Top moments in rock 'n' roll, from the first chords to a final stand
Whether you start the clock with Roy Brown's release of "Good Rockin' Tonight" in 1947 or with Elvis crossing the threshold of Sun Studio, rock 'n' roll is full of moments that illustrate how vital and dynamic the art form can be. Herewith, a timeline of some of the biggest:
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup records "That's All Right," 1946. It's a sin that Crudup's song -- which Elvis Presley later recorded -- hasn't been properly acknowledged for launching rock 'n' roll. Arguably, it rocks harder than Presley's version. The rhythm section starts slowly and then takes off intensely, especially during an instrumental break that is pure rock 'n' roll. And Crudup's electric guitar drives the song as if there's no tomorrow as he sings of his love troubles (he quotes his father in the lyrics "Women will be the death of you"). The Mississippi-born Crudup released the song on RCA Records, and it was not a hit at the time, but the visceral excitement of the tune is unmistakable. (Elvis also recorded two other Crudup songs: "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine.") STEVE MORSE
Roy Brown records "Good Rockin' Tonight," 1947.Few pioneers are as underappreciated as Roy Brown, the New Orleans native who disappeared for long stretches because he was tired of record-label exploitation. But his "Good Rockin' Tonight" is an all-time rock classic. The words "Did you hear the news -- there's good rockin' tonight" caught rock's simple, hedonistic theme as well as anything from his era did. The song was later recorded by Elvis Presley (on his debut album) and by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ricky Nelson. Rhode Island's Roomful of Blues backed Brown at a memorable show at Cambridge's Jonathan Swift's club not long before Brown died in 1981 at age 56.S.M.
The Bo Diddley beat, 1955.Rock music is a series of brilliant guitar riffs -- Keith Richards's snarling guitar in "Satisfaction," Kurt Cobain's stuttering chords in "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Ritchie Blackmore's ominous opening to "Smoke on the Water." But the first great one belonged to Ellas Otha Bates McDaniel -- better known as Bo Diddley. So influential was his riff in his 1955 song "Bo Diddley" -- a rockin' locomotive beat filled with swagger and sex -- that it was borrowed by Buddy Holly ("Not Fade Away"), the Who ("Magic Bus"), and Bruce Springsteen ("She's the One"). Fun fact: During Diddley's first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," Sullivan told Diddley to perform "Sixteen Tons," a hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford, instead of "Bo Diddley." Diddley agreed, but on the live broadcast, Diddley, much to Sullivan's chagrin, launched into his signature song. It was the last time Diddley appeared on the show.RENEE GRAHAM
Paul McCartney meets John Lennon, 1957. On a July afternoon in 1957, a 15-year-old Liverpudlian named Paul McCartney turned up at the Woolton Parish church social to catch a set by a local band called the Quarrymen, which featured another hometown musician, 17-year-old John Lennon. While a group of local teens milled about after the gig, McCartney picked up Lennon's battered acoustic guitar, turned it upside down, and played "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Be-Bop-A-Lula." Then he tuned it, which so impressed John he immediately invited Paul to join the band. Aficionados will forever debate the historical significance of "Sgt. Pepper's" versus "Revolver," contemplate the cosmic impact of the Beatles' trip to India, and marvel at the axis-turning ecstasy of the band's first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." But if the fates hadn't landed these two scruffy teens -- who shared what may well be the most astonishing musical chemistry in the history of collaborations -- in the same churchyard on the same day 47 years ago, pop music as we know it wouldn't exist. JOAN ANDERMAN
The creation of Motown, 1958.Berry Gordy Jr., a former boxer, auto assembly line worker, and occasional pimp, borrowed $800 from his family and created Motown Records. From an unspectacular two-story house in Detroit, which Gordy confidently named "Hitsville USA," he spurred the legendary careers of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and many others. Dubbed "The Sound of Young America," Motown produced some of the most vital records in the history of popular music, including Gaye's "What's Going On" and Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life." Even when the label left Detroit for Los Angeles, its repuation again soared when Gordy signed the Jackson Five, which churned out nearly a decade's worth of classic hits.R.G.
