Song:Rocket 88
Album:A Proper Introduction To Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston: Rocket 88
For years Sun Records owner Sam Phillips claimed that Rocket 88 was the first Rock 'N' Roll record in 1951. That bit of self serving nonsense has been debunked over the years. Rock 'N' Roll was just a label but the music really began with the jump blues of post WWII. Of course as a record, Rocket 88 is a fraud anyway as it was actually written by Ike Turner and recorded by his band Kings Of Rhythm. Brenston was the sax player. Brenston was born Aug. 15, 1930 in Clarksdale, MS. Turner was also from Clarksdale. After Brenston left the military in 1947, he learned to play the sax and joined Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm in 1950 as a singer and sax player. They went to Sun Records in Memphis and recorded Rocket 88 in 1951. The song of course is about the Oldsmobile Delta 88. Turner based the song on boogie woogie pianist Pete Johnson's instrumental Rocket 88 Boogie and Jimmy Liggins' 1947 hit Cadillac Boogie. Liggins was a true pioneer and that may be the first Rock 'N Roll record. It is also one of the first examples of guitar fuzz and distortion caused when Willie Kizart's amplifier was damaged. Brenston sang lead and Phillips decided to change the songwriting credit and the song was issued by Chess as Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats. It topped the R & B singles chart in 1951. Ike Turner was not aware that Phillips had done this so obviously he was annoyed. And Brenston let the fame get to him and left Turner's band after one more session. He joined Lowell Fulsom's band and attempted to record his own songs without much success. Turner continued to work the St. Louis circuit and backed up many bands. This comp from Proper Records documents the band's history. Jackie Brenston returned to Turner's band in 1955 but wasn't allowed to sing Rocket 88. He developed a drinking problem and left the music business in 1963. He drove a truck until he died of a heart attack on Dec. 15, 1979 at age 49. Rocket 88 is a classic of black music but that sure is a convoluted story. Here's a video for Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats.
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