JIMMY PRESTON

 

James Alfred Smith Preston (August 18, 1913 – December 17, 1984), was an American R&B bandleader, alto saxophonist, drummer and singer who made an important contribution to early rock and roll.

Preston was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and formed his own group in 1945. His first R&B top ten hit was with "Hucklebuck Daddy" in 1949, recorded for Philadelphia's Gotham Records. His main claim to fame was to record, as Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians, the original version of "Rock the Joint" for Gotham in 1949. The sax breaks on "Rock the Joint" were the work of tenor player Danny Turner (1920–1995). "Rock the Joint" was re-recorded by Jimmy Cavallo in 1951, and Bill Haley and the Saddlemen in 1952.

In 1950, tenor saxophone player Benny Golson and pianist Billy Gaines were added to his new line-up and recorded songs like "Early Morning Blues" and "Hayride".Preston moved to Derby Records and had a final R&B hit with a cover of Louis Prima’s "Oh Babe".

Preston gave up playing music in 1952, but as Reverend Dr. James S. Preston, he founded the Victory Baptist Church in 1962. He died in Philadelphia in 1984, aged 71.

In the later part of the 1940's, a significant change began in the Rhythm and Blues market for songs that would give birth to a new underground genre of music that later would be considered a the prelude to "rock and roll". R&B Jimmy Preston and His Prestonians recording of "Rock The Joint" in 1949 definitely helped fuel that movement. This mix of blurting saxophone sounds, a blues-based melody with a dynamic beat, and boogie bass, helped to establish the prerequisite. He would later be identified as a key contributor of what would later be labeled rock & roll. Even as early as 1946, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right" is thought to be ground zero because it sounded a decade ahead of it's time. In 1947, Wild Bill Moore's "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll", and Stick" McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" are also considered as early contributors as well. Jimmy Preston without a doubt influenced a fledgling country artist named Bill Haley who recorded his own hopped-up "rockabilly" version of "Rock the Joint" that attracted the attention of the white listening audience. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began pushing this new style of music style and popularized the phrase "rock and roll" to describe it. Later, Bill Haley's recording of "Rock Around The Clock" became the  international milestone in the emergence of rock and roll.