Regarding Wynonie Harris, Henry Glover once told writer Nick Tosches, "When you saw Elvis, you were seeing a mild form of Wynonie."

The above quote appears in Nick Tosches's book Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth Of Rock In The Wild Years Before Elvis.

I love Elvis as much as the next person, but he definitely owed a debt to Wynonie Harris. I wonder how the uptight prudes would have reacted if Mr. Blues himself had appeared on national television instead of The King. Their eyes would have popped out of their sockets while they pulled their hairs out and their foreheads turned beet red.

There is a great article in the current issue of Vintage Rock (A U.K.-based publication) on Wynonie. I just found a copy completely by accident at a local Barnes & Noble and bought it on impulse. For anyone who is interested in the real roots of rock 'n roll, you can't go wrong with this magazine.

Check it out here:

http://www.vintagerockmag.com/

Posted by Zach on Sunday, 05/12/2013 @ 23:23pm