Lord Larehip

Most respondents did not know who Johnny Ace is. Johnny Ace was the first true rock star. You might have thought it was Elvis but Elvis was the second. By the time Elvis was just getting started on Sun Records, Johnny Ace was already dead. His real name was John Alexander and he came from Memphis. He played piano as a boy going to church. In WW2, he served in the Navy. After he got out, he started gigging around in jump blues bands as a pianist. He did, however, have a nice singing voice and cut a couple of sides for Sun in 1950 but these are now lost.

In one band, he met Robert Bland and together they split to join up with B.B. king as members of his Sepiatones house band for the all-black station WDIA in Memphis for a blues program hosted by King. A few months later, King left the band to go to LA and record for Modern Records. Bland took over the Sepiatones as Bobby "Blue" Bland. He ended up getting drafted by '52 so Alexander took over as pianist and singer. He did so well that WDIA signed him to a recording contract for their own label--Peacock. His manager was a Houston entrepreneur named Don Robey who renamed Alexander as Johnny Ace. Between 1952 and 1954, everything Ace put out (much of it co-written by Robey who was a brilliant songwriter who also wrote for Bland and Big Mama Thornton) shot to #1 on the R&B charts.

Ace did slow, mellow love ballads and heavy jump blues bashers with equal pizzazz. He seemed perfectly at home in both styles. His piano playing is top-notch. White kids began to notice Ace and started buying his records. They began calling the radio stations requesting an Ace song to dedicate to some dreamy boyfriend or girlfriend and rock and roll as a cultural phenomenon was born. Ace toured with Big Mama on the chitlin' circuit--a grueling nonstop schedule. On Christmas Day in Houston in 1954, Johnny Ace left the stage after completing his first show. The crowd was in a frenzy. He had a 5 minute break and had to get ready for the next show. Ace's girlfriend sat on his lap as somehow a revolver was produced. Ace pointed it at a couple of people apparently funning around. He then pointed it at his temple, pulled the trigger and blew his brains out. To this day, no one is sure why.

Johnny Ace was a huge influence on people as widely divergent musically as John Lennon and David Alan Coe (who loved Ace so much that, for years, he could not sing Ace's last and posthumous hit "Pledging My Love" without breaking into tears). Lennon's "Happy Xmas (the War is Over)" sounds as though he was tipping his hat to Ace since Ace died on Christmas and the melody is very reminiscent of "Pledging My Love". Paul Simon wrote a song called "The Late Great Johnny Ace." When he played it live once, he used "Pledging My Love" as an intro.

Some wonder why Ace has been forgotten. True, his career was only two years long but so was Buddy Holly's and Holly is a legend. The sad truth is racism. Ace has been forgotten because he was black at a time when it was not as fashionable as it is today. But the true rocknroll fans of that era have never forgotten him. He was the first rocknroll star.


Johnny Ace - Never Let Me Go 1954 Duke 132 78rpm(original song). - YouTube


Johnny Ace - No Money - Great Early 50's Jump Blues / R&B Rocker (78 RPM) - YouTube

PS - WDIA's label was Duke. Robey owned an entertainment empire called Peacock. When he bought Ace's contract, the label was still officially Duke but was called Duke-Peacock. Sorry, my bad.

djchameleon

Isn't Chuck Berry considered the first rockstar?

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Lord Larehip

Berry's first hit, "Maybelline", was in 1955. Ace's was in 1952. One guy I know who was in school in the early 50s said Bill Haley was the first rocknroll he had ever heard but even though "Rock Around the Clock" came out in '54, it wasn't a hit until '55 when it was featured in "Blackboard Jungle." Haley did release some bashers in '53 such as "Crazy, Man, Crazy" and his cover of Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" but these didn't chart well.

Now, Elvis did start recording in 1953 but it wasn't rocknroll. It was Sam Phillips who envisioned Elvis singing black man's blues that caused him to switch over to it but that was in '54, the same year that Ace died. Ace had already had a slew of hits. Kids were already requesting his songs on the radio and making out in their cars to his music. So he was the first true rocknroll star.

CrazyVegn

I love me too!

Plankton

I've heard this before. I think one of my parents owned some of his albums. Now, I have to do some research. Interesting stuff Mr. Larehip.

