Rock and roll has developed a long way throughout the years from a dance craze in the 1950’s to a political and cultural landscape that is recognized worldwide. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, people who don’t follow the norms, and have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is a melting pot of music, a combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, ragtime, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. It can be a simple variation of three chords to a complex chromatic scale combination. It can convey emotions such as love, hate, fear, lust, sadness, joy, disillusion, or a strong sense of reality. Many things can be said about rock but the fact is that it is the most widely diverse of all music genres.
The earliest roots of rock and roll can be seen in jazz and blues music. Jazz was most often played with big bands but smaller combinations of bands started to evolve late in the music era that included guitar, stand-up bass, piano, drums, and a horn section. These bands soon created a jazz and blues hybrid sound. One of the first musicians to combine jazz and blues was Louis Jordan who originated the “jump blues”, an up-tempo, hard driving, blues-based dance music (Kallen, 2012, 14). Jordan’s jump blues inspired many musicians including Wynonie Harris, an R&B singer that is credited with pioneering rock in roll in 1947.
Shortly after jump blues bands started playing their music it evolved into something closer to rock. Bill Haley officially made the new genre “rock” music when his song “(Were Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” appeared in the movie Blackboard Jungle in 1955, breaking rock into the mainstream (Kallen, 2012, 14). Although Haley is credited for bringing rock to mainstream, other black artists such as B.B. King, Little Milton, Howling Wolf, and Ike Turner were the true pioneers of the rock music style but were not as popular because of their race. After the success of Haley, a Memphis studio owner, Sam Phillips was desperately looking for a rock artist that could become mainstream, Sam had previously recorded for other talented black artists but their music wasn’t getting as much attention because of racial prejudice. Phillips’ dream of promoting a rock musician became true when a young man named Elvis Presley recorded a demo in his studio in 1954 (Kallen, 2012, 18). Short...
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...Korn was a heavy band that wrote songs about the disillusion of childhood innocence, abuse, drugs, the underground life and lust. Korn is still making influential records to this day, constantly pushing the boundaries of rock.
Modern rock today is so varied in styles from death metal to retro rock. Whether or not rock recycles its genres will be told by time. One thing can be said though; rock is a constantly changing music that has so many different and unique messages to convey to people around the entire world. Hopefully, rock and roll will never die.
Works Cited
Kallen, Stuart A. The History of Rock and Roll. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2012.
DeCurtis, Anthony, James Henke, and Holly George-Warren. Rolling Stone Album Guide: The Companion to 25 Years of Essential Rock. New York, NY: Random House, 1992.
Lanham, Tom. “Voodoo Trial.” Guitar One June 2003: 94-103.
Cherry, Robert. “Head Banger’s Ball.” Guitar One Nov. 2003: 94-120.
Cherry, Robert. “Architects of Grunge.” Guitar One May 2004: 85-103.
Pareles, Jon. "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Welcomes Its Newest Members." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
Schinder, Scott and Andy Schwartz. Icons of rock : an encyclopedia of the legends who changed
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 ...
Although he later denied that he ever said it, Sam Phillips-the man who discovered Elvis Presley-is reputed to have said, “if I could find a white man who had the Negro sound the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars” (Decurtis 78). Certain radio stations would not play the work of black artists in the segregated America of the 1950s. But, nevertheless, rock ‘n’ roll was an art form created by African-Americans. Little Richard, whose songs “Tutti Fruitti” and “Long Tall Sally” became hits only after white-bread versions were made by Pat Boone, said, “It started out as rhythm and blues” (Decurtis 78).
McPherson, Ian. “The Salt of the Earth: 1955-1960 R&B-Derived Rock & Roll.” Time Is On Our
It was no coincidence that rock ‘n’ roll and the civil rights movement started at the same time. The genre originated from African American music and was greatly discriminated against. Traditional white Americans would target anything bad about it. But as the teenager demographic of the 1950s started increasing the sales of the music, the genre started gaining more popularity. It was the style of Elvis Presley and his new voice that made girls weak in the knees and boys want to be him. Artists such as Presley had enough influence to change the view of their devoted fans on civil rights issues. Soon as protest songs and rock ‘n’ roll became more popular and influential, it began a gap between the young adult generation and their parents which led to the rebellion of the civil rights movement. Through these factors rock ‘n’ roll influenced a great deal over the civil rights movement.
Not only did race relations play a big factor in the 1950s, it was a start to a lot of controversy in the beginning between African Americans and whites. They connected with each other because of the style of the music. This type of music deeply emphasized integration for African Americans and also during this time they were trying to gain civil rights. “At the center of that struggle, rock-n-roll unsettled a nation that had been “living in an ‘age of anxiety’” since 1945 (All Shook Up, 7). Most artists were criticized and punished for not supporting their own races and staying within their boundaries.
Newfield, Jack. “Who Really Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll?” New York Sun. New York Sun, 21 Sep. 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2010
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.
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.
After many of World War II’s harmful effects, the 1950s served as a period of time of musical change that reflected the dynamic of society as well as the traditional norms and values. Many factors contributed to this transformation. For example, the civil rights movement heightened many racial tensions, and the music produced consequently manifested this tension in itself. Rock-n-roll and R&B music universalized music typically associated with African-Americans, and many African-American musicians gained fame; however, as with any relatively-widespread success, there were many musicians as well who missed their opportunities due to the same racial segregation. While “radical” genres such as R&B and rock-n-roll laid the foundation for music future forms of music, the standard pop, jazz, and country music adhered to traditional values, and thus continued to maintain popularity amidst phenomena such as the Elvis craze.
I. First I will start by discussing the various genres that created rock music in the 50’s and 60’s.
Music has continued to change throughout each decade, but the 1960s was the most influential decade in the history of music. Starting in the early 1950s, rock music was first introduced. Major record labels were releasing new “cover songs” which were originally made by black artist, but now by white artist (Rock and Roll). These cover songs changed a few lyrics from the original songs to avoid copyright issues and to also make the song more appropriate for the white listeners. The biggest star of the 1950s was Elvis Presley, who was known as the “King of rock n’ roll”.
...to be contradictions on the subject, as well as opinions on when does an alternative rock group stop being or becomes “alternative rock music”? Is it defined by the sound of the music, the image of the group, or both? One can also ask if it’s about the era or time the group existed, just like the genre term of classic rock. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, or Pink Floyd weren’t classified as classic rock music when they were forming and popular during their prime. What really defeats the purpose of the common definition of alternative rock music is during the early 1990’s when popular underground bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana were signed to labels and changed the face of rock music and incorporated the traits that defined alternative rock music into mainstream rock that continue to this day. The term “alternative rock music” has really lost its meaning.
Cahoon, B. (2004, January 1). Rhythm and Blues Music: Overview. . Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/rhythm-and-blues-music-overview.
Rock and Roll has good rhythm to it and a backbeat which sounds different from other earlier genres of music. It also has the blues influence which I like. Earlier genres of music in my opinion didn’t have the same type of rhythm, speed, syncopation or the strong back beat, the riffs and the hooks that rock & roll has. I also like the vocal ranges that some of the rock & roll musicians have and their ability to make them sound so unique. From the early 60’s and on, the music in general just sounded a lot better. Rock and roll during these times also became more rhythmically better.