Hubbry Logo
Rock and rollRock and rollMain
Open search
Rock and roll
Community hub
Rock and roll
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Rock and roll
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1940s – early 1950s, United States
Derivative forms
Regional scenes
United Kingdom
Other topics

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.[1][2] It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, electric blues, gospel, and jump blues,[3] as well as from country music.[4] While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s[5] and in country records of the 1930s,[6] the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.[7][2]

By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as rock music, though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll".[8] For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.

In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by the electric guitar in the mid-to-late 1950s.[9] The beat is essentially a dance rhythm[10] with an accentuated backbeat, almost always provided by a snare drum.[11] Minimal blues chord progressions such as the twelve-bar blues are commonly used.[12] Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or more electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm) and a double bass (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric bass guitars ("Fender bass") and drum kits became popular in classic rock.[9]

Rock and roll had a profound influence on contemporary American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language, and is often portrayed in movies, fan magazines, and on television. Some people believe[who?] that the music had a positive influence on the civil rights movement, because of its widespread appeal to both Black American and White American teenagers.[13][14]

Terminology

[edit]
Sign commemorating the role of Alan Freed and Cleveland, Ohio, in the origins of rock and roll

The term "rock and roll" is defined by Greg Kot in Encyclopædia Britannica as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into the more encompassing international style known as rock music".[8] The term is sometimes also used as synonymous with "rock music" and is defined as such in some dictionaries.[15][16]

The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean,[17] but by the early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals[18] and as a sexual analogy. A retired Welsh seaman named William Fender can be heard singing the phrase "rock and roll" when describing a sexual encounter in his performance of the traditional song "The Baffled Knight" to the folklorist James Madison Carpenter in the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in the 1800s; the recording can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.[19]

Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. "Bosom of Abraham", an African-American spiritual that was documented no later than 1867 (just after the Civil War), uses the phrase "rock my soul" frequently in a religious sense; this song was later recorded by musicians from various genres, including various gospel musicians and groups (including The Jordanaires), Louis Armstrong (jazz/swing), Lonnie Donegan (skiffle), and Elvis Presley (rock and roll/pop/country).[20] Blues singer Trixie Smith recorded "My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll"[21] in 1922. It was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience.[18] Huey "Piano" Smith credits Cha Cha Hogan, a jump-blues shouter and comic in New Orleans, with popularizing the term in his 1950 song "My Walking Baby".[22][23]

Disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with popularizing the term "rock and roll" and introducing the genre across racial barriers in the 1950s

In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, before the concept of rock and roll had been defined, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe; her style on that recording was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing".[24][25] By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" in South Merchantville, New Jersey, was established as a music venue.[26] In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio, disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style, and referring to it as "rock and roll"[27] on his mainstream radio program, which popularized the phrase.[28]

Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record "Sixty Minute Man" by Billy Ward and his Dominoes.[29][30] The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long".[31] Freed did not acknowledge the suggestion about that source in interviews, and explained the term as follows: "Rock 'n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm".[32]

In discussing Alan Freed's contribution to the genre, two significant sources emphasized the importance of African-American rhythm and blues. Greg Harris, then the executive director of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, offered this comment to CNN: "Freed's role in breaking down racial barriers in American pop culture in the 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality 'at the vanguard' and made him 'a really important figure'".[33] After Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the organization's Web site offered this comment: "He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll".[34]

Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll, Todd Storz, the owner of radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska, was the first to adopt the Top 40 format (in 1953), playing only the most popular records in rotation. His station, and the numerous others which adopted the concept, helped to promote the genre: by the mid 50s, the playlist included artists such as "Presley, Lewis, Haley, Berry and Domino".[35][36]

Early rock and roll

[edit]

Origins

[edit]
Main article: Origins of rock and roll
Chuck Berry in 1957

The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music.[37] There is general agreement that it arose in the Southern United States – a region that would produce most of the major early rock and roll acts – through the meeting of various influences that embodied a merging of the African musical tradition with European instrumentation.[38] The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. Louis, Memphis, New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and 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 other's fashions.[39][40] Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of the gramophone record, and African-American musical styles such as jazz and swing which were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision".[41]

The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, then called "race music",[42] in combination with either boogie-woogie and shouting gospel[43] or with country music of the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk.[37] 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.[44][45][46]

A picture of the 7" single for "Roll 'Em Pete"
Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson's record "Roll 'Em Pete" is regarded as a precursor to rock and roll.

In the 1930s, jazz, and particularly swing, both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing (Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican and other similar singers), were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience.[45][47] One particularly noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements is Big Joe Turner with pianist Pete Johnson's 1938 single "Roll 'Em Pete", which is regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll.[48][49][50] 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 bands were less economical and tended to be replaced by smaller combos, using guitars, bass and drums.[37][51] In the same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, the development of jump blues, with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments.[37] In the documentary film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, Keith Richards proposes that Chuck Berry developed his brand of rock and roll by transposing the familiar two-note lead line of jump blues piano directly to the electric guitar, creating what is instantly recognizable as rock guitar. This proposal by Richards neglects the black guitarists who did the same thing before Berry, such as Goree Carter,[52] Gatemouth Brown,[53] and the originator of the style, T-Bone Walker.[54] Country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll.[37] Inspired by electric blues, Chuck Berry introduced an aggressive guitar sound to rock and roll, and established the electric guitar as its centerpiece,[55] adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band instrumentation of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums.[56] In 2017, Robert Christgau declared that "Chuck Berry did in fact invent rock 'n' roll", explaining that this artist "came the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together".[57]

Rock and roll arrived at a time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier, 45 rpm record and modern condenser microphones.[37] There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels like Atlantic, Sun and Chess servicing niche audiences and a similar rise of radio stations that played their music.[37] 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.[37] Because the development of rock and roll was an evolutionary process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously "the first" rock and roll record.[2] Contenders for the title of "first rock and roll record" include Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Strange Things Happening Every Day" (1944),[58] "That's All Right" by Arthur Crudup (1946), "Move It On Over" by Hank Williams (1947),[59] "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino (1949),[2] Goree Carter's "Rock Awhile" (1949),[60] and Jimmy Preston's "Rock the Joint" (1949) (later covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952).[61]

"Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm and sung by Brenston), was recorded by Sam Phillips in March 1951. This is often cited as the first rock n' roll record.[62][63] In an interview however, Ike Turner offered this comment: "I don't think that 'Rocket 88' is rock 'n' roll. I think that 'Rocket 88' is R&B, but I think 'Rocket 88' is the cause of rock and roll existing".[64][65]

Bill Haley and his Comets performing in the 1954 Universal International film Round Up of Rhythm

In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere, Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock",[66] recorded in April 1954 but not a commercial success until the following year, is generally recognized as an important milestone, but it was preceded by many recordings from earlier decades in which elements of rock and roll can be clearly discerned.[2][67][68]

Journalist Alexis Petridis argued that neither Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" nor Presley's version of "That's Alright Mama" heralded a new genre: "They were simply the first white artists' interpretations of a sound already well-established by black musicians almost a decade before. It was a raucous, driving, unnamed variant of rhythm and blues that came complete with lyrics that talked about rocking".[62]

Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent.[63] Chuck Berry's 1955 classic "Maybellene" in particular features a distorted electric guitar solo with warm overtones created by his small valve amplifier.[69] However, the use of distortion was predated by electric blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis,[70] Guitar Slim,[71] Willie Johnson of Howlin' Wolf's band,[72] and Pat Hare; the latter two also made use of distorted power chords in the early 1950s.[73] Also in 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the "Bo Diddley beat" and a unique electric guitar style,[74] influenced by African and Afro-Cuban music and in turn influencing many later artists.[75][76][77]

Rhythm and blues

[edit]
LaVern Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. "Jim Dandy" and "Tweedlee Dee" helped shape the sound of the 1950s rock scene.