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Circe

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Do you play an instrument proficiently? Only if "proficiently" means "badly"

Without consulting any sources, answer the following questions:

1. Do you know who Miles Davis is? (Just yes or no) Yes

2. Can you name a Miles Davis number or album? Bitches Brew

3. Do you know who Doc Watson is? No

4. Do you know who Bob Wills is? No

5. Do you know who Duke Ellington is? No

6. Can you name a Duke Ellington song? No

7. Do you know who Johnny Ace is? No

8. Do you know who Howlin’ Wolf is? No

9. Who was the driving force behind the band T. Rex? Marc Bolan

10. Name a T. Rex song: Children of the Revolution

11. Complete the following sentence: John Coltrane played the Saxaphone?

12. Who was the Beatles’ drummer before Ringo Starr? No idea

13. Ringo Starr’s real name is: Richard Starkey

14. The Supremes recorded for what label? Motown

15. Do you know who Big Joe Turner is? The namesake of a boy that went to my secondary school

16. Name a Big Joe Turner song: Uh...

17. Complete the following sentence: Johan Sebastian Bach was a classical composer during the Baroque period.

18. Name an early form of European liturgical music: ...Gospel?

19. Name a Holland-Dozier-Holland song: Nope.avi

20. Richard Strauss composed which piece? A. Blue Danube, B. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, C. Rite of Spring, D. Also Sprach Zarathustra, E. None of the above, F. All of the above F probably

21. Name a Cole Porter song: Not a clue

22. Complete the following sentence: Yo-Yo Ma plays the so fat

23. What is “the Carter lick”? Probably an instrumental technique

24. Antonio Salieri is important because: A. He invented many of the principles of modern music theory, B. He was the teacher of Franz Schubert, C. He murdered Mozart, D. He wrote many pieces for the pipe organ. I'll go with A

25. What was Mozart’s full name? I'm supposed to say Wolfgang Amadeus here but I know it was actually Something Wolfgang and the most well-known name is a misconception so...

26. Beethoven’s teacher was: A. Johan Bach, B. George Frideric Handel, C. Antonio Salieri, D. Josef Haydn, E. None of the above. I'll go with B just cause his name sounds like Georg Hegel

27. Beethoven is credited with starting what period of classical music? Romantic?

28. Name a Scott Joplin piece: Me and Bobby McGee, har har har

29. Most of Joplin’s pieces were written in which decade? A. 1890-1900, B. 1900-1910, C. 1910-1920, D. 1920-1930. C or something, I have no idea

30. Who was “the King of the Mississippi Delta Bluesmen”: A. Charley Patton, B. Blind Willie McTell, C. Lightnin’ Hopkins, D. Mississippi Fred McDowell. I've only heard of B so I'll just go with him

And this is probably a shining example of why I only have a couple of hundred posts and all of them in the modern music sections.

Lisnaholic

Thanks for telling us something about Johnny Ace, Lord Larehip. He certainly had the right name and the right death to join the rock and roll pantheon, but I have to say that this struck me as a bit simplistic:-

I´m no expert, but a quick look at wikipedia suggests that the claim to earliest rock star is pretty muddied:-



Wikipedia is focusing on the material rather than the artist, but I presume that if you´re recording rock and roll songs, then you´re a rock and roll star. Anyway, here´s a song that Wikipedia mentions which seems to pre-date Johnny Ace´s material by a couple of years:-

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

gunnels

1. Name all three members of ZZ Top--One dude without a beard with the last name Beard. Two dudes with man bibs who unfortunately are not named Beard.

2. Do you know who Peter Gabriel is?-- Yes.

3. (If the answer to this is no skip this question) What is his relationship to Paul Simon?-- No idea.

4. What is a dobro?-- I believe it's an instrument similar to a banjo sometimes used in bluegrass or other rootsy music.

5. Where is Beale Street and what style of music is it most closely and famously associated with?-- Beale Street is in Memphis and is most closely associated with the blues I believe.

6. What is a glissando?-- A sliding action up or down on an instrument. I don't know how to eloquently express this in general terms.

