Favorite Rock & Roll group of the 1950s?
- Thread starter steve1961
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For me, if we're talking specifically of Rock Groups, it would have to be "The Platters". If we're talking individually, it would have to be Jackie Wilson.
Nowhere Man
Commodore
Chuck Berry
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
Elvis
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
Elvis
Good man! They're my favorite group as well. I've been a fan since the early 1970s and have been lucky enough to meet or exchange e-mails with more than a dozen of the Comets over the years, as well as Bill's daughter Gina Haley.
From the above clip, you might be interested to know the guitar player, Franny Beecher, is still alive and well and performing regular gigs in Pennsylvania after retiring from touring with the Comets only 3 years ago. The original members of the Comets (not the gentlemen seen in this clip - there was a changeover in membership a few months before the movie was made in which Haley's sax player, bass player and drummer left to form their own group, the Jodimars, only to reunite as the Comets in the late 1980s) were still touring and performing as recently as December. Last I heard they were planning a European tour next spring. The bass player in the R-O-C-K clip, Al Rex, is also still alive though last I'd heard he had retired from performing.
Here are some clips of the original lineup performing in the ultra-rare, very FIRST rock and roll movie of all time, 1954's RoundUp of Rhythm. Note that they did not have a lead guitar player at this point:
Shake Rattle and Roll -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpT8Sd9wRlQ
(Not sure why there's a picture of Elvis at the end of this one - probably part of a documentary)
Crazy Man Crazy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPYt2oPSFMw
Straight Jacket - with Bill Haley playing lead guitar, the only known footage of him playing an actual guitar solo (other than miming to a recording):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhit6cBDHv4
When Marshall Lytle (bass), Dick Richards (drums) and Joey Ambrose (sax) left the brand, Haley's new sax player, Rudy Pompilli, composed a new signature instrumental called Rudy's Rock which incorporated the antics from Straight Jacket:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1So1xri31_M
Wonderful stuff! I was talking to a professional drummer who tried to replicate Ralph Jones' drum solo from this performance, and he said it is much harder than it looks!
Alex
I'm not a big 50s fan, but the rock'n'roll stars of that era were simply amazing. I think I'd put Little Richard on top, with Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee just behind - but they're all pretty fantastic. I know all too little about the actual groups, though.
A lot of rock fans these days tend to forget that rock'n'roll started out as a form of dance music. These artists always serve as a perfect reminder.
A lot of rock fans these days tend to forget that rock'n'roll started out as a form of dance music. These artists always serve as a perfect reminder.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
Buddy was a genius. Never forget, he invented the template for the modern, self-contained rock'n'roll group with the Singer/songwriter, guitar, bass and drums that is STILL the core today. He was introducing more eclectic instrumentation to rock recordings, stretching the boundaries of the genre almost at its inception and he was working toward the concept of multitracking. And he did ALL this before he was killed at 21.
Buddy Holly was taking steps that wouldn't be followed up on until the Beatles followed his example and then grew past him, several years later.
Buddy was a genius. Never forget, he invented the template for the modern, self-contained rock'n'roll group with the Singer/songwriter, guitar, bass and drums that is STILL the core today. He was introducing more eclectic instrumentation to rock recordings, stretching the boundaries of the genre almost at its inception and he was working toward the concept of multitracking. And he did ALL this before he was killed at 21.
Buddy Holly was taking steps that wouldn't be followed up on until the Beatles followed his example and then grew past him, several years later.
What Zachery Smith said..
Buddy Holly was simply amazing. It is hard to even guess what and where he would have taken music in the five years after his death.
Buddy Holly was simply amazing. It is hard to even guess what and where he would have taken music in the five years after his death.
For flexibility of approach I think other than Buddy only the Brothers Gibb spring to mind-and they didn't invent the stuff they used, others did.
Not really a group, and not that similar to the rock and roll in the sense of the others mentioned here, but a big shout out has to go to Lonnie Donegan, the king of skiffle, and an inspiration to millions of young lads across the UK, some of whom would become pop and rock stars of the 60s in their own right.
How are we discussing 50s rock, especially Bill Haley without posting his version of "Rocket 88"?
Ike Turner's is considered the definitive proto-rock'n roll song. But Bill Haley knocked it out of the park just months later.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A7oQm-nOjM[/yt]
And of course, Fats Domino 2 years prior with "The Fat Man". Even though it's 40s and not 50s, here it is:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NxYr1e4Sk[/yt]
Ike Turner's is considered the definitive proto-rock'n roll song. But Bill Haley knocked it out of the park just months later.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A7oQm-nOjM[/yt]
And of course, Fats Domino 2 years prior with "The Fat Man". Even though it's 40s and not 50s, here it is:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NxYr1e4Sk[/yt]