The oldest recording on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s essential songs list dates back to 1928You can make a case that rock and roll, as a genre, has only really existed since the 1950s, but if you were to examine its roots and origins, it stretches back considerably deeper into the 20th century. There may not always be noticeable similarities between each end of the chain of connection, but rock and roll stemmed from blues music, and blues music in itself stemmed from jazz. While jazz itself has many disparate origins that we can trace back further, this is where the expedition ends for today, arriving at what is considered to be the earliest significant song in the history of rock and roll. That is, as far as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are concerned. Billie Holiday would later go on to credit the song with having introduced her to scat singing, and given how she herself would go on to directly impact both the development of jazz and rock and roll, the bigger picture begins to emerge.