Rock N Roll
Not only has rock affected popular music, but it has also affected the world by becoming the first music to give teenagers a voice all their own, in defiance of their parents. It contributed to the civil rights movement and re-defined what an artist was capable of on their own. It has been a form of expression for youth all over the world, in an endless cycle of reinvention.
So, let’s go back to the first inklings of this bold new sound. First, we need to set the scene of life leading up to the 40s and early 1950s. Up until that time, music was segregated by race and distance. TV didn’t exist, radio was still relatively new, and most families that could afford a radio only had one which resembled a piece of furniture and was treated like it. Music and radio were largely regional, with a few networks broadcasting prime-time variety shows that offered popular singers. In the south, the effects of reconstruction and Jim Crow were still felt by African Americans. America had two very distinct and separate populations, separated by race, each with its own culture and music. Rock N Roll would ultimately bring these cultures together by combining blues, jazz, country, and pop music to form this new music.
The birth of rock n roll started with the automobile, Specifically, the used automobile. In the 1930s and 40s, the first wave of automobiles was traded in for new models. As they became more affordable, many African American families were able to purchase their first car. The black population of the south began to move to northern cities that offered better jobs and less risk of racial violence. The great migration brought African Americans to cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. They established new communities within these cities, and they brought the language, food, and music of the south with them. With new jobs and better wages, many families found themselves with disposable income for the first time. Being in a new place, they also looked for where they could buy the goods they were familiar with in the south.
At that time, radio stations were regional and segregated. Larger radio stations belonged to networks such as NBC, CBS, or ABC and were generally geared towards white audiences. They would broadcast a variety of programming, such as news, children’s shows, serials, classical, popular, and sometimes country music programs. As cities faced an influx of new faces and southern culture, stations began to pop up or change their format to appeal to this large population brought a new target for advertisers. Although they would not usually have the same power and reach as their white counterparts, these stations would bring black music to the air, and provide a key ingredient to launching Rock N Roll. Stations geared towards African Americans include WHBQ and WDIA in Memphis which featured Rufus Thomas & BB King, WLAC Nashville, WGST in Atlanta, WJW in Cleveland that featured the self-proclaimed Moondog, Alan Freed, who would eventually move to WINS in New York and become Rock and Roll’s De Facto ambassador.
As radio grew, so did the emergence of independent record labels. The big change here was that labels weren’t accountable to advertisers or boards that were worried about their image. Independents were able to record anything and anyone they wanted to and sold directly to radio stations and record shops. Independent labels began to grow across the country, with Atlantic - located in Washington, DC and then New York, Chess in Chicago, and the most innovative and daring of all, Sun Records, which was founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sam Phillip’s experience at WLAY in Muscle Shoals, Alabama influenced him profoundly. The radio station had an open format, appealing to both white and black artists and listeners. He began to record local musicians and sell the rights to other labels. Among the local musicians to come his way in 1951 were Jackie Brenston and his delta cats, including their enterprising 19-year-old music director, Ike Turner. They recorded what many consider the first Bonafide rock n roll song, Rocket 88 in March 1951. The sounds captured on the record are gritty and thick with an overdriven guitar and blaring saxophone giving the music a distorted edge. The beat swings and feels much heavier than anything out at the time. It was a regional hit, and Ike Turner spread the word about Sun Studios, bringing Sun an unprecedented line of talent. Soon after, another record would be cut by an artist that Sam Phillips called his greatest discovery. Howlin’ Wolf’s “How Many More Years” was cut in August 1951 and gave the dragging beat and distorted guitar a voice to match them. Wolf’s gritty, raspy vocal gives the record an urgency and drive that was unheard of in 1951. Just to put this in perspective, some of the top hits that year were Unforgettable by Nat King Cole, C’mona my house by Rosemary Clooney, and about the closest thing to rock there was, Les Paul and Mary Ford’s How High the Moon.
Due to a more mobile population and advances in radio technology, car manufacturers began installing radios into cars in the 1920s. Although prohibitively expensive at first, companies such as Motorola began producing components at lower prices, allowing radios to be included as a stock item in most models by the late 1940s. This allowed musicians and listeners alike to pick up local radio stations as they drove through town, allowing white ears to hear black music in the privacy of their automobiles. Radios at home were controlled by spouses and parents. Car radios offered the exciting sounds of R&B and jump blues, and it ended up inspiring other musicians to incorporate aspects of this new music into their sound, just as Jazz music had influenced songwriters and musicians in the swing music of the 1930s and 40’s.
Things bubbled just under the surface for a few years, with segregation deeply embedded in the south. White musicians paid attention to rhythm and blues and gospel coming out of black radio stations. Black musicians heard country music from the Grand Ole Opry and Texas swing music. In 1954, a western swing band recorded a song, having been inspired by artists such as Big Joe Turner, and free to record it with their new record label, Decca. But it wasn’t until the following year that the song was a hit, after appearing in the movie Blackboard Jungle, a film about what else – dangerous, rebellious youth. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets would bring rock n roll to the American mainstream. Soon, other songs began to infiltrate the charts, including one that brought the sound of overdriven guitar originally heard at Sun studios to the masses, and would go on to inspire countless youths to pick up the guitar – Chuck Berry’s Maybellene. Berry was a guitar player out of Memphis, who had been recruited by Chess after Sam Phillips refused to offer them contracts, convinced that they had stolen his artists from under him. Chuck Berry’s stream of his would establish the electric guitar as the instrument most associated with Rock music and inspire almost every rock guitar player that came afterward.
Overnight, rock music took the country by storm. Little Richard, who was a wild man, wearing makeup and shiny suits hit the scene and caused a stir with Tutti Fruitti, a song whose lyrics had been changed to “Tutti Fruitti, Oh Rudy” from “Tutti Fruitti, Good Booty”. Doo-wop came to the forefront, with Only You by the platters. Doo-wop had been sung primarily on city street corners, by young guys who didn’t have enough money for instruments. They would imitate the sounds with their voices, giving the unique sound that broke big that year. Doo-wop consisted mostly of ballads that encapsulated teenagers’ dreams of true love. This vocal approach combined with the backing of instrumental groups would help give birth to Soul just a few years later.
New York DJ Allan Freed constantly promoted Rock n Roll on the radio, helping to create its rebellious and youthful image, using teenage slang throughout his broadcasts. And held the first big Rock n Roll concert. Rock n roll was moving into the mainstream, even though conservative parents resisted.
1956 opened with a new voice that would break rock n roll wide open and cement its place in popular culture. Sam Phillips had said that if he could find a white man that could sing like a black man, he would be a millionaire. In 1954, a truck driver stopped at Sun studios to record a song for his mother’s birthday. Sam Phillips was convinced to record more songs by the young artist and ended up selling his contract to RCA records after a version of Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right Mama” became a regional hit. In January 1956, RCA released their first single featuring Elvis Presley, “Heartbreak Hotel.” It was an instant smash. Elvis had a string of hits including ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Don’t be Cruel’, and ‘Love me Tender’ that would solidify his status as the King of Rock n Roll.
Elvis was all over the radio, posters, and advertising. He was young, handsome, and conveyed the attitude of edginess and sexiness that was at the core of rock n roll. The biggest impact that Elvis had was on June 5th, 1956, on the Milton Berle Show. He unveiled his version of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” and swung his hips much to the horror of white parents. Elvis would also appear on the Steve Allen Show and Ed Sullivan show that year. Everywhere he went, controversy and advertising dollars followed. Television made rock and roll not just a cultural force, but a financial one as well. American Bandstand soon followed, with Dick Clark bringing rock n roll acts to the small screen and teenagers not missing a chance to glance at their heroes. Throughout 1956, rock n roll brought money to all who were involved. Advertisers, publishers, concert promoters, TV shows, Radio, and record companies. The artists rarely had independent agents to fight for them and were taken advantage of regularly in complex contracts that left them with little but enough to live on.
Nonetheless, the roster of rock n roll hitmakers continued to grow. 1956 saw a list of hits that is still renowned for its impact on American popular music
· Gene Vincent - Be-bop-a-lula
· Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill
· Fats Domino - My Blue Heaven
· The Platters - Great Pretender
· Johnny Cash - I walk the line
· Little Richard - Long Tall Sally
· Chuck Berry - Roll Over Beethoven
· Bill Haley - See you later alligator
One of the biggest and least discussed aspects of rock n roll’s impact is how it gave teenagers of the ’50s a unique sense of identity that had not been around before. Up to that point, teenagers were expected to follow in the footsteps of their parents and little else. They listened to their parents’ music, wore their parents’ clothes, and were expected to carry the same attitudes as their families before them. Rock n roll disturbed that flow and brought about a defiance that infuriated parents and divided the generation that had lived through the hardship of the depression from the generation that would live off the economic fat of the land in 1950s America.
Another area that was challenged by rock n roll was race. Rock gave black artists a chance to play black music without having to filter it for white audiences. Rock n roll hits came from artists of any color – Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Platters and Bo Diddley carried their inventive influence to a generation of white teenagers, who danced to their records regardless of the artist’s skin color. Music served as a conduit for the civil rights movement’s influence, bringing the message to black and white teenagers all over the country, helping to spark widespread white solidarity with black activists in the 1960s.
Between 1955 and 1956, rock n roll sparked a worldwide culture shift, giving power and independence to youth that had never been experienced and would influence music for generations to come. Artists were inspired to follow the lead of Sam Phillips, and later Buddy Holly in becoming independent writers, engineers, and artists. An entire generation of British teens would take the influence from America and return less than a decade later during the British invasion, which would change music even more. The rebellious spirit that inspired rock in the first place can be found at the core of all its future iterations, from Soul to Punk to Funk to Metal to Hip Hop all share the common thread of fierce independence, ingenuity, and above all, fun.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this dive into the beginnings of rock n roll. You can hear all of the songs discussed in the podcast on Spotify and Apple music by searching ‘Musicscope.’ Join me next week when we explore the legendary Sun Studios and its crucial role in bringing rock and roll to the masses. Thanks for tuning in to the Musicscope. I’m Mike Grubb.
