Jamaica Farewell - Harry Belafonte

Jamaica Farewell - Harry Belafonte

3:05

Calypso, 1956

Written by Irving Burgie, a.k.a. Lord Burgess

This is a gentle mento folk song about someone, presumably a sailor, who is leaving Kingston and a lovely girl the narrator met there.  The lyrics evoke detailed memories of a cherished place ("Down at the market you can hear / Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear / Ackee rice, salt fish are nice / And the rum is fine any time of year"), sung in Belfonte's delicate, precisely enunciated baritone.  It's an emotional declaration of nostalgia wrapped in a beautiful melody.

Just Walkin' In the Rain - Johnnie Ray

Just Walkin' In the Rain - Johnnie Ray

2:37

single, 1956

Written by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley, 1952

This song has an interesting origin.  It was written by two convicts in Tennessee State Prison, or, more precisely, composed by one convict, Bragg, who gave Riley songwriting credit for writing the lyrics down for him.  Bragg recorded the song in 1953 with his band, the Prisonaires.  Lyrically, the song is a plaint of a man walking around missing his lost love: "Just walkin' in the rain / Gettin' soakin' wet / Torturin' my heart / By tryin' to forget."  Ray's version has a crisp vocal over Ray Conniff's strings, a catchy whistle, and a male chorus that echoes his lines.  I guess it's not Ray's fault that he would become one of the first of many white artists to get rich and famous popularizing black music while the original artists stayed obscure.

Mother-In-Law Blues - Junior Parker

Mother-In-Law Blues - Junior Parker

2:35

single, 1956

Written by Don Robey

This is a straightforward, midtempo Mississippi blues about losing your baby.  Despite the title, the lady in question doesn't seem to be the source of the narrator's leaving; she seems to have made up her mind on her own, based on his drinking.  "I could hear her tell her mother, 'That's one no good man!' / Well, I watched my baby leave, her mother had her by the hand."  Parker himself provides the wailing, pleading harmonica lines that meld with his plaintive voice in bewailing his loss.

That's a Pretty Good Love - Big Maybelle

That's a Pretty Good Love - Big Maybelle

2:35

Blues, Candy & Big Maybelle, 1956

Written by Fred Mendelsohn and Buddy Lucas

The uptempo rocking rhythm & blues song has stinging guitar, riffing saxophones and a rollicking drum.  A member of the band shouts out vocal prompts and questions like "Baby, my love will last (How long?) / Long as life in my body (You swear?)" between Maybelle's vocal, turning the performance into a live conversation, giving it an immediacy that draws the listener in.  But her raw, powerful, intense vocal is really what makes the song.  In a just world where "race music" wasn't pushed aside for watered-down white versions, Maybelle would have been bigger than Elvis.  The charisma, power, and emotional immediacy were all there. Records like this prove she didn’t need translation.

Chilly Winds - Odetta

Chilly Winds - Odetta

2:41

Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues [2005 bonus tracks], 1956

traditional

Starting with some beautiful guitar lines, Odetta sings this folk ballad in a powerful contralto.  I'm reminded of Dylan's "Worried blues," which lifts the line "I'm going where the chilly winds don't blow," and also of "Kingsport Town," with its references to wind and rhetorical wondering who will take care of the girl when he's gone.  Anyhoo, Odetta brings strength and majesty to what is ultimately a rather slight folk blues about leaving for a warmer clime.  In the context of the civil rights movement its lyric hints at better times that may be coming.

That Ain't Nothing But Right - Mac Curtis

That Ain't Nothing But Right - Mac Curtis

2:14

single, 1956

Written by Jim Shell and Joe Price

The narrator likes holding his woman tight, and if that's wrong, he doesn't want to be right.  He also likes his beer cold, his TV loud, and his homosexuals flaming.  Just kidding; there's nothing in the lyrics that explicitly says this, though it's possibly implied.  "Well, I like my coffee black and strong / I like my auto big and long."  I read that when this Texas rockabilly king was a young lad, a school show he put on "shut down due to sexually suggestive on-stage movements."  Cool!

One Hand Loose - Charlie Feathers

One Hand Loose - Charlie Feathers

2:24

single, 1956

Written by Charlie Feathers, Jerry Huffman, and Jody Chastain

A rollicking, hiccuping early rockabilly track, raw and unpolished, with elements of honky-tonk still discernible in both the music and vocals.  It's unclear to me what it may be all about.  Possibly nothing?  Or dancing?  "If there's rhythm in your bones then you know how I feel / But don't you crowd me close baby, this time is for real / Get ready for some rockin', pick 'em up and put 'em down / Give me one hand loose and I'll be satisfied."  One hand loose to do what, Mr. Feathers?!

Daddy Loves Mommyo - Tommy Duncan

Daddy Loves Mommyo - Tommy Duncan

1:58

single, 1956

Written by Bill Woods

This guy toured with Bob Wills and was a founding member of the Texas Playboys, but apparently Wills' drinking was too much for Duncan, who struck out on his won.  Sadly, he never made it big.  That's incredible to me, because if this amazing song is anything to go by, Duncan should have been bigger than Elvis Presley.  He could play piano, guitar, and bass, and sang everything from standards to rockabilly.  This particular song is a blend of rockabilly and Western swing, with lyrics that are ahead of their time.   "Daddy-o go out prowlin' / He meet a little dish downtown / It's Daddy-o's time for howlin' / Hmm, he really get around / This Daddy-o go in a honky-tonk / Pitch a little woo / But Daddy-o find his momma / She's in there pitchin' too."

