Blue Monday

Also considered a pioneer of rock and roll music, Fats Domino, a native of New Orleans, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, as well. He played a huge role in the transition from R&B to rock and roll. In fact, Fats Domino sold more records than any rock artist from the ‘50s except Elvis Presley. He scored more hit records than Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly combined, and he made it on the Billboard charts over 100 times. He started playing in the New Orleans music scene in the mid-40s, and was signed by Dave Bartholomew in 1949 to Imperial Records.

[Source:  YouTube]

"Blue Monday" was not originally by Fats Domino.  The song was written by Bartholomew and was recorded in 1954 by Smiley Lewis, a New Orleans native like Domino.  Later versions of the song have credited both Bartholomew and Domino as co-writers, even though Fats had no part in the writing of the song.

Rock Around the Clock

Rock and Roll was a major turning point in the music industry. New artists like Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent helped pave the road to the biggest genre of music ever known to this point. The genre was created with influences of blues and country, along with technological advances such as the electric guitar, amplifier, microphone, and the 45 rpm record. This was also around the time the transistor radio was invented, and car radios became more popular, as well. This meant listening to music anywhere became a lot easier and more practical. It was also the first time teenagers could have music of their own, so rock and roll immediately became the coolest genre, thanks to the younger generation.

The year was 1955 when rock and roll really took off. “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets is said to be the starting point of rock and roll.

[Source:  YouTube]

With this post, the next few days will be all about the first pioneers of rock and roll, so all of the artists will be from 1955-1958.  Bill Haley & His Comets weren't really considered to be pioneers of rock music.  The hit song (which went on to be the theme song of the television show Happy Days) was more of a starting point for the new genre about to take over America.