Selected comments from some of the discussion thread for the "Ragg Mopp" sound file are also included in that post.
The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Thanks to the composer/s of these songs and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in YouTube examples that are embedded in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: RaggMopp
anw52, Published on Feb 23, 2008 -snip- Here's information about The Treniers From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treniers "The Treniers were an American R&B and jump blues musical group[1] led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier. They were originally billed as The Trenier Twins, who performed alongside the Gene Gilbeaux Quartet, but shortened their name to The Treniers when Gilbeaux and other musicians became integral members of the group....
[...]
One of the first times rock and roll appeared on national television was in May 1954 when the Treniers appeared on the Colgate Comedy Hour, hosted by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. During the playing of their songs, Martin and Lewis participated in the antics, and when the drummer got up and stepped aside, Jerry Lewis sat down and played drums for one song." -snip- Here's information about that above mentioned television appearance: From https://www.metafilter.com/114299/The-Treniers "Do you know The Treniers? Back in the 40s and 50s, they straddled the lines between jump blues, swing, early rock'n'roll, jazz dance, hep jive and comedy. They were a whole hella fun, and they happened to be the backing band for what must be the best dance performance Jerry Lewis ever gave the world. That particular clip, BTW, from a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis "Colgate Comedy Hour" in 1954, is purported to be the first rock'n'roll performance on national television, and it may well have been." posted by flapjax, March 28, 2012
**** Example #3: The Treniers - Rag Mop (1963)
vintage video clips, Published on Jun 21, 2018
**** Example #3: Rag Mop by the Ames Brothers 1950
jukejointjohnny48, Published on May 4, 2014
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes:
1. J Boog, 2017
"wow this sounds really hip for 1950. one of the first early rock n roll songs?"
**
REPLY
2. Dario Witer, 2017
"It's not a rock song at all; it's more like a bluesy boogie woogie."
**
REPLY
3. Pottergoggles, 2017
"It's a style called Western Swing. Been around since the 40s. Buncha C+W players who could play jazz."
**
4. Leon Childs jr, 2017
"The version that went to no.1."
****
Example #4: Time For Beany - Cecil and Harry Truman Do "Raggmopp"
TheBeanyandCecil, Published on Jun 14, 2011
Harry Truman accompanies on piano as Cecil the Sea Sick Sea Serpent sings "Raggmopp." An energetic Stan Freberg helps Cecil give it all he's got on live television at its best! Circa 1950.
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
Nora Steel, 2015 "Wow! Thank you for posting this..I loved Beanie and
Cecil, the sea sick serpent! I STILL remember Cecil singing rap mop! lol a
million thank you's for the memories!! Click
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkqmrwPAh08 for a short 1962 clip of an
animated Cecil singing this song.
This post showcases a sound file of the 1949 Jump Blues song "Rock The Joint" by Jimmy Preston and the Prestonians. A 1949 cover of "Rock The Joint" by Chris Powell and the Five Blue Flames, and a 1952 cover of "Rock The Joint" by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen are also showcased in this post.
Information and comments about that record are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and aesthetic reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers of this song. Thanks also to Jimmy Preston, Chris Powell, & Bill Haley as well as their singers and musicians for their musical legacies. In addition, thanks to all those quoted in this post, with a special hat tip to Joseph Scott. Also, thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "ROCK THE JOINT"
From http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-joint.html "Rock The Joint!", Monday, 18 July 2011
"It [“Rock The Joint”] was a wild and raucous jump blues recorded in May 1949 by Jimmy Preston and his Prestonians. It was covered by Bill Haley and the Saddlemen in 1952, and thus became a milestone in the development of rock and roll. That’s what most fans of R&B and early rock and roll know about “Rock The Joint.” But there’s much more to the story of this record than that short summary.
Our playlist starts with three records which influenced “Rock The Joint.” They were recorded within a few days of each other at three widely separate locations. There’s also the first cover version by a white band, which preceded the Bill Haley version, and that brings us to a whole music and dance scene which was a conduit for white kids picking up on R&B but which is rarely mentioned in histories of rock and roll, at least not the ones I’ve read...
