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rock and roll is a type of music. it is loud. |
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{{two other uses|the 1940s–early 1960s style of music|the general rock music genre|rock music|other uses|rock and roll (disambiguation)}} |
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{{Infobox Music genre |
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|name=Rock and roll |
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|color = white |
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|bgcolor = crimson |
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|stylistic_origins=[[gospel music|Gospel]]{{•w}}[[Folk music]]{{•w}}[[Country music]]{{•w}}[[Jump blues]]{{•w}}[[Chicago blues]]{{•w}}[[Swing music]]{{•w}}[[Boogie-woogie]]{{•w}}[[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] |
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|cultural_origins= 1940s, [[United States]] |
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|instruments=[[Electric guitar]], [[double bass|string bass]] or later [[bass guitar]], [[Drum kit|drum]]s, [[piano]], [[saxophone]] (occasionally) |
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|popularity= One of the best selling music forms since the 1950s |
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|derivatives= [[Rock music|Rock]]{{•w}}[[Rockabilly]]{{•w}}[[Soft rock]]{{•w}}[[Pop music|Pop]] |
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|other_topics= [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] |
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}} |
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'''Rock and roll''' (often written as '''rock & roll''' or '''rock ’n’ roll''') is a genre of [[popular music]] that evolved in the [[United States]] after [[World War II]] in the late 1940s,<ref>Farley, Christopher John, [http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html 1946 is similar in style to [[Elvis]] Rocks But He's Not the First], July 06, 2004</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">Jim Dawson and Steve Propes, ''What Was The First Rock'n'Roll Record'' (1992), ISBN 0-571-12939-0.</ref> from a combination of the rhythms of the [[blues]], from the [[African American culture]], and from America's [[country music]]<ref name="Peterson">Peterson, Richard A. ''Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity'' (1999), p. 9, ISBN 0-226-66285-3.</ref> and [[gospel music]]<ref>Christ-Janer, Albert, Charles W. Hughes, and Carleton Sprague Smith, ''American Hymns Old and New'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1980), p. 364, ISBN 0-231-03458-X.</ref> scenes. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in country records of the 1930s,<ref name="Peterson" /> and in [[blues]] records from the 1920s,<ref>Davis, Francis. ''The History of the Blues'' (New York: Hyperion, 1995), ISBN 0-786-88124-0.</ref> rock and roll did not acquire its name until the 1950s.<ref>"The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll 1946-1954" 2004 Universal Music Enterprises</ref><ref>Dawson, Jim & Propes, Steve, ''What was the first rock ’n’ roll record?'', Faber & Faber, ISBN 0-571-12939-0, 1992</ref> An early form of rock and roll was [[rockabilly]],<ref>Eric Partridge, ''A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' (2002), cf. Rockabilly, ISBN 0-415-29189-5.</ref> which combined country and [[jazz]], with influences from traditional [[Appalachian]] [[folk]], and [[gospel music]].<ref>R. Cantwell ''Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound'' (Da Capo Press, 1992), ISBN 0252071174.</ref> |
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The term "rock and roll" now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage. The American Heritage Dictionary<ref>{{cite web | title = Rock music | work = The American Heritage Dictionary | publisher = Bartleby.com | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/92/R0279250.html | accessdate = December 15, 2008}}</ref> and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary<ref>{{cite web | title = Rock and roll | work = Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary | publisher = Merriam-Webster Online | url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rock%20and%20roll | accessdate = December 15, 2008}}</ref> both define rock and roll as synonymous with [[rock music]]. Conversely, Allwords.com defines the term to refer specifically to the music of the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rock and roll | publisher = AllWords.com | url = http://www.allwords.com/word-rock+and+roll.html | accessdate = December 15, 2008}}</ref> For the purpose of differentiation, this article uses the latter definition, while the broader musical genre is discussed in the [[rock music]] article. |
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In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s.<ref name=Evans2002/> The beat is essentially a [[boogie-woogie|boogie woogie]] blues rhythm with an accentuated [[backbeat]], the latter almost always provided by a [[snare drum]].<ref>P. Hurry, M. Phillips, and M. Richards, ''Heinemann advanced music'' (Heinemann, 2001), pp. 153-4.</ref> Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric [[bass guitar]], and a [[drum kit]].<ref name=Evans2002>S. Evans, "The development of the Blues" in A. F. Moore, ed., ''The Cambridge companion to blues and gospel music'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 40-2.</ref> |
