Rock And Roll On The 1950's

Music as a whole blends together. One style leads to another, the music becomes more progressive. It evolves to fit the new generation, leaving the old generation behind. From the spritual songs of the late 1800s to the gospel of the early 1900s. Then it changed into rhythm and blues, and when the 1950s rolled around it became Rock’ n’ Roll. With the invention of new iconic instruments like the Fender Precision Bass and then the Fender Stratocaster, the sound of the music changed. The sound that was soft and low was now crunchy and loud. While it did not sit well with the adults, it was a hit among the new generation. Even the African American roots of the music didn’t deter the youth listening

Among the first rock stars of the 50s was Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry gave the youth quick paced rhythms, exuberant and carefree audience execution, and verses that permitted the crowd to relate to the music. Chuck Berry availed all the components desired by the young society. In fact, in his music “Rock N Roll Music”, the youth could dance and embrace at the same time being unique from the music their parents had enjoyed. In 1950s, the civil rights movement had risen and sparkled much attention. The issue of race was consequently fixed to Chuck Berry and Rock and Roll. Therefore, supporters of the civil rights movement were significantly more eager to advance Rock and Roll, as a means for African American’s to communicate

The social and political context of the 1950’s is crucial to any understanding of the birth of rock n roll.

Rock n Roll was everything the suburban 1950’s were not. While parents of the decade were listening to Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and the Big Bands. Their children were moving on to a new beat.” (U.S. History) Teenagers started to like this new type of music called rock and roll. It became very popular and artists started to experiment with it which influenced the development of rock n roll throughout the 50’s and 60’s. The experimentation with rock n roll changed music forever and greatly influenced our music today. Rock n roll was mixed with country, rhythm, and blues when this combination happened rock n roll kept developing through the fifties and sixties.

“The cliché is that rock & roll was a melding of country music and blues, and if you are talking about, say, Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, the description, though simplistic, does fit. But the black inner-city vocal-group sound . . . had little to do with either blues or country music in their purer forms.

By the late fifties, three types of rock music evolved. Rhythm and blues, Country, and Pop Rock. The three types of rock music that evolved was all a variation of a new sound, blending R&B and country music with pop lyrics that appealed to the teenagers. Rhythm and blues rock was the closet to R&B music. Gorn acknowledge that, Black R&B rockers such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Lloyd Price had begun their careers in the rhythm and blues field. When they crossed over to rock, they took their musical styling’s with them, retaining the rhythm and beats found in their original music, but singing lyrics that were more pop-oriented than blues-oriented.

With the thriving economy and the beginning of civil rights movements, many African Americans migrated to urban areas in search of work in the 1950s. The styles of music overlapped with the whites because of the close proximity. Rock and Roll was a result of this mixture of musical culture. Sexual overtones in the music were considered vulgar, but the vulgarity and the suggestive choice of words in the songs made the teenagers want to listen to it more. Elvis First TV appearance - Dorsey Brothers Stage Show 19560128. The teens felt like they had something to belong to and they were finding their place in the

Rock ‘N’ Roll’s birth came after the Great Depression and World War II. It was in the 50’s called the baby boomers that started it all. It expanded the teenage population with 3.4 million babies born. The 1950’s scrap the ideology of a conservative family, where the father is the bread winner and the mother was a stay home mother. The young adults found an escape and enjoyment in Rock ‘N’ Roll.

Rock 'n' roll reflects the values of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and helps the movement convey its message. The Civil Right Movement addressed three areas of discrimination: education, social segregation, and voting rights.

In the 1950’s, rock and roll type music began and started to become popular in America. However, due to the nature of America, with its racism and segregation, white people did not accept rock and roll with open arms. This was because rock and roll “was credited with … promoting integration and economic opportunity for blacks” (Altschuler, “Pivotal Moments in American History: All Shook Up: How Rock’n’Roll Changed America”, 35). Not only had this, but rock and roll originated from black culture and African-American music styles like jazz, blues, and gospel. Despite becoming prominent during this racially tense time in American history; rock and roll brought everyone together, instead of pushing everyone away. Rock and roll even allowed several African-Americans to become famous, such as LaVern Baker and Antoine “Fats” Domino. These African-Americans used their musical talents to further unite the communities with rock and

The music of the 1940’s was the Big Band sound like Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Popular singers were the Andrews Sisters, Kay Kaiser and many other famous ones. There were crooner style singers, including Bing Crosby, whose smooth voice made him one of the most popular singers. There was Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, Nat King Cole, Kate Smith and Perry Como. All of these very popular singers led the hit parade. They sang the songs that went with the mood of the country in the early 50s. Many of these crooners became the idols of the decade’s later rock and roll stars, who used their influence to create a unique sound.

Rock and roll has developed a long way throughout the years from a dance craze in the 1950’s to a political and cultural landscape that is recognized worldwide. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, people who don’t follow the norms, and have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is a melting pot of music, a combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, ragtime, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. It can be a simple variation of three chords to a complex chromatic scale combination. It can convey emotions such as love, hate, fear, lust, sadness, joy, disillusion, or a strong sense of reality. Many things can be said about rock but the fact is that it is the most widely

Tupelo MS is where it all began. The birthplace of Elvis Presley, it is also the birthplace of rock-n-roll and the transformation of American culture. Now, as it was then, this small town in the north-eastern corner of the state of Missouri is rather off the beaten track. But it still attracts a steady stream of visitors, from boomers reliving their greatest years to millennials trying to understand what the fuss was all about.

The begins of rock and roll have always been challenged as to when they were first established. The most common argument is that is first started in Southern United states, the birth place of many of the first early rock and roll music hits. As the south always had a huge majority of slaves from Africa and immigrants from Europe, through the gathering of different influences that created a connection between African musical traditions with European instrumentation. Immigration of once slaves to populated urban centers including New York City and Chicago meant that both the black and white communities were living in close proximity, resulting in hearing each other's music and even ‘began to follow and impersonate each other's fashions’.

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: