1954



Big Joe Turner, Shake, Rattle & Roll.

I'm gone the rest of the week, so no time, nor reason, to gas on about this one. It's the mother lode--the colossus--possibly the finest rock and roll record ever made. It stomps, it swings, it kicks it all over the place. Like St. Augustine said, it's "sound that time cannot seize."

And good Lord, it's filthy. It begins:

Get outta that bed
wash your face and hands

and just gets better.

If you don't have it, get it.

Recorded on February 15, 1954, and released as Atlantic 1026. The vitiated Bill Haley version still gets played more on oldies stations.