A follow up [to Jimmy Preston and the Prestonians‘ early 1949 hit jump blues song “Hucklebuck Daddy”] in the same vein was obviously called for and Gotham A&R man Doc Bagby brought along “Rock The Joint,” a song he had co-written with his band assistant Wendell Keane and his band singer Harry Crafton...
The resulting performance was even more frantic than “Hucklebuck Daddy,” but without the single entendre lyrics. “Rock the Joint” was a clarion call to have a whale of a time with its pounding beat, squealing saxophones and drunken yelling. It sounded like a small riot (not many injured) was taking place in the studio. The disc achieved the same success as "Hucklebuck Daddy,” peaking at number 6 in Billboard’s renamed Rhythm and Blues chart."...
On September 22nd, 1949, Columbia Records recorded a cover version by another Philadelphia jump band, Chris Powell and the Five Blue Flames. “Combo pitches a mad ball in the “Good Rockin’ school. Gangbuster tenor, handclapping, unison chanting and a live beat add to a solid side,” noted Billboard in its issue on the 12th November, 1949"...
-snip-
That entire post is a must read for those interested in the real history about this song and about early Rock & Roll and Rockabilly.
****
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_the_Joint
"Rock the Joint", also known as "We're Gonna Rock This Joint Tonight", is a boogie song recorded by various proto-rock and roll singers, notably Jimmy Preston and early rock and roll singers, most notably Bill Haley. Preston's version has been cited as a contender for being "the first rock and roll record", and Haley's is widely considered the first rockabilly record....
The song's authorship is credited to Harry Crafton, Wendell "Don" Keane and Harry "Doc" Bagby, who were musicians contracted to the Gotham label in New York...
The version by Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians was recorded in Philadelphia in May 1949 and released on the Gotham label, reaching #6 on the national R&B chart later that year....
Two years later, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen had already achieved some success with their cover of Ike Turner's (and/or Jackie Brenston's) "Rocket 88", but were looking for another hit. They were persuaded by their producer, Essex Records owner Dave Miller to cover "Rock The Joint" - a song which, like "Rocket 88", had already been successful with R&B audiences. Haley recorded the song (the exact location is unknown but is believed to have been recorded in the band's hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania [1]) in February or March 1952, but made up verses of his own to appeal to his country audience, named a succession of hillbilly dances (such as the Sugarfoot Rag and Virginia Reel) in place of Preston's hucklebuck and jitterbug, and also used different instrumentation on the track, and more back echo."...
[Pancocojams Editor: This is an excerpt of a comment (which is one of several comments) that was posted by GUEST,Joseph Scott on a Mudcat Folk music forum discussion thread about a NPR radio show. That show discussed White American folklorist collector Alan Lomax's collection of African American folk music.
In two later comments Joseph Scott identified himself as a blues researcher. Scott wrote that that NPR show "is partly about giving Alan credit, whether or not you actually know what you're talking about, to balance it partly being about criticizing Alan, whether or not you actually know what you're talking about)" and "the show gets almost nothing right" .]
Here's that excerpt:
"..."One more [point that was made on that radio show]: "It's possible that without Alan Lomax we wouldn't have had rock and roll as we know it."
Oh my God hahahahahaha! The rock and roll sound a la "Rock The Joint" by Chris Powell 1949 and "Rock That Boogie" by Jimmy Smith 1949 existed as of 1949 because black jump blues musicians got the idea to update mid-'40s jump blues to sound like gospel music as a sacrilegious joke. ("Rocking," deacons, etc. in the lyrics were references to "rocking in the bosom of Abraham" etc., and the prominent backbeat had not been in almost any mid-'40s jump blues and was brought over from black gospel to serve the obvious joke, which offended black parents, which pleased black kids.) The fully developed rock and roll sound a la late '50s Little Richard was already top ten nationally on the black charts in 1949 ("Boogie At Midnight" Roy Brown, etc.). That modernistic jump blues made for young blacks had NOTHING to do with researching old folk songs, it had to do with professional jazz-oriented black-pop-oriented black musicians putting a new (fairly slight, all and all) twist on the likes of professional jazz-oriented black-pop-oriented mid-'40s Louis Jordan, Roy Milton, etc. Roy Brown didn't know who Son House was at the time, because why would he want to? He was in the music _business_ and trying to get young blacks _interested_ in dancing to his music as of 1947-1949."...
