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From: HuckToohey
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  • Rock and Roll (Black slang for "Sex") which was coined by Cleveland DJ Alan Freed can be traced back to recordings even before the 1950's. It's always been a debate on who was the first to play it. "Rocket 88" is up there but it's not the first. Bill Haley's "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" is classified as the first rock and roll song to appear on a pop chart in 1955.

  • @MeYouView "Bill Haley's '(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock' is classified as the first rock and roll song to appear on a pop chart in 1955." Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy," the Dominoes' "Sixty-Minute Man," and Kay Starr's "Oh Babe" all charted pop earlier.

  • good song but i thought "move it on over" by Hank Williams Sr was the FIRST rock and roll song

  • NOT the first rock & Roll song. Rocket 88 is from 1951. The Fat Man (fats domino) is from 1949.

  • 1st rock and roll song?

  • @ReneODeay NO

  • only a clueless oik would dislike a pure rock'n'roll tune like this. DIG IT BABY!!!

  • not to be random but i was fighting 3 people and this song was blasting, had to look it up.

  • This was a perfect song. I think the cover by Nappy Brown was the best.

  • 1er Titre(Musique)Rock'n'Roll. Mars 1951?

  • "Goin round the corner and get a fifth. Everybody in my car's gonna take a little nip. Move on out. Boozin and cruisin along". LOL!!!!!! I was 1st introduced to the song back in the 80s but never tire of hearing it. Especially that last verse.

  • @Ronniewants2die The good ol days!!!

  • a catchy classic,.....where it all began :-)

  • @Paddyllfixit Nope, this was 1951. "The fat Man" (Fats domino) is from 1949

  • how can you dislike the first rock song ever lets bring back the good old rock back in 2012 yeahhhh whoooo

  • @hater38100 NOT the first. What about THE FAT MAN from Fats Domino (1949)

  • One of first rock'n'roll song and maybe the first rap song!!!

  • Somewhere, there are 29 villages in search of their idiot.

  • if people dont find music like this good enough to tap there feet to, they must be dead! its fuckin brilliant

  • its just great every bode like this song called rocket 88

  • First ever recorderd "Distortion" guitar sound appear in this song :) Just for the story lesson... :D

  • fun fact: this song is one of the first songs with guitar distortion...history right there

  • @PurpleLemonTV There was no distortion back then. It was mostly reverb. That didn't happen 'til the 1960's!

  • Thumbs up if you think of a silent black and white film whenever you hear this music.

  • God bless Jackie Brenston.

  • this song...

    many of you dont realize what this is. this is the begining of the greatist thing ever created by humans. rock...this man is the father of every rockband in the universe.... give this man a medal... no two medals...

  • The first "distortion" used in recording.. Slayer should pay homage

  • I WASNT EVEN BORN WHEN THIS SONG CAME OUT, BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAYS, MUSIC HAS NO BOUNDARIES, NO COLOR, NO AGE, WITH MUSIC WE ARE ALL ALIKE. THANKS U TUBE FOR PROVIDING A SITE WHERE I CAN CONNECT WITH ALL PEOPLES.

  • Anyone who doesn't like this song just doesn't know great music when they hear it. It just doesn't get any better than this.

  • This is a sweet jam. How can you not like Rocket 88!?

  • Who in their right mind wouldn't love this tune???

  • wasnt he married to Tina Turner?

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  • 1951 , was not born yet , this was the first real rock n roll song ; 3 or 4 years sooner than Halley or Presley .here in Europe , the people weren t ready for such a music , that s what my mother told me ( she was born in 1933 ) .When i was a child the first record heard on radio was Jailhouse Rock ( 57 or 58 ) , i like this song , people haven t got much but they were happy

  • @walter4092 "1951 , [...], this was the first real rock n roll song ; 3 or 4 years sooner than Halley or Presley" Haley began recording rock and roll in 1951, shortly after this. There are plenty of real rock and roll recordings that are earlier than "Rocket 88," such as "Rock The Joint" by Jimmy Preston, "Jump And Shout" by Erline "Rock And Roll" Harris (<-- her nickname as listed in Billboard magazine in 1950), "Real Lovin' Mama" by Floyd Dixon, "Poppa Stoppa" by Pee Wee Crayton.

