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Period: to
Mike's the Genesis of Rock 'n' Roll Timeline
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W. C. Handy born
Born William Christopher Handy in Florence, Alabama. Handy bought a guitar with telling his parents. He saved money by picking nuts & berries and by making lye soap. When his father found out he ordered Handy to “Take it back where it came from.” His father had him take organ lessons. He did not play the organ long, he started playing a cornet. He joined a local band, he also didn't tell his parents about this. He bought a cornet from one of the band members. He practiced as much as he could. -
Ma Rainey born
Born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia.She began performing as a young teenager between the ages of 12 and 14.She married Will Rainey in 1904 and recorded under the name Ma Rainey. She is known as the "Mother of the Blues". -
Jelly Roll Morton born
Born Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1902 Morton claimed outright to have invented jazz. At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel then, called a sporting house. He was living with his religious, church-going great-grandmother; he had her convinced that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory. After Morton's grandmother found out that he was playing jazz in a local brothel, she kicked him out of her house. -
Charley Patton born
Most sources say Patton was born in 1891, but there is some debate about this, and the years 1887 and 1894 have also been suggested.Charley was born near Bolton, Mississippi he is considered by many to be the Father of the Delta Blues. He learned to play guitar from Henry Sloam at Dockery Farms. Patton was a mix of white, black, and Cherokee one of his grandmothers was a full-blooded Cherokee. -
Bessie Smith born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Bessie Smith, “Empress of the Blues” started her singing career on street corners with her brother, singing to get change to help support their family. In 1912 she was given a job as a dancer with the Moses Stokes Theatre Company. There she met Ma Rainey. She didn't teach Bessie to sing, but she did teach her stage presence and how to take advantage of the part of her vocal range best suited to the pre-microphone era. -
Lucille Bogan born
Lucille Anderson was born in Amory, Mississippi. She preformed in juke joints in the 1920s, she wrote most of of the songs, many had humorous sexual references with prostitution featured in several of her recordings. In 1923 she recorded Pawn Shop Blues in Atlanta, making her the first black blues singer to record outside New York or Chicago. By 1930 her songs concentrated on sex & drinking. In 1933 she began recording as Bessie Jackson. She recorded over 100 songs between 1933 – 1935. -
Jimmie Rodgers born
Born James Charles Rodgers in Meridian, Mississippi.His father found Rodgers his first job working on the railroad as a water boy. Here he was further taught to pick and strum by rail workers and hobos. As a water boy, he would have been exposed to the work chants of the black railroad workers. A few years later, he became a brakeman on the New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad. -
Scott Joplin registers copyright for Maple Leaf Rag
Scott Joplin was the musician to sell 1 million copies of a piece of instrumental music, with Maple Leaf Rag. -
Louis Armstrong born
He preferred his name pronounced Louie. He also played the cornet. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and singing voice almost as much as his trumpet playing. Louie was one of the first popular black entertainers to cross over, whose skin color was secondary to his music. He dropped out of school at age 11, he was taught to play cornet by ear, by age 20 he could read music and he was starting to be featured in extended trumpet solos on riverboats were he played. -
W. C. Handy makes a life changing choice
Handy turned dowm a higher payimg job leading a municipal orchestra, in Michigan to became the director of a black band organized by the Knights of Pythias, in Clarksville, for less pay. During this time, At the Tutwiler train station he heard a man play the blues on a slide guitar. A historical marker identifies the spot - only the foundation remains. -
Period: to
1910s – 1920s Era of Folk and Country Blues
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Robert Johnson born
Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, illegitimately to Julia Major Dodds. She was married to Charles Dodds with whom she had ten children. Robert's father was Noah Johnson. Robert learned to play the harmonica & jaw harp while still in school. In February 1929 he married sixteen-year-old Virginia Travis, shortly after she died in childbirth. -
Robert Johnson born Part 2
Relatives of Virginia believed that this was a divine punishment for Robert's decision to sing secular songs, known as selling your soul to the Devil. It is thought Johnson himself accepted the phrase as a description of his resolve to abandon the settled life of a husband and farmer to become a full-time blues musician. Around this time, the noted blues musician Son House remembered Johnson as a little boy who was a competent harmonica player but an embarrassingly bad guitarist. -
