About Louisiana Rocks!

The first comprehensive study of Louisiana popular music, from R&B to rockabilly, from blues to Cajun/zydeco, Louisiana Rocks is the culmination of years of research. Inspired by a suggestion from the late John Fred, Tom Aswell explores the very roots of rock. His findings: despite claims to the contrary, rock & roll was born in New Orleans a full four years before Ike Turner’s 1951 recording of Rocket 88.

A Little History...

It was 1947 when Roy Brown, still stinging from the rejection of his song by Wynonie Harris, entered Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio to record his own version of Good Rockin’ Tonight, a song Elvis Presley would cover in 1954. As soon as it became evident that Brown’s song was a hit, Harris had a sudden change of heart and rushed into the studio to record it himself and it was his version that was selected by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as One of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock & Roll.

Then, in 1949, two years before Rocket 88, two more songs were recorded by Louisiana artists that signaled a revolution in popular music was on the horizon. In the same J&M studio in New Orleans, Fats Domino recorded The Fat Man. That same year, Hank Williams, a member of the Louisiana Hayride who resided at the time in Bossier City, recorded Lovesick Blues. While not rock & roll, Lovesick Blues was a radical break from the traditional country music of the day and it cracked open the door to a genre called rockabilly that the likes of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent would soon kick down, much to the delight of bored teenagers and to the chagrin of perplexed parents and concerned clergy.

With the merger of blues and country, the floodgates were thrown open and the country was suddenly made aware of artists like Smiley Lewis, Irma Thomas, Benny Spellman, Ernie K-Doe, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Clanton, Dale & Grace, Johnny Rivers, Guitar Slim, Slim Harpo, Joe Tex, Joe Simon, Rod Bernard, Professor Longhair, Johnny Allan, T.K. Hulin, Tommy McLain, the Dixie Cups, Deacon John, Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Johnny Horton, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Buffett, LeRoux, Tab Benoit, Tabby Thomas, Chris Thomas King, Barbara Lynn, Van Broussard, the Fabulous Boogie Kings, Edgar and Johnny Winter, Huey Meaux, Dale Hawkins, Johnny Adams, and the inspiration for this book, John Fred.

The songwriter who wrote Hit the Road Jack for Ray Charles is from Louisiana as is the composer of both Abraham, Martin & John and Snoopy & the Red Baron. Larry Henley, who wrote Wind Beneath My Wings, previously worked in the oil fields of New Iberia and was a member of the Newbeats. The other two members of the Newbeats were from Bossier City. Merle Kilgore of Shreveport co-wrote with June Carter the Johnny Cash mega-hit Ring of Fire. King also wrote Wolverton Mountain, a huge hit for Shreveport’s Claude King.

Then there are the sidemen, or session artists, musicians who labored in obscurity but whose contributions to Louisiana music are priceless. Four guitar players (Duke Bardwell, Gerry McGee, Fred Carter, Jr., and James Burton), a pianist (Floyd Cramer), and a drummer (D.J. Fontana) all are from Louisiana and each either recorded with or toured with Elvis. Earl Palmer is one of the most recorded drummers in the history of popular music, playing on recordings of artists too numerous to mention. Jon Smith of the Fabulous Boogie Kings played sax on almost all of the Doobie Brothers’ recordings. Floyd Cramer had a gigantic hit of Last Date which made it all the way to number 2 on the Billboard charts. The song that kept out of the number 1 position was It’s Now or Never, a song by Elvis on which Cramer also played piano.