on December 30, 1938 was an up-tempo, non-swung boogie woogie with a hand-clapping backbeat and a collation of blues verses "Rocking the Blues" by the Port of Harlem Jazz Men, a group comprising Frank Newton, J.C. Higginbotham, Albert Ammons, Teddy Bunn, John Williams and Sidney Catlett, was an upbeat instrumental issued in 1939 as Blue Note no. 3. 1940s "Early in the Morning" and "Jivin' the Blues", both recorded on May 17, 1940 by "Sonny Boy" Williamson, the first of the two musicians who used that name, are examples of the very influential and popular rhythmic small group Chicago blues recordings on Lester Melrose's Bluebird label, and among the first on which drums (by Fred Williams) were prominently recorded. "Down the Road a Piece" by the Will Bradley Orchestra, a smooth rocking boogie number, was recorded in August 1940 with drummer "Eight Beat Mack" Ray McKinley sharing the vocals with the song's writer Don Raye. The song would later become a rock and roll standard. The "eight beats" in McKinley's nickname and the popular phrase "eight to the bar" in many songs indicate the newness of the shift from the four beats per bar of jazz to boogie woogie's eight beats per bar, which became, and remains, characteristic of rock and roll. Bradley also recorded the first version of Raye's "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", later recorded with greater commercial success by the Andrews Sisters, whose biggest hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" also contains numerous proto-rock and roll elements. "Flying Home" was recorded most famously in 1942 by Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra, with tenor sax solo by Illinois Jacquet, recreated and refined live by Arnett Cobb. This became a model for rock and roll solos ever since: emotional, honking, long, not just an instrumental break but the keystone of the song. The Benny Goodman Sextet had a popular hit in 1939 with a more subdued version of the song, featuring electric guitarist Charlie Christian. The book What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record? by Jim Dawson and Steve Propes discusses 50 contenders as the "first rock and roll record", the earliest being "Blues, Part 2" from the 1944 Jazz at the Philharmonic live album, also featuring Jacquet's saxophone but with an even more "honking" solo. "Mean Old World" by T-Bone Walker, recorded in 1942, is an early classic by this hugely influential guitarist, often cited as the first