Rock and roll

Rock and roll(often written asrock & roll,rock-n-roll, androck 'n' roll) is agenreofpopular musicthat evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.Itoriginatedfrom African American music such asjazz,rhythm and blues,boogie-woogie,electric blues,gospel, andjump blues,as well ascountry music.While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920sand in country records of the 1930s,the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
According to the journalistGreg Kot, "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known asrock music, though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll."For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.
In the earliest rock and roll styles, either thepianoorsaxophonewas typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by theelectric guitarin the mid-to-late 1950s.The beat is essentially a dance rhythmwith an accentuatedbackbeat, almost always provided by asnare drum.Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or moreelectric guitars(onelead, onerhythm) and adouble bass(string bass). After the mid-1950s, electricbass guitars("Fender bass") anddrum kitsbecame popular in classic rock.
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 that the music had a positive influence on thecivil rights movement, because of its widespread appeal to bothBlack AmericanandWhite Americanteenagers.
The term "rock and roll" is defined byGreg KotinEncyclopædia Britannicaas the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed "into the more encompassing international style known asrock music".The term is sometimes also used assynonymouswith "rock music" and is defined as such in some dictionaries.
The phrase "rocking and rolling" originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean,but by the early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church ritualsand as a sexual analogy. A retiredWelshseaman 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 folkloristJames Madison Carpenterin the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in the 1800s; the recording can be heard on theVaughan Williams Memorial Librarywebsite.
Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. "Bosom of Abraham", an African-Americanspiritualthat was documented no later than 1867 (just after theCivil 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 (includingThe Jordanaires),Louis Armstrong(jazz/swing),Lonnie Donegan(skiffle), andElvis Presley(rock and roll/pop/country).Blues singerTrixie Smithrecorded"My [Man] Rocks Me with One Steady Roll"in 1922. It was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as "rhythm and blues" music aimed at a black audience.Huey "Piano" SmithcreditsCha Cha Hogan, a jump-blues shouter and comic in New Orleans, with popularizing the term in his 1950 song "My Walking Baby".
In 1934, the song "Rock and Roll" by theBoswell Sistersappeared in the filmTransatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, before the concept of rock and roll had been defined,Billboardmagazine columnistMaurie Orodenkerstarted to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as "Rock Me" bySister Rosetta Tharpe; her style on that recording was described as "rock-and-roll spiritual singing".By 1943, the "Rock and Roll Inn" inSouth Merchantville, New Jersey, was established as a music venue.In 1951,Cleveland, Ohio, disc jockeyAlan Freedbegan playing this music style, and referring to it as "rock and roll"on his mainstream radio program, which popularized the phrase.
Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record "Sixty Minute Man" byBilly Ward and his Dominoes.The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long".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".
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 toCNN: "Freed's role in breaking down racial barriers in U.S. 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'".After Freed was honored with a star on theHollywood 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".
Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll,Todd Storz, the owner of radio station KOWH inOmaha, Nebraska, was the first to adopt theTop 40format (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,BerryandDomino".
The origins of rock and roll have been fiercely debated by commentators and historians of music.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.The migration of many former slaves and their descendants to major urban centerssuch asSt. Louis,Memphis,New York City,Detroit,Chicago,Cleveland, andBuffalomeant 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.Radio stations that made white and black forms of music available to both groups, the development and spread of thegramophone record, and African-American musical styles such asjazzandswingwhich were taken up by white musicians, aided this process of "cultural collision".
The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in therhythm and blues, then called "race music",in combination with either boogie-woogie and shouting gospelor withcountry musicof the 1940s and 1950s. Particularly significant influences were jazz,blues,gospel, country, andfolk.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-Americanrhythm and bluesfor a white market, or a new hybrid of black and white forms.
In the 1930s,jazz, and particularlyswing, both in urban-based dance bands and blues-influenced country swing (Jimmie Rodgers,Moon Mullicanand other similar singers), were among the first music to present African-American sounds for a predominantly white audience.One particularly noteworthy example of a jazz song with recognizably rock and roll elements isBig Joe Turnerwith pianistPete Johnson's 1938 single "Roll 'Em Pete", which is regarded as an important precursor of rock and roll.The 1940s saw the increased use of blaring horns (including saxophones), shouted lyrics and boogie-woogie beats in jazz-based music. During and immediately afterWorld 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.In the same period, particularly on theWest Coastand in theMidwest, the development ofjump blues, with its guitar riffs, prominent beats and shouted lyrics, prefigured many later developments.In the documentary filmHail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll,Keith Richardsproposes thatChuck Berrydeveloped 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 asGoree Carter,Gatemouth Brown,and the originator of the style,T-Bone Walker.Country boogieandChicago electric bluessupplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll.Inspired byelectric blues, Chuck Berry introduced an aggressive guitar sound to rock and roll, and established the electric guitar as its centerpiece,adapting his rock band instrumentation from the basic blues band instrumentation of a lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass and drums.In 2017,Robert Christgaudeclared 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".
