The original Rocket 88 was produced by Sam Phillips (Sun Records) for Chess Records in 1951. Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats had a number one on the R&B charts with it, and a teenage Ike Turner played piano alongside his Rhythm Kings. Some say it’s the first time a distorted guitar was recorded. One story is that the bands amp fell off the roof of a car while driving– and to fix the amp, somebody stuffed it with newspaper to keep the wrecked cone in place– which then created a fuzzy tone. Besides that story, this song was often debated among musicologists as being the first rock and roll record. Musically there’s so much going on in the original version…Jackie is singing in C, and the rest of the band is playing in E flat. The original has a great feel, and sometimes, wreckless in nature–and I always thought that this would make a fantastic instrumental.

 

Tim Timebomb- Guitar

Dave Brophy-Drums

Joe McMahon- Bass

Rusty Scott-Piano

Mike Mele- Guitar

John Aruda-Sax

Scott Aruda-Trumpet

Jeff Gallindo- Trombone

 

Available on iTunes January 1, 2013!