-snip-
As the title to that Mudcat thread suggests, many of the commenters to that thread took offense to that NPR (National Public Radio) show about Alan Lomax. Read that excerpted comment in full and in particular read later comments posted by Joseph Scott which provide point by point debunks (with the pertinent minute in that radio show] about why that guest blogger disagrees with the interviewee Karl Hagstrom Miller.
-snip-
Additional information and comments about "Rock The Joint" are found after the sound files showcased below.
"To rock" means "to dance with a lot of energy and otherwise have a good time"
(In the context of this song title) "joint" is an African American slang term for a place (a building).
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
These sound files are presented in chronological order based on the song's recording date, with the oldest record given first.
Example #1: Rock The Joint - Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians 1949
60s70sTheBest, Published on Jul 27, 2014
In the later part of the 1940's, a craze had begun in the Rhythm and Blues market for songs about "rocking" thus giving birth to a new underground genre of music. In 1947, Wild Bill Moore recorded a modest hit "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll" that is considered as one of candidates for the first rock and roll record.A record by R&B Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians in 1949 called "Rock the Joint" definitely helped fuel that movement. Preston later would be identified as one of the founders of rock and roll. The same song was covered by Chris Powell and the Five Blue Flames the same year and is believed to have strongly influenced Bill Haley to record his own hopped-up "Rockabilly" version that attracted the attention of the white listening audience eager for the new style of music. Later, Haley's (and His Comets) recording of "Rock Around The Clock" became a milestone in the emergence of Rock and Roll.
-snip-
From http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-joint.html
Jimmy Preston? His biggest hit was a 1950 cover on the Derby label of Louis Prima’s “Oh Babe.” In a Joe Lutcher style moment of clarity or madness, depending upon your point of view, he gave up music in 1952, having decided to go about the Lord’s work. He died in Philadelphia in 1984.
****
Example #2: Chris Powell and the Five Blue Flames - Rock the Joint
Mario Roberts, Uploaded on Jan 31, 2012
Recorded September 22, 1949 and issued on Columbia 30175. This was a Philadelphia based R&B group. This recording was a cover of the original version done earlier in 1949 by Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians, another Philadelphia area group.
-snip-
From http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-joint.html
"Drummer / vocalist Chris Powell continued to record for Columbia and its subsidiary Okeh until 1952. He then recorded for Philadelphia label Grand and thereafter for Groove until 1956. And then he was gone."
-snip-
Selected comment from that video's viewer comment thread:
Joseph Scott, November 2014
"Here's an example of the outright falsehoods that are being told by some about rockabilly and rock and roll: the subtitle of the 2007 book The Rockabilly Legends by Jerry Naylor and Steve Halliday is They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock And Roll. But the historical evidence shows the exact reverse. E.g., a 1951 press release for the Dominoes ("Sixty-Minute Man") called them "the greatest Rock and Roll performers in the world," and there are NO known examples of anyone calling anything rockabilly that early (which only began happening after people began combining the rock and roll sound, such as this, with the hillbilly sound -- a combination that itself only started happening after the rock and roll sound was a top ten fad on the black charts in 1949)."
****
Example #3: Bill Haley & The Comets-Rock The Joint
Fantupo Marsupialis, Published on Sep 23, 2011
Selected comment from that video's viewer comment thread:
Joseph Scott, 2014
[In response to an earlier comment]
“Has to be amongst the very first rock and roll tunes" Some of the earliest rock and roll recordings were "Rock The Joint" by Jimmy Preston, "Rock The Joint" by Chris Powell, "Rock That Boogie" by Jimmy Smith, "Rockin' All Day" by Jimmy McCracklin, "Rock And Roll" by Bill Moore, "We're Gonna Rock" by Bill Moore, "Hole In The Wall" by Albennie Jones with Sam Price and his Rockin' Rhythm, "Boogie At Midnight" by Roy Brown, and "Jump And Shout" by Erline "Rock And Roll" Harris. Those were all recorded before 1950.”
-snip- http://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-joint.html
"Bill Haley became a global superstar. His “Rock Around The Clock” is the top selling rock and roll disc of all time. But fame and money and reputation are transitory and wilder and more youthful rock and roll acts pushed him aside. Although the hits soon petered out (his last Billboard Top Twenty placing was in 1956) he remained a big name, especially in the UK. He was served poorly by many rock and roll histories"...
