Devil In A Blue Dress: Music From The Motion Picture (1995)

Haven't seen this movie? You should check it out (I liked it so much, I then read the book). Starring Denzel Washington, it's a decent film noir set in postwar Los Angeles. Much of the film takes place in LA jazz clubs in 1948 and it was just around this time that R&B started to develop as its own genre, separating itself from jazz. This perfectly sequenced compilation, a great time capsule, wonderfully captures that transition. Unlike many soundtracks, these songs actually make an appearance in the film. This brief disc ends with about 7 minutes of the film score by the Oscar-winning film composer Elmer Bernstein. While good, the score doesn't really fit in with the '40s music, but a composer's gotta get some royalties too, right?

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

Artist	Title	Year	Top tracks
T-Bone Walker	West Side Baby	1947	✔
Jimmy Witherspoon	Ain't Nobody's Business	1947
Duke Ellington	Hy-Ah Su	?	✔
Roy Milton	Hop, Skip And Jump	1948
Wynonie Harris	Good Rockin' Tonight	1948	✔
Pee Wee Crayton	Blues After Hours	1948
Bull Moose Jackson	I Can't Go On Without You	1947
Thelonious Monk	'Round Midnight	1947	✔
Amos Milburn	Chicken Shack Boogie	1948	✔
Memphis Slim	Messin' Around	1948
Lloyd Glenn	Chica Boo	1951	✔
Elmer Bernstein	Theme	1995
Elmer Bernstein	Malibu Chase	1995
Elmer Bernstein	End Credits	1995

Why isn't Good Rockin' Tonight (written by Roy Brown in 1947) widely considered the first rock song?  It should definitely be in the discussion.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Around the time this movie was released, I heard the crew on a morning radio show discussing the best CD to have playing during, er...let's say..., nocturnal adult activities. One of the DJ's mentioned this soundtrack, so I picked it up for, um, research purposes.