Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Pioneering Pop: Car Keys as Percussion

In November, 1952 Wynonie Harris – with backing from Sonny Thompson‘s ensemble – recorded three songs at Cincinnati’s King Studios, the most compelling being “Greyhound:

“Greyhound”

Wynonie Harris (1952)

(Written by Rudy Toombs)

I love the driving rhythm that is augmented by a nice jingly set of car keys.  According to the liner notes in Ace UK’s Wynonie Harris CD anthology – Women, Whiskey & Fish Tails this Amos Milburn cover became the highlight of Harris’s stage act:

Purvis Henson, tenor saxophonist with the Buddy Johnson band, which backed Wynonie during a tour of the Midwest and South in the summer of 1953, remembers that Wynonie would start clapping his hands until the audience joined in, while the band played the chugging riff behind him.”

Could Wynonie Harris’s 1952 recording be the first pop recording that features car key percussion?

(image courtesy of Discogs)

Wynonie Harris

Streaming audio link to Amos Wilburn‘s original version of “Greyhound”

Great bus sound effects, but alas — no car keys.

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LINK to Jump Blues +/- Boogie

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