Rock The Joint - Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians 1949

In the later part of the 1940’s, a significant change began in the Rhythm and Blues market for songs that would give birth to a new underground genre of music that later would be considered a the prelude to “rock and roll“. R&B Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians recording of “Rock The Joint“ in 1949 definitely helped fuel that movement. This mix of blurting saxophone sounds, a blues-based melody with a dynamic beat, and boogie bass, helped to establish the prerequisite. He would later be identified as a key contributor of what would later be labeled rock & roll. Even as early as 1946, Arthur “Big Boy“ Crudup’s “That’s All Right“ is thought to be ground zero because it sounded a decade ahead of it’s time. In 1947, Wild Bill Moore’s “We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll“, and Stick“ McGhee’s “Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee“ are also considered as early contributors as well. Jimmy Preston without a doubt influenced a fledgling country artist named Bill Haley who recorded his own hopped-up “rockabilly“ version of “Rock the Joint“ that attracted the attention of the white listening audience. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began pushing this new style of music style and popularized the phrase “rock and roll“ to describe it. Later, Bill Haley’s recording of “Rock Around The Clock“ became the international milestone in the emergence of rock and roll.