Who was it that first named Rock and Roll music?
If you think it was Alan Freed, think again. Before Alan Freed first uttered the phrase, Hardrock Gunter was already making records and singing about rock and roll.
Granted, Hardrock wasn't the first one to use the term–it had been a slang term for having sex and certainly found its way into a few songs in that context. But Hardrock was the first ever to use it as referring to music.
Recorded in1950, "Birmingham Bounce"mentions rock and roll in a musical context for the very first time. In their book "What Was the First Rock and Roll Record?", authors Jim Dawson and Steve Probes nominate the song as the very first rock and roll recording.
If that isn't enough to cement Hardrock's claim to be the originator of Rock and Roll, his follow-up release, also issued in 1950, was "(Gonna Rock and Roll) Gonna Dance All Night."
Read more about the man that now goes by the moniker "Rock" and listen to his music. You'll find the roots of Rock and Roll started with Hardrock.