Rock and Roll -
The birth of rock music
Rock and roll like all genres has almost as
many definitions as it has fans. Rock and Roll generally refers to rock music
recorded around the 1950s including mostly southern artists like Bill Haley and
Elvis Presley. Rock generally is used to refer to any popular rock music
recorded since the early 60's.The word rocking was first used by gospel singers
in
the South as a slang term for spiritual rapture. A double meaning became evident
in 1947 blues artist Roy Brown's song Good Rocking Tonight which he
claimed was about dancing was in fact a synonym for sex. Rock music much like
blues was limited to jukeboxes and racially mixed clubs and apparently censors
were fooled allowing the song to later be played on the radio to huge success.
Many
other blues artists followed suit including Wild Bill Moore who recorded a song
called rock and roll in 1949. Since rock and roll albums were only sold in
racially mixed music stores very few white
audiences had heard of them. In 1951 disc jockey Alan Freed of Cleveland Ohio
begin playing rock and roll for his mostly white audience and it soon became a
national phenomenon which would eventually envelop the world.
Rock and Roll usually combines a vocalist,
an acoustic drum kit played with a strong beat, usually a back beat and features
electric guitars, acoustic guitars or saxophone. Blues records of the 20s were
the
inspiration for much of the early rock and roll sound. Early artists combined
jump blues, boogie woogie, r&b, jazz, and gospel music to form a new genre that
would become a driving force in music for the next 50 years and beyond.
According to music historian Peter Guralnick the first rock and
roll artist was by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats who recorded Rocket 88 for
the Sun Records label in 1951. The first to achieve commercial success with
white audiences were Chuck Berry's with Maybellene and Rock
Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. Fats Domino recorded blues songs
in 1949 that to most are indistinguishable from rock and roll
combining the same
influences that will be later cited as the ones that gave birth to rock and
roll. Racial tensions in the United States were high in the early 50's as African Americans
protested segregation and other mistreatment.
The "separate but equal" rule of law was overturned in 1954 allowing for free
coexistence of all races and laying the foundation for a genre of music which
would combine white and black musical genres into one of the most controversial
music styles ever. A style which had parents in the 50' cringing in fear, rock
and roll.
Despite the efforts of Alan Freed and early rock and
roll bands what had been labeled as "black music" by critics was still to
controversial drawing protests from some very
conservative or racially biased whites. From the beginning the
style was attacked as being too overtly sexual which only seemed to fuel the
interest in the style.
White performers began to be hired to record and play the songs often doing a
poor job. Still the music began to take hold with fans as white owned stations
began to play the music. Artist Pat Boone recorded versions of Little
Richard songs while Ricky Nelson recorded Fats Domino tunes. As the songs became
popular producers would re-release the original recording often without paying
the original artist a dime. On March 21, 1952 in Cleveland Ohio Alan Freed orchestrated the first rock and roll
concert. The audience and the performers were racially mixed and after one song thousands of fans
broke into the sold out venue causing the show to be shut down but the die was
cast for rock to become the driving force in music.
In 1954 Elvis Presley would come into Sun Records with a request
to record a record for his mother. Stunned by his sheer raw talent owner Sam
Phillips asked Elvis to record with professional musicians. Elvis' first record
released for Phillips' Sun Records was called That's All Right Mama. It became a
huge hit and propelled Elvis into history as the first true rock and
roll star. Rock and roll inspired more genres than any other style of
music to date. To learn more about the movement click
here to go back to the
main page and discover the many faces of rock.
Silver Dragon Records Presents the
History of Rock Music
Thank
you for your interest in
Houston Rock Record Label Silver Dragon Records.
Below is some information on our
record label and website catering to rock fans and musicians.
Houston Rock Record Label Silver Dragon Records
presents
rock band Lazarus X
and the their latest independent CD release
Weapon of Love.
Lazarus X's combines determined hard hitting rock with haunting and soulful
melodies which struck a chord with many
underground
rock music fans. Some fans received a preview of the
publicity photos
and
underground
rock CD WOL at a
rooftop listening
party a day before it was released
and the response was amazing. Check out
Rock Band Lazarus X
merchandise like
The Weapon of Love Tour T-Shirt and
the
Weapon of Love CD
or preview one of their songs by
downloading a
free rock mp3.
Silver Dragon Records is a
Houston
rock record label
producing and promoting experimental, hard rock and alternative metal albums. We
provide 24 bit digital recording in a
quiet
private studio
free of distractions. If you think we are the label for you
submit a
demo to our record label and let us tell you how we can help your
band with
artist promotion,
publicity, marketing, recording, mastering, help in marketing a demo or shopping
for a major label deal. We are happy to offer musicians our online resources
like our
musicians
toolkit for recording audio, our
museum of rock
music history and our
Houston rock music resource.
Thank you for checking out
music history or rock genres and subgenres and enjoy the above links.
SDR Home
-
Free Mp3s -
Lazarus X
-
CDs - Concert
T-shirts - Rock T-Shirts -
SDR T-Shirts -
Prints
- More Products
- Next Feature
Copyright 2003 Lazarus X - Silver Dragon
Records - All rights reserved.