W. C. Handy publishes Memphis Blues
Written in 1909, usually subtitled Boss Crump it is a distinct song from Handy's campaign satire. Which was based on the song Mamma Don't Allow It. Memphis Blues was the 1st published song that had the so-called blue notes. -
Muddy Waters born
Born McKinley Morganfield in Jug's Corner, Mississippi, his mother died shortly following his birth & he was rased by his grandmother Della Grant. She gave him the nickname "Muddy" at an early age because he loved to play in the muddy water of nearby Deer Creek. He changed it to Muddy Water & then to Muddy Waters. -
Professor Longhair born
Born Henry Roeland Roy Byrd in Bogalusa, Louisiana. His distinctive style was the result of learning to play piano on an instrument that was missing some keys. He began his career in New Orleans in 1948. Mike Tessitore gave Longhair his stage name. He first recorded in a band called the Shuffling Hungarians in 1949, creating four songs including the first version of his signature song, Mardi Gras in New Orleans. He had only one national commercial hit, Bald Head in 1950. -
WSB Atlanta, Ga. Began broadcasting country music
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Trixie Smith releases My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)
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Ma Rainey releases Lost Wondering Blues
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Hank Williams Sr. born
He was born Hiram King Williams to parents Alonzo and Jessie Lillybelle. They lived in rural Barbour County, Alabama called Mount Olive. Hank was introduced to music by his mother, he often sang at the Baptist Church while she played the organ. His father worked for lumber company and was transferred frequently. His father was admitted to a veterans hospital. Hank's mother worked to provide for the family. They stayed with his aunt and uncle for awhile, his aunt taught him to play the guitar. -
Jimmie Rodgers leaves railroad
Known as the singing breakeman in 1924 Jimmie left his railroad job due to illness, he then started a traveling road show performing the southeast. When his tent was destroyed he returned home. He got a job in Miami working as a breakeman. He moved to Tucson to work as a switchman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He moved back to Meridian. 8/4/27 Jimmie had his 1st recording session, two songs & he was paid $100. In November he went to Camden, New Jersey to 4 more songs, Blue Yodel was one. -
Bessie Smith released St. Louis Blues
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Ma Rainey releases See See Rider Blues
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1925 The 78rpm record becomes standard speed for records
There is only 3 minuites to a side. -
IH produces new Farmall tractor
In 1926 the International Harvester Company began to produce the new Farmall tractor. By 1930, the 100,000th Farmall had been produced. The Farmall does work of many farm hands, more people move north in search of work. -
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band record Dippermouth Blues
Louis Armstrong plays second cornet on the recording. -
Jelly Roll Morton recorded Black Bottom Stomp
Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers, It was originally entitled Queen of Spades. The music was published in 1925. -
Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded Match Box Blues
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame listed it one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. Jefferson was among the inaugural class of blues musicians inducted into the Blues Hallof Fame in 1980.
The song has been covered by many artists -
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Mississippi River flood of 1927 flooding of the lower Mississippi River valley in April 1927, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the US. More than 23,000 square miles of land was submerged, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and around 250 people died.
After several months of heavy rain the Mississippi River swelled to unprecedented levels, the first levee broke on April 16, along the Illinois shore. On April 21, the levee at Mounds Landing in Mississippi broke. -
Bessie Smith released Empty Bed Blues
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Louis Armstrong releases St. James Infirmary
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Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas) is released
The song was recorded on November 30, 1927 in the Trinity Baptist Church at Camden, New Jersey. When the song was released February 3, 1928 it became “a national phenomenon and generated an excitement and record-buying frenzy that no-one could have predicted”.The Blue Yodel songs are 13 songs recorded and written by Rodgers released between 2/3/28, Blue Yodel No. 1, as it became known, and the Last Blue Yodel (No. 13) was released on December 20, 1933, after he had died. -
Blue Yodel No. 1 Part 2
The Blue Yodel songs lyrics often had a risqué quality with “a macho, slightly dangerous undertone”.They were based on the 12-bar blues format featuring Jimmie's yodel. Rodgers developed a unique musical style drawing from black and white traditions, that show in the Blue Yodel songs. He developed a combination of blues, jazz and traditional folk music.
Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standin' On the Corner) has Louis Armstrong on trumpet and Lil Hardin Armstrong, Louis' 2nd wife, on piano. -
Blind Willie McTell recorded Statesboro Blues
Blind Willie McTell was born in Thomson, Ga. though in an interview he called Statesboro my real home. The song has been covered by John Mayall, The Youngbloods, Dave Van Ronk, Chris Smither, David Bromberg, Brooks Williams, Alice Stuart, Deep Purple, Pat Travers, The Devil Makes Three, in 1968 Taj Mahal & the most familiar version by The Allman Brothers Band in 1971. -
Bing Crosby releases Let's Do It (Lets Fall In Love)
Corsby recorded Let's Do It with the Dorsey Brothers. It was written in 1928 by Cole Porter. -
Charley Patton records Pony Blues
B-side: Banty Rooster Blues -
Period: to
The Great Depression
Begining in August of 1929, when the United States economy first went into an economic recession. Although the country spent two months with declining GDP, it was not until the Wall St. Crash that the effects of a declining economy were felt,Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%. -
Wall Street Crash of 1929
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Period: to
1930s – 1940s Era of Classic Blues
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Crossroads Legend
Robert was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation he was met by a large black man who took the guitar and tuned it. The Devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. When Johnson next appeared Son House noted, he had seemed to have acquired a miraculous guitar technique. 1933? -
Jimmie Rodgers died
Jimmie, known as The Father of Country Music, having problems with tuberculosis starting in '24. Now was getting the better of him. His next to last studio session was in '32. He had stopped touring and had a weekly radio show. On 5/17/33 he went to NYC for a group of recording sessions. He recorded 4 songs alone. The next day he had to record sitting down. The last song he performed alone. His last session he needed to rest on a cot between songs. He died from a pulmonary hemorrhage, he was 35 -
Charley Patton died
He died on the Heathman-Dedham plantation near Indianola and is buried in Holly Ridge at the New Jerusalem M.B. Church . Patton's death certificate states that he died of a miteal valve disorder. A memorial headstone was erected on Patton's grave, the location was identified by the caretaker who claimed to have been present at the burial, paid for by John Fogerty through the Mount Zion Memorial Fund in July, 1990. -
Fred Astaire releases Cheek to Cheek
The song was written by Irving Berlin in 1935 for the movie Top Hat. -
Elvis Presley born in Tupelo, Mississippi
Elvis was born in a two-room shotgun house built by Elvis' grandfather in preparation for the birth of the baby. His identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was delivered stillborn 35 minutes before him. -
Lucille Bogan records Shave 'em Dry
In New York Bogan recorded 2 versions of Save 'Em Dry. A clean verson & an uncensored verson, a record of how she performed the song in after hours adult clubs. -
Buddy Holly born
Born Charles Hardin Holley on 9/7/36 in Lubbock, Texas. He was always called Buddy by his family. He was the youngest of three brothers, Larry & Travis. They taught him to play a variety of instruments. In 1952, he met Bob Montgomery in Jr. High School. They joined up & started playing at school aassemblies and on local radio shows. Bob sang lead and Holly harmonized. 10/14/55 Bill Haley & His Comets did a concert which featured them. Eddie Crandall was interested in Holly as a solo artist. -
Robert Johnson's San Antonio Recording Sessions
San Antonio Sessions
Monday November 23
Kind Hearted Woman, Dust My Broom, Sweet Home Chicago, Rambling On My Mind, When You Got a Good Friend, Come On In My Kitchen, Terraplane Blues, Photograph Blues
Thursday November 26
32-20 Blues
Friday November 27
They're Red Hot, Dead Shrimp Blues, Crossroad Blues, Walking Blues, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Preaching Blues, If I Had Posessing Over Judgement Day -
