Rocket 88

To follow up on a subject that I had previously posted about, Ike Turner's cause of death was announced yesterday: cocaine. It came as a shock to me, but I'm not sure why once I thought about it.

It is interesting to note that both he and Walt Disney, another subject of my recent blogs, both died of their vices. Walt died of lung cancer at the age of 65. Walt was a chain smoker who avoided smoking on camera so as not to influence children, but his smoker's cough gave early warning to his employees when he was coming down the hall.

I have looked into the birth of Rock music a little more since my last Ike post, and there is actually quite a bit of dispute about what song was the actual birth of Rock. Since music morphs a wee bit with each song written, it is very hard to pinpoint the time when any genre begins. The Menziesera site gives a good rundown of how R&B slowly morphed into Rock and even includes a short sound snippet from each song so you can decide.

But many people consider the song Rocket 88 to be the birth. It was first recorded in 1951 by Ike Turner and Jackie Brenston and credited to the band "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats". The song praised the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 automobile introduced in 1949.

This is a very interesting discovery to me, as Oldsmobiles have been a big part of my family's automotive history. In fact, my second car was a 1970 Oldsmobile with a Rocket 350.

The car was a joy to own and, though it was based on the other GM 350 engines, the Olds version was very distinct. I can tell when I hear one approaching, just from the sound though I rarely hear one anymore.

And, unbeknownst to me, that is my tie back to the birth of Rock music.