In these chapters of Flowers in the Dustbin, James Miller emphasizes the origins of multiple styles of rock and roll, and highlights musicians that aided in bringing about this earth shattering new sound. Artists other than Elvis Presley, like Little Richard, ‘Fats’ Domino, Pat Boone, and a disc jockey by the name of Alan Freed all contributed to what we know and love as rock and roll. Rock and roll broke racial barriers, bringing a predominantly black style of music to the white youth culture of the time. Black artist Little Richard spoke to a younger audience through his music, because he himself was one of the youngest emerging rock and roll artists of the time. During the 1950s, the origins of rock and roll are rooted in black music of the time, it broke social and racial …show more content…
Early rock and roll artists like ‘Fats’ Domino, Little Richard, and Pat Boone began their musical careers as largely rhythm and blues artists, who soon developed their styles into a new sound much more appealing to the drastically changed youth culture of the 1950s. Alan Freed, a disc jockey, and the one who coined the term rock and roll, began playing their songs on his new radio show which he called Rock and Roll Party. The technology of radio is a huge reason why so many teenagers were exposed to this new sound, and contributed immensely to the growing popularity of rock and roll. At the time most people were skeptical, and criticized this idea and Freed’s radio show. However, Freed responded with, “I don’t give a shit” “That’s what I’m going to
To start the switch in styles of Rock and Roll, the Alabama White Citizens Council came out with a pamphlet titled A Manual for Southerners . This literature acknowledged that it is the music industry that has the biggest influence on how kids present themselves from the way they dress to their mannerisms. The white, southerners who wrote this pamphlet were afraid their children would start interacting in interracial manners and wanted to protest this vulgarism by boycotting “Negro records”. (Larson page 53) This did not help in the upcoming battle towards civil rights for African Americans.
In this extremely controversial work, Glenn C. Altschuler takes aim on the government’s accusations, the prejudice from the police, and the affect that rock ’n’ roll made in America through the late forties and fifties. Glenn makes many accusations of his own through the way he shifts the momentum of the story from time to time. Through the years back then and now, music has caused many racial and gender controversies. In this book, Glenn explains all these problems and what rock did to start or get of them.
During this period in the late 1930s and early 1940s, blues and jazz musicians under the western swing category “began to experiment with rhythmic music and amplification.” They also started to shout vocals and utilize solos with saxophones ("The Antecedents of 1950s Rock and Roll" 2013).All of those things are incredibly familiar and prevalent in rock and rollof the past and the present. As mentioned previously, country music also came in to impact rock and roll music slightly later in the 1940s and 1950s. Country, specifically rockabilly, introduced new instruments like the drums and electric guitar to rock music allowing it to have a wider variety of rhthyms and sound. It also served as one of the first ways for female singers to get into the music business by performing this southern style of music ("The Antecedents of 1950s Rock and Roll"
Influences from popular African American blues artist were noted to have had a huge impact on Elvis’ music career. Although many people today claim that Elvis had initially ‘stolen’ the African American sound of blues, Elvis has never denied their impact on his career. He has always acknowledged and respected the fact that African Americans had been making a similar sound of music prior to the beginning of his career. Despite the assumptions made about this ‘stealing’ of sound, the interviews Elvis appeared in substantiated the fact that he wasn’t intentionally stealing their sound, instead incorporating it in music his own way. The fact that white covers of African American songs often outsold the original kept America segregated and created competition between the two races when instead, music should have helped create peace and respect within both
“Here at noon, jazz blared from jukeboxes and dark holes issued forth the cool odors of beer, wine and flesh into the sunlight” (Griffin 48). When Griffin makes his way south and documents his journeys, jazz is steadily rising in popularity. The music is blared throughout these clubs- separating the blacks and whites, as blacks played a majority of these tunes for people of all races. The invention of jazz by early African Americans, when they were suffering from racism and its effects, is deeply rooted in the sounds of the artists’ music. The majority of listeners nationwide could sense a uniqueness about jazz, no matter the color of one’s skin.
