Link Wray – Rumble (1958)
The air in the diner hung thick and greasy, the fluorescent lights buzzing an off-key accompaniment to the jukebox in…
Buddy Holly – Rave On (1958)
The air in the little diner booth was thick with the smell of stale coffee and fryer grease. Outside, the…
Little Richard – Good Golly Miss Molly (1958)
The air in the room changes when the needle drops on this track. It’s an immediate, visceral response—a sudden infusion…
James Brown & The Famous Flames – Try Me! (1959)
The air in the late 1950s music scene was thick with the sweet, polished sheen of vocal groups and the…
B.B. King – Three O’Clock Blues (Live) (1951)
It is three o’clock in the morning. Not the polished, neon-drenched three o’clock of a late-night talk show, but the…
Hank Williams – Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (1952)
The sound hits you first, even through the thin membrane of an old vinyl transfer or the compressed signal of…
Buddy Knox – Party Doll (1957)
The studio air in 1957 must have been thick with a nervous, almost tangible energy. You could practically smell the…
Frankie Laine – Rawhide (1958)
It’s late evening, the air thick and warm, and you’re driving. The radio signal is fading in and out, the…
Billy Vaughn – Sail Along Silvery Moon (1957)
The air in the dimly lit lounge was thick, smelling faintly of spilled gin and expensive furniture polish. The year…
David Seville – Witch Doctor (1958)
The year is 1958. The airwaves are a glorious, restless sonic soup—a mix of saccharine teen idols, the first hard…