Like most of us, when we think of black popular music in the 50s and early 60s, the first thing that comes to mind is either R&B like Fats Domino, or velvety soul like Doo Wop. Well, this series from Koko-Mojo Records is gonna wake you up, as they found a genre I barely knew existed this side of Chuck Berry, and it’s black rock and rollers. We tend to think that Elvis Presley got popular because the story goes that he was the first white singer to sound black. Well, here’s a collection of back guys trying to sound white, so there you go.
You won’t have heard of any of these artists except for Jackie Wilson, who sears through “You Better Know It”. Other than that, you get guys like Neil Darrow and King Perry sounding a lot like Presley on “She’s A Fine Chick” and “Come Back Baby” respectively. There’s a lot of twist-inspired tunes like “Looka Looka Looka” by Bobby Brooks and teenage rockabilly like “Great Googa Mooga” by Mae Mercer” and “Great Cooga-Mooga” by Johnny Johnson. Jerry Lee Lewis-styled piano pounding takes place by Eddie Daniels on “Hug Me, Kiss Me” and the horns are wailing on “Come On Pretty Baby” and the thunderous instrumental “Knocked Out”. I have absolutely no idea how this music escaped the contemporary ears, but I’d love to go back in time to catch these cats. Whew! Tell Tchaikovsky the news!!!