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Who wrote the first ever blues song and what was the first ever recorded blues song? We dig deep to find out the fascinating history of recorded blues.
From the 20-year rule to stylistic homage and outright appropriation, nostalgia has always played a part in musical evolution, with even the most forward-thinking music looking to the past for inspiration.
When The Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham got the band to record a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’, they made history – and their debut single.
Home taping in the 80s didn’t necessarily kill the record industry but the cassette format gave a voice to those that the mainstream didn’t always have an ear for.
Being ahead of their time, too offbeat for mass consumption, or through plain old bad luck – some artists became wildly influential without becoming household names.
“Nina as you want her – with soul!”, proclaimed a trade advertisement for the 1967 album.
Recorded in four days, The Rolling Stones’ debut album honoured the blues and introduced the band to America as “England’s newest hit makers”.
In 1970, Chuck Berry was back at Chess, where he helped create the very fabric of rock 'n' roll, announcing his return in April with the great single 'Tulane.'
On 7 April 1972, The Big O cut the number that would become the opening song on his 'Memphis' album.
Chuck's review of new music for the punk fanzine Jet Lag in 1980 read like a bridge between cultures.
On the Hot 100 for 30 March 1959, Chuck debuted with another wonderful vignette of adolescent adventure.
On 26 March 1971, The Rolling Stones were at London's Marquee Club to play their last UK gig for two years before an invited audience.
A pioneer who influenced everyone from Chuck Berry to Keith Richards, Sister Rosetta Tharpe “played rock’n’roll way before anyone else”.
Hailed as the birthplace of both the blues and rock’n’roll, Memphis, Tennessee, is a must-visit city for music lovers around the world.
The book is written by his son Bill Haley Jr with Peter Benjaminson, and is billed as the first complete Haley biography.
