What’s your song?

Seokrocks · Jun 7, 2025

kellyt1994 said:
Rock me daddy,
Like my back ain't got no bone

Fun fact: That Cleveland DJ who coined the term "rock and roll" got it from this song.

There are true facts and false facts… this one, though popular is among the false ones.

Although Alan Freed is credited with popularizing the term, its musical application stems from the African American community in the 1920s. If any one song can be credited, it is Trixie Smith’s 1922 song “My Man Rocks Me, (with One Steady Roll.)” Although her song was probably a reflection of the term’s emergence rather than its origin.

Cleveland DJ Bill Randle (William McKinley Randle, Jr.) was the first to use the term on the air, which was then borrowed by Alan Freed and used as the name of his radio show “Rock and Roll Party.”

Bill’s career started in Detroit in the 1940’s where he was a successful DJ and pioneered the general popularization of African American music with his show, “the Interracial Goodwill Hour.”

In Detroit, Bill was sanctioned for playing music by black artists before 10:00 PM which then was illegal. In Cleveland, Bill was fired by his station manager for playing Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s version of Silent Night on Thanksgiving day. The station owner then rehired Randle and fired the station manager.

kellyt1994 · Jun 7, 2025

Interesting. I was quoting this older guy I lived with for 5 years. In hindsight he was often a teller of unlikely tales. But in his defense he did turn me on to the raunchy old blues.

For your trouble: