Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Moondog Coronation Ball

In rock 'n' roll history there are moments that define when everything went to the stars and when everything went to hell. Woodstock, stars. Altamont, hell. Isle of Wight, stars. Cincinnati, hell. But before any of those happened, there was the first rock concert, in Cleveland, Ohio, 60 years ago. The Moondog Coronation Ball was its name.

The scathingly notorious musicians that night:

Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voa4JXFJi3Q

Tiny Grimes and his Rockin' Highlanders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5umkCvZ8Sms

The Dominoes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZhPKydKcY

Varetta Dillard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPqeV_d2PQ

Danny Cobb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfYoFPBs3fI

Pretty scary stuff, eh?
Every rock 'n' roller has heard of the event, but not everyone has heard the whole story.

Here is the story, better than I could ever tell it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17440514

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it's Carl Palmer's birthday. May your skin always be tight, Carl. Happy 62~

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was five years old that year. Blissfully unaware that all the hard work was being done for me. By the time I was fifteen rock and roll was as common as ice cream.

CarrieBoo said...

Ah, I remember it well. Okay, maybe not. ;)

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Compared to the explicit lyrics in today's rap crap and hip hop music, it's hard to believe how uptight society was at the advent of rock and roll. And I did NOT know rock and roll was a euphemism for sex. How cool is that?

SarcasticTestGuy said...

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that one. I learned something new...now I can go home.

...wait...

DAMMIT!

Thanks anyway!