Rock and roll was strongly influenced by R&B, according to many sources, including an article in The Wall Street Journal in 1985, titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues". In fact, the author stated that the "two terms were used interchangeably", until about 1957. The other sources quoted in the article said that rock and roll combined R&B with pop and country music.[78]

Fats Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the early 1950s and he was not convinced that this was a new genre. In 1957, he said: "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans".[79] According to Rolling Stone, "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city-bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B, the black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties".[80] Further, Little Richard built his ground-breaking sound of the same era with an uptempo blend of boogie-woogie, New Orleans rhythm and blues, and the soul and fervor of gospel music vocalization.[43]

Less frequently cited as an influencer, LaVern Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties".[81]

Rockabilly

[edit]
Main article: Rockabilly
A black and white photograph of Elvis Presley standing between two sets of bars
Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957

"Rockabilly" usually (but not exclusively) refers to the type of rock and roll music which was played and recorded in the mid-1950s primarily by white singers such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, who drew mainly on the country roots of the music.[82][83] Presley was greatly influenced by and incorporated his style of music with that of some of the greatest Black musicians like BB King, Arthur Crudup and Fats Domino. His style of music combined with black influences created controversy during a turbulent time in history.[83] Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such as Fats Domino and Little Richard,[84] came out of the black rhythm and blues tradition, making the music attractive to white audiences, and are not usually classed as "rockabilly".

Presley popularized rock and roll on a wider scale than any other single performer and by 1956, he had emerged as the singing sensation of the nation.[85]

Bill Flagg who is a Connecticut resident, began referring to his mix of hillbilly and rock 'n' roll music as rockabilly around 1953.[86]

In July 1954, Presley recorded the regional hit "That's All Right" at Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis.[87] Three months earlier, on April 12, 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 set the rock and roll boom in motion.[66] 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 success for the group; traditionally, the song has been seen as the major breakthrough for the rock and roll genre, as its immense popularity introduced the music to a global audience.[88] Haley and the Comets' earlier hit, "Crazy Man, Crazy" is recognized as the first rock and roll song to hit the mainstream charts, peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard singles chart in May 1953, and notably features guitar fills in place of piano or saxophone.[89]

In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, "Blue Suede Shoes" by Perkins, and the No. 1 hit "Heartbreak Hotel" by Presley.[83] For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters like Buddy Holly, would be a major influence on British Invasion acts and particularly on the song writing of the Beatles and through them on the nature of later rock music.[90]

Cover versions

[edit]
Main article: Cover version
Little Richard in 1957

Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits were covers or partial re-writes of earlier black rhythm and blues or blues songs.[91] 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.[92] 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.[93] Some of Presley's early recordings were covers of black rhythm and blues or blues songs, such as "That's All Right" (a countrified arrangement of a blues number), "Baby Let's Play House", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", and "Hound Dog".[94] The racial lines, however, are rather more clouded by the fact that some of these R&B songs originally recorded by black artists had been written by white songwriters, such as the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Songwriting credits were often unreliable; many publishers, record executives, and even managers (both white and black) would insert their name as a composer in order to collect royalty checks.

Ritchie Valens best known for his 1958 hit "La Bamba", which blended traditional Mexican music with rock and roll

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).[95] One of the first relevant successful covers was Wynonie Harris's transformation of Roy Brown's 1947 original jump blues hit "Good Rocking Tonight" into a more showy rocker[96] 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.[97] 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.[98] Famously, Pat Boone recorded sanitized versions of songs recorded by the likes of Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Flamingos and Ivory Joe Hunter. Later, as those songs became popular, the original artists' recordings received radio play as well.[99]

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,[91][100] while Georgia Gibbs replaced Etta James' 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, Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie".[101] Presley's rock and roll version of "Hound Dog", taken mainly from a version recorded by the pop band Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, was very different from the blues shouter that Big Mama Thornton had recorded four years earlier.[102][103] Other white artists who recorded cover versions of rhythm and blues songs included Gale Storm (Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin'"), the Diamonds (The Gladiolas' "Little Darlin'" and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"), the Crew Cuts (the Chords' "Sh-Boom" and Nappy Brown's "Don't Be Angry"), the Fountain Sisters (The Jewels' "Hearts of Stone") and the Maguire Sisters (The Moonglows' "Sincerely").

Decline and later developments

[edit]
Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets

Some commentators have suggested a decline of rock and roll starting in 1958.[104][105] The retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher (October 1957), the departure of Presley for service in the United States Army (March 1958), the scandal surrounding Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin (May 1958), riots caused by Bill Haley's ill-fated tour of Europe (October 1958), the deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash (February 1959), the breaking of the Payola scandal implicating major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959), the arrest of Chuck Berry (December 1959), and the death of Eddie Cochran in a car crash (April 1960) gave a sense that the initial phase of rock and roll had come to an end.[106]

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rawer sounds of Presley, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly were commercially superseded by a more polished, commercial style of rock and roll influenced pop music. Marketing frequently emphasized the physical looks of the artist rather than the music, contributing to the successful careers of Ricky Nelson, Tommy Sands, Bobby Vee, Jimmy Clanton, and the Philadelphia trio of Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian, who all became "teen idols".[107]

Johnny Rivers was a key 1960s rock artist known for hits like "Memphis" and his "Go-go" style.

Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including multitrack recording, developed by Les Paul, the electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek, and the "Wall of Sound" productions of Phil Spector,[108] continued desegregation of the charts, the rise of surf music, garage rock and the Twist dance craze.[45] Surf rock in particular, noted for the use of reverb-drenched guitars, became one of the most popular forms of American rock of the early 1960s.[109]

While the sounds of the British Invasion would become the superseding forms of rock music during the mid-1960s, a few American artists were nonetheless able to achieve chart successes with rock and roll recordings during this time. The most notable of these was Johnny Rivers, who with hits such as "Memphis" (1964), popularized a "Go-go" style of club-oriented, danceable rock and roll that enjoyed significant success in spite of the ongoing British Invasion.[110][111] Another example was Bobby Fuller and his group The Bobby Fuller Four, who were especially inspired by Buddy Holly and stuck with a rock and roll style, scoring their most notable hit with "I Fought the Law" (1965).[112][113][114]

British rock and roll

[edit]
Main article: British rock and roll
Tommy Steele, one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture.[115] 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 and the rockers.[116] Trad jazz became popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie woogie and the blues.[117] The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan, used 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.[118] 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 (1956).[119] Both movies featured 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 US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency.[120]

Cliff Richard became an early British rock and roll star with his 1958 hit "Move It".

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. More grass roots British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele.[115] During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but 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".[121] At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith.[115] Cliff Richard and his backing band, the Shadows, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era.[122] Other leading acts included Billy Fury, Joe Brown, and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, whose 1960 hit song "Shakin' All Over" became a rock and roll standard.[115]

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 British cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London.[123] About the same time, a British blues scene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies who were inspired by American musicians such as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.[124] 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.[125] 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.[126] Early British rhythm and blues groups with more blues influences include the Animals, the Rolling Stones, and the Yardbirds.[127]

Cultural influence

[edit]
Main article: Social effects of rock music
The transistor radio (1958 Emerson pictured) introduced FM radio and rock and roll music to baby boomer children in American households.

Rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language.[128] In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teens enjoyed the music.[13]

Many early rock and roll songs dealt with issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing. The lyrics of rock and roll songs described events and conflicts to which most listeners could relate through personal experience. Topics such as sex that had generally been considered taboo began to appear in rock and roll lyrics. This new music tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not discussed openly. An awakening began to take place in American youth culture.[129]

Race

[edit]

In the crossover of African-American "race music" to a growing white youth audience, the popularization of rock and roll involved both black performers reaching a white audience and white musicians performing African-American music.[130] 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 desegregation, leading to the U.S. 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.[131] The coming together of white youth audiences and black music in rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color.[13] 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.[132] Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves.[133]

Teen culture

[edit]
Main article: Youth subculture
"There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" made the cover of True Life Romance in 1956.

Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define an age group.[134] It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone.[134] Rock and roll is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first baby boomer generation, who had greater relative affluence and leisure time and adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct subculture.[135] This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and TV programs like American Bandstand, but also extended to film, clothes, hair, cars and motorcycles, and distinctive language. The 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 because, to a large extent, rock and roll culture was shared by different racial and social groups.[135]

In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts such as comic books. In "There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" from True Life Romance (1956), a defiant teen dates a rock and roll-loving boy but drops him for one who likes traditional adult music—to her parents' relief.[136] In Britain, where postwar prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached to the pre-existing Teddy Boy movement, largely working class in origin, and eventually to the rockers.[116] "On the white side of the deeply segregated music market", rock and roll became marketed for teenagers, as in Dion and the Belmonts' "A Teenager in Love" (1959).[137]

Dance styles

[edit]

From its early 1950s beginnings through the early 1960s, rock and roll spawned new dance crazes[138] including the twist. Teenagers found the syncopated backbeat rhythm especially suited to reviving Big Band-era jitterbug dancing. Sock hops, school and church 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.[139] From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as "rock", later dance genres followed, leading to funk, disco, house, techno, and hip hop.[140]

References

[edit]

Sources

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Rock and roll

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States during the mid-1950s, evolving from the fusion of African American styles including blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and rhythm and blues with white country and folk traditions, characterized by a strong backbeat, electric guitar prominence, and energetic performances suited to dancing. Pioneered by artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Bill Haley, the genre gained mainstream traction through radio disc jockey Alan Freed, who popularized the term "rock and roll" in 1951 to describe the rhythmically propulsive music appealing to youth. Its rapid rise reflected post-World War II economic prosperity, enabling teenagers to purchase records and attend concerts, fostering a distinct youth subculture that emphasized independence from adult norms and facilitated racial mixing in audiences and airplay, though it provoked backlash over perceived immorality and cultural disruption. By the late 1950s, rock and roll had reshaped global popular music, influencing fashion, language, and social attitudes while spawning subgenres and launching careers that defined subsequent rock evolution.

Terminology and Definition

Etymology and Usage

The phrase "rock and roll" originated in early 20th-century African-American as a for , with roots in and lyrics describing rhythmic motion during dance or intimacy. Its earliest documented appearance in a commercial recording occurred in on Trixie Smith's "My Baby Rocks Me with One Steady Roll," where the terms evoked physical and sexual energy in performance contexts. By and 1940s, similar phrasing appeared in and tracks, such as those by artists like , reinforcing its association with upbeat, bodily movement in Black musical traditions. In the early 1950s, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed adopted "rock and roll" to describe the energetic rhythm and blues records he broadcast on WJW radio, targeting a mixed audience of Black and white teenagers amid post-World War II cultural shifts. Freed first used the term publicly around July 1951 during his "Moondog" show, intentionally selecting it to neutralize racial connotations of "race music" labels and appeal to broader markets, though he drew from existing slang without inventing the phrase. This usage gained traction by 1954, coinciding with mainstream hits like Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," which cemented "rock and roll" as the genre's descriptor for a fusion of blues, country, and gospel elements characterized by amplified guitars, driving rhythms, and youth-oriented rebellion. The term's spelling evolved to "rock 'n' roll" in promotional materials and media by the mid-1950s, reflecting phonetic contraction for brevity in titles and , while distinguishing the style from pure or . Usage expanded internationally but retained American origins, often contrasted with later "rock" to denote the original 1950s form's raw, danceable immediacy versus more experimental variants. Despite claims of naval origins for ship motion, musical applications prioritized the sexual and rhythmic connotations from idioms, as evidenced by consistent lyrical patterns predating Freed's commercialization.

Core Characteristics and Distinctions

Rock and roll is characterized by a strong backbeat in 4/4 time, with percussive accents emphasized on the second and fourth beats, creating a driving, danceable groove derived from earlier and traditions but amplified for broader appeal. This backbeat, often delivered by hits, distinguishes it from the more even or swung rhythms prevalent in pure , providing an insistent pulse that propels the music forward. Early examples frequently incorporated a or feel in the rhythm section, blending triplet-based phrasing with straight eighth notes on guitar or . Instrumentation typically centered on electric guitars—one for lead solos and riffs, another for rhythm—paired with upright (slapped for percussive effect) or emerging electric bass, , and vocals, shifting away from the horn sections and dominance of 1940s toward a leaner, guitar-forward ensemble by the mid-1950s. Harmonically, it draws from progressions, often using the 12-bar structure with I-IV-V chords in major or mixolydian modes, but simplified for accessibility compared to the modal complexities or extended improvisations in or bebop-influenced R&B. In performance and lyrics, rock and roll emphasized energetic, physical delivery—shouts, whoops, and stage antics—over the melismatic vocal embellishments and narrative introspection of , with themes centered on romance, , cars, and dancing rather than the urban hardship or gospel-infused pleas common in its black precursors. This shift facilitated crossover to white audiences, as record labels like Chess and Sun marketed uptempo tracks with reduced horn arrangements and straightforward phrasing to suburban youth, differentiating it from the slower, ensemble-heavy R&B charts of the late 1940s. Distinctions from country and western music include rock and roll's urban electric amplification and rhythmic urgency versus the acoustic twang and narrative ballads of styles, though it borrowed guitar techniques like bending and country-inflected picking from artists crossing regional lines. Unlike pop, which favored orchestral strings, vocals, and sophisticated pop, which prioritized sentimental lyrics and lush arrangements, rock and roll rejected formal sophistication for raw, repetitive hooks and youth-centric immediacy. These elements coalesced around 1954–1956 in recordings like Bill Haley's "," marking a commercial pivot where empirical sales data showed white teenagers driving demand for faster, guitar-led hybrids over segregated R&B playlists.

Historical Origins

Precursors in American Music

The , a rooted in African American oral traditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the American South, supplied rock and roll with its signature bent notes, call-and-response patterns, and themes of hardship and resilience. Emerging from work songs, field hollers, and , blues recordings gained commercial traction in the 1920s with artists like and the , establishing the 12-bar that became a staple. Electric amplification in the 1930s and 1940s, as heard in works by and in , intensified the raw energy and guitar-driven sound later adopted in rock. Boogie-woogie and further propelled rhythmic innovations in the 1930s and 1940s, emphasizing shuffled eighth-note patterns and upbeat tempos that prefigured rock's propulsion. , centered on bass lines played on piano, peaked with recordings like and Meade "Lux" Lewis's "Boogie Woogie Stomp" in 1936, which showcased relentless drive suitable for dancing. and Pete Johnson's "Roll 'Em Pete," released in 1938, blended blues vocals with boogie piano, delivering a high-energy that historians identify as proto-rock due to its volume and swing-derived swing. , an evolution featuring small combos with saxes and drums, accelerated this with artists like , whose hits such as "" in 1946 incorporated horn riffs and backbeats, bridging jazz to postwar R&B. Gospel music contributed emotive vocal techniques and rhythmic clapping, drawn from Black church traditions that intensified after the Great Migration. Quartet singing groups like , led by in the early 1950s, fused sacred harmonies with secular energy, influencing rock's expressive delivery. Meanwhile, white Southern , including and , added twangy guitars and narrative storytelling; bands under from the 1930s mixed fiddles with horns, as in "New San Antonio Rose" (1938), providing a template for hybrid instrumentation. boogie tracks in the late 1940s, such as Tennessee Ernie Ford's adaptations, merged country licks with rhythms, setting the stage for rockabilly fusion. These strands—primarily Black R&B derivatives and white folk-country forms—converged in urban centers post-World War II, driven by shared socioeconomic shifts and radio dissemination.