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The massive popularity and eventual worldwide view of rock and roll gave it a widespread social impact. Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and in the new medium of television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. It went on to spawn various sub-genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock". |
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==Origins of the style== |
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{{Main|Origins of rock and roll}} |
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The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> There is general agreement that it arose in the southern United States of America - the region which would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts - through the meeting of the different musical traditions which had developed from transatlantic African slavery and largely European immigration in that region.<ref>M. T. Bertrand, ''Race, Rock, and Elvis: Music in American Life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 21-2.</ref> The migration of many freed slaves and their descendants to major urban centers like [[Memphis]] and north to [[New York City]], [[Detroit]], [[Chicago]], [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]] and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] meant that black and white residents were living in close proximity in larger numbers than ever before, and as a result heard each other's music and even began to emulate each others fashions.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954-1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 4-6.</ref><ref>J. M. Salem, ''The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll Music in American life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2001), p. 4.</ref> Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to other groups, the development and spread of the [[gramophone record]], and musical styles such as [[jazz]] and [[Swing music|swing]] which were taken up by both black and white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision".<ref name=Bertrand2000>M. T. Bertrand, 'Race, rock, and Elvis Music in American life'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 99.</ref> |
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The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the so-called "[[race music]]" and hillbilly music (later called [[rhythm and blues]] and [[country music|country and western]]) of the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> Particularly significant influences were jazz, [[blues]], boogie woogie, country, [[folk music|folk]] and [[gospel music]].<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> Commentators differ in their views of which of these forms were most important and the degree to which the new music was a re-branding of [[African American]] rhythm and blues for a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms.<ref>A. Bennett, ''Rock and popular music: politics, policies, institutions'' (Routledge, 1993), pp. 236-8.</ref><ref name = KeightleyR&R>K. Keightley, "Reconsidering rock" S. Frith, W. Straw and J. Street, eds, ''The Cambridge companion to pop and rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 116.</ref><ref>N. Kelley, ''R&B, rhythm and business: the political economy of Black music'' (Akashic Books, 2005), p. 134.</ref> |
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In the 1930s [[jazz]], and particularly [[swing]], both in urban based [[dance band]]s and blues-influenced country swing, was among the first music to present African American sounds for a predominately white audience.<ref name=KeightleyR&R/><ref>E. Wald, ''How the Beatles Destroyed Rock N Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 111-25.</ref> The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns (including saxophones), shouted lyrics and boogie woogie beats in jazz based music. During and immediately after World War II, with shortages of fuel and limitations on audiences and available personnel, large [[jazz band]]s were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/><ref>P. D. Lopes, ''The rise of a jazz art world'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 132</ref> In the same period, particularly on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], the development of [[jump blues]], with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> Similarly, [[country boogie]] and Chicago [[electric blues]] supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll.<ref name=AllmusicR&R>V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (Backbeat Books, 2002, 3rd edn., 2002), p. 1303.</ref> |
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Rock and roll arrived at time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the [[electric guitar]], [[amplifier]] and [[microphone]], and the [[45 rpm record]].<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like [[Atlantic records|Atlantic]], [[Sun Records|Sun]] and [[Chess Records|Chess]] servicing niche audiences and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to this music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock and roll as a distinct genre.<ref name=AllmusicR&R/> |
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==Origins of the phrase== |
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[[File:Alan freed radio.jpg|right|thumb|220px|[[Alan Freed]] broadcasting in the early 1950s]] |
