Quote:
Originally posted/opined by Borderstone:
As incredible and almost unbelievable as it may sound,the upcoming week of Sunday July
3rd through Saturday July 9th marks the 50th anniversary of what Billboard magazine (and
anyone who was paying attention at the time)dubbed as the dawn of the Rock & Roll era.
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I note that nobody dared question the "B's" and Billboard's claim,
But I have to tell you now that having just watched a great PBS pledge begathon yesterday evening
on our local PBS station

that this momentuous date is the subject of debate
I watched
American Masters: Good Rockin' Tonight
an excellent 3 hour documentary on Sam Phillip's Sun recording studios in Memphis TN
details at (click the picture)

this was produced by one Bruce Sinofsky back in 2001 (before Sam Phillips died in July 2003)
IMHO anybody even vaguely interested in Rock and Roll history should watch it if it is ever shown in your area
I particularly noted that New York area music pundit Pete Fornatal (who still broadcasts on the Fordham University radio station

was asked to give his views on the birthplace and date of Rock and Roll and he started by saying there were several claimants such as:-
Cleveland for Alan Freed,
Chicago for Chuck Berry
New York for Atlantic Record's founder Ahmet Ertegun (also in the documentary)
Pete then confidently asserted that it had to be Memphis because July 5th 1954 was the date that Elvis recorded "That's Alright Mama".
OK admittedly an irascible Rufus Thomas strongly disagreed as he considered that R and R started with the Blues long before Sun started (in 1950)
For me I'd go along with Walter's Bill Haley connection as certainly in the UK I think it was Bill who got us involved before Elvis.
The program(me) featured notable performances by Paul McCartney, who sang Elvis' first song with Elvis' backing players (Scotty Moore, Bill Black and J.D. Fontana,)and Watchman Al's favo(u)rite Mark Knopfler who covered "Rock and Roll Baby" backed up by the flamboyant Jules Holland's
piano.Other fascinating performances included the original French rocker (an aging Johhny Halliday)
doing justice to Carl Perkins "Blue Suede Shoes,
and a great 1956 archival film of a very young Johnny Cash performing "I Walk The Line"
Much was made of Sam's 1956 financlal problems that led him to sell Elvis's contract to RCA Victor for $35,000 a rueful Ahmet Eretegun said he offerred all that he could afford ($25,000) but RCA beat him. Still he said he had bought Ray
Charles' for only $3000.
Pete Fornatal later recounted the story behind the "Million Dollar Quartet".This name arose because Carl Perkins booked the Sun studio in December 1956 for a session and had Jerry Lee Lewis as his piano session man, plus he invited Johnny Cash who was "sitting in in the control room".It just so happenned that Elvis who had left Sun a year earlier was in Memphis for the holiday and decided to visit Sun for old times sake.After Carl's session these four spent 2 or 3 hours jamming "playing Gospel,Blues and Rock and Roll" and somebody left the tape recorder running resulting in some fine bootlegs.
Another thing I learned was that in my earlier posting I got Jerry Lee's first controversial UK aborted tour incorrectly positioned soon after Bill Haley's tour and wrote my piece thinking they both came in about 1956.
In fact it was 1957 and 1958
Bill in February 1957

Picture taken in London
and "The Killer" in 1958 which was in fact after his hit "Great Balls Of Fire" in 1957 which should therefore be added to my list of seminal great records from that year.On a site I read:-
"Tom Jones has said that the recording of 'Great Balls Of Fire' was the real beginning of Rock And Roll"
Jerry played live in this programme as the backing pianist to Matchbox20.Another overlooked Sun artist was Billy Lee Riley who quite angrily accused Sam of ruining his potential career when Sam favo(u)red Jerry Lee over him. Another early Sun artist I discovered was Charlie Rich
I was lucky enough to see Bill and The Comets in a Montreal night club in 1969. My front row seat was a few feet from the legendary saxophonist
Rudy Pompilli.
"Bill Haley suffered and died from a heart attack at his home in Harlingen, Texas
on February 9, 1981. He was only 55 years old"
which inevitably prompts me to say
"I hope this has not bored everybody to death"!
John Fowles
Oh such memories!!
Heaven help the devil may he have a few unpleasant
memories
from:-
http://gordon-lightfoot-lyrics.wonde...The-Devil.html
OR
Memories of Savannah summertime
Spanish moss
Wish you knew what I was sayin'
from:-
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.n...25695800149C4A