Essential 1950’s Rock & Roll Songs?

[flagstaffcharli]

Thread title covers it. I figure I ought to sit down and learn a half-dozen tunes note-for-note. I was born in 1970. What are the essential 1950’s guitar tunes? I figure at least one Chuck Berry. What else?

[Plainsman]

Twenty Flight Rock
Skinny Jim
Mystery Train
Be Bop A Lula

I was born in 1970 also. From the time I was old enough to know music until about the year 2000, you could've never convinced me I'd like those songs, or anything from the 50s. Now I love 'em!

[Dru Edwards]

Jailhouse Rock by Elvis. Great rockin' tune.

[KarenB]

Everyday-Buddy Holly
Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly
Sure wish he had lived. It would have been interesting to see how he developed. Check out the chord changes in the bridge of "Everyday." Went beyond the usual 3 chord progression of rock in the 50's.

[jseth]

"Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran... the absolute "granddaddy" of them all, Link Wray's "Rumble"...

Anything by Buddy Holly... anything by Fats Domino...

[flagstaffcharli]

These are great! I’m making an iTunes Playlist. Buddy Holly is on now!

[Steve DeRosa]

Been playing out since 1964/belonged to a couple oldies bands in the '80s-90s/got one going right now - a couple questions:

• Chuck Berry crosses the lines of vocal- and guitar-oriented music, as does Elvis (thanks to Scotty Moore) - are you looking for similar performers (Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, etc.), or are you looking to focus primarily on instrumentals or vocal accompaniment?
• What is very loosely termed " '50s music" these days takes in a lot of the Top 40 material from the pre-British Invasion period, as well as the expected doo-wop, R&B, and country-crossover artists - how broad/narrow do you want your repertoire to be?
• If you're going to be working with a group, what sort of instrumental and/or vocal resources will be available to you?
• There is certain musical equipment associated with the music as a whole, more specific according to the genre - how much of a stickler are you for accuracy in performance?

In that spirit I'll give you a list of some of my old chestnuts, that generally lend themselves to the broadest variety of supporting instrumentation:

• Elvis - anything from the Sun days through 1962
• Chuck Berry - he wrote the vocabulary of rock guitar, it's all good
• Buddy Holly - if you own a Strat you need a few Buddy tunes in your rotation ("Oh Boy," "Peggy Sue," "Rave On" are perennial audience requests)
• Ritchie Valens - "La Bamba" (a must)
• Bill Haley - "Rock Around the Clock" (another must), "Skinny Minnie"
• Eddie Cochran - "Summertime Blues," "Come On Everybody"
• Link Wray - "Rumble," "Rawhide" (instrumental proto-punk, two decades before its time)
• Duane Eddy - "Rebel Rouser," "Forty Miles of Bad Road," "Because They're Young"
• Ricky Nelson - if you are/have a smooth vocalist, James Burton does some nice guitar work on "Hello Mary Lou" and "Travelin' Man"
• Bill Justis - "Raunchy" (seek out the Ventures' 1963 remake of this 1957 instrumental)
• Santo & Johnny - "Sleepwalk" (the '50s slow-dance instrumental)
• Connie Francis - if you've got a female lead singer "Lipstick on Your Collar" and "Stupid Cupid" feature guitar work by NYC "Key Club" member (and jazz legend) George Barnes
• Larry Williams - "Dizzy Miss Lizzie," "Slow Down," and "Bad Boy" were part of the Beatles' stage show through 1965
• Barrett Strong - "Money" was one of the very first Motown hits and another of John Lennon's favorite rave-ups

Cross the line into the early-60's and you start bringing in the Ventures, Dick Dale, and the Shadows, who took the guitar instrumental to the next level; there's also some great back-up instrumental work on the early Motown and Brill Building/Phil Spector recordings, courtesy of the "Funk Brothers" and NYC "Key Club" respectively. As I said I came up with this type of music, and it's always been my first love; if you've got satellite radio my suggestion is to listen to the '50s/60s stations, make a note of anything that catches your ear, and start working on it - they're generally a quick learn, and in three-plus decades as a classroom teacher I've discovered that even the kids still like this stuff...

[flagstaffcharli]

Hi Steve,

That’s a hugely wonderful post. I don’t plan to play in a 50’s group. I just want to keep educating myself about all that is wonderful in music. A few nights ago I taught a group guitar class “I Hear You Knockin’” by Dave Edmunds, and getting it ready for class sent me back to the awesome Smiley Lewis recording. And then I went down the rabbit hole!

I think of 50’s music as anything pre-Beatles invasion. It was my mom’s music when she was a kid, and I have always liked it. I know it influenced all the music I listened to as a kid. I only have a tele and a 335 - no strat - but I think I’ll learn a few Buddy Holly tunes. I’ll make do. 😇

I can sort of fake these tunes because I sing. I want to go back and really learn them the right way. It would be fun and good for my playing.

[LouieAtienza]

Although released in 1960, I'm a huge Ventures fan and that was their first album...