How Rock And Roll Music Changed Popular Culture

Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.

An earlier reference to rock ‘n’ roll music was called, rockabilly. Rockabilly was a combination of country and jazz music. Traditional Appalachian folk and gospel music influence the term rockabilly. Other important music that influences the term rockabilly was music such as western swing, boogie woogie, honky tonk (Rock ‘n’ Roll). These influence on rock music primarily originated in the south. Rock ‘n’ roll music combined many different genres of music together, that were popular in many different cultures. According to Gorn he believed, that some experts claim the roots of the music can be traced to the back-country ring shouts of African American slaves. Others maintain that rock sprang from black spirituals of the 1920s and 1930s (Gorn).

The main innovation in rock was the electric guitar. It brought a loud and free-spirited feeling that came with rocking out. It loosened up the music which brought many different styles and genres within rock. It broadened the horizons to rock and roll letting people express themselves through their music. This rock craze spilled overseas into Britain where many great artists were born. The British Invasion happened in the mid 1960’s when bands moved from the United Kingdom to perform in America. The two main bands coming out of this time period were the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Both left lasting impressions on American music. Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Animals were also a part of this important time period in rock and roll history. In this era most of America’s top music charts all topped out with rock and roll songs coming from Britain. Some notable songs are “House of the Rising Sun,” by The Animals, “Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles, and many others. Even though the British Invasion took the United States by storm, it was just the beginning.

It was then many other artists started to name their songs after Rock ‘N’ Roll. It was none other than Elvis Presly who made it mainstream. When his first record was released it was an instant hit. Elvis was not a dull performer; he would tap his foot and jiggled with the music. He introduced the music of rockabilly to white teenagers. It was the beginning of the era of young adults and public sexuality.

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n ' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States. The music we know as rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the mid 1950s, even though a form of it had been on the horizon for at least a decade or so. A quarter of the American population moved during World War II, and that is what brought southern, rural, sacred and secular traditions into contact with urban-based music and its audiences. Rock and roll drew on many different styles. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which it developed from earlier blues, boogie-woogie, jazz and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country, western, and traditional folk music. With the combinations of all of these genres of music, that help to create this new style of music excited a worldwide generation of young listeners. Even though it had the attention of young listeners it started to upset the already established social, cultural and musical authorities. With this new music style coming into full affect along with new dances and people having voicing out their own opinion caused a lot of turmoil. Many people began to question this new genre of music and labeled it as the devil music while other loved it and couldn’t help but dance

When the majority of the population thinks of rock 'n ' roll, most tend to correlate the beginnings of the rock genre with Elvis Presley or The Beatles. However, the greater part of the start of rock 'n ' roll must be attributed to the influence of African American culture and music. The African American culture initiated and impacted so many of the first genres in music that stemmed off into be many of the genres we still listen to today. Due to racism and discrimination many “race” artists were not recognized for their artistic abilities. Most African American musicians have become discredited due to white musicians covering African American songs and making it more popular. Rock ‘n’ roll was a collective effort of white and black culture and musicians but little credit has gone to the African American side of the genre. To truly understand how “race” artists were the people to help mold rock ‘n’ roll, you must go back to the very beginning of the start of the music business.

Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of

Rock and roll is nicknamed American music. This style of music arrived in the hearts of composers in the mid 1950’s. It is speculated that the first early rock and roll song was Jimmy Preston’s “Rock this joint”. Rock and roll was combined with many styles of music to make it what we hear of today, and some of those styles are boogie woogie, the rhythms of R&B, country, gospel and blues. It mostly just evolved from the 1950’s early rhythm and blues. The words “rock and roll” and concept of rock and roll was first used by Alan Freed, a Cleveland DJ, who used it when playing the song "My Baby Rocks Me with a Steady Roll". This music

Rock and roll is a genre of music that combines African-American genres such as blues, gospel, and jazz together and was evolved in the U.S. during the late 40s as well as the early 50s. Although, you may be able to hear some forms of rock and roll in blues records dating all the back to the 20s and country music dating all the way back to the 30s, rock and roll didn’t actually acquire its name until the 50s. Rock and roll challenged and changed society in many ways because, rock music kept faith with the belief that music is a form of conversation, which crossed many musical boundaries. But 5 major changes in society that rock and roll effected would include but not be limited to: sexual ideology, politics and protest, fashion, cultural

Rock and roll was born in the late 1950s. Primary influenced from southern artists like Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, this new genre of music though

influential in the North as well. Blacks moved from the South to the North and

“Rock and roll is a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll was an amalgam of black rhythm and blues and white country music, usually based on a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums.” (Kamien, 2015, p.378) The popular music was first called rock and then rock and roll then back to simply rock. Rock and roll music contains many diverse styles. Genres that influenced rock and roll music included jazz, gospel, blues, country and western, classical music, and folk music. Rock and roll music has a raw sound that gets the crowd hyped in a special way. The most important instrument used in rock and roll music is the electric guitar. The electric guitar is the reason for the amplified sound in rock and roll music. “Rock-and-roll guitarist Chuck Berry established a style of

One very historical genre of music is Rock music. Rock music is usually characterized by heavy beats and simple melodies within a band. A band is composed of an average of 4-6 members containing a lead singer, guitar player, background singer(s), bass player, drummer, and

Rock music has come a long way since its development in the early 20th century. The genre, defined “as a merger between rhythm&blues and country” (Scaruffi, The History of Rock Music:1955-1966), started out more as an underground market, but ended up becoming a significant aspect of American popular music history. Rock-n-Roll music produce many legendary artists who will for ever be known as innovators of the genre. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were some of the many artists in Rock-n-Roll who will always live on in their music.Many teenagers were also to identify it due to its rebellious nature their disapproval of the cold war. Towards the end of the 1950s, Rock-n-Roll was ending on a particularly bad note, with a brief decline:

Rock has had different effects on different countries. Europe was the most influenced by rock because of its many rising bands from Liverpool and London. This was because they had many musically talented people coming from the area. There are many unique types of rock including heavy metal to classic rock, punk, alternative, and grunge. Each of the genres have enabled different artists from each genre to rise and record companies to accompany them and boost their popularity among fans. Many of the artists that were apart of each genre are currently respected for their creative, energetic music. Many people today still believe