Galveston:Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll
the imagician
Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll
By Grayhaire
Roy Brown wrote, arranged, performed "Good Rockin' Tonight," arguably
the first true Rock 'n' Roll song, on The Island in 1947. Good Rockin'
Tonight was the second Elvis Presley song for Sun Records in 1954, and
has since been covered by Pat Boone, James Brown, and Kevin DuBrow.
"Rockin' at Midnight," Brown's sequel to "Good Rockin' Tonight," was a
top 30s hit in the 1980s by Robert Plant and the Honeydrippers. In the
book, "Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started" by Izola Ethel
Fedford Collins, some old time local jazz musicians claim that Bill
Haley stole "Rock Around The Clock" from Brown.
"Good Rockin' Tonight" was performed at the KGBC studio in the
Commerce Building, 2102 Strand.
In "Unsung Heroes Of Rock 'n' Roll," Nick Tosches writes: From
Shreveport he went to Galveston, Texas, where he wrote the song that
made him famous. "I think we had the first black group on radio in
that area," he say... But I wrote a tune called 'Good Rockin' Tonight.'
We added a trumpet player to the group. His name was Wilbert Brown,
and when we did our radio show on KGBC he sang 'Good Rockin'
Tonight.'" One fateful day, Wilbert fell sick and Roy sang the song.
The audience loved the way Roy sang it, and it became a local hit.
While in Galveston, he made his first record, for Gold Star.
Brown fled Galveston after he was caught fucking the girlfriend of the
club owner he was working for. In New Orleans he ran into Cecil Gant,
a fellow unsung-hero-to-be. Gant heard Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight"
and brought him to Jules Braun, who owned DeLuxe Records. Brown's
first DeLuxe release, "Good Rockin' Tonight," was issued in September
1947.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Brown offered the song
to Wynonie Harris, who turned it down, but changed his mind after
Brown's record became a local hit in New Orleans. Harris recorded his
version of "Good Rockin' Tonight"in December that year, and released
it in February 1948. Harris's version was much wilder, and was a #1
R&B hit that remained on the chart for half a year, while Brown's
original version charted for just one week in 1948, and only after
Harris' recording was a hit.
The song's success jump-started Brown's career, which included two #1
R&B hits. In 1949, he released Rockin' at Midnight, a sequel to Good
Rocking Tonight, which might be thought of as "Good Rocking Tonight
part II" because it included updates on the same characters as the
original. It reached #2 on the R&B chart, where it remained for a
month.
Harris's version started a craze of using gospel style backbeats in
blues and rhythm and blues records, and that craze led to rock and
roll.
There are a few other contenders for the title "Birthplace of Rock 'n'
Roll," but Galveston Island's claim to fame trumps them all.
Our strongest competitor for the Title is also the least known;
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The University of Southern Missippi study
states that the songs "Barbecue Bust" and "Dangerous Woman," recorded
in Hattiesburg in 1936 by the Mississippi Jook Band, qualify as the
first Rock 'n' Roll tunes. Blind Roosevelt Graves sang vocals and
played guitar and his brother Uaroy Graves played the tambourine and
kazoo. They were joined for the recording session by Cooney Vaughn on
piano.
USM cites the Rolling Stone history, "The Graves brothers of
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who recorded 'rocking and reeling'
spirituals for Paramount in 1929, made several blues records as the
Mississippi Jook Band in 1936. Their 'Barbecue Bust' and 'Dangerous
Woman' featured fully formed rock & roll guitar riffs and a stomping
rock & roll beat."
Although the tunes contained some Rock 'n' Roll features, they were
still Rhythm & Blues songs with no direct historical links to Rock 'n'
Roll. The other would-be contenders, compared to Galveston, are Johnny-
come-latelys. The Island's claim to the title predates all other
competitors
The next least known contender is Wildwood, New Jersey.
According to Gary Corsair, a senior writer with the Daily Sun,
"Wildwood city fathers are so certain of their place in rock 'n' roll
history that they have erected a historical marker on the site of the
HofBrau Hotel, at Oak and Atlantic avenues, where Haley performed each
summer from 1950 to '55, and where he (Bill Haley) and the Comets
allegedly first performed 'Rock Around the Clock.'"
