The 1950’s were one of the most influential decades in American history. In an era where communication was moving at a snails pace, compared to today’s standards, views and attitudes of America’s youth grew and spread faster than ever before, because of the popularity of a new type of music called rock and roll. Rock and Roll was like no other music that was heard before and in the mid 50’s it exploded. Rock and Roll in the mid 50’s changed America for the better in bringing up issues of race, war, and freedom of expression.
From 1955-1960 rock and roll took of for many reasoning, one of the reason it took of was from the large number of youth in America during the mid 1950’s. The baby boomer generation made up a major part of the American population and they were all in their teenage years during this time. “ Today leer-ics are offered as standard popular music for general consumption, including consumption by teenagers” (Brackett, 102). Brackett is explaining in this quote that in the 1950’s teenagers had a major importance in determining the popularity of new rock and roll music. Most of the baby boomer generation had parents that fought in World War II and they grew up listening to Frank Sinatra and the other big band music of the early
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1930’s and 1940’s. When Elvis Perry and Jerry Lewis both white artist rose to stardom from their rock and roll in the mid 50’s the youth of America liked their music because it spoke to them and was like nothing that was ever heard before. Also it was a way to rebel against their parents and the older generation of Americans who grew listening to Frank Sinatra and other classical style artist. Race was another reason rock and roll grew so fast from 1955-1960. When Chuck Berry and Little Richard both black rock and roll artist, music became popular rock and roll grew even faster, because most American white youth liked the jazz and blue sound style of rock that they never heard before. Elvis Presley had got his particular sound from listening to black blues artist during his younger years. “Without Presley, Berry and the rest rock & roll might have turned out differently” (DeCurtis, 15). This quote shows the importance that both black and white artist had in influencing each other as well as bringing the popularity of rock and roll to the American society. Race has always played a big role in the growth and change in American society. During this time was the start of the civil rights movement and many Americans did not agree with discrimination, so that only helped many American youth to follow and like Chuck Berry and Little Richard rock and roll music. Once rock and roll hit the music charts and the radio, many radio stations charged record companies to play their song on their radio station, this was called payola. Payola affected the business of rock and roll in the following ways; it gave top disc jockeys like Alan Freed, Dick Clark, and Wolfman Jackson a lot of power and control of what types of music would be aired on the radio. Many disc jockeys took bribes from music companies for them to play their music. Dick Clark TV show American Bandstand helped show case up and coming musicians. “[T]he emergence of record companies geared to grooming teen idols” (DeCurtis, 107). Dick Clark had a lot of power in determining who would come on his show and this led to scandal and bribery. Many of the disc jockeys in the payola period would play music that they liked and this could be based on if the song was an original, cover, or who it was song by based on if they were black or white. Small record companies that had unknown artist but could afford to pay disc jockeys benefited from the payola period of rock and roll. While other record companies that could not afford to pay these disc jockeys did not benefit from the payola period. Listening habits of the youth of America was based on what was played on the radio as well as buying and listening to records.
The top 40 charts help establish a standard of what would be played on the radio and after ASCAP and the Orion hearings ended the Payola period of rock and roll. ASCAP, “mounted an attack on rock n roll” (Brackett, 131). With all the lawsuits and early rock and roll artist like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry not performing their music lead to a decline in the late 1950’s of rock and roll. The youth of America was highly influenced by what was played on the radio and how the artist were perceived and viewed by others in society helped bring the advancement as well as the later decline of rock and
roll. Girl groups in the early history of rock and roll played an important roll in establishing the importance of women in rock and roll. Women groups from 1958-1963 had a particular and different sound compared to previous girl groups like the Chordettes and the Crystals. The Chantels an all black girl group were one of the first girl groups to sing with a blues style and had a sexy appearance. Girl groups were perceived differently from male groups during this time. Many girl groups appeared in risqué attire and had more sex appeal than the male rock and roll groups. “ Emergence and success of numerous girl groups, marking the first time that female subjectivity” (Brackett, 138-139). This quote shows how girl groups were more popular than ever before after the payola period. This shows that women in American society in the late 1950’s were still second to men during and women groups had to have sex appeal in their music to be popular in the late 1950’s.
Music in the 1950’s was a lot different than it is now. The things I will be showing you are the Political events, what was popular, and the influence 1950’s music had on this decade
During the 1950’s the musical genre of rock and roll was becoming vastly popular (Charlton). The television helped increase this genre’s fame by broadcasting new rock and roll music to the country. By 1954 about 83.2 percent of American households owned a television set (Baughman). TV was a fast and effective way of reaching millions of people which became quite useful to up and coming musical artists. Two television shows that dominated the air in the 50 's were, American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show. These two shows greatly influenced rock and roll, because they changed the perception of rock and roll, provided performers with a large TV audience, and left a
All Shook Up: How Rock n’ Roll Changed America, written by historian Glenn Altschuler, is a fascinating analysis of the impact that rock n' roll music has made upon American culture. Glenn C. Altschuler received his Ph.D. in American History from Cornell in 1976 and has been an administrator and teacher at Cornell since 1981. He is currently the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and the Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He is the author of several books on American history and popular culture, more popular for All Shook Up. (Wikipedia).
What emerged after the explosion of rock and roll in the 1950s abandoned the roll and has now come to be known just as classic rock. This rock that was created following the decade of The King became a completely unique and different sound that changed the musical landscape and what was once a single, unified genre gave way for multitudes of variation in its sounds. These new sounds, that came mostly from abroad, had been notably influenced by the American rock of the 1950s, such as Elvis, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. These pioneers of rock came to be the essential reason for the arrival of the British Invasion and other sounds that defined the decade of the 1960s.
The development of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the late 1940s and early 1950s by young African Americans coincided with a sensitive time in America. Civil rights movements were under way around the country as African Americans struggles to gain equal treatment and the same access to resources as their white neighbors. As courts began to vote in favor of integration, tensions between whites and blacks escalated. As the catchy rhythm of Rock ‘n’ Roll began to cross racial boundaries many whites began to feel threatened by the music, claiming its role in promoting integration. This became especially problematic as their youth became especially drawn to ...
During the 1960s and the early 1970s, music reflected the political and social changes that America was undergoing at the time. Some of these major changes included the African-American civil rights movement and the conflict over America’s role in the Vietnam War. During these hard times, people turned to music for hope, peace, happiness and answers.
Through Elvis Presley, rock ‘n’ roll changed the face of American music, and influenced a whole generation’s political philosophy. Composer Leonard Berstein once said, “He introduced the beat to everything and changed everything-music, language, clothes; it’s a whole new social revolution-the 60s come from it” (Wattenberg 6B). To his credit, Elvis embraced rhythm and blues not as a from to be imitated, but as a form to honored and interprete... ...
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...
In conclusion this report has helped us understand the significance of Music in America. Also, the impact it has on music we listen too. Music is very much like a big chain reaction. Rock ‘N’ Roll, much like music today, stood out and was in a way rebellious. Parents now hate Rap and we love it. People in the 70’s loved Rock ‘N’ Roll and parents hated it. This shows that maybe no matter how much older people deny it, the time gap and generation gap is not too far apart. Without Rock ‘N’ Roll the World would without a doubt be changed. Any guess to that of which way would be a good one.
Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.
In this essay I will talk about the music in the 60's, noteworthy that in some cases I will compare some situations with the Latino-American situation, I know is has nothing to do with the topic, but who is the guy who is writing in this sheet of paper? ME, Is my essay and I will write what I want (This is an example of Freedom Of Expression, we will see it more on that later)
The years 1960-1969 were very impressionable years. With events that changed America , turning the innocence and hope of American people into violence and anger. The young nation of the 60s were the most influential of all ,with rioting about war or turning music into culture. This was a completely different america than it was years before . In a Music standpoint artists such as The Beatles , Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix were changing the way music was made . They were changing music into an artform , a way for people to express their feelings , beliefs and ideas. The Music of the 1960s evolved into an artform which lead the path for American music of today.
There was a lot of controversy of what Rock and Roll music would do to the younger white generation because at the time discrimination was still going on between the two races and parents feared their children were being controlled through the lyrics of “black” music known as race music. Parents tried to prevent and refrain their children from listening to Rock and Roll music. In the 1940’s and 1950’s Rock and Roll, music had a different style and lyrical deliverance that encompassed from all different varieties of genres. The range came from country folk music, blues, and Jazz. Most of the older generations were influenced by gospel songs, so that played a huge roll of how a song was structured because the deliverance of the music was formatted differently and the sound was not so
The 1950’s was a conservative period of time. The expectations of men and women were set very high. Females were supposed to dress and act very ladylike and men had a very simple but elegant style that consisted of a suit and tie. In the 1950’s, premarital sex was not accepted and if a young woman were to find herself pregnant she would be sent away or put into a special school for girls. After this conservative era, the free love 60’s followed. What caused the shift in attitudes toward peace, love and rock-n-roll?
The nineteen fifties was a decade of prosperous times in America, but the average lifestyle of an American seemed extremely dull. The average American conformed to social norms, most Americans in the nineteen fifties dressed alike, talked the same way, and seemed to have the same types of personality. Music is what started to change the conformist lifestyle in America. Teenagers started to rebellion against their families by listening to Rock-n-Roll...