Ah...those were the days....
Memories??
I can remember being an involuntary dance partner for my 3 sisters.....on the plus side..I learned to jive when I was 6 or 7.
Loved "Bill Haley & the Comets", and at the same time enjoyed the music of Benny Goodman etc....although that was "swing".
Couldn't get enough of that semi-hollow body guitar sound, the early use of spring reverb, the piano players, who actually knew how to play, the sound that a drummer (the likes of Buddy Rich) could get out of what today might be considered a simple kit.



[This message has been edited by shboom (edited 01-27-2005).]

I thought they were ancient, but the bass player and drummer were GI's in their early 20's. I played a 1952 ES 295..an archtop electric which is now called a 175...smaller than an L-5, with P 90 pickups.

It was a low-key coctail hour job that I sometimes did by myself. Was I good? Not very, but I knew changes and instrumentals of the day, and the drummer sang well. Got paid $10.00 in silver dollars. The military paid in silver dollars occasionally to show the community the effect of the military on the local economy.

This was on Ladd AFB and there were very few musicians in Fairbanks. The fact that I was a little kid was part of the draw. We're talking a two hour job for 50 officers getting a drink on the way home. Good training, though.


russ

When Rock & Roll was born(1955) I was too young to even play in the sandbox ! I sometimes think I missed those happy days!

My first record of any kind was Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock. I knew every word of every song. I still have it by the way.
DonM

That was the first number 1 R&R song on the charts.... AND the year I was born!

Hey Uncle Dave....I've got a High School diploma 2 years younger than you...hehehe
you didn't miss anything, as you said, it's all coming back....get ready....

You know something I don't? I wish! That would be seriously cool if 50s style rock and roll did make a comeback. I love that music as much as any.

Bill, almost regardless of the age group, the 50's songs are always well-received. The young folks haven't heard them and the old folks can reminisce. Swing dancing is big again. Sometimes the couples even touch each other!
Don

My first recollections are of 1954 and a young DJ in NYC, Alan Freed, who is credited with coining the phrase "Rock and Roll"... his RnR show at the Brooklyn or Manhattan Paramount Theaters were legendary with 'Sam the Man' Taylor and his big band backing up the groups ... http://www.alanfreed.com/
Freed played a lot of RnB and RnR recorded by black artists, whose songs were covered by the likes of The Crew Cuts, and Pat Boone !!! ...
Then came DJs like "Cousin Bruce" Morrow (who I believe is still around) and legendary Scott Muni and "Wolfman" Jack ...
One of the first songs I remember was The Penguins "Earth Angel" which was recorded in 1954... I had an original 78RPM recording which unfortunately got into the wrong hands and broken a few years back ... Then came groups such as The Platters, Frankie Lymon and the teenagers, etc.
I listened to Chuck Berry, Elvis (of course), Gene Vincent (BEE BOP A LULA) and a bunch of others ... It was a really happy time in my musical journey ...
It led to me starting a RnR band in high school which shortly thereafter transitioned into the group I was with for 26 years ...
As for it "building slowly or was it an explosion" ... it was DEFINITELY and explosion!!! ....
The "oldies" are STILL part of my repetiore ...
t.

PS: I knew the guys who were "The Elegants" who recorded "Little Star" (Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder where you are... etc.)which was a #1 hit countrywide in 1958 .. they followed up "Little Star" with a recording of "Little Boy Blue" (staying with the nursery rhyme theme) ... They also recorded a song called "True Love Affair" which may have been their best of all, but 'legend has it' they had a falling out with the aforementioned Mr. Freed, and he vowed that they would never have another hit ... They didn't .....
t.