  • @MrJNScott can t find out when you were born .It seems to me that you re older than me and knowing much more than me about the Rock n Roll history .

    i live in Europe , where everything came later , the distance between the states and our regio that time .I m 57 now and i grew up with the Beatles , but my parents did listen offen to the music of the fifties when they were young .So i heard a lot of music , my mother allways said Halley was the first .. i do kow better now

  • Sam Phillips was a genius. Really. Recording these guys, Doctor Isaiah (Terra Mae), B.B. King, Chester Burnett, and all the rest were strokes of genius. And then Elvis walks into his studio and destroys the place. Really, what more could you ask for?

  • I had a 50 Olds 88 hardtop. Fast in the Day! Great Song. Ed

  • @edwardlealsr1946 I would love to have one but i live in the UK and they're from the US and they're old some they are really expensive.

  • @edwardlealsr1946 I would love to have one but they're really expensive in the UK becuase they're from the US and they're old.

  • my great grampa gave the riff to ike!

  • This is one of the things that an old guy like me can dig about computers and youtube.That being the access to this great song and the info that people provide.Just reading a book about rnr and read about this song "rocket88 and so i came on here to check into it further on youtube.And once again thanks to the people who post i found what i was looking for....thx.

  • @captdave08 yea.. ha ha.. an ole lady like me can dig it too.. love this stuff.. !!!

  • @captdave08 Great post 'ol timer. Keep on truckin' my friend.

  • its amazing to think that this the the origin of one of the greatest cultural revolution in history. i will never discriminate again lol....

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  • "1st Rock'n'Roll song" it's all about fitting into categories, and we all need to respect that concept

  • I'm only 21 but I dig the hell out of this song.

  • A nice slice of musical history here, no matter how you cut it. Thanks for posting!

  • I was born in the late 50's, and rock has always been my life. Hearing this is like finding where I come from.

  • Get down.

  • I seconded that! Betty page made a nice touch to this video! Thanks for posting it.

  • Betty Page was a nice touch.

  • When good thing started- THE '50S! Is the PB footage from '51??

  • Nowadays I love this (And Bill Haley's version), but as a kid I wouldn't have given either version shelf space. This isn't rock'n'roll and neither was Haley's. If you'd banged the two together you might have got it right.

    This version's Jump Jive, and Haley's is Western Swing.

  • Ike started off good. Apparently he was violent to Tina Turner and got addicted to cocaine. He cleaned up for awhile during the 1990's. That is good.

  • Love this . The sax is the lead Been listening R&R since my sister Carol was listening to it in the early 50's I was about 3 years old It's the beat that changed it from R&B to R&R

  • love those horns!!

  • Rock 'n' Roll was the name given to R&B when white men started singing it. It kept the radio stations happy because they wouldn't play what they saw as the devil's music (Black R&B), but, white men singing "Rock'n'Roll" meant that for the first time it went out on the radio. The rest is history :)

    (ps: I'm a white man)

  • Great song!

  • who the hell dislikes this?

  • @kieranmatiz yo mama does

  • @kieranmatiz Justin Bieber fans

  • @kieranmatiz 29 people with no life.

  • @kieranmatiz Justin Beiber fans?

  • @kieranmatiz 29 morons haha

  • @kieranmatiz No kidding. The follow-up is good too; "In My Real Gone Rocket". Same groove, all good!

  • @kieranmatiz Tina Turner ?

  • 1er Music Rock'n'Roll,Mars 1951(Jackie Brenston,Vocal)-(Ike Turner,Piano)

  • Wait.. @2:09... that's roy brown!! XD

  • Disagree.... haven't read all posts, but it sounds like boogie woogie, or r&b... it's 3/4.

  • @scottjosephn Plus the fact that rhythm 'n blues and rock and roll were so close to each other at one time, when one became slowly the other one ! It is generally agreed though that "Rock around the clock" was the first major, nation-wide, smash, "commercial" début of rock and roll. The roots of rock prior to Bill Haley's monster hit are so interesting to discuss ...and discover ! ("Gee"'s supposedly very first one is mentioned on the "The rock and roll era" CDs. of Time-Life, gems to possess).

