Louis Jordan and Early Rock Forms - Note on Files


This project was intended to be an investigation into early rock 
and roll forms; however upon initial investigation, all roads were 
leading back to Louis Jordan.

Therefore, the primary interest became Louis Jordan with a 
secondary emphasis on early rock forms and development. There are 
many sources related to the topic of rock and roll in general, 
however my intention was to seek only those sources which provided 
information on the period of history from the late 1940s up to the 
first recordings of Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley; a 
developmental period which receives less popular attention than
the subsequent time period. 

There is a reference to "soundies" in the Filmography section;
soundies can be considered the precursors to music videos. They 
were produced from 1940-1946 and made to be seen on self-contained, 
coin-operated, 16mm rear projection machines called Panorams. They 
were located in nightclubs, bars, restaurants and other public 
places. Eight soundies, featuring a variety of musical performances, 
were generally spliced together on a reel which ran in a continuous 
loop.

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