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In 1951, [[Cleveland, Ohio]] [[disc jockey]] [[Alan Freed]] began broadcasting rhythm and blues and country music for a multi-racial audience. Freed is often credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music he aired; its use is also credited to Freed's sponsor, record store owner [[Leo Mintz]], who encouraged Freed to play the music on the radio.<ref>[http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=RR Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Rock'n'Roll]</ref> However, the term had already been introduced to US audiences, particularly in the lyrics of many rhythm and blues records, like Bob Robinson's "Rock and Rolling" (1939), [[Buddy Jones]]'s "Rock and Rolling Mamma" (1939) and Joe Turner's "Cherry Red" (1939).<ref name=Aquila2000>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954-1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 142.</ref> Three different songs with the title "Rock and Roll" were recorded in the late 1940s; by Paul Bascomb in 1947, [[Wild Bill Moore]] in 1948, and by Doles Dickens in 1949, and the phrase was in constant use in the lyrics of R&B songs of the time.<ref name=Aquila2000/> One such record where the phrase was repeated throughout the song was "Rock and Roll Blues", recorded in 1949 by [[Erline Harris|Erline "Rock and Roll" Harris]].<ref>JammUpp - Issue no. 11, e-magazine, http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/otherfems.html, retrieved 05/08/09.</ref> The phrase was also included in advertisements for the film ''Wabash Avenue'', starring [[Betty Grable]] and [[Victor Mature]]. An ad for the movie that ran April 12, 1950 billed Ms. Grable as "the first lady of rock and roll" and Wabash Avenue as "the roaring street she rocked to fame".{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} |
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Before then, the word "rock" had a long history in the English language as a metaphor for "to shake up, to disturb or to incite". "Rocking" was a term used by black gospel singers in the American South to mean something akin to spiritual [[rapture]].<ref>M. Lhde, ''333 Book'' (Mel Bay Publications, 2008).</ref> In 1916, the term "rocking and rolling" was used with a religious connotation, on the phonograph record "The Camp Meeting Jubilee" by an unnamed male "quartette".<ref>http://www.littlewonderrecords.com/music-library.html and click record number 339 to hear it.</ref> In 1937, Chick Webb and Ella Fitzgerald recorded "Rock It for Me", which included the lyric, "So won't you satisfy my soul with the rock and roll".<ref>J. Cott, ''Back to a shadow in the night: music writings and interviews, 1968-2001'' (Hal Leonard, 2003), p. 194.</ref> The verb "roll" was a medieval metaphor which meant "having sex". Writers for hundreds of years have used the phrases "They had a roll in the hay" or "I rolled her in the clover".<ref>[http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BillHaley.html Bill Haley & The Comets<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The phrase "rocking and rolling", was secular black slang for dancing or sex by the early twentieth century,<ref>A. DeCurtis, ''Present tense: rock & roll and culture'' (Duke University Press, 1992), p. 20.</ref> appearing on record for the first time in 1922 on [[Trixie Smith]]'s "My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll",<ref>N. Tosches, ''Where Dead Voices Gather'' (Little Brown And Company, 2002), p. 125.</ref> and as a [[double entendre]], ostensibly referring to dancing, but with the subtextual meaning of sex, as in [[Roy Brown (blues musician)|Roy Brown]]'s "[[Good Rocking Tonight]]" (1948).<ref name=Bogdanov2002>V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul'' (Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), p. 507.</ref> |
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The terms were often used together ("rocking and rolling") to describe the motion of a ship at sea, for example as used in 1934 by the [[Boswell Sisters]] in their song "Rock and Roll",<ref>[http://www.boswellmuseum.org/aboutsisters.html The Sisters<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> which was featured in the 1934 film ''Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round'',<ref>[http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0025905/ Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>C. Perkins and D. McGee, ''Go, Cat, Go!'' (Hyperion, 1996), p. 76, ISBN 0-7868-6073-1.</ref> and in [[Buddy Jones]]' "Rockin' Rollin' Mama" (1939). Country singer Tommy Scott was referring to the motion of a railroad train in the 1951 "Rockin and Rollin'".<ref>[http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/s/scot7000.htm Scott, Tommy (RCS Artist Discography)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> An alternative claim is that the origins of "rocking and rolling" can be traced back to steel driving men working on the railroads in the Reconstruction South. These men would sing hammer songs to keep the pace of their hammer swings. At the end of each line in a song, the men would swing their hammers down to drill a hole into the rock. The shakers — the men who held the steel spikes that the hammer men drilled — would "rock" the spike back and forth to clear rock or "roll", twisting the spike to improve the "bite" of the drill.<ref>Scott Reynolds Nelson, ''Steel Drivin' Man'', p. 75.</ref> |
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==Early rock and roll records== |
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[[File:Rock Around the Clock.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Original 1954 Decca issue of [[Bill Haley]]'s [[Rock Around the Clock]]]] |
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{{Main|First rock and roll record}} |
