The early sound still rocks on

"Well the blues had a baby, and they named the baby rock 'n' roll." - Muddy Waters

In the 1950s and '60s New Orleans was the axis of the rock and roll universe. Cosimo Matassa's famous studios were churning out hit after hit for artists such as Fats Domino, Earl King, Tommy Ridgley, and Guitar Slim.

Producers such as Allen Toussaint were making household names out of guys like Jessie Hill, Lee Dorsey, and Ernie K-Doe. And local joints, including the Dew Drop Inn and Club Tijuana, were playing host to headliners Little Richard, Dinah Washington, and Huey "Piano" Smith. Musicians were cutting records by day and taking part at night in sweaty jam sessions that pitted the cream of New Orleans's studio players against one another in showdowns called cuttin' contests.

The city was awash in groundbreaking music, and even though locals didn't realize it at the time, New Orleans was helping give birth to that baby known as rock 'n' roll.Or, at the very least, was certainly conceiving it there.

A secret society known as the Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau set out last year to re-create those halcyon days of early rock 'n' roll, when blues music was courting R&B and both got left behind.

In response to what they saw as a lack of attention and respect paid to many of the architects of rock 'n' roll, the Mystic Knights launched the Ponderosa Stomp in 2002, a three-day showcase of some of the giants and geniuses in the birth of rock 'n' roll. It was packed in between the two weekends of the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

Rather than feature an all-star lineup of marquee artists, the Ponderosa Stomp was designed to pay homage to "the true unsung heroes of rock 'n' roll," says chief Mystic Knight, Dr. Ike. These are the studio musicians who performed the yeoman's work behind such revered labels as Chess, Excello, Specialty, Aladdin, Sun, and Imperial.

"They were the building blocks of rock 'n' roll," Ike says. "They did stuff that was so far ahead of their time that people never gave them credit for it. And their influence was so long-lasting that people forgot about it."

The 2002 Stomp featured renowned sidemen like Howlin' Wolf alumni Hubert Sumlin, Henry Gray, and Jody Williams; career members of Elvis's band D.J. Fontana and Scotty Moore; swamp rocker Tony Joe White; guitar demon and former Ornette Coleman sideman James "Blood" Ulmer; powerhouse New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer; R&B legends Earl King, King Lloyd, and Eddie Bo; James Burton, bandleader for Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis; rockabilly original Paul Burlison, accidental inventor of the fuzztone guitar; Chicago bluesman Magic Slim and a reunion of his Teardrops; and the incomparable New Orleans bandleader/songwriter Dave Bartholomew.

And that list only scratches the surface.

The inaugural Ponderosa Stomp played to rave reviews and returned for an encore performance this year, in April. Most of the artists returned, too. The venue was moved to the funky second-story Mid-City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl, and the already-burgeoning lineup just kept getting bigger and better: one-time John Lee Hooker sideman and scorching blues guitarist Eddie Kirkland; the astounding Sun Ra Arkestraperforming all three nights; heavy-duty south Louisiana swamp poppers Johnny Allen, Warren Storm, and CC Adcock; John Fred, singing "Lucy In Disguise"; Charles "Skip" Pitts, slaying 'em with his trademark wah-wah intro to the "Theme From Shaft"; Fred Wesley and his funky trombone; Phil Phillips doing his classic "Sea of Love" - twice; and theWooly Bully man himself, Sam the Sham, replete with Hula-Hoop dancers.

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