The History of Rock and Roll: Copyright Not Included

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Rock N’ Roll made a steady influential climb into the blossoming generations’ norm. Elvis Presley, The King of Rock, debuted his first number one hit song “Heartbreak Hotel” and it climbed steadily to the top of the charts as the number one song in February of 1956. When Elvis’ popularity first grew, it sparked outrage through the previous generations in fears that his music would intertwine cultures. In the 1950s and 1960s, Rock N’ Roll was classified as “African American” music and those listeners who do not fit that class, would be frowned upon. Mr. Presley was a Nashville native, who sang hard driving rockabilly, Rock N’ Roll dance songs and ballads, and laid a foundation for other rock musicians to follow.

Music has continued to change throughout each decade, but the 1960s was the most influential decade in the history of music. Starting in the early 1950s, rock music was first introduced. Major record labels were releasing new “cover songs” which were originally made by black artist, but now by white artist (Rock and Roll). These cover songs changed a few lyrics from the original songs to avoid copyright issues and to also make the song more appropriate for the white listeners. The biggest star of the 1950s was Elvis Presley, who was known as the “King of rock n’ roll”.

“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.

What can be said for the music artist Elvis Presley, other than he is most undoubtedly the reason that Rock and Roll survived past its start, and grew to the massive popularity that it still grasps onto to this day. Although he may have been born a simple white southerner, he masterfully intertwined country music with the raw emotion of gospel and blues in order to create his own breed of unmatchable music. By him taking two vastly different genres of music from two equally different cultures, he successfully managed to blur the prominent color line that divided all of America up until the 1950s. He did all of this while enthralling the youth of America and singlehandedly caused an idea of teenage rebellion that lasted far past his popularity,

Rock and roll was built on the foundation of jazz, blues, country, and folk music. The Les Paul electric guitar was also a big contributor in music not just rock. One of the

The loss of these legendary singers with the death of Buddy Holly, the enlisting in the Army of Elvis Presley, religious choice of Little Richard, the scandal of Jerry Lewis and incarceration of Chuck Berry sent the entertainment industry into an unpredictable state of what rock n roll would become. However, rock n roll remained a real thing, it continued to captivate and motivate its fans around the world. With the new singers such as the Beatles and Rolling stones and many other British musicians coming in would not let rock n roll

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.

“The rise of rock ‘n’ roll and the reception of it, in fact, can tell us a lot about the culture and values of the United States in the 1950s. According to historians James Gilbert, there was a struggle throughout the decade ‘over the uses of popular culture to determine who would speak to what audience, and for what purpose”. At the center of that struggle, rock ‘n’ roll unsettled a nation had been “living in an ‘age of anxiety’” since 1945” (p.15). Altschuler talks about how music and race interlock with one another. Rock had become a “highly visible and contested arena for struggles over racial identity and cultural and economic empowerment in the United States” (p.35). Other chapters within the book state the battles involving sexuality, generational conflicts, as well as other social issues. The author states ideas that are somewhat problematic. For example, he states that there is a myth that rock ‘n’ roll went into a “lull” following the payola hearings (the practice of record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play their labels ' songs) of 1959 and did not come about again until the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.

In 1951, Alan Freed, a European American disc jockey for a Cleveland radio station, first coined the term rock’n roll. Fifty years later, if you were to poll the general public on which race would dominate that genre of music, the response would be overwhelmingly whites. But rock’n roll is not a white mans music. African American’s were and still are an essential cornerstone of the genre known as rock’n roll. But rock’n roll simply would not exist if it weren't for African Americans. Their presence is felt in almost every genre of music known to the United States. Early twentieth century black musicians helped shape, influence and create my favorite genre of music today.

This American guitarist, singer, and songwriter is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music and his songs are electrifying and his videos great to view. Chuck Berry whose full name is Charles Edward Anderson came out with such great hits in the 50s as “Maybellene”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Rock and Roll Music”, and “Johnny B. Goode”. He performed in such a way which left a lasting impression and greatly influenced rock music.

This is a problem in the Black community that not many people can observe, but that many Blacks feel or inflict. The words that began this essay are commonly used to describe the different shades of blackness, from a barely-baked brown to a shadow black. I chose to begin my essay by bringing your attention to these different shades in an attempt to enunciate the different degrees of Blackness- not just in skin color. Being black in modern America can mean being any shade- as long as your lineage traces back to the African continent, as well as adapting any culture and making it our own. The main stream Black American is one who listens to the Black innovation of rap, heavily influenced with bass drums and tempo changes, one who aspires to wear gold "chains" not because we are still in bondage but because gold is also a descendant of Africa and we have always had it, one who advocates only for the well being of their local Black community. America has forgotten about the Black American influenced by the Portuguese, who's roots grew through Brazilian capoeira, or the Black American who traces back to a Caribbean island and champions leadership at every Carnival festival, or the Black American who loves the American opportunistic spirit and so she studied to the best of her ability everyday at the only high school in her

Little Richard had a few hits that influenced rock ‘n’ roll artists. He turned songs like “Tutti Frutti” into a huge hit and influenced bands such as the Beatles. It wasn’t just his music that makes him the king of rock. Little Richard’s shouted vocals and screams helped define the early rock and roll era. (http://www.biography.com). Richard’s sounds were different. Most artists had a stand up bass, drums and a guitar player. He had 2 electric guitars, electric bass, 3 saxophones and himself on the piano. Richard jolted the sound, most of what we see today, Little Richard commenced. Everybody wanted to be him. Even new artists like Elvis Presley had started recording his songs.

Dave Marsh, a famed rock journalist and interviewer, said that, “Chuck Berry is to rock and roll what Louis Armstrong is to jazz.” Chuck Berry, also known as the “Father of Rock and Roll”, was the developer of what is considered rhythm and blues during the 1950’s. Berry was also a symbolic character during this period in time because he not only broke musical barriers, but racial barriers as well. Berry mashed rock and roll and soul music styles but also brought together the youth; black and whites alike.

“The King of Rock and Roll” also known as Elvis Presley was famous and adored during the 1950’s by the young adults all over the United States. Although the older crowd found his music and dance moves very inappropriate, the teenagers adored and grew fond of his music which made this Mississippi star controversial. In the very beginning before Elvis, the music that was heard around the world was a lot of swing and jazz music that the Greats played. By Greats I mean well known artists like Rosemary Clooney, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and so many others.

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