The Birth of Rock and Roll

Big Joe Turner (black artist

Shake,Rattle, and Roll ‘54

  • Hokum Blues | Cover BIll Haley and the Comets

    • changed lyrics for less vulgarity

  • 12-Bar Blues

  • Verse-Chorus

BIRTHED BASIC ROCK N ROLL

1950s

  • suburban, therefore middle class expansion

  • cold war, arms race, space race

  • civil rights movement (tied into 🔺)

    • former colonies becoming independent countries, (USSR vs US to influence them)

Rock n Roll develops from cultural shifts + tensions

  • on tv, records, radio

Audiences + Marketing

  • youth culture 🆙

    • wanted their own music

  • mix of rhythm & blues, country-western, pop

  • certain genres became act of rebellion

Disc Jockeys helped promote rhythm & blues

  • sometimes paid under table to play certain songs

Aggressive marketing by independent labels

Covers and Crossovers

  • industry tracked trends thru charts

    • Rhy&Blu, country-western, pop

      • rly only meant black or white artists

  • covers

    • new version of existing song

  • crossover

    • appeals to multiple audiences and goes on multiple charts

The First Rock and Rollers Cross Over

Black Artists

  • Fats Domino

    • 1st Early Rocker w/ consistent crossover success

    • family-friendly songs; great stage presence

  • Chuck Berry

    • songs on teen life

    • country influence; mild stage presence

  • Little Richard

    • flamboyant and charismatic “wild man”

    • did not go mainstream, but appealed to teens

Fats’ Blueberry Hill ‘56

  • #1 on all 3 charts

  • AABA | Beat divided into 3 | 12-bar blues

Berry’s Johnny B. Goode ‘58

  • On “Top 100” and Rhy&Blu charts

  • verse-chorus form | 12-bar blues

Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti ‘56

The “Whitening” of Rhythm and Blues

  • changing rhythm and blues songs to appeal to white listener

  • bill haley and pat boone did this amd they would outperform on many occasions

Bill Haley Rock Aorind the Clock

‘55 pop and rnb charts

simple-verse chorus

grouped in 3 12-bar blues

Controversies

  • success of covers may have reduced OG artists

  • covers were in their own styles

Haley and Boone claimed songs wouldnt be on White Rqdioaoif they hadnt helped