Socioeconomic and Technological Catalysts

The post-World War II economic boom in the United States created conditions ripe for rock and roll's emergence by expanding consumer markets and youth autonomy. Following the war's end in 1945, wartime lifted, and factories retooled for peacetime production, spurring a surge in disposable income; real median family income rose by approximately 30% from 1947 to 1953, enabling widespread purchases of leisure goods like phonographs and records. The , which saw annual U.S. births exceed 3.6 million by 1947 and continue at high rates through the 1950s, produced a swelling teenage demographic with part-time jobs and allowances, channeling newfound spending power—estimated at billions annually by mid-decade—into and . This prosperity contrasted sharply with prewar austerity, where families lacked surplus for nonessentials, allowing teens to form a distinct consumer class that drove demand for energetic, accessible sounds blending Black with white country traditions. Urban migration and social mobility further intertwined musical influences, as the Great Migration of African Americans from rural South to industrial Northern cities between 1910 and 1950 concentrated blues and gospel performers in urban hubs like Chicago and Memphis, where proximity to white audiences via radio and jukeboxes eroded prior racial segregations in music access. Independent record labels proliferated amid this economic vitality, capitalizing on underserved markets for "race records" that later appealed broadly, with the industry mirroring national GDP growth at rates exceeding 10% annually in the late 1940s. Technological innovations amplified these social shifts by enabling louder, more reproducible performances and distribution. The solid-body , commercialized with models like Leo Fender's Broadcaster in 1950, delivered sustained volume and sustain without acoustic feedback, transforming rhythm sections and solos central to rock's drive; by the mid-1950s, adoption in bands laid groundwork for its fusion with styles. Vacuum-tube amplifiers, refined from designs, provided the and power for ensemble play in larger venues, with early units like those from Gibson and powering pioneers in . The 1949 launch of the 45 RPM vinyl single by RCA Victor offered a lightweight, inexpensive alternative to brittle 78s—priced at 94 cents and playing up to 4 minutes—ideal for jukeboxes and teen purchases, which exploded to dominate singles sales and accelerate the crossover of upbeat tracks by 1954. recording, adopted commercially post-1947 via imported German technology, permitted and cleaner production, enhancing the fidelity of raw, percussive styles that defined early rock precursors.

Emergence in the Mid-1950s

Pioneering Artists and Recordings

and His Comets recorded "(We're Gonna) " on April 12, 1954, at ' New York studio, with the track initially released as the B-side to "" on May 20, 1954. The song's re-release in May 1955, tied to its feature in the film Blackboard Jungle, propelled it to No. 1 on the by July 9, 1955, marking the first instance of a rock and roll record achieving that position and selling over 25 million copies worldwide in subsequent decades. Haley's fusion of , , and rhythm and blues elements, driven by a backbeat and Danny Cedrone's solo, exemplified the genre's energetic rhythm and danceable appeal, influencing subsequent artists through its simple, repetitive structure emphasizing 4/4 time. In Memphis, Elvis Presley's first professional session at on July 5, 1954, yielded "," a reworking of Arthur Crudup's tune adapted with inflections, released as his debut single on July 19, 1954. The recording, featuring Presley's raw vocals, Scotty Moore's guitar, and Bill Black's slapped bass, received immediate regional airplay on Memphis radio, sparking audience hysteria at live performances and leading to four more Sun singles by 1955, including "" in 1955, which blended progressions with hillbilly fervor. Presley's Sun output, totaling around 24 tracks between 1953 and 1955, bridged Black rhythm and blues with white Southern audiences, with sales exceeding 300,000 copies for early releases despite limited national distribution. African American artists advanced the genre's raw edge concurrently. Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," recorded in May 1955 at in and released in July 1955, peaked at No. 5 on the R&B chart and No. 10 on the pop chart, its narrative of a delivered over Berry's innovative double-stop guitar riffs and a 4/4 shuffle rhythm drawing from and sources. Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti," cut on September 14, 1955, at J&M Studio in New Orleans for and released in November 1955, hit No. 1 on the R&B chart in early 1956, propelled by Richard's whoops, pounding piano, and lyrics sanitized from their original bawdy content, establishing a template for high-energy rock vocals and performance. These tracks, alongside Fats Domino's "" released in 1955 which crossed over to No. 10 on the pop chart, underscored rock and roll's roots in New Orleans piano styles and urban , with combined sales reflecting growing crossover appeal amid post-war youth demographics. Such pioneering efforts crystallized rock and roll's core through amplified guitars, backbeats at 120-180 beats per minute, and themes of romance and , as evidenced by Bo Diddley's self-titled debut single in March , which introduced his signature and rhythm to the national stage. By 1956, these recordings had collectively sold millions, shifting music industry paradigms from crooners toward youth-oriented 45 rpm singles, though mainstream adoption often involved white artists covering Black originals to broaden commercial reach.

Industry and Media Role

Independent record labels played a pivotal role in rock and roll's emergence by identifying and exploiting demand for rhythm and blues recordings among white audiences in the early 1950s. Producers like at in Memphis signed artists such as , whose debut single "" was released on July 19, 1954, after Phillips recognized Presley's ability to perform black music convincingly for broader markets. Similarly, labels like and Atlantic amplified and New Orleans R&B, with sales data showing white teenagers increasingly purchasing these "race records," prompting industry shifts toward crossover promotion. Radio disc jockeys were instrumental in bridging racial divides, exposing white listeners to black-originated music and coining terminology to rebrand it for mass appeal. , hosting "The Moondog Show" on WJW in from 1951, popularized the term "rock and roll" and organized the Moondog Coronation Ball on March 21, 1952, at , which drew nearly 25,000 attendees—far exceeding capacity—and is recognized as the first rock and roll concert, though it ended prematurely due to overcrowding and police intervention. Freed's programming and live events helped mainstream artists like and , fostering a youth-driven market that boosted record sales and jukebox plays. Television further accelerated rock and roll's national visibility, though often through sanitized presentations to mitigate controversy. Dick Clark assumed hosting duties for American Bandstand in Philadelphia in July 1956, transforming the local dance show into a nationally syndicated program by August 1957 on ABC, which emphasized choreographed teen dancing to rock records and favored non-threatening performers. Elvis Presley's appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show—first on September 9, 1956, performing "Don't Be Cruel" and "Love Me Tender," followed by October 28 and January 6, 1957—drew record audiences, with the final show capturing 82.7% of U.S. television viewers, solidifying his stardom despite network efforts to film him from the waist up to tone down his hip movements. These media platforms, leveraging post-war economic prosperity and teen disposable income, propelled rock and roll from niche to dominant genre by decade's end.

Musical Features

Rhythm, Instrumentation, and Production

Rock and roll rhythm is characterized by a strong backbeat in 4/4 , with percussive accents emphasized on the second and fourth beats, typically played on the . This pattern creates a propulsive, danceable groove derived from African American musical traditions like and , where the backbeat provides rhythmic tension and release, distinguishing it from the even pulse of earlier swing or march rhythms. Tempos typically range from 110 to 140 beats per minute, enabling high-energy performances suited to youthful dancing styles such as the or twist precursors. Instrumentation in rock and roll centers on a core ensemble of , electric bass guitar, and , which supplanted acoustic setups from folk and country precursors. The lead delivers riff-based melodies and solos with and bending techniques, often amplified through simple tube amps like the Fender Tweed series introduced in the late 1940s; rhythm provides chordal support, while the bass establishes a walking or root-note line synced to the drum. Drums focus on the backbeat with basic kits including , snare, toms, and , emphasizing snare cracks over elaborate fills. Vocals, often shouted or crooned with bluesy inflections, serve as the focal point, occasionally augmented by boogie-woogie patterns or riffs borrowed from , as in recordings by artists like or . Early production techniques in the prioritized capturing live band energy in mono format using minimal microphones and basic studios, often recording directly to 78 rpm acetate disks or early at labels like in Memphis. Drum kits were typically miked with three microphones—one for snare top, one for exterior, and one overhead for cymbals—yielding a raw, roomy sound without heavy processing. Engineers applied limited compression and equalization to enhance presence, such as boosting for guitar cut-through, but avoided multitracking until late in the decade; this approach preserved acoustic honesty from small ensembles in untreated spaces, contributing to the genre's unpolished vitality before the shift to four-track tape and artificial effects.