The Moog is born, 1964.Still looking for someone to blame for a-ha? Look no further than Robert Moog. He was a graduate student at Cornell University in 1964 when he invented the first relatively user-friendly synthesizer. (A bulkier model created by RCA in the '50s cost about $100,000; you could buy a Moog in 1967 for $11,000.) The Moog really took off in 1969, when Walter (later Wendy) Carlos recorded "Switched-On Bach." Soon, the Beatles were using the synth on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Because" from "Abbey Road." And the introduction of the Mini-Moog in 1971 inspired an entire generation of musicians. Who used the instrument? The list is too long to print here, but it includes Abba, Jan Hammer, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Thomas Dolby, and the Prodigy. In the end, Moog couldn't survive the ultra-competitive music world, and companies such as Roland and Arp edged him out of business. Moog moved from New York City to North Carolina in the late '70s and began producing a variety of electronic instruments. In 2002, he restarted Moog Music.GEOFF EDGERS
Bob Dylan releases "Highway 61 Revisited," 1965.On Aug. 30, 1965, a month after he strode onto the stage at the Newport Folk Festival in leather jacket and shades and famously plugged-in, Bob Dylan released "Highway 61 Revisited." The album kicked off with a crackling, eloquent epic called "Like a Rolling Stone" -- an unlikely radio hit that managed to catapult the gentle folk song to the back of the bus, spit in the face of pop's formulaic singles, and usher in the era of the modern rock song. Clocking in at six minutes, "Like a Rolling Stone," is dense, caustic, jubilant, and elliptical. It is a protest song turned personal, a raw, electric stream-of-consciousness poem that tackles truth and deception on a human scale and the transformation of a generation from the inside out. Dylan's influence is indisputable and incalculable; it is this song, in particular, that led generations down the path of literate, independent rock music.J.A.
Hendrix at Woodstock, 1969.Arguably the most iconic moment in rock. Jimi Hendrix's feedback-laced rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the three-day festival in upstate New York was certainly ethereal and breathtaking. But its deliberate dissonance, and chords made to mimic machine-gun fire and dropping bombs, also hammered it into the unnerving sound of a nation, scarred by social unrest, coming apart at the seams. Asked why he performed the national anthem, Hendrix said, "We're all Americans, aren't we? It was written and played in a very beautiful state -- your heart throbs and you think, `Great, I'm an American.' Nowadays when we play it, we don't play it to take away all the greatness that America has, but we play it the way the air is in America today. And the air is slightly static, isn't it?"R.G.
Neil Young leaves Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1971.He could have stayed. The harmonies were smooth, the gigs came easily, and even a walrus-shaped freebaser like Crosby could get chicks. Neil Young, though, had another idea. He would take country music and meld it with screaming guitar, write songs about lovers, junkies, mythological heroes, and corporate sellouts. He would invent a guitar sound, the distorted, sonic-crunch of 1979's "Rust Never Sleeps" that carried him through the rest of the 20th century. Sometimes, Young made mistakes -- his musical drift through the '80s, his simple-minded and technically embarassing vanity flick, "Greendale." But whether playing with Willie Nelson or Pearl Jam, Young introduced a style and a sound to a generation of rockers. That's why they call him the Grandfather of Grunge.G.E.
Punk reaches its zenith, 1977.During the height of Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee, the Sex Pistols' incendiary single "God Save the Queen" went to No. 1 in Britain. To understand why this is a monumental moment in rock history, consider this: The lyrics -- which attacked the country's most cherished patriotic notions and entrenched institutions -- were considered so unspeakable that workers in a record plant refused to press it, some official chart compilers refused to acknowledge the song's position, and it was banned by the BBC. The establishment loathed it. The kids loved it. In short, this was the punk-rock revolution -- and in a larger sense the very foundation of a rock 'n' roll rebellion -- at its most essential: potent, provocative, brutally honest, and brashly unafraid.J.A.
