The Roots of Rock ‘n’ Rolls: 1946-1954

Before rock & rolls, the music world was dominated by R&B, blues, country, jazz, and pop music. It was not until the late 1940s that heavy and fast-rhythm songs began to emerge in each gene, and they later became the base of what soon turned to be rock ‘n’ rolls in the mid 1950s.

This 3-CD box set from Hip-O is probably the best summary of heavy music in pre-rock & rolls years available on the market. The majority of key tracks from various genes are here in the condensed 60-song album. Several classic blues are presented such as Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right”, Roy Brown’s “Boogie at Midnight”, and Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88”, along with jazz tracks such as Lionel Hampton’s “Hey!, Ba-Ba-Ra-Bop” and Jimmy Forrest’s “Night Train”. There are country favorites including Delmore Brothers’ “Fright Train Boogie”, Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over”, Hank Snow’s “I’m Moving On”, and vocal pop like Johnnie Ray’s “Cry”. There are many heavy R&B such as Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”, Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”, and Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me Annie”, together with some doo wop essentials like the Clovers’ “One Mint Julep”, the Orioles’ “Crying in the Chapel”, and the Chords’ “Sh-Boom”.

This box will give you the near perfect overview of rock ‘n’ rolls development in the smallest size possible. It is the essential buy for any music lovers who want to learn about the root of rock ‘n’ rolls.