  • @rigaudien "rhythm 'n blues and rock and roll were so close to each other at one time, when one became slowly the other one !" Way I look at it, "rock and roll"'s a name that was being used during '51-'54 (e.g., in '54 Freed announced a "rock and roll" show that included Big Joe Turner, the Drifters, and Fats Domino) for a substyle of R&B, a wild kind of R&B that Preston's "Rock The Joint," Roy Brown's "Boogie At Midnight," and Turner's "Jumpin' At The Jubilee" are good examples of from '49.

  • @scottjosephn Others claim "Gee" by the Crows to be th very first one. Interesting to discuss, anyway !

  • First Rock'n'roll is a tricky question.

    I would say Louis Jordan.

    I might also mention Chuck Berry

    David

  • rocket 88, thats all right mama, the fat man, r around the clock, who cares theyre ALL Great songs.

  • the real first rock and roll song was "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino in 1949

  • @yerrowcookie - I always considered Bill Haley the father of rock & roll, but I grant you're right. Thanks.

  • Are you fucking nuts? Without the American black blues influence we'd still be listening to Dead White Dudes!!! What British invasion? Shuffle man, shuffle, 12 bars...

  • Its not the first there were a fair few before this one going back to the 40's.

    Big Joe Turner from 1940's, "Ooo Ouch Stop" for example.

    Some might argue that Rock'n'roll type music was going on way before then as part of the blues scene.

  • Obviously Little Richard was a huge fan of this song. The intro just like in Good Golly Miss Molly and in Rip It Up there's line "I got a date and I won't be late, pick her up in my 88"

  • black people invented jazz, rock, hiphop, and rap

  • @irkiIIer and blues

  • @irkiIIer And to a large degree, country, believe it or not

  • @ryukXsayu27 How did Country influence Rosetta Tharpe, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Arthur Crudup? It's like saying the Greeks, Israelites, Assyrians and Arabs contributed to ancient Egypt. But how can that be when there aren't Pyramids in Greece or Palestine-ha-ha. And even the early country joints that can be classified as rock and roll, their sound is antithetical to European, Scots-Irish traditions that it had to be based off of the sounds emitting from the souls of Black Folks of the time. IMHO

  • @clh2192 No, I mean BLACKS influenced COUNTRY, which I would explain but you seem to already be aware of it.

  • Thanks for the song and Bettie Page :) .

  • This has probably been mentioned, but check out the Buckaroo Banzai version of this song. this is great but the that version blows me away. Too bad it quits just before Peter Weller(a.k.a) actually sings(you'll see what I mean...). Weller is actually playing(at least in the audio if not 'on stage' in the movie) & The piano player as well(Clancy Brown of Highlander, Superman:animated{Lex Luthor} & Shawshank redemption fame).

  • I always wondered when distored guitars were first invented. When I found out that this song is the first rock and roll song, I got a bonus, THIS SONG is where distored guitars were first invented!

  • I'm not sure there is a guitar in there anywhere. 

  • @darkcylander its the fuzzy bass soundin..guitar

  • @RiverOfSteel thats a saxophone

  • @darkcylander Yeah, its a Bari-Sax. but it sdoes sound alot like a Bass in the beginning.

  • @RiverOfSteel there ya see? no guitar. how can you have a rock song with no guitar? thats like having an omelet without egg

  • @darkcylander sorry mate i usually never TRY to be right but the thing is the guitarist damaged his amp, had to put something in the back to hold the speaker up, anyways this created the first fuzz/distortion guitar sound. mix that with the rad sax solo and you get rock n roll!!!! woo

  • @darkcylander well there is a guitar introduction in "ain't that just like a woman" played by carl hogan in the Louis jordan band in 1946. as a matter of fact chuck stole this intro for Johnny b goode. could carl hogan be the 1st R&R'er or maybe T-Bone Walker? take a listen to it if you have not heard it it is awesome!

  • @JRussoBuffaloNY "could carl hogan be the 1st R&R'er or maybe T-Bone Walker?" There were lots of "blacks" and others already recording on electric before T-Bone or Hogan did (e.g. Tampa Red, Arthur Crudup, Saunders King). There was a fad for singing about rocking over a backbeat during '47-'49. That fad didn't exist on record in '46. Bill Moore and Wynonie Harris kicked the fad off in '47, and Jimmy Preston's "Rock The Joint" and Roy Brown's "Boogie At Midnight" in '49 helped keep it going.

  • @MrJNScott thanx for the info, I am going to research it further.

  • @JRussoBuffaloNY You're welcome. "Rock That Boogie" by Jimmy Smith was recorded in August 1949 and is on youtube; that's about how far back heavy-duty guitar rock and roll as such goes. Lionel Hampton had backbeat and hip electric guitar (by Billy Mackel) together from about '44 on, and was almost the only one who did during '44-'46 -- but not with lyrics about rocking during that period.

  • This is considered to be the very first Rock and Roll tune.

  • racist comments are so stupid...it just goes to show that you're insecure and good for nothing so you need to bask in someone else's glory.....

    a black man invented R&B, white men invented the musical instruments...but you didn't do anything except sharing the same skin colour...you share the skin colour as black/white rapists, why not claim credit for someone else's rape as well? Get a life, insecure losers...

  • @subg88 I sense sarcasm :) But I understand your point (if it is indeed sarcasm). Music is influenced by other types of music whether we want it to or not :)

  • @keewatin427 Your not really helping the cause.  No one stole anything from anyone. Everyone has a right to SHARE the creativity in a style of music. Whether an individual or a group of people invented the genre is irrelevant, and talking about what race had to do with it is utterly absurd. All your doing is being spiteful and your really not making yourself look good. All we want to do is listen to a great song and you and other people just have to spiteful and argue. Such a shame.

  • @littlemonster82 I agree--Black and African American are different to me, because there are people that classify as white but live along Africa. But what difference does it make? None. Thank you for speaking words of wisdom. In my family, it makes no difference because I am black and white. It was an issue at first, but when I was born, it helped change the outlook of the family. So, racist comments have really come to piss me off more than anything.

  • @epf1961 I don't agree. This is rock n roll regardless of the person being black or white. Listen to Louisiana by Percy Mayfield and then you'll have your rhythm and blues. Sure, most music stemmed from one particular type, but that doesn't mean that Rhythm and Blues and Rock n Roll are the same. Black? No. A lot of white people played R&B just like a lot of Black and other minorities played Rock n Roll. Take The Teenagers and Louis Jordan for example. Rock n Roll to the core.

  • ikewas great on his own, people seem to only recognise tina for some reason

  • would you look at that, women have far been objectified even before rap music.

  • Betty!

  • Magnificent interpretation, 1000000 Stars!!!. Martin

  • what was wrong with Ike Turner?

  • I wonder if Delta 88 by X was a reference to this?

  • Great song, great cars and Bettie page looks so sexy putting her clothes ON!!

  • There's a radio show on WPKN in Bridgeport, CT called "Antique Blues". Back in '93, host Bill Nolan did a series called "Search for the True Roots of Rock & Roll"- he started in '40, and ran thru '52, playing hundreds of records that predated Haley, Elvis, etc. I recorded the shows from '47 to '52, and it becomes obvious that it was a progression. There was really no "first" r&r record. It was black rhythm & blues-- Rock and Roll was just a "white" commercial tag added later on. You dig?

  • @epf1961 Very good, and that's true of other musical genres, literature, art, products, cooking, religion, evolution of man...

  • wifebeatin.....cracksmoking mothafucker :D but the guy had style :)

  • UPS homework, kids.

  • I've never heard of this song until my rock and roll history textbook mentioned it. I find it very catchy! And please guys... don't judge a band because of their race... ever.

  • @Dahaka3210: I just heard of this song in my textbook too and that's y im listening to it. Can't stop listenin to it :)

  • @enviro4life what textbook is that

  • @MRCOOL2345e its probably "MEDIA NOW"6th edition by Straubhaar, La Rose and Davenport. Saying this because my textbook led me to this just now as well.

  • I listened to this in Rock and Roll History! :D

  • The racism in some of these comments makes me believe were still living in 1950...

  • Black people + Music = masterpiece

  • @20buscarMeuBis8 dude People + Music = Masterpiece. stfu

  • Great!

