Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll 001

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The simple and valid conclusion is that rock music began in America in 1950’s, when white teens started to listen to the brand-new genre “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which was in fact rhythm & blues or R&B, by African American musicians.

R&B was originally among “race music” and was not usually distributed by big record companies, so it was not successful in the his charts or was not played on the radio. But some white teens and music fans were so attracted by the swing and speeding rhythm of the music that there was increasing momentum toward the birth of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” in the late 1940’s.

Some sharp whites were aware of this sign, and among them was Alan Freed, an American DJ who was then in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1951, he played these R&B records on his radio show, naming them “Rock and Roll.” Around this time, this genre gradually came into attention, especially among the young.

Until then, there had been a lot of numbers whose title had words like “Rock” or “Roll,” which in part led to the term “Rock and Roll.”

If things had stopped there, rock music would not be as popular as today, and it would be a niche in the world of dilettantes.

In order to gain popularity around the U.S., rock music desperately needed to be supported by major record companies which had powerful advertising strategy, sales network, media strategy, and their ability to set a trend. What these companies needed was not African American musicians, who belonged to hand-to-mouth independent labels, but they needed white artists they could back up with all their strength.

Here is a supplementary explanation for those who cannot intuitively understand why African American artists could not make R&B popular through America. In the 1950’s, racial segregation was still rampant, and leading record companies did not sign up these artists with a very few exceptions, to say nothing of R&B musicians, which had aggressive sound and explicit lyrics, and thus no prospects of success.

Meanwhile, some people in the industry thought that R&B by African American musicians had potential to attract the young. In fact more and more young people were finding the “new” genre exciting. So, firms released cover versions by white musicians, some of which were minor hits, but they were not so groovy or aggressive, since they were like “white versions” of R&B. It was obvious to anyone that there were not enough players or catches out there.

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Around that time, there was a white artist whose name was Bill Haley. He had a radio program as a DJ and also covered R&B songs. He thought this new genre had potential to be accepted by more people. Though he was a country artist, which was usually targeted at white Americans, country music traditionally had styles like hillbilly music and western swing, which had adopted R&B elements. This made it quite natural for him to put his hand to Rock ‘n’ Roll.

In 1954, Haley signed with Decca Records, one of the major companies, and released Rock Around the Clock, which is said to have been the first Rock ‘n’ Roll hit. It did top the U.S. pop charts. While the song was not successful enough at first, it became a massive hit when it was used in the film Blackboard Jungle in 1955.

The subject of the film was teenage delinquency, which was a serious social problem at that time, and conveyed the impression that Rock ‘n’ Roll was emerging music for teenagers with the help of the film’s direction and picture.

In a sense, the hit of Rock Around the Clock showed the power of Rock ‘n’ Roll to be successful, but seeing from another point of view, you could say that the song was successful mainly because it was in the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle. Indeed, Rock Around the Clock played an important role as the first national Rock ‘n’ Roll hit record. However, that was not enough. It was sensational Rock ‘n’ Roll big bang that was needed.

People needed more. Someone new in every way, somebody provocative, a rock star who could embody the speed and fanaticism of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Filling the vacant seat, a young white American appeared on TV, the state-of-the-art media of those days, in a black style from head to foot. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll: Elvis Presley.