Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
In 2018 the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new awards category, inducting six "singles" songs into the Hall that served to shape the course of rock music.
Included in the six new inductees was "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, recorded in 1951.
From "The Blues Foundation" web site:
Rocket ’88” is one of many blues and R&B singles cited in retrospect as ‘the first rock ‘n’ roll record.’ Producer Sam Phillips recorded it at his Memphis Recording Service, where Elvis Presley would launch his recording career three years later, and historians also cite the accidental distortion from Willie Kizart’s guitar amp — a buzz created after the amp fell off the top of the band’s station wagon on the way to the session. And the band was led by Ike Turner, who of course became an icon in rock and R&B. This was the first session for Turner; Ike sang a couple of laid-back blues at the date and turned the mike over to one of his saxophonists, Jackie Brenston, for the uptempo ‘Rocket ’88’.’ Phillips, who at the time was hustling tapes to various companies, sensed a two-artists-in-one-session opportunity, and presented the results to Chess Records as one single by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm and another by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. It was Brenston’s disc that took off, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts (Chess Records’ first chart-topper), and motivating Brenston to split from Turner and launch his own short-lived career.
= new reply since forum marked as read