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There is much debate as to what should be considered the [[first rock & roll record]]. [[Big Joe Turner]] was one of many forerunners and his 1939 recording, "[[Roll 'Em Pete]]", is close to '50s rock and roll.<ref name=Campbell2008>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), p. 99.</ref> [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]] was also recording shouting, stomping music in the 1930s and 1940s that in some ways contained major elements of mid-1950s rock and roll. She scored hits on the pop charts as far back as 1938 with her gospel songs, such as "This Train" and "Rock Me", and in the 1940s with "Strange Things Happenin' Every Day", "Up Above My Head", and "Down by the Riverside".<ref>G. F. Wald, ''Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe'' (Beacon Press, 2008).</ref> Other significant records of the 1940s and early 1950s included [[Roy Brown]]'s "Good Rocking Tonight" (1947), [[Hank Williams]]' "[[Move It On Over (song)|Move It On Over]]" (1947), [[Amos Milburn]]'s "Chicken Shack Boogie" (1947),<ref>M. Dean, ''Rock N Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-Cyclopedia'' (Algora Publishing, 2003), pp. 38, 237-8.</ref> [[Jimmy Preston]]'s "[[Rock the Joint]]" (1947),<ref>A. F. Moore, ''The Cambridge companion to blues and gospel music'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 71-2.</ref> [[Fats Domino]]'s "[[The Fat Man (song)|The Fat Man]]" (1949),<ref>R. Coleman, ''Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Da Capo Press, 2007), p. 61.</ref> and [[Les Paul and Mary Ford]]'s "[[How High the Moon]]" (1951).<ref>D. Tyler, ''Music of the postwar era'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008), pp. 38-9.</ref> |
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A leading contender as the first fully formed rock 'n' roll recording is "[[Rocket 88]]" by [[Jackie Brenston]] and his Delta Cats (which was, in fact, [[Ike Turner]] and his band The Kings of Rhythm recording under a different name), recorded by [[Sam Phillips]] for [[Sun Records]] in 1951.<ref name=Campbell2008>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), pp. 157-8.</ref> Three years later the first rock and roll song to enter [[Billboard magazine]]'s main sales and airplay charts was Bill Haley's "[[Crazy Man, Crazy]]" and the first to top the charts, in July 1955, was his "[[Rock Around the Clock]]" (recorded in 1954), opening the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture.<ref name=Campbell2008/> [[Rolling Stone]] magazine argued in 2004 that "[[That's All Right (Mama)]]" (1954), Elvis Presley's first single for Sun Records in Memphis, was the first rock and roll record,<ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/elvispresley/articles/story/6085458/elvis_presley_at_sun_studio_in_1954 Elvis Presley at Sun Studios in 1954]</ref> but, at the same time, Big Joe Turner's "[[Shake, Rattle & Roll]]", later covered by Haley, was already at the top of the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Billboard R&B charts]].<ref>P. Browne, ''The guide to United States popular culture'' (Popular Press, 2001), p. 358.</ref> |
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Early rock and roll used the [[12-bar blues|twelve-bar blues]] chord progression and shared with boogie woogie the four beats (usually broken down into eight eighth-notes/quavers) to a bar. Rock and roll however has a greater emphasis on the [[Back beat|backbeat]] than boogie woogie.<ref>P. Hurry, M. Phillips, M. Richards, ''Heinemann advanced music'' (Heinemann, 2001), p. 153.</ref> [[Bo Diddley]]'s 1955 hit "[[Bo Diddley (song)|Bo Diddley]]", with its b-side "[[I'm A Man (Bo Diddley song)|I'm A Man]]", introduced a new, pounding beat, and unique guitar playing that inspired many artists.<ref>P. Buckley, ''The rough guide to rock'' (Rough Guides, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 21.</ref> |
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Also formative in the sound of rock and roll were [[Little Richard]] and [[Chuck Berry]]. From 1955, Little Richard combined gospel with [[New Orleans]] R&B, heavy backbeat,<ref>J. Mowitt, ''Percussion: drumming, beating, striking'' (Duke University Press, 2002), p. 26.</ref> pounding piano and wailing vocals.<ref>"Little Ricahard" ''All music'', http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifyxqe5ldde, retrieved 25/08/09.</ref> His explosive music, with songs such as "[[Tutti Frutti (song)|Tutti Frutti]]" (1955), "[[Long Tall Sally]]" (1956) and "[[Good Golly, Miss Molly]]" (1958), has been seen as laying the foundation for rock and roll and influenced generations of rhythm and blues, rock and [[soul music]] artists.<ref>http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/little-richard</ref><ref name=Campbell2008p168/><ref>http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/little-richard</ref> Chuck Berry, between his cover of "[[Maybellene]]" in 1955, through hits including "[[Roll over Beethoven]]" (1956) and "[[Rock and Roll Music]]" (1957) to "[[Johnny B. Goode]]" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar intros and lead breaks that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.<ref name=Campbell2008p168>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), pp. 168-9.</ref> |
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Soon rock and roll was the major force in American record sales and crooners such as [[Eddie Fisher (singer)|Eddie Fisher]], [[Perry Como]], and [[Patti Page]], who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed.<ref>R. S. Denisoff, W. L. Schurk, ''Tarnished gold: the record industry revisited'' (Transaction Publishers, 3rd edn., 1986), p. 13.</ref> |
