V.A. - Roots of Rock N' Roll, Vol. 1: 1927-1938 (1996)

The story usually goes that rock & roll was born in 1954 when a young truck driver named Elvis Presley opted to sing black blues his way, and there is no debate that Presley became a catalyst for the explosion that became known as rock & roll. But like most explosions, it had been brewing for a while, and this is the case that Roots of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1927-1938 (from the French label Frémeaux) tries to present, drawing together early blues, jazz, folk, and country 78 rpm's in a two-disc package that spans genres and styles. That rock & roll was an evolutionary sponge, soaking up elements of all of these music strands, is obvious, but pinpointing exact musical ancestors can be tough. It is difficult to imagine, for example, some of the artists collected here as proto-rockers (Louis Armstrong, Gene Autrey, Django Reinhardt), but it is also hard to deny that they had some influence on rock & roll, since everything seems to have influenced it. In the end, this anthology becomes a case of everybody in the pool, and by getting everybody in the pool, you've definitively proven that there really is a pool. The difficulty of proof aside, there are great and classic tracks in this set - including Jelly Roll Morton's "Georgia Swing," Henry Thomas' wonderfully archaic medley on "Old Country Stomp," Django Reinhardt's "Stompin' at Decca," Louis Armstrong's "Swing That Music," Grayson & Whitter's "Train 45," and the Memphis Jug Band's loopy "Sun Brimmers Blues" - making this a tremendous collection of vintage 78s. Does it make a convincing case for being the roots of rock & roll? Jump in, because the water's fine.

Tracklist

CD1:

01. Memphis Jug Band - Sun Brimmer's Blues
02. Allen Brothers - Ain't That Skippin' And Flyin'?
03. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Matchbox
04. Grayson & Whitter - Train 45
05. Honolulu Serenaders - Honolulu Stomp
06. Mississippi John Hurt - Frankie (And Johnnie)
07. Lonnie Johnson - Playing With The Strings
08. Jelly Roll Morton - Georgia Swing
09. Henry Thomas - Old Country Stomp
10. Eddie Lang & Lonnie Johnson - A Handful Of Riffs
11. Barbecue Bob - Twistin' Your Stuff
12. Grayson & Whitter - Tom Dooley
13. Sleepy John Estes - Milk Cow Blues
14. Jimmie Noone - You Rascal You
15. Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie - Let's Go To Town
16. Fort Worth Doughboys - Nancy Jane
17. New Orleans Feetwarmers - I've Found A New Baby
18. Milton Brown - Talking About You

CD 2:

01. Kokomo Arnold - The Twelves
02. Cleo Brown - Boogie Woogie
03. Boswell Sisters - Rock And Roll
04. Bumble Bee Slim - I'm Needing Someone
05. Milton Brown - Mama Don't Allow It
06. Milton Brown - Keep A Knockin'
07. Louis Armstrong - Swing That Music
08. Hartman's Heartbreakers - It Feels So Good
09. Harlem Hamfats - She's Gone Again
10. Tampa Kid - Baby Please Don't Go
11. Jimmie Davis - Honky Tonk Blues
12. Bob Wills - White Heat
13. Harlem Hamfats - What's My Baby Doin'?
14. Gene Autry - The Rhythm Of The Range
15. Django Reinhardt - Stompin' At Decca
16. Adolph Hofner - Better Quit It Now
17. Larry Adler - I Got Rhythm
18. Sol Hoopii - Fascinating Rhythm