7. Name any Iron Maiden guitarist, past or present-- Can't.

8. What nationality is Justin Bieber?-- He's from that Canadia place.

9. What is Madonna's surname? No clue.

10. Who produced most of Tom Waits' albums?-- Tom Waits himself...?

11. Who is nicknamed The Boss?-- Don't know.

12. Name two Russian classical composers-- Scriabin and Rachmaninov.

13. What field of art does Herbert Karajan work in?-- No clue.

14. Which of these producer's names is correct? A. Steve Lillyblue B. Steve Lillywhite c. Steve Lillyblack
No clue.

15. Name three of the Eagles-- Bald, Liberty, and Freedom.

16. Bach famously wrote the _B____________g__ Concertos?-- The Brandenburg concertos? JS Bach.

17. Name two Sex Pistols? Johnny Bon Jovie and Rotten Plant.

18. Who was the creator of Motown Records? Black Dynamite.

19. What does Eminem stand for, and how is it related to the artiste's real name?-- Don't know.

20. What sort of a Monday did the Bangles have? --What.

21. What was Ray Charles' impediment?-- Blindness.

22. Where was Rory Gallagher born?--Wherever it is socially acceptable to name your children Rory.

23. What was Britney Spears' first hit? (I said HIT!) -- Don't know.

24. Under what honorific (title) did William Basie make a name for himself in jazz?-- Count.

25. Who made "In the mood" famous? --It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't say.

26. Name three bands Ronnie James Dio has been in? Black Sabbath, Rainbow, and a coffin.

27. What classical composer was known as "The Red Priest"?--Oh god, I know this one, but I can't remember off the top of my head. =\

28. What is the word "piano" short for?-- Pianoforte.

29. Who is the driving force behind The The?--Don't know.

30. Name any three major progressive rock bands of the seventies?-- Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis.

31. Who was original vocalist, founder and lyricist for Pink Floyd?-- God damnit. Roger Waters? Never was big on Pink Floyd.

32. What instrument does Yehudi Menuin play? --Don't know.

33. Name any Irish band. Except U2. --Villagers.

34. Complete the title of this Genesis album: "The lamb lies down on ___________"?-- Broadway.

35. According to Captain Beefheart, what for crow?-- Ice Cream.

36. What genre does DefJam Records serve?-- Hip Hop.

37. Name any three Black Sabbath vocalists? Ozzy, Dio, and Chester Bennington.

38. Who was original lead guitarist for Fleetwood Mac? Not Stevie Nicks.

39. Who reportedly met the Devil at the crossroads, and went on to become one of the world's finest guitarists?--What.

40. What is Fish's real name?--What.

I laughed much harder at this than I should have.

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Lord Larehip

I'm not saying that Johnny Ace did the first rocknroll songs. I'm saying he was the first whose music founded rocknroll as a cultural phenomenon. By that, I mean he had a sizable young white audience. Without those white kids, it isn't rocknroll but rather R&B or jump blues. When Alan Freed was trying to sell these black R&B artists to a white audience right about the time the Ace was releasing his stuff, he called it "rock and roll" because white parents knew what R&B was--it was jigaboo music and they forbade their kids to bring such records into the house. So Freed came up with a code name for it--rock and roll (a phrase that he did not invent, he just used it).

Ace was there from the beginning of this new craze and it was he that most white kids could relate to because he didn't always sound so black. He did those slow love songs that you could slow dance to and hold the girl or boy close to you and you could go out to lovers' lane in your ride and make out to Johnny Ace crooning out "Never let me goooo!" Kids began calling up stations and requesting an Ace and dedicating to someone they were dating or wanted to date. It was the start of rocknroll as a culture not just a genre of music.

As a genre, rocknroll goes back to at least 1938 when Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson released "Roll 'Em, Pete". Charlie "Bird" Parker's musc was borrowed and reworked by a lot of jump blues bands into rocknroll songs as "The Hucklebuck" (from Bird's "Now's the Time"). There was another guy name Wild Bill Moore from Detroit who had a HUGE jump blues hit with "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll" around 1947 but his main audience was black. And Frank Sinatra deserves some credit because his female fans were the bobbysox girls and that carried over into the 50s rocknroll scene. But when Freed's craze hit, the real star to emerge first among both the white and black kids was Johnny Ace. Other blacks were popular too--B.B. King, Al Hibbler, Fats Domino, of course. And Fats really ran off with the crown after Johnny died. He had more hits than Elvis and recorded earlier than Johnny but it was still jump blues until Freed turned it into rocknroll and got the white kids to buy into it.

Powerstars

Ooh.

Gender: Male

Age: 13

1. Yes.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.
9. Don't know.
10. No.
11. Don't know
12. Pete Best
13. Richard Starkey
14. Don't know
15. No.
16. NO.
17. Don't know. Renaissance, perhaps?
18. No idea.
19. Once again, no idea.
20. No idea.
21. No clue
22. Cello, if memory serves.
23. Don't know.
24. Dun know.
25. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
26. No idea.
27. Nope.
28. The Entertainer
29. D?
30. No idea.

Pathetic. But why is T. Rex so prominent? What exactly did they do for music?

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