Lyrics, Themes, and Performance

Lyrics in early rock and roll were typically straightforward and repetitive, prioritizing rhythmic phrasing and call-and-response patterns over intricate storytelling, often adapting formulas from traditions such as expressions of romantic longing or physical abandon. This simplicity facilitated mass appeal and danceability, with verses structured around short, punchy lines like those in Bill Haley's "" (1954), which urged nonstop partying without deeper narrative complexity. Common themes revolved around teenage romance, heartbreak, fast cars, and exuberant nightlife, mirroring the freedoms and anxieties of post-World War II youth amid rising car culture and consumerism. Songs like Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" (1955) exemplified pursuits involving automobiles and fleeting love, while others evoked rebellion against parental authority or societal norms, as in the era's rallying cries for uninhibited fun. Underlying these were frequent sexual innuendos drawn from roots, which conservatives interpreted as promoting immorality; for instance, the term "rock and roll" itself connoted in , and tracks like Little Richard's "" (1956) layered suggestive double entendres amid energetic pleas. Such elements sparked , with radio stations and record labels sanitizing explicit content—e.g., revising "Tutti Frutti" (1955) from homosexual references to vague "good booty"—yet preserving the genre's raw, provocative edge that distinguished it from sanitized pop. Performance styles emphasized visceral energy and audience interaction, departing from the staid presentations of swing bands toward wild vocals, acrobatic instrumentation, and bodily expressiveness. Pioneers like delivered whooping screams and pounding to incite frenzy, while incorporated guitar duck walks and narrative showmanship during live sets, fostering a participatory chaos that amplified the 's themes of liberation. Elvis Presley's hip-shaking routines in television appearances, promoting songs like "Jailhouse Rock," similarly blurred musical execution with erotic physicality, drawing millions but provoking backlash for inciting . These traits, rooted in black musical traditions yet amplified for broader audiences, solidified rock and roll's identity as a catalyst for cultural upheaval.

Social and Cultural Dynamics

Youth Culture and Rebellion

The post-World War II baby boom, with an average of 4.24 million births annually from 1946 to 1964, created a surging teenage population by the mid-1950s that sought distinct cultural expressions separate from adult norms. Economic prosperity, evidenced by average family incomes rising from $3,300 in 1950 to $5,400 in 1959, provided teenagers with unprecedented disposable income and leisure time, fostering a consumer-oriented youth subculture focused on cars, dating, and entertainment. Rock and roll emerged as the defining soundtrack, with teenagers accounting for approximately 70% of record purchases during the decade, enabling the genre to dominate youth identity formation. This music symbolized mild rebellion against the perceived conformity of parental generation's big band and crooner styles, emphasizing rhythmic energy, romantic autonomy, and physical expression through dances like the jitterbug and twist precursors. Youth adopted associated fashions—leather jackets, blue jeans, and slicked-back hair—mirroring icons in films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which captured generational tensions over independence and authority. The genre's raw, rhythm-driven sound and lyrics addressing teenage desires contrasted sharply with adult-approved music, widening the generation gap as parents viewed it as vulgar and disruptive to traditional values. Authorities and media often linked rock and roll to rising rates, with incidents at concerts fueling moral panics; for instance, four riots erupted at performances in 1956, attributed by police to excessive dancing and crowd fervor rather than organized violence. In 1958, a disorder following an Alan Freed-hosted show featuring in prompted a citywide ban on rock events, alongside similar restrictions in five other Northeast cities, as officials cited threats to public order and interracial mingling. While tying the music directly to criminality remained scant, such reactions reflected broader anxieties over youth autonomy amid socioeconomic shifts, positioning rock and roll as a catalyst for cultural defiance rather than systemic deviance.

Racial Interplay and Commercial Dynamics

Rock and roll emerged from the synthesis of African American rhythm and blues with elements of white country and western music, creating a hybrid form that transcended racial boundaries in performance and audience appeal. Pioneering black artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard infused high-energy rhythms and guitar-driven riffs derived from blues traditions into the genre, while white performers like Bill Haley adapted these sounds for broader dissemination. This interplay facilitated cultural exchange amid mid-20th-century segregation, as radio disc jockey Alan Freed played rhythm and blues records to white teenage audiences in Cleveland, culminating in the Moondog Coronation Ball on March 21, 1952, which drew a racially mixed crowd of around 25,000 and marked an early instance of integrated music events, though it ended in a riot from overcrowding. Commercially, racial dynamics shaped market access and profitability, with black artists facing barriers from segregated radio playlists and distribution networks that limited their reach to predominantly white consumers. White covers of black originals often achieved greater sales due to acceptance on mainstream pop charts and stations; for instance, Pat Boone's toned-down version of Little Richard's "," released in 1956, peaked at number 12 on the pop chart, outperforming the original's number 17 position and reportedly selling significantly more copies. Similarly, Elvis Presley's 1956 recording of "Hound Dog," originally by in 1953, sold over 10 million copies, dwarfing Thornton's modest royalties and sales, as Presley accessed the larger white market through RCA Victor's promotion. These patterns reflected industry practices where labels prioritized palatable versions for mass appeal, amplifying white artists' earnings while black originators received fractions via flat fees or minimal royalties, such as Little Richard earning half a cent per copy sold of his own hit after ' acquisition costs. Despite these disparities, the genre's crossover success expanded black music's visibility; by the mid-1950s, hits from black performers like began charting on pop lists, signaling gradual erosion of strict racial divides in . However, empirical data from the era indicate black artists' overall sales remained low relative to national potential until white intermediaries popularized the sound, underscoring causal factors like segregation in media and consumer preferences that funneled profits disproportionately to white performers and executives. This dynamic propelled rock and roll's commercial explosion, with total U.S. record industry revenues rising from $213 million in 1954 to $325 million by 1958, though black innovators often benefited indirectly through renewed interest in .

Controversies and Criticisms

Moral and Familial Objections

Rock and roll's emergence in the mid-1950s provoked widespread moral objections from parents and religious authorities, who associated the genre's rhythms, lyrics, and performances with sexual promiscuity, rebellion against parental authority, and erosion of Christian values. Critics contended that the music's driving beat and suggestive themes encouraged juvenile delinquency and undermined family structures, reflecting postwar anxieties over youth autonomy amid rising teen birth rates and premarital sexual activity, which increased from about 25% in the 1940s to over 40% by the late 1950s according to demographic surveys. Religious leaders, including evangelicals and Catholics, labeled it the "devil's music" for purportedly fostering a spirit of defiance toward traditional morality and church teachings. Familial criticisms intensified over artists like , whose hip-shaking stage antics were decried as obscene and animalistic, prompting networks such as to film his September 9, 1956, appearance on from the waist up to mitigate backlash from viewers concerned about its influence on children. Parents' groups and educators warned that such performances modeled sexualized behavior, contributing to generational rifts as teenagers embraced rock concerts and records that parents viewed as gateways to immorality. In response, municipal bans emerged; on June 3, 1956, Santa Cruz, California, authorities prohibited rock and roll at public events, deeming it "detrimental to both the health and morals of our citizenry." Religious institutions took direct action against the genre's perceived corrupting effects on family life. On March 3, 1957, Cardinal of the Catholic Archdiocese banned rock and roll from all Roman Catholic schools, citing its incompatibility with moral education and potential to incite improper conduct among students. Similar condemnations from Protestant highlighted ' explicit references to romance and partying as antithetical to familial discipline, with some radio stations refusing for being overly sexual or rebellious, thereby limiting exposure to protect younger listeners. These objections persisted despite the music's commercial success, underscoring a causal among critics that rock directly fueled cultural decay rather than merely reflecting it.

Political and Ideological Challenges

In the United States during the mid-1950s, rock and roll encountered political opposition from conservative figures and segregationist lawmakers who viewed its interracial performances and audiences as threats to social order and racial hierarchies. Southern politicians, including members of Congress, publicly criticized the genre for facilitating desegregation in music venues, aligning their objections with broader resistance to the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that challenged school segregation. This racial dimension fueled petitions in several communities to ban rock concerts, with critics arguing that the music's energetic dances and mixed crowds promoted moral laxity and undermined Jim Crow laws. Evangelical leaders and conservative Christian organizations amplified these challenges, framing rock and roll as a catalyst for and cultural decay. Figures such as and organizations like the linked the genre to rising youth crime rates, citing FBI statistics from 1955 that reported increased arrests among teenagers exposed to rock events. Local ordinances in cities like and New Orleans attempted to restrict performances by artists such as and , with politicians invoking public safety to justify amid the era's moral panics. Internationally, communist regimes in the and posed ideological barriers, suppressing rock and roll as emblematic of Western capitalist decadence and imperialist propaganda during the . Soviet authorities banned Western records, including Bill Haley's "" in 1955, viewing the music's rhythms and themes as corrosive to socialist values and youth indoctrination. By 1958, the intensified crackdowns on underground dissemination via "bone records"—X-ray films etched with grooves—arresting distributors and prohibiting imports to prevent the genre from fostering dissent against state ideology. Despite attempts to create state-approved variants, such as VIA ensembles promoting proletarian lyrics, rock's appeal persisted illicitly, contributing to generational alienation from communist orthodoxy by the late .

