Questions you should be able to answer based on the film, Rock n’ Roll the Early Years, that we viewed in class.
(It is also on reserve in the Music Library.)
How were teenagers significant to rock n’ roll?
What was rhythm and blues?
Who sang Rock Around the Clock? Why is this song important to early rock n’ roll?
Who was Alan Freed? What did he do for rock n’ roll? Why was Alan Freed’s move to New York significant for rock n’ roll?
Where was Sam Philip’s studio located? Who did he first record? Who was he looking for?
What new type of blues did musicians in Chicago start to play in the 1950s? Who owned a club in Chicago that recorded these
musicians?
How was Chuck Berry significant to Chess Records and rock n’ roll? Who was Bo Diddley?
Who was Pat Boone? What is a cover tune?
What was important about New Orleans to rock n’ roll? Who recorded in New Orleans studios?
Who were some of the people who lead the movement against rock n’ roll? How was this tied in with race and religion?
Who bought Elvis’ contract from Sun Records? What happened to his career? How was he significant to rock n’ roll?
Who was Carl Perkins? Who was Buddy Holly? Who was Jerry Lee Lewis? What is he known for?
What lead to the cracking down of rock n’ roll shows in the late 1950s?
What was payola? How did it affect rock n’ roll and Alan Freed?
What happened to all of the old rock n’ rollers? What lead to the “death” of rock n’ roll?
Who were the teen idols? How was their music different from rock n’ roll?
What is rock n’ roll exactly?:
1. A musical genre
2. The more acceptable term for African American
Rhythm and Blues
3. A sexual metaphor
Rhythm and blues VS. Rock and
Roll
Musical genres were redefined:
Race records became rhythm and blues= a combination of jazz,
gospel and blues
And
Hillbilly records became country and western, a regional category
Billboard magazine categories for black music:
1949= R&B
1969= soul music
1982= black music
1990= R&B
Rhythm and blues: at first R&B was characterized by a large
rhythm section combined with a blues style singer
Eventually rhythm and blues became the designation that was
assigned to black artists. Ultimately there was very little
difference musically between r&b and rock n’ roll.
What helped rock n’ roll happen?
1. Technology= rise of independent radio stations
2. Popularization of 45 RPM records= were lighter
than the 78s, shipped more easily
3. Invention of the Top 40 Format
Some major cities where rock n’ roll developed:
1. New Orleans
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
New Orleans Rock and Roll
New Orleans rock and roll was
1. A combination of jazz, delta
blues, and boogie woogie piano
styles
2. The recording studio of Cosimo
Matassa, J&M Studio recorded most
R&B/rock n’ roll artist in N.O.
between1940s and 1960s
Roy Brown
Fats Domino
New Orleans, cont.
Little Richard with band
Little Richard as preacher
Little Richard was known for his crazy stage presence and
his ambiguous sexual orientation. In contrast to Fats Domino,
he was seen as dangerous.
Los Angeles Rock and Roll sound
L.A. sound was influenced by:
1. Big bands
2. Chicano music
3. N.O. rhythm and blues
Ritchie Valens: considered to be the first Chicano rock n’ roll star
Chicago Rock and Roll Sound
Chicago sound as influenced by:
1. Delta blues
2. Urban blues
3. Chess records= recorded many urban
blues artists and Chuck Berry and Bo
Diddley
Chuck Berry doing the “duck walk”
Berry is considered to be one the “first rock n’ roll guitar hero= he especially made
the guitar rock n’ roll’s dominant musical element
Influence of Gospel on Rock n’ Roll
Many religious African Americans saw
Rhythm and Blues as degrading, low and
the “devil’s music.”
However, many gospel artists moved to the
secular world or rhythm and blues.
Ray Charles: combined gospel and rhythm and blues: he saw no contradiction
in combining the secular and the sacred.
Changed the lyrics to gospel songs from sacred to secular
ROCKABILLY
Elvis Presley
Carl Perkins
Rockabilly was considered to be a combination of rocking African American and
hillbilly styles.
The main person to be associated with rockabilly was Sam Phillips the founder of
Sun Records in Memphis, TN
He is quoted as having said “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound
and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.”
ROCKABILLY, cont.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Buddy Holly
“The Death of Rock n’ Roll”
Several events lead to the “death of rock n’ roll”:
1. The demise of several artists for various reasons
2. A conservative backlash against rock n’ roll
3. The rise of the teenage youth market
4. The marketing of white cover artists instead of the black artists
5. The payola scandals