‘Boogie Woogie Stomp’ bumped as America’s Gift’s earliest rock ‘n’ roll record. Below is a page from my blues history book, America’s Gift, showing the rocking blues I consider the six earliest prototype rock ‘n’ roll records. (The book features 20 in all.) I’d decided against putting Clarence ‘Pinetop’ Smith’s 1929 hit, ‘Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie’…
And why we prefer blues to pop music. Because the title of this blog is Paul Merry Blues, it’s easy to assume blues is the only music I’m interested in. Nothing could be further from the truth. People have referred to me as Mr Bluesman, something I’m definitely not, though I did buy my first…
W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton clash on paper as Joe Louis puts Nazis’ champ on canvas. The following is an excerpt from America’s Gift, my book featuring over 200 years of blues history. In March 1938, the famous African-American composer, publisher and blues pioneer, W. C. Handy, was introduced on Robert Ripley’s national U.S….
REMEMBERING LESTER MELROSE: 1891 – 1968. THE FIRST FATHER OF CHICAGO BLUES. Move over Sam Phillips. Not only is Chicago’s Lester Melrose a serious contender for the title ‘Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ but he’s the only one I’ve heard of who links the birth of blues in the 19th century with the true birth of rock &…
