History of Rock & Roll

 

History of Rock & Roll

        Rock and Roll emerged around 1916 with the Great Migration. This new genre of music came out of African American Blues and Gospel music. The Great Migration led African Americans to travel to northern cities in America and their musical style of rhythm and Blues allured the teens from the suburbs.  At the time segregation and racism was a serious issue in America, so most of the artists that performed Rock and Roll were never really broadcasted throughout the country.  A man by the name of Alan Freed began a radio station in Cleveland where he broadcasted his rhythm and blues show.  Freed's show became increasingly popular and Freed created the term "rock and roll" for the music he played on his radio station.  Many caucasian artists at the time began covering R&B songs, but they lacked the feeling and the soul that was produced by the original African Americans who sang that music, so the music was not as good.  However, many record producers at the time saw potential in these white artists' attempts to cover this genre, so they began to look for a white artist who sounded like an African American. Then a record producer out of Memphis by the name of Sam Phillips discovered a white artist known as Elvis Presley in 1953.  

                          

                                Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley

        Elvis Presley instantly drew in Sam Phillips, because of his stage presence, the way he danced, his Southern voice, and the way he was able to incorporate an older style into his own. At the time in Houston, Texas the NAACP was trying to get rid of music, targeted towards African Americans, that was racist and sexually evocative.  A committee of the NAACP met in Texas and the head of that committee created a list of twenty-six songs that were offensive and made radio stations quit playing those songs. The reason for this is because the NAACP was aiming towards getting rid of songs that disturbed African American leaders and that was contributing to juvenile delinquency.  Ironically enough most of the twenty-six songs were written by African American artists. Elvis Presley was successful in combining the African American sound with rhythm and blues and within two years he became the most well known name in entertainment. After Elvis Presley's initial success in Rock and Roll other artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, began to jump on the wagon. Many young rebellious teenagers loved this new style of music and they began to go against the style of music that their parents loved.  Older generations at that time were greatly opposed to rock and roll and the style of dancing that came with it. Churches at the time stated that it was "Satan's music." Rock and roll came out of lower class groups and segregated groups, so middle class and upper class white Americans did not like the music because they felt that it was vulgar.  Many radio stations and schools banned rock and roll, but in the end the desire of the masses outweighed the opposition. Combined with the fact that the emergence of this genre of music occurred about eight years after World War II ended, this new music was a way for people to rid themselves of stress. 

        Rock and Roll can best be described as music that includes a consistent strongly accented beat, repetitive simple phrases, country elements, blues elements, and folk elements. Also, rock and roll music includes a lot of electronic musical instruments that are amplified. Another aspect of rock and roll music is that it includes catchy melodies, intuitive lyrics, and is very energetic in its nature. The video above is "Jailhouse Rock," by Elvis Presley.  The song was actually written for the movie "Jailhouse Rock."  This song starts off with a guitar and a snare drum, then Elvis Presley comes in strongly.  When Presley comes in, he sings, but it almost sounds like he is speaking because of how strongly and dramatically he comes in. Also, when Elvis Presley comes in, his first line is a capella and that makes it even more dramatic. The dancing in this song is very free and passionate.  The guitar in the chorus repeats the exact same sequence of notes and it makes the song sound very upbeat and exciting.  The piano sounds as if it is free-styling in the choruses, which adds a jazzy sound to the song, and it makes the song sound even more exciting. While a lot of rock and roll songs allude to sex this song does not.  This song is about a person who is incarcerated and the sole purpose of this song is to get everybody in the jail to party and dance. 

        The video above is of Elvis Presley performing his song "Hound Dog" on the Ed Sullivan Show.  The lyrics in this song are very comical.  This song was actually written by Jerry Leiber for Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, but Presley made it famous. In "Big Mama's" version of "Hound Dog" it is about a woman who is talking to her man and calling him a "hound dog," because he is treating her poorly. This song, like many rock and roll songs, alludes to sex many times.  One of the lines in the song says "you can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more," which is the woman telling her man that she will never have sex with him again.  In Presley's version, that line is replaced with "well, you ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine." So, instead of talking about sex Presley points out the woman's poor hunting skills.  "Big Mama" takes a more serious approach with the song, while Presley makes the song more comedic.  In the video an electronically amplified guitar is being played along with the drums. The guitars part includes a lot of runs and is very upbeat and makes the song more comical.  Along with the guitar and drums there is a bass being played and the men behind Presley use body percussion by clapping.  This song exemplifies rock and roll music, because it includes a showy performance, a lively performance, and insightful yet funny lyrics. 

Bibliography:

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Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Rock and Roll Definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.merriam webster.com/dictionary/rock%20and%20roll#:~:text=%3A%20popular%20music%20usually%20played%20on,early%20fifties%2C%20they%20were%20even

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TheEdSullivanShow. (2020, September 9). Elvis Presley "Hound dog" (October 28, 1956) on The Ed Sullivan Show. YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYWl13IWhY