Rock ‘n’ roll seemed to some like it emerged fully formed in the 1950s, as artists became superstars overnight on the strength of a magnetic single or two. In actuality, the music had been slowly evolving over a period of many years, as it borrowed from the blues, country, and many other forms of roots music. Once it took hold, there was no stopping it, especially when a few soon-to-be-iconic artists mastered the form so quickly. Here are five rock ‘n’ roll songs from the golden age of the genre that sound just as lively today as they did way back when.
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1. “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry (1958)
It’s impossible to definitively call anyone the father or mother of rock ‘n’ roll music. But Chuck Berry would certainly be way up there on the list if you were going to try to figure it out. Perhaps that’s because the music he made formed the blueprint for so many others—and especially for members of the British Invasion like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Speaking of blueprints, “Johnny B. Goode” not only served as the template for every fast-talking, literate rock song that followed, but it also managed to immortalize the electric guitar as the most important instrument of the genre. Berry was essentially retelling his life story in the song. He couldn’t have possibly known that story would inspire so many others to follow his same path.
2. “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
Jack Hammer was a journeyman piano player who originally wrote a song called “Great Balls of Fire” that the eventual hit was modeled on. The idea was fleshed out from the title by Otis Blackwell, who had written several top hits for Elvis Presley. Eventually, the song found its way into the hands of Jerry Lee Lewis, who recorded it at Sun Studios with a pair of session musicians whom Lewis claims to have never seen again after that day.
The chemistry must have been just fine, however, because this song is incendiary in title and in spirit. You can listen to rock music at any time from the last 60 years and not find a performance as in-the-moment and on-the-edge as what Lewis delivered on piano and vocal. It’s no wonder it became the song that defined his legendary career.
3. “Good Golly Miss Molly” by Little Richard (1958)
This song took parts from many different sources and brought them all together into a blistering whole, with Little Richard unifying everything via his glorious performance. The song was written by John Marascalco and Bumps Blackwell, based on a phrase that was repeated often by the DJ Jimmy Pennick.
Richard borrowed the piano roll at the beginning from “Rocket 88” by Ike Turner, while the “house of blue lights” referenced in the lyrics comes from a pre-rock-era hit by Ella Mae Morse. Richard himself added the phrase “Sure like to ball” to sneak in a little innuendo. You could choose just about any one of Little Richard’s ‘50s rock ravers to make this list, so adept was he at managing to transmit his infinite charisma onto wax and across the airwaves.
4. “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley (1957)
Ace songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were tasked with writing songs for an Elvis Presley movie in 1957, but they wasted time enjoying themselves way too much in a New York City hotel suite. With their deadline upon them, they knocked out four songs in a single night, one of them being “Jailhouse Rock,” which would turn out to be the title of the film.
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On the surface, the lyrics are a bit of a lark. But Presley’s ace backing band weren’t about to turn the song into a novelty number and went about supercharging the stop-and-start rhythm. Presley did the rest, imbuing every last line with wiry energy that makes dancing fools of anyone who listens to it, even today.
5. “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly (1957)
Accidents can make for the best inspiration every now and then. Buddy Holly changed the name of a love song he’d written called “Cindy Lou” to help out his Crickets bandmate, drummer Jerry Allison, who was dating a girl named Peggy Sue. Allison then struggled to get the drum part right in the studio and was told by an engineer to either figure it out or they’d change the name back.
To clear his head, Allison reverted to a drum warm-up he’d used when he was in his high school band. Holly liked the new rapid-fire beat better than what they’d been trying, and revved up the tempo of his acoustic guitar to match it. He also felt compelled to hiccup his way through the vocals. Thus, a simple little ditty was transformed into something rare and wonderful, and the rhythmic structure upon which the two men stumbled became one of the most iconic in the history of rock ‘n’ roll music.
Photo by Steve Oroz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