  • Thank you Ike Turner and thank you Sam Phillips for the first Rock n Roll recording!!

  • I was watching a show about music and they attributed this song as being one of the first rock and roll/ rock a billy songs. This is the first time ive ever listened to this song but man its a fun song!!!!!

  • uh huh. That's right.

  • My dad has one of those in the garage! It's a beauty! Red with black top. Name's "Oscar."

  • @djbarcode5xyz Sweet. What's the speed? 

  • oh yes rock n roll, rnb crossover magic

  • Love the guitar distortion due to the broken amp. I think I'm gonna sabotage amps for now on. :)

  • don't know what Bettie Page has to do with this video

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  • I'm VERY honored that the first rock n roll song (in the opinion of many) was about an Oldsmobile and MY DAD'S FIRST CAR! --- a 1950 Olds Rocket 88. Olds got their first V8, the 303cidV8, in 1949. Chevy and Pontiac didn't even get theirs till 1955 so you can see why these cars dominated so much (and in NASCAR) that there was a song made about the car/engine. In fact it was so popular there's a few versions of this song by different artists.

  • And it's a car song. That's two things that makes this cool!

  • who gives a shit what the man did in his personal life, it's a great song and i love ike turner and the kings of rhythym

  • first ever distorted guitar

  • man, lot of angry comments here, song is nice

    love the you american comments lol

    but keep it classy ppl, show some face and less of the finger

  • your personal opinions and political views are so exciting...........yawn....SNO­RE.

  • ike personal life has nothing to do with his music,this was before Tina fools!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • I get really fucking tired of ignorant americans who think that skin color and race are the same thing...

  • Why are The Ignorant KKKLUCKS polluting this board, this music with their PUKE??

  • why cant black people make this kind of music again.

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  • @kennykiller911 Perhabs cause white people spoliated our music through decades of negationism. Startin with this song.

  • @Playbackmusiconline now wait a minute arnt these blacks singing about just the same of what they sing about now? not all blacks mind you, but the stereotype rap artist.

  • @Kohl423 the stupid rap and hip hop kids. >:(

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  • This is one of the classics of early Rock & Roll evoking so many memories of the excitement r & r brought to those distant times.. Featuring in many films as background music. Who could ignore this among the R & R classics.

  • YOUMAY HAVE HEARD OF JALOPIES YOU KNOW THE NOISE THEY MAKE WELL LET ME INTRODUCE MY ROCKET 88 _WABAM! :) Oldsmobile had some fine lookin cars.

  • Ike is the man! Thanks for posting this.

  • @Caprock64 it was B.B. King who told Ike about Sam Phillip's studio because B.B.'s first records were recorded there

  • Ike's my nigga! (Don't slap me wit dat shoe, boy)

  • Some pretty boring non-musical discussion going on here...I don't need lessons on racism or spouse abuse thanks. Anyways, this is definitely not the first rock song. "Rock The Joint" by Jimmy Preston (1949) is a strong contender, and not just cuz it contains 'rock' in the title. Those stops and starts are straight outta "Johnny B. Goode"...amazing.

  • Well, typical sexism we grew up with and resented big time. But, the song is cool.

  • WAIT!.........STOP!.........WO­W. thanks SO MUCH for filling us all in on your PROFOUND political opinions. however, this is a MUSIC clip on a MUSIC site. please refer your political comments to a political site where there may at least be a one in a billion chance of your finding one person on planet earth who remotely cares what you think about anything.. again, this is a music site. please bore somebody else to death. that goes for EACH of you.......just go away..........OK? blah blah BLAH.

  • @rckmmmm

    This isn't a music site.

  • Words fail me. Okay, how about, "shut the hell up and enjoy the song."

  • Ain't it just, sweet? :D

  • My dad would get drunk whip out a compilation album with"Rocket 88" on it.

  • Whether or not it's the first Rock n Roll single youy can argue til the Moon turns green - but it's definitely the first single put out by the legendary Chess

  • awesome song that started it all

  • Stereotypical Rock and Roll was created when Rhythm & Blues and Honky tonk were mashed together AND prepackaged for 13 year old girls.

  • This was the first song ever to use distortion on a guitar.

  • @unklbuk1 Why u so angry?