Country
Country, the music of America's heartland, can be traced back to British
immigrants who brought with them a tradition of
storytelling, Celtic bands, and string instrument playing, especially
fiddle. The tradition survived in isolated rural
communities but developed an American accent as music for square dances
and hoe-downs.
By the early 1900's, "Mountain music" had separated into string band
music (the beginning of bluegrass) and vocal
harmony music derived from church music. In the 20's, country began
reaching a wider audience due to the popularity of
radio recording and vocalists began dominating. The first country recordings
were in 1927 in Tennessee. By the Thirties,
Nashville Tennessee became the center of country music. In the Forties
and Fifties, country became Country and
Western.
Rockabilly
Rockabilly was a lively combination of blues and country that became
rock and roll. Small bands played slapping string
bass, twanging lead guitar, acoustic rhythm guitar, with plenty of
echo while singers made yelps, gulps, hiccups and
stutters. The original rockabilly style ended with the fifties.
The Fifties
The Fifties were good time to be a white middle class American. Post
World War II was a prosperous and confident
America. Middle class white Americans moved to the new suburbs where
they found nice houses in pleasant
neighborhoods. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life
of mainstream America: bland, predictable and
reassuring, which didn't seem that bad after the depression and horrifying
war. With the end of World War II, the conflict
that had bound all Americans together, regardless of race, had been
resolved and individual citizens were suddenly free to
pursue individual interests without guilt.
White middle class fears of communism and a new independent-minded black
society emerged at the same time.
Cross-cultural performances were out of the question. Black music flourished
on its own, as usual, while white music
lacked direction, due to its own limitations.
America in the early 50's was a deeply divided country, hysterical about
communism and wallowing in racial mistrust and
hatred. Negro music was threatening and white teenagers found it adventurous.
The songs of the early fifties had light melodies, sweet lyrics, and
wholesome singers like Pat Boone, Perry Como, and
Rosemary Clooney.
The Teenager
A teenager growing up prior to the end of WWII was forced to take life
fairly seriously. They acted responsibly without
demanding freedom. In the 50's , expectations for teenagers changed.
With a booming economy, parents could now help
their children achieve more than they themselves had. More parents
insisted they finish high school and paid for them to
go to college. Youngsters began receiving allowances, and had free
time after school. They had more time for themselves
to be social and to form peer bonds. They began to have more fun and
became less serious than prior generations. The
new culture allowed teenagers to make decisions for themselves, decisions
that were at odds with their parents. Music
was one of the first places where these decisions were apparent.
Teens in the 50's became more private, secretive, clannish, defensive,
and at times disrespectful. Years later, this
behavior would be recognized as the "generation gap" that had grown
out of their affluence and parental indulgences.
Music, though only a symptom, was easiest for the parents to focus
on. Then, it wasn't known that this rebelliousness
would fade in their early 20's for more conventional beliefs.
Teens began to get their own radios or used the television for entertainment.
Disc jockeys and radio stations began to
play to the listeners tastes. White teens with more money became the
focus of marketing strategy. Teen choices of new
music began influencing society. A generation gap formed as teen dress,
beliefs, pastimes, and speech differed from their
parents generation.
White and black teens were now opting for more interesting music played
by "cool" black cats. White teens were drawn
to black musical styles by white performers like Elvis and Jerry Lee
Lewis. This new music was heard on their radios, on
television and danced to at parties. The music was easy to dance to;
a feature that appealed to a younger generation. The
"jive" gave way to the twist in the 60's, promoted by Chubby Checker,
and then to the shake and other forma.
Technology
After World War I, records were recorded in the 78 rpm format until
the late 1940's when Columbia records introduced
33 rpm records.(RPM means "revolutions per minute"). In early 1949,
RCA Corporation introduced the 45 rpm record.
Portable record players were developed that would play up to ten 45
rpm records on a spindle. These phonograph
players were ideal for teen parties and dances. Most companies promotional
records to disc jockeys were in the 45 rpm
format.
During this period, the transistor radio came down in price, became
smaller, more powerful and had better sound.
Earphones were regularly included with the purchase of a radio.
Parents began replacing their first television with newer models and
teens were often given the old one. Television began
to lose audience in the early evening hours and began programming to
the teens and young adults. They began including
shows that featured a younger sound of rhythm and blues, group doo-wop
and these were hosted by "personality
deejays".
