The History of Rock n' Roll

Origin

Rock 'n' roll didn’t just emerge out of an abyss of awesome- it has its roots like any other musical genre. Starting in the late 1940s, the upbeat Chicago style blues began to fuse with African American R&B rhythms to create something totally new and provacative. Some of the earliest rock artists didn’t write their own songs at first, they covered old blues songs and added their own special rock touches to them. The term “rock 'n' roll” actually came into being a few decades before the music. The phrase was first used in a song by Trixie Smith, titled "My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll." It was slang at the time for dancing, and “roll” was used as a verb that was synonymous with sex.

At first, rock was an underground attraction, fairly exclusive to African Americans. A disc jockey from Cleveland, Ohio helped to change this. His name was Alan Freed, and he noticed that young, white teenagers were frequently buying African American rhythm and blues albums in record stores. He began to market this music as rock ‘n’ roll on the radio. Not only did he knock down racial blockades, but he also helped rock achieve mainstream success that it hadn’t seen before. Freed was also responsible for setting up some of the first rock concerts.

Rock in the 1950s

Depending on your source, what the first rock record actually was will vary. Regardless of what the first album was, the 1950s was the decade that rock's popularity soared. Racial discrimination issues were becoming apparent in the United States more than ever during the 1950s, and rock was defying the separation. It mixed multiple cultures, and there was a strong demand for it.

Rock had a major social impact on the world during the 1950s. Rock lyrics were much more suggestive and politically charged than other genres, and the teenage population couldn’t get enough of it. The music motivated them to rebel in some ways. This rebellion directly contradicted the common parental view that “children should be seen and not heard”. Rock's ambitious attitude offended some parents, and caused them to view it as something dangerous. Hollywood culture used this generation gap to their advantage, and created documents “exposing” rock music. It captured the interests of teenagers, while at the same time shocking parents.

Almost as soon as rock music emerged, it broke apart and became stylized. Rockabilly was a popular style of rock during the 1950s. Rockabilly has its roots in country, blues, and swing, essentially all the genres popular before rock. Country music has always been closely associated with blues, especially during the 1950s. So when rockabilly began to appear as a musical style it’s no surprise that it appealed to many country fans and helped with the negative image rock music developed. At first the term “rockabilly” was viewed as a derogatory term, however it began to gain respect throughout the 1950s. This particular genre tended to appeal to a wider variety of people, not just the youth. Rockabilly would later go on to influence the surf rockers of the 1960s.

One well known rockabilly artist was Elvis Presley, now known as "the King" of rock. He brought the style of ambitious guitar mixed in with the twang of slapped bass rhythms to the mainstream, and it was the new rage. Elvis’s style of singing and dancing energized his fans and kept the rock movement growing. When Elvis's first single, “That’s All Right,” was released by Sun Studios in July of 1954, radio stations around the Memphis began to circulate the song, and it became an instant hit locally. By December, it was being played all over the country, and Elvis became an icon. Elvis then went on in his career to explore many genres outside of rockabilly and became the most popular rock artist of his time.

Rock in the 1960s

Drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll often get associated with each other, and we can credit that to 1960s rock. Rockstars had always tended to have a more chaotic lifestyle, even in the 1950s, but that was largely unknown to the public until the 1960s. It was then, due partly to the growing press surrounding rock music that musicians drug and alcohol use became public. Band groupies began to break onto the rock scene, and wild stories would fly around in gossip columns about the crazy encounters they had with rock stars.

Garage rock began to creep onto charts during the 1960s. The genre was noted for having low quality recordings and simple production. It also tended to be a more underground genre, which makes it difficult to pinpoint an exact starting time. Some garage rock did make charting positions; one of the first was the single "Tall Cool One" by The Wailers in 1959. From then on, garage rock began to develop all over the nation in many cities. Paul Revere and the Raiders were one of the first in a series of 60s garage bands to have successful hits. Garage rock is often credited for setting the way for punk rock to grow. The British Invasion of 1964-1966 played a key role in molding the sound of garage rock. Bands like the Kinks, The Yardbirds, and the Rolling Stones all had a more defined rock sound, yet still with a hint of blues that greatly appealed to the garage rockers. As the decade progressed on, more and more garage bands began to form. It was a short lived explosion however, and by early 1968 the genre had left mainstream charts. New genres had entered the scene.

Perhaps one of the most memorable events of rock during the 1960s was Woodstock 1969. The atmosphere of the rock festival is a very good representation of the 1960s hippie culture. Over 500,000 people were in attendance. The overall attitude of the festival was very bohemian, particularly the clothing. All kinds of monumental artists played including The Grateful Dead (who experienced technical issues while they performed), The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Sha-Na-Na.

Drug use also seemed to be a big part of 60s rock, and that trend never really seemed to die out. LSD was promoted by some bands as a musical enhancement. It was said that if you were ever at a Grateful Dead concert where you could not easily access LSD, then something was terribly wrong. Psychedelic rock went as far as to try and imitate the effect of drugs. Lyrics typically revolve around something that isn’t tangible, like dreams or feelings. Psychedelic rock also used the latest technology to alter sounds with different distorting methods. Keyboards were used a lot more in this type of rock than in others. Album covers often tended to be more creative and abstract than other genres, where a simple band name and album title was sufficient. The famous LP cover for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band by the Beatles revolutionized artwork in the music industry, giving way to the exciting artwork we see on albums today.

