Chess Records and Chuck Berry

Chess Records - Brothers Leonard and Phil Started Chess Records in 1950 in Chicago mostly recording Blues artists.  Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Howlin' Wolf all released music through Chess and became legends. With Rock and Roll gaining popularity throughout the country, Chess began to expand their roster to include artists playing this new music. Chess is credited with launching the careers of both Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry and it is interesting to note that the "Rolling Stones" trying to capture the magic of the Chess sound, also recorded several times at the Chess studios in the 60s.

Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry originally from Missouri, eventually made his way to Chicago and was introduced to Chess Records by Muddy Waters in 1955. Leonard Chess was quick to sign him and his first hit was "Maybellene" which went on to reach #1 on Billboard's R&B charts and sold over one million copies. His next big hit came in 1956, "Roll Over Beethoven" peaked at #29 on Billboard's Top 100 chart. He followed up with countless hits over the next few years including "School Days", "Rock and Roll Music", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and perhaps one of his most copied songs, "Johnny B. Goode." 

Chuck Berry remained popular throughout the 50s until his arrest for his involvement with a teenager (he should have payed more attention to what happened to Jerry Lee Lewis) in 1960. After being released from jail in 1963 after being incarcerated for a little over a year and a half, he continued to record but, as with many of the 50s rock artists, had a hard time competing with the British Invasion. Regardless, he continues touring to this day.

Like one of his influences, T-Bone Walker, Chuck Berry was a great showman who influenced countless guitarists. In September 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named him number 6 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its opening in 1986.  

Sun Records and Jerry Lee Lewis

Sun Records and Jerry Lee Lewis - Right around the time Sun Record's owner Sam Philips was vacationing in Florida contemplating what to do with the rest of the money he had received from selling his new found star Elvis' contract to RCA, a young man by the name of Jerry Lee Lewis showed up at the studio in Memphis to audition for Sun. Sun's engineer/producer at the time, Jack Clement recorded a demo of him performing a cover of "Crazy Arms" and one of his own compositions. He had already been kicked out of Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Texas for playing Boogie-Woogie versions of gospel songs and had made his way to Memphis, to try his hand at being a professional musician. 

Sun signed him and by 1957 he had a string of hits to his name, including "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," the later reaching #2 on Billboard's pop charts. He was know for his outrageous stage show and crazy antics. His career was about ruined in 1958 when it was found out that the 23 year old performer had gotten married to his 13 year old cousin (his third wife at that). He was pretty much blacklisted from radio and had a rough time getting his career back on track for the next several years. He eventually got his career going again by the mid 60s, this time playing country music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his music and persona has influenced countless of musicians.

Sun Records, Sam Philips, Memphis and Elvis

Sun Records - Around the same time Fats Domino and Little Richard started rockin' in New Orleans, a little way up the Mississippi river in Tennessee, things in Memphis were starting to take off as well. Sam Phillips, who had already been recording African American artists (B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf to name a few) in his studio (Memphis Recording Service), was thinking to himself that if he could find a white artist who could emulate the black musicians he had been recording, he would really have something that he could sell to a broader audience. Mr. Philips had already recorded what many historians consider the very first Rock and Roll song, "Rocket 88" (written by Ike Turner and recorded by his band, "Kings of Rhythm") which was released on Chicago's Chess label in 1951. In the process he created his new record label, Sun Records and would soon go on to record some future superstars including, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and... 

Elvis Presley - Elvis had been recorded several times at Sam Philip's studio from 1953 to 1954 but the recordings didn't do that much for Philips. He was interested in the teenager but hadn't really found the material he was looking for. Not until Elvis recorded his rendition of the 40's song "That's Alright" did Philips find what he was looking for. He followed up with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and through local radio, Elvis created a major stir. It's hard to imagine now, but at the time Elvis sounded black to the general white audience and this is what Sam Philips was trying to achieve. After recording several times, Elvis began touring with his new band including guitarist Scotty Moore and Bill Black on bass. Elvis had a distinctive burlesque type movement on stage that he developed over time that made women in the audience go absolutely crazy and critics angry. His Sun releases sold well and by the time he was 20, bigger labels started approaching Sam Philips to sell his contract. Philips eventually sold Elvis' contract to RCA for somewhere around 40G, which might seem like a major mistake considering Elvis' future popularity, but at the time $40,000 was not only a lot of money but it allowed Sam Philips to finance distribution of Carl Perkin's "Blue Suede Shoes" which would end up being a major hit and money maker for Sun. Elvis went on to release countless hits and become one of the biggest selling superstars yet. He died in 1977 at the age of 42.

Sun Records went on to produce countless hits over its sixteen year history and in 1986 Sam Phillips was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died in 2003.

New Orleans and Fats Domino

Out of all the pioneers of Rock and Roll from the 50s, there are a few artists who's names still stand out and who's music consistently passes the test of time. Fats Domino is certainly one of those artists. Right around the same time (1955) Little Richard was releasing "Tutti Frutti," Fats Domino was releasing his first hit for Imperial Records, "Ain't That a Shame." The song quickly climbed to the top ten ("Ain't That a Shame" was later covered by Cheap Trick on their late 70s triple platinum release "Cheap Trick at Budokan"). 

In 1956 he followed up with "Blueberry Hill" which eventually reached number 2 on the Top 40 charts and by 1957 had sold five-million copies, even by today's standards, no easy task. He stuck with his original label, Imperial Records until 1963 but was losing airplay and ultimately sales because of the British invasion. His last big hit was probably "Walkin' to New Orleans" in 1960.

Fats Domino got his start in New Orleans, one of the best music cities in the world. He continued to reside there until the Katrina disaster but still calls the state of Louisiana his home today.

Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill

The 50s and the Birth of Rock and Roll - WLAC, Little Richard

The Birth of Rock and Roll - By the 50s the war was over, and the American public with the distraction of the war now gone, had become optimistic once again. But the youth of America, tired of their parent's generation of music, was looking for something new and they found it in something that would soon be known as Rock and Roll. African-American musicians had found that by tweaking the Rhythm and Blues that they played, they could make a white audience go wild. The city of New Orleans would play a key role in the birth of this new music.

White teenagers got their introduction to this music through radio stations like WLAC. WLAC broadcasting from Tennessee, originally intending to cater to an African-American audience, found that the station was more and more frequently listened to by white teenagers. WLAC was instrumental in the success of artists like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Ray Charles and countless other musicians like Little Richard. I have often contemplated the similarities between this era of radio and today's podcasting boom -- Independent radio personalities, introducing independent artists to an independent minded listening audience. On to some of the ground breaking artists of these times:

Little Richard - originally from Georgia, released his first big hit "Tutti Frutti"on Specialty Records in 1955 (recorded in New Orleans using Fats Domino's band). Some other notable hits where "Lucille," "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly." He made it possible for African-American artists to play in what was once exclusively white venues to a mixed race audience which angered a lot of people at the time. At the height of his popularity in 1957, Little Richard found religion and quit his career playing secular music. By the end of 1963, he would get back into playing secular music. Interestingly enough, Jimi Hendrix got his start playing guitar in Little Richard's band in 1964 and was once quoted as saying; "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice." 

Little Richard has always referred to himself as the “the architect of Rock and Roll,” and it is pretty safe to assume that this is not far from the truth. He was idolized by countless musicians including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney just to mention a few. 

Little Richard performing "Lucielle"