****
UPDATE: February 13, 2016
Hat tip to Chris Gardner for alerting me to a 1951 cover version by Jimmy Cavallo which was used as the theme music for the WPWA (Chester, Pa.) Radio Programme "Judge Rhythm's Court". Read Chris' comment below.
Jimmy Cavallo - Rock The Joint - R&B 45
CheesebrewWaxArchive, Published on Feb 7, 2015
Jimmy Cavallo & His House Rockers, Rock The Joint, BSD Records 1005
Recorded 1955, New York
This post showcases 8 videos of the 1945 Jazz song "Caldonia" (pronounced cal-DOHN-yah). Information about this song and lyrics for this song are also included in this post. Information about "Jump Blues" and "soundies" are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composer of this song, and to Louis Jordan and the other featured artists for their musical legacies. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "CALDONIA"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldonia
"Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. A version by Erskine Hawkins, also in 1945, was described by Billboard magazine as "rock and roll", the first time that phrase was used in print to describe any style of music.
In 1942, Jordan had started on an unparalleled run of success on the Billboard Harlem Hit Parade (forerunner of the R&B chart), which by 1945 had included four number-one hits, and eventually made Jordan by far the most successful R&B chart act of the 1940s. "Caldonia" became his fifth number one on what was at that point called the "Race Records" chart. It debuted on the chart in May 1945 and reached number one in June, where it stayed for seven weeks. On the pop chart, the song peaked at number six under the title "Caldonia Boogie".
The writing of the song is credited to Jordan's wife of the time, Fleecie Moore. However, in all probability it was actually written by Jordan, who used his wife's name to enable him to work with an additional music publisher....
The song is best remembered for its punchline, "Caldonia! Caldonia! What makes your big head so hard?"...
Jordan also filmed a "soundie" of the song, shown in movie theatres at the time.
-snip-
"Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll.[1] More recently, there was renewed interest in jump blues in the 1990s as part of the swing revival." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_blues
****
"Soundies were three-minute musical films, produced in New York City, Chicago, and Hollywood, between 1940 and 1946, often including short dance sequences, similar to later music videos. The completed Soundies were generally released within a few months of their filming; the last group was released in March 1947. The films were displayed on the Panoram, a coin-operated film jukebox or machine music, in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, factory lounges, and amusement centers" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundie
****
LYRICS: CALDONIA
(Louis Jordan)
Walking with my baby, she got great big feet
Long, lean and cranky and ain't had nothing to eat
But she's my baby, I love her just the same
I'm crazy about my baby 'cause Caldonia is her name
Caldonia, Caldonia
What makes your big head so hard?
I love you, I love you just the same
I'm crazy about you, baby, 'cause Caldonia is your name
You know my mother told me to leave Caldonia alone
No kidding, that what she said
She said, "Son, the woman ain't no good, leave her alone"
But mama didn't know what Caldonia had been putting down
So I'm going down to Caldonia's house and ask her just one more time
Caldonia, Caldonia
What makes your big head so hard?
I love you, love you just the same
I'm crazy about you, baby, 'cause Caldonia is your name
Source: http://www.mojohand.com/blueslyrics/caledonia.htm
[Reformatted for this post]
-snip-
Editor's Comments:
"Caldonia" is a form of the female name "Caledonia".
**
"She's long" means "she's tall".
**
In African American vernacular English "having a big head" means being conceited arrogant and having a "hard head" means being very stubborn.
**
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Jordan for information about Louis Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975), this song's composer and original performer.
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
These videos are presented in chronological order based on their posting dates with the oldest videos given first.
Multiple versions of a song are presented not to rank which one is best, but to showcase some of the different interpretations artists have given of this song.
Example #1: Frank "Sugar chile" Robinson - Caldonia
Rockin Birdie, Uploaded on Aug 26, 2006
From movie "No Leave No Love" 1946
Frank "Sugarchile" Robinson
SUGAR CHILE ROBINSON (By Dave Penny)
Born Frank Robinson, 1940, Detroit, Michigan
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcq93txBdtM for the complete summary statement that includes more information about "Sugar chile" Robinson.
