First Rock 'n' Roll Song?

'In "Before Elvis," a study of the "prehistory of rock," Larry Birnbaum makes a compelling case for "Roll 'Em Pete," recorded in 1938 by blues shouter Big Joe Turner and boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson. "Roll 'Em Pete" has all the energy, drive and attitude of the classic R&B sides of a decade later—say, Roy Brown's 1947 "There's Good Rockin' Tonight"—not to mention early rock hits from five years after that, like Bill Haley's 1954 "Rock Around The Clock." Mr. Birnbaum calls "Roll 'Em Pete" "a full-fledged rocker in all but instrumentation"—meaning that there is every element associated with rock except for the electric guitar. "Johnson's bass line is a Chuck Berry-like chug," he writes, "and his furious right-hand embellishments anticipate Berry's entire guitar style."'

Will Friedwald, reviewer
Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll by Larry Birnbaum (2012)