Of course, Haley was a white guy introducing black sounds to middle
class white kids. Besides, "Good Rockin' Tonight" predates "Rock
Around the Clock" by several years.
The best known contender for the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll title is
the home of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio. It was in
that city that local record store owner Leo Mintz recommended that
Alan Freed play rhythm and blues tunes at WJW radio in the summer of
1951. Freed, who called himself Moondog, is credited with coining the
term "Rock 'n' Roll." Cleveland is undoubtedly the home of the first
Rock 'n' Roll concert; the Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland
Arena March 21, 1952. Alan Freed, host of the Moondog's Rock 'n' Roll
Party on WJW, was the concert's promoter.
Now, we get to the most pretentious pretender to the throne, Memphis,
Tennessee. I'm not saying that Memphis and Sun Studios weren't the
most important places in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. No one in their
right mind would do that. There is no doubt that Memphis is the place
from which Rock 'n' Roll burst forth onto an unsuspecting world.
Elvis, recorded "That's All Right Mama" at Sun Studio on July 5, 1954.
Rolling Stone magazine makes the dubious claim that "That's All Right
Mama" was the first rock 'n' roll record. We have already pointed out
that "Good Rockin' Tonight" deserves that title. As earlier stated, it
was Elvis' second Sun release.
Elvis probably performed "Good Rockin' Tonight," when he appeared at
the Galveston City Coliseum January 19, 1956. Former Galveston cop,
Oscae Eklund told me that, prior to his act, Elvis was caught in the
back seat of his Cadillac convertible with a 14-year-old girl. Oscar
suspected that the police commissioner Walter Johnston got paid off,
because Elvis was allowed to perform, then given a police escort over
the causeway, and told never to set foot on The Island again.
Are there any Roy Brown historical markers or monuments? Do any
streets or buildings bear Brown's name? Is anyone beside yours truly
proclaiming that The Island is the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll and
that radio station KGBC was the first white station to air the first
Rock 'n' Roll song? Does anybody even know his name? I never heard of
him before I accidentally discovered him while researching something
else on the internet.
What in hell is wrong with the people who are paid good money to
promote The Island? We need to celebrate, promote, encourage and
support our local musicians, actors, dancers, artists and writers.
Roy Brown and The Island's Rock 'n' Roll legacy has been ignored. Mrs.
Collins, in her book at least preserves some of the history of jazz in
Galveston. The Galveston Island Jazz Ambassadors keep that legacy
alive, and receive a pittance from the city fathers and mothers to
help them do so.
Of course, Rock 'n' Roll is alive and well on Galveston Island, with
the energetic live music scene at our bars and nightclubs. We need to
keep this talent on Galveston Island.
The lyrics:
GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT
(Roy Brown)
I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight
Gonna hold my baby as tight as I can
Tonight she'll know I'm a mighty man
I heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight
Oh, lead me in the alley behind the barn
Don't be afraid, I'll do you no harm
Baby, bring my rockin' shoes
'Cause tonight I'm gonna rock away all my blues
Have you heard the news, there's good rockin' tonight
Well, Elder Brown, Deacon Jones,
They've left their happy home
They'll be there, just you wait and see
A-jumpin' and a-stompin' at the jubilee
Hey man, there's good rockin' tonight
Sweet Lorraine, Sioux City Sue,
Sweet Georgia Brown, Caledonia, too
They'll be there jumpin' like mad
Hey, sister, ain't you glad
We got the news there's good rockin' tonight
the imagician
Pappas, George
I have a little willie littlefield album of him doing good rockin tonight with roy listed as the writer. Little willie was from el campo and played galveston back in 50's moved to california in the 60's than holland as a lot of blues artist did. George
----- Original Message -----
From: Galveston-...@googlegroups.com <Galveston-...@googlegroups.com>
To: Galveston-...@googlegroups.com <Galveston-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed May 30 09:48:03 2007
Subject: RE: Galveston:Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll
Questions:
Did you find a picture of Roy Brown?
Do you think that his lack of recognition is a racial thing; or just
misplaced history?
If the City is willing to consider putting some money into promoting this;
what sort of documentation did you find to convince them?
the imagician
On May 31, 7:01 am, "Pappas, George" <George.Pap...@TXPetrochem.com>
wrote: