Speaking of TCM (Turner Classic Movies), last week they were featuring singing cowboys. Give a listen to this tune by Hank Penny, one of the Texas Swing kings, whose career overlapped with the birth of Rock and Roll.
http://youtu.be/X2crGr44JVU
There’s a bit of everything in this — big bands, boogie woogie, R&B , and rockabilly. The sound of Bill Haley and his Comets is right in there.
My pet peeve about Pop music historians is that Rock and Roll is often called black music, as if it all came from rhythm and blues. And it just ain’t so. The whole point of what became rock and roll is that it’s a mix of everything that came before, and the singing cowboys are a much a part of the legacy as any other ingredient. Elvis was great for multiple reasons, but one of the most important was that he was a sponge of influences. When he was asked what kind of music he liked, he’d say he liked everything, and he meant it.
Here’s another one by Penny. Swing it, boys!
http://youtu.be/rTvh-UJrfNI