Some irrefutable truths about rock and roll

1) Robert Johnson invented rock and roll, and is the rightful King of it. Elvis Presley's title should be amended to "Poster Boy of Early Rock and Roll."

Tongue in cheek I'm sure. Boogie Woogie is the real progenitor to rock and roll, not Robert Johnson who is strickly blues, arguably the most influential blues artist of the 20th Century. Chuck Berry, Little Richard are more closely aligned with Louis Jordan who probably made the 1st rock and roll recordings in the late 40's that could be directly linked to the phenomona that was to become R&R. Caldonia sure sounds a lot more like 50's rock and roll than "Crossroads".

R&B kind of melded into the Rock era through the British and American rock groups of the 60's that idolized Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and other Delta bluesman not to mention some of the Motown artists who never seem to get airplay in these discussions. Yeah, along with Sam Cooke and Otis Reading what about Marvin Gaye, or are we now back to R&B, or are they part of rock and roll? Seems like a paradox.

The 60's rockers didn't come close to the raw emotion and style demonstrated by the Masters, a rich boy's take if you will. Yeah they dusted it off and polished it up but you can't duplicate the experience of what blues originated from. Of course this is only one man's opinion but a different take from some of the comments above. I never saw a direct link between blues and early rock and roll. Where does Ray Charles fit into the equation? He is never mentioned in the R&R debate but must be considered the first mainstream R&B artist that can be directly linked to the old bluesmen in both style and content yet unique and original in his own right.

It just seems numerous elements of 20th Century music came together at a certain time and place and a new phenomena came out of the mix. R&B, Boogie Woogie, Swing all contributed to the advent of rock and roll. As much as I love R Johnson, he gets entirely too much credit.

Audiofeil,(or should I say Audiofool because that what you talk like)what you know about this subject you could put in a thimble, much less what you could remember or forget. Everytime you open your mouth you show just how much you know.
Your smug elitist and I'm smarter than everybody else attitude continues to reinforce all the things I've said.
My point about this subject is simply this(and I'll make it simple for you Kurt tank so you can understand)
If it hadn't been for folks like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, James Brown creating and shaping this genre, groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis(I know he's not a group) and others you didn't name such as Eric clapton, Edgar and Johnny Wynter, Led Zepplin...
None of them would have been able to make the millions that they made and soar to the heights of fame that they did if the artform had not been created by those I just mentioned.
I'm not about to sit by and let anyone diminish, discount and trivialize the great contributions and accomplishments these artist made to the music history of this country and were not able to benefit from it themselves.
Millions of people fans and musicians alike benefitted immensely from the contributions of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and others. The precious Beatles (and they are great) would not even have had the opportunity to as has been been loosely stated, take it to a level bigger and better but I guess that's why they pay such homage to these rock & roll icons, because they have sense enough to know what they did for their careers!!(unlike some folks on this forum; Kurt tank is that you)
Finally, as I have given this much thought,(unlike most folks here) I had to ask myself the question: Is this really about who invented rock & roll or the heritage of who invented it?
Could it be the fact that because Chuck Berry, Little Richard and others are Black(African American) not much credit is given them as has been the history of this country when comes to the accomplishments of African Americans? or is it because white people do it so much bigger and better? mmh
Ah, but what am I talking about, racism doesn't exist in this country let alone here on the Gon.
Kurt tank did I spell everything right?

Kurt tank, there's also a phrase that says "ignorance is bliss" and it appears to me you're very happy.

Tube,

Interesting take and I (sort of) agree with a lot of your views (particularly re: boogie woogie), but..."I never saw a direct link between blues and early RnR"?

I'm not sure I understand. Aside from the piano blues forms that inform barrelhouse and boogie woogie itself, Chuck Berry oozes the blues guitar tradition, no? That connection might be even clearer on the early Gatemouth Brown Peacock recordings I mentioned, but it seems pretty clear (to me) on Berry's records, too. And if it's not immediately clear from Berry, listen to Gatemouth, then Berry and I can't believe it won't be clear then. Are you saying something different?

Marty

BTW, I see the structural elements of RnR in Jordan's stuff, but the instrumentation is sufficiently foreign to the RnR convention that I'd hesitate to tag it RnR music (though many others would agree with you on that one).

Per the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame website:

"While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, “Maybellene.” Combined with quick-witted, rapid-fire lyrics full of sly insinuations about cars and girls, Berry laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance. The song included a brief but scorching guitar solo built around his trademark double-string licks. Accompanied by long-time piano player Johnnie Johnson and members of the Chess Records house band, including Willie Dixon, Berry wrote and performed rock and roll for the ages. To this day, the cream of Berry’s repertoire—which includes “Johnny B. Goode,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Rock and Roll Music” and “Roll Over Beethoven”—is required listening for any serious rock fan and required learning for any serious rock musician.