International Expansion

British Adaptations

Rock and roll arrived in Britain primarily through imported American records, radio broadcasts from the , and films such as released in 1956, which ignited widespread youth enthusiasm despite initial cinema bans due to associated rowdiness. British youth, lacking the deep and gospel traditions of American originators, adapted the genre via —a rudimentary style using homemade instruments like tea-chest basses and washboards, drawing from American folk, jazz, and but emphasizing accessibility for amateurs. This adaptation democratized music-making, with skiffle groups proliferating in youth clubs and coffee bars by 1956. Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line," recorded in November 1954 during a break in a Jazz Band session and released as a single in January 1956, exemplifies this shift; it topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks and sold over one million copies, fueling a craze that boosted guitar sales from approximately 3,000 units in 1954 to over 350,000 by 1957. Donegan, dubbed the "King of Skiffle," influenced future rock acts by prioritizing rhythm and energy over technical proficiency, though the style's rawness contrasted with rock and roll's electric drive. Skiffle's DIY ethos directly spawned beat groups, including early incarnations of and , bridging to more electric adaptations. Direct British rock and roll emerged with performers emulating American idols but infusing local flavors like music hall theatricality. Tommy Steele, discovered at London's 2i's Coffee Bar in 1956, released "Rock with the Caveman" in November that year, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and marking one of the first homegrown rock hits, though critics noted its energetic but polished, less sexually charged tone compared to Elvis Presley. Steele's rapid rise as Britain's inaugural teen idol, with follow-up covers like "Singing the Blues" hitting number one in 1957, highlighted commercial adaptations prioritizing chart success over authenticity. Cliff Richard's "Move It," penned by Ian Samwell and released on August 29, 1958, peaked at number two on the chart and is credited as the first authentic recording, featuring driving guitar riffs and a backbeat closer to American prototypes while retaining a cleaner vocal delivery suited to audiences. Backed initially by (later the Shadows), Richard's output shifted rock adaptations toward instrumental innovation and teen appeal, selling millions domestically and paving the way for the 1960s , though early efforts often diluted the genre's racial and rhythmic origins for broader palatability. These adaptations reflected causal constraints: limited access to electric amplification and a cultural emphasis on over blues grit, fostering a hybrid that exported rock globally but diverged from its U.S. roots.

Global Dissemination and Variations

Rock and roll disseminated globally in the mid-to-late primarily through exported American recordings, international radio broadcasts such as those from Armed Forces Radio and , and pioneering tours by U.S. artists, which introduced the genre's energetic rhythm, riffs, and youth-oriented themes to receptive audiences in post-World War II societies experiencing economic recovery and cultural openness to Western influences. and His Comets' 1958 European tour, spanning countries including , , , , and , marked a pivotal moment, with their October 26 performance in , , becoming the continent's first major rock and roll concert and sparking fan riots that highlighted the genre's disruptive appeal among teenagers. Similarly, Haley's earlier world tour extended to , amplifying the spread via live performances that drew thousands and fueled local enthusiasm. In , rock and roll arrived decisively in 1955–1956 via Bill Haley's "," which topped charts and ignited a craze, leading to the emergence of homegrown acts like , dubbed "," who adapted the style with high-energy shows and original songs blending American with local flair by the late 1950s. Australian variations emphasized raw, rebellious performances suited to the country's vast distances and pub culture, with early covers of U.S. hits giving way to indigenous rock scenes that incorporated country elements, though initial reception faced resistance from conservative broadcasters prioritizing British and American imports. Across , the genre prompted immediate adaptations, as seen in and where fans formed bands mimicking Haley's sound, often incorporating local or rhythms into rock and roll frameworks; German youth, for instance, developed "Deutschrock" precursors with amplified guitars and fast tempos, despite official skepticism toward the music's association with American . In , post-occupation exposure to U.S. forces' music fostered a "rokabiri" () surge in the late 1950s, with teenagers adopting pompadour hairstyles and electric guitars to perform covers of and tracks, though authorities briefly suppressed it for promoting Western individualism over traditional values. This variant emphasized visual spectacle and dance, evolving into "eleki" guitar instrumentals by the early 1960s that fused rock and roll with Japanese melodies. Latin American dissemination began in the late through radio and records reaching urban centers in , , and , where early adopters translated U.S. hits into Spanish or Portuguese, creating "" prototypes that integrated rhythms and tropical percussion for a hybrid sound. Pioneering groups in , such as Los Beatniks around 1960, covered songs while infusing beats, reflecting regional socioeconomic tensions amid dictatorships that later censored rock for its perceived subversive potential. These variations prioritized lyrical adaptation to local dialects and social critiques, distinguishing them from pure American imports and laying groundwork for politically charged fusions in the 1960s. Overall, global rock and roll retained core elements like backbeat and guitar solos but varied causally through cultural filters—economic access to instruments, linguistic barriers, and state controls—yielding localized scenes that both emulated and innovated upon the U.S. original.

Decline and Transformation

Late-1950s Factors

Several interconnected events in the late 1950s depleted the roster of pioneering rock and roll artists and undermined its promotional infrastructure, contributing to a perceived decline in the genre's raw, insurgent form. The payola scandal, erupting publicly in 1959, exposed widespread bribery of radio disc jockeys by record labels to prioritize certain records, leading to congressional hearings and stricter regulations that hampered independent promotion of edgier rock acts. This backlash, which ensnared figures like DJ , favored established labels pushing sanitized music over the rhythm-and-blues-infused originals, eroding the genre's grassroots momentum. The February 3, 1959, plane crash near , killed , , and J.P. Richardson (), removing innovative songwriters and performers at the peak of their influence. Holly's integration of country, , and self-penned lyrics had expanded the genre's compositional depth, while bridged Mexican-American styles with riffs; their deaths symbolized an abrupt end to the era's creative vitality, prompting Don McLean's later reference to it as "." Concurrently, Elvis Presley's induction into the U.S. Army on March 24, 1958, sidelined the era's biggest star for two years, creating a commercial vacuum filled by less provocative acts. His absence, coupled with a post-service pivot toward Hollywood films, diluted the sexual energy and live performance dominance that defined early rock and roll. Religious conversions and legal entanglements further thinned the field of originators. , a flamboyant pianist whose hits like "Tutti Frutti" (1956) epitomized rock's exuberant energy, renounced secular music on October 12, 1957, after interpreting a Sputnik launch's fireball as divine warning against "devil music," enrolling in ministry training and shifting to . Similarly, faced arrest on December 20, 1959, under the for transporting a 14-year-old woman across state lines for , resulting in a conviction that imprisoned him from 1962 to 1964 and stalled his guitar-driven narrative style central to the genre. These personal crises, alongside the scandals and fatalities, accelerated rock and roll's transformation by ceding airwaves and stages to milder variants like and pop crooners, paving the way for the more structured rock of the 1960s.

Evolution into Broader Rock

By the mid-1960s, rock and roll transitioned into the broader genre of , characterized by greater musical complexity, ensemble songwriting, and diversification beyond the dance-focused singles of its origins. This evolution was propelled by the , starting with ' breakthrough hit "I Want to Hold Your Hand" reaching number one on the on January 18, 1964, which reintroduced energetic group performances rooted in American but refined with vocal harmonies and original compositions. The Beatles' live debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, drew 73 million viewers—nearly 40% of the U.S. population at the time—accelerating the shift from solo-driven to guitar-based bands like and the Who, who emphasized raw energy drawn from and rock and roll precursors. This influx internationalized rock production, with British acts dominating U.S. charts—over 50% of Billboard's top singles in 1965 were by British artists—fostering reciprocal influences that expanded the genre's scope. Key musical changes included departure from rigid 12-bar blues forms toward extended improvisations, studio innovations like multitracking, and integration of folk, classical, and Eastern elements, as seen in subgenres such as (e.g., ' 1965 cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man") and . The term "rock" began supplanting "rock and roll" in American press usage around 1965, reflecting this maturation into album-oriented works prioritizing artistic depth over ephemeral hits, with bands releasing conceptual LPs that averaged 40-50 minutes in length by 1967. This broadening solidified rock as a vehicle for cultural expression, enabling experimentation that laid groundwork for and progressive variants, while maintaining core riffs and backbeat rhythms from its rock and roll foundation.

