Jump Blues

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(Piano, vocals, 1927–80) Milburn was a Houston pianist whose rollicking piano-playing and versatile singing was a major influence on Fats Domino and others. Milburn’s first hit was the 1948 party classic ‘Chicken Shack Boogie’. Milburn could croon a soulful ballad, but made a bigger impact with horn-driven material such as ‘Roomin’ House Boogie’ and ‘Sax Shack Boogie’, along with several songs about liquor like ‘Thinking And Drinking’ and the much-covered ‘One ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, 1911–85) Big Joe Turner’s tenure as ‘Boss of the Blues’ is dominated by one song, ‘Shake, Rattle And Roll’, which became an early rock’n’roll anthem as recorded by white artists Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. But Turner’s long career and legacy of R&B hits includes boogies like ‘Roll ‘Em Pete’, the seminal blues of ‘Cherry Red’, and rollicking ribald romps like ‘My Gal’s A Jockey’ and ‘Battle Of The Blues’ ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
91 Words Read More

(Bandleader, saxophonist, 1908–75) During the big-band era saxophonist Jordan was burning up the R&B charts with his small group, The Tympany Five. Jordan’s music combined jazz and blues with salty, jive-talking humour. People called the sound ‘jump blues’ or ‘jumpin’ jive’, and from 1942 to 1951, Jordan scored 57 R&B chart hits. Jordan’s best-loved songs include ‘Choo Choo Ch’Boogie’, ‘Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens’ and ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’. Bill ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
111 Words Read More

(Guitar, vocals, 1910–75) Dallas-bred Aaron Walker was soloing on electric guitar as early as 1940, setting a trend that would eventually be the most commonplace image in rock music. B.B. King marvelled at Walker’s ability to play while holding the guitar away from his body. Walker left Texas in the 1930s and alternated between sessions and performances in Los Angeles, Chicago and, later, Europe, as he advanced the instrumental appeal of ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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Infectiously swinging, full of good humour and hugely popular for its time, the jump blues movement of the pre-and-post-Second World War years was a precursor to the birth of both R&B and rock’n’roll. Kansas City was an incubator for jump blues in the late 1930s, via the infectious, rolling rhythms of Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the Bennie Moten and Count Basie bands. But in the years following America’s involvement in ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer
1001 Words Read More
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