Rockabilly to Teenagers: From the Margin to the Center People Issues • Attacks on Rock and Roll • Elvis Presley • Payola Scandal • Sam Phillips/Sun Records • Race • Carl Perkins • Johnny Cash Themes • Dick Clark • The body • Doo Wop • Identity • Don Kirshner • Politics – Wall of sound • Place – Girl Groups Rockabilly • Derived from a mix of African American R&B and “hillbilly” (Country) music • From the southern rural areas of U.S. where the common experience of poverty brought together traditionally racially segregated cultures • Once rock and roll was a proven profitable style, white artists who could merge country musical styles with R&B would Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No. 1 have great sales potential The Carter Family 1 Sun Record Co./Sam Phillips and Elvis • Sun Studios founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis 1953 • After recording many black Blues artists, Phillips is reported to have said, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the negro feel, I could make a billion dollars” • Sam Phillips looked to rural, poor, southern musicians to fulfill this quest beginning with Elvis Presley then Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash • In Memphis Elvis was exposed Elvis Aron Presley to the blues in the clubs and on the radio (1935-1977) • Exposed to the singing and sounds of gospel in the southern churches • 1954 - Phillips produced Elvis’ first song “That’s all Right, Mama” • (originally written by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup ) • Received orders for 5,000 copies after one day on the radio • Elvis’ first live shows produced hysteria among teenaged girls in the audience • Gyrating hips and leg shaking was seen as a sort of raw sexuality appealed to teenaged girls as “just a great big, beautiful hunk of forbidden fruit” 2 • Colonel Tom Parker originally worked in carnivals had developed “techniques” to attract customers Marketing Elvis • 1955- Becomes Elvis’ manager Sun Records sells his contract to RCA for $35,000 and $5,000 in back royalties • Parker marketed Elvis - as a product - to the media (especially TV), rather than to the people • 1956 - Though he originally condemned Elvis as “unfit for a family audience”, Ed Sullivan books him on his show for $50,000 - Elvis ordered to be shown only from waist up • 1956 Hank Saperstein (merchandiser) joined with Parker to “manufacture a phenomenon” • Elvis’ career takes off and Elvis Presley changes pop music and the pop “Blue Suede Shoes” music market forever Blue Suede Shoes (Perkins) • Once Elvis is gone, Phillips tried to find the next Elvis and turned to Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis • Lewis said “That’s what rockabilly music is, a country man’s song with a black man’s rhythm” • Presley, Cash, Lewis and Perkins dominated Sun Records and the rockabilly sound. Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line” 3 Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire (1963) Social Distortion– Ring of Fire (1989) Johnny Cash – Hurt (2002) written by Trent Reznor – Nine In Nails Performed by Cash after being diagnosed with degenerative neurological disease – recognized as a sort of reflection on his own life 4 Rockabilly and Major Labels Decca Records • Haley predated Elvis, but not as wild or “forbidden” • Charles “Buddy” Holly - began playing country music, met Elvis, changed his style formed his band the Crickets and created their own unique sound Bill Haley and The Comets “Rock Around the Clock” Buddy Holly and the Crickets “Not Fade Away” The Cultural Backlash • Elvis was attacked in the media as a “sexibitionist” and a symptom of the downfall of American culture and represented the moral corruption of the youth • Teenagers began to doubt their parents authority when the material things they were acquiring did not make them happy, turned to each other and the culture that brought them happiness - Rock and Roll • Rock and Roll was seen as the source of juvenile delinquency and violence with Elvis at the center • Rock and Roll had become on one hand the inspiring, excited and enthusiastic voice of a generation and on the other hand a clear manifestation of the fears of contemporary society - it would be either the great democratic equalizer of society or its virtual destruction • Because of the popularity and profitability of rock and roll, large record companies sought to capitalize on the new genre • Yet at a time when people feared the very things that rock and roll represented (mixing race, class and culture) a middle class “white” face needed to be put on the “new Elvis” • Parker responded to Elvis backlash by cleaning up his act and changing his image - his music also became more subdued, he made “acceptable” Hollywood films and his audience expanded to the adults 5 The Cultural Backlash “Live Fast Die Young” 1958 “The Violent Years” 1956 Blackboard Jungle (1955) 6 “Official” Attacks on Rock and Roll • In the late 50s the main objection to rock and roll was not so much its black urban roots, its explicit sexuality or even its rebellious attitudes, but rather the fact that it was no longer contained on the “other side of the tracks” it had entered and was polluting the mainstream • Because Rock and Roll was such a decentralized, unorganized business that did not have a central authority, it was difficult to regulate its business practices and contain its influence, yet public groups, businesses and the government tried • Censorship – Religious groups began to identify and push for the ban of records with explicit lyrics and supplied lists of objectionable records Official attacks (cont.) • ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) charged that BMI (Broadcast Music International), a rival music licensing agency who represented many of the rock and roll artists, had manufactured interest in rock-and-roll, rockabilly by paying off radio stations to play the music • Payola scandals – Government investigations were begun into the practice of deejays accepting incentives (money, sex, drugs) to play particular recordings. The assumption was that they would be playing more “popular” music (largely controlled by ASCAP) if they were not bribed to do otherwise • ASCAP tried to put BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) out of business by introducing a bill to congress to ban broadcasters from owning stock in BMI thus creating a conflict of interest in that they would only want to promote their music • ASCAP also convinced congress (who had recently completed the “McCarthy” hearings) to hold hearings to probe the payola scandals 7 .