Rock n’ Roll is the most important f**king thing in the world. It’s saved my life more times than I can count. It can be rough and raw; it can be polished and refined. Rock ‘n’ Roll is the lifeblood of modern popular culture and we’d all be a lot better off if every now and then we shut the hell up and just rocked out to some great music. Because of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s paramount importance in the world (and in the life of this rambling writer), I have taken it upon myself to gather all the eloquence and tenacity I can muster and try, though feebly and incompletely at best, to chronicle the history of this, the greatest accomplishment of modern man: Rock n’ Roll, though series of articles on various points and aspects of Rock history.
Vol. 2:
Shake, Rattle And Roll: Early Rock ‘n’ Roll
Hey girl. . .
“Oh, I just don’t know what to do! Suzie has always been such a good girl but now…now she’s listening to that “rock” music. It’s so indecent, the drums the racket, oh my…it sounds like, well you know it sounds like the music made by…those people.”
“You’re right Dear, we have to put our foot down. If she keeps listening and dancing to this music who knows where it will lead her, she may even start dating someone from the other other side of town or trying reefer. No more “rock and roll” for our little girl that’s for sure.
Throughout the nineteen fifties conversations like this we’re taking place across the United States. Rock ‘n’ Roll had arrived and kids were swept up by the rollicking sounds and danceable beats. There had been many other popular music movements in the past but Rock was different. It was the first pop music movement championed almost exclusively by youth. For many parents of the era Rock ‘n’ Roll was dangerous and threatening. Rock music challenged social, economic and racial boundaries. It was also often associated with drug use, alcohol and sex. These early years would help set a course and a culture that would redefine music forever.
It is impossible to pinpoint the moment when Music made the turn from Blues, R&B, Country and Jazz and transformed into Rock ‘n’ Roll. Rock music came from so many sources as discussed in our first article of this column: Proto Rock ‘n’ Roll . Much of the R&B of the early fifties like Rock. Big Mama Thornton, Professor Longhair and Louis Jordan’s tunes are stylistically nearly identical to Rock ‘n’ Roll. Despite, this most musicologists consider this music R&B rather than Rock because much of this music did not have broad sweeping appeal among white audiences (Louis Jordan being the exception.) I personalyl think this explanation is full of crap. Music has no boundaries (including genre) no social class and no color. Don’t ever let any boundary or person tell you what you can or can’t listen to and love; that is a lesson I have learned as a student of Rock ‘n’ Roll. That being said without some sort of classification or starting point this little article would be impossible to write, so we will start where most rock historians start, with Bill Haley & His Comets.
“By 1952 this band would rename themselves Bill Haley & His Comets and change the face of history.”
Bill Haley was a working guitarist from Michigan. He had been travelling playing in various country and western swing bands around the nation since his teenage years (circa 1940.) As he traveled the nation he absorbed influences and incorporated them into his various bands. While working for a radio station in Philadelphia, Haley formed a band known as the Saddlemen. By 1952 this band would rename themselves Bill Haley & His Comets and change the face of history. Haley and The Comets bass player Marshall Lytle would write “Crazy Man Crazy” the first Rock ‘n’ Roll song to chart on the Billboards. the Band would go on to record early Rock songs, “Rock Around The Clock” and “Shake Rattle and Roll”(originally sung by R&B artist Big Joe Turner) with great success. Despite this, the top of the charts was still dominated by crooners like Bing Crosby and Sinatra. That changed in a flash. in 1955 “Rock Around the Clock” was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle. the song shot up the charts and Rock ‘n’ Roll had its first #1 record.
“A small plane carrying three of Rock’s pioneers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, went down in that storm. They all lost their lives but Rock would live on.”
While Bill Haley was the first major success in Rock Music, he certainly not the only artist Working in Rock ‘n’ Roll at the time. In 1952 Sam Phillips founded Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee. Phillips worked in Memphis as a radio DJ, talent scout and record producer. In 1950 he started Memphis Recording Service, primarily to record blues musicians like B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. Memphis Recording Services would become Sun Studios and Sun Records. While looking for new talent Sun Records came across a young truck driver from Tupelo Mississippi who was trying to break into music. His name was Elvis Aaron Presley. While Sam Phillips was impressed by Elvis’ emotive singing of ballads, what sealed the deal for him was Presley’s rendition of a blues tune by Arthur Crudup called “That’s All Right.” While with Sun, Elvis began gaining regional fame across the south. This allowed Phillips to sign a host of other great Rock ‘n’ Roll artists.The Sun Records roster was diverse and displayed the wide regional range and various influences in early Rock ‘n’ Roll. Carl Perkins’ music was the rolling blend of country and early R&B that was Rockabilly. Johnny Cash’s music was the basis for what would become Outlaw Country. Roy Orbison and Elvis Were both impressive vocalists who could croon sweetly but still Rock with the best of them; while Jerry Lee Lewis’ wild piano channeled Louisiana Boogie R&B sounds similar to other non-Sun artists, Fats Domino and Professor Longhair.
In late 1955 Sam Phillips made a move that would signal the beginning of the end for Sun records. He sold Presley’s contract to RCA records for $40,000. By the end of 1956 Elvis was the most popular recording artist in America. He made television appearances on The Milton Berle Show, Ed Sullivan Show and other National variety shows and also began a Hollywood film career. Without Elvis, Sun records began to lose its clout in the recording industry. By the end of the 50’s Sun had lost the majority of its major Rock artists.
Early Rock ‘n’ Roll was viewed by white middle america as improper primarily because it was “black” music which was adapted by white artists. Many of the hits of prominent white Rock ‘n’ Rollers were adapted versions of the songs of black R&B stars. Songs like Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” became national hits in the hands of artists like Elvis. Despite the fact that the majority of Rock artists were white, because the music was essentially racial “crossover” music a few black artists managed to cross the color barrier and find success with white audiences. Little Richard’s upbeat piano style and flamboyant persona found broad success across America as did Chuck Berry’s electrifying guitar work and signature wild stage antics. Artists of other races also offered America there unique take on Rock. Ritchie Valens combined aspects of Mexican folk music with Rock to become the first Latin Rock Star. Rock ‘n’ Roll was reflecting the changing face of America.
The Early days of Rock set the stone rolling. So many of the aspects of contemporary popular music were first defined in this era. But every beginning has its end. The end of early Rock ‘n’ Roll came in a snowy storm in Iowa on February 3, 1959. A small plane carrying three of Rock’s pioneers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, went down in that storm. They all lost their lives but Rock would live on. Rock continues to break barriers, evolve and change today but so much of the spirit of what Rock would and can become exists in those early recordings. Rock is wild, rollicking and dangerous and it’s coming for you, will you answer the call?
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