****
Example #2: Caldonia / Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five.
Elwood Yodogawa, Uploaded on Aug 28, 2008
...They are one of the origins of rock n roll, and an excellent piece of music of boogie-woogie...
****
Example #3: Caldonia by Erskine Hawkins 1945
cdbpdx, Uploaded on Jul 30, 2009
Caldonia recorded in 1945 by Erskine Hawkins with vocal by Ace Harris. Pretty cool version of this popular tune. Enjoy!
****
Example #4: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Caldonia Live 2000
furmamala, Uploaded on Oct 7, 2009
Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2000
****
Example #5: BB King - Caldonia
christian6021Uploaded on Oct 15, 2009
Live At Montreux
****
Example #6: Caledonia - Memphis Slim
brenduchiful, Published on Jun 15, 2012
****
Example #7: JAMES BROWN Caldonia
IkeDyson SOULTUBE,Published on Sep 29, 2014
Early JB!
****
Example #8: Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - Caldonia (Live)
This pancocojams post showcases the 1930 song "Memphis Flu" by Elder Curry, Elder Charles Beck, and Jo Ann Williams.
General information about the 1929 influenza epidemic is included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners
Thanks to the singers of this song and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE 1929 INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC & THE SONG "MEMPHIS FLU"
Paraphrased from http://www.earlygospel.com/eg-singers-c.htm
This Gospel recording was performed by Elder Curry (guitar),
Elder Charles Beck (piano), and Jo Ann Williams & congregation (vocals). Recorded in December 16 & 18th 1930, the lyrics describe the influenza epidemic that spread through Memphis Tennesee in the years following the first World War & killed some 700,000 Americans.
"Memphis Flu" is sometimes considered to be the first Rock & Roll record ever recorded."
-snip-
According to that earlygospel article, both Elder Curry and Elder Beck were members of the Church Of God In Christ, a Christian denomination whose name is often informally given now COGIC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_(Christianity)#Churches_of_Christ indicates that "In the Church of God in Christ, an elder is an ordained clergy person. This person may serve as a pastor or assistant pastor. Also, if the pastor or bishop finds them worthy, after a few years of being their assistant, the pastor (or bishop) will allow them to be the pastor of their own church and leader of their own congregation."
-snip-
Here's a comment about the 1929 Influenza epidemic that was posted by Bob the Postman, May 14, 2007 in http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=101524 "Lyr Req: Memphis Flu (Elder Curry):
..."the flu season of 1929 was the worst since 1919. The 1929 epidemic killed one out of every 200 cases; the 1919 epidemic killed 3 out of every 200 cases. Death rates were much higher in some districts, particularly the southern part of the Mississippi/Missouri watershed where Memphis is located."
-snip-
That same Mudcat post also has very similar lyrics to those found below of the original recording by Elder Curry. Those 1939 lyrics were sung by Ace Johnson, Clemens state farm, Brazoria, Texas, April 16, 1939. ["state farm" - state prison]
[The lyrics below are from sub-titles in the sound file which was originally featured in this post but is no longer available.]
Nineteen Hundred and twenty nine
men and woman are sure are dying
From a drug many doctors called the flu.
People died everywhere in Memphis
creeping through the air
What’s become of the big USA
It is God's mighty hand
He is judging this old land
North and South
East and West can be seen.
Yes, He killed the rich and He killed the poor
And He is going to kill more!
If you won’t turn away from your shame!
On the land and on the sea
Doctors said soon would be,
A few days Influenza will be controlled
But God showed He was head
When he sent the doctors to bed
And the nurses broke down with the same.
It is God's mighty hand
He is judging this old land
North and South
East and West can be seen.
Yes, He killed the rich and He killed the poor
And He is going to kill more!
If you won’t turn away from your shame!
Influenza is a disease
Making weak in your knees
Terrible fever everybody
do do dread!
Putting a pain in your bones
A few days you are gone
To a place in the ground called the grave
It is God's mighty hand
He is judging this old land
North and South
East and West can be seen.
Yes, He killed the rich and He killed the poor
And He is going to kill more!
If you won’t turn away from your shame!
****
Thanks to Elder Curry, Elder Charles Beck, and Jo Ann Williams for their musical legacy. Thanks also to those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
