Where the 50s really gets interesting is when you go beyond rock: Parker, Gillespie, Mulligan, Brubeck, Ammons, Rollins, et al; Frankie's Capitol concept albums, the "exotica" music of Baxter, Lyman, and Esquivel; the great country classics, many which crossed over to the pop charts; even Belafonte (yeah, I know the guy's a total a-hole) and the calypso and folk music. Add the Beat writers to the mix and it made for some pretty interesting times. And to top it all off, there were the cars with the big engines, tailfins, and Dagmars.
I love the '50s - just on Rock alone! I'm insulted that "Classic Rock" does not refer to the '50s.
And never mind the cars. Altho the "greatest" of the tailfin types - '59 Eldorado - I absolutely hate. Ugly. Get me a Mark II any day.
Yeah, Cut my teeth on Bruebeck,Jerry Mulligan,K.K.Winding Etal.. At the Old Blackhawk in San Francisco (Turk & Hyde)
During the mid-fifties.
These guys used to Jam after hours in Golden Gate Park.
The Greatest Moment (For me at least) was a session at 4:00AM one warm summer night between Gene Ammond and
Paul Desmond. The number one Alto Sax and Boss Tenor himself. Absolute Magic. Never forgot that.