The Cobbler - Tommy Makem

The Cobbler - Tommy Makem

2:28

single, 1956

traditional

There are several versions of this tune by the Clancys with and without Makem, including a rousing live rendition, but I like this recording, which is brightened by female vocals.  This song is typically an a capella performance, so it helps when more than one voice joins in.  The date given here for recording is just a guess; this website says that Makem's version appeared on a compilation album of folk tunes called The Lark in the Morning, but he probably recorded it as a single earlier.  Interestingly, the titular cobbler is sometimes called Fagan, but in the version I know he's Dick Darby.  It's an interesting litany of Irish plaints, ending with the cobbler dumping his yapping wife ("Me wife, she's a divil, she's black / No matter what I do with her / Her tongue it goes clickety-clack") into a river.

End Of the Road - Jerry Lee Lewis

End Of the Road - Jerry Lee Lewis

1:48
single, 1956

Written by Jerry Lee Lewis

In this tough country rockabilly number, the narrator is eager to get things shaking with his love.  He's planted at the titular end of the road.  He doesn't care if he ever gets home!  In fact, he claims he doesn't need anything.  "Well the stars may not shine and neither the moon  / What the heck, we don't want no moon."  I get a kick out of that line; it's funny, blunt, and slightly unhinged, much like the Killer himself.  The rolling piano lines interplay with surf-like guitar, but the piano is the star, of course.

Lipstick, Powder and Paint - Big Joe Turner

Lipstick, Powder and Paint - Big Joe Turner

2:29

Rockin' the Blues, 1956

Written by Jesse Stone

A fast-paced blues rocker shouted affably by the big man.  It seems to be a rousing celebration of sneaking around.  "Taller than the barnyard, ten feet high / Hide me till your man pass by."  Also, he wishes his baby loved him the way his dog does: "Licks my hand wherever I go."  Swinging horns and background vocals give this number extra muscle.

Devil Or Angel - The Clovers

Devil Or Angel - The Clovers

2:26

The Clovers, 1956

Written by Blanche Carter

A gentle doo-wop ballad.  The narrator is infatuated with a lady, but can't figure her out.  "You look like an angel / Your smile is divine / But you keep me guessing / Will you ever be mine?"  Not sure what makes the lady a possible devil, other than not being interested in him?  This encapsulates the teenage, puppy love mindset of pop music of this era.  The group's signature vocal blend is on full display here: smooth, rich harmonies framing the tender, questioning lead. There's a gospel-rooted emotionality here, with the call-and-response style lending intimacy to the push-pull theme.  The sparse arrangement, led by soft piano and brushed drums, keeps the focus squarely on the vocals. 

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Elvis Presley

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Elvis Presley

2:22

Elvis, 1956

Written by Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan, 1940

A toe-tapping, catchy song of lost love and hope ("When my blue moon turns to gold again / You’ll be back within my arms to stay"), showing the King's early mastery of blending country, gospel, and rockabilly into something unmistakably his own.  Elvis electrifies the song with his smooth, yearning vocals and a light, swinging rhythm, not quite honky-tonk nor full-blown rock swagger, but definitely devlivered with confidence and talent.

W-P-L-J - The Four Deuces

W-P-L-J - The Four Deuces

2:39

single, 1956

Written by Ray Dobard and Luther McDaniels

A rhythm and blues, doo-wop vocal about a drink.  The letters stand for "White port lemon juice," as they explicitly spell out in the song, like an advertisement (which it later became, for wine producer Italian Swiss Colony).  It's a fun novelty song, but I can see why they faded away.  It's irritatingly catchy (I found myself singing the title through the day), but it doesn't have any real punch (ha! a drink pun).  

Walking By Myself - Jimmy Rogers

Walking By Myself - Jimmy Rogers

2:47

single, 1956

Written by Jimmy Rogers (as James A. Lane)

The blues guitarist and harmonica player, once of Muddy Waters' band, had this song as an R&B hit, though it's a pretty straightforward Chicago blues.  Rogers has a smooth vocal here, equal parts soul and blues.  The narrator professes he loves the girl with all his heart: "Love you, yes I love you / With all my heart and soul / Wouldn't mistreat you for my weight in gold."  Well then why is he walking by himself?  I guess she left him despite his love, but it's not explicitly stated.

Down in Mexico - the Coasters

Down in Mexico - the Coasters

3:16

single, 1956

Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Hard to believe this is the Coasters' debut single; they sing harmonies like they've been around forever.  Starting with a sultry sax, and boosted by some frenetic Latin-infused congas, it tells the story of a cat named Joe who plays blues piana in a honky-tonk down in Mexico.  And there's a dancer.  "Around her waist she wore three fishnets / She started dancin' with the castanets / I didn't know just what to expect / She threw her arms around my neck."  The ancestor song of "El Paso," "Romance in Durango," and even "Mexican Blackbird."

Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps

Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps

2:36

single, 1956

Written by Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, & Bill Davis

I love me some 1950s rockabilly.  This is a sparse, soft-spoken instance of the genre, the staid, prim grandfather of shockabilly and psychobilly stepping out on the town with a quiet, reserved "woo!"  It looks good in its denim suit, but it's not going crazy.  The screams at :38 and 1:28 are apparently by the drummer, and not by a teenaged girl in the studio showing appreciation, as I first thought.  This song's scat-like lyrics are influenced by the 1945 song "Be-Baba-Leba", the 1925 Dixie jazz song "Don't Bring Lulu," and possibly (or apocryphally) the comic strip Little Lulu.