Robert Johnson's Dallas Recording Sessions
Dallas Sessions
Saturday June 19
Stones In My Passway, I'm a Steady Rollin' Man, From Four Till Late
Sunday June 20
Hellhound On My Trail, Little Queen of Spades, Malted Milk, Drunken Hearted Man, Me and the Devil Blues, Stop Breakin' Down Blues, Traveling Riverside Blues, Honeymoon Blues, Love In Vain, Milkcow's Calf Blues -
Bessie Smith died
Another rumor about Bessie's death is that she was taken to an all white hospital but was refused admittance. She died while the ambulance searched for a colored hospital. The truth is on highway 61 in Darling, Mississippi, traveling between concerts in Memphis and Clarksdale, her car rear-ended a slow moving truck on the dark road. Her arm was nearly severed, Bessie was in shock because of blood loss. -
Bessie Smith died Part 2
Her companion, Richard Morgan, got an ambulance while a passing doctor stopped to help her. Bessie was taken, by the ambulance, to Clarksdale's Afro-Hospital were she died. In 1970 Janis Joplin helped secure a head stone for Bessie, her grave in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, had been unmarked. -
Sweet Violet Boys release Sweet Violets
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Robert Johnson died
Robert was having an affair with the wife of the owner of Three Forks, where he was performing. He was given two bottles of poison whiskey, after the first had been spilled. He became violently ill. He died on August 16, 1938. It is uncertan where he is buried, there are markers at three different cemeteries. -
Period: to
World War II
World War II is thought to have ended The Great Depression. From1939 – 1945, with the US entering in 1941. A lot can be said about the War, but it pulled the US out of the depression by giving people jobs who otherwise would not have had one. -
Ma Rainey died
The Great Depression ended her singing career, because her listeners could not afford to buy her records. In 1935 she returned to her hometown, Columbus, Georgia. There she ran two theaters, "The Lyric" and "The Airdrome" until she died of a heart attack at 53 in Rome, Georgia. -
Big Bill Broonzy releases Key To The Highway
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Les Paul's The Log
In 1941 Paul constructed a guitar he called the Log working Sunday’s at the Epiphone factory in NY, made from a solid four-by-four piece of wood. Paul is often recognized as the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar. The claim is difficult to evaluate, for guitars were evolving rapidly at the time, and other inventors were pursuing similar paths; the Rickenbacker company had manufactured a solid electric lap steel guitar as early as 1934. -
Les Paul's The Log Part 2
Les took the guitar out to a club where he usually jammed with a trio and nobody paid much attention. He soon glued two wings from another Epiphone guitar to make it look more guitar-like, went back to the club and everybody started talking about the sound and asking questions about the guitar. That’s when Les came to the conclusion that people hear with their eyes. It was undoubtedly a major step in the development of the modern electric guitar. Paul's Log was far ahead of its time. -
Hank Williams Sr. releases Move It On Over
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Hank Williams Sr. releases Honky Tonkin'
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Hank Williams Sr. releases Hey Good Lookin'
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Les Paul releases Lover (When You're Near Me)
Lover (When You're Near Me) features Les playing eight diferent guitar parts, all playing at the same time. -
Columbia starts pressing 331/3 rpm LPs
The Library of Congress has the Columbia Records Paperwork Archive which shows the Label order for ML 4001 being written on March 1, 1948. Columbia was pressing the first LPs for distribution to their dealers for at least 3 months prior to the introduction of the LP in June of 1948.