Cannabis was soon to follow the psychedelic drugs, and when the Beatles acknowledged they used it, the stigma attached to marijuana seemingly vanished from the rock community. Drugs and rock by the late 1960s seemed like nothing special, the media shock wasn’t there anymore. It still wasn’t acceptable to the older generation, and the youth was still overwhelmed with it. However, when the drugs began to take a toll on many rock stars awareness rose of how dangerous they could be.

27 Club

Of all clubs for a rock star to be a member of, this is not one you would want to end up in. The age 27 seems to be jinxed for rock stars. A series of deaths among prominent rock stars have occurred at the age of 27. The cause of death varies from person to person, however drug use seems to be a factor affecting the majority of those involved. The 5 most famous members are Brain Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain. The series of deaths starting with Jimi Hendrix and ending with Kurt Cobain made some rock stars rethink their destructive lifestyles, but obviously not all of them.

Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was only 27 when he died on July 3, 1969. He was found at the bottom of his swimming pool, and the cause of death was stated as “Death by Misadventure”. His liver and heart were severely enlarged and damaged by heavy drug and alcohol abuse.

Jimi Hendrix was another tragic loss for rock, who died on September 18, 1970. His destructive lifestyle during the 1960s also lead to his death at the young age of 27. The circumstances of his death are not completely understood. However, the popular theory states that after consuming 9 sleeping pills, he passed out and asphyxiated on his own vomit.

Janis Joplin was one of the most influential female rockstars in history, and her influence is still felt today. She was the lead singer of the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and she also had a solo career. She was found dead in a hotel room in Hollywood on October 4, 1970. The cause of death was a heroin overdose mixed with whiskey.

Jim Morrison is known all over the world for the sensational and monumental work he did with The Doors. It was no secret that Jim had used and abused illegal substances before. What makes his death especially sad is that during his stay in Paris he was attempting to become clean, and get rid of his addictions. However, his plan wasn’t working out and he was dealing with depression. All of these factors contributed to his death on July 3, 1971. The official cause of death was heart failure. Drug use is often speculated as a factor by fans.

One of the more recent additions to the 27 Club is Kurt Cobain. Kurt was more than famous for his work with Nirvana, which is one reason for his death. Those close to Cobain speculate he never enjoyed all of the fame that the mainstream success Nirvana created. Prior to his death, he had been confronted about his hardcore drug abuse, and had agreed to attend a rehab program. However, he left the rehab facility and went missing. He was found April 8, 1994. The autopsy report cites the cause of death as a self inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The estimated date of death is April 5, 1994.

Rock in the 1970s

The staple sound of the mainstream 1970s was arena rock, pioneered by bands like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Arena rock typically was a little harder than other genres of rock, but it certainly wasn’t heavy metal. Vocals weren’t as aggressive as the actual music of the songs were, but the juxtoposition worked well together. The Beatles performance at Shea Stadium in 1965 was the beginning of the stadium show era, which would eventually become a part of casual, mainstream rock culture. Arena rock continued to grow out of the 1960s and into the 1970s at a rapid pace. Progressive rock and metal’s increased popularity were selling out more and more venues.

Heavy metal also reached the mainstream rock scene during the 1970s. Heavy metal originated from blues and psychedelic rock, though it can be hard to see those roots because of the dramatic variation. Bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Led Zeppelin paved the way for the heavy metal sound to grow and develop into a successful genre. The media was critical of this new style, often degrading it and not even considering “that noise” to be music. During the late 1970s, heavy metal record sales began to go down, with new genres like punk and disco taking over the charts. However, it didn’t disappear entirely, and it influenced many people who would form glam bands during the 1980s.

In an initially underground environment, punk rock also saw its beginning during the 1970s; however protopunk had been developing since the late 1960s with bands like MC5, and other bands in Britain. The driving force behind punk rock has always been rebellion. Some of the pioneers of the genre have stated that what motivated them was the desire to be different than the typical rock band of the 1960s, and wanted to go back to more of a garage rock style. With bands like the Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones coming over from Britain, the underground rush in America was very prominent by 1977. The New York club CBGB’s was intended for a totally different style of music (CBGB stands for "Country, Blue Grass and Blues), but it quickly became the hot spot for punk acts to play. Punk started out as an East coast sensation in the United States, but when the Sex Pistols toured the United States, they spread their music. This lead to the California punk scene being created, spawning bands like the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag.

From punk rock came the new wave sensation. Unlike punk bands, the new waves bands tended to have more success with radio hits, probably because the punk bands really didn’t care to make their songs radio-friendly. Record label executives loved bands like this, because they did not oppose being successful, and they had punk rock roots. Bands like the Police fronted the new wave movement. During the 1980s, the new wave movement began to shift in another direction. The term began to apply to bands that were more the synthetic-pop genre, and not so much the guitar oriented bands of the 1970s. MTV provided a great market for the more popish bands, while the new wave rock bands began to fall into other genres.

