24.  Let's Go Tripping. Dick Dale And The Deltones. Sept 1961.

Dick Dale can claim to have coined the term 'Surf Music'. He had recorded records before 'Let's Go Tripping' but with little success. For 'Let's Go Tripping' he ditched all vocal but the title shouted at the start of the record and recorded it all as instrumental. Dale owed a lot to other guitar slingers such as Link Wray but with 'Tripping' Dale had tapped into something not heard before, something he called 'Surf Music'. The record proved popular and even influenced a boom in the whole surf culture, with young people making for the beaches of California in their droves.

Dale's tenure as King of Surf Music was short lived as young upstarts The Beach Boys were soon to release their own surf records such as 'Surfin' USA and Let's Go Surfin', but Dale always said that surf music does not have lyrics and he continued to play his own original 'Surf Music' well into the 90s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1gskj1VQR0

Dick Dale - Let's Go Trippin'

23.  Will You Love Me Tomorrow? The Shirelles. Nov 1960

Before The Shirrelles R&B groups were a predominately male preserve. Of girl groups, only The Chantels had managed to break though to the charts with their hit 'Maybe' in 1958. The Shirrelles were four New Jersey schoolgirls who were introduced to a classmates showbiz agent mother, Florence Greenberg, who had them record a song called 'I Met Him On A Sunday' which was only moderately successful. Greenberg then came across a Goffin & King penned country ballad called 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' which had been turned down by Johnny Mathis, but the song, cut from its original 4+ mins to a more manageable 2 mins 40 sec and stripped of its country overtones was recorded by the Shirelles and released on Greenberg's own Scepter label in Nov 1960..

The record was a hit and soon there were more girl R&B groups than you could shake a stick at. Everyone from The Shangrilas to The Supremes owe credit to the Shirelles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30s9mGsOxSM

The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow

22.  The Twist. Chubby Checker. July 1960.

Ain't nothing capture the imagination of a nation more than a dance craze. In the 20's people were frantically learning 'The Turkey Trot' and 'The Black Bottom'. 'The Twist was never intended to be a big deal. The song started out as the flip side of a Hank Ballard & The Moonlighters record. When Hank left the band it was Philadelphia singer Chubby Checker that took Hanks place. After performing 'The Twist' on American Bandstand the record took off, inspiring a nation's club goers to take to the dance floor and shake their booty. It didn't matter if you could dance or not, 'The Twist' was embraced by all. The record was so popular that it topped the American charts twice and Chubby Checker went on to record numerous other dance based records, such as 'Pony Time', 'Limbo' and 'The Fly'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im9XuJJXylw

The Twist - Chubby Checker

21.  Apache. The Shadows. July 1960.

One of the appeals of rock n roll music is the DIY aspect, where any budding young 'Elvis Wannabe' can grow his hair, curl his lip and swivel his hips. The Shadows caused young men the world over to buy a Fender Strat and a copy of Bert Weedon's 'Play in a Day' and if they weren't Bert by days end they could consent themselves in being Hank Marvin by lunchtime.

The Shadows formula was simple, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. Hank would pick a simple one note melody with ample use of echo and the tremelo arm, while Bruce Welch provided a steady rhythm guitar backing. After Jet Harris and Tony Meehan left, the Shadows lost their bite, but still managed to influence everyone from Lennon through to Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIs1k8yuPU

Apache - The Shadows (Original 1960 HD)

20.  It Doesn't Matter Anymore. Buddy Holly. Jan 1959.

Buddy Holly's short career was on the cusp by the start of 1959. His records weren't selling in the numbers they used to so the lad from Lubbock, Texas decided on a change of style for his next record. Out went the self contained four piece group style of two guitars, bass and drums and in came a studio orchestra, with a bank of pizzicato strings. On 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore', a song written by Paul Anka, Buddy developed a hiccuping vocal style that was to be copied wholesale by Brit singer Adam Faith, even down to the accentuated 'Bay-bee'.

Of course tragedy was to follow shortly after the record's release when on 3 February 1959 Buddy opted to take a plane to the next gig and never made it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnFmcZp2Wdc

Buddy Holly- It Doesn't Matter Anymore

19.  La Bamba. Ritchie Valens. Nov 1958.

Ritchie Valens was reluctant to record La Bamba as a rock n roll song. He felt that the music of his ethnic origins should be left well alone; that to record a mix of Chicano and rock 'n' roll would lead to him being lynched by traditionalist. Thankfully, record producer Bob Keene persuaded Valens to go ahead and a phenomenon was born, selling in excess of a million, going top ten world wide and featuring on countless jukeboxes. Sadly Ritchie Valens did not live long enough to taste success. On a 1959 tour he hitched a ride on the wrong plane and perished in the February snow along with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.

