If you trace back the history of rock ‘n’ roll to its very roots, you’ll probably end up in 1949, with Fats Domino’s The Fat Man. Surely, you’re thinking, that has to be the first rock ‘n’ roll track. It pre-dates Rocket 88, and is frequently cited as the recording that started all. But…
If you listen to the very earliest recording sessions by singer, songwriter and barrelhouse pianist Champion Jack Dupree, you’ll find a couple of tracks called Junker Blues and Heavy Heart Blues, both of which clearly formed the precise template for The Fat Man.
The structure is the same. The main piano theme is the same. The vocal tune is the same. Only the lyrics are different. And the year these Dupree tracks were recorded? 1941. A full eight years before Fats Domino adopted the template for his Fat Man lyrics. The first of the two Dupree tracks to be recorded was Junker Blues, on 28th January that year. If you believe Fats Domino pioneered rock and roll, you MUST revise your pioneer to Champion Jack Dupree.
If you’re interested in this profound historical stuff, you will be left open mouthed by the New Orleans Barrelhouse Boogie compilation, which assembles a few extremely early Champion Jack Dupree recording sessions, including his first, from 13th June 1940. There are also the sessions of 23rd January 1941, 28th January 1941, and 27th November 1941.
The two aforementioned 1941 recordings – Junker Blues and Heavy Heart Blues – are both present. But there’s so much else that you didn’t think was going on in 1941, that you actually have to check the dates on the track listing – just to make sure someone hasn’t sneaked a bit of ‘fifties stuff onto the tape…
For example, there’s the electric blues guitar playing of Jesse Ellery. It has the rough, slightly overdriven blues tone, the string bends – it’s the classic electric blues lead guitar that you’d associate with the genre leaders in the post late ’40s era. Except it’s 1941! You truly do find yourself thinking: why can’t I find articles about Jesse Ellery? These people were so far ahead of the game. They must have inspired so many of the legends we regard as pioneers, and ended up totally unrecognised.
The cassette’s inlay notes are extensive, and the inlay is just about the biggest I’ve seen. Apart from the comprehensive track information, there’s Dupree’s life story in summarised form. A fascinating read indeed.
The audio cassette itself, manufactured in Holland, has no reference to its emulsion type, but it’s clearly a chrome tape. Since the recordings are so old, and obviously in mono, the only thing the chrome media gains the listener is a decent signal to noise ratio. But that’s vital with a product like this, where you don’t have the bash of drums and cymbals to hide any hiss. The cassette needs to operate quietly, and it does.
I spoke in the previous post about paper labels having fallen out of favour in pre-recorded audio cassette production by the early 1990s. This 1993 release is an exception. But to dwell on the aesthetics of the tape you see before you, is to miss the phenomenal historical importance of its content.
The evolutionary nature of music means we’ll never really pinpoint an exact moment at which the rock ‘n’ roll format came into being. But there’s one thing this cassette does prove. It happened a hell of a long time before Fats Domino started making records.
Tape Tardis 