� R 8ETPAHC Rock ’n’ roll : A GENERATION’S IDENTITY � The rise of rock ’n’ roll in he advent of rock ’n’ roll 1950s, a period of relative economic the mid-1950s transformed music in the mid-1950s stability and prosperity marked by a brought enormous changes return to socially and politically con­ the landscape of American Tto American popular music, chang­ servative ways. This was also the first popular music, further es whose impact is still being felt. generation to grow up with televi­ Styles that had remained on the sion; this new mass medium proved cementing the popularity margins of pop music began to in­ a force of incalculable influence. of southern-derived styles filtrate and eventually dominate the The term “rock ’n’ roll ” was first ultimately derived from the center. Rhythm & blues and country used for commercial and genera­ music recordings were no longer tional purposes by disc jockey Alan blues and country music, and directed to specialized and regional­ Freed. In the early 1950s Freed dis­ transforming the teenager ized markets; they began to be heard covered that increasing numbers of on mainstream pop radio, and many young white kids were listening to into both a marketing concept could be purchased in music stores and requesting the rhythm & blues and a cultural icon. Rock ’n’ nationwide. records he played on his nighttime roll records were played for The emergence of rock ’n’ roll program in Cleveland — records he was an event of great cultural sig­ began to call “rock ’n’ roll .” Freed dances at inner-city, primarily nificance. But several issues demand black, public schools, for our attention: first, rock ’n’ roll was parties at predominantly white neither a “new,” nor indeed even a single musical style ; second, the suburban private schools, and rock ’n’ roll era does not mark the for socials in rural settings first time that music was written specifically to appeal to young peo­ catering to young people. If ple; third, rock ’n’ roll was certainly you were young in the 1950s not the first American music to fuse in the United Statess, no black and white popular styles. The new audience was dominated matter where you lived, no by the so-called baby boom gen­ matter what your race or class, eration born immediately following World War II. It was a much younger rock ’n’ roll was your music. target group than ever before, a large audience that shared specific charac­ New York disc jockey Alan Freed teristics of group cultural identity. coined the phrase “Rock ’n’ Roll.” These were kids growing up in the 62 promoted concert tours featuring Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” rageous performance style that ap­ black artists, playing to a young, ra­ and “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yel­ pealed on the basis of its strangeness, cially mixed audience, and promoted low Polkadot Bikini”), social danc­ novelty, and sexual ambiguity; and them as “rock ’n’ roll revues.” The ing (“At the Hop” and “Save the Fats Domino’s work embodied the term “rock ’n’ roll ” itself was derived Last Dance for Me”), and courtship continuity of rhythm & blues with from the many references to “rock­ (“Teen-Age Crush,” “Puppy Love,” “A rock ’n’ roll . Domino was the earliest in’” and “rollin’” found in rhythm & Teenager in Love,” and “Poor Little of the three to become an established blues songs and on race records. Fool”). Some rock ’n’ roll songs — for performer, but all three crossed over The purchase of rock ’n’ roll re­ example, “Roll Over Beethoven” and to mainstream success within the cords by kids in the 1950s proved a “Rock’n’Roll Is Here to Stay” — an­ first few months following the mas­ way of asserting their generational nounced themselves as emblems of sive success of the white rocker Bill identity through rebellion against a new aesthetic and cultural order, Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.” adult standards and restrictions. dominated by the tastes and aspira­ The biggest rock ’n’ roll star to Thus the experience of growing up tions of youth. come from the country side of the with rock ’n’ roll music became a music world was Elvis Presley. In defining characteristic of the baby Rhythm & Blues 1955, RCA Victor, a major label, set boom generation. So it is not sur­ about trying to turn the “hillbilly prising that the music catered to this Three prominent African Americans cat” into a mainstream performer age group, which by the late 1950s represent the rhythm & blues-based without compromising the strength had its own distinctive culture and side of rock ’n’ roll . Chuck Berry of his appeal to teenagers. They its associated rituals: school and was a songwriter/performer who ad­ succeeded beyond anyone’s expec­ vacation (represented in songs such dressed his songs to teenage America tations. Although Presley’s televi­ as “School Day” and “Summertime (white and black) in the 1950s; Little sion performances were denounced Blues”), fashions (“Black Denim Richard cultivated a deliberately out­ by authorities as vulgar, the shows Left : Chuck Berry broke racial barriers with tunes such as “Johnny B. Goode” and “Maybellene.” Center: Little Richard is known for his piano stylings and exuberant vocals in “Tutti Frutti,” “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” and other classics. Right: Fats Domino’s hits include “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That a Shame.” 