The release of "Rapper's Delight," 1979.Pointy-headed hip-hop historians -- a.k.a. those white dudes on VH1 -- would probably claim Fatback's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)" as the first released rap song. But we're going with "Rapper's Delight," which people actually heard. The Sugarhill Gang lifted a bass line from Chic's "Good Times," the rhymes from block parties popping up in New York City, and opened with the instantly iconic stutter-step, "I said a hip-hop." The song rose to No. 36 and opened the door for Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow. The Sugerhill Gang's Master Gee, Wonder Mike, and Big Bank Hank would soon disappear from the scene. But unlike some other old-school rap -- remember "Rapture"? -- you can pop in "Rapper's Delight" and fondly revisit the days of George Jefferson.G.E.
Video kills the radio star, 1981.MTV launched on Aug. 1, 1981, and forever changed the way music is heard. Or seen, rather. MTV quickly became a global power, a key marketing tool, and in turn the video became as critical to a musician's success as a hit single. Not that bootylicious babes and sexy dudes weren't courted prior to the cable station's existence. But looks, style, and screen presence are now a must for musicians with aspirations beyond regional van tours. More of a must, in fact, than good songs. Would Britney Spears have landed a record contract pre-MTV? Would Neil Young be signed today? It turns out the choice of the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" as the fledgling station's inaugural clip 22 years ago was all too prescient.J.A.
Pink Floyd's "The Wall" at New York's Nassau Coliseum, 1981. Pink Floyd took the rock musical to a new level with this astonishing production, which only had multiple-night runs on Long Island and in Los Angeles and London. To symbolize the story's psychic-suffocation theme, the band had a wall of 340 cardboard bricks (adding up to 30 feet high and 210 feet wide) erected during the performance. Portions of the wall opened to reveal different sets, a small airplane on wires buzzed over the crowd, animation sequences were beamed overhead, and then the wall crashed down while Floyd's 360-degree sound system went into overdrive. No rock show in arenas or stadiums has come close to upstaging this event. S.M.
Live Aid in Philadelphia, 1985.In one of rock's noblest gestures, Live Aid raised millions of dollars to fight famine in Africa -- and raised the bar for benefit concerts. The ugliness of "compassion fatigue" had not yet set into the music industry. On this glorious marathon day, artists such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Madonna, a reunited Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Patti LaBelle, the Four Tops, Duran Duran, the Cars, Black Sabbath, Hall & Oates, and Crosby, Stills & Nash (joined by Neil Young) paraded onstage to perform for reasons that went well beyond their own wallets.S.M.
Seattle rocks: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains spark grunge revolution, 1991.Out of nowhere came Nirvana's modern-rock hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which took over radio and played to a restless, bored teenage fandom that had been alienated by bloated '80s excesses. Record executives thought Nirvana's "Nevermind" album might sell 50,000 copies, but it shot to triple platinum, making the alternative-rock movement a viable force for years to come. Pearl Jam has become the most enduring band from the scene, and there's no doubt that the Seattle scene jump-started the sorely needed punk and indie-rock revival.S.M.
Lollapalooza's last stand, 2004.So sorry to break your heart, Perry. But didn't you get the hint last summer when even reuniting your band, Jane's Addiction, just barely kept this alterna-geezer tour afloat? This year, Perry Farrell could have signed up somebody A) not drawing Social Security or B) familiar to the "American Idol" crowd. Instead, he created the ultimate rock critic's dream: Morrissey, Sonic Youth, and PJ Harvey. Brilliant, except that most rock critics don't pay for anything. Not even their own beer. But give Farrell some props. The original '90s edition of Lollapalooza broke ground. It put rappers and metalheads and technofreaks under the same shed. But times change, and canceling the festival made a statement. The concert biz is for kids (Jessica Simpson, Britney) or aging, overpriced icons (Barbra, the Eagles). For the rest of us, it's back to the clubs.G.E.