Columbia was pressing the first LPs for distribution to their dealers for at least 3 months prior to the introduction of the LP in June of 1948. -
RCA released the 1st 45 RPM record
Texarkana Baby by Fred Rose and made popular by Eddy Arnold and Bob Wills, the first 7 inch 45 rpm disc, issued by RCA in the US on March 31, 1949.Record classification is simplified because a different color is used on the entire record not just on the label to denote each classification.Popular-Black, Classical-Red, Popular Classical-Midnight blue, Children's-Yellow, Country and Western-Green, Blues and Rhythm-Cerise, International-Sky blue. -
Sun Studios
Built in 1908 at 706 Union Ave. Memphis, in 1949 it was renovated & reopened as a recording studio in January '50. Sam Phillips opened the Memphis Recording Service. In 1952 he opened the independent Sun Records. During an eight year period he discovered & recorded B. B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison & others. -
Leo Fender releases Fender Esquire
Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, tune, and play, and would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In 1949, he finished the prototype of a thin solid-body electric; it was first released in 1950 as the Fender Esquire (with a solid body and one pickup), and renamed first Broadcaster and then Telecaster (with two pickups) the year after. The Telecaster, originally equipped with two single-coil pickups. -
Period: to
1950s Rock & Roll is a threat to conservative values in the USA.
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Period: to
1950s – Era of Electric Blues and Rhythm & Blues
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Alan Freed coined the term rock and roll
In Cleveland, Ohio at WJW Alan Freed coined the term rock and roll. -
The first rock and roll concert
Alan Freed was one of the organizers of a five-act show called The Moondog Coronation Ball on March 21, 1952 at the Cleveland Arena. The promoters sold many more tickets than the arena would hold and the concert was shut down by the authorities after just the first song. -
Patti Page records (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window
Released in January 1953 it sold 2 million copies. -
Hank Williams Sr. died
Hank died in the back of his car, on new years day, between concerts, between Bristol, Virginia and Oak Hill, West Virginia. Dr. Ivan Malinin, who performed the autopsy, found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart".His final single released during his lifetime was titled I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive. -
Professor Longhair releases Tipitina
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Regency TR-1 Announced
The Regency TR-1 was put on sale in November 1954, and was the first practical transistor radio made in any significant numbers. -
Frank Sinatra releases In the Wee Small Hours
Generally In the Wee Small Hours regarded as one of the first concept albums. It was issued as two 10-inch LP discs, and also as one 12 inch LP. It was also issued as four four–song 45-rpm EP discs sold in cardboard sleeves with the same cover as the Lps. -
Elvis Presley releases Mystery Train
In August 1955 Elvis Presley releases Mystery Train/I Forgot To Remember To Forget -
The Crickets Released Not Fade Away
The song was recorded in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957. It was a B-side to Oh, Boy! Credited to Holly under his first and middle names, Charles Hardin. It has been covered by many bands including The Rolling Stones, it was the opening song for most of their Voodoo Lounge Tour. It has also been played live by many artists including Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and The Grateful Dead who performed it 530 times it was their seventh-most performed song. -
Elvis drafted
In the service a few things happened that would change his life. On 8/14/58, his mother died from cirrhosis of the liver, he had an extremely close relationship with her, he would never fully recover from her death. In Germany, he would meet his future wife Priscilla. He was introduced to amphetamines by a sergeant while on maneuvers, he was impressed with their benefits for energy, strength & weight loss. These drugs & the ones they would lead him onto would contribute to his death at 42. -
Chuck Berry records Sweet Little Sixteen
Recorded on December 29 – 30, 1957, released January 1958, went to # 2, his bigest hit in the1950s. -
W. C. Handy died
In 1918 Handy moved to New York where he promoted the blues to mainstream audiences & made the 1st blues performance at Carnegie Hall in 1928. He published music until he went blind in the mid-1940s. He died of pneumonia just months before the movie Father of the Blues, his life story, played in theaters. -
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Louis Armstrong records Hello Dolly
Mack David composer of Sunflower (1948) sued for copyright infringement, because the first 4 bars of Hello Dolly were the same as those in the refrain of Sunflower. Jerry Herman, Hello Dolly composer, paid a settlement out of court, even though he had never heard the song before the lawsuit.
