Piano Rock and Roll
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Rock and roll driven from the keyboard instead of the guitar: pounding eighth-note triplets, a boogie-woogie left hand, glissando smears and hammered treble chords. New Orleans rolling rhythm and Memphis pump-piano fury push shouted vocals and honking sax breaks, the piano used percussively as both rhythm engine and lead voice.
History
Grown from boogie-woogie and New Orleans barrelhouse piano, it became a rock force when Fats Domino's Imperial sides and Little Richard's frantic Specialty cuts hit big in the mid-1950s. Jerry Lee Lewis added wild Sun-era theatrics in 1957, while Huey "Piano" Smith and Lloyd Price carried the rolling New Orleans groove onto the national charts. The style formed a piano-led lineage parallel to Chuck Berry's guitar rock.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Blueberry Hill — Fats DominoSpotifyYouTube
- Great Balls of Fire — Jerry Lee LewisSpotifyYouTube
- Good Golly, Miss Molly — Little RichardSpotifyYouTube
- Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu — Huey 'Piano' Smith & The ClownsSpotifyYouTube
- Stagger Lee — Lloyd PriceSpotifyYouTube
- Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On — Jerry Lee LewisSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Balls_of_Fire
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockin%27_Pneumonia_and_the_Boogie_Woogie_Flu
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Golly,_Miss_Molly
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Price