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Back when I was living in Rochester,NY (in what must have been the 70's) , Sonny Stitt with Don Patterson's Organ Trio played at a local club. I did go to hear them one night, but honestly don't recall any details.

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On my watch list!

Cold again, but brighter this morning. All the leaves are almost gone. . . that is a sad sign winter will soon be upon us. Starting off with a Keystone Trio cd on Milestone, “Heartbeats.” This is a trio of masters! John Hicks, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Idris Muhammad. Freddie Cole sings on one track. 300×300 20.9 KB

I had done some checking on the web in the meantime, and it seems the Alton Ellis version was recorded in 1971. Quite a bit after the 1954 recording date for the version by the Chords. I am not overly familiar with the Jamaican R&B history but have learnt a bit about the early sound system scene through various well-annotated R&B compilations. So the Coxson label name (as in Coxson Dodd) rang a bell.

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thriftstore-find

Ah, good to know. I've heard so many versions of this tune but never knew exactly who did it first. I think that Crew Cuts version was used in the movie Road House as well. And spot on that being a Jamaican cover. Alton Ellis is a legendary singer there and his covers of American doo wop and soul are always worth a listen.

I'm looking forward to this. Mats and Thurston are both massive record nerds whose enthusiasm I find infectious (I'm less familiar with the work of Byron Coley). Based on the sample pages both the record picks and writing style are accessible. I think it's going to be a fun book to flick through. I'm seeing Mats and Thurston play tomorrow and kind of hoping there might be copies on the merch table.

So "prevailing opinions" have progressed beyond what Jim Dawson and Steve Propes wrote in "What Was The First Rock'n'Roll Record"? Among the 50 candidates listed chronologically and discussed in that book, "Rocket 88" is placed 24th and "Sh-Boom" is 38th. So, chronologically speaking, I'd tend to vote for "Good Rockin' Tonight" (placed 8th) in its hit version by Wynonie Harris.

November 20 Geoffrey Keezer - 1970 He was Art Blakey's last pianist...

For many years writers used to call the Chords' Sh-Boom the first rock 'n' roll song. But now they credit Jackie Brenston's Rocket 88.

Of course they were. The Crew Cuts' well-known version was the white cover version along the trends of the day. So whatever came later was a cover version too. Even without listening to the clip, that Alton/Establishment version looks Jamaican, judging by the record label. So obviously much more recent. But amusing to listen to.

Ordered from Forced Exposure.

This particularly anthology (and some of the full albums, though NOT Storm Warning) is still available on Apple Music. There is not very much overlap with this 3 CD set of UK jazz rarities, aside from, you guessed it, Storm Warning. I was able to pick this up through Dusty Groove. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/blog/a-new-awakening--adventures-in-british-jazz-3cd-coming-soon

Were the Chords the original? I've always loved this version from Alton Ellis:

I guess the future of that series was uncertain, and its end was always near,

Didn't know Endea Owens was from Detroit. This looks fantastic. Congrats on the project!

I've never studied that cover art before but noticed it also doesn't appear to use that law of thirds that Miles used for his designs. The pic of Larry himself is great though.

Now: Earlier:

But the article has a publication date of 2021 ? Rare, Classic British Jazz To Rise Again In ‘British Jazz Explosion’ Series The series will begin with the deluxe 2LP & 2CD album ‘Journeys In Modern Jazz: Britain (1965-1972).’ Published on June 3, 2021 By Paul Sexton