Rock and Roll

"Rhythm and Blues had a baby, and they named it Rock and Roll."

The Rock and Roll Frontier

Rock and Roll not only brought a sense of freedom of opinion, lifestyle and fashion to a new generation of baby boomers, but it brought together societies through the common interest of music. During the 1950's and 1960's- the early days of rock and roll, black teenagers were introduced to a new type of music that blended gospel, bluegrass, jazz, and rockabilly…it was called rock and roll.

Soon, black radio stations began playing this music, popularized by Chuck Berry and Little Richard, so often that white college students became well-aquatinted with it through campus posters for concerts and radio airplay. These students soon began purchasing records of popular artists and were sharing them with their friends and siblings. The popularization of rock and roll had begun.

By the 1960's, not only were black teenagers seen dancing and laughing at rock concerts, but so were white teenagers. There was no social barrier at these concerts, as a white girl might dance with a black boy and vice versa. Soon, the bond of friendship transcended the rules and regulations of their more exclusively minded parents. Parallel to the fact that black and white teenagers began to form friendships among one another was the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the integration of school systems in the south. Having the love of rock and roll as a common ground greatly aided in allowing for each society to see the other for what they truly were, and not simply their skin tone. Because of this bond, unity was found among teenagers, although violence ran rampant in the streets and among the older generation.

And so, rock and roll allowed for the baby boomer generation to find unity among one another through a common interest. This interest would proceed to be changed by an older white generation through covering and through overseas talent such as the Beatles. However, it would always be based upon the evolution and merging of music by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and every other rock and roll artist whose music dared to become popular among more than one "type" of teenager.

 Musical Background

After World War I, southern African Americans migrated north to cities such as Chicago and Harlem, bringing the bluegrass style of music with them. As time passed, the blues that black musicians sung in Chicago, began to develop a different feel. Vaudeville, swing and traditional blues music were beginning to mix into a new genre of music, called rhythm and blues. This new type of music would become the cornerstone of African American music, and would have a direct influence on rock and roll.

Musical Roots and Definitions

Rhythm and Blues	Term that is often defined by whatever black musical style it is attached to at a given point in time.
Gospel	An ornate style of spirituals; has a close harmony, back up singers enhance the music of the lead singer.
Jazz	Depends primarily on improvisation and a changing structure of music. The idea of a soloist and alternating solos by different instruments.
Swing	Released any restraints put on musicians by earlier jazz styles by simply letting the feeling of the music run its course.
Bluegrass	Mix of country, blues, jazz, gospel and Celtic folk. Popular in the south.
Rockabilly	A mix of blues and country; heavy on improvisation; lyrics about singers' own life experience.
Rock and Roll	Driving beat to accentuate back beat; high energy vocals; wild riffs; feeling of youth and rebellion.

Top of Page

Important Figures in Rock and Roll

The Coasters were the first black rhythm and blues group to cross over to rock and roll.

Muddy Waters moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1940's to sing the blues. However, he sang the blues in a more animated manner than his peers. Soon, he signed with Chess Records, and his songs were such huge hits that they were the most played songs on jukeboxes.

1958 Traditional Double-Cutaway

A 50's Rocker's Dream Guitar

Rock and roll had a "feel good" innocence that reflected the postwar optimism of World War II. Young people wanted to listen to happier and more upbeat music, and they found it in rock and roll.

Chuck Berry (left) and Little Richard (right)

Top of Page

Covering

After Chuck Berry came Fats Domino and Little Richard. Both of these artists, like Berry became popular among black teenagers and white teenagers with the use of the car radio and the portable transistor radio. Due to an increase in the economy, teenagers had more money and therefore the means to buy records, and they bought rock and roll records. As the older generation of white American society became aware of the type of music their children were listening to, they became enraged and demanded reform from the record companies.

For this reason, many large record companies (e.g. RCA, Columbia, Capitol) began to take the music from black musicians, and had white singers (e.g. Pat Boone) perform the music. These songs still hit the Top Forty, pleased white teenagers, along with their parents. It also pleased the record companies themselves, because they were selling records. They even began mail-order clubs for consumers to buy these covers (as they were called). Soon, these cover artists were selling more records than their black contemporaries. With their new profits, the larger record companies developed a new type of record, the 45 rpm, which was less expensive and more durable than the traditional 75 rpm records. The smaller and mostly black recording companies did not have the funds to manufacture these new records, and thus their revenue continued to dwindle, as teenagers bought the less expensive 45 rpm records.

