Brown: Good Rockin' Tonight
Brown grew up throughout the South, primarily in Louisiana and Texas, before finding his was to Los Angeles at the age of 17 in 1943. Adept at blues and r&b, his greatest contribution to rock history was the 1947 single on DeLuxe reocrds, "Good Rockin' Tonight", a blues/rockabilly hybrid that is inches removed from early rock 'n' roll; it features some wailing distorted guitar. One of 15 r&b hits he had in a remarkably fruitful period from 1948-1951, it was covered by Jerry Lee Lewis, who had one of his biggest hits with it, as well as Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson. Brown's vocal style was steeped in gospel tradition and had a pleading quality that was borrowed by Little Richard and B.B. King. It also had a throaty quality that may have been mimicked to a degree by Elvis Presley. Brown briefly attempted a rock 'n' roll career of his own, and had a couple of hits, but he spent most of the 60's in obscurity before a re-discovery in 1970 reversed his fortunes. He died in 1981.
4. Robert Johnson: Love In Vain
Mississippi Delta legend Robert Johnson has had nearly as great an influence on rock as any blues musician, despite being poisoned to death in 1938 at the age of 27. As a performer, he was a tortured, haunted artist; it's hard to sort out the facts from the numerous myths that have existed around him since he first started playing. He was a gifted composer, an original and idiosyncratic guitarist, and his work bore a direct influence on a whole generation of rock musicians, including Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Steve Miller, and The Rolling Stones. On "Love In vain" he also gives one of his best vocal performances; his guitar is both rhythmic and ornate. "Love In Vain" was one of the Rolling Stones' best blues covers ever, a haunting rendition on Let It Bleed. Johnson's guitar style had a number of innovations to it, among them a boogie bassline he'd play on the lower strings while picking the upper strings, often giving the impression of two guitarists playing at once.
5. Elmore James: Shake Your Money Maker
Elmore James' lasting legacy is as master of the slide guitar, an instrument he almost single-handedly created the vocabulary for, to the extent that the mere sound of a slide guitar now almost invariably draws comparisons to James. A radio repairman by trade, he took apart amps in his spare time and retooled them to produce raw, distorted sounds that wouldn't appear in rock for nearly two decades. His first instrument was a bottleneck made with a broom handle and a lard can. He formed his first band in the late 1930's and had his first hit in 1951, following the same Mississippi-West Memphis-Chicago trajectory Howlin' Wolf did. "Shake Your Money Maker" was covered by Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Fleetwood Mac, among many others. It's a juke joint boogie stomper with ringing guitar and a tricky ascending and descending slide solo, with a rollicking vocal on top; Chuck Berry owes some debt here as well. Many of James' best known songs, including "Dust My Broom", "Blues Before Sunrise", and "The Sky Is Crying" are well known to rock audiences. Unfortunately, James died in 1963, before the blues rediscovery of the 60's could gain him a new audience.
Article comments
1 - Jones Violet
Perfect for a Sunday morning. Great stuff here, uao.
2 - uao
Thank you Jones Violet. I put a lot of effort into this one; I appreciate the kind word. :-)
3 - Phillip Winn
Wow, there's so much here it is hard to know where to even begin!
Blind Lemon Jefferson is worshipped around these parts, with a historical marker in downtown Dallas and a club (Blind Lemon) named after him.
Leadbelly is another amazing artist. I didn't know about his personal history, but I love his "King of the 12-string" album.
It's also nice to see Big Mama Thornton given some recognition here; she deserved more acclaim than she ever got.
You've got a couple of albums on here I don't think I've ever heard. Thanks for the recommendations; I'm going to spend a lot of time going through this.
4 - Taloran
An excellent read. You've covered some daunting ground here, and as you said, have barely scratched the surface. I look forward to future installments.
5 - hayduke
howlin wolf was named chester burnett, not arthur.... wasn't arthur the prez? Shoot wolf should of been president...
also willie dixon wrote songs for wolf and muddy. i thinks he gave them to the first one interested, not necessarily for one person in particular. He was an astute man who made alot of money in publishing, and holding a track for one person in particular, seems unlikely.
great records all that you cite. well done....
6 - uao
Thanks much guys. You're right hayduke, Chester Arthur was a president; my mind sometimes confuses names like that; good catch.
Now that you mention it, Dixon probably didn't write that tune "specifically" for Waters; like you said, it's more likely it was in his bagforthe first comer.
I do think that Dixon may have written stuff specifically for Koko Taylor, whose career he shepherded, but I may be wrong.
Thanks everyone for the thoughts and comments. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and even more fun listening to it along the way.
7 - TJ
Great article!
One question, though: I thought Mose Alison wrote "Parchman Farm?" Is this a different song entirely, or did Mose just "borrow" it?
8 - uao
Hmmm. Good question, TJ. I double checked it; "Parchman Farm Blues" is credited to Bukka White, although Mose Allison is listed as composer for "Parchman Farm" I haven't heard Allison's version, so I'm not sure if it is the same song. White's version would have predated Allison's by at least a decade, so White seems to indeed have written his version.
On Howlin' Wolf's name; turns out, I wasn't completely off. His full name was Chester Arthur Burnett, and he was named after Chester Arthur, the President.
9 - Joanie
Excellent dip into rock's historic link to the blues.
I'd love to see a part two!