Rock and roll arrived at a time of considerable technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar,amplifier,45 rpm recordand modern condensermicrophones.There were also changes in the record industry, with the rise of independent labels likeAtlantic,SunandChessservicingniche audiencesand a similar rise of radio stations that played their music.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.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.Contenders for the title of "first rock and roll record" includeSister Rosetta Tharpe's "Strange Things Happening Every Day" (1944),"That's All Right" byArthur Crudup(1946),  "Move It On Over" byHank Williams(1947),"The Fat Man" byFats Domino(1949),Goree Carter's "Rock Awhile" (1949),andJimmy Preston's "Rock the Joint" (1949) (latercoveredbyBill Haley & His Cometsin 1952).
"Rocket 88" byJackie Brenstonand his Delta Cats (Ike Turnerand his bandThe Kings of Rhythmand sung by Brenston), was recorded bySam Phillipsin March 1951. This is often cited as the first rock n' roll record.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".
In terms of its wide cultural impact across society in the US and elsewhere,Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock",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.
JournalistAlexis Petridisargued 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".
Other artists with early rock and roll hits includedChuck Berry,Bo Diddley,Little Richard,Jerry Lee Lewis, andGene Vincent.Chuck Berry's 1955 classic "Maybellene" in particular features adistortedelectric guitarsolo with warmovertonescreated by his smallvalve amplifier.However, the use of distortion was predated by electric blues guitarists such asJoe Hill Louis,Guitar Slim,Willie JohnsonofHowlin' Wolf's band,andPat Hare; the latter two also made use of distortedpower chordsin the early 1950s.Also in 1955, Bo Diddley introduced the "Bo Diddley beat" and a unique electric guitar style,influenced byAfricanandAfro-Cuban musicand in turn influencing many later artists.
Rock and roll was strongly influenced by R&B, according to many sources, including an article inThe Wall Street Journalin 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.
Fats Dominowas 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".According toRolling 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".Further,Little Richardbuilt 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.
Less frequently cited as an influencer,LaVern Bakerwas 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".
"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 asElvis Presley,Carl Perkins,Johnny Cash, andJerry Lee Lewis, who drew mainly on the country roots of the music.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.Many other popular rock and roll singers of the time, such asFats DominoandLittle Richard,came out of the blackrhythm and bluestradition, 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.
Bill Flaggwho is a Connecticut resident, began referring to his mix of hillbilly and rock 'n' roll music as rockabilly around 1953.
In July 1954, Presley recorded the regional hit "That's All Right" at Sam Phillips'Sun Studioin Memphis.Three months earlier, on April 12, 1954,Bill Haley & His Cometsrecorded "Rock Around the Clock". Although only a minor hit when first released, when used in the opening sequence of the movieBlackboard Junglea year later, it set the rock and roll boom in motion.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.
In 1956, the arrival of rockabilly was underlined by the success of songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" byJohnny Cash, "Blue Suede Shoes" by Perkins, and the No. 1 hit "Heartbreak Hotel" by Presley.For a few years it became the most commercially successful form of rock and roll. Later rockabilly acts, particularly performing songwriters likeBuddy Holly, would be a major influence onBritish Invasionacts and particularly on the song writing ofthe Beatlesand through them on the nature of later rock music.
Many of the earliest white rock and roll hits werecoversor partial re-writes of earlier black rhythm and blues or blues songs.Through the late 1940s and early 1950s,R&Bmusic had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino andJohnny Otisspeeding up thetemposand increasing thebackbeatto great popularity on thejuke jointcircuit.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.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".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 ofJerry 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.
Covers were customary in the music industry at the time; it was made particularly easy by thecompulsory licenseprovision ofUnited States copyright law(still in effect).One of the first relevant successful covers wasWynonie Harris's transformation ofRoy Brown's 1947 original jump blues hit "Good Rocking Tonight" into a more showy rockerand the Louis Prima rocker "Oh Babe" in 1950, as well asAmos Milburn's cover of what may have been the first white rock and roll record,Hardrock Gunter's "Birmingham Bounce" in 1949.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.Famously,Pat Boonerecorded 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.
The cover versions were not necessarily straightforward imitations. For example, Bill Haley's incompletelybowdlerizedcover of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" transformed Big Joe Turner's humorous and racy tale of adult love into an energetic teen dance number,while Georgia Gibbs replacedEtta 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 ananswer,Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie".Presley's rock and roll version of "Hound Dog", taken mainly from a version recorded by the pop bandFreddie Bell and the Bellboys, was very different from the blues shouter thatBig Mama Thorntonhad recorded four years earlier.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").
