Arts > Music > Rock, pop timeline

Rockabilly, Boogie-Woogie, Rock ’n’ Roll > USA

Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.

Bluejean Bop!

Hollywood: Capitol,

1956.

Album cover.

Motion Picture, Broadcasting,

and Recorded Sound Division,

Library of Congress (269)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/images/vc269.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/brit-7.html

The "Chirping" Crickets.

Brunswick Records,

1957.

Album cover.

Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division,

Library of Congress (264)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/images/vc264.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/brit-7.html

Stray Cats    USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Stray_Cats

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jul/02/
how-we-made-stray-cat-strut-
the-solo-must-have-taken-me-30-seconds

The Kingsmen    USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The_Kingsmen

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/
1209181745/louie-louie-the-story-behind-the-song-
everyone-knows-but-no-one-understands

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/23/
louie-louie-ultimate-rock-rebel-anthem

Alis Lesley    USA

the ‘female Elvis’

Lloyd Price / "Mr. Personality"    USA    1933-2021

arly rock 'n roll star

and enduring maverick

whose hits included

such up-tempo favorites

as "Lawdy Miss Clawdy,"

"Personality"

and the semi-forbidden

"Stagger Lee,"

(...)

Lloyd Price, inducted into

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998,

was among the last survivors

of a post-World War II scene

in New Orleans

that anticipated the shifts

in popular music and culture

leading to the rise of rock in the mid-1950s.

Along with Fats Domino

and David Bartholomew among others,

Price fashioned a deep, exuberant sound

around the brass and swing

of New Orleans jazz and blues

that placed high on R&B charts

and eventually crossed over

to white audiences.

(...)

Born in Kenner, Louisiana,

one of 11 siblings,

Price had been singing in church

and playing piano since childhood.

He was in his late teens

when a local DJ's favorite catchphrase,

"Lawdy Miss Clawdy,"

helped inspire him to write

his boundary-breaking first hit,

which he worked on

in his mother's fried fish restaurant.

Featuring Domino's

trademark piano trills,

"Lawdy Miss Clawdy"

hit No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1952,

sold more than 1 million copies

and became a rock standard,

covered by Elvis Presley

and Little Richard among others.

But Price would have mixed feelings

about the song's broad appeal,

later remembering how local officials

in the Jim Crow South

resisted letting both blacks and whites

attend his shows.

Price was drafted

and spent the mid-1950s

in military service in Korea.

He began a career restart

 with the 1957 ballad "Just Because,"

and hit the top with the brassy,

pop-oriented "Stagger Lee,"

one of the catchiest,

most celebratory songs ever recorded

about a barroom murder.

Written by Price,

"Stagger Lee"

was based on a 19th century fight

between two Black men

— Lee Shelton,

sometimes known as Stag Lee,

and Billy Lyons —

that ended with Shelton

shooting and killing his rival.

Their ever-changing legend

was appearing in songs by the 1920s,

and has inspired artists ranging

from Woody Guthrie

and Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan

and the Clash.

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/
995230916/lloyd-price-singer-and-early-rock-influence-dies-at-88

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/09/
lloyd-price-obituary

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/
995230916/lloyd-price-singer-and-early-rock-influence-dies-at-88

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/08/
arts/music/lloyd-price-personality-hitmaker-is-dead-at-88.html

Little Richard    USA    1942-2020

David Louis Bartholomew    USA    1918-2019

Best known for collaborating

on an extraordinary string of hits

with Fats Domino between 1949 and 1963

– amassing more than one hundred entries

on the pop and R&B charts

during that span of time

– Bartholomew was one of the primary architects

of the sound now known as rock and roll.

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/23/
698212277/dave-bartholomew-a-father-of-rock-and-roll-dead-at-100

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/23/
698212277/dave-bartholomew-a-father-of-rock-and-roll-
dead-at-100

Cecil James McNeely    USA    1927-2018

Big Jay McNeely

at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 1988.

He had a pivotal role in establishing the saxophone

— before the electric guitar supplanted it —

as the featured instrument among soloists

at the dawn of rock ’n’ roll.

Photograph:

Frans Schellekens/Redferns,

via Getty Images

Big Jay McNeely, 91, Dies; R&B’s ‘King of the Honkers’

NYT

Sept. 17, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/
arts/music/big-jay-mcneely-dies.html

Big Jay McNeely ('s)

wailing tenor saxophone

and outrageous stage antics

helped define the sound and sensibility

of early rock ’n’ roll

Hailed as the King of the Honkers,

Mr. McNeely was at the forefront

of a group of post-bop

saxophonists who, in the late 1940s,

abandoned the heady reveries of jazz

for the more gutbucket pleasures

of rhythm and blues.

In the process he played a pivotal role

in establishing the saxophone

— before the electric guitar supplanted it —

as the featured instrument

among soloists at the dawn of rock ’n’ roll.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/
arts/music/big-jay-mcneely-dies.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Big_Jay_McNeely

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/
arts/music/big-jay-mcneely-dies.html

Lawrencine May Collins / Lorrie Collins    USA    1942-2018

Lorrie Collins (...)

along with Wanda Jackson

and Brenda Lee

was one of the most dynamic female

rockabilly stars of the 1950s

(...)

Ms. Collins

was the winner of talent contests

in her native Oklahoma when she was 8,

and by the time she turned 12

she was appearing onstage

with her brother, a guitar prodigy

who sang high harmonies

above her declamatory lead vocals.

They dressed in flashy Western wear,

and Larry, two years Lorrie’s junior,

played a double-necked electric guitar

and hopped around onstage.

The duo’s visually captivating

performances were well suited

to television variety shows.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/
obituaries/lorrie-collins-dynamic-rockabilly-singer-is-dead-at-76.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/
obituaries/
lorrie-collins-dynamic-rockabilly-singer-is-dead-at-76.html

"Fats" Domino    USA    1928-2017

Fats Domino, left, with Dave Bartholomew,

who co-wrote and produced

many of Mr. Domino’s hits.

Photograph:

Charles L. Franck/Franck Bertacci Photograph Collection,

Historic New Orleans Collection, via PBS

‘The Big Beat’ Celebrates Fats Domino, Rock’s Reclusive Giant

NYT        By ALAN LIGHT        FEB. 23, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/
arts/music/the-big-beat-celebrates-fats-domino-rocks-reclusive-giant.html

Antoine Dominique Domino Jr.

"Fats" Domino    USA    1928-2017

New Orleans piano legend

Best known for classics including

“Ain’t That a Shame,”

“I’m Walkin”

and “Blueberry Hill,”

Antoine Domino Jr.,

known as Fats,

has put up staggering statistics:

He has sold more than 60 million records

and, between 1950 and 1963,

he made Billboard’s pop chart 63 times

and its R&B chart 59 times

— more hit records

than Mr. Berry, Little Richard

and Buddy Holly combined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/
arts/music/the-big-beat-celebrates-fats-domino-rocks-reclusive-giant.html

https://www.theguardian.com/music/
fats-domino

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/
obituaries/
fats-domino-89-one-of-rock-n-rolls-first-stars-is-dead.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Fats_Domino

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Fats_Domino_discography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_songs_recorded_by_Fats_Domino

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/10/28/
560379013/playlist-the-roots-and-the-reach-of-fats-domino

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/
travel/fats-domino-new-orleans-louisiana-music.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/
opinion/jon-batiste-fats-domino.html

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/25/
fats-domino-giant-talent-inspired-ska-beatles-bling-89-boogie-woogie

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/
arts/music/fats-domino-best-songs.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/
obituaries/fats-domino-89-one-of-rock-n-rolls-first-stars-is-dead.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/
522583856/fats-domino-architect-of-rock-and-roll-dead-at-89

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/25/
fats-domino-new-orleans-rock-n-roll-pioneer-dies-aged-89

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/
arts/music/herbert-hardesty-dead-fats-domino-saxophonist.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/
arts/music/the-big-beat-celebrates-fats-domino-rocks-reclusive-giant.html
 

Chuck Berry    USA    1926-2017

New Orleans, USA > J & M Recording Studio

Cosimo Vincent Matassa    1926-2014

studio that helped jump-start rock ’n’ roll

by recording early hits

by the likes of Fats Domino

and Little Richard

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/arts/music/
cosimo-matassa-whose-studio-birthed-a-rock-n-roll-sound-dies-at-88.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/
arts/music/
cosimo-matassa-whose-studio-birthed-a-rock-n-roll-sound-
dies-at-88.html

Paul Revere    USA    1938-2014

 (born Paul Revere Dick)

keyboardist who founded Paul Revere & the Raiders,

a band whose Top 10 hits

were staples of 1960s AM radio

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/
arts/music/paul-revere-organist-and-namesake-of-the-raiders-dies-at-76.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/
arts/music/
paul-revere-organist-and-namesake-of-the-raiders-
dies-at-76.html

Paul O. W. Tanner    USA    1917-2013

former trombonist

for the Glenn Miller Ochestra

who played an unlikely role

in the history of rock ’n’ roll when,

using a device he helped invent,

he performed the famous

electronic accompaniment

on the Beach Boys’ signature recording

“Good Vibrations”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/
arts/music/paul-tanner-musician-with-good-vibrations-dies-at-95.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/
arts/music/
paul-tanner-musician-with-good-vibrations-dies-at-95.html