Rock in the 1980s and Onwards

During the 1980s, rock began to split into many different genres; and they were all popular, causing the rock scene to faction. Prior to the 80s, it seemed genres raised and fell in popularity. When something new came along, the old left. That wasn’t the case in the 1980s. Old artists were examined again, and new ones were everywhere. The development of music oriented media helped this, as there was more room in the spotlight for variety.

One of the biggest phenomenons of the 80s were the glam metal, hair bands. Mötley Crüe was a fronting band of the new glam scene and one of the first to get mainstream success. Glam bands were famous for their image; sky high teased hair, make up and eye catching clothing. MTV couldn’t get enough of bands like this, as they were perfect for a television format. Their exciting and provocative videos lured in many viewers to watch them. Some of the early glam metal albums like Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry and Quiet Riot’s Metal health molded and set the stage for what music would be like throughout all the 80s. Even the older heavy metal bands began to use characteristics of this genre in their music. During the mid 80s, to major types of glam metal existed. The “pop” metal, with bands like Europe and their hit “The Final Countdown”. The LA based metal scene formed the other genre, with bands like Poison successfully emerging from the popular metal clubs on Sunset Strip. Europe also experienced a glam metal sensation, later in the 1980s, with bands like The Cult getting heavy MTV rotation and radio airplay.

Alternative rock was an alternative to glam metal in the 1980s, and there really was no way to define this style of music. Any band that didn’t fit into other mainstream genres could be classified as alternative rock. Bands like R.E.M. and the Cure helped to bring this undefined genre to the mainstream, and it became particularly popular in the 1990s, with the rising popularity of grunge. Grunge originated from the northwestern coast of the United States, mainly in the Seattle region. Influences of the genre vary from band to band. Bands like Pearl Jam cite punk rock as an inspiration, while bands like Soundgarden were influenced quite a bit by metal. Grunge would hit the mainstream when Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released in 1991.

With the death of Kurt Cobain, grunge began to lose its appeal to some people, and a new genre was needed to satisfy their musical cravings. This provided a great opportunity for pop punk to rise to the mainstream. Mixing elements of underground punk rock with a lighter mainstream pop sound proved to be a favorite among rock fans and the genre quickly became popular. 1994 was the defining year for this genre, with the release of the albums Smash by the Offspring, and Dookie by Green Day. Capitalizing on those bands' popularity, many other smaller punk bands began to break into the mainstream, such as NOFX, Rancid and the Smoking Popes.

Grunge didn’t die entirely like some people assumed that it did, post grunge bands kept it alive. Post grunge tended to be more suited for radio airplay than other previous grunge music, known for its somewhat basic guitar riffs and powerful vocals. One of the earlier, mostsuccessful post-grunge albums was the Foo Fighters self titled album. This was when the term “post-grunge” began being used. This is partly because 2 members of the Foo Fighters had been involved with Nirvana, so the term post-grunge seemed appropriate. Many female artists were popular in the post-grunge scene, including Alanis Morrisette and Fiona Apple.

The 1990s also saw nu metal begin to reach popularity with bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who would explore multiple genres throughout their career), Korn and Kid Rock. Musically, the guitar in nu metal is similar to that of thrash metal, focusing on rhythmic beats without the use of complicated patterns of chords. The drums and bass tend to have an almost hip-hop like vibe. Tool has been sited by many bands as a vocal influence. The genre began to widen as it grew in popularity, allowing an alternative metal movement in music to occur. Ross Robinson was a pioneer of nu metal, and later in his career he became involved with the post-hardcore movement, which gave rise to current bands such as Falling Reverse and Pierce the Veil.

Recently, a garage rock revival movement has been underway. Back to basics rock began to make a comeback with bands like the White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jet producing popular radio singles. A more dramatic, emotional style of music has hit the mainstream, although the genres name is often disputed. Emo tends to be the popular term, however certain people find this to be a degrading phrase. Emotional hardcore is another acceptable name. This genres roots can be traced back to the late 1980s, originating in the Washington D.C. music scene, and in New Jersey as well. However, not many bands ever made successful mainstream careers. The revival wave pioneered by bands like Sunny Day Real Estate during the late 1990s helped to reintroduce the genre. Bands such as Samiam began to use the DC scene style in California, which influenced many modern bands like Taking Back Sunday. The term emo is thrown around a lot when labeling bands, and the actual definition of the genre varies based on what your source is and your geographic area. Bands that sound absolutely nothing alike all somehow seem to end being grouped together, which is a result of the musical faction phenomenon beginning in the 1980s. According to some, the lyrical content or fashion defines the genre. This really isn’t a very logical way to categorize music, but it seems to be how it’s working for this genre.

As long as musicians exist who want to challenge social standards, create unique songs, and alter music as we know it, rock will continue to grow, develop and expand as it has done in the past. From the earliest, practically ancient pioneers of the late 1940s, to the modern rock idols, each and every artist or group has done something to allow this eccentric genre to keep its place in the history of music, and influence devoted fans all over the world.