I get asked all the time if I know everything about music and the answer is a resounding NO! Nobody does, and there are many out there who share the same passion for music that know far more about it than I do. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot, but like anybody I have my preferences and I tend to spin around Rock and Country, Rap and R&B. If you ask me anything about Opera that didn't drop into my head from old Warner Brothers Cartoons (What's Opera Doc?) or much of any pop music that came out after the invention of Autotune, I'm totally lost. I have mad respect for Jazz Musicians and I recognize the foundational bits of the genre that were layered into the building blocks of Rock n' Roll, but if you go much beyond Django Reinhardt (Which I picked up from reading Harlan Ellison) or Chic Corea or The Yellowjackets, you will not find very deep waters. And Classical Fans, I cannot match the unbridled, mouth-frothing, bite the head off a bat, utter bugfuckedness (It's an Ellison word. You could look it up.) of you Classical Music Fans.
Like I said, I know a lot and I thought I might try an experiment of sorts. I wondered if I could pick at least 10 songs from every year starting at 1951, the year that the guitar became all unclean and fuzzy. Some years are longer than 10 songs but all are at least that long. These are just songs that I like, and the list is by no means complete (especially when we get to the 70's and 80's) and these aren't albums... we're talking singles here. Think of this as a cool rock radio station or a real juggernaut of a jukebox organized by the decade.
This first list is a mix of Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Jump Blues, and Up-Tempo Country all of which I feel could fall neatly into the infinite mixtape of Rock n' Roll.
1. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith, 1929.
2. Rhythm Is Our Business by Jimmy Lunceford, 1935.
3. Old Joe's Hittin' the Jug by Stuff Smith and the Onyx Club Boys, 1936.
4. Do You Wanna Jump, Children? by Count Basie, 1941.
5. Rock Me by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, 1938.
6. Caledonia (Caledonia Boogie) by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 1945.
*7. That's All Right Mama by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, 1949.
8. Ravin' At The Haven by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1947.
9. Boogie Chillin by John Lee Hooker, 1948.
10. Saturday Night Fish Fry by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 1949.
11. The Fat Man by Fats Domino, 1949.
12. Boogie at Midnight by Roy Brown, 1949.
13. Pony Express by Freddie Mitchell, 1949.
14. Hot Rod Race by Arkie Shibley, 1950.
15. Boogie In The Park by Joe Hill Louis, 1950.
16. Sugar Lump by Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers, 1945.
17. R.M. Blues by Roy Milton and His Solid Senders, 1945.
18. The Honeydripper by Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers, 1945.
19. Good Rockin' Tonight by Roy Brown with Bob Ogden and His Orchestra, 1947.
20. Rock It For Me by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb and His Orchestra, 1938.
21. Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues by Jim Jackson, 1927.
*That's All Right Mama will crop up later in the timeline but for now It will have the honor of being RCA's first RnB record issued on the new 45 rpm format.
Rock n' Roll Timeline : The Prelude 1927-1950
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