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[[File:Elvispresleydebutalbum.jpeg|thumb|The cover of Elvis Presley's debut RCA Victor album. Photo taken on January 31, 1955]] |
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===Rockabilly=== |
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{{Main|Rockabilly}} |
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"Rockabilly" usually (but not exclusively) refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid 1950s by white singers such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Carl Perkins]] and [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], who drew mainly on the country roots of the music.<ref name=AllmusicRbilly>"Rockabilly", Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:187, retrieved 06/08/09.</ref> Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as Fats Domino and Little Richard, came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as "rockabilly". |
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In July 1954, Elvis Presley recorded the regional hit "That's All Right (Mama)" at Sam Phillips' [[Sun Studio|Sun studios]] in Memphis.<ref name=AllmusicElvis>"Elvis", Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifuxqr5ldhe~T1, retrieved 06/08/09.</ref> Two months earlier in May 1954, [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] recorded "Rock Around the Clock". Although only a minor hit when first released, when used in the opening sequence of the movie ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'', a year later, it really set the rock and roll boom in motion. The song became one of the biggest hits in history, and frenzied teens flocked to see Haley and the Comets perform it, causing riots in some cities. "Rock Around the Clock" was a breakthrough for both the group and for all of rock and roll music. If everything that came before laid the groundwork, "Clock" introduced the music to a global audience.<ref name=AllmusicElvis>"Bill Haley", Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifwxqe5ld0e~T1, retrieved 06/08/09.</ref> |
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===Cover versions=== |
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{{Main|Cover version}} |
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Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits were covers or partial re-writes of earlier rhythm and blues or blues songs. Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, [[R&B]] music had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino and [[Johnny Otis]] speeding up the [[tempos]] and increasing the [[backbeat]] to great popularity on the [[juke joint]] circuit.<ref>Philip H. Ennis, ''The seventh stream: the emergence of rocknroll in American popular music'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1992), p. 201.</ref> Before the efforts of Freed and others, black music was taboo on many white-owned radio outlets, but artists and producers quickly recognized the potential of rock and roll.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954-1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 6.</ref> Most of Presley's early hits were covers, like "[[That's All Right]]" (a countrified arrangement of a blues number), its flip side "[[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]", "[[Baby, Let's Play House]]", "[[Lawdy Miss Clawdy]]" and "[[Hound Dog (song)|Hound Dog]]".<ref>C. Deffaa, ''Blue rhythms: six lives in rhythm and blues'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), pp. 183-4.</ref> |
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[[File:Little Richard in 2007.jpg|thumb|right|Original rock'n'roller [[Little Richard]] performing in 2007]] |
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Covers were customary in the music industry at the time; it was made particularly easy by the [[compulsory license]] provision of [[United States copyright law]] (still in effect).<ref>J. V. Martin, ''Copyright: current issues and laws'' (Nova Publishers, 2002), pp. 86-8.</ref> One of the first successful rock and roll covers was [[Wynonie Harris]]'s transformation of Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight" from a jump blues to a showy rocker<ref>G. Lichtenstein and L. Dankner. ''Musical gumbo: the music of New Orleans'' (W.W. Norton, 1993), p. 775.</ref> and the Louis Prima rocker "Oh Babe" in 1950, as well as Amos Milburn's cover of what may have been the first white rock and roll record, [[Hardrock Gunter]]'s "Birmingham Bounce" in 1949.<ref>R. Carlin. ''Country music: a biographical dictionary'' (Taylor & Francis, 2003), p. 164.</ref> The most notable trend, however, was white pop covers of black R&B numbers. The more familiar sound of these covers may have been more palatable to white audiences, there may have been an element of prejudice, but labels aimed at the white market also had much better distribution networks and were generally much more profitable.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954-1963'' (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 201.</ref> Most famously, [[Pat Boone]] recorded sanitized versions of Little Richard songs, though Boone found "[[Long Tall Sally]]" so intense that he couldn't cover it. Later, as those songs became popular, the original artists' recordings received radio play as well.<ref>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), pp. 51-2.</ref> |
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The cover versions were not necessarily straightforward imitations. For example, Bill Haley's incompletely bowdlerized cover of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number,<ref>R. Coleman, ''Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Da Capo Press, 2007), p. 95.</ref> while Georgia Gibbs replaced [[Etta James]]'s tough, sarcastic vocal in "Roll With Me, Henry" (covered as "Dance With Me, Henry") with a perkier vocal more appropriate for an audience unfamiliar with the song to which James's song was an [[answer song|answer]], [[Hank Ballard]]'s "Work With Me, Annie".<ref>D. Tyler, ''Music of the postwar era'' (Greenwood, 2008), p. 79.</ref> Elvis' rock and roll version of "Hound Dog" was very different from the blues shouter that [[Big Mama Thornton]] had recorded.<ref>C. L. Harrington, and D. D. Bielby., ''Popular culture: production and consumption'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2001), p. 162.</ref> |
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==Decline== |
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Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959, the death of [[Buddy Holly]], [[The Big Bopper]] and [[Richie Valens]] in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher, prosecutions of [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] and [[Chuck Berry]] and the breaking of the [[payola]] scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the initial rock and roll era had come to an end.<ref name=Campbell2008>M. Campbell, ed., ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on'' (Cengage Learning, 3rd edn., 2008), p. 99.</ref> There was also a process that has been described as the "feminisation" of rock and roll, with the charts beginning to be dominated by love ballads, often aimed at a female audience, and the rise of girl groups like [[The Shirelles]] and [[The Crystals]].<ref>R.Dale, ''Education and the State: Politics, patriarchy and practice'' (Taylor & Francis, 1981), p. 106.</ref> Some historians of music have pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including new recording techniques, continued desegregation of the charts, the rise of [[surf music]], [[garage rock]] and the [[Twist (dance)|Twist]] dance craze.<ref>K. Keightley, "Reconsidering rock" S. Frith, W. Straw and J. Street, eds, ''The Cambridge companion to pop and rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 116.</ref> |
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==British rock and roll == |
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{{main|British rock and roll}} |
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In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture.<ref name=Unterberger>R. Unterberger, "British Rock & Roll Before the Beatles", ''All Music Guides'', http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=19:T571, retrieved 24/06/09.</ref> It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the [[Teddy Boys]].<ref>D. O'Sullivan, ''The Youth Culture'' London: Taylor & Francis, 1974), pp. 38-9.</ref> [[Trad Jazz]] became popular, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie woogie and the blues.<ref>J. R. Covach and G. MacDonald Boone, ''Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 60.</ref> The [[skiffle]] craze, led by [[Lonnie Donegan]], utilised amateurish versions of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing.<ref name=Broken2003>M. Brocken, ''The British folk revival, 1944-2002'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 69-80.</ref> At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' (1955) and ''[[Rock Around the Clock (film)|Rock Around the Clock]]'' (1955).<ref>V. Porter, ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 192.</ref> Both films contained the [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] hit "[[Rock Around the Clock]]", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 - four months before it reached the [[Billboard Hot 100|US pop charts]] - topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956, and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency.<ref>T. Gracyk, ''I Wanna Be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity'' (Temple University Press, 2001), pp. 117-18.</ref> American rock and roll acts such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Little Richard]] and [[Buddy Holly]] thereafter became major forces in the British charts. |
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The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols.<ref name=Unterberger/> More grassroots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including [[Wee Willie Harris]] and [[Tommy Steele]].<ref name=Unterberger/> During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant, however, in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when [[Cliff Richard]] reached number 2 in the charts with "[[Move It]]".<ref>D. Hatch, S. Millward, ''From Blues to Rock: an Analytical History of Pop Music'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), p. 78.</ref> At the same time, TV shows such as ''[[Six-Five Special]]'' and ''[[Oh Boy! (TV series)|Oh Boy!]]'' promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like [[Marty Wilde]] and [[Adam Faith]].<ref name=Unterberger/> Cliff Richard and his backing band [[The Shadows]], were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era.<ref>A. J. Millard, ''The electric guitar: a history of an American icon'' (JHU Press, 2004), p. 150.</ref> Other leading acts included [[Billy Fury]], [[Joe Brown (singer)|Joe Brown]], and [[Johnny Kidd & The Pirates]], whose 1960 hit song "[[Shakin' All Over]]" became a rock and roll standard.<ref name=Unterberger/> |
