Like my 11-year-old son, some of you are probably too young to have any even remotely direct experience with rock ‘n roll from the 1950s, but that doesn’t mean you can’t shed some light on this topic. Over the weekend we were playing an 18-song Buddy Holly Greatest Hits album in the car. My boys have liked this CD the couple of times they’ve heard it in the past, and it’s good summertime music, not to mention simply great music (perhaps by whatever standards we might define great).
Our oldest boy was amazed at how many of Holly’s songs he knew from movies, commercials, and the like. “I can’t believe how many great songs he made,” he kept saying, “almost every song was a huge hit!”
He wanted to know more about Holly, eventually arriving at this core question: “I don’t get it, why is Elvis more famous than him? I don’t see what’s so great about Elvis.”
It was a tough question to handle on the spot like that. Elvis is King, right? I love Elvis, but not including the pathos of Fat Elvis, which was too much to explain to an 11 year old, Buddy Holly may have produced a stronger run of songs during the ’50s. “Elvis’ early singles are really exciting,” I told him, “plus he was more handsome and drove the kids wild.”
I handed him the Holly CD and had him look at the photos of Buddy and the Crickets. “Whoa,” he chuckled, “now I see where Elvis Costello got his Look!” (My wife quickly added, “You know, he was kind of handsome!”)
This all got me thinking, Who are Rock Town Hall’s Top 5 Rock ‘n Roll Artists from the ’50s? I ask us to discipline ourselves and refrain from throwing acknowledged blues artists (eg, Muddy Waters) and other ‘tweeners (eg, Louis Prima – I’m looking your way, HVB!) into the mix. Rock ‘n roll. This could include, as the genre is usually defined, vocal groups, such as The Platters. But no Muddy Waters, no Hank Williams, no Louis Prima, no jazz. Got it?
