Rock Paleontologists Ask, Who’s on First?

What was the first rock ‘n’ roll record?

Maybe “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & the Comets, which kicked off the teen rock phenomenon? Or “That’s All Right” by Elvis Presley, which brought blues and country together in a new musical form? Or “Rocket 88” by Ike Turner’s group, or “Gee” by the Crows? Or perhaps some early hit by Little Richard or Fats Domino or Chuck Berry?

Among aficionados, the question is pursued with the intensity of the search for the Holy Grail or the origins of Homo sapiens.

Now two rock historians, after some digging worthy of Louis Leakey, believe they’ve found it. And it’s not any of those seminal classics. What’s more, these two rockin’ paleontologists say that the music did not originate in such rock strongholds as Memphis or New Orleans or Cleveland or Chicago.

No, in the determination of Steve Propes and Jim Dawson, the first rock ‘n’ roll record was by a jazz group, and rock’s Oldavi Gorge is right here in Los Angeles.

In their book “What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record?,” due from Faber and Faber in November, the pair claim that rock ‘n’ roll started with “Blues, Part 2,” a 1944 live recording on the “Jazz at the Philharmonic” series. The song was recorded at a benefit for the Sleepy Lagoon “Zoot Suit” defendants by a flexible ensemble that in this session was led by saxophonist Illinois Jacquet and included such future stars as guitarist Les Paul and pianist Nat Cole.

“It has to do with instrumentation,” says Propes, a Long Beach-based writer and former radio host. “The stinging electric guitar and honking saxophone, the sexy piano and perhaps some intent on the part of the artists and producer to do something different.”

But to others, this is just another Piltdown Man.

Rock archivist Michael Ochs rejects both the selection and definition of rock ‘n’ roll of Propes and Dawson outright. His pick: the sly “Sixty Minute Man” by the Dominoes from 1951.

“That was the first sexually explicit black record using the term rock ‘n’ roll in the sexual connotation that sold to white audiences,” Ochs says.

But to Propes and Dawson, rock ‘n’ roll was old news when “Sixty Minute Man’ was recorded. In fact, the song comes in at No. 25 in their chronological count of the first 50 rock records. It’s not even the first proto-doo-wop song on the list. That honor goes to the Orioles’ 1948 song “It’s Too Soon to Know.”

So where are some of the more obvious choices? Presley’s 1954 recording of “That’s All Right” doesn’t appear until No. 41 on the list (though Arthur (Big Boy) Crudup’s 1946 original of the song is No. 5). “Rock Around the Clock,” from 1954, is No. 39, though Haley came in a No. 28 with 1952’s “Rock the Joint.” Of the generally accepted rock ‘n’ roll titans, Fats Domino was highest with “The Fat Man” at No. 17.

And several other genre pillars don’t appear until the bottom of the list: Bo Diddley’s “Bo Diddley” is No. 46, Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene” No. 47, Little Richard’s “Tutti-Frutti” No. 48 and Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” No. 49. Rounding off the 50: Elvis’ first RCA release, “Heartbreak Hotel.”

The Origins

The Top 10 songs in the chronological list of 50 ground-breaking songs in “What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record?”:

1--”Blues, Part 2,” Jazz at the Philharmonic, recorded in Los Angeles, 1944.

2--”The Honey Dripper,” Joe Liggins, L.A., 1945.

3--”Be Babaleba,” Helen Humes & the Bill Doggett Octet, L.A., 1945.

4--”House of Blue Lights,” Ella Mae Morse, L.A., 1946.

5--”That’s All Right,” Arthur Crudup, Chicago, 1946. (Propes notes that this was also the very first 45 r.p.m. record when it was reissued by RCA in 1949.)

6--”Open the Door, Richard,” Jack McVae, L.A., 1947.

7--”Tomorrow Night,” Lonnie Johnson, Chicago, 1948.

8--”Good Rockin’ Tonight,” Wynonnie Harris, New York, 1948.

9--”We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll,” Wild Bill Moore, Detroit, 1948.

10--”It’s Too Soon to Know,” the Orioles, Baltimore, 1948.