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As interest in rock and roll was beginning to subside in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was taken up by groups in major British urban centres like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London.<ref name=Harry>[http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/about/founders-story2.shtml Mersey Beat - the founders' story].</ref> About the same time, a [[British blues]] scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as [[Alexis Korner]] and [[Cyril Davies]] who were directly inspired by American musicians such as [[Robert Johnson]], [[Muddy Waters]] and [[Howlin' Wolf]].<ref name=Allmusic700>V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'' (Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 700.</ref> Many groups moved towards the [[beat music]] of rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like the [[Quarrymen]] who became [[The Beatles]], producing a form of rock and roll revivalism that carried them and many other groups to national success from about 1963 and to international success from 1964, known in America as the [[British Invasion]].<ref name=AllMusicBI>"British Invasion", ''All music guides'', http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:379, retrieved 10/08/09.</ref> Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat influenced [[Freddie and the Dreamers]], [[Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders]], [[Herman's Hermits]] and the [[Dave Clark Five]], and the more blues influenced [[The Animals]], [[The Rolling Stones]] and [[The Yardbirds]].<ref name=Britannica>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80244/British-Invasion Encyclopedia Britannica Article]</ref> As the blues became an increasingly significant influence, leading to the creation of the [[blues-rock]] of groups like [[The Moody Blues]], [[Small Faces]], [[The Move]], [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]] and [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and developing into [[rock music]], the influence of early rock and roll began to subside.<ref name=AllMusicBI/> |
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==Cultural impact== |
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The [[social effects of rock and roll]] were worldwide and massive. Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language.<ref>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), p. 121.</ref> In addition, rock and roll may have helped the cause of the civil rights movement because both African American teens and white American teens enjoyed the music.<ref name=Altshuler2003p35>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), p. 35.</ref> It also gave rise to many other styles, including [[psychedelic rock]], [[progressive rock]], [[glam rock]], [[alternative rock]], [[Punk rock|punk]] and [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]. |
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===Race=== |
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Rock and roll appeared at a time when racial tensions in the United States were entering a new phase, with the beginnings of the [[civil rights]] movement for [[Racial segregation|desegregation]], leading to the [[Supreme Court]] ruling that abolished the policy of "[[separate but equal]]" in 1954, but leaving a policy which would be extremely difficult to enforce in parts of the United States.<ref>H. Zinn, ''A people's history of the United States: 1492-present'' (Pearson Education, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 450.</ref> The combination of elements of white and [[African American music|black music]] in rock and roll, inevitably provoked strong reactions within the US, with many condemning its breaking down of barriers based on colour.<ref name=Altshuler2003p35/> On the other side of the argument rock and roll has been seen as both appropriating African American music for a white audience and white performers, and conversely, in opening the door for many black performers to reach a wider audience.<ref>M. Fisher, ''Something in the air: radio, rock, and the revolution that shaped a generation'' (Marc Fisher, 2007), p. 53.</ref> Many observers saw rock and roll as heralding the way for desegregation, in creating a new form of music that encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience.<ref>M. T. Bertrand, ''Race, rock, and Elvis'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), pp. 95-6.</ref> |
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===Teen culture=== |
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{{Main|Youth subculture}} |
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Rock and roll is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first [[baby boomer]] generation, who had both greater relative affluence, leisure and who adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct sub-culture.<ref name=Coleman2007>M. Coleman, L. H. Ganong, K. Warzinik, ''Family life in twentieth-century America'' (Greenwood, 2007), pp. 216-17.</ref> This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and T.V. programmes like ''[[American Bandstand]]'', but it also extended to film, clothes, hair, cars and motorbikes, and distinctive language. The contrast between parental and youth culture exemplified by rock and roll was a recurring source of concern for older generations, who worried about juvenile delinquency and social rebellion, particularly as to a large extent rock and roll culture was shared by different racial and social groups.<ref name=Coleman2007/> In Britain, where post-war prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached pre-existing to the [[Teddy Boy]] movement, largely working class in origins, and eventually to the longer lasting [[rockers]].<ref>D. O'Sullivan, ''The Youth Culture'' London: Taylor & Francis, 1974), pp. 38-9.</ref> Rock and roll has been seen as reorientating popular music towards a teen market, often celebrating teen fashions, as in [[Carl Perkins]]' "[[Blue Suede Shoes]]" (1956), or [[Dion and the Belmonts]] "[[Teenager in Love]]" (1960).<ref>Lisa A. Lewis, ''The Adoring audience: fan culture and popular media'' (Routledge, 1992), p. 98.</ref> |
