Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Song Recorded in 1946?

Self | March 27, 2011 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

Perhaps the official start of the Rock 'n' Roll era should be moved back from 1954's release of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" to 1946 to this Tex Beneke (formerly with the Glenn Miller Band) song, HEY-BA-BA-RE-BOP.

Call me crazy but this sure sounds like Rock 'n' Roll except it was a full 8 years before what is generally acknowledged as the beginning of the Rock era.

HEY-BA-BA-RE-BOP

[PJ-Comix]

What do you think? Should Tex Beneke be recognized as the first Rock 'n' Roll singer?

[libertybell]

There are no orchestras in rock and roll.

[Kartographer]

Rock ‘n Roll goes back even father than that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uE-0E_Hwqo

[Sacajaweau]

Thanks for posting.

[PJ-Comix]

So what happened to Rock? Popular music pretty much took a nosedive in recent years.

[MRadtke]

“There are no orchestras in rock and roll.”

Really? What about ELO?:)
Seriously, I would call this more like swing.

[Popman]

Sorry, that's not rock n roll. That's big band.

Catchy tune and makes you want to dance, but it ain't rock in roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fsqYctXgM (Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock (1956) )

[bcsco]

Nope. That was known as Bop or Bebop, a form of Jazz. Check it out here.

[Fresh Wind]

A little later, but closer to real rock’n’roll was Louis Jordan’s “Saturday Night Fish Fry”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1QfXQakX2w

[HerrBlucher]

Oh yeah?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLNR4xfh1Qc

[mylife]

Nope, that is whiteboy scat/swing

[lowbridge]

Listen to the songs of Hudde Ledbetter. You'll hear the roots of rock n roll in his singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs3mj1E8LSU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCiJ4QQG9WQ

[La Lydia]

There is this album called “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”....

[mylife]

Joe Jackson~We The Cats Shall Hep Ya(so reap this righteous riff)

[Thermalseeker]

"The Blues had a baby and they called it Rock-n-Roll."
Muddy Waters-

[Tread EZ]

swing not R&R

[mylife]

While Eddie Cochran would not hit the scene for a few more years, I consider him one of true first rockers

Something Else

[La Lydia]

Tex Beneke is Mr. Smooth Voice, from a time in the distant past when singers could actually carry a tune. My favorite Tex Beneke song. He comes in at about 2:10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQybKMXL-k

[Tread EZ]

Classic boogie woogie, not R&R. Listen to the bass line.

[PJ-Comix]

I guess the timing of the beginning of R&R can be argued but we can see the exact moment when folk music thankfully DIED. It was when Bluto smashed that folk singer’s guitar in “Animal House.” After that few took folk songs very seriously.