Another of the jump blues specialists whose romping output can be pinpointed as a direct precursor of rock roll, guitarist Jimmy Liggins was a far more aggressive bandleader than his older brother Joe, right down to the names of their respective combos (Joe led the polished Honeydrippers; Jimmy proudly fronted the Drops of Joy). Inspired by the success of his brother (Jimmy toiled as Joe's chauffeur for a year), the ex-pugilist jumped into the recording field in 1947 on Art Rupe's Specialty logo. His Tear Drop Blues pierced the RB Top Ten the next year, while Careful Love and Don't Put Me Down hit for him in 1949. But it's Liggins' rough-and-ready rockers -- Cadillac Boogie, Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man, and the loopy one-chord workout Drunk (his last smash in 1953) -- that mark Liggins as one of rock's forefathers. His roaring sax section at Specialty was populated by first-rate reedmen such as Harold Land, Charlie Little Jazz Ferguson, and the omnipresent Maxwell Davis. Liggins left Specialty in 1954, stopping off at Aladdin long enough to wax the classic-to-be I Ain't Drunk (much later covered by Albert Collins) before fading from the scene. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi