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This article is about the song. For the band by this name, see Rocket 88 (band). Rocket 88 is the name of a United Kingdom -based Boogie-woogie band formed c

"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951 (accounts differ). Samuel Cornelius Phillips ( January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) better known as Sam Phillips, was an American Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January It is claimed by some, including Phillips — later to become owner of Sun Records, and pioneer rock and roll record producer — to be the "first rock and roll song". Sun Records was a Record label based in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27 1952. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing There are many candidates for the title of the first rock and roll record, but it is arguable whether any such thing exists

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Original version by Jackie Brenston with Ike Turner

The original version of the 12-bar blues song was credited to "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats", but that band did not actually exist. Jackie Brenston ( 15 August 1930, Clarksdale, Mississippi — 15 December 1979, Memphis, Tennessee The song was put together by Ike Turner and his band in rehearsals at the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and recorded by Turner's Kings of Rhythm. Ike Wister Turner ( November 5 1931 &ndash December 12 2007) was an American Musician, Bandleader, Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The Kings of Rhythm were an American Rhythm & blues group led by Ike Turner in the early 1950s and the 1960s Jackie Brenston (1930-1979), who was a saxophonist with Turner, also sang the vocal on "Rocket 88", a hymn of praise to the joys of the Oldsmobile "Rocket 88" automobile (see: Oldsmobile 88), which had just been introduced in 1949. Jackie Brenston ( 15 August 1930, Clarksdale, Mississippi — 15 December 1979, Memphis, Tennessee Oldsmobile was a brand of Automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. The Oldsmobile 88 (aka Eighty-Eight) was a Full-size car sold by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors and produced from 1949 until Although Brenston was given author credit rather than Turner, it is now agreed that Brenston's contribution was overstated for financial reasons.

The song was based on the 1947 song "Cadillac Boogie" by Jimmy Liggins. Jimmy Liggins ( 14 October 1922 — 18 July 1983) was an American R&B Guitarist and Bandleader. [1] It was also preceded and influenced by Pete Johnson's "Rocket 88 Boogie" Parts 1 and 2, an instrumental, originally recorded for the Los Angeles-based Swing Time Records label in 1949. Peter (Pete Johnson ( 24 March 1904 - 23 March 1967) was an American Jazz Pianist, best known as a leading Swing Time Records was a United States based Record label, active in the 1940s.

Working from the raw material of jump blues and swing combo music, Turner made it even rawer, starting with a strongly stated back beat by drummer Willie Sims, and superimposing Brenston's enthusiastic vocals, his own piano, and tenor saxophone solos by 17 year old Raymond Hill (later to be the father of Tina Turner's first child, before she married Ike). Jump blues is a type of Up-tempo Blues music influenced by Big band sound Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of Jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United In Music, back beat (also backbeat) is a term applied both to a specific style of Rhythmic Accentuation with accent on even Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an eight time Grammy Award -winning American [2] The song also features one of the first examples of distortion, or fuzz guitar, ever recorded, played by the band's guitarist Willie Kizart. A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic of an object image sound waveform or other form of information or representation A fuzzbox (or fuzz box) is a type of Effects pedal comprising an amplifier and a clipping circuit which generates a distorted version of the

The legend of how the sound came about says that Kizart's amplifier was damaged on Highway 61 when the band was driving from Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee, but Phillips liked the sound and used it. A guitar amplifier is an Electronic amplifier designed for use with an electric or electronic Musical instrument, such as an Electric guitar. Highway 61 may refer to In modern culture ''Highway 61'' (film, a film by Bruce McDonald ''Highway 61'' (soundtrack, the accompanying Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Robert Palmer has written that the amplifier "had fallen from the top of the car", and attributes this information to Sam Phillips. Robert Franklin Palmer Jr ( June 19, 1945 &ndash November 20, 1997) was a 20th century American writer Musicologist, [3][4] However, in a recorded interview at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, Ike Turner stated that the amplifier was in the trunk of the car and that rain may have caused the damage; he is certain that it did not fall from the roof of the car. Link Wray had a similar story. Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr ( May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American Rock and roll Guitarist

It was the second-biggest rhythm and blues single of 1951, reaching #1 in June for five weeks and much more influential than some other "first" claimants. Ike Turner's piano intro to the song was later used note-for-note by Little Richard in "Good Golly Miss Molly". Rev Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5 1932 better known by the Stage name Little Richard, is an American Singer, Songwriter

Cover version by Bill Haley

A second version of "Rocket 88" was recorded by the country music group Bill Haley and the Saddlemen at a recording session on June 14, 1951, a few months after Brenston recorded his version. Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. This article is specifically about the rock and roll band See Bill Haley for biographical information regarding Haley himself Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January [5][6] Haley's recording was a regional hit in the northeast United States and started Haley along the musical road which led to his own impact on popular music with "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954. For the movie named after the song see Rock Around the Clock (film.

Those who subscribe to the definition of rock and roll as the melding of country music with rhythm and blues believe that it is Haley's version of the song, not the Turner/Brenston original, that is the first rock and roll record. No matter which version deserves the accolade, "Rocket 88" is seen as a prototype rock and roll song in musical style and lineup, not to mention its lyrical theme, in which an automobile serves as a metaphor for romantic prowess. [7]

Later versions

The song was also featured in the 1984 film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! (often shortened to Buckaroo Banzai) is an American Science fiction film Buckaroo Banzai and his band, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, perform the song at a bar early in the movie, but the song itself (which was a 3/4 time sped-up instrumental version) was actually recorded by Billy Vera and the Beaters. Buckaroo Banzai is the lead character played by Peter Weller, of the eponymous 1984 Cult film, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Billy Vera (born William McCord, 28 May 1944, Riverside, California, U

References

  1. ^ Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner, Delta Rhythm Kings
  2. ^ Raymond Hill
  3. ^ Deep Blues page 222 ISBN 0 14 00. 6223 8
  4. ^ Rock & Roll: An Unruly History page 201 ISBN 0-517-70050-6
  5. ^ Bill Haley Recordings
  6. ^ Bill Haley: Holiday 105
  7. ^ Jim Dawson and Steve Propes, What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?, Faber & Faber, 1992, ISBN 0-571-12939-0

External links

Additional sources

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