Hank Ballard
Chuck Berry
James Brown
Ray Charles
Sam Cooke
Little Richard
Little Willie John
Clyde McPhatter
Jackie Wilson

I’m not sure James Brown belongs here though. While he was out in the mid 50s’ like these other 8 performers, he wasn’t a marquee name like the others. He only had three charting singles in the 50s’ (they were Please and Try Me though) but still. Your call.

I will give it a go My Top 10;

1.Little Richard

2.Chuck Berry

3.Fats Domino

4.Ruth Brown

5.Bo Diddley/Hank Ballard

6.Ray Charles

7.Johnny Otis/Ike Turner

8.Bo Diddley/Little Willie John

9.Jackie Wilson

10.Sam Cooke/James Brown

Goddess4Real said:

Vocally, I think CLyde McPhatter tops them all. Ass everone from Sam Cooke to Jackie Wilson (who replaced Clyde in the Dominoes) tried to sound like him.

Musically, Ray Charles I believe.

1. Little Richard - The architect of rock and roll and one of the greatest musical treasures ever, talent and personality and a natural flamboyance that led to the qualities of being a perfect showman. Prince, Michael Jackson and a lot of later performers owe a lot to him.

2. Chuck Berry - His guitar driven pop and rock ballads kick started the American love affair with cars as sex and women. His music and guitar playing was as iconic as Richard's piano playing, the two of them dominated late 1950s Black r and b and rock n roll.

3. Ray Charles, bought country and rockabilly and boogie woogie, also had a lot of soul combining gospel with R and B and a tremendous piano player, not forgetting this man was also blind and hooked on heroin at the time, a legend.

4. Sam Cooke - The greatest crooner of the time, You send me is a classic that still sends shivers down my spine, he also crossed over the most in the 1950s, all crossed over to whites to some degree, but Sam Cooke had the full pass. He took Black R and B ballads to the masses.

5. James Brown - don't get me wrong, he owned the 1960s and the early 1970s, his black pride, natural down home soul and blues and the energetic shows, but in the 50s he had only had a few hits and only Please Please Please was a huge cross over one.

6. Jackie Wilson, the brother could sing, and he looked fine, but never had the impact the others did, his biggest hits were written by a man called Berry Gordy who went on to start a record label called Motown, which would dominate the Black pop music scene of the 1960s.

7. Fats Domino - a few melodic hits in the 1950s, but more honky tonk and New Orleans than pure rock, a couple of very forgettable sex ballads, but Little Richard this cat is not. More a pre rock and roll, neo Fats waller type 1930s Jazzbo Collins type artist than 50s rock and roller.

8. The others, all were important to some degree, Ike Turner if only for Rocket 88, the first proper rock song and beating the shit out of Tina multiple times.