Publisher's Synopsis
Lee Cotten's "Shake, Rattle & Roll: The Golden Age of American Rock 'n Roll, Volume 1: 1952-1956" (1989), marked the beginning of a journey back to the very roots of rock 'n roll, a pilgrimage to a time filled with the names and matchless music of legendary rhythm and blues performers.;Nearly 150 pages larger than its predecessor, "Reelin' & Rockin'" picks up the story of rock music's early-50s, rhythm-and-blues-based odyssey from the mid-50s through to the close of the decade, chronicling not only the progress of black rhythm and blues but also the further development of its emergent, white-dominated musical progeny: rock 'n roll. Continuing the format of the first volume, the author's monthly chronologies focus on daily musical events (recording sessions, concert appearances, etc), weekly listings of new record releases, an inventory of the top records of the month, and a multi-page biography - with a photograph - centred on an "Artist of the Month".;In a significant change from "Shake, Rattle & Roll", however, the very brief sidebars of anecdotal artist information supplementing the main text of the first volume have been replaced with more than 150 mini-biographies of many of the lesser luminaries of 50s rock, including Tommy Facenda, The Gladiolas, Bob Bernard, Narvel Felts, Esquirita, The Jodimars, Ed Townsend, Link Wray, Skip & Flip, to name just a few.