Some commentators have suggested a decline of rock and roll starting in 1958.The retirement ofLittle Richardto become a preacher (October 1957), the departure of Presley for service in theUnited States Army(March 1958), the scandal surroundingJerry Lee Lewis' marriage to histhirteen-year-old cousin(May 1958), riots caused byBill Haley's ill-fated tour of Europe (October 1958), the deaths ofBuddy Holly,the Big BopperandRitchie Valensina plane crash(February 1959), the breaking of thePayolascandal implicating major figures, includingAlan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs (November 1959), the arrest ofChuck Berry(December 1959), and the death ofEddie Cochranin a car crash (April 1960) gave a sense that the initial phase of rock and roll had come to an end.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the rawer sounds of Presley,Gene Vincent,Jerry Lee LewisandBuddy Hollywere 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 ofRicky Nelson,Tommy Sands,Bobby Vee,Jimmy Clanton, and the Philadelphia trio ofBobby Rydell,Frankie Avalon, andFabian, who all became "teen idols".
Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative developments that built on rock and roll in this period, includingmultitrack recording, developed byLes Paul, the electronic treatment of sound by such innovators asJoe Meek, and the "Wall of Sound" productions ofPhil Spector,continued desegregation of the charts, the rise ofsurf music,garage rockand theTwistdance craze.Surf rockin particular, noted for the use of reverb-drenched guitars, became one of the most popular forms of American rock of the early 1960s.
While the sounds of theBritish Invasionwould 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 wasJohnny 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.Another example wasBobby Fullerand his groupThe 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).
In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture.It shareda 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 theTeddy Boysand therockers.Trad jazzbecame popular in the UK, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, includingboogie woogieand theblues.Theskifflecraze, led byLonnie 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.At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films includingBlackboard Jungle(1955) andRock Around the Clock(1956).Both movies featured theBill Haley & His Cometshit "Rock Around the Clock", which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached theUS pop charts– topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956 and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency.
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, includingWee Willie HarrisandTommy Steele.During this period American Rock and Roll remained dominant but in 1958 Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, whenCliff Richardreached number 2 in the charts with "Move It".At the same time, TV shows such asSix-Five SpecialandOh Boy!promoted the careers of British rock and rollers likeMarty WildeandAdam Faith.Cliff Richard and his backing band,the Shadows, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era.Other leading acts includedBilly Fury,Joe Brown, andJohnny Kidd & the Pirates, whose 1960 hit song "Shakin' All Over" became a rock and roll standard.
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 likeLiverpool,Manchester,Birmingham, andLondon.About the same time, aBritish bluesscene developed, initially led by purist blues followers such asAlexis KornerandCyril Davieswho were inspired by American musicians such asRobert Johnson,Muddy WatersandHowlin' Wolf.Many groups moved towards thebeat musicof rock and roll and rhythm and blues from skiffle, like theQuarrymenwho becamethe 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.Groups that followed the Beatles included the beat-influencedFreddie and the Dreamers,Wayne Fontanaandthe Mindbenders,Herman's Hermitsandthe Dave Clark Five.EarlyBritish rhythm and bluesgroups with more blues influences includethe Animals,the Rolling Stones, andthe Yardbirds.
Rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language.In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and European-American teens enjoyed the music.
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.
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.Rock and roll appeared at a time when racial tensions in the United States were entering a new phase, with the beginnings of thecivil rightsmovement fordesegregation, leading to theU.S. Supreme Courtruling 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.The coming together of white youth audiences andblack musicin rock and roll inevitably provoked strong white racist reactions within the US, with many whites condemning its breaking down of barriers based on color.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.Many authors have argued that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves.
Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define anage group.It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone.Rock and roll is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the firstbaby boomergeneration, who had greater relative affluence and leisure time and adopted rock and roll as part of a distinct subculture.This involved not just music, absorbed via radio, record buying, jukeboxes and TV programs likeAmerican 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.
In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts such ascomic books. In "There's No Romance in Rock and Roll" fromTrue 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.In Britain, where postwar prosperity was more limited, rock and roll culture became attached to the pre-existingTeddy Boymovement, largely working class in origin, and eventually to therockers."On the white side of the deeply segregated music market", rock and roll became marketed for teenagers, as inDion and the Belmonts' "A Teenager in Love" (1959).
From its early 1950s beginnings through the early 1960s, rock and roll spawned newdance crazesincluding thetwist. Teenagers found the syncopatedbackbeatrhythm especially suited to reviving Big Band-erajitterbugdancing.Sock hops, school and church gym dances, and home basement dance parties became the rage, and American teens watchedDick Clark'sAmerican Bandstandto keep up on the latest dance and fashion styles.From the mid-1960s on, as "rock and roll" was rebranded as  "rock", later dance genres followed, leading tofunk,disco,house,techno, andhip hop.