According to artists in that era, Rock n’ Roll was associated with some level of ruggedness and unruliness. Rock n’ Roll also provided an opportunity for people to escape from prevailing challenges and further challenge the status quo. African-Americans played an important role in the development of Rock ‘n’ Roll by infusing elements of the sounds hummed during cotton picking and Black gospel music with country music and other progressive styles of the time (Blues and Jazz). The music had an impact on people’s attitude by introducing an unprecedented level of confidence, especially among the youth. White people were also introduced to a new style of dance that required movement of the waist and the legs, which
Elvis Aaron Presley was born to a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi in the year of 1935. Years later, he became one of the most influential musicians in modern American History. John Lennon once stated, “Before Elvis there was nothing” (qtd.in Meacham). With that being said, the effect Elvis Presley had on music is apparent in many ways in the past and present. Elvis impacted the music industry through changing the ethnic culture of music, making a new style of music, and influencing other musicians.
The Importance of “American Bandstand” on African American Culture “We 're goin ' hoppin ', we 're goin ' hoppin ' today, where things are poppin ' the Philadelphia way, we 're gonna drop in on all the music they play, on the bandstand!” These are the lyrics to “Bandstand Boogie,” written by Barry Manilow for ABC’s long running dance show American Bandstand. Barry Manilow’s version of “Bandstand Boogie” was American Bandstand’s opening and closing theme song from 1977 until its last show on ABC in 1987. (Manilow, Album.)
Rock “n” Roll was an example of a turning point for America in the 1950’s. Rock “n” Roll music was the newest sound for the generation. The music made people think more about racial barriers, brought people together, and led people to have a different outlook on the generation. Rock “n” Roll is a mixture of country, pop, blues, and gospel music. Rock “n” Roll includes the elements of a few black and white American music styles together.
The genre of blues exploded into the blues craze during the 1920’s. During this time, white record producers saw the untapped goldmine that was blues music performed by people of color. Ma Rainey was one of them, and to some, one of the first, giving her the title, ‘The Mother of Blues’. The 1920’s was not only an era of continuing homophobia from the past (although that would change, briefly, into a mild form of acceptance until the more conservative 1930’s), but also of harsh racism. And yet, one singer, Ma Rainey’s, broke these restrictions.
Rock music in the 1960s was egalitarian, eclectic, and real based on a number of reasons. To explain the 'real' piece of rock music in the 1960s, one would have to know that there was war going on overseas that didn't make sense to Americans as to why it was going on (the Vietnam war). There was also still severe inequality between blacks and whites causing protests to occur via the Civil Rights movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There was inequality between women and mens rights. These issues caused dissatisfaction to occur in the American people.
However, Freed was the first to use the term “Rock ‘n’ Roll” to refer to rhythm and blues music that was crossing over to white teenage audiences. Rhythm and blues was largely segregated genre, much like American society at the time. This new term of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” helped bridge the gap between the two cultures that both enjoyed the same music. Freed worked under Leo Mintz in the early 1950’s who encouraged him to emcee a rhythm and blues radio program at WJW radio.
Rock N’ Roll was a new music genre accepted and loved by many teenagers of the time. While their parents felt that Elvis Presley ruined music, the teens disagreed, and with so many teenagers at the time, there were many to keep the genre alive. Teens wanted to release the tensions that bubbled beneath the smooth surface of postwar America. In a biography about Presley, a.k.a. the king of Rock N’ Roll, it writes a historical moment, when Presley was filmed from only the waist-up.
Rock and Roll was a very popular cultural aspect of the 50s. It originated from African American culture then the whites interpreted it. One of the first singers to do this was the very king of rock and roll himself, Elvis Presley. Many adults hated this new music and wanted to ban it. A huge part of it was censored, for example on the Ed Sullivan show, Elvis had to wear a tuxedo and wasn’t allowed to dance because his moves were “sexually inappropriate”.
Cultural Impact of Rock and Roll Amidst the 1960’s Jimi Hendrix formerly stated, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” A generation which was earnestly devoted to peace, protest, and revolution, the counterculture amongst the 1960’s yearned for change. Rock and roll was far beyond just a genre of music; it influenced lifestyles, protests, and attitudes, thus, kindling an awakening in the youth of American culture. The distinction between parental and youth culture was a persistent root of concern, considering that teens throughout the world found a sense of belonging in this style of music.