A year after recording "It's Only Love" with Bryan Adams, Tina asked us to write a song for her "Break Every Rule" album.

When we asked her what kind of song she was looking for, she told us, "Write about anything you want ... just don't write about my life!".

So we wrote a song about her life anyway! Either she didn't notice, or she liked the song so much she didn't care. Our lyric draws inspiration from the story of Tina's relationship with her abusive ex-husband, Ike Turner.

Tina's vocal performance, produced by Bryan, earned her a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Vocal Performace, Female".

Speaking of Ike Turner ...

History has, for the most part, reduced Ike to a mere footnote ... the mean-spirited, controlling band-leader and husband from whom Tina Turner was forced to escape.  That much appears to be true, but there's more.

Some sources say Ike was "there" when Rock and Roll was invented!

So ... when, exactly, did Rock and Roll begin?  What was the first Rock and Roll record?

A number of recordings lay claim, but three in particular always seem to top the historian's polls:

• "That's All Right Mama", recorded in 1954 by Elvis Presley
• "Rock Around The Clock", also recorded in 1954, by Bill Haley and the Comets
• "Rocket '88", recorded in 1951 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats

Jackie Brenston was the saxophonist and ocassional vocalist in Ike Turner's band.  In fact "Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats" was really "Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm", re-named for this one recording only. 

Although initially credited to Brenston, "Rocket '88" was written by Ike Turner. It was recorded in March 1951 at Memphis Recording Services and released on Chicago's Chess Records label.

Three years later, in 1954, Sam Philips produced Elvis Presley's "That's All Right Mama", thus introducing Rock 'n Roll to a wider audience and forever changing the course of popular music. But "Rocket '88" was Phillips' first "hit" record.

Ike Turner, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley might have been first to cross the Rock 'n Roll finish line -- however, a number of earlier recordings, while receiving less attention, also possess many of the essential elements of "rock music".  These include:

• "Move It On Over" (recorded in 1947 by Hank Williams)
• "Rockin' At Midnight" (recorded in 1948 by Roy Brown)
• "Rock And Roll" (recorded in 1948 by Wild Bill Moore)
• "The Fat Man" (recorded in 1949 by Fats Domino)
• "Rock The Joint" (recorded in 1949 by Jimmy Preston)

So which one was the first Rock and Roll recording?

You choose!