Don & Dewey

• Genre: '50s Rock 'n' Roll
• Hometown: Pasadena

About

This dynamic duo's music had everything there is to love about early, R&B-laced rock 'n' roll: raw vocals, overdriven guitars, honking saxophones, and nonsense lyrics such as "langa langa oola ookie chank chank." Recording for the Specialty label in the late 1950s, they shared labelmate Little Richard's rhythm section on many of their recordings, and while they never hit on anything as instantly indelible as "Tutti Frutti" or "Long Tall Sally," their performances exploded with a similar bordering-on-manic intensity. Don, who in addition to playing guitar and splitting vocal duties was also a fairly advanced violinist, re-emerged a decade later as "Sugarcane" Harris. His pungent, bluesy violin made distinguished guest spots on Frank Zappa's Hot Rats and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, among many other albums.

- Will York