Download Instrumental What was the very first rock’n’roll song ever recorded? Many music historians will tell you that a tune called “Rocket 88” was what started it all. It was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis (1951) by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm. Yes, the same Ike Turner who spent a great deal of his leisure time beating up on Tina in later years. What a swell guy…
However, I think a little ditty called “Rock Around the Clock” defined the beginning of the “rock era” when Bill Haley and His Comets topped the charts with it in 1956. Music publishers at the time didn’t have a clue what to call this new genre of music, so they settled on “Novelty Foxtrot”. Now, you would think they could have come up with something better than that… like maybe…rock’n’roll? Actually a disc jocky in Cleveland named Alan Freed first coined the term “rock and roll” to describe this new style which he considered to be a mixture of rhythm & blues and country. I suppose that aptly describes it, but I would throw a little “boogie-woogie” influence into the mix too.
Bill Haley also had a hit called “See You Later, Alligator” – another fun song. You see, back then, music was fun and “frolicky”, not even close to being serious or political until we got to the mid-sixties. After that, it all went to hell (sigh). But our Mr. Haley had another claim to fame – the kiss curl. What’s a kiss curl, you might ask. It’s a lock of hair curling down over the forehead usually plastered down with hair lotion. It could also be plastered down with spit, but then it’s a spit curl. Yuck! At the age of four, Bill Haley had an operation on his inner ear, but the optic nerve to his left eye was accidently cut, leaving him blind in that eye for the rest of his life. He wore “the curl” over his right eye to divert attention away from his blind left eye. Superman also had a “kiss curl”. Always wondered what that was all about…
Watch the video below and you’ll see an accordion player in the band. Go figure. But the boy can’t keep from looking down at his keyboard – bad form.
Stageworthy Backing Tracks by Dave Zobrist 