Roots of Rock and Roll
Rock and roll is rooted in the blues of Mississippi. The Mississippi Jook Band (brothers Roosevelt and Uaroy Graves and pianist Cooney Vaughan) earned a niche in the annals of rock after they recorded in Hattiesburg in 1936, nearly two decades before rock and roll exploded in the 1950s. The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll noted that their blues recordings “featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat.”