VA - Rock & Roll, When the Fire Was New (1938-1963) (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)

ROCK & ROLL TIMELINE

VA - Rock & Roll, When the Fire Was New (1938-1963) (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)

Before you drop the needle on this first track, let me tell you what you’re about to hear, because this isn’t just a box set, it’s a journey, and it’s meant to be heard in order.

What you’ve got in front of you is a timeline. Not a greatest-hits package, not a list of familiar names pulled out of context, but a story that unfolds track by track, year by year, from 1938 to 1963.

I start in 1938 because that’s where the ingredients are already on the table. There’s no such thing as rock & roll yet, no name for it, no category, but you can hear the forces gathering. Gospel fire, blues phrasing, jump-band swing, rhythm starting to matter more than polish. The music is getting louder, leaner, more physical. You can feel it wanting to move.

As this set rolls into the late 1940s, you’ll hear something click into place. By 1947, records start aiming directly at the body. The beat hardens. “Rocking” stops being a metaphor and becomes instruction. By 1949, the sound isn’t a fluke anymore, different artists, different studios, all arriving at the same rhythmic truth. That’s when rock & roll becomes recognizable, even before it’s officially named.

Around 1951, you’ll hear the moment when the world starts calling this thing rock & roll. DJs say the words. Labels market it. Cars, speed, youth, rebellion, it’s all suddenly right there in the grooves.

Then comes the stretch most people think they already know, 1954 to 1958, but here, you’ll hear it as part of a flow, not a highlight reel. This is rock & roll at full voltage, short records, big attitude, no filler. Rockabilly, R&B, vocal groups, instrumentals, all coexisting, all pushing the same beat forward. One thing to listen for here: no artist repeats. That’s intentional. This music wasn’t built by a few giants, it was built by many hands, often just passing through the charts once, but changing everything while they were there.

As we move into 1959 and beyond, listen closely, because this is where things start to stretch and pull apart. The sound gets smoother in places, stranger in others. Dance records, girl groups, surf guitars, soul polish, folk influence, rock & roll is everywhere now, but it’s no longer one voice. It’s becoming many.

And that’s why this set ends in 1963. Not because the music stops, far from it, but because the story changes. After 1963, rock & roll doesn’t disappear… it evolves into rock. Bands take over. Albums matter. Scenes form. The rules are different.

So, this box captures how rock & roll is born, how it finds its voice, how it peaks, and how it finishes becoming what it was always meant to be.

My advice is don’t shuffle this. Let it play straight through. Listen to how the beat hardens, how the attitude shifts, how the edges smooth out, and how, by the end, you can hear the door opening to an entirely new era.

This isn’t nostalgia. This is history, spinning at 45 revolutions per minute. In The majority of cases, I have used the original label mono versions.

Alright… let’s go back to the beginning. (B)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Rock Me 2:36 1938

02 Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - Caldonia 2:44 1945

03 Big Bill Broonzy - Rockin Chair Blues 2:51 1945

04 Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup - That's All Right - Mama 2:56 1946

05 T-Bone Walker - Call it Stormy Monday 3:02 1947

06 Roy Brown - Good Rockin' Tonight 2:56 1947

07 Julia Lee - King Size Papa 2:41 1947

08 Wynonie Harris - Good Rockin' Tonight 2:45 1948

09 Wild Bill Moore - We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna 2:41 1948

10 Amos Milburn - Chicken Shack Boogie 2:30 1948

11 Bull Moose Jackson - I Love You, Yes I Do 2:59 1948

12 Hal Singer - Cornbread 2:58 1948

13 Paul Williams - The Hucklebuck 3:06 1949

14 Goree Carter - Rock Awhile 2:42 1949

15 Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians - Rock The Joint 2:39 1949

16 Fats Domino - The Fat Man 2:47 1949

17 Todd Rhodes - Blues for the Red Boy 2:41 1949

18 Big Joe Turner - Roll 'em Pete 3:42 1951

19 Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - Rocket 88 2:51 1951

20 Ike Turner - Cubano Jump 2:18 1951

21 Dominoes - Sixty Minute Man 2:30 1951

22 Esther Phillips - Ring-A-Ding-Doo 2:55 1952

23 Lloyd Price - Lawdy Miss Clawdy 2:30 1952

24 Johnny Ace - My Song 3:01 1952

25 Ruth Brown - (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean 2:57 1953

CD2

01 Elvis Presley - That's All Right 1:55 1954

02 Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around the Clock 2:12 1954

