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"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Dr. Hunter S. Thompson  "It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it." David Stanowski To find older articles; use Search or Site Map |
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Thursday 31 May 2007
Galveston: Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll! by Gordon Haire  Roy Brown wrote, arranged, and
performed "Good Rockin' Tonight,"
arguably
the first true Rock 'n' Roll song, on The Island in 1947. "Good Rockin'
Tonight" was the second Elvis Presley song for Sun Records, in 1954,
and
has since been covered by Pat Boone, James Brown, and Kevin DuBrow."Rockin' at Midnight," Brown's sequel to "Good Rockin' Tonight," was a top 30's hit in the 1980's by Robert Plant and the Honeydrippers. In the book, "Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started" by Izola Ethel Fedford Collins, some old time local jazz musicians claim that Bill Haley stole "Rock Around The Clock" from Brown. "Good Rockin' Tonight" was performed at the KGBC studio in the Commerce Building, 2102 Strand.  In "Unsung Heroes Of Rock 'n'
Roll," Nick Tosches writes: From
Shreveport, he went to Galveston, Texas, where he wrote the song that
made him famous. "I think we had the first black group on radio in that
area," he says... But I wrote a tune called 'Good Rockin' Tonight.' We
added a trumpet player to the group. His name was Wilbert Brown, and
when we did our radio show on KGBC he sang 'Good Rockin' Tonight.' " One fateful day, Wilbert fell sick and Roy sang the song. The audience loved the way Roy sang it, and it became a local hit. While in Galveston, he made his first record, for Gold Star.  Brown fled Galveston after he was
caught having sex with the girlfriend of the club owner he was working
for. In New Orleans he ran into Cecil Gant, a fellow unsung-hero-to-be.
Gant heard Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" and brought him to Jules
Braun, who owned DeLuxe Records. Brown's first DeLuxe release, "Good
Rockin' Tonight," was issued in September 1947.According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Brown offered the song to Wynonie Harris, who turned it down, but changed his mind after Brown's record became a local hit in New Orleans. Harris recorded his version of "Good Rockin' Tonight" in December that year, and released it in February 1948. Harris' version was much wilder, and was a #1 R&B hit that remained on the chart for half a year, while Brown's original version charted for just one week in 1948, and only after Harris' recording was a hit. The song's success jump-started Brown's career, which included two #1 R&B hits. In 1949, he released "Rockin' at Midnight", a sequel to "Good Rockin' Tonight", which might be thought of as "Good Rocking Tonight part II", because it included updates on the same characters as the original. It reached #2 on the R&B chart, where it remained for a month. Harris' version started a craze of using gospel style backbeats in blues and rhythm and blues records, and that craze led to rock and roll. There are a few other contenders for the title of the "Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll," but Galveston Island's claim to fame trumps them all. Our strongest competitor for the Title is also the least known; Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The University of Southern Missippi study states that the songs "Barbecue Bust", and "Dangerous Woman", recorded in Hattiesburg, in 1936, by the Mississippi Jook Band, qualify as the first Rock 'n' Roll tunes. Blind Roosevelt Graves did the vocals and played guitar and his brother Uaroy Graves played the tambourine and kazoo. They were joined for the recording session by Cooney Vaughn on piano. USM cites the "Rolling Stone" history, "The Graves brothers of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who recorded 'rocking and reeling' spirituals for Paramount in 1929, made several blues records as the Mississippi Jook Band in 1936. Their 'Barbecue Bust' and 'Dangerous Woman' featured fully formed rock & roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock & roll beat." Although the tunes contained some Rock 'n' Roll features, they were still Rhythm & Blues songs with no direct historical links to Rock 'n' Roll. The other would-be contenders, compared to Galveston, are Johnny-come-latelys. The Island's claim to the title predates all other competitors. The next least known contender is Wildwood, New Jersey. According to Gary Corsair, a senior writer with the "Daily Sun", "Wildwood city fathers are so certain of their place in rock 'n' roll history that they have erected an historical marker on the site of the HofBrau Hotel, at Oak and Atlantic avenues, where Haley performed each summer from 1950 to 1955, and where he (Bill Haley) and the Comets allegedly first performed 'Rock Around the Clock.' " Of course, Haley was a white guy introducing black sounds to middle class white kids. Besides, "Good Rockin' Tonight" predates "Rock Around the Clock" by several years. The best known contender for the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll title is the home of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio. It was in that city that local record store owner Leo Mintz recommended that Alan Freed play rhythm and blues tunes at WJW radio in the summer of 1951. Freed, who called himself Moondog, is credited with coining the term "Rock 'n' Roll." Cleveland is undoubtedly the home of the first Rock 'n' Roll concert; the Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena March 21, 1952. Alan Freed, host of the Moondog's Rock 'n' Roll Party on WJW, was the concert's promoter. Now, we get to the most pretentious pretender to the throne, Memphis, Tennessee. I'm not saying that Memphis and Sun Studios weren't the most important places in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. No one in their right mind would do that. There is no doubt that Memphis is the place from which Rock 'n' Roll burst forth onto an unsuspecting world. Elvis, recorded "That's All Right Mama" at Sun Studios on July 5, 1954. Rolling Stone magazine makes the dubious claim that "That's All Right Mama" was the first rock 'n' roll record. We have already pointed out that "Good Rockin' Tonight" deserves that title. As earlier stated, it was Elvis' second Sun release. Elvis probably performed "Good Rockin' Tonight," when he appeared at the Galveston City Coliseum January 19, 1956. Former Galveston cop, Oscar Eklund told me that, prior to his act, Elvis was caught in the back seat of his Cadillac convertible with a 14-year-old girl. Oscar suspected that the police commissioner Walter Johnston got paid off, because Elvis was allowed to perform, then given a police escort over the causeway, and told never to set foot on The Island again. Are there any Roy Brown historical markers or monuments? Do any streets or buildings bear Brown's name? Is anyone beside yours truly proclaiming that The Island is the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll, and that radio station KGBC was the first white station to air the first Rock 'n' Roll song? Does anybody even know his name? I never heard of him before I accidentally discovered him while researching something else on the Internet. What in hell is wrong with the people who are paid good money to promote The Island? We need to celebrate, promote, encourage and support our local musicians, actors, dancers, artists and writers. Roy Brown and The Island's Rock 'n' Roll legacy has been ignored. Mrs. Collins, in her book, at least preserves some of the history of jazz in Galveston. The Galveston Island Jazz Ambassadors keep that legacy alive, and receive a pittance from the city fathers and mothers to help them do so. Of course, Rock 'n' Roll is alive and well on Galveston Island, with the energetic live music scene at our bars and nightclubs. We need to keep this talent on Galveston Island. Editor's Note: This article, by Gordon Haire, was first published in the The Galveston Wizard. He plans to present this story to the Galveston City Council and The Park Board, in the hopes that they will issue a proclamation declaring that Galveston is The Birthplace of Rock and Roll! You can add your support to this effort, too!  GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT by Roy Brown I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight Gonna hold my baby as tight as I can Tonight she'll know I'm a mighty man I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight Oh, lead me in the alley behind the barn Don't be afraid, I'll do you no harm Baby, bring my rockin' shoes 'Cause tonight I'm gonna rock away all my blues Have you heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight Well, Elder Brown, Deacon Jones, They've left their happy home They'll be there, just you wait and see A-jumpin' and a-stompin' at the jubilee Hey man, there's good rockin' tonight Sweet Lorraine, Sioux City Sue, Sweet Georgia Brown, Caledonia, too They'll be there jumpin' like mad Hey, sister, ain't you glad We got the news there's good rockin' tonight  |
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