'JUMP START' - PBGB HONOURS THE RHYTHM AND BLUES PIONEERS BEHIND THE RISE OF ROCK AND ROLL

Cosimo Matassa at the J and M studio desk, 

New Orleans, 1947 - 

"three microphones going straight to the wax".

Pete continues to be fascinated by the global seismic shift that accompanied the acceptance by white American teenagers of the fantastic Rhythm and Blues ( previously known as Race Music )  being pounded out by black musicians down in the Deep South of the USA in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

History tells us that the first recordings of the small combo 'jump music' that sparked the white teen music revolution came out of Cosimo Mattassa's studio in New Orleans. Cosimo's 'studio' was no more than a small room in the back of the Mattassa family store. And yes, as quoted in Jump Start, the studio only had three microphones to capture the magic. No tape, cut straight onto wax.

When it became clear that white teenagers actually wanted to buy such "jungle music", bigger record labels started recording white,  inanely sanitised cover versions. White djs called that Rock and Roll. Of course they outsold the original versions by a huge margin and less than a handful of the black R and B musicians were accepted by white America.

Anyway, Pete decided to try to tell the story in a three minute song.  He pays homage to as many of the heroes of the story as he can jam in...... Cosimo Matassa, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Huey Smith, Earl Palmer, and of course the outrageous, impossible to ignore, Little Richard.

Could PBGB really do this stuff justice ? Of course not. But it was great fun having a go. Listen to our humble attempt by clicking HERE

A wop-bop-a loo bop a lop-bam-boom !!!

Pete wrote the lyrics, sang 'em and played the drums

Neil Porter played the bass and did all the production work

John Drews played the piano

Graham Brown played the sax