Long-Term Legacy

Influences on Music and Genres

Rock and roll, originating in the mid-1950s through the fusion of , country, and gospel elements, provided the rhythmic backbone and -driven energy that propelled the development of as a distinct by the early . This transition was accelerated by the , where bands like and adapted American rock and roll with amplified instrumentation and songwriting complexity, as evidenced by ' debut Please Please Me released on March 22, 1963, which topped charts and introduced harmonized vocals over backbeat rhythms derived from 1950s pioneers. From this base, rock and roll's aggressive guitar riffs and improvisational solos directly shaped subgenres such as , exemplified by The Experience's Are You Experienced album in May 1967, which extended blues-based structures into extended jams and feedback effects. emerged concurrently, with bands like amplifying the volume and , as in their 1966 debut Fresh Cream, building on rock and roll's 4/4 beat but intensifying rhythmic drive. Heavy metal crystallized in the late 1960s, with Black Sabbath's self-titled album on February 13, 1970, incorporating down-tuned guitars and darker themes rooted in rock and roll's blues heritage but eschewing its lighter swing for monolithic power chords. Punk rock in the mid-1970s stripped rock and roll back to its raw, minimalist origins, emphasizing speed and simplicity over virtuosity, as seen in the ' debut album on April 23, 1976, which revived 1950s chord progressions with three-chord structures and breakneck tempos averaging 200 beats per minute. Beyond rock variants, rock and roll's backbeat influenced hip-hop production, particularly through sampling of guitar licks, such as ' 1986 track "No Sleep till Brooklyn" incorporating riffs reminiscent of 1950s rock energy fused with rap flows. In pop, the genre's melodic hooks persisted, informing artists like Michael Jackson's fusion of rock guitar with dance rhythms in from Thriller released November 30, 1982, where Eddie Van Halen's solo echoed rock and roll's electric edge. These cross-pollinations demonstrate rock and roll's causal role in diversifying musical forms through its emphasis on , amplification, and youth-oriented , though later genres often selectively adopted elements while diverging in lyrical or production priorities.

Societal and Empirical Impacts

Rock and roll's emergence in the mid-1950s catalyzed the formation of a distinct , emphasizing independence and sensory experiences over deference to adult authority, which manifested in widespread adoption of casual attire like and T-shirts, as well as energetic dances diverging from formal styles. This cultural shift empowered teenagers economically, as rising disposable income from post-World War II prosperity enabled record purchases and concert attendance, with independent labels capitalizing on rhythm-and-blues crossovers to white audiences, thereby expanding beyond adult-oriented music. By fostering peer-oriented social spaces like sock hops, the widened the generational divide, as parents viewed its rhythms and —often celebrating romance and mild defiance—as threats to familial cohesion. Empirically, rock and roll accelerated in American popular culture by blending black rhythm-and-blues with white country elements, allowing artists like and to chart hits on previously segregated platforms, which eroded barriers in radio airplay and sales by the late . This cross-pollination not only boosted black musicians' visibility and earnings but also habituated white youth to interracial musical influences, contributing to broader desegregation efforts amid the . However, longitudinal analyses of rock fandom reveal associations with elevated risks of depressive symptoms and problem behaviors in adolescence, such as substance use, though these correlations do not establish causation and may reflect self-selection among rebellious youth rather than direct musical inducement. Long-term, the transformed the music industry's toward a "superstar" model, where top performers captured disproportionate revenues—rising from 26% for the top 1% in 1982 to 56% by 2003—driven by recording innovations and amplification technologies that scaled audiences from local venues to stadiums. This structure amplified wealth concentration but also democratized access via affordable 45-rpm singles, influencing subsequent genres and consumer behaviors; studies on heavy variants indicate no net increase in processing among listeners, suggesting adaptive rather than purely maladaptive emotional . Overall, while rock and roll's societal footprint includes heightened and cultural , empirical scrutiny tempers claims of uniform moral decay, highlighting instead its role in diversifying expressive outlets amid economic expansion.

