I Smell A Rat – Early Black Rock’n Roll # 2 / 1949-1959

Long before Elvis rolled his pelvis, the Rolling Stones coopted the Mississippi-Blues and legions of white bands made their electrified guitars roar, black Blues-, Gospel- and Jazz-artists had laid the cornerstone for the musical revolution, that would profoundly shatter the western world: Rock’n Roll. Much less known than their white imitators, nonetheless they produced the grittier originals: As performers, who combined the archaic drive of the Blues with Country-melodies and the feverish beat of black Gospel services, and pepped up African-sounding rhythms with electric amplification in order to please their audience and its steady hunger for new thrills and sound effects. – Jonathan Freeze