Rock and Roll has come a long way since 1952 when music business icon Sam Phillips created it. Sam Phillips is considered the father of Rock and Roll. He went against the social normality of segregated music, and produced music that he felt should be made. Even when faced with career ending criticism, Phillips continued on making history. Not only is Sam Phillips responsible for the being the origin of the seemingly everlasting Rock and Roll movement, he segregated music amidst all kinds of cultural disruption with civil rights. Sam Phillips is considered a musical revolutionary who, despite adversity, changed the world forever.
Samuel Cornelius Phillips was born in 1923 in Florence, Alabama to a family of tenant farmers (Sam Phillips Obituary. 3) He grew up around the songs of his parent’s, primarily black, coworker’s songs as they were tending to the cotton fields. Phillips said that he “felt an awakening of [his] spirit when [he] heard the singing of African Americans who worked alongside him”. This early exposure to racial equality stuck with him for the rest of his years. When Phillips grew older, he took a job as a disc jockey for an “open format’ radio station (Sam Phillips Bio. 2). He experienced first-hand the reaction of the listeners to black rhythm and blues, and that led him to founding Sun Records. Sam Phillips founded Sun Records in 1952 in the heart of the Memphis black music scene. Sun Records was created in attempt to “develop new and different artists, get freedom in music, and tape people that weren’t getting tapped; despite the boundaries” (Sam Phillips Bio. 5)
Moreover, the task at hand is not one that is easily accomplished. In order for music to be a hit, it had to be a hit within the white community. The ...
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...broken down barriers. How better to understand what is unknown to you than by appreciation for the emotional experiences of other people? And how better are these emotion portrayed than through music?” (Impact of Rock and Roll on America 4). This philosophy established by Phillips helped shape a segregated culture into an equal one by uniting everyone through music.
In conclusion, Sam Phillips transformed the world in two fashions. He created a revolutionary genre of music that went against everything that people knew and was successful. As well as playing a primary role in the integration of popular music with Rock and Roll. Sam Phillip overstepped every boundary that dared to stand in his way to grant anyone the freedom of expression through music. Phillips rose above the challenges from the social authority to redefine racial equality and freedom of expression.
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
Although its initial peak of success occurred in 1956, rock and roll had been developing since 1951. The introduction of the 45 rpm disc, transistor radio, and television; and finally, its lively, upbeat sound all contributed to the success of rock and roll(Peterson, 102- 104). The “baby boomer” generation after the Second World War, was a major influence on the success of rock and roll. Unlike their parents, this g...
The critical acclaimed “A Change Gonna Come” begins with Cooke’s smooth yet emotional vocals yelping “I was born by the river in a little tent”. The words are not very far from the truth. Cooke began his life on January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Born Samuel Cook, he was the fifth child of Reverend Charles and Annie Mae Cook. Reverend Cook moved his family from the “up from the Mississippi Delta” (Krajicek) to Chicago in 1933. Cooke was raised in a God fearing household were his father instilled the importance of working hard for everything you want in life. At a very young age Cooke made it clear to his family that he intended on being a being a singer; he never planned to work a normal job (Krajicek). Cooke by no means desired to live the life of an average job, bec...
Rock 'n' roll came from a type of music called rhythm and blues (R&B), which consisted of doo-wop and gospel music. It was popular mostly in the south during the 40’s but it soon grew to urban cities. It was Les Paul’s invention of the electric guitar in 1952 that added a new sound and made rhythm and blues into the rock 'n' roll we all know and love today. Most of the artists from R&B were African American, and in their song they would reference sexual matters. So together it gave a bad connotation towards the music and their race, therefore both were never fully accepted in the north. The term “rock” was slang mostly used by African Americans meaning a form of music that was easily danced to. Meanwhile “roll” was usually a euphemism for sex, such as “a roll in the hay”. It was Alan Freed who first popularized the term “rock and roll” for this gen...
Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.
Many people and many styles of music influenced Rock and Roll. The styles included Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie, and Rockabilly. Each was a major factor into the introduction of a new style of music called Rock ‘N’ Roll.
The purpose of this study is determine why and how African American music that’s is so deeply rooted into the community is being culturally appropriated. This is a topic that has been the on the foreground of race for years. Activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene, DeRay McKesson, Azealia Banks, and Jesse Williams helped bring the issue into the national attention. Most of the world or better yet the appropriators have very little knowledge of what the word actually means. In order to understand the problem we must first understand the word Culture and Appropriation. Culture being defined as the beliefs, ideas, traditions, speech, and material objects associated with a particular group of people. Appropriation the action of taking something
Before the war started, a wealthy white man by the name of John Hammond worked to integrate black and white music.1 Since his childhood, he enjoyed the music of numerous black artists, and he wanted to share his love with the rest of America. He used much of his inherited fortune to make this possible. He went against the general opinion of society and his parents, who despised black people. Hammond refused to ignore black artists’ musical abilities because of their color, “I did not revolt against the system, I simply refused to be a part of it.”2 He used his money to organize the most eclectic group of musicians ever assembled, for an integrated audience of his time. Hammond’s efforts made an indelible impact on the music industry. The musicians Hammond introduced in...
Music tends to follow the trends of its listeners; genres come and go with popularity. Rock and roll was considered to have its golden era in the 1960s (Rock and Roll). It stood out with unforgettable performances by Sly and the Family Stone, The Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Grateful Dead, Santana, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin (Rock and Roll). The Beatles were one of the top rock and roll bands. It is said that their music “combined the distinct sounds of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and others which shaped a sound that dominated the sixties with its creativity and style” (Holland 105). Jimi Hendrix brought a new style of music called “acid rock”. He changed the way music was played by experimenting with different melodies, different chord...
The breakthrough of Rockabilly music can give credit to their sound, which was pioneered by the founder of Sun Records, Sam Phillips. With his focus on African American music early in his career he was able develop his performers into the rockabilly the superstars we know today. We can thank Bill Haley’s cover of Rocket 88 for kicking off
While going through our history of rock and roll course, one thing has become apparent, and that is that music brings people together. Sometimes it takes music to get a point across, and our world has endured a lot of social and a cultural change, which is how we music today. Just like our world is evolving, music is the same way. When a baby is born until the day it dies, it has evolved internally and externally and that is the same way I view the history of rock “n” roll. For instance, the great wars and the civil rights movement help influence to history of rock and roll. It gave people a purpose to listen to music and let artist express themselves through their songs. I’m not saying by any means that all the struggles we as a nation have
In the year 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, Sam Phillips opened Sun Recording Company. Their slogan was “We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime." They were the first recording studio to record African American musicians. African American musicians played black jazz and blues that inspired Ike Turner to write and record “Rocket ’88.” (A&E Biography Channel UK “SAM PHILLIPS The man who Invented Rock & Roll”. 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013)
The music industry’s history is a convoluted mess. There is no real consensus on what the music industry IS and what paths it has taken. Were the Beatles the greatest band to ever exist? Maybe. Is there a hyper objectification of women throughout the “men’s club” that is the music industry? Probably. It’s this hard to define, frankly confusing business that is worth roughly $130 billion dollars today. With it’s flimsy and opaque edges, can the music industry ever be called into question on its wrongdoings? The racist undertone throughout its history may force it to. With the music industry as an ever growing business that seems to change almost every decade, the one thing that has not changed throughout time is an undercurrent of racism that
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf