Psychozoic Hymnal 2 - 50's
Bill Haley and his Comets
Bill Haley was a country musician who recorded rhythm‐rooted blues, which was promising. He broke before anyone else. The Comets started from country precision; edgy rimshots with an odd cymbal crash, measured step basslines, on which the sax and guitar lay like a cymbal hint, sometimes alternating. It was exactly the thing and nothing else. Haley drank fourty cups of coffee to put this abroad. A mild demeanour and an industry pro does not make for tales of Rock abandon. This, plus the cute songs and lyrics mean the work is recognised and notated but seldom played. Sad, because the rave‐ups of the Comets are always expert in the most knowing construction of original Rock. They caused cinema seats to be torn up across the world. Bill Haley kept it going for forty years and still knew what he was doing.
Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley tracks rarely had a rhythm section. Didn’t need one. Some bass, then a few instruments organised round whatever the track needed—his mate Jerome Green on maracas, guitarist Jody Williams or other pals. Those could hear the beats and moves they were after, coming on like a full band. The guitars may have been square or faced with carpet, but they were loaded with tremolos, reverbs and whatever else could be wired in to beef the sound. It’s not refined or any of that, a few licks that has five hundred pounds of man behind it. As construction, I can’t think of anyone who has copied it. Course, everyone goes on about those off‐beats, which moved about more than is recognised—they played on‐beat often. Unhampered by circuit musicians, it almost never fails on musical rip‐offs with song‐writing genius to spare. He arrived at the same time as the Elvis Presley group… clearest demonstration of the era
Chuck Berry
A sharp guy who discovered something—black‐culture audience liked hillbilly. Not his only discovery—he figured the hillbilly rhythm could be stretched out at length like a jump blues performance. And, since people liked them, that highband guitar with grace‐note tricks and phrases repeated in fine variations could be made verse‐length. While he was at it, and sticking to Pop, why not roll the lyrics at length—which made for the Chuck Berry tune, of which subtleties aside there was only one… when he wasn’t reciting poetry or angling at pop trends. As J.C. and others have pointed out, his willingness to use whatever musicians on hand made the recordings often clumsy or nothing—there is plenty, aside from construct, that can be dropped from this list. But you could say the same for ‘Elvis’ and many more. One positive—he’s unlikely to get a bio‐pic.
Original Elvis Presley Group
The first records recorded on Sun were a music that has no good name, small‐groups with hopping or chugging rhythm, singers and guitar. But, though the elements are there, there’s no connect—hear the occasional use of horns. It was going to take some country like Doug Poindexter and the Starlite Wranglers, but their rhythm was accent. The thing to note about the early Elvis Presley group was, despite the pop production, how the vocals sit inside the band, then react. Uh‐hu! But then, the band are shaping both to the tune, and the effect‐laden singing. Rock is (half‐consciously) born
Eddie Cochran
He slid guitar as sludgy as the rockabilly jump beat will go, not to mention those big body semi‐electric guitars with their acoustic reverb. He was likely tweaking the guitars to get those treble scrapes and and low rumbles. He switched guitars too. It’s this kind of tuning and bending, and mixing of chords and notes on the fills and breaks that mark him from pickers like Carl Perkins. In verses he bounced chord strokes of off the bass which, far as I hear, was new. Despite the face and name, he worked with band(s) as units. In the time he was about, he used overdubs to add what would later be second guitarists, or fill in when he had no band. And he played with effects too. In retrospect the songs and voice have distracted, so he’s known by a handful of singles, a legend that underestimates the work
Link Wray and the Raymen
I’ve talked about the Wraymen elsewhere. They had a more open, steady, beat than the rockabillies from the south. May have been due to the music in the air of those parts—Carolina, a country place. Link himself talked about how the effect came from when they played a ‘stroll’, which is how it moved. But then, Mr. Wray began to shape it up with guitar effects played for the tremolo and feedback alone. Then the hall would erupt