Hey everyone! On this snowy Monday night, I am back in the basement of Johnston Hall on Marquette University’s campus for another episode of The Gus Knorr Show. This week’s theme will be songs that helped shape rock and roll, and musicians who performed in genres that helped influence some of the pioneering rock musicians of the 1950s. This will be a thematic procession of songs up until 1954, when Elvis recorded his first singles at the Sun Studios in Memphis.

• The first one of these songs was released in 1923 by Bessie Smith, the “Empress of the Blues,” and it’s titled “Down Hearted Blues.”
• Next up is the Blind Willie McTell song from 1928, “Statesboro Blues,” later known for being covered by The Allman Brothers Band in 1971.
• The next song is a country one, another genre that helped to develop rock and roll. It’s by Jimmie Rodgers with Louis Armstrong on the trumpet, and was released in 1930; here’s “Blue Yodel No. 9.”
• Which follows is “Cross Road Blues” by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, and was well-known for later being covered by blues rock band Cream in 1968.
• We’re going to switch up now and play some new songs before switching to some songs from the 1940’s, closer to rock and roll’s onset. The first of these is from San Francisco based band The Well Wishers; it’s “Have Some More Tea,” off their new album Dreaming of the West Coast.
• The next song is from indie rock group Ménage, and is called “Wake Up.”
• Switching back to older songs from the pre-rock and roll era, next up is one of the first hit songs from country music legend Hank Williams. This was released in 1947, and it’s “Move it on Over.”
• Next up is “Call it Stormy Monday,” by blues musician T-Bone Walker, which was also recorded in 1947.
• Another blues musician’s song is next, and is “Boogie Chillen'” by electric/country blues singer John Lee Hooker.
• The next song is by Louis Jordan, the great jump blues musician, and was released in 1949; it’s “Saturday Night Fish Fry.”
• The song which follows, “The Fat Man,” was also released in 1949, and was performed by a then-21 year old Fats Domino. Even though this was his first hit single, he became best known for releasing rock and roll singles during the mid 1950s, when the genre had already been established.
• Next is a song by legendary Chicago bluesman Muddy Waters, and was released fairly early in his career, in 1950; it’s “Rollin’ Stone.”
• The next song is by another blues musician, Elmore James, known for his slide guitar playing. This song has an electric sound to it three years prior to the advent of rock and roll, and was a cover of an earlier Robert Johnson song. This song is “Dust My Broom.”
• Next up is an upbeat R&B song from 1951, featuring Ike Turner on the piano and sung by Jackie Brenston. Sung about the Oldsmobile 88, it’s called “Rocket 88.”
• The Wesley Willis Song of the Week is also about a car, namely the Ford Windstar minivan, and is appropriately titled “Ford Windstar.”
• Switching up a bit to a couple of new songs, the first of these is by Cincinnati-based hard rock band Roxy Shazam, and is called “Welcome to the Church of Rock and Roll.”
• Another new song, “Jaws on the Floor,” from British band You Me at Six is next, and is off their new album Sinners Never Sleep.
• Switching back to songs from the 50s, the next song is a 1953 song by blues musician Big Mama Thornton, and it’s her version of “Hound Dog,” which, while successful in its own right, was later better known for being covered by Elvis Presley in 1956.
• Next is a song which was highly successful upon its release in 1954, and is often considered the first rock and roll song. Of course, I am talking about “Rock Around the Clock,” by Bill Haley and his Comets.
• Appropriately, we’re going to end with a song by Elvis Presley, which was his first ever single released in 1954. A cover of an earlier song by Arthur Crudup, and was recorded at the Sun Recording Studios in Memphis by Sam Phillips, it’s “That’s All Right.”

That’s it for The Gus Knorr Show tonight, but be sure to tune in next week, Monday February 20, at 9:30 PM Central Time for the next episode of The Gus Knorr Show. Thanks for listening!