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<<
Determining the first actual rock & roll record is a truly impossible task. 
But you can't go too far wrong citing Jackie Brenston's 1951 Chess waxing of 
"Rocket 88," a seminal piece of rock's fascinating history with all the 
prerequisite elements firmly in place: practically indecipherable lyrics 
about cars, booze, and chicks; Raymond Hill's booting tenor sax, and a 
churning, beat-heavy rhythmic bottom. 
Sam Phillips, then a fledgling in the record business, produced "Rocket 88," 
Brenston's debut waxing, in Memphis. The singer/saxist was backed by Ike 
Turner's Kings of Rhythm, an aggregation that Brenston had joined the 
previous year. Turner played piano on the tune; Willie Kizart supplied dirty, 
distorted guitar. Billed as by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats, "Rocket 88" 
drove up to the top slot on the R&B charts and remained there for more than a 
month. But none of his Chess follow-ups sported the same high-octane 
performance, though "Real Gone Rocket" was certainly a deserving candidate.
 <<

Supposedly on the way to the studio to record Rocket 88, Kizart's amp fell 
off the top of Turner's car
and the speaker cone was punctured as a result. Apocryphal story maybe, but 
the records for real.
Rob