The Who were a scruffy lot, tough as nails, and were known as the High Numbers, The Detours, and after a night tossing around ideas for a new name, one of Pete Townsend’s friends, Richard Barnes, suggested The Who because according to him it “had a pop punch.” Townsend didn’t care for it, but Roger Daltrey settled on it the next day. There were others all poised to break big: Now, they are of course the greatest rock and roll band of all time, a major music publication named itself after them, and the world mourns the loss of Charlie Watts, the greatest rock and roll drummer ever. Brian Jones, in the first years when he was much more prominent before succumbing to increasingly horrific drug use and contributing almost no material before drowning in a swimming pool, was the one who formed the Stones, and named them. The naming of The Rolling Stones was no mystery either. The Beatles, after a few earlier names like The Silver Beatles, The Beetles (before Lennon liked using the “beat” society reference, and The Quarrymen, their first band if you will, stayed with their famous spelling. It was the ’60’s that would change naming bands and performers forever. So, we all know the name game here. The ’50’s really started the ball rolling, and while band names might not have been especially flashy compared to what was coming, band names were more a part of rock and roll, and single performers stayed more in the pop chart territory. But name wise, Jordan named all his combos for reasons known only to him as The Tympani Five, when there were no less than seven men in his band at any given time. “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby,” “Five Guys Named Moe”, “Caldonia Boogie”, and “Nobody Here But Us Chickens” were huge, and darned if rock and roll couldn’t be found nosing around in those boogie woogie tempos and fiery solos! That my home state of Arkansas is nearly oblivious to this great man is sad. The exception was Victory records, acetate singles sent to troops in all theaters, and Jordan’s timely subject matter touched the troops and sailors, with songs that reminded them of better times at home albeit sometimes with plenty of ribbing to go along with it. At the time the recording industry was almost at a complete standstill as artists refused to perform for any label until major reforms including much better royalties and the right to compose their own material was addressed. Another was the Mound City Blowers, and the Delta had a few “Blind Men” vocal groups, including “The Five Blind Men of Mississippi” and “The Five Blind Men Of Alabama”.Īrkansas native Louis Jordan, who is a critical pioneer in helping develop rock and roll music (and I’m a bit hacked frankly at the lack of attention he receives, given his amazing string of huge hits especially from the late 1930’s through WWII, where his hits were hugely popular, particularly amongst those in the Armed Services. So, memorable names were important, but also, local stations in small markets gave listeners a chance to play on evening local music shows when the networks weren’t broadcasting, local sports, community and church services, etc.īut naming bands and musicians other than after the band leaders was rare, although Louis Armstrong made his back up band “The Hot Seven” very popular in the late ’20’s. In the last century when recorded music became available, people could listen to music at home and the advent of radio was even more revolutionary at the time than the internet and all its impact today. Our pets have names, some cute, some that were not very fair to the animal, but luckily they don’t know that. What’s in a name? Well, recognition, and self response to others.
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