William Everett Strange    USA    1930-2012

prolific Los Angeles session guitarist

who recorded with Elvis Presley,

Nat King Cole and the Beach Boys,

wrote a No. 1 single for Chubby Checker

and arranged Nancy Sinatra’s

No. 1 pop hit

“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/
arts/music/billy-strange-60s-session-guitarist-dies-at-81.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/
arts/music/billy-strange-60s-session-guitarist-dies-at-81.html

Estelle Bennett    1941-2009

singer with the influential

1960s girl group the Ronettes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/16/estelle-bennett-obituary

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/16/
estelle-bennett-obituary

Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss)    USA    1915-2009

guitarist and inventor

http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/
les-paul

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Les_Paul

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/nyregion/
guitar-hero-les-pauls-groundbreaking-model-to-be-auctioned.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/aug/13/obituary-les-paul

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/aug/13/guitar-hero-les-paul-die

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/24/popandrock

Bo Diddley    1928-2008

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bo_Diddley

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jun/02/popandrock2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/usa.musicnews

Carl Lee Perkins    1932-1998

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Carl_Perkins

Bill Haley    1925-1981

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bill_Haley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bill_Haley_&_His_Comets_discography

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/
bill-haley-rock-around-the-clock-worlds-first-rock-anthem

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/
arts/music/marshall-lytle-bassist-with-bill-haley-dies-at-79.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/10/
arts/johnny-grande-76-pianist-with-bill-haley-is-dead.html

https://www.npr.org/2004/04/12/
1834004/50th-anniversary-for-rock-around-the-clock

https://www.npr.org/2000/07/01/
1076106/rock-around-the-clock

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/10/
obituaries/bill-haley-55-dies-singer-band-leader.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1969/10/20/
archives/-
rock-revival-audience-cheers-bill-haley-and-15yearold-hit.html

Elvis Aaron Presley    USA    1935-1977

Vincent Eugene Craddock / Gene Vincent    USA    1935-1971

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/
b00hmc6w

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Gene_Vincent

Jessie Mae Robinson    USA    1918-1966

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/
688199494/the-women-behind-the-songs-jessie-mae-robinson

John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette    USA    1934-1964

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Johnny_Burnette

Ray Edward 'Eddie' Cochran    USA    1938-1960

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Eddie_Cochran

Buddy Holly    USA    1936-1959

born Charles Hardin Holley

https://www.theguardian.com/music/
buddy-holly

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/
buddy-holly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Buddy_Holly_discography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The_Crickets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The_Crickets_discography

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/24/
arts/music/jerry-allison-dead.html

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/03/
690798999/buddy-hollys-classmates-
remember-the-pioneer-60-years-after-the-day-the-music-di

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/
nyregion/
a-review-of-buddy-the-buddy-holly-story-at-gateway-playhouse.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/03/
buddy-holly-not-fade-away-review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2009/feb/02/
buddy-holly-50

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/3/
newsid_2802000/2802541.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/february/3/
newsid_4235000/4235875.stm

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/
arts/niki-sullivan-66-guitarist-for-buddy-holly.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/
books/books-in-brief-nonfiction.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/26/
nyregion/theater-review-a-musical-tribute-to-buddy-holly.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/06/
arts/review-pop-buddy-holly-s-legacy-by-way-of-mccartney.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/17/
arts/pop-jazz-the-crickets-in-tribute-to-buddy-holly.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/21/
archives/screen-buddy-holly-storytale-of-rock-star.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/04/
archives/iowa-air-crash-kills-3-singers-rock-n-roll-stars-and-pilot-die-as.html

launch of Oh Boy!        September 1958

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/26/
popandrock2

Joe Willie Perkins    1913-2011

boogie-woogie piano player

who worked in Muddy Waters’s last great band

and was among the last surviving members

of the first generation of Delta bluesmen

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/
arts/music/
pinetop-perkins-delta-boogie-woogie-master-dies-at-97.html

boogie-woogie >

Louis Jordan's single, "Let the Good Times Roll"        1946

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec21.html

Blues / Rock'n Roll > Chess Records

Leonard and Phil Chess's legendary Chicago label

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/06/
leonard-phil-marshall-chess-records

rockabilly > Wanda Jackson

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/
arts/music/23wanda.html

rock'n'roll pioneers

rock'n'roll, rock, pop, prog, ambient

rock ’n’ roll

1950s-2010s > USA > Jerry Lee Lewis

rock ’n’ roll

1950s-2010s > USA > Little Richard (1942-2020)

rock ’n’ roll

1950s-2010s > USA > Chuck Berry (1926-2017)

rock ’n’ roll

1950s-1970s > USA > Elvis Presley (1935-1977)

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