References

  1. https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/rock-n-roll
  2. https://he.kendallhunt.com/sites/default/files/uploadedFiles/Kendall_Hunt/Content/Higher_Education/Uploads/LarsonRock_5e_Ch1.pdf
  3. https://historycooperative.org/who-invented-rock-and-roll/
  4. https://www.toddhobin.com/journal/this-history-of-rock
  5. https://www.ushistory.org/us/53d.asp
  6. https://www.usi.edu/news/releases/2017/02/rock-n-roll-and-moral-panics-part-one-1950s-and-1960s
  7. https://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1950
  8. https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/popular-songs-of-the-day/rock/
  9. https://acousticmusic.org/a-brief-history-of-rock-n-roll/
  10. https://www.dictionary.com/e/rock-and-roll/
  11. https://history-of-rock.com/alan_freed.htm
  12. https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/1021
  13. https://news.virginia.edu/content/words-what-exactly-rock-n-roll
  14. https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/wq1l6e/rock_and_roll/
  15. https://www.schoolofrock.com/resources/music-education/the-unique-sound-of-rock
  16. https://emastered.com/blog/what-is-a-backbeat
  17. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/12223/why-is-the-backbeat-called-the-rock-beat
  18. https://drummagazine.com/birth-of-rock-backbeats-straight-eighths/
  19. https://www.musicgcse.co.uk/conventions-of-pop/rock-n-roll
  20. https://brianjump.net/2020/07/18/rhythm-and-blues-and-rock-n-roll/
  21. https://teachrock.org/lesson/the-rise-of-the-electric-guitar-as-rock-and-rolls-dominant-symbol/
  22. https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/1f5crri/what_are_the_main_characteristics_of_rock/
  23. https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/8182/what-distinguishes-rock-n-roll-from-rhythm-n-blues
  24. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/difference-between-rock-roll-and-rhythm-blues.397753/page-2
  25. https://www.anrfactory.com/what-group-of-instruments-are-used-in-rock-music/
  26. https://www.themusicstudio.ca/characteristics-of-music-rock-and-roll/
  27. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/rockmusic/earlyinfluences
  28. https://blueskc.org/rock-and-roll-history-and-the-blues/
  29. https://www.paulmerryblues.com/rewriting-rock-roll-history/
  30. https://www.rockmusictimeline.com/rock-roots
  31. https://rocknrollunravelled.com/gospel-rocknroll/
  32. https://www.historyofwesternswing.com/
  33. https://www.history.com/articles/post-world-war-ii-boom-economy
  34. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=history_etds
  35. https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstreams/564f78d7-1e98-4bb0-ab5b-6a655239ad7a/download
  36. http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_12_December_2013/9.pdf
  37. https://opentext.uoregon.edu/payforplay/chapter/chapter-12-post-war-boom-independent-labels-and-rock-and-roll/
  38. https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/top-10-technology-innovations-got-rock-rolling
  39. https://education.lenardaudio.com/en/13_guitar_amps_2.html
  40. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/45-vinyl-singles-history-806441/
  41. https://learnmusictech.wordpress.com/foundation-degree/the-history-of-popular-music-and-the-production-industries/1950s/
  42. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-12/bill-haley-and-the-comets-record-rock-around-the-clock
  43. https://americansongwriter.com/a-teenage-anthem-the-story-behind-rock-around-the-clock-by-bill-haley-and-his-comets/
  44. https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1955-bill-haley-his-comets-changed-the-music-world-forever-when-rock-around-the-clock-topped-the-hot-100/
  45. https://sunrecords.com/history/
  46. https://www.graceland.com/1954-1957
  47. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Tutti-Frutti_Masino.pdf
  48. https://rocknrollunravelled.com/rise-and-fall-of-american-rocknroll/
  49. https://www.jazzhistorytree.com/rock-roll/
  50. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/107952-first-rock-n-roll-concert
  51. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-21/the-moondog-coronation-ball-is-historys-first-rock-concert
  52. https://www.vintagerockmag.com/2024/07/rocknroll-heroes-alan-freed/
  53. https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/stories/going-national-dick-clark-and-abcs-american-bandstand
  54. https://www.graceland.com/blog/posts/elvis-presleys-first-appearance-on-the-ed-sullivan-show
  55. https://www.edsullivan.com/artists/elvis-presley/
  56. https://blog.landr.com/backbeat/
  57. https://www.drumloopai.com/blog/what-is-a-backbeat/
  58. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/rhythm-tips-for-identifying-music-genres-by-ear/
  59. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/rock-n-roll-music-guide
  60. https://study.com/learn/lesson/rock-band-instruments-equipment-what-are-rock-roll-instruments.html
  61. https://www.quora.com/What-instruments-are-used-in-rock-and-roll-music
  62. https://www.5thavenue.org/media/h1hofn0t/1819_roa_study_guide.pdf
  63. https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=287202
  64. https://gearspace.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/956936-1950s-techniques-equiptment-workflow.html
  65. https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1mhyap8/how_do_records_from_the_late_50s_and_early_60s/
  66. https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.20.26.4/mto.20.26.4.stoia.pdf
  67. https://fiveable.me/history-music-1850-present/unit-8/birth-rock-roll/study-guide/EoRD2SCdr9VVvDJ0
  68. https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/absoluteelsewhere/2374/fifties-rocknroll-loud-fast-and-out-of-control-rock-101-the-originators/
  69. https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/when-lyrics-were-clean-almost/
  70. https://sexdrugsrocknroll.music.blog/
  71. http://www.rebeatmag.com/10-more-risque-and-often-censored-songs-from-the-1950s/
  72. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/rock-n-roll-music-and-censorship
  73. https://www.theherbert.org/news/265/grown-up-in-the-1950s-the-rise-of-rock-and-roll-music
  74. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/rock-and-roll-1950s
  75. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/postwar-era/a/the-baby-boom
  76. https://www.butlereagle.com/20250114/the-1950s-decade-of-economic-prosperity-rocknroll-and-a-red-scare/
  77. https://alliehale.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/the-1950s-rock-and-rolls-rebellious-ages/
  78. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/fats-domino-riots-rock-n-roll/6717/
  79. https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/rock-n-roll-banned-boston-after-alan-freed-causes-riot/
  80. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17440514
  81. https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article134070984.html
  82. https://www.okayplayer.com/hound-dog-and-9-more-times-white-artists-covered-black-musicians-songs/343327
  83. https://www.history.com/articles/race-records-bessie-smith-big-bill-broonzy-music-business
  84. https://20thcenturyhistorysongbook.com/song-book/the-fifties/criticism-of-the-devils-music-rock-roll/
  85. https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis-not-racist.shtml
  86. https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft5q2nb3w6&chunk.id=d0e1047&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e343&brand=ucpress
  87. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-3/rock-and-roll-is-banned-in-santa-cruz-california
  88. https://woodstockwhisperer.info/2016/03/03/church-bans-rock-music/
  89. https://www.facebook.com/groups/notnostalgia/posts/2333602910319785/
  90. https://soar.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12648/5219/ehd_theses/119/fulltext%2520%25281%2529.pdf?sequence=1
  91. https://daily.jstor.org/the-conservative-christian-war-on-rock-and-roll/
  92. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-hipsters-bootlegged-banned-music-bone-records-180957505/
  93. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=historical-perspectives
  94. https://rocknrollunravelled.com/1950s-british-rocknroll-era/
  95. https://musicenthusiast.net/2016/11/05/skiffle-the-roots-of-british-rock-n-roll/
  96. https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/lonnie-donegan-rock-island-line/
  97. https://www.ministryofrock.co.uk/skiffle.html
  98. https://syncopatedtimes.com/roots-radicals-and-rockers-how-skiffle-changed-the-world/
  99. https://teachrock.org/people/donegan-lonnie/
  100. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/skiffle-music-guide
  101. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sis0GnL7yVo
  102. https://www.abbeyroad.com/news/abbey-road-90-the-story-behind-cliff-richards-move-it-when-uk-rock-n-roll-was-born-3018
  103. https://historycollection.com/how-america-gave-rocknroll-to-the-world/
  104. https://www.bear-family.com/haley-bill-his-comets-rockin-around-europe-1958-rock-roll-conquers-europe.html
  105. https://www.stripes.com/news/2014-04-22/bill-haley-and-his-comets-rock-around-the-clock-in-strasbourg-france-1958-1825418.html1
  106. https://50schristian.weebly.com/music.html
  107. https://www.illusionsofwisdom.com/a-deep-dive-into-the-history-of-australian-rock-music/
  108. https://popculturerockmusic.weebly.com/rock--roll.html
  109. https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/10/11/a-social-history-of-early-rock-n-roll-in-germany-hamburg-from-burlesque-to-the-beatles-1956-1969/
  110. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/when-rock-music-came-to-japan/
  111. https://www.japannakama.co.uk/creativity/music/rokabiri-the-music-that-shook-japan/
  112. https://www.schoolofrock.com/resources/music-education/latin-rock-its-history-and-future
  113. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/16/people-were-put-in-jail-for-music-a-brief-history-of-latin-american-rock
  114. https://drbeatrizacevedo.com/2021/01/24/break-it-all-a-history-of-latin-america-through-rock-music/
  115. https://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/
  116. https://shelrochaleal.medium.com/moments-that-changed-music-ii-the-payola-scandal-95bda11b5211
  117. https://case.edu/news/day-music-died-how-don-mcleans-american-pie-immortalized-tragedy
  118. https://www.reddit.com/r/ClassicRock/comments/1hrmje4/was_rock_and_roll_on_life_support_after_the_the/
  119. https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/elvis-presley-army-drafted-black-monday-8257725/
  120. https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/liner-notes/elvis-joins-the-army/
  121. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/little-richard-quit-rock-and-roll-for-religion/
  122. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-27/chuck-berry-goes-on-trial-for-the-second-time
  123. https://theguitarmarketplace.com/rock-music-evolution-a-history-of-rock/
  124. https://thehistoryofrockandroll.net/british-invasion/
  125. https://www.edsullivan.com/the-night-that-changed-music-forever-the-beatles-american-debut-on-the-ed-sullivan-show-turns-60/
  126. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/on-this-day-in-1964-73-million-americans-tuned-in-to-watch-the-biggest-act-in-music-180985986/
  127. https://www.superprof.com/blog/60s-rock-songs/
  128. https://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1960-s
  129. https://mostlymusiccovers.com/2021/09/05/when-did-rock-drop-the-roll/
  130. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/09/22/495021326/1966-vs-1971-when-rock-n-roll-became-rock-and-what-we-lost
  131. https://www.girlsrockcampfoundation.org/the-evolution-of-rock-music-from-the-1960s-to-today/
  132. https://www.rockitacademy.org/how-has-rock-n-roll-influenced-music/
  133. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Journalism_and_Mass_Communication/Book%253A_Mass_Communication_Media_and_Culture/06%253A_Music/6.02%253A_The_Evolution_of_Popular_Music
  134. https://www.iloverocknroll.org/2025/08/how-rock-music-influences-other-genres-a-deep-dive-into-musical-cross-pollination/
  135. https://www.quora.com/How-did-rocknroll-evolve-into-rock-hard-rock-and-heavy-metal
  136. https://noiseprotocol.substack.com/p/sympathy-for-the-rebel-exploring
  137. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jsriue/article/download/39867/42853/108779
  138. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8580930/
  139. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5066304/
  140. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w11282/w11282.pdf
  141. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00272/full
  142. https://www.hilaryvaldez.com/post/how-rock-n-roll-sparked-social-change-breaking-barriers-and-shaping-generations
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.