Rock Awhile
Appearance
"Rock Awhile" | ||||
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Single by Goree Carter & His Hepcats | ||||
B-side | "Back Home Blues" | |||
Released | April 1949 | |||
Recorded | April 1949 | |||
Studio | ACA Studios | |||
Genre | Rock and roll[1][2][3][4] | |||
Length | 2:38 | |||
Label | Freedom Recording Company | |||
Songwriter(s) | Goree Carter | |||
Goree Carter & His Hepcats singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Rock Awhile" is a song by American singer-songwriter Goree Carter, recorded in April 1949 for the Freedom Recording Company in Houston, Texas.
The song was released as the 18-year-old Carter's debut single (with "Back Home Blues" as the B-side) shortly after recording. The track is considered by many sources to be the first rock and roll song,[1][2][3][4] and has been called a better candidate than the more commonly cited "Rocket 88", which was released two years later.[1][2][5] The song features a over-driven electric guitar style similar to that of Chuck Berry years later.[1][2][3]
Personnel
- Goree Carter – vocals, electric guitar
- Lonnie Lyons – piano
- Louis "Nunu" Pitts – bass
- Allison Tucker – drums
- Conrad O. Johnson – alto saxophone
- Sam Williams – tenor saxophone (rhythm)
- Nelson Mills – trumpet (rhythm)
References
- ^ a b c d Robert Palmer, "Church of the Sonic Guitar", pp. 13-38 in Anthony DeCurtis, Present Tense, Duke University Press, 1992, p. 19. ISBN 0-8223-1265-4.
- ^ a b c d John Nova Lomax (December 2014), Roll Over, Ike Turner, Texas Monthly
- ^ a b c Roger Wood (2003), Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, pages 46-47, University of Texas Press
- ^ a b "Uncovering Houston's lost music history". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
- ^ Palmer, Robert; et al. (1992). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll:The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music. Random House. p. 12. ISBN 0-679-73728-6. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
External links
- Commentary on the song, SpontaneousLunacy.com