La Bamba's legacy can still be felt today, paving the way for everyone from Santana to Los Lobos, who had a hit with La Bamba themselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp6j5HJ-Cok&spfreload=10

The Real Ritchie Valens - La Bamba

18.  Johnny B, Goode. Chuck Berry. April 1958.

Chuck Berry had already changed the face of rock 'n' roll with records such as 'Maybelline', 'Rock And Roll Music'. 'Roll Over Beethoven' and 'Sweet Little Sixteen', but in 'Johnny B. Goode he also created a genuine American folk hero. From the staccato guitar intro, to the reluctant wind down of the coda, 'Johnny B. Goode' was flawless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFo8-JqzSCM

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode

17.  Bye Bye Love. The Everly Brothers. May 1957.

Phil & Don Everly have influenced the work of countless musicians. Check out Simon & Garfunkel's 'Mrs Robinson' or The Beatles 'Things We Said Today'. Yet when the Everly's started out, they were barely acknowledged in Nashville, where brother duo's were a country staple via acts such as The Louvin Brothers and The Stanley Brothers.

'Bye Bye Love was written by Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, who also provided Don & Phil with later hits 'Wake Up Little Susie', All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Bird Dog', 'Problems', 'Poor Jenny' and 'Take A Message To Mary'. Before all this there was 'Bye Bye Love', a song rejected by 30 other acts but a perfect vehicle for the vocal talents of The Everly's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRyrWN-fftE

Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love - Original HQ Audio

14. Smokestack Lightnin'. Howlin' Wolf. March 1956.

Chester Burnett as Howlin' Wolf, was the real deal. Stubborn, noisy, oversexed and powerful onstage, he was downbeat and hard done by off it. He was largely ignored in his native America outside of the Deep South and Chicago. It took the interest of the young, up and coming Brit bands to get Howlin Wolf in the spotlight. The Rolling Stones famously only agreed to do American pop music TV show Shindig if they could pick a guest artist and it was Howlin Wolf who they picked to share the limelight with them.
Smokestack Lightnin' was a staple for any band trying to make it during the 60s 'British Blues Boom', covered on record by The Yardbirds and others of their ilk. You only have to listen to 'Satisfaction' or 'Gloria' to hear how 'Smokestack Lightnin', with its churning guitar riff and express train back-beat influenced the shape of popular music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch…

Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'

13. Please, Please, Please. James Brown And The Famous Flames. March 1956.

Please, Please, Please isn't a great song, the lyrics are nothing to write home about, the backing is pedestrian, but what makes it a great record is James Brown himself, who wrings every ounce of emotion from the song. The record was a hit, selling thousands on its first release. It was to be another two years before James Brown had another hit and could claim the mantle of 'The Hardest Working Man In Show Business'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4w454Lape8

James Brown - Please, Please, Please

12. Heartbreak Hotel. Elvis Presley. Jan 1956.

Perhaps the most impressive major label debut of all time. Sure, Elvis had been making waves for a year or so with the sides he cut at Sun, 'That's Alright Mama' and 'Mystery Train' for two examples. But outside of influencing his peers, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis' recordings for Sun were heard by only those 'in the know'. When RCA put out 'Heart Break Hotel' it sent shock waves around the world. The atmospherics were maximised by using the stairwell of the studio as a ad hoc echo chamber.

As Lennon famously said "Before Elvis there was nothing".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PotB76gi2_4

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel

11. Rock Island Line. Lonnie Donegan & His Skiffle Group. Dec 1955.

The phenomenon known as 'Skiffle' started out by accident, when Chris Barber & His Jazz Orchestra left a place in his performances to let his guitar player, Lonnie Donegan, play a blues number with just guitar, bass and drums. The version of Leadbelly's Rock Island Line was a track on Barber's 'New Orleans Joys' album of 1953 and proved so popular that it was released as a single in 1955. Soon every music minded kid in Britian was buying a cheap guitar, and together with a friend or two on washboard and tea-chest bass were bashing out crude versions of 'John Henry' and 'Rock Island Line in the newly formed Skiffle clubs and youth clubs throughout Great Britain.

Donegan was to inspire everyone from John Lennon to Jimmy Page and made some great blues based records for a time, until he reverted to vaudeville with records like 'My Old Man's A Dustman' and 'Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The Bed Post Overnight'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EynL-R_fc_U

1956 HITS ARCHIVE: Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan

10. Tutti Frutti. Little Richard. October 1955.

Tutti Frutti (aka Tutti Frutti Good Booty) was already a Little Richard showstopper before he recorded it for the Specialty label in 55. The song was deemed so lewd by the record producers at New Orlean's J&M studios that the composer, Dorothy La Bostrie was called in to write a more acceptable lyric. With studio time down to the last 15 minutes the song was recorded live in three quick takes, with Richard banging at the piano instead of studio piano man Melvin Dowden.
Rock music has never since come up with a better opening call to arms than Richards screaming "Awopbopaloobop-Alopbamboom".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13JNjpNW6c

Little Richard - Tutti Frutti

One of the best recording artists on the planet! From Here's Little Richard (1957). All rights belong to (would you believe it!) Wee Richard and his chums.

9. Bo Diddley. Bo Diddley. April 1955.

Ellas Otha Bates, aka McDaniels and his group were playing the street corners and R&B clubs of Chicago. One of the songs they played was a ribald number related to 'The Dirty Dozen' that they called variously 'Noxema' or 'Dirty Mother F#*%er'. Phil Chess liked the song but persuaded them to tone it down a little, renaming both the song and Ellas Otha as 'Bo Diddley'. The song's "shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits" rhythm was not new; it was also recorded as 'Patted Juba' and Red Saunders had recorded it as 'Hambone' for Okeh in 1952.
Buddy Holly recorded a version of Bo Diddley and then used the rhythm for 'Not Fade Away' later covered by The Rolling Stones. In later years the 'Bo Diddley' rhythm has found its way onto records by U2 (Desire), INXS (Suicide Blonde) and Talking Heads (Ruby Dear).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XxGUIbYjmY

1955 HITS ARCHIVE: Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley (McDaniels) by Bo Diddley (CD audio source) The innovative blues-rock musician and singer scored on his very first recording for Checker Records, ...

8. I Got A Woman. Ray Charles. January 1955.

It is claimed that Ray Charles invented soul music when he combined jazz, gospel and blues and if this is indeed the case, then 'I Got A Woman' is the record on which he unleashed his creation. A great rollicking rocker of a record that features Charles' gospel inspired piano combined with a voice blasted from the depths of Hell in order to find its place on a more righteous path. 'I Got A Woman' caused a furious backlash from religious nuts who claimed that Charles had taken the word of God and blasphemously turned them into a dance record.
'I Got A Woman' made Charles enough money to buy his first Cadillac and a new one every 12 months for the next five years.

Ray Charles - I Got A Woman

Ray Charles - I Got A Woman enjoy : )

YOUTUBE.COM

7. Rock Around The Clock. Bill Haley & His Comets. May 1954.

He may have ripped off everybody musically but, as noted previously, he was the provider of the first white rock record. But, had Rock Around The Clock not come along he may have drifted into obscurity. Even at the onset it didn't seem a biggie.
When first release it sold a relatively modest 75,000 and went into retirement. Then it was chosen as the opening theme 'The Blackboard Jungle'. The film's teenage revolution theme allied to Haley's music over the opening credits, played loudly from cinema speakers proved mind blowing. The gap between generations opened up as never before and the kids turned the kiss curled Haley into an unlikely hero of the revolution.
When the song was used as the basis for 'Rock Around The Clock, the first rock n roll film proper, teens who felt they were unrepresented by a world of adults, took the film and song as their battle cry and vented their frustrations by ripping upthe cinema seats and danced in the aisles.

Lyrics~Rock around the clock-Bill Haley & His Comets

6. Shake, Rattle & Roll. Joe Turner. April 1954.

By the time he recorded it "The Boss of The Blues" had been singing 'Shake, Rattle & Roll' for at least a decade. Composer credit went to Charles Calhoun, a pseudonym for band-leader arranger Jesse Stone, but the lyrics came from the bottomless well of verses that the 250 pound Joe Turner (a one time singing barman from Kansas City) carried with him all of his life. It was typical of the time that the song (six months on the R&B charts) was covered by a white singer, in this case kiss-curled Bill Haley & His Comets. The success of their cleaned up version (the action moved from the boudoir to the kitchen) prompted US Decca to re-promote the group's Rock Around The Clock. The irony was that both acts were booked onto the same package and Turner was ordered to let Haley perform Shake Rattle & Roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9wTQsAgktg

JOE TURNER Shake, Rattle and Roll 1954

5. Cry. Johnny Ray. November 1951.

The Prince of Wails, The Nabob of Sob, Mr Emotion - the guy who made Elvis possible. Before the part deaf Ray came along most white singers stood straight and crooned even straighter into the centre stage mic. But Ray, who had been working R&B clubs and who'd linked with Laverne Baker's manager didn't conform. He gyrated as if in agony and part with musical phrases as if they were being drwn from him by torture and almost launched the 'art is pain' school single handed. After Ray had subverted the charts Elvis and his hip-swinging peers came easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFyZ-ZJZA4

1952 HITS ARCHIVE: Cry - Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads (a #1 record)

4. Rocket 88. Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats. April 1951.

Regarded by many to be the first true rock n roll success, Brenston's Rocket 88 was the first R&B record to be covered by Bill Haley (then leader of The Saddlemen). A song about a late model Oldsmobile, the original was performed by sax player Brenston, who at the time was a member of St Louis outfit Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, in fact it was Ike's Kings who played on Rocket 88 but under a pseudonym for contractual reasons.

It is also of note that a piano has 88 keys and many believe the song to be just that, a song extolling the piano and its role in modern music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcFIj8OuIEI

rocket 88 "Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats"

3. Flamingo. Earl Bostic. January 1951.

Well known track on the dance floors of the UK in 1951, Earl Bostic, a former Lionel Hampton sidekick, brought the sound of the honking sax to the ears of post war British youth. The raw recording technique that put the back-beat drums well up in the mix and doused every cut in echo was to re-emerge as the basic board mix for early rock n roll.

Jazz fans might like to know that the great Jimmy Cobb is on drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdaQAZjzhoA

Earl Bostic / Flamingo