WYNONIE HARRIS
ROCKS

Of all the studly blues shouters whose raucous wails in front of jumping, sax-leavened combos provided a vivid blueprint for the rise of rock and roll, none inhabited the role any more enthusiastically than Wynonie Harris. Mr. Blues, as he was known from coast to coast, sang about a world that he knew well, filled with booze, women, gambling, and all manner of sleazy escapades guaranteed to heartily resonate with his massive fan base during the late 1940s and early ‘50s. Wynonie’s rafter-rattling hits for Syd Nathan’s Cincinnati-based King Records provide many of the highlights on Bear Family’s blistering compilation ‘Wynonie Harris Rocks,’ led by his ‘48 R&B chart-topper Good Rockin’ Tonight and his similarly rafter-rattling Lollipop Mama, All She Wants To Do Is Rock, I Want My Fanny Brown, Sittin’ On It All The Time, Good Morning Judge, and Bloodshot Eyes. Just as potent were Wynonie’s mighty houserockers Quiet Whiskey, Bite Again, Bite Again, Shake That Thing, Git With The Grits, and the aptly titled Rock Mr. Blues. That’s exactly what Mr. Blues does throughout this non-stop collection: he rocks like mad with the help of top-flight sessioneers including blasting tenor saxists Hal ‘Cornbread’ Singer, Tom Archia, Johnny Griffin, and Red Prysock. Harris’ slightly hoarse, frequently leering vocal delivery was as distinctive as it was instantly recognizable; if not for Wynonie and his leather-lunged compatriots (let’s not forget Elvis covered Good Rockin’ Tonight as his encore Sun single, illustrating Harris’ influence; Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, Carl Perkins, and James Brown chimed in with versions later on), rock and roll might never have happened at all!