63 were attended by hordes of scream­ bridled exuberance of his live per­ an incontestable role in defining the ing young fans and admired on the formances during that era became character and spirit of the 1960s. screen by millions. And Presley’s re­ the model for every kid who wanted The baby boom generation played a cords racked up astronomical sales to move mountains by strumming a vital role in the political and cultural from 1956 on into the early 1960s, es­ guitar, shaking his hips, and lifting events of this period, and the boom­ tablishing him as the biggest-selling his voice. ers were a generation identified with solo artist of rock ’n’ roll , and then rock ’n’ roll . as the biggest-selling solo recording Rock ’n’ roll Women Three important trends emerged artist of any period and style—a title in the early 1960s. A new kind of he still holds at the beginning of the The 1950s was an inauspicious social dancing, inspired by “The 21st century! time to be seen as a rebellious and Twist,” gave rock ’n’ roll music a Presley’s extraordinary popular­ empowered young woman. The distinctive set of movements and ity established rock ’n’ roll as an un­ rebellious, empowered young men social customs. Members of the first precedented mass-market phenom­ of early rock ’n’ roll proved contro­ generation to grow up with rock ’n’ enon. His reputation as a performer versial enough, and most teenagers roll began to assume positions of and recording artist endured up to were happy admiring them from a shaping power in the music indus­ his death in 1977 at the age of 42 safe distance. The pioneering female try. And new stylistic possibilities — and continues beyond the grave. rocker Wanda Jackson, for instance, for rock ’n’ roll began to emerge out Presley made fine records at many recorded a number of classic singles of California, spearheaded by the points throughout his career, but his and enjoyed the encouragement and Beach Boys. principal importance rests upon his mentoring of Elvis Presley himself Brian Wilson formed the Beach achievements during the early years — but none of her records became Boys in Hawthorne, California, of rock ’n’ roll . In 1956 Presley cut hits. The post-World War II ideal of in 1961. The band was achieving a handful of records that changed domestic femininity proved to be national chart hits within a year. the musical world for himself and powerful and provoked no wide­ Wilson was the first self-conscious for those around him, and the un- spread challenges until the 1960s. second-generation rock ’n’ roll er. By 1960 America was at last He explicitly acknowledged his ready to embrace a young female reliance on, and reverence for, his recording artist with a feisty public predecessors in the rock ’n’ roll image, and the teenage Brenda Lee, field, by covering and quoting from who became known as “Little Miss their records. At the same time, he Dynamite,” was there to fill the bill carved out distinctive new ground, with engaging rock ’n’ roll songs by deliberately moving the lyrics and like “Sweet Nothin’s” and “Rockin’ the music of his own songs beyond Around the Christmas Tree.” Lee the territory carved out by his pre­ also recorded a large proportion of decessors, into novel areas that were slow, sentimental love songs. of particular meaning to him, to his time, and to his place in America. The 1960s: Rock ’n’ roll ’s Second If we were to conceptualize a Generation defining model for the career of a self-sustaining, trend-setting rock Few eras in American history have group of the 1960s, it would look been as controversial as the 1960s, something like this: a period marked by the civil rights •S tart out by demonstrating a movement, the Vietnam War, and mastery of the basic early rock ’n’ According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Wanda Jackson was “the first to bring the assassinations of President John roll ballad and uptempo styles; a woman’s intuition” to rock ’n’ roll. F. Kennedy and the Reverend Martin • C reate original material based on, Luther King Jr. Popular music played and extending, those styles; 64 “I’ll Never Stand in Your Way” (1953) is Elvis Presley’s first known recording.