03 Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Work With Me Annie 2:47 1954

04 Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle and Roll 3:01 1954

05 Chuck Berry - Maybellene 2:20 1955

06 Little Richard - Tutti Frutti 2:25 1955

07 Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley 2:44 1955

08 Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes 2:17 1956

09 Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps - Be-Bop-A-Lula 2:35 1956

10 Johnny Burnette Trio - The Train Kept A-Rollin 2:14 1956

11 Wanda Jackson - Fujiyama Mama 2:15 1956

12 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall in Love 2:18 1956

13 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You 2:24 1956

14 Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin' 3:06 1956

15 Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 2:53 1957

16 Buddy Holly & the Crickets - That'll Be the Day 2:17 1957

17 Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love 2:19 1957

18 Larry Williams - Bony Moronie 3:03 1957

19 Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues 2:00 1958

20 Link Wray - Rumble 2:25 1958

21 Coasters - Yakety Yak 1:50 1958

22 Ritchie Valens - La Bamba 2:06 1958

23 Faron Young - Sweet Dreams 2:46 1958

24 Elegants - Little Star 2:42 1958

25 Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser 2:22 1958

CD3

01 Ray Charles - What'd I Say (Pts 1 & 2) 6:28 1959

02 Drifters - There Goes My Baby 2:16 1959

03 Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City 2:25 1959

04 Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want) 2:39 1959

05 Bobby Darin - Dream Lover 2:34 1959

06 Isley Brothers - Shout (Pts 1 & 2) 4:29 1959

07 Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You 3:23 1959

08 Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - The Twist 2:36 1959

09 Lloyd Price - Personality 2:37 1959

10 Brook Benton - It's Just A Matter of Time 2:28 1959

11 Rosco Gordon - No More Doggin' 2:38 1959

12 Connie Francis - Everybody's Somebody's Fool 2:41 1960

13 Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow 2:40 1960

14 Chubby Checker - The Twist 2:33 1960

15 Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely 2:28 1960

16 Ventures - Walk, Don't Run 2:05 1960

17 Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs - Stay 1:38 1960

18 Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem 2:52 1960

19 Sam Cooke - Chain Gang 2:38 1960

20 Johnny Tillotson - Poetry in Motion 2:34 1960

21 Del Shannon - Runaway 2:21 1961

22 Gary U.S. Bonds - Quarter to Three 2:29 1961

23 Beach Boys - Surfin' U.S.A. 2:30 1961

24 Ernie K-Doe - Mother in Law 2:35 1961

25 Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman 2:30 1961

CD4

01 Booker T. & the M.G.'s - Green Onions 2:53 1962

02 Crystals - He's a Rebel 2:32 1962

03 Shirelles - Soldier Boy 2:40 1962

04 Dick Dale and the Del-Tones - Misirlou 2:14 1962

05 Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - You've Really Got A Hold on Me 2:57 1962

06 Martha and the Vandellas - Come and Get These Memories 2:28 1962

07 Little Eva - The Loco-Motion 2:28 1962

08 Four Seasons - Sherry 2:33 1962

09 Neil Sedaka - Breaking Up is Hard to Do 2:16 1962

10 Jan & Dean - Surf City 2:31 1963

11 Ronettes - Be My Baby 2:39 1963

12 Bob Dylan - Blowin' in The Wind 2:49 1963

13 Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire 2:38 1963

14 Lonnie Mack - Memphis 2:30 1963

15 Kingsmen - Louie, Louie 2:45 1963

16 Trashmen - Surfin' Bird 2:22 1963

17 Angels - My Boyfriend's Back 2:15 1963

18 Jimmy Soul - If You Wanna Be Happy 2:08 1963

19 Barbara Lewis - Hello Stranger 2:37 1963

20 Tymes - So Much in Love 2:10 1963

21 Exciters - Tell Him 2:38 1963

22 Lou Christie - Two Faces Have I 2:45 1963

23 Rip Chords - Hey Little Cobra 2:00 1963

24 Major Lance - The Monkey Time 2:47 1963

25 Dionne Warwick - Anyone Who Had A Heart 2:53 1963

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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