Alto sax blower Jimmy Preston is another one of the legion of postwar RB figures that can accurately be cited as a genuine forefather of rock roll. His chief claim to fame: the blistering 1949 smash Rock the Joint, which inspired a groundbreaking cover by Bill Haley the Comets in 1952.

Rock the Joint wasn't Preston's first trip to the RB Top Ten. Earlier in 1949, he'd hit with Hucklebuck Daddy. Both were cut for Ivin Ballen's Philadelphia-based Gotham logo. The scorching sax breaks on Rock the Joint weren't Preston's doing, but tenor saxist Danny Turner's. Preston cut rather prolifically for Gotham through much of 1950 (including a session with jazzman Benny Golson on tenor sax) before switching to Derby Records and scoring his last hit, Oh Babe (with a vocal by Burnetta Evans). The 1950 date for the New York label was apparently his last. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi