It’s not only Rock Family Trees Around Here. Pete Frame is also the author of the brilliant The Restless Generation: How Rock Music Changed the Face of 1950s Britain

The book tells the story of the early development of British rock music, starting from an extraordinary mix of jazz, blues and skiffle, played with great gusto and varying degrees of talent by a bunch of rebellious enthusiasts. Britain lived in the shadow of the American scene – but a scene that was rarely heard in the UK owing to the conservatism of the BBC and the restrictive practices of the Musicians’ Union. We took a while to catch on, and it was a long time until the UK had much to offer back to the US, but the history of how this developed is quite fascinating.

The book ends with a list of Pete’s Top Twenty UK Singles of the 50s, in chronological order. Here, conveniently, are iTunes links to the songs. And, if you listen to them all, you’ll have to agree that Cliff was the only one who really got it. I wonder what ever became of him?

1. Lonnie Donegan – Rock Island Line

2. Tommy Steele – Rock With the Caveman

3. Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group with Nancy Whiskey – Freight Train

4. The Vipers Skiffle Group – Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O

5. Dickie Bishop & his Sidekicks – No Other Baby

6. Lonnie Donegan – Cumberland Gap

7. Lonnie Donegan – Gamblin’ Man

8. Johnny Duncan & his Blue Grass Boys – Last Train to San Fernando

9. Wee Willie Harris – Rockin’ At the Two I’s

10. Marty Wilde – Endless Sleep

11. The Five Chesternuts – Teenage Love

12. Cliff Richard & The Drifters – Move It

13. Lord Rockingham’s XI – Hoots Mon!

14a. Billy Fury – Maybe Tomorrow

14b. Billy Fury – Gonna Type a Letter

15. Marty Wilde – Danny

16. Vince Taylor & the Playboys – Brand New Cadillac

17. Johnny Kidd & the Pirates – Please Don’t Touch

18a. Cliff Richard & the Drifters – Living Doll

18b. Cliff Richard & the Drifters – Apron Strings

19a. Cliff Richard & the Shadows – Travellin’ Light

19b. Cliff Richard & the Shadows – Dynamite

20. Adam Faith – What Do You Want?

Who’d have thought it? It’s taken a few days to sink in round here, but were they really on top of the album charts last week? Check out the album:

The Final Frontier – Iron Maiden

And what’s more there have been no more personnel changes since Pete drew his tree in 2001, so the tree remains as fresh as the day it was drawn.

To celebrate we’ve rushed out a new Iron Maiden poster, now available in the shop, as well, of course, as the fine art print.

Or to be more accurate the ferry terminal in St Helier in the Channel Island of Jersey, musing on that perennial question: why is it that UK place names fail to have the poetic resonance of their US counterparts? There seem to be no British equivalents of being stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, being Alabamy Bound or even 24 Hours from Tulsa. Ferry Cross the Mersey or Longhaired Lover from Liverpool illustrate the perils of attempting something similar.

But there are some great songs about British places if you think hard enough. Lindisfarne’s Fog on the Tyne may be the most natural and evocative, and then those loyal patriots the Sex Pistols gave us Anarchy in the UK. It also seems possible to sing about London: the Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset being a great example. Are there any better still?

I know we are still, officially, in the height of summer, but it won’t be long before the nights start drawing in. And here is the problem. You’ve long finished the Sopranos. The Wire, the world’s best ever social science fiction, has run its course. Mad Men is stylish fun but over too soon. So what do you do now? Here is our answer: the box set of the fabulous Homicide Life on the Street.

At almost £60 it does sound expensive, but for this you get 5,724 minutes of undiluted genius, including a rather nifty sound track, with, among many many others, Tom Waits, Garbage, The Drifters, Anthony and the Imperials, and one of our favourites Buddy Guy’s Feels Like Rain. And not only that, it is said that several of the characters in the second series are named after Grunge musicians. What more could you want?

And was it just in London, or the whole of Britain?

As if by magic, to celebrate the special deal on our London R&B Explosion tree (just £150 until the end of the month) some good hearted soul has posted the TV programme Rock Family Trees: The British R&B Boom on youtube, broken into six bite sized chunks.

There are other programmes to be found there too. Our guide is here.

100%

guitar burn

 

Here they are, cooler than Roxy.

Tickets here.

And if you have a copy of What A Way to End It All: The Anthology you should count yourself very lucky indeed.

 

If you are in the mood for something much more unusual, have you heard the fabulous zydeko Paper In My Shoes by Boozoo Chaivs? There are several recordings of this around, but the only one to listen to is the original from 1954 dug out by Bob Dylan for his Theme Time Radio Show (this is the one the link takes you to.) It meanders in and out of time, Boozoo and the band are in different keys, and, to put it politely, Boozoo sometimes struggles with his diction. But somehow it gets under your – or at least my -skin. And I’d really like to hear the takes they rejected in favour of this one.

Just until the end of August these two trees will be available at a huge discount: £150 against the normal selling price of £250, while stocks last. Click on the trees to go to the shop.

Obviously enough from the Banshees and Buzzcocks tree, in the Rock Family Trees volume.