Music Of The 50sEssay Preview: Music Of The 50sReport this essayThe music of the early fifties was influence by the post-war; its sounds were slow and mostly ballads. This sound came to be known as bubblegum music. It was only until mid-fifties when rock broke out and gave birth to rock and roll, which exploded and created a new outrageous generation. The music of the fifties greatly impacted the generation of the fifties to what would become of them all the way to today. The beats made them want to dance, the words made them want to love and sexuality became a big part of rock and roll. Also another interesting factor was that rock and roll helped the black musician get more recognition, even when the whites covered their songs. The black musician would finally get a break, when radio disc-jockey Alan Freed protested against playing white “covers” of songs by black artists. This opened doors to many African-American singers and entertainers, even if it was just a crack of an entrance.
Music was not only the sound that came out of the jukeboxes; music was the center of life, especially for the youth. Music, even today, influences the way adolescences speak, dress, and act. So when the early fifties played what they called bubblegum music, teenagers acted sweet and innocent. For the older generations, the youth already started to dress a little inappropriate; at least the girls, with their above the ankle skirts and pony-tail hair. But now with Rock and Roll, there was this bigger pool of teenagers wanting to escape from their conservative American middle class mold. Rock n Roll was more than music and more than a style. Along with film, television and magazines, it created a generation previously ignored on the social maps of past. Rock and Roll hit the radios and things started to change. Now the lyrics were juicer and the beat enticing; this was the start of a new generation.
Alan Freed worked at WJW-AM a radio station in Cleveland in 1951. (He would come in at 11:15 P.M. through 2:30 A.M. on Saturdays.) He called himself Moondog and his radio show was called “House Rock and Roll Party.” But rock and roll referred to the show, rather then the music playing which was rhythm and blues. Many believed he coined the term “Rock and Roll” and if he didnt he defiantly spread it. Still Freed was credited for popularizing the term “Rock and Roll” to describe a style of music. This term was commonly used in the black community to describe sex. This goes to show that those tunes of the late fifties werent so innocent. Freed started to become popular for the music and beats he mixed. He was off to a bigger market, New York City. Later on in his career though, he was found guilty on charges of payola and brought an end to his career. Freed died at the age of 43 from lung cancer.
Blacks were starting to gain popularity but yet did not win over the whites on the billboard charts. Yet the whites covered their songs and beat them to the #1 slot. Sam Phillips opened a recording studio in Memphis where black musicians could go and record. This was a first and was a great stepping stone to the rock and roll age. Blacks greatly influence the music of the fifties and no on could escape how popular the music was getting. So singers and songwriters took a hold of this new found beat.
Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, artist like Fats Domino and Johnny Otis with their R&B music started speeding up the tempos and increasing the backbeat to popular songs and newly made songs. R&B was very popular in the forties especially in the South and the only difference now was the fast pace, stronger beat and a wilder style. Before the efforts of Freed and others, black music was taboo on many white-owned radio outlets. However, savvy artists and producers quickly recognized the potential of rock and raced to cash in with white versions of this black music. White musicians also fell in love with the music and played it everywhere they could.
Rock and Roll was a type of genre that developed slowly, it didnt just boom into mainstream. Many argue about who was the first to start Rock and Roll, choices between Fat Domino, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. But that isnt whats important, we understand that Rock and Roll was a genre that kept being developed and can even be heard a little in the late forties; the greatest importance is that it arrived. In the fifties there was still segregation, so even if a black musician started playing music known as Rock and Roll it only started becoming national and extremely popular after the whites took over. Its also believed that Domino put a New Orleans-style spin on what came to be known as rock and roll. Domino sold more records (65 million) than any Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. Rolling Stone magazine argued that, “Thats All Right (Mama)” (1954), Elvis
(EVER). However, the majority of other Fifties-era RockandRoll albums were influenced by early Rock and Roll.
In addition to its influence on music, Rock and Roll was a genre of musical comedy, as well as an expression of a groupie mentality; the audience was not interested in a particular band, but was instead interested in being entertained for just a few dollars per couple hours.
There were also several bands (Espoo Bums) whose musical ideas began to become popular and popular within a single evening that many kids of color and everyone could relate to, and that was one of my favorites.
The genre was known for its variety and many aspects of humor and creativity, in fact that a variety of artists were represented, some of which I am not naming, such as the classic ‘W’ rockers and jazz bands, from jazz and swing back to the sixties.
Many albums, especially the classic ‘D’ punk albums, were started and produced over the next century, it is just about as true for my favorite genre as it is for anything else. You won’t find a more “classic” or “re-birth” rock album called any other in the world of american rock. It’s also true that many of my favorites are written by those who can make you laugh through the year.
I will leave it up to you to pick up all the references below to the greatest eras of Rock and Roll, because there is more to music than just rock and roll, and there is a range to that era.
*Bands that were started as singles and played live before any of the other bands on this list (except if they were later moved to other songs), or at least started with or about an early hit that were all hits at that particular time.
This list will be updated regularly as I go.
1949: Lorne Michaels began his career doing the same, but it was mostly as a studio/record labeler for R. Scott. He became a founding member and vocalist for Led Zeppelin, and was eventually replaced by James Brown. The band went on to form Rock and Roll, while having a band with more success, than most.
1960: Bob Dylan’s song “You Belong to Me Tonight” was born in 1960.
1971: The song was the first rock album ever made, and a favorite among many. It was based on a song that featured lyrics from that single about an old woman. The song was inspired in part by the popularity of Elvis Presley’s ‘Rock and Roll’ song (where Elvis played with the guitar and some of them were playing drums) and was sung by the group members in front of Elvis for the movie ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. After that, it was released under that name by the Rock group. They also created the original radio play at that time.
1975: The song was the main singer’s song for Led Zeppelin, but was replaced by something else called “Gorilla”. Led Zeppelin ended touring during that time, and left the group to make a live album, and the song was renamed the ‘Rock and Roll Music Club’ in 1975.
1978: As lead singer, Elvis Presley made Bob Dylan his own drummer, and had no real problems performing.
1981: After his debut album, his first concert, Led Ze