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===Dance styles=== |
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From its early-1950s inception through the early 1960s, rock and roll music spawned new [[Novelty and fad dances|dance crazes]].<ref>[http://www.sixtiescity.com/Culture/dance.shtm sixtiescity.com]-''Sixties Dance and Dance Crazes''</ref> Teenagers found the irregular rhythm of the backbeat especially suited to reviving the [[jitterbug]] dancing of the big-band era. "[[Sock hop]]s," gym dances, and home basement dance parties became the rage, and American teens watched [[Dick Clark]]'s ''[[American Bandstand]]'' to keep up on the latest dance and fashion styles.<ref>R. Aquila, ''That old-time rock & roll: a chronicle of an era, 1954-1963'' (University of Illinois Press, 2000), p. 10.</ref> From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" yielded gradually to "rock," later dance genres followed, starting with the [[twist]], and leading up to [[funk]], [[disco]], [[house music|house]] and [[techno]]. |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*''The Fifties'' by David Halberstam (1996), Random House (ISBN 0-517-15607-5) |
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*''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll : The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music'' by editors James Henke, Holly George-Warren, Anthony Decurtis, Jim Miller (1992), Random House (ISBN 0-679-73728-6) |
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*''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' by Holly George-Warren, Patricia Romanowski, Jon Pareles (2001), Fireside Press (ISBN 0-7432-0120-5) |
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*''Rock and Roll: A Social History'', by Paul Friedlander (1996), Westview Press (ISBN 0-8133-2725-3) |
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*''The Sound of the City: the Rise of Rock and Roll'', by Charlie Gillett (1970), E.P. Dutton |
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*"The Rock Window: A Way of Understanding Rock Music" by Paul Friedlander, in [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/TRA/Tracking.shtml ''Tracking: Popular Music Studies''], Volume I, number 1, Spring, 1988 |
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==See also== |
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{{Portal|Music|%27A%27_(PSF).png}} |
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<div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2"> |
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* [[20th century music]] |
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* [[First rock and roll record]] |
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* [[List of rock genres]] |
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* [[List of rock and roll albums]] |
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* [[List of deaths in rock and roll]] |
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* [[Music]] |
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* [[Rockabilly Hall of Fame]] |
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* [[Rock music]] |
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* [[The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] |
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</div style> |
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==External links== |
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{{wikiquotepar|Rock music}} |
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{{Commons category|Rock music}} |
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*[http://www.philxmilstein.com/probe/tracks/MaleQuartette-TheCampMeetingJubilee.mp3 The Camp Meeting Jubilee] 1910 recording |
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*[http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/electricguitar/index.htm The Smithsonian's history of the electric guitar] |
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*[http://www.history-of-rock.com/ History of Rock] |
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{{Rock}} |
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{{World rock}} |
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{{United States topics}} |
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[[Category:African American culture]] |
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[[Category:Culture of the Southern United States]] |
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[[Category:Radio formats]] |
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[[Category:Rock music]] |
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[[Category:Youth culture in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Popular music]] |
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Revision as of 22:07, 9 September 2009
rock and roll is a type of music. it is loud.