Mary Arnone
Music 1040
File # 2-07
March 15, 2012
Midterm Paper
Rock N’ Roll didn’t always have this name, it started as Rhythm and Blues then transformed. The
Blues was a huge influence into the building of Rock N’ Roll; Country also had its influences later on.
“Alan Freed was the first to apply the term ‘rock and roll’.”(American Music pg. 131) He made Rock N’
Roll available to a wider, mostly white, audience via the radio. The influence of Country music in Rock N’
Roll “came perhaps most notably with Elvis Presley.”(American Music pg.133) Which created a fusion
called “rockabilly”, his song “That’s All Right” is an excellent example of this new genre. The Music
started changing in the fifties and sixties where the term “’rock’ becomes an umbrella term for a broad
variety of amplified music’s.”(American Music pg.134) The Beach Boys were the most popular American
band in the sixties with hits like “Surfer Girl”, “Surfin’ Safari”, and “Kokomo”. Their album Pet Sounds is
the first concept album, which has the songs in a particular order. In the late sixties there was a giant
concert known as Woodstock where hundreds of bands came together and had three days of non-stop
music. Where Jimi Hendrix’ “The Star Spangled Banner” was controversial because it was the height of
the Vietnam War; in the song he imitates sounds of war and distorts the sound. In the seventies came
new genres of rock like hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, and punk rock. Hard rock includes bands such
as, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, and Van Halen. Led Zeppelin had a lot of African American Blues
influences going back to the start of the era of Rock N’ Roll. Glam rock was more of a look then a sound,
where the band wore make-up and extravagant clothing. These bands include Kiss and Alice Cooper.
Punk rock brought about The Ramones, who had more of a grunge, carefree look. Rock N’ Roll also has a
dark side that includes drug addiction and alcohol abuse.
Deviance is a very large part of studying sociology, because “sociologists believe that social life is
closely related to social rules.” (Understanding Society pg. 33) With every genre of music there is some
deviant behavior that goes along with it. Mostly drug and alcohol abuse. Drugmusictalk is what people
online and in the media use to talk about the use of illegal drugs; which is also a technique of
neutralization or something used to make the user of the drug not feel guilty for using. With the blues
scene, although there isn’t a particular drug of choice, marijuana has been closely associated. Although
jazz emerged at the same time as blues, heroin seems to be the jazz worlds drug of choice. Into the
sixties people were leaning more towards recreational drugs such as, LSD, marijuana, alcohol, and
methamphetamines. These drugs “enhanced the experience for improvisation—the hallmark of
counterculture music—both for artists and audience.” (Understanding Society pg. 37) In the seventies
came the disco era which brought along with it, marijuana, methamphetamines, and amphetamines.
The eighties brought back injected drugs and introduced pill popping; “punk and heavy metal elicited
great response from agents of social control.” This is really when it was starting to be recognized that
with every music genre comes illegal drug use and it was starting to become a major problem. With the
rise of hip-hop came the use and distribution of crack cocaine with artists writing songs about the use of
illegal drugs. In the nineties came the rise of techno and the rise of MDMA, or ecstasy. Drugmusictalk is
what people who use these illegal drugs to discuss drugs like some people would discuss fashion, what
the latest trends are. They use the connection of using the same drug to connect with people and
discuss the music and artists and try to discover new music that would be good to listen to while they
are high. No matter what the music group there is a drug or deviant behavior that it goes with it.
Rock N’ Roll and deviance really go hand in hand, it even starts with the emergence of jazz and
blues. The audience and artists use drug to make their experience of playing and listening to music
amplified or even spiritual. Once the high is gone you have an experience to talk about and discuss with
fellow fans on forums and make a connection some don’t think could have been made without the
drugs. Drugs and music go together like peanut butter and jelly and there are a lot of fans that don’t
listen to the music unless they have that high and can make an experience out of it.