The first Rock 'n' Roll records?

Wild Bill Moore, Rock and Roll

Jimmy Preston, Rock this Joint

Wyonie Harris, Rock Mr. Blues

Hank Williams, Move It On Over

Rootie Tootie

and Roly Poly (but the lead electric guitar was overdubbed in the rockabilly era)

Hal Singer put out a song called Rock Around the Clock in 1950

Maybe it began about here and all came together here?


One of the books that I always find of interest is "What was the first Rock 'n' Roll Record?" by Jim Dawson and Steve Propes. I used it for reference when I hosted a weekly "The Blues is Back" radio show in Sydney, Australia. Listen to my interview with Big Jay McNeely for an insider's viewpoint.

There's still plenty of scope for disagreement. Dawson and Propes include another record by Wild Bill Moore ("We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll") as number 9 in their listing. They have 23 records before they get to "Rocket 88", and 38 records before they arrive at "Rock Around the Clock".

I'd probably go all the way back to Pine Top's Boogie Woogie, by Pinetop Smith (1928). 

What are your views? I'd be interested to know.

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the subject. There's also a good article by Alexis Petridis (The Guardian).