Black musicians were not content with this new development in the music industry, but due to a lack of powerful influence in society and a lack of funds they were unable to produce a counterattack.

Covering continued through the 1960's, especially with the help of Dick Clark and the television show American Bandstand. Black musicians continued to struggle to sell records, except for those few chart toppers by such musicians as Fats Domino and Little Richard. White society continued to be ambivalent over rock music, as its obscene lyrics and wild riffs concerned many parents, and record companies tried to ease these concerns with softer music by such future teen idols as Frankie Avalon and Ricky Nelson. Despite these steps taken to reduce the amount of African American culture in rock and roll, any way it is examined, blacks had finally entered the white music industry, and weren't going to leave without changing society first.

Fats Domino (left) and Elvis Presley (right)

Top of Page

Rock and Roll and the Civil Rights Movement

During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, rock and roll began to evolve as a strong influence on American teenagers. As civil rights figures such as Martin Luther King JR. and Malcolm X appeared on the television sets of most Americans, Chuck Berry and Little Richard invaded their radio. Every where Americans turned they were bombarded with African Americans who were trying to change the face of society. Despite efforts by some Caucasian parents to prohibit the influence of rock and roll and black society upon their children, it was to no avail. Teenagers and children were now becoming in tune with what society was telling them, whether it be by listening to the Coasters on their transistor radio, or watching the Montgomery Bus Boycott on television. And so, by first being introduced to black society by listening to rock and roll, which also enabled them to see that black society was very similar to their own, a fact that many parents had neglected to show them as children. And then experiencing terrifying massacres of black Americans, white teenagers became more reform minded in accepting African Americans into "their white dominated society."

Top of Page

Bibliography:

"American Pie by Don McLean." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock/american.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Big Band/Swing." Before There Was Rock N' Roll. URL: http:// www. geocities.com/Hollywood/Trailer/7296/swing.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Blues History, A." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/blues.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Coasters, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/coasters.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Dick Clark." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of&emdash;rock.com/clark.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Drifters, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/drifters.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Electric Guitars, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www.history-of-rock.com/guitars.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Elements of Rockabilly." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www.history-of-rock.com/elements_of_rockabilly.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Fifty-eight." Fifties Tunes. URL: http:// www.fiftiesweb.com/58tuens.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Fifty-five." Fifties Tunes. URL: http:// www.fiftiesweb.com/55tunes.hmt (18 Oct. 2000).

"Fifty-nine." Fifties Tunes. URL: http:// www.fiftiesweb.com/59tunes.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Fifty-seven." Fifties Tunes. URL: http:// www.fiftiesweb.com/57tunes.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Fifty-six." Fifties Tunes. URL: http:// www.fiftiesweb.com/56tunes.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Golden Decade, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www.history-of-rock.com/introduction.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

Haley, Bill & the Comets, Fats Domino & Others. The Greatest Rock and Roll Hits. Dynamic House, Inc. 1950's.

Hendler, Herb. Year by Year in the Rock Era. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983.

Hepcat, Harry. "History of Rock & Roll, Part I." History of Rock and Roll 1950's. 1996. URL: http:// www.mjet.com/hepcat/HISTORY/HTM (18 Oct. 2000).

Hepcat, Harry. "History of Rock & Roll, Part II." History of Rock and Roll 1950's. 1996. URL: http:// www. mjet.com/hepcat/history2.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

Hepcat, Harry. "History of Rock & Roll, Part III." History of Rock and Roll 1950's. 1996. URL: http:// www.mjet.com/hepcat/history3.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Influences." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/influences.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

Miller, James. Flowers in the Dustbin the Rise of Rock and Roll. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

"Payola." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/payola.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

Podeli, Janet, ed. Rock Music in America. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Pollock, Bruce. When the Music Mattered Rock in the 1960's. New York: Holt,Rinehart and Winston, 1984.

Riznar, Joe. "The History of Rock and Roll Covering the Period 1950 to 1970." rebellion.rok. URL: http:// www.members.stratos.net/zoom/rebel/rock1.htm (18 Oct. 2000).

"Rockabilly." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/rockabilly.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Second Wave, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/second_wave.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

Sedaka, Neil, Chubby Checker & Others. Rock is Here to Stay. Tele House, Inc. 1950's.

Szatmary, David P. Rockin' in Time. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987.

"Technology." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/technology.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

"Teen Idols, The." The History of Rock. URL: http:// www. history-of-rock.com/teen_idols.htm (17 Oct. 2000).

Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker. Rock of Ages the Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll. New York: Rolling Stone Press, 1986.