Tape recorders in the 50's were of better sound quality and less fragile.
The Guitar
The development of the electric solid body guitar owes a great deal
to the popularity of Hawaiian music in the 1920's and
30's. Leo Fender wanted to improve on this and produce a series of
variations of steel guitars and amplifiers. In 1946 he
formed the Fender Electric Instrument Company. At the same time, Les
Paul was experimenting with pick-ups
throughout the 30's. In 1948, Fender began producing the Fender Broadcaster,
later named the Telecaster, and in 1954
the production on his Stratocaster began. The guitars of Leo Fender
and Les Paul set the standard for solid body guitars.
"Rock And Roll"
Disc Jockey Alan Freed began playing some of the more commercial sounding
black "rhythm and blues songs (called
"race records" for most of this century) and he played them for white
teenagers over his radio station in Cleveland. In
order to expand his audience to include whites, Freed applied the term
"rock and roll" and it stayed. The year 1954 was
a big one for rock and roll. The music went from being almost an underground
thing to national prominence. In March of
that year, the original version of "Sh-Boom", by the Chords was released.
A cover version by a white group, The Crew
Cuts made number one in America.
In July of 1954, Bill Haley and his Comets recorded a song written by
a 63 year old composer. "Rock Around The
Clock" was considered by many to be the first rock and roll record.
It was recorded in a converted ballroom, the high
vaulted ceilings adding to the dynamics of the recording. The record
didn't do much for sales until it was tacked onto the
opening credits of the film "Blackboard Jungle" in 1955. It soon became
the national anthem of rock and roll. In 1956 it
was the theme song of an Alan Freed film also called "Rock Around the
Clock". In the 1970's, "Rock Around the Clock"
became the theme of the film, "American Graffiti", the theme song of
the television show, "Happy Days" and was featured
in the film, "Superman".
In 1957, Bill Haley and his Comets began touring Britain as his popularity
began fading at home. The first American Rock
and Roll star to come to Britain, he was met by large and enthusiastic
crowds. But they soon realized that Haley was old,
overweight and rather mechanical when compared to Jerry Lee Lewis and
Elvis who were younger and who's music was
more exciting.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aron Presley was born in 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi with a twin
brother who died at birth. The Presley family was
very poor. For his 10th birthday, his parents gave him a choice of
either a bicycle or a guitar. Elvis loved his guitar and
practised often. To find work, the family had to move to Memphis, Tennessee.
When Elvis graduated from high school, he worked as a movie usher and
truck driver. He first walked into a recording
studio in Memphis where they were looking for a white artist who sounded
black. There he recorded, "That's All Right
Mama". It was a big hit especially on the country charts.
A big break came for Elvis in 1956, with his first million dollar hit,
"Heartbreak Hotel". Elvis was a millionaire in one year.
Other hits followed that year such as "Hound Dog", and "Love Me Tender".
His first movie, "Love Me Tender", was also
released that year. Elvis purchased his famous home, Graceland in 1957.
Elvis continues to do more movies and cut more records, but in 1958,
he was inducted into the army. During most of the
sixties, Elvis was basically away all year making movies. In his whole
movie career, he made thirty-one movies.
Elvis met Priscilla whom he finally married in Las Vegas. The next year,
their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born. Elvis
was very anxious to continue performing, but his constant touring began
taking its toll on his family life. He and Priscilla
were soon separated. Elvis' drug use was out of control and he gained
a very large amount of weight. Both of these
problems contributed to his death at Graceland on August 16, 1977.
History continues to label Elvis as the "King of
Rock and Roll".
| (Previous Issue of Mentor) |
(Mentor Issue 10) |
(Mentor Issue 11) |
-
Origins
-
Ragtime
-
The Blues
-
Popular Music
-
Jazz
-
Rhythm and Blues
-
Vocal Groups
-
The Doo Wop Sound
|
-
Radio / TV
-
Record Companies
-
Crossovers/ Covers
-
A Second Wave
-
Surf Music
|
-
Instrumental Groups
-
The Death of American Rock and Roll
-
The British Invasion
|
Please see Issue 10 of Mentor for the continuation
of "A History of Rock and